Hannah sighed. “I live here, you know. I've already seen all of this. You don't need to show me again.”
Tab pointed to their left, where several stacks of sheet metal sat in a pile beside a large but precise hole in the fake brick between the mostly-hidden doors to the reactor. “So you knew about the, um, construction then?”
Hannah frowned. “No, I guess not.”
“Well, that's why me and Tom are here, really. Our uncle does the construction, and he wanted us to be here to watch, I guess. Dunno why.”
Hannah peered into the hole. “So what's he building in there?”
Tab spoke from the hallway, looking like she was trying to avoid the construction zone.
“Well, I don't think he's building so much as changing. I think there was a problem with some something-or-other and he had to fix it. Or something.” She looked uncomfortable.
Tom ran up and pulled on Hannah's arm, gesturing almost frantically down the hall.
“What is it? You can talk, right?” Tom responded by pulling harder.
Tab was practically bouncing in anxiety. “Come on, Miss, we have other things to show!”
“All right, whatever.” The group continued their 'tour,' although Tab had given up on explaining every iota of information in the area.
“Hey Hannah, did you catch the game?” She turned to see an unremarkable young man waving at her in the excitable manner of most colonists.
“Sorry, Matt, I didn't. I'm pretty busy.”
“Oh. Ok.” He looked mildly disappointed, but not enough to turn Hannah's attention from the children pulling her away.
She attributed most of their hysteria to childhood logic, and misunderstanding, but she still felt like something was slightly...off. Tab's obvious attempts to change the subject gave her feeling a pretty solid foundation.
“So...what were you doing topside, Miss Hannah?”
Hannah rolled her eyes, and felt like she would be doing that for most of the day.
“I was doing my job. I'm supposed to flip a switch once the sun goes down for winter, but...”
“But what, Miss Hannah?” asked Tab. The group stopped for Tom to tie his shoe.
“Well, I...don't know what it does, I guess.” Hannah leaned up against an ornate lamppost.
“Oh, it's for the ge-” Tab stopped midsentence.
“What?” Hannah bent down to face her.
“It's for my uncle's thing. You know? With the something?” Tab was being less than helpful, and pretty clearly hiding something.
“Whatever, Tab. Thanks for the information.”
“No problem,Miss Hannah!” Tab beamed, missing the sarcasm in Hannah's voice. “So why were you up there, anyway?”
“I was just....well, I like it up there. It's so...different. So real. Although I can understand why we live inside.” She shivered at the thought of the snake-voiced thing in her dream, and unconsciously touched the back of her neck. Nothing unusual, save for some goosebumps.
Tab fiddled with her skirt. “So you live in here, but sleep out there? That's weird.”
“Hey Hannah, do you want to have sex?” A boy around sixteen asked this through the front window of his imitation cabin, which sat in a line with identical cabins and bordered the central path.
Hannah rolled her eyes. “No, go away.”
“Oh. Ok. Hey Cheryl!” He called to the shrub-tending girl.
“Yes?” She turned, trying to conceal her excitement at being addressed, and not doing a very good job. Hannah rested her face in her palms and breathed deeply.
“Want to have sex?”
“All right!”
Hannah bent to Tab. “I am leaving this area right now. Come with me if you want, but I am not staying for this.”
They moved on, although Tab refused to let their previous conversation go.
“But you were sleeping...”
“Yes, I was, so what?” She ground her teeth with the last two words.
“So...you were working while you were asleep.”
Hannah stopped. “Look, I'm sure your cutesy act works with most people, and maybe me sometimes, but I am sure as hell not in the mood for this today. So get to the point!”
Tab and Tom were both pointing toward the center of the second plaza, which they had just entered. The plaza itself was unusually empty, vacant but for one figure sitting on a bench in front of the fountain, who stood upon her entry. She couldn't see its legs, but the way it stood didn't correspond with human biology. There was something odd about the legs, and the back wasn't hunched so much as deliberately curved, like a man-sized lizard or snake.
“Hello, Miss.”
