Free The Unspoken: Book One in the Keres Trilogy by A. E. Waller

the paragraphs, I start to devour the mind power section. I read it through completely and then start reading it again. It ’ s a wholly new concept to me. It brings new meaning to a phrase The Mothers use frequently when we are young. “ Mind over matter! ” they sing out when we struggled with something.
    I ’ m so absorbed in the section that I miss the flickering of light on the desk, signaling the end of the day. Then someone is knocking on my door. “ Come in, ” I say grudgingly. I just want to read.
    “ Just me, ” says Zink, opening the door. “ Thought you might want to make the elevator ride back up a tradition. ” He trips on my black suit that is still on the floor. He picks it up and shakes it out, “ The Mothers aren ’ t going to clean up down here. ”
    “ Why not? ” I ’ m disappointed by that. I haven ’ t cleaned up after myself, well, ever.
    “ They don ’ t come on the hall. I don ’ t think they are allowed. ”
    “ Aren ’ t allowed? Aren ’ t they the ones who determine who is allowed to do anything? And if they aren ’ t then the Absolutes are. ”
    “ Well, yes, for everyone else. But we are different, especially when we are down here, ” he says as he hangs up my uniform.
    I watch him closely, not speaking. Asking questions seems to be the quickest way to not get answers down here so I just begin to clean up the desk.
    “ The hall and everything below us isn ’ t exactly part of Chelon, so it ’ s outside of The Mothers ’ jurisdiction. We are still citizens of the city, clearly, so we follow the rules. But it ’ s more out of compassion for our Play Groups. Our actions still reflect on them and they are still governed completely by The Mothers. ”
    “ The Mothers can ’ t touch us? Can ’ t punish us I mean? ” I ask before thinking.
    “ They sort of could before we were assigned Service, but not the way they could punish everyone else. I mean kids need discipline. But, no. They can ’ t now, ” he shrugs.
    And now it becomes clear why I was not visited by the five in black. The Mothers could not send them to me because I was marked from birth as an Unspoken and out of their control. And that is probably why PG3456 was often left to our own devices. My status and closeness with my Play Group undoubtedly drove them mad. I find a huge sense of satisfaction in that.
    “ But they can always control us through our Play Groups, ” he continues, “ Same principle they use to keep everyone else in line: if you break a rule your whole Play Group is punished. Only in our case, they punish the Play Group more harshly because they can ’ t touch us. ”
    And the satisfaction is gone. “ That ’ s a reliable method, ” I say. I ’ m finished moving things around on the desk and my notebook is tucked away in my pack.
    “ Do you have a hard time, not talking about what you do here? ” I ask him while I fumble around for my den keys.
    “ I did at first. I ’ ve still got scars from trying. But it gets easier the longer you are here. I ’ ve found a way to leave it all on the elevator. I leave my Play Group behind on the way down and I leave the hall on the way up. ”
    I nod. It ’ s something I will have to try if I ’ m going to be alive long enough to get my Play Group out of Chelon in one piece. “ How do you do it? ” I ask him.
    “ Well this helps a lot, ” he shows me a tattoo behind his ear. “ It was my first, I mean the first I earned. ”
    “ What does it do? ”
    “ It keeps things separate. It helps me focus on one thing when I need to and it allows me to let other things go. When I ’ m feeling particularly jumbled, I can use it to sort everything out and put my memories and thoughts away until I want them again. ”
    “ That sounds helpful. ”
    “ Want me to try it on you? ”
    “ Oh- uh, no thanks, ” I stammer.
    “ It doesn ’ t hurt. And you don ’ t completely forget anything. You can just, I don ’ t know how to explain it.