“I know.” Wilma was grinning from ear to ear and leaned her face against her mother’s hand when Joan caressed her cheek.
“I can’t believe my little girl is a bride.” Joan teared up.
“Well, she won’t be if we don’t get moving.” William pushed his chair back. “Tyton and I will clear the table while you three get ready. We’re leaving in an hour.”
CHAPTER 18
Woman in Disguise
Tyton
When I saw Devina next, she had been transformed from a twenty-eight-year-old woman into a teenage boy. Her eyebrows were bigger, and she was wearing glasses and baggy clothes.
“Not bad.” My dad crossed his arms. “Devin, was it?”
“Yeah, my name is Devin.” Devina’s voice sounded different because she made it deeper and darker.
Turning his body to me, my dad shrugged. “I think it could work. What do you say?”
I was impressed with the disguise but still wary about everything that could go wrong. “Yeah, it’ll have to do.”
We flew to the tournament in my drone. They were expensive and not many could afford them. When my brother and I had entered Starr’s tournament three years ago, we had made a promise to each other. If one of us got chosen by Starr, we would buy the other a drone as consolation for not being picked.
Frederick got the bride and the fortune. I got the drone as promised.
“Wow, this is so nice.” Devina kept her hands folded in her lap while her eyes took in the interior.
Wilma on the other hand was used to it and made herself comfortable by pulling her legs up under her and turning to Devina. “Is it true that you don’t have drones in the Motherlands?”
“We do, but not for ordinary people. We use carbon-neutral cars and buses to get around, and of course bikes.”
“But what about when you have to go long distances?”
“Well, for us regular people there are boats, high-speed trains, and planes. But to do long-distance travel would require a lot of energy points.”
“What are energy points?”
“It’s sort of a reward system that starts from early childhood. For instance, when I was in school, we had three stationary energy bikes in each classroom. The school was powered by the electricity that we students generated, and excess power was shared with the community home next door.”
“Kids bike while in class?” I wrinkled my forehead.
“Not everyone at the same time, but some kids found it hard to sit still for long, so they were encouraged to bike while listening or reading a book. Others did it while taking part in a discussion group. We didn’t have to bike fast, just keep the bike going; and with more than ten classrooms and three bikes in each, creating enough power was never a problem. But anyway, the energy points are given to each person that contributes to creating natural power. It’s also a motivating factor to go to the energy centers. We can create power by running, biking, rowing, dancing, and other forms of movement.”
“What if you can’t move? Or don’t want to?” my mom asked.
“In that case you can buy energy points. It’s rare for someone not to have a job that gives them that option.”
My dad wrinkled his forehead. “Sounds like forced labor to me.”
Devina looked so different with her bigger eyebrows and glasses. “I like it. It’s a great way to access clean energy and at the same time make people feel that they’re helping. I’m sure you agree that there can be no further pollution of the planet.”
With a low chuckle, my dad leaned in and whispered to me. “Sounds like you can’t even take a dump over there.”
Devina heard him and didn’t look the least bit offended. “You can, of course… but only on your assigned deposit days. All feces are collected for fertilizing purposes.”
“What?!!” My dad jerked his head back. “You’re not allowed to shit whenever you want to?”
The smallest smile made her lips purse upward.