Page 89 of The Commons

I give Swin a courtesy smile, then I notice him rubbing his eyes to pull out a tiny, shiny, circular thing from his ears—like invisible ear buds—because they are the exact same color as his ears. “What’s that?” I ask.

“It’s a computerized ear pod and contact lens that enables me to see details about 20 miles ahead of me. I call it 20/20 lens pod set.”

“Huh, very original,” Levon says, sarcastic.

He smiles.

“So, can you see through walls?” I ask.

“What kind of lens do you think this is? Some magical thing?” Swin says.

“Um—” I stutter.

“And you would be right. I can. Not magic though. Just science. I use crazy advanced algorithmic neuro networks to analyze signals that bounce off people’s bodies, and I can see anywhere from a person’s movement outside, and depending on how still I can focus, I can zoom into their bodies and even see invisible things that are made with a similar substance.”

“You’re joking!” I say.

“I survived The Seventh Zone thanks to this sucker, and I found Pesh when he came here to help you. I could see and hear 20 miles ahead of me,” Swin says.

“Interesting,” Pesh responds, uninterested, unimpressed. He is too focused on the next step, so I give him my undivided attention, along with everyone else.

“So, where to next?” I ask.

Pesh leads us along a cave-like space. It is mostly dimly lit, and all we see is water and some sand for a while, until we come to a complete stop.

We look up to see what looks like aquarium glass, with fish swimming on the inside.

“This must be a huge ship!” Swin says, looking all around.

“Something like that,” Pesh responds.

“So, where is this place?” I ask.

“We’re on an underground hideaway submarine that I built over the past ten years. It’s the way of escape from The Seventh Zone to the mainland on The Commons, but we’re not going back to The Commons, we’re going into The Commoners Secret Place.”

We look at him, puzzled.

“Just follow me,” he commands.

He walks forward toward the aquarium-looking thing and enters in. We don’t see him anymore.

“It’s like the other door, except this one is visible,” I deduce. “Come on, Levon, let’s go!” I say.

Still skeptical, she tries to feel it. “It feels like glass, but it’s not,” she says.

“So, it’s an illusion… illocean of the ocean,” Swin says.

Levon looks at him, not impressed by his joke. She eyes him, then scoffs with a light grin. She holds my hand and we both walk through the door. It feels like walking through any other door, but when we enter, what we see is not like any door I have ever walked through. Swin comes in behind us and we look to see it.

The Commoners Secret Place.

There are people all around, about a hundred. They look young, in their twenties or so. They all look so full of life, the opposite of those we found in The Seventh Zone. Around them are several computers and each of them has a code in front of them, working nonstop.

“What is this?” I ask Pesh.

“The place I have been searching for all my life!” Swin looks around in awe. “Well, not all my life, just for the past year or so!” Swin completes.

Puzzled, I look at Pesh.