I knew very well that my father would never allow me to go near the Sonus City Control Building. That’s why, almost three years later, I have never once spoken about what happened outside our house that day.
The Sonus security officers and investigators had tried to understand the reason behind Sonus’s abnormal behavior, but naturally they hit a dead end. Nothing about it appeared in the city newspaper, and my father hadn’t shown any unusual behavior except that he had become more cautious. On the surface, it seemed that I was the only one who hadn’t given up on learning what had happened. I carefully read every book my father brought me, trying to understand the history and origins of Sonus. But just as I expected, there was no way I could find what I was searching for in the public section of the library.
Like any other teenager, once I turned nineteen, I was eager to apply for work in different parts of the city. Since I wanted to work in the city’s Control Building, I had to take my application directly to the Control Building itself. That way, I could gain permission to enter without depending on my father or sneaking inside.
The morning I was supposed to submit my application, we were all sitting around the breakfast table when my father started speaking. “Honestly, Erena, your mother and I have thought about this a lot, and we think it’d be better if you worked at the city tailor shop. It’s quiet, and it’s close to home.” As he put a piece of jam-covered bread into his mouth, he added, “What do you think?”
I looked into my mother’s expectant eyes and said, “I think that—”
My sister interrupted me. “Wouldn’t it be better if you came to the café and worked with me? The tailor shop is so boring.”
Mother said, “But Erena has loved clothes since she was a child, hasn’t she? Don’t you remember drawing wedding dresses in your sketchbook when you were little? I think Erena could sew incredible wedding dresses.”
As she poured herself some tea, my sister replied, “That was ages ago. Maybe she was interested in drawing! That doesn’t mean anything—”
The sound of my father’s fist slamming against the breakfast table cut her off. His face had turned red. “What matters is that she works somewhere with a lower chance of being exposed. The café staff uniforms have short sleeves in the summer. Did you forget that?”
She raised her hands in surrender and muttered, “Fine. None of my business anyway.”
At first, I wasn’t sure whether I should tell my family about my decision, but after hearing my father speak, I became certain that under no circumstances could they find out I wanted to take my application directly to the city’s Control Building. Of course, I had answered the questions on the application form in a way that made me seem like the perfect candidate for a position at the city library. The daughter of a library security officer—who also happened to love reading books—would be considered best suited to work alongside her father in the library. That way, my father wouldn’t suspect anything. He’d think I had been randomly selected by the application officers to work there.
Once my father left the house, I went to my room to get ready to head to the Sonus City Control Building. An envelope sat on my desk containing my application—a black envelope sealed with red wax and marked with the emblem of the Sonus Control Building.
Because it was snowing outside the Sonus dome, the temperature inside the city had dropped, and I had to wear my green coat. As I walked downstairs, my mother asked, “Do you want me to come with you to the tailor shop?”
I answered quickly, “No! I can go by myself. Bye for now.”
I stepped outside. The air was freezing cold, and every breath I took turned into a white cloud in front of my face. But no one could actually touch the snow, because the dome surrounding the city prevented it from entering. Only through books and documents did I know that snowflakes were soft, watery particles that fell from the sky to the ground. The Sonus dome was thin enough to allow air into the city, but not thin enough for snow to settle on the streets.
I started walking toward the Control Building. It was about fifteen minutes away from our house. Even though no one was paying attention to me, I still pulled my coat hood over my head.
The Control Building was the largest structure in all of Sonus. Its walls were made of black bricks, while the windows, roof, and some of the details were dark red. Banners about the annual trainee selection hung from the building’s outer walls, fully explaining how and where applications had to be submitted. There was only one month each year when newly eligible nineteen-year-olds could apply at the Control Building, and I was lucky that the application period fell so close to my birthday.
The officer standing in front of the entrance, dressed entirely in black, looked very serious. When he saw me, he asked my name and the reason I had come without making any unnecessary movement or changing his facial expression. I felt relieved. The guard didn’t seem to recognize me, at least he didn’t call me Number One like the other guards.
As soon as he realized I had come to submit a job application, he checked the black envelope and let me in. When I entered the building, my breath caught in my chest. I had never seen such a grand and beautiful building anywhere in the city of Sonus. My father always entered the building through this front entrance, but ordinary citizens had to go around to the back to borrow books from the library. There, through a small window, they would tell one of the library employees what subjects interested them, and the employee—using their own judgment and knowledge of books—would choose a book to lend them.
As a result, almost no one in the city knew anything about the books inside. People could only read whichever books the officers handed to them. They had no ability to browse the shelves or choose for themselves.
The rules surrounding the forbidden books section were even stricter. Employees weren’t allowed inside that area at all. The only people permitted to enter were my father and the highest-ranking authorities of Sonus.
The staircase inside was made of white stone streaked with gold veins. Guards were stationed throughout the interior grounds, and every corridor led to a large room where officers sat behind enormous black desks carrying out their duties. At the end of the stairs, a large sign pointed toward the library. I stared at it, but from where I stood, I couldn’t see anything. The guard, confused by my hesitation, asked, “Didn’t you say you were going to the employment office?”
I answered quickly, “Yes… yes, that’s right.”
He pointed to the left. “Follow me.”
We arrived at the application review office, which was located at the beginning of one of the hallways. We stepped inside a red-colored room that was almost empty. Other than a black desk, a black chair, a square-shaped metal box, and the woman sitting behind it, there was nothing in the room. The dark colors only made my anxiety worse, causing my heart to beat even faster. The woman sitting behind the desk looked around fifty years old. Her brown hair was tied up above her head. She glanced at me over the top of her glasses and pointed toward the large black box in the room. “Drop your application into the box. Applications are reviewed at the beginning of each month. You’ll have to wait until then.”
I dropped my application into the box and started walking toward the exit with the guard. As I was looking at the building’s walls and ceiling and enjoying their beauty, I noticed the boy who was friends with my sister. I put my coat back on and pulled up my hood so he wouldn’t recognize me. He had a red and black envelope in his hand. I remembered that my sister had said he was a few years younger than her, so he was probably just turning nineteen as well. He had probably come here to apply for a job. I quickened my pace and left the building.
When I got home, my sister was getting ready to leave for work at the café. Unlike usual, she was wearing new clothes. She probably had a date with that boy. She brushed her hair, and the moment she saw me, she shouted loudly, “Mom! Come here, Erena’s back! So? What was the tailor shop like?”
Trying to escape the bombardment of questions, I replied, “Same as always.” Then I hurried upstairs, but at the same moment my mother was coming down.
“Did you like it there?” she asked.
I picked up Vampi’s ball from the stairs and answered, “Ummm… yeah. It was interesting. I’m going to my room. Call me when lunch is ready.”
Mother frowned. Like always, she was upset that I spent most of my time in my room. She thought I was suffering from teenage depression. Maybe I was depressed. After all, no one in this city spent as much time at home as I did. No one my age had absolutely no friends. Still, my room always gave me peace. Only there could I freely wear whatever I wanted and behave however I liked.
The application results would arrive in nine days. Until then, my father absolutely could not find out that I had taken my application to the main building. If he did, he might do something to prevent me from starting my trainee period there. But I didn’t know that my father would find out about everything earlier than expected.
