Lynne Hansen - Rave New World: An SAT Vocabulary Novel

Chapter 1

Part 1

As teen cyberpsychic Jaden Emory entered the Tamlando Detention Center, he pulled his crocheted cap down over his dreadlocks so that it covered his gleaming cybernetic implants. A sea of police officers and addicts stood between him and the addiction cells on the far side of the complex.

Time to get to work, Jaden muttered, blowing air out of his mouth and stepping into the gray maze of corridors. A slim redhead in a lemon-colored jogging suit with her hands cuffed together in front of her slipped him a shy smile.

Instinctively he smiled back, flashing her his trademark insouciant grin. Jadens tall, lanky frame, huge, white-boy dreads, and big, glossy brown eyes tended to get him noticed.

By girls in particular.

Jaden wiped the cocky smile off his face, abashed . What had he been thinking? This girl might just be noticing him, but she might also be smiling because she remembered him from his past. His somewhat shady past. Well, not to put too fine a point on it, his one-more-strike-and-were-locking-you-up-and-throwing-away-the-key past.

He picked up his pace, ambling forward a little faster and letting his breath out.

As his team leader, Kim could make him come to the T.D.C., but she couldnt make him linger . Hed pop in, do his job, and leave. Hed only stay long enough to split away the addicts vice , then he was out of there.

When he finally paused outside addiction cell #642, trepidation gave way to anticipation. His fingers tingled as he removed his cap and stuffed it into the back pocket of his jeans. Who would be waiting for him behind that door?

Back at the Splitter Center, where he lived and handled his run-of-the-mill assignments, hed probably be facing forty-five minutes with some mom addicted to Twinkies whod been turned in by a caring family member concerned about her carbohydrate obsession. Here at the Tamlando Detention Center, he was probably facing a violent offender. An alcoholic, perhaps, or a drug addict. He rubbed his palms on his jeans. Kim knew he abhorred coming down to the T.D.C., so it had to be a tough case, something she only trusted to him. If he were lucky, maybe hed get to split a sex addict, or even a psychopath who killed for his addiction. Just beyond that door, guards were probably poised to strike with blast-cannons at the offenders first false move.

God, the year 2157 was stupid.

Well, time to find out.

Jaden exhaled audibly and passed his hand over the security lock. The door whooshed open.

Jaden frowned. No burly guards. No state-of-the-art firepower. Just a blue-haired teenage girl and her parents.

The girl brooded over the pink laces on her bright orange shoes, carefully avoiding the stern gazes of the scowling couple that flanked her like skyscrapers.

Her scraggly blueberry-colored pigtails bounced when she looked up. Jaden saw a spark of recognition in her eyes, then a flash of dread .

As soon as he saw her face, he felt just as distressed himself. But he had a compelling reason to be upset by her presence herewhy should she care about seeing him again?

Jaden ambled forward and extended his hand. Hey, good to see you again, Ally, he lied. It hadnt even been three weeks ago that hed cured the vivacious raver of her music addiction. Any splitter who was at all adroit would only require a single session to cure a patient. Since he was thirteen, none of Jadens patients had required second treatments. Five perfect years, and now this.

Ally furrowed her brow in mock confusion. Um, have we met or something? she asked, shaking his hand without getting up. Jaden sensed that if she had tried to get up, her mothers well-manicured claw would have come down on her shoulder.

Uh, whoa, I think, Jaden began.

Allys aqua eyes beseeched him to corroborate her pretense of ignorance . Jaden had no idea why she didnt want him to talk about their previous session, but this was fine by him. The last thing he needed right now was The Corporation giving him static about a recidivist showing up.

Oh, sorry. I thought so at first, but you just look a lot like someone I used to know, said Jaden.

Ally perked up. Was she cute?

Allys father interceded . Alan Fayre, he said. He shook Jadens hand perfunctorily , looking with disapproval at Jadens mammoth mane of dreadlocks, then wiped his hand on his expensive suit. Allys mother looked on, a pained expression of exasperation pressed into her delicate features. Mr. Fayre didnt introduce her.

Can we just get on with this? Id like to have her fixed before the press catches wind of her arrest. Were from Upper Management, you know.

Oh, yeah, no problem, bro, Jaden said, noting how Allys father talked about her as if she wasnt even in the room. Let me just peruse your file a moment, Miss... Ally. He brushed his hand across one of the empty white walls and the wall turned into a computer terminal that allowed him to pull up Allys record. Got busted at a rave last night, huh? Was it killer?

Uh, yeah? Ally said, her tone implying that it was a stupid question.

Allys mother cleared her throat.

Allys gaze darted toward the sound. I mean yes, Splitter

Emory, Jaden finished for her. You can just call me Jaden if you want, though, he said, smiling. At eighteen, he was only older than Ally by a year, tops, and it didnt feel right for her to call him by his formal title, especially not on their second meeting.

Mr. Fayre sighed. Well, just Jaden, or dude, or whatever you call yourself according to the stunted argot you teenagers speak, can you fix her or not?

Uh, your daughters not broken, Mr. Fayre. She just needs a little extra help in the willpower department. Jaden was beginning to seriously dislike Mr. Fayre. Uh, so if youll both be leaving, I can get started right away. He presented the door with a flourish .

Allys parents took one last disapproving look at his hair and huffed out.

The second the door slid shut, Ally bolted from her chair and started pacing the room nervously. Man, youre good. They totally bought that. Thanks for not narcing on me. Though I guess thats pretty ironic , considering that you actually are a cybernarc. Her blue pigtails bounced in time with her frenetic motions.

Um, I beg your pardon, Miss, Jaden began. The Corporation frequently monitored the splitting rooms, and the last thing he needed was for some auditor to overhear their conversation and show up on his doorstep.

I mean, thanks for telling them we hadnt met before, you goofball, Ally said.

But we havent. Jaden winked at her from under his mop of dreads.

Ally rolled her eyes. Trying to teach me a lesson, I see. What else should I expect from a cybernarc?

Um, I think if we could just focus on the reason youre here, which I believe is to help you leave behind this time-wasting, unproductive addiction you have to music? Jaden rolled his eyes at the sound of his own voice. He tried to sound ingenuous , spouting the corporate script hed been trained to use, but hed never been especially adept at reciting Corporation policy. He tried to improve, but no matter what he did, his real personality always colored the words the wrong way and made them sound asinine .

Ive got a better idea, she said. Why dont you leave my mind alone and just tell my parents you fixed me? I promise Ill be good from now on. She batted her eyelashes.

Jaden glanced around the room suspiciously, then took a chance and blurted out, almost under his breath, Wait a minute, bro. When you came to me three weeks ago, all you wanted was to be cured of your addiction. You saw it as a liability . Which it is. Whats your problem now?

I am. The world is. I need Ally twirled in a circle, her arms outstretched, her azure miniskirt whipping up my music.

Jaden summoned all the forbearance he could muster . Hed never heard music himself, of course, but all addicts tended to beg to keep their vices when they were coerced into a splitting session. He knew he should be inured to the supplication and rationalization by now, but it still tried his patience.