Chapter 8

"Nea, are you sure this is a good idea? Following a note without even a signature, running away from our home?", Thomas asks as he watches his twin sister Linnea filling her pockets with anything she deems important. She picks up the rest of the candy they'd been given their birthday two weeks earlier, a spare pair of socks for each and the coins she's found lying around over the past few years.

"Sssh, they might be watching!", she hisses, waves him over to help her. He joins reluctantly, grabbing a small box where he keeps anything he thinks is worth something, and glances the clock that can be seen from a small crack in the one-way window. He frowns and throws himself on his bed.

"It's only six-thirty, Nea, we have hours. Couldn't we just rest instead?".

Linnea grunts and throws her pillow at him. "Rest? Now? No no no, I want to explore. There's a whole world outside and I know it's more than what the books tell us. Besides, we don't know how long it takes to get in the station. I don't want to miss our adventure".

Thomas sighs, rubs his head and throws the pillow back at her, following with his own pillow. "Fine!", he spurts out, "... fine. Let's just go before I change my mind". He scuffs to the Eastern door and tries pushing it. As it opens without resistance he startles a little, despite knowing that if the note's to be believed it's open.

Behind the door he finds a  long hallway and notices a sign that says 'EXIT' above the door at the other end and on the floor next to it a closed box of some kind. After he checks that there are no cameras in the hallway he steps into the hallway and walks briskly to the box. Inside he finds two brown t-shirts, two dark blue hoodies and two pairs of black jeans. He grabs the slightly bigger one of each set and gives them to his sister who appears behind him.

"Man, the one who gave us the note has no sense of style. Just look at these", she complains while putting them on. "They all can't wear this junk out there, can they?". Thomas says nothing, instead concentrating on putting on the clothes left in the box.

As Linnea closes her hoodie she notices an envelope on the bottom of the box. She grabs it, opens it carefully and smiles as she sees what's in it.

"Look at this, Tom, look what we got!", she yells, handing the envelope over to him. In it he finds two tram tickets and approximately one hundred dollars in various small notes.

"We're rich!".

Thomas frowns. "I doubt it. No one would leave enough money to make someone rich just lying around". Not caring about the grunt he gets as a response, he opens the door with the exit sign on top of it.

As soon as he steps out he's greeted with a gust of wind so strong it almost makes him fall on his back. He grabs his forearms as he feels the chill in the air, feeling an urge to turn back. Before he can act on it, Linnea firmly shuts the door.

"It's beautiful! There are so many people here, so many flashing lights, so many trees! I wasn't sure if they were real or if they were made up. But now, I can see them! Smell them! Feel them!". Linnea runs around, yelling like a child and taking it all in.

Thomas crouches, puts his hands on his ears and closes his ears. "Too much! This is too much! My ears hurt, my eyes hurt! Let's go back!", he screams and starts crying.

Linnea stops and squats next to him. "It's okay. Let's just find someplace quiet. A library, maybe, I read about those in a book". She gently grabs Thomas' hand and starts following the road until she sees a person walking towards them.

"I'll just ask him for directions, all right? It won't take long", she tells him and he nods. She runs to the man and asks: "Excuse me, is there a library nearby?".

"Yep, two blocks that way", the man points to his left, "but it's closed. What are you doing by yourselves at this hour?".

"Oh, okay. Is there any other place that's quiet and calming here, then?".

"Well, there's this one internet cafe on the other side of the road, it's relatively empty at this hour as most people who go there have already left for today".

"Thank you very much", Linnea thanks the man, rushing back to Thomas.

"I found us a place to go, follow me", she tells him and grabs his hand again. She turns towards the road and as soon as she  sees an opening between the cars driving by she starts running. She hears the man shouting something but doesn't hear what it is.

As they step inside the cafe they're greeted with a foul stink that makes them want to throw up. Linnea deems it to be good enough, as the lights are dim and there's no music anywhere. She checks the price list on top of the counter and decides that fifteen minutes is long enough to calm her brother down. She knocks on the counter to catch the cashier's attention.

"Excuse me, can we get... fifteen minutes?", she asks, unsure what exactly she's supposed to do. The man behind the counter glances at them. "Public or private?".

"Whichever's cheaper".

"Computer five, in the corner over there. five dollars, please".

She grabs a five-dollar-note from her pocket, gives it to the man and walks to the computer with Thomas. As they sit down she asks: "Do you know how to use this thing?". As she gets no answer she presses the big glowing button that seems like the power button. She startles as the monitor in front of her lights up. After finding no other way to interact with it she tries to move the mouse on her right side. She grows increasingly curious as she sees the arrow on the screen move every time she moves the mouse.

In ten minutes she manages to figure out how to use the browser and after finding a search engine she starts reading about computers on the most detailed website she manages to find.

Once she reaches the fifteen-minute mark a pop-up appears on the screen, saying 'you've used your time, please return to the cashier to continue where you left off or press the power button'. She gets up, goes to the cashier and asks: "How much for three hours?".

After paying half of what they got in the envelope she continues her journey on the internet, absorbing any information she manages to find.

"We should start going, Nea, or we're going to be late", Thomas tells her as the pop-up appears again. Linnea sighs, presses the power button and walks outside with Thomas. As soon as they get outside they see a tram with 'King's Town Station' on it. Luckily for them the driver notices them and waits just enough for them to get on. Once they figure out how to use the tickets they sit down and catch their breath.

"I can't wait what happens once we meet the guy who let us out. This is so exciting!". Linnea can barely hold back her excitement.

"I guess. This is really reckless, though, let's at least be careful", Thomas replies with a slight smile on his face.