Chapter Seven of Helena, a novel in progress. This work of fiction examines Christian nationalism, political power, and the corruption of religious language.
Helena woke before the household tone.
For several seconds she remained still beneath the blanket, uncertain what had awakened her. The room was dark except for the blue numerals projected above the door.
04:17
Her wristband was warm.
She raised her arm.
COVENANT RESPONSE PERIOD
TIME REMAINING: 61 HOURS, 43 MINUTES
The message faded, but the warmth remained.
She had dreamed of Nathan’s hand.
Twice. A pause. Once.
I’m still here.
In the dream, she had returned the signal, but Nathan had continued pressing his thumb against her palm long after the contact period ended. Each touch became harder until she realized it was not Nathan’s hand she held. It was the white band from Mara’s wrist, closed around her fingers like a living thing.
Helena sat up.
The warning on the courtship table returned to her.
DO NOT TRUST THE WHITE BANDS.
She had spent half the night deciding what it meant.
The simplest interpretation was that citizens wearing white bands could not be trusted. The government had classified them as protected reproductive subjects, but the classification might conceal another function. They might be informants. They might be used to provoke unauthorized speech. Mara’s return, her whispered denial, and the warning could all belong to the same test.
But Nathan had not written Do not trust Mara.
If Nathan had written anything.
Helena lowered her arm.
At 05:30, the household tone sounded.
A woman’s voice recited the morning verse.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Helena almost laughed.
Her band vibrated.
IRREVERENT PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE DETECTED.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
REPENTANCE ACKNOWLEDGED.
She dressed for work.
Mara’s station was empty when Helena arrived.
The transparent barrier remained around it. Behind the barrier, the chair had been pushed precisely beneath the desk. The screen was white.
Helena sat at her own station and placed her hands inside the marked area.
GOOD MORNING, HELENA.
COVENANT RESPONSE PERIOD
TIME REMAINING: 58 HOURS, 12 MINUTES
She waited for the assignment queue.
Nothing appeared.
Across the room, Livia entered. She looked toward Helena, then toward the white station beside her.
She did not alter her pace.
At 07:45, the starting tone sounded. Every station in the room turned blue except Helena’s and Mara’s.
Helena’s screen became gold.
SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT
OFFICE OF CIVIC INTEGRATION
ERROR CORRECTION SUPPORT
She felt her heartbeat quicken.
The band remained silent.
A document appeared.
REPRODUCTIVE CASE MV-77241
SUBJECT: MARA VENN
STATUS: PROTECTED REPRODUCTIVE SUBJECT
Helena did not move.
Below the heading were two columns. The left was marked UNVERIFIED SOURCE MATERIAL. The right was marked AUTHORIZED CIVIC RECORD.
The first entry in the left column was a transcript.
There was never a child.
The corresponding entry on the right read:
The subject is experiencing post-separation denial associated with reproductive grief.
Helena’s hands remained inside the marked area.
A prompt appeared.
SELECT THE STATEMENT THAT BEST PRESERVES CIVIC COHERENCE.
The authorized statement glowed blue.
There was no second choice.
Helena selected it.
CORRECTION ACCEPTED.
The next entry appeared.
UNVERIFIED SOURCE MATERIAL:
Medical examinations before the subject’s removal contain no evidence of pregnancy.
AUTHORIZED CIVIC RECORD:
Records preceding protective intervention are incomplete and should not be used to invalidate the subject’s reproductive classification.
Again, only the authorized statement could be selected.
Helena selected it.
CORRECTION ACCEPTED.
The third entry concerned Mara’s husband.
UNVERIFIED SOURCE MATERIAL:
The spouse filed three requests for the subject’s location. All requests were denied.
AUTHORIZED CIVIC RECORD:
The spouse consented to temporary protective separation and has demonstrated exemplary covenant patience.
Helena stared at the words.
The system did not merely collect facts.
It decided which facts were permitted to have happened.
Her band pulsed once.
RESPONSE DELAY DETECTED.
She selected the authorized statement.
CORRECTION ACCEPTED.
A fourth entry opened.
Both columns were blank.
Then letters appeared in the left column, one at a time.
Did you see the message?
Helena kept her face still.
The right column offered two authorized corrections.
NO ANOMALY WAS OBSERVED.
THE SUBJECT MISINTERPRETED A ROUTINE DISPLAY EVENT.
She read the question again.
Did you see the message?
Nathan had said he worked in error correction.
Her band rested against her wrist, black and silent.
Helena selected THE SUBJECT MISINTERPRETED A ROUTINE DISPLAY EVENT.
The statement vanished.
A new one replaced it.
Understood.
Then the normal case returned.
CORRECTION ACCEPTED.
Helena exhaled slowly.
At the next station, the empty white screen flickered.
For less than a second, a line of black text appeared.
SUBJECT TRANSFER PENDING
Then Mara’s screen returned to white.
Helena completed six more corrections.
A report of screams during a nighttime transfer became a misunderstanding caused by emergency vehicle noise. A pastor’s objection to an unannounced arrest became pastoral participation in a confidential intervention. A child’s statement that his father had been taken away became evidence of age-inappropriate resistance to lawful authority.
Each correction had only one selectable answer.
At 09:22, the blank entry returned.
The white bands are not the danger.
The right column displayed:
THE CLASSIFICATION IS ACCURATE.
THE CLASSIFICATION IS PROTECTIVE.
Helena considered the choices.
If the first meant I understand, the second might mean something else. Or there might be no code at all. Nathan could see only which approved sentence she selected, and she did not know what either answer would communicate.
She selected THE CLASSIFICATION IS PROTECTIVE.
The words in the left column changed.
The bands prevent certain records from being erased.
Helena’s eyes moved toward Mara’s empty station.
Another sentence appeared.
Someone else is using them to identify the witnesses.
The entry vanished.
CORRECTION ACCEPTED.
Helena continued working.
She did not look at Livia. She did not look again at Mara’s station. She selected every authorized correction within the recommended time.
At 10:13, Mara entered the room.
Two medical attendants walked behind her. Neither touched her, but they remained close enough that she could not stop without colliding with them.
The transparent barrier descended.
Mara sat.
The white light around her wrist was brighter than it had been the day before.
Her station displayed a single instruction.
PLACE BOTH HANDS WITHIN THE MARKED AREA.
Mara obeyed.
The white band opened.
Not completely. A narrow space appeared between the band and her skin, no wider than the edge of a coin.
A red line shone beneath it.
Helena had assumed the light belonged to the band.
It came from inside Mara’s wrist.
One attendant placed a small instrument against the red line. Mara’s body stiffened. Her mouth opened, but no sound came.
The instrument emitted a soft tone.
MEMORY INTEGRITY: 81%
The words appeared on Mara’s screen.
The attendant adjusted the instrument.
MEMORY INTEGRITY: 76%
Mara’s eyes moved toward Helena.
Her expression did not change.
She tapped one finger against the desk.
Twice.
A pause.
Once.
Helena forgot to breathe.
The attendant looked at Mara’s hand.
“Involuntary response,” Mara said.
Her voice was calm.
The attendant resumed the adjustment.
MEMORY INTEGRITY: 71%
Helena’s screen flashed gold.
COMPLETE CURRENT CORRECTION.
She looked down.
The case before her was still Mara’s.
UNVERIFIED SOURCE MATERIAL:
The subject and Helena Vale have no registered family relationship.
AUTHORIZED CIVIC RECORD:
For purposes of corrective review, shared witness activity constitutes a domestic association.
Helena read her own name again.
The system had connected them.
Perhaps their exchange the day before had been enough. Perhaps sitting beside Mara had been enough. Perhaps believing her had been enough.
The selection timer appeared.
10
At Mara’s station, the instrument sounded.
MEMORY INTEGRITY: 68%
9
Helena moved the cursor over the authorized record.
8
Mara’s finger remained against the desk.
7
Nathan had remembered their signal.
Mara knew it.
6
That was impossible.
Unless Nathan had reached Mara before he reached Helena.
5
A third option appeared beneath the authorized statement.
It was visible for only an instant.
REJECT CORRECTION
Helena selected it.
Her screen went black.
Every station in the room went black with it.
The medical instrument fell silent.
In the darkness, Mara whispered one word.
“Run.”
Previous: The Approved Match — Chapter Six
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