Page 37 of The Art of Exiley

The room is lit with the blue glow of many monitors and blinking lights. It reminds me of Izzy’s room, which adds one more pang to my generally miserable mood.

Georgie settles into a cushioned swivel chair and sweeps blond and purple tendrils out of her face as she begins clicking around on one of the screens. “It took some convincing, but Headmaster Bloche caved and let me have my setup here. My plan is to eventually get the Cipher guild on board with computer science.”

“Ciphers? They’re mathematicians and engineers, right?” She nods. “But aren’t you an Artisan?” Georgie wears an amethyst guildstone.

“Yes, but only because the Ciphers wouldn’t accept me. The Artisans are a good fit, but I was pretty bummed when the Ciphers turned me down.”

“I don’t get it; it seems like you’re perfect Cipher material.” I motion to all the computer stuff that surrounds us.

“It’s different here. They don’t understand computers. They didn’t let me submit any of my code for my gallerie, and I didn’t have any experience with their styles of engineering. The Makers’ technology evolved completely differently than the provincials’, and a lot of it is dependent on Sire abilities and Ha’i manipulation.”

Georgie pronounces “Ha’i” like “hai” instead of from the back of her throat, which I know from experience can be tough to get used to if you didn’t grow up with it.

She continues. “They use artificial nervous systems for high-levelcomputing and genetic sequencing. But virtual reality, machine learning, the internet—they don’t have anything like that here. And they have this weird misconception that anything the provincials do must be inefficient or immoral in some way. But I intend to show them how computer science could advance this world even further.” Her eyes are bright with intensity. “In the meantime, I also really love clothing design.”

Ah. That explains the bolts of fabric in the corner and the mannequin in a scandalous state of half dress.

“So… do you have an internet connection?” I ask, cautiously optimistic.

“Yup. It’s satellite, and pinged through a bunch of other locations, so it can be slow, but it’s the good ol’ internet.”

Hallelujah! I cannot believe my luck. “Can I use it sometime?”

“Why do you think I brought you in here? You said you wanted to talk to your family. There’s no network for me to connect your phone, but I can set up a video call for you on my computer.” She clicks open the necessary window. “Just don’t tell anyone. The Makers don’t want me spreading ‘provincial trash’ around. And they’re scared the internet could lead people here. They’re not wrong, but I’m good enough to hide the signals to prevent that from happening.”

“So anything I say will stay private?”

Georgie laughs at this. “Even if there were someone on this island who understood how the internet works, they wouldn’t be able to get past my encryption. There are government agencies that can’t do that.” She grabs a sketchbook and bright pink headphones. “And you don’t have to worry about me.” She slides the headphones on. “I have a new album drop to listen to and a dress to design. Take your time!” She waltzes out of her room and closes the door.

When Kor answers my call and his smiling, surprised face fills Georgie’s screen, the anxiety whooshes out of me like an unpinched balloon.

“This is a secure connection,” I say.

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.” I feel the muscles of my face soften as the need for any artifice melts away.

“Wow, that was quick. I guess you’re pretty good at this.” He winks.

It’s nice to let him believe that for a moment.

“It’s not actually going that well,” I say.

“Why? What happened?” His brows scrunch with worry, but whether his concern is for me or for a possible wrinkle in his plan is anyone’s guess.

“The whole island is on high alert because of the Sire abductions. There are extra guards, and since I’m an outsider, people already distrust me.”

“Have you gotten into any trouble?”

“Well, not exactly, but—”

“Good. Why don’t you start by telling me what you’ve learned.”

We’re on borrowed time, so I try not to be too annoyed that he’s getting straight to business. I tell him about the Atlas and as much as I can about Arcadia. When I bring up the other school in Avant, he informs me that the Families know about Avant because it’s where Prometheus is from.

“We targeted Genesis for infiltration instead since Avant has a stronger military presence.”

“And do you know anything about the Misty Isles?” I ask. I’ve already heard these mysterious islands referenced more than once.

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