I watched the girl run.

I had a brilliant view from atop a hot rock, in the burning Zone Sun. She was wearing a helmet, jeans, and some sort of jacket.

Very strange. I watched her run across the scrubby desert, picking her way between low, dry bushes. I wondered if she was hot.

Stupid. She should be with her mother. She should be in school, not running all over the desert in that stuff.

I watched her reach a dusty road, just a mirage in the distance. Maybe there was a car waiting there.

It's very hot out here.

I lay back, on my sun-warmed rock, gazing up at the perfect blue of the sky. Blue, like my name. Faith Blueman.

It's unnatural I thought. Sky shouldn't be that blue. Then I reminded myself I shouldn't care, and tried to bury the thought. Closing my eyes, I imagined I could float off into a sea of nothingness.

It didn't work. Like the pills.

I thought idly about my own mother. Would she miss me? Probably not, if she'd taken her morning medication. Plus a couple of those blasted pills.

She wouldn't worry. And why you care if she did? She isn't worrying about you. Anyway, that's care. It's an emotion. It slows you down.

The eternal question, that not even BL/ind could answer. I smiled. They had an answer for everything, except me. I wondered that they hadn't locked me away, done more stringent tests, kept me away from the public, who might start asking questions. Kept me a secret. Maybe even killed me. The aberration.

After all, if one person could be naturally resistant, maybe others could. It gave Hope. Another emotion I couldn't afford.

I spread-eagled myself on the rock. It was hot. Furnace hot. I wanted to just lie there for a long time. Maybe if I lie here long enough it'll set me on fire. Get rid of me the easy way. No great loss.

Perhaps I should. After all, once you'd been out to the Zones, unless you were a Better Living employee, you never came back. There was no future for me back in Battery, and little going for me out here either. The heat soaked through all my pores, set my face on fire and seared my back. Just let me burn. Burn me up.

It didn't. Instead a shadow fell across my face and body.

I opened my eyes. I couldn't see his face – the sun was in my eyes – he was just a shadow. So I scrambled to my feet and looked at him properly.

My first thought was of a lion. He had a very feline face, blonde hair brushed back and a bright yellow top. He was regarding me with suspicion.

My mind raced. Who is this guy? I swore he was familiar.

"I haven't seen you before. Are you new out here?"

"Why does it matter to you?" I fired back, instantly on the defensive. Almost immediately I cursed myself for getting angry. Yet another useless emotion

"Got a name?"

"Erm, if I have, I wouldn't tell you." I was acutely aware that he must know I didn't belong. My standard issue clothes all screamed BATTERY CITY louder than a megaphone on top of the Industry building in the centre of the city.

"Are you BL/ind, then?" His voice became suspicious, almost menacing, as he took a step towards me. He said the name like a swearword, pronouncing it 'blind.' "Are you Battery City? Are you taking a peek for your little Drac friends? Well? Are you?"

Sudden fury flared up, I was unable to control myself. "Don't judge me! Don't even try and tell me who I am!"

Looking for an escape route, I glanced over my shoulder at the drop behind me. About twenty feet. Easy.

I jumped as he pulled a laser gun. "Woa, hang on a sec!" I didn't even try and bury the fear that rose up.

I took a few steps back, and felt my shoe slip over the edge of the rock.

"I'm gonna make sure you can't report anything to your friends," he snarled.

"If I was reporting to anyone," I said, feeling a wash of calm settle over me, "You'd have to catch me if you wanted to stop me."

Then I gathered my body into a tight ball and flipped up and backwards over the edge of the rock.

Twisting so I landed facing forward, I rolled, leapt up, and copied the girl in the helmet.

I ran.