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scary.”
    “The one even said he feels bad for them. What the heck do you think that means? And what was all that business about being divided and Dante picking them for the winning team?”
    “Hmm. Maybe it just means they have to be up on the surface working all the time, and maybe he just felt bad because we’re all stuck down here.”
    “But what’s the winning team?”
    She laughed. “The chosen pioneers who first went out and colonized the land. We’ll join the team when we turn eighteen.”
    “I’m not so sure about that. It sounds pretty scandalous to me. He actually said we’ve been divided.”
    “There you go again.”
    “What?”
    “Analyzing something to death. You know you’re putting way too much thought into this, right? Look, the people they took up first have experience, are trained in a skill or profession. That’s why they chose the doctors, nurses, teachers, hunters, and so on. It’s how a society is built.”
    “That’s not the point. I hate that they insist on controlling everything .”
    “Yeah, that part sucks, but I guess they think it’s for everybody’s good. Besides, what can we do about it? We’re just teenagers.”
    “We revolt, that’s what!”
    “Ha-ha. Very funny. What are you, Joan of Arc or something?”
    “I’m not kidding. Maybe I was born to rebel.”
    “Well, you’d better keep that in check,” she joked.
    “I’ve got just enough rebel in me, and I’m one of the good guys. I want to fight for positive changes. I think we should get everyone together and have a big meeting, get everyone to sign a petition. I mean, we still have rights, don’t we?”
    “Yeah, but…well, I think Dante’s just passionate about the new start up there. He’s planned everything so carefully, thought about every single aspect. He wants this place to work.”
    I still didn’t trust Dante. He hadn’t even taken the time to explain everything. I didn’t want to accept his rules, even if everyone else conformed and followed him like sheep, never questioning anything he said or did. No one had informed us about the surface, and we weren’t prepared, yet no one seemed to be asking the questions I was. Why? Don’t they care? Are they too scared to ask, to demand some answers about our future? Why can’t we talk to those who have gone up before us? As the questions spun around my mind, I grew angrier and angrier. I was tired of being deceived by our leaders, tired of feeling like stupid livestock being herded to and fro on their whim. “So we just obey him and say nothing, ask nothing?” I asked. “Like good little sheep?”
    “Shh! You know as well as I do that people who say things like that end up…missing. Please stop talking that way. I can’t bear to lose you in some mysterious disappearance.”
    “Do you hear yourself? We shouldn’t have to keep our mouths shut. This is supposed to be a free society, and we should be able to voice our thoughts and opinions, to ask questions. If Dante insists on abducting everyone who dares to buck the system, what kind of leader is he? A tyrant, that’s what he is. We should start a revolution. Without followers, Dante wouldn’t achieve anything.”
    “Please stop. He has way too many minions, and—”
    Seeing how upset my friend was getting, I decided to tone it down a bit. “Don’t worry,” I interrupted. “I won’t say anything. I’ll keep my mouth shut, and I’ll only complain to you and Brett. At least Dante doesn’t have the place bugged like in all those spy movies we watch.”
    “True.”
    “Still, I can’t but help wonder what he’s up to.”
    “We all know Dante is a control freak. Everything has to be done his way. I don’t think it’s as sinister as you think. It’s just…his personality.”
    “When we do finally go up there, do you really want to live under his rule? It’s a big world, and he can’t control all of it. Some of us can just take off, get as far away as we possibly can. We’ll