It would take her a while to get home so River stopped in one of the cafes in the Under. It was dirty and the coffee was bad but after the day she had, it was a place to think. Her head was a total mess, it felt like each thought was flying around, inside her head and colliding. This coffee shop was a good distance from her home so she had only been a handful of times in the past. It was old and the lighting was terrible.  She found a table that looked clean enough and one where the chairs weren't broken. An older lady came and placed a grotty-looking mug in front of her and River thanked her with a coin.

She placed her head into her hands on the old wooden table and sighed. Looking around at the faces of the people around her she could see the struggle, the hardships; as if they were wearing a sign written across their foreheads. Her heart tugged deep inside her chest, she wished she could do more to help them. Some kind of fire was igniting inside her she couldn't just let this chance she had now in the Upper go to waste.

A tap on her arm woke her from her thoughts, she found it easy to get lost sometimes when its so quiet. It was a boy and he looked about the same age as her. His face was dirty but he was smiling with a white teethy grin. He started to sign but he wasn't great at it, maybe he was new to it she wondered.

Some people had refused to learn to sign and just lip read or just refused to communicate, that was the whole idea of them taking the sound away. A lesser quality of life, a tool of oppression to steal the voices of the working people. 

"Hard day? Me too. I just wanted to check if you were okay?" River smiled back at him and signed slowly. He had lovely golden curls that seemed to be neat even though the rest of his body was scruffy and full of dirt. His eyes were golden too just like his hair. River always noticed eyes and the little details about people. She could pick up on body language very quickly like her eyes were making up for losing sound.

"Thank you, you wouldn't even believe me if I told you what my day consisted of. Are you in the tunnels?" She waved her hands over her face as he had so much dirt all over him and laughed, she noticed a little badge he wore on his shoulder that she had never seen before with a V on it.

"Yes! I love it down there, I'm only a little dirtier than you. Is that oil?" River looked confused and then remembered she had been touching the oily parts all day and hadn't even looked in the mirror. The boy was curious about the uniform River was wearing, only the guards or management in the workhouses wore Blue uniforms.

"Oh yes I work on the machines, but I've worked the tunnels too. I used to love it down there, I imagined I might tunnel out of this place one day" They both found each other's eyes and laughed. River drank her last dregs of coffee pulling a face and then stood up to leave leaving the stranger with a smile.

"My name is Leo" He stood quickly signing his name. He noticed her eyes matched her blue uniform just a few shades lighter. 

"Nice to meet you Leo, mine is River" River left and she could see Leo smiling as she walked away.

Leo hoped he would see her again, the girl in Blue with matching blue eyes.

River laughed to herself as she walked home she was tired and she knew Jay would be waiting to hear everything about her day. He was already sitting waiting at her front door.

"River! Finally, I've been waiting for ages"  River gave him a goofy smile pulling a face as she opened the door.

"Ok let me make us a drink before you start and please start from the moment you left the door this morning" She laughed at her friend because he was so excited she could barely keep up with his signing it was so fast.

She flopped down on her chair and started at the beginning smiling at her friend.

River woke up in a panic, she must have dozed off at some point and Jay was gone. She quickly looked at the time and then her heart slowed down, she still had time to get ready. She needed a good wash to get the oil off and then prepare for the journey back up to the top. This was going to be a long few days.

Back in the large room with the machine, River had almost finished taking the parts out and making a plan to build them back together. Some of the parts were huge and heavy so she used a small lift and the even bigger parts she left inside the large machine. She would have to climb in to check the larger parts and make sure they were all still intact later.

The door creaked behind her and an older man with grey hair walked in slowly with a walking stick. He smiled at River and nodded his head.

"Well done, looks like you are making a good start"  He walked over to the desk area and sat down watching River.

" Hope I'm not bothering you, I love watching and I'm old and have nothing else to do while I wait for my Son"

River smiled back at the old man "Watch away" He laughed and looked at the blueprints. He squinted his eyes through his tiny round glasses at the end of his nose and rosey red cheeks.

"They don't make machines like this anymore, this one must be 80 odd years old" River walked over and joined the old man, he seemed like a gentle soul.

" 80 years old you say?" He laughed again, he seemed to laugh after everything he said. His laugh was contagious making River smile.

"Oh yes, I remember when I was about your age and they introduced these big machines especially the largest machine of all, the sound barrier. It's only in the next room you know?" his eyes widened as he pointed to the corridor off of the room they were in.

River couldn't believe how old this man was, he must have been close to 100 now.

" The sound barrier that blocks the sound in the Under? " He nodded his eyes seemed to catch sadness like it was in the air.

"Yes, that's the one. Nasty thing. I remember when they turned them on down there, I lost my dear June. She was sent down there with her family.

Awful times it was but it's what the leader of the government wanted, to protect this great city, they wouldn't even let me go with her even though I tried so hard to get down there to be with her. He was a terrible man that governor back then. I always thought about June and what her life would be like down there" River took a breath before she spoke

"I'm from down there" It almost came out as a whisper.

The old man looked at her for a moment in surprise "You are? Well, it's lovely to meet you. Wow, someone from where my June was sent. I never believed all those lies they told, not a single one" He had tears in his eyes as he talked about his June.

"My name is River" River smiled at the old man and held out her hand. He took it gently held onto it with both of his hands.

" River, what a beautiful name. My name is George. I think you will be the one to crack this puzzle, I have a feeling" He let go and then sat back, ready to watch again. River went back to work trying to ignore the old sweet man, but his story ran through her mind.

"Grandad! There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you" George looked up "You got me" He lifted his hands in the air as if he was being arrested.

River rolled her eyes as she saw Max.

"I have been keeping this lovely young lady, River, company" River laughed at George.

Max walked over and smiled at his grandad ruffling his hair or what was left of it. "I'm just glad I found you, Don't do that to me. I'm sorry if he's bothering you"

"He's no bother at all, it's been nice chatting" George got up slowly and held onto Max's arm

"Shall we? This one is just like me, River, nothing like his father" He winked at River as they left.

River's heart raced as she knew she had to go to see the machine next door the one that controlled the sound. She waited until the coast was clear and walked slowly to the next room. The room was even bigger with a huge black machine that took up most of the space.

River walked along to where it went down into the floor and hung over the large gap. It was a huge black hole, she couldn't see the bottom of it. Her hands ran along the cold metal as she walked around looking at the weapon that could take away so much from her people.

Anger grew inside her, emotions seemed to argue inside her body fighting to get to the surface. She wondered what other machines they had and how many cameras there were watching her people with.

She got on with her work trying to calm herself with some food she had taken back from the canteen but her mind was just so busy and the anger kept re-surfacing.

River sat looking out of the window and contemplated running, she could just go, no one was really watching her. But her heart tugged at the thought of leaving her people behind. Jay was like her family and his parents, they had practically raised her. She needed to be strong, she wouldn't settle for silence anymore, she would find a way out.

The day was over again and she had made small progress that Karen was happy about. River had reached the top of the stairs and wished the elevator could take her right down to the bottom floor and not stop at the 80th.

Stupid stairs.

She climbed down the stairs slowly reaching the bottom and exiting the doors. She looked up at the hustle and bustle of the Under and expected to hear sound for a moment, she stood there imagining the sounds clearly with a smile. Her eyes followed the bodies passing on old bikes and others running as they were working or heading home from a hard long day. The heat and smoke were just something you grew accustomed to.

She looked over at the bad coffee shop again and she caught a glimpse of the golden hair and dirty face. Leo was waving frantically at her with a big smile and excited eyes. River was shattered and just wanted to get home to bed, to sleep but something about this boy caught her curiosity, he was different and showed kindness. Down in the Under kindness was hard to find.

She walked over to his table and sat down, she noticed he already had a mug of coffee waiting for her. "Are you expecting someone?"

Leo smiled and signed back to River "You, I was waiting for you actually" Her eyes widened as she looked into his that were full and bright.

"Me? We only just met yesterday" He smiled again "Actually I have something to admit" River found it hard to understand him as he still hadn't quite got the signing down yet so she followed his lips as he spoke.

"I have an invite for you and was asked to find you, it was strange as I was only asked this morning after we had already met. He said to look for a young girl with blonde hair and a blue uniform leaving the Upper building stairs at the end of the work day" She looked at him intrigued

"An invite? Sounds a little strange" He looked around to make sure no one was looking and passed her a small envelope. It had the same symbol on it as Leo was wearing on his jacket.

"Don't read it here, wait till you are somewhere private," River thought this was all a bit strange but after the last few days nothing seemed to surprise her anymore.

She drank the bad coffee and pulled a face as she swallowed the last bit

"Is it that bad?"

River laughed expecting to hear herself but she couldn't hear anything but silence. These last two days were messing with her brain. She pulled herself together and answered Leo

"Actually, I have had really good coffee over the last couple of days so this is just a shock to the system and its cold"

"Sounds amazing I wish I would get good coffee at work, no chance in the tunnels" He seemed to look nervous all of a sudden "Can I walk you back?" River smiled again "I live quite a bit away from here, this is just my route to work, at the moment. I'm on the south end"

"Same for me, The tunnels are here in the North of the city but I am further South too" River stood and nodded at Leo.

They both walked next to each other trying to avoid the hustle as it flew past them. "Have you been signing long, Leo?" Leo stopped so he could concentrate better "No, maybe a year now. I'm newish still but getting there" River wondered why he would only just learn it now. Why hadn't he picked it up before, she didn't want to pry. 

"Well, this is me" Leo looked up at the buildings around Rivers area where she lived "Nice! Thanks for letting me walk with you River, I will look out for you" She thanked Leo and waved as she ran up her small block of apartments until she reached her front door.

She walked in, threw her uniform off and collapsed on her bed. Her eyes were so tired and her head pounded, she wished she could get up and open the window and just scream her head off into the distance.

The letter!

She quickly jumped up and searched for her uniform, the letter was in her trouser pocket.  Ripping it open carefully she fell back onto the bed.

River,

We have been watching you for some time now and want to invite you to meet with the group. We need more young people such as yourself if we want to make a change for the future.

Please find me waiting after your shift tomorrow outside the coffee house (Look for this logo) the cameras are watching you so be discreet.

River thought this letter sounded a bit creepy, they had been watching her? But surely if Leo was part of this group it was a group of working people that wanted better? She felt like she needed to give this a chance and see what they had to say, it couldn't hurt.