The Bar Code Tattoo

Kayla’s friend, Amber Thorn, consoles Kayla after hearing the bad news about Kayla’s art school prospects. Amber then reveals her brand-new bar code tattoo; today is her 17th birthday, and everyone who is 17 or older has been getting the tattoos. Amber also got a floral design tattooed on her arm, and she suggests that Kayla could someday become a body artist. Kayla finds the bar codes disturbing, but Amber loves their convenience; the bar codes connect each person to a digital file “that constantly change[s] as [their] life change[s]” (16). Kayla skips school and heads to the mall to buy Amber a birthday gift. By this point, everyone uses their bar codes to pay for items, but minors like her still use e-cards. When Kayla returns home, an ambulance and several neighbors are crowded outside her house. Kayla learns that her father, Joseph, has died by suicide. Her mother, Ashley, blames the bar code tattoo. The obituary lists depression as the reason for Joseph’s death, alleging that his mental health worsened when he was passed over for a promotion at his job.

Kayla is cleaning her father’s bloodstains out of the bathtub when she has a waking vision. It is too brief to understand, but it is just the latest of several visions that she has recently begun experiencing. Kayla’s mom enters the bathroom and begins violently scrubbing at her own bar code tattoo as if it will eventually wash away. She has done this every day since Joseph’s death. Kayla steps outside for fresh air and greets her next-door neighbor, Gene. He works for Global-1, an “international affiliation of corporations and individual billionaires” (26). He complains about the increasingly difficult work conditions, which include frequent cuts in vacation time, health benefits, and overtime pay. As a Global-1 employee, Gene is required to train to administer the bar code tattoo. He believes the bar codes to be evil because many people try to get them removed for mysterious reasons. Kayla’s mom later reveals that before Joseph’s death, he was investigating restricted files on the bar codes.

When Kayla returns to school, she finds gum from Mfumbe taped to her locker. Amber attempts to give Kayla a bar code tattoo application because Kayla’s 17th birthday is in three weeks, but when Kayla refuses, Amber protests, saying that she doesn’t want Kayla to be like Mfumbe and his friends—a group of bar code haters led by a new student named Zekeal.

When Kayla and Amber pass Mfumbe and his clique (Allyson, August, Nedra, and Zekeal), Mfumbe asks Kayla to sign his group’s “Decode” petition. They are working with Senator David Young to place restrictions on bar code usage to protect personal privacy. Amber argues with Mfumbe, who claims that people have been “losing more freedoms and rights ever since” the implementation of the bar code system (37). He argues that even if the innocent feel they have nothing to hide, they have the right to travel without having their every movement tracked. Amber stalks off angrily when Kayla agrees to sign the petition.

When Kayla arrives at her World Literature class, she ignores the assigned reading assignment and instead reads KnotU2, the physical magazine that Allyson handed to her in the hallway. The magazine critiques Global-1, which owns practically the entire world—including the global food supply. Global-1 is run by the country’s president, Loudon Waters, who cares more about increasing his wealth than about protecting citizens’ rights and freedoms. The article warns that Global-1 knows everything about everyone; the bar code tattoo is the final step in solidifying Global-1’s control. After class, Kayla joins Zekeal and Mfumbe in distributing the magazine, but the football players become violent with them for expressing their views. As a result, the school principal prohibits the group from distributing copies of their magazine, limiting their right to free speech.

Kayla’s mom has been stealing heavy-duty tranquilizers from work; as time goes on, she becomes increasingly distant. On Kayla’s birthday, Amber calls. She filed Kayla’s bar code application without asking Kayla’s permission. When Amber offers to drive Kayla to get her tattoo, she tells Kayla about her parents, who are having issues with their bar codes. Banks rejected their application for a mortgage after scanning their bar codes, and they were unable to buy the home they wanted. Amber is unconcerned with the ordeal and hurries Kayla to the post office so that she can get her tattoo. Once there, Kayla has another brief but confusing vision and gets an ominous feeling. She rips herself from Amber’s grip and flees just before four gunshots go off inside the building.

An e-article is released after the incident, stating that a post office employee named Gene Drake was gunned down by Global-1 security after he began destroying bar code tattooing equipment and threatening customers. A witness claims, “Drake began to scream, ‘I am an artist, not a cattle brander.’ He then turned to the people […] and told them they’d be better off dead than tattooed” (61). Global-1 now wants to question Gene’s two roommates about stolen computer passwords that he had in his possession.

Two weeks have passed since the shooting. Amber’s family moved into the Route Nine Motor Inn, and her parents’ fighting is worse. Kayla’s mom has lost her job and continues to drink alcohol and take tranquilizers. Kayla has been job searching since she and her mother have no family savings, but no one will hire her because she does not have a bar code tattoo. Eventually, Kayla finds a job working at Artie’s Art, the store where she gets her art supplies. She is offered a lower wage because she doesn’t have the bar code tattoo, but she notices that Artie doesn’t have one either.

Kayla receives a call from a sobbing Amber, whose dad just got fired from his job. Amber’s family is moving across the country to live with her cousin, Emily. Amber isn’t allowed to stay with Kayla because of all her family members, her bar code is the only one that is accepted; her parents’ e-cards have also stopped working. When Amber leaves with her family, Kayla is overwhelmed with loneliness. Wanting to be around people, Kayla ventures to the warehouse district, which is popular for its nightclubs. However, a man begins to follow her.