Interface

by Matt James

  Three

  Over the next few months Laurena continued to seek out Jerry in the Social Hub. Their conversations grew more complex as Jerry began to learn the art of debate. Near the end of their time together, Laurena even suspected that Jerry had begun to question the nature of his entire existence and whether his assumption that the Interface was the only life possible was not entirely true or right. Those conversations, however, ended abruptly one day when Laurena learnt that Jerry had passed away whilst connected to the Interface. She was told by another man that the last thing that Jerry had posed to the machine was an odd thing: what does it mean to learn?

  The question - the same question she had once asked - stayed with Laurena for weeks as she felt the loss tug at her heart. He had begun to understand, to realise that the Interface was not the only way forward; that it represented a wasted life instead of one of achievement, curiosity and wonder. All of which, Laurena believed, were essential elements for living. If Jerry - a man who had spent his entire life connected to the machine - could begin to grow into something more, could not the others if given the chance? It was on the ninth day after Jerry's passing that Laurena decided she should make a stand. She would destroy the machine and free humanity from its captivity.

  The first thing that she needed to work out was a way around the citadel guards. She surmised that such a thing was not all that difficult as it at first seemed. The guards were there more out of tradition than necessity. Who, after all could even think of sneaking past the guards, let alone do it. Who, for that matter, would want to?

  Laurena came up with a simple strategy to draw the guards away from the entrance by setting up a small fire at the other end of the street that led to the gate. The distraction would grant her enough time to sneak past the guards and to slip behind the citadel walls. From there progress would be relatively straightforward. Although Laurena didn't know much about the layout of the citadel she had learnt where the Local Interface Hub was housed through a basic query to the Interface many years earlier. Back then she had simply been curious, now the knowledge (and the fact that she was able to learn that knowledge) was critical.

  Another seemingly useless piece of information that she had learnt from the Interface many years before was how simple bombs had been made in the primitive ages long before humanity had reached for the stars. That question might have seemed odd to have asked but back then the query had just been one of many ‘lessons’ Laurena had applied to herself. If she could learn the ingredients and work out how they were put together then this would be proof that she had learnt something, rather than simply receive the information only to discard it shortly afterwards to be left forgotten and untraceable in her memory rather than recallable from her subconscious. The ingredients that she needed were readily available and it did not take her long to construct several makeshift explosives.

  So the day arrived when Laurena Tyall would do something that no human had done for generations: she would make a difference. That morning, soon after she had woken up in her dingy out-of-town makeshift home, she stared up toward the shining towers of the citadel for what might be the last time. The sun, as was often the case, was shrouded by dust particles high up in the atmosphere. The day was grey and cloudy but this did not stop the few rays of light that had broken through from reflecting in a hundred colours across the thin line of the central citadel column. It was that column that Laurena proposed to destroy.

  Walking with purpose through the empty inter-connected streets of Kar'mot that joined together the various Social Hubs with the numerous lines of houses, Laurena couldn't help but peer into the windows and see the silent and very still shapes of men and women connected to the Interface. Their unmoving bodies were almost frightening to her now. They each appeared so completely isolated, fragile and exposed. At this early hour very few, if any, would remain unconnected so it came as no surprise to Laurena to see these frozen people at every turn she made. One or two had not even bothered to clothe themselves or hide their naked bodies from view of the streets. Why bother, Laurena thought? Who was there to see? Who would care? What did nakedness even matter in a society living almost all of its time in fantasy worlds? Indeed, what amazed her more was the fact that humans still bothered to dress at all when they entered the Social Hubs. After all, many of the virtual worlds delved deep into human sexual desires leaving any decorum and modesty far behind. Why did it still matter to them in the real world? Laurena had no answer.

  Continuing onwards Laurena finally came up to the edge of the citadel walls. The Citadel of NuMort rose above her and she could smell quite strongly now the alluring scent of sweet honeysuckle (or something very similar) drawing out of the vents. She crept along the wall edge until she reached the street that led to the gate and thus the guards that she so very much wanted to avoid.

  It was at this point that her entire plan fell apart.

  "You, stop there. Don't move" a shadowy figure shouted at her from behind. Laurena froze, not so much because she had been told to do so, but because her brain couldn't quite figure out what to tell her body to do next.

  "What are you doing around here at this time of the morning? Shouldn't you be connected?" the guard said disparagingly. This surprised Laurena somewhat; she had never imagined that the Learners might despise the people for their reliance on the Interface.

  "No. I…I mean, no…yes…I mean yes, of course" she spluttered, unconvincingly it seemed, for the guard moved closer, twisting around her and facing her head on. He did so at a much swifter rate than Laurena had ever seen any human move. Now that she saw him up close Laurena noticed how slim the man was, slimmer than anyone in Kar'mot. His muscles were more defined as well, as were the features of his face. His eyes were sharp, almost luminous and most certainly piercing. His lips contorted into a rough growl of a mouth. She couldn't explain why she thought what she thought next but Laurena instinctually felt that this man was healthier and more alive than anyone connected to the Interface.

  After a moment, the guard signalled for Laurena to remove her bag from her side so that he could look in it. When she didn’t move, he forced the issue, lightly lifting the strapped cover off until he could see the makeshift bombs. He looked shocked, not unsurprisingly. Laurena could feel the sweat building on her forehead – running down the sides of her face and getting in the way of her vision.

  "Let me have a look at you" the guard said suddenly shifting his balance and thrusting his hand out to move Laurena's hair away from her neck. Laurena yelped but barely moved.

  "You've removed it? You have haven't you?" he pulled back. Laurena saw puzzlement and surprise in the guard's penetrating eyes. "I've never seen the like!" he whispered, barely audibly. Then the guard's voice changed to a clearer and more pronounced speech as if he wasn't even talking to her any more but someone else entirely.

  "Control. We have a stray here - no socket. What should I do?" he said, then nodded as if he had received an instruction.

  "Okay, you. Come with me!"

  Laurena backed away, cowering as the signal from her brain finally gave her limbs movement again. She didn't know what to do, but what she did realise was that the guard had very much trapped her making any escape difficult. Asides, Laurena thought, she probably couldn't out run the man however hard she tried. The guard quickly removed the bag from her shoulder – tucking it under his own arm - and then turned her around.

  "Where are we going?" she managed to blurt out, timidly, afraid. The guard smiled.

  "The Citadel of course. Welcome to NuMort"