The Afterlife of Alice Watkins 1

by Matilda Scotney

  Councilman Chen, the pilot, fitted pleasantly into the role of proud tour guide, flying the shuttle around the station so she could see it from all angles. It was big, bigger than any machine Alice had ever imagined and shone like silver in the light reflected from Saturn. Not at all like the bleak and dark experience of space Alice had expected and Dr Grossmith was right, anxiety gave way to awe as the shuttle moved to a distance where Alice had a complete view of the station.

  Within a graceful form not unlike a wind spinner, the station had a central solid core and a platform around the lower third. The exterior reminded her of Steven’s gyroscope toy from when he was little, which made shapes like this. On the platform, a ship, bigger than the shuttle, glowed blue; a supply ship preparing to leave Councilman Chen told her, enjoying imparting his knowledge to someone he was sure, knew nothing of space.

  He spoke with much enthusiasm about the use of minerals found in the icy rings of Saturn, their composition and importance in engineering and medicine. Alice heard about asteroids and black holes and the technology that advanced space travel. He pointed out a few of the moons of Saturn and named them all. His narrative, though informative and knowledgeable, was lost on Alice, but she didn’t care, the sheer scope of a project that could create a place to live in space enthralled her.

  After they thanked and farewelled Councilman Chen, an animated Alice chattered about the tour with Dr Grossmith all the way back to her quarters. Once inside, after Kelly made them coffee, Alice recounted the whole experience again, missing out the big words which Dr Grossmith kindly inserted for her and after Alice had managed to bring her excitement under control, he produced a tiny tube from his pocket.

  “I’m going to place this little chip here, Alice,” Dr Grossmith indicated to a spot on the inside of her arm.

  “Will it hurt?”

  “No, but it will clear away the fogginess you suffer at times and help make sense of much of what you heard today. This chip, an Eduction chip, will help you to absorb information and bring clarity. We use them often, they’re harmless and biodegradable. You are keen to learn, your experience today has shown that, let’s make sure you are given all opportunities.”

  He put the point of the tube on her skin and a little dot appeared.

  “There. Now, when the Eduction chip kicks in, we can expect lots of questions.”

  Alice’s high spirits over her amazing morning out on the shuttle were settling and as Dr Grossmith left, a curious sense of gloom descended, a kind of anticlimax. Her bursts of bravado and confidence were more sustained now but in the last two days, she was aware of tears being close to the surface, perhaps due to a realisation this wasn’t a dream and the knowledge that soon, she was to leave this place. Kelly sensed her mood and lay on the bed beside her and held her as she cried.

  Alice had hoped Kelly might go with her to Earth and the coming separation was disquieting for Alice. She knew everyone acted in her best interests; that was one constant in her real life and this dream; she always did as she was told.

  On Earth, her experiences might be as strange as her experiences here, so she decided she must learn as much as she could. To do that, she must persevere in learning how to use the registry. Alice discovered a child’s lesson program, too advanced for her and worked on the assumption the user already knew something of Earth’s society. Alice cried to Kelly that the Eduction chip wasn’t working and, faced with her frustration, Kelly explained that while the chip would help Alice prepare questions concisely and aid retention of knowledge, it wouldn’t stop her being impatient.

  “Once those questions are answered, Alice,” she said. “Once the information is received in here,” she tapped Alice gently on the head, “loud and clear, the chip allows rapid extraction from your memory engrams. But it doesn’t happen overnight.”

  Alice understood. The chip wouldn’t do all the work, so she selected a few words and phrases and later, tried them out on Kelly so she could explain them in a language Alice understood. On the evening of her trip to the outside, she sat at the registry.

  “What are the Loyalties, Kelly?”

  “That’s where most of the population live.”

  “And the Calamities?”

  “Those who don’t conform to social conventions live there.”

  “Where will I live?”

  “That will be Principal Katya’s decision.”

  The image of a lady, perhaps a little older than Alice, around 70 or so, showed on the registry screen. She had white hair and looked sprightly and efficient. Principal Katya.

  “Is she special?” Alice liked the look of her.

  “Yes, she is World Principal, each principality, countries in your time, has a principal. Each starship has a principal. Each station has a principal.”

  “Like Principal Hardy?”

  “Yes, that’s right.”

  “Do they live normal lives, have wives, husbands and children?”

  “Of course, but starship principals and crew tend towards a single life. Principal Katya isn’t military, but she is unmarried.”

  Alice mostly understood. Principals get married and do what normal people do but they’re like royalty.

  “What about people who aren’t principals?”

  “They live, love, marry and have children too. We are all given wonderful and varied opportunities.”

  “Did the plague kill lots of people?”

  “Yes, it took 2/3 of the world’s population over its three waves. It didn’t discriminate.”

  “How could the world recover?”

  “It didn’t take them all at once, Alice. People were born during and between waves. The plague started in 2026 and each wave lasted around six years before subsiding. There were still deaths from other diseases apart from the plague. It’s a long time ago, centuries.”

  2026, Alice paused. That would be in her lifetime and the kids and grandkids. It would affect them. She thought of Eliza’s asthma, Marianne caught lots of colds, then there were the twins, Jack and Peter, and little Toby and the new baby. Steven hadn’t married, choosing instead to work and build up wealth. That might have been a blessing if this plague was going to happen.

  “Store up your questions,” Kelly said. “I understand an educator is to be assigned. You’ll receive lots of answers, but then you’ll discover more questions.”

  But Alice felt a twinge of uncharacteristic curiosity. There were a lot of questions rattling around inside her head. If only, when she asked them, the answers made sense. She needed to navigate the complexities and gain a deeper understanding but by the next day, 24 hours after receiving the chip and mulling over what she had learned, she found the fog clearing, just as Dr Grossmith promised.

  Alice hadn’t been given any definite time for when she would be leaving. In the meantime, she stayed with her routines and did her best not to think too much about the changes to come. She still slept well and her few tears at night had almost ceased. Although now entirely independent of Kelly, she was still relieved when Principal Hardy told her Kelly could stay until a date for Alice’s departure was decided.

  Most mornings, she had breakfast with Dr Grossmith, who answered her questions, usually of a general nature, comprising such everyday information as what people ate on Earth, did they still have cows, etc.? He held a secret disappointment the questions were not more complex, given the insertion of the Eduction chip, but at least she was learning.

  The questions of her origins were not explored again, and he asked himself once or twice whether he cared if she rediscovered herself. He’d discussed this with Abel Hardy and they were of the opinion it didn’t matter one jot if she remained Alice Watkins and never recovered her memories, because she would have every opportunity to fulfil any potential.

  Dr Grossmith researched the term, ‘housewife’ Alice used to describe herself, and the modern explanation, ‘a married servant in ancient times, used for reproduction and domestic duties’ horrified him and he couldn’t envision
Alice in that role. He was pleasantly surprised when, at breakfast one morning, she asked him a sensible question. She had been on a foray into the education programs.

  “The A’khet, Dr Grossmith. What do you know about them?”

  “They’re rumoured to have been on Earth for centuries, Alice. The A’khet themselves are vague about when they arrived but without their help in rebuilding, the effects of the last wave of plague may have seen the end of humankind as we know it. Later, the A’khet gave us the ability to travel in space.”

  “What do they look like? I’ve only seen humans here on the station. Are they green?”

  “No!” he laughed, “they’re humanoid, shorter than us and telepathic. They communicate through touch, but they can speak if needed. They are a gentle species with a philosophy that every event is guided according to the will of a higher power.”

  “Like God?”

  “Well, I can’t say, I’m not a follower of religious doctrine but A’khet believes the universe is, at all times, subject to an unknown, unseen great and mysterious authority.”

  They were in space, there had to be aliens. Alice didn’t really believe in gods or aliens.

  “Are there many of them on Earth?”

  “A number, no-one knows how many, but you needn’t be afraid of them.”

  But to Alice, many things were alien to her, she had become accustomed to different food, different drinks, technology and, from what the registry showed her, species of plants on Earth she had never seen in her lifetime, but there were no pictures of the A’khet and she hoped she wouldn’t ever have to meet one.

  “What sort of people live in the Calamities?”

  “Anyone entering into a marriage which doesn’t conform to our society’s conventions.”

  “I saw that on the registry. I couldn’t make head nor tail of it. How do you determine what is outside your conventions?”

  “Homosexual marriages, mixed race and other marriages where the scale has been disregarded.”

  Alice wished she hadn’t asked. She might be brighter with this chip in her arm, but she still got easily embarrassed by certain words.

  “What’s wrong with a mixed-race marriage? Where I come from, they happen all the time.”

  “Not in our society, Alice. We take a different standpoint on such things. Marriage between a male and female of the same ethnic origin, from a similar cultural and educational background, preserves culture and ethnicity. Marriage between those of the same sex cannot produce a child. We consider their union unnatural, so a couple choosing this path is assigned to the Calamities.”

  “But if they aren’t hurting anyone,” Alice suggested. She hadn’t had opinions on this subject before, but these methods sounded a little harsh.

  “The world has changed in the last 400 years, Alice. Around the time you were born, it was in a precarious state and for the 100 or so years before your birth, some world religions actively demonstrated against what they saw as globalised moral decay. Others took the view, for society to grow, it was essential to be more inclusive of minority groups such as homosexuals. The government didn’t separate church and state and eventually, anarchy reigned. At times, I’m surprised humanity survived.”

  “I’m not,” Alice said.

  “You aren’t?” Progress. Communication. Debate. She’s thinking. He inclined his head to show his interest in her opinion.

  “No, humankind has managed to recover from a whole variety of disasters. It’s in our nature to survive. You can’t blame people who thought differently, for the government’s failures.”

  “Well, put that way I am inclined to agree, Alice. According to his notes, your uncle believed the world to be in a parlous state and removed himself from it. Where he removed himself to, we have no idea. I’m not sure he shared your faith in human nature.”

  “Do you know, Dr Grossmith, everyone refers to him as ‘your uncle’. Would you believe no-one has ever said his name? I couldn’t look him up on the registry because I didn’t know it, so I tried checking the Sleeping Beauty Phenomenon, I thought it would be there, but the registry denied me access.”

  “His name was Martin Watkins.”

  Her name. Alice thought it over. But as always, didn’t react.

  “How did you find out his name?”

  “From the records in the chamber. We don’t know his full credentials, though we were able to glean limited information from history. He graduated high school at 14 and studied physics at university but the trail ends there, so we haven’t been able to work out his interest in human preservation techniques. We can only gather he had significantly advanced scientific ability from a young age. A university in his homeland makes mention of him taking a lecturing post around 2090 but it seems he disappeared around that time.”

  “Obviously, he didn’t disappear altogether, Dr Grossmith, if he preserved me in the fluid.”

  “Clearly, he didn’t vanish completely, because you and he found each other. We believe he raised you after you were orphaned in 2103, beyond that, information is scant, and we certainly don’t know why he left you and the tissue samples buried in rock. It was luck they found you, Alice, but we don’t know what became of him,” Dr Grossmith concluded, shaking his head.

  “He has the same name as me, but you still say I’m Alexis Langley.”

  “We know you are Alexis Langley, that is irrefutable, and we know that you are related to him, not only by his references to you as ‘niece’ in the recordings he left but because you are his sister’s daughter and your birth can be traced, unfortunately, records extending further back can be unreliable. He also refers to you as Alexis. That’s why we believe you have somehow integrated his name, Watkins into your own memory and made it your own. Alice is not dissimilar to Alexis and perhaps the ‘x’ is silent.”

  To his surprise, she asked for no further information about her time in the chamber, nor her family, only held his gaze for a moment before sighing, a sigh which he took as a sign she found his explanation once again, too fantastic.

  “You were telling me about the Calamities.” Alice returned to questions about the society she would soon join.

  “Most principalities have them for any couple who wishes to engage in an unholy alliance. In the Calamities, they can do so without affecting normal society.”

  “Unholy?” What an awful adjective. Alice frowned.

  “It’s just a word, Alice,” he assured her, “with possibly a different meaning today than in your time. It’s not religious nor associated with any deity. To us, it means a marriage or partnership that does not conform to societal norms.”

  “What about disabled children?”

  “There aren’t any. No-one can be born with a disability.”

  Alice didn’t need the Eduction chip to understand the implications of that statement.

  “What about human rights?”

  “I would have to refer back to your time to answer that. Criminals and drug addicts could breed unimpeded, is that right?”

  “Yes.”

  “So, would you agree that a child born into such an environment and nurtured by the criminal element of society, would exhibit an inclination to adopt the same antisocial lifestyle as the parents, given the example set?

  “You mean children follow in the footsteps of their parents?”

  “Yes. When microchipping became widespread and compulsory, it also became illegal for anyone who had a history of drug abuse, alcohol abuse, child abuse or any form of criminality to procreate. The government of the day removed that right, to protect society.”

  “How could you police something like that?”

  “By licensing procreation. The movement of non-compliant individuals could be traced with the chip. Eventually, all microchips placed in women were equipped with bio-programming to prevent pregnancy. It’s deactivated upon marriage and with permission of the principal. Hence, lower birth rates, safe happy childhoods and no crime.” Simple, his smile and expression told her
. Society sorted.

  “Safe and happy if you are what you call normal.”

  While Alice agreed to some extent about the criminal part, there didn’t seem to be much compassion for those who made mistakes then changed their ways, with judgement harsh and final. Alice wondered about the tolerance of such a society.

  “Yes,” Dr Grossmith said, not catching the scepticism in Alice’s voice. “And if you aren’t, then largely you can be helped if you wish. If you refuse help, then you are consigned to the Calamities. Those in the Calamities do not reproduce. Single people seldom go there to live, usually just those in partnerships who wish to live in a married association.”

  “There must be a lot of unhappy people there.”

  “You’ll be surprised. There are boundaries, but the Calamities are as beautiful as anywhere on Earth. Your birthplace has one.”

  “I’m from Australia.”

  “Yes, I know. Principality 19.”

  Just a number now. Alexis Langley must have been Australian too.

  “There’s lots of deserts and spiders and snakes in Australia. Not all of it is a good place to live.” Where Alice lived in her little unit outside Brisbane was nice enough though.

  “It sustains its population well.”

  “A big population?”

  “Not really,” he said. “Over the centuries, your homeland has become a seat of learning. It has many universities and aptitude hubs with much of it dedicated to mineral and climate research. The Calamities are separate to the mainland and they’re beautiful. I’ve been there.”

  “I need proper education, Dr Grossmith,” she decided, very sensibly he thought. “I don’t yet have a context for all this knowledge. Kelly helps me with the registry and I sometimes go to the library, but I do need a formal education. Kelly told me I’ve been assigned a real teacher?”

  Alice’s display of insight delighted Dr Grossmith. He noted and recorded all these little milestones.

  “It’s our hope to ease you into society,” he told her, “but at your pace. An educator will accompany you to Earth. She’s also a patient on the station, and you will meet her soon.”