Actuator

by Spinazzola, J.

  “Why didn’t you ask again?”

  “I thought the answer would be the same.”

  “Why?”

  “I thought you’d say paper was an inefficient means of recording one’s thoughts.”

  “I would. And why wouldn’t I provide another bottle?”

  “You would say it was an inefficient means of storing one’s recorded thoughts.”

  “I would. And why would I say those things, Amelia?”

  “You would say those things, Ms. Snow, because you would argue that great citizens of the recent past created digital technologies that allow for the more efficient and reliable recording and storage of one’s thoughts.”

  “Exactly. Then why would you want me to provide you with more paper and a bottle when the creation of such items can only contribute hazard to the environment?”

  “The environment has healed, thanks to the actuator, reducing the risk of hazard.”

  “Reducing it to zero?”

  “Not to zero.”

  “Has the environment healed completely?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Then why would we want to go backwards?”

  “I don’t want us to go backwards.”

  “Then why contribute to the hazard when the technology is more efficient?”

  “What about the energy to run the technology?”

  “The elliptical machines powered by citizens create that energy without any contribution to the hazard, and they promote the good health of citizens in the process.”

  “What about in places like this, Ms. Snow? Who creates the energy to run the technology here?”

  “We can’t allow the students to run an elliptical outside the home. The law forbids it.”

  “And the Private that runs the rehab respects the law?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then who creates the energy here?”

  “We have employees for that, those who operate elliptical machines, same as we do for maintaining the common space.”

  “And who prepares the meals?”

  “The meals are actuated to us.”

  “And who prepares the meals before they are actuated?”

  “You know everything actuated comes from a farm or factory run by machines remotely programmed and operated by citizens of City.”

  “But who creates the energy to operate the machines at the farms and factories?”

  “There are all sorts of technologies, Amelia, like solar power and wind power that can generate energy for such facilities. Great minds have worked long and hard to advance such developments, making your attachment to paper and bottles more inefficient than you currently understand. Perhaps after the annual dance in the spring, you should begin studies in energy technology. One can always move forward.”

  “Will I be permitted to go to the dance?”

  “Of course, if you do your nightlies.”

  “And Marco?”

  “He doesn’t do nightlies, but if he agreed to be institutionalized, a man of his resourcefulness and initiative could prove useful to the Mod and City.”

  “He won’t agree to it.”

  “Then he won’t prove useful.”

  “Then the annual dance is not useful to me. Find something else to motivate me.”

  “What would motivate you, Amelia?”

  “What about more paper and another bottle?”

  “I’ve already convinced you that there are more efficient and less harmful ways to create and store thoughts.”

  “Those aren’t the only measures of justifying a thing.”

  “And how would you like to justify your request?”

  “I prefer a paper and a bottle.”

  “Why?”

  “I like the act of writing.”

  “We could provide you a digital writing pad.”

  “I like the act of writing with the weight of a pen in my hand.”

  “We could give you an electronic pen with the same weight.”

  “I like the way paper sounds when I roll it up and put it into a bottle.”

  “We can run a program to make those sounds.”

  “I like that, when I am done writing, I can place the rolled paper into a glass bottle.”

  “We can create a graphic design to simulate that experience.”

  “I prefer the real thing.”

  “How is the real thing superior?”

  “The real thing is superior because my writing shows through the bottle and reminds me of Marco.”

  “We can create a graphic design to suit the same purpose, even render it to scale. Your example adds nothing.”

  “The real thing is superior because I say so.”

  “Amelia, if you give up, if you get flippant with me, I will remove the bottle and paper.”

  “I’ve already earned them.”

  “You earned them for doing your nightlies.”

  “And I did my nightlies prior to receiving those rewards.”

  “While I cannot take those rewards for failure to finish your nightlies, I can take them away for failure to engage in informal dialogue with me.”

  “With you, chat is indistinguishable from a nightly.”

  “Not in the eyes of the law. The laws governing in-person colleges are clear.”

  “That logic sounds circular.”

  “Once a law is posited, circularity is no defense for breaking it. If you fail to engage informal dialogue after refusing to do your nightlies, the law requires I remove any material rewards from your room.”

  “Until I resume the dialogue or finish my nightlies?”

  “Precisely.”

  “Then resume the dialogue, Ms. Snow.”

  “In the case of the bottle and paper, how are the real things superior to what we could create digitally?”

  “They decline. They can expire. They can be lost.

  “How are those potential failures good?”

  “They remind me of Marco, of our humanity, that we too can decline or expire or be lost.”

  “And how does that reminder serve you?”

  “I am reminded to savor Marco and our humanity because all people decline or expire or are lost.”

  “And why couldn’t we create a program so that the virtual bottle and paper would also decline or expire or become lost?”

  “The rate of our decline or demise is unexpected whereas a virtual bottle and paper would do so in a programmed fashion.”

  “And why couldn’t we create a randomizing program so that the virtual bottle and paper would decline or expire or become lost with the same rate and probability as the real thing, thereby serving as a sufficient reminder of the preciousness of our humanity?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You will answer in the positive or negative. Or else the law will require me to remove your material rewards.”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes what?”

  “We could create such a randomizing program.”

  “Excellent. You’ve done very well this evening. You may keep your bottle and papers for now. You may not have more.”

  Chapter 23

  “If you are there, please respond.”

  “I am here.”

  “A.M.?”

  “That is what I call me.”

  “I didn’t think you would respond the first time. Skip said it took him several tries before you responded.”

  “We’ve lost Skip.”

  “To what, what happened?”

  “The official report claims he slipped in the hall while attempting to operate a makeshift board on wheels.”

  “You said, claims?”

  “I did.”

  “So you do not believe the official report.”

  “I never believe any report in its entirety.”

  “Then how do you know which parts to disbelieve?”

  “Any statement can be true or false, but I look for inconsistencies and omissions. In this case, I found a few.”

  “You
were kind to respond. I should introduce myself.”

  “I’ve been sad since we lost Skip. He was the first person I’ve chatted with in some time. I walk the hall, as Skip probably told you, but the sweeps aren’t usually open to conversation. Since Skip’s passing, there hasn’t been any sweep at all, the hall dustier than usual. Brings tears to my eyes.”

  “And Skip?”

  “His loss also brings tears to my eyes, which is why I was so receptive to answering you. No need to introduce yourself. I know who you are. Under these circumstances, introductions are not necessary. People bond quite readily in times of loss.”

  “You don’t sound like other students I’ve chatted.”

  “My education has probably followed a different curve than theirs. There’s nothing special about me otherwise.”

  “Then how do you know so much? How do you access so many files?”

  “The Private that runs this institution records and stores its files digitally. From any computer, one can gain access if one knows how. Storage and security are two separate concepts.”

  “But don’t they encrypt their files or secure them in some advanced way?”

  “Yes they do, but for every advancement there is a counter advancement. When one person creates a higher fence, another builds a taller ladder.”

  “You use analogies to physical objects?”

  “I like physical objects. They add texture and context.”

  “I should have written you before my chat with Ms. Snow. Your analogies might have helped; she’s difficult for me.”

  “This place poses challenges beyond Ms. Snow, but she certainly adds to the burden.”

  “So where did you find a ladder to scale their fence?”

  “More like a firewall. Not easily scaled. I had to build a fireproof ladder. Even then I could only access a percentage of their files.”

  “What percentage?”

  “Can never tell without knowing what’s missing.”

  “I’ve felt that many times.”

  “When wondering what you’re missing without Marco?”

  “How’d you know that? How’d you know about Marco?”

  “I read your secured file. That and a woman’s intuition.”

  “You acknowledge the existence of intuition?”

  “Yes.”

  “And what does A.M. stand for?”

  “A.M. stands for my name.”

  “I figured you’d answer that way.”

  “Then why’d you ask?”

  “The process of chatting with you is fun. I haven’t had much of that in here other than a couple of chats with Skip.”

  “I know how you feel. Skip was a special young man.”

  “Was?”

  “Depends on whether you trust the file.”

  “What did the file claim happened after he slipped?”

  “That he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died.”

  “Skip is dead?”

  “So the file claims.”

  “And what do you believe?”

  “I believe Skip is gone, dead or otherwise. I prefer otherwise, but miss him either way. Given the alternatives, I don’t know if he could be well.”

  “What would be the alternative to death?”

  “Skip may have been removed to somewhere worse. Or made a transit. I don’t know. I don’t know much about the world out there other than through the Mod’s filters. Without context, things look off.”

  “Then you weren’t institutionalized for going out?”

  “My reasons for being here are complex.”

  “You don’t want to explain, do you?”

  “Not now.”

  “So why would the Private or the Mod remove him?”

  “I don’t know if they did. He could be dead. They could have killed him. I don’t know.”

  “Is that something the Mod would do?”

  “Not to my knowledge, but the chatter at high levels suggests they are concerned. Marco stands for things that threaten the rationale. It is one thing for an adult to give up on the rationale and be committed to life as transit. If the adult is unproductive, the Mod may even favor it, but the rationale relies on the education process to determine the potential value of each citizen to advance the rationale and City. Under the Mod’s leadership, City has grown very strong.”

  “Compared to what?”

  “Other cities.”

  “How do you know about other cities? I thought the Mod blocked access to the web of other cities in order to protect us from junk and spam and computer viruses and hacking?”

  “That is the Mod’s reasoning, and citizens would rather be protected than live in fear. I don’t

  know the real reason.”

  “How do you know the stated reasons are incongruous from the real ones?”

  “I’ve identified contradictions and omissions.”

  “Like what?”

  “For instance, members of the Mod continue to communicate with members of the Mod’s equivalent in other cities while omitting to tell the citizens of City this exception. While details are harder to decipher, the Mod seems in a unique position of power relative to other cities.”

  “How so?”

  “The Mod manages to actuate more goods from other cities than it actuates to them in exchange. I cannot identify the source of this imbalance in power, but the only logical conclusion is that the Mod exercises some type of strength over the other cities.”

  “Are all cities called City?”

  “No, some of them have colorful names like San Francisco or Honolulu, Paris or Barcelona, Berlin or Rome, Delhi or London. Some are in this country, some in others.”

  “Have you accessed communications between the Mod and cities in other countries?”

  “Those files either don’t exist or are heavily protected, but I’ve discovered files between the Mod and the Fed.”

  “What is the Fed?”

  “Those files are indecipherable. I once knew how the Fed functioned, but now I would be guessing. Something to do with overseeing the relationships between various cities.”

  “How quickly could things have changed?”

  “I didn’t say they changed quickly. Usually they change slowly and then suddenly. Much has changed since the actuator, even more recently since the actuator became efficient at teleporting objects like fruit with high water content.”

  “How long have you been in here?”

  “That’s a good question, but one you shouldn’t ask the first time you talk to a woman.”

  “Then can I ask what A.M. stands for besides your name?”

  “Yes, but you don’t need to go through the formality of asking again. My name is A.M. because I wake early in the morning, which happens to be the best time to investigate the Mod’s file. I sleep little. With each year in here, I sleep less and less. So I call myself A.M.”

  “A.M., I like talking to you.”

  “And I like talking to you, Amelia.”

  “My name, the one I call myself, is Emmy.”

  “I didn’t see that in the file. Emmy it is. Skip thought favorably of you. He told me to look after you if anything ever happened to him. I think he knew something was brewing. I should have attempted a chat with you earlier.”

  “I feel the same way, but now is a good time to start.”

  “That is often the case for many things, Emmy.”

  “Then can I ask one more question?”

  “Of course.”

  “What were the contradictions or omissions in Skip’s file?”

  “The Mod never granted Skip permission to leave his room or walk the halls. Skip wouldn’t have had any way of letting himself out. Additionally, he would have needed someone to provide the board and wheels. Maybe he could have constructed a board with wood from his desk, but there are no wheels on the furniture because it never moves.”