by Guy Salvidge
Words failed him. “It seems so drastic.”
“You didn't live through the twenty-one hundreds,” Silex said. “My parents did. Everyone assumes that their own century is the worst, that things cannot deteriorate further. The twentieth century was once regarded as the most terrible in history, but the twenty-first was far more brutal, as you yourself would know. And the twenty-second was worse still. My father used to tell me about it. It's a little hard for me to imagine, not having lived through it.”
“You're not a sleeper yourself?”
“No, I'm second generation. My parents went under in 2115, more than forty years after you did, and they were woken in 2322. I was born the following year.”
“So this is the only world you know,” Kai Sen said.
“True, true. Those billions are just an idea to me. Even though they were peasants, I suppose that they had families too. But it was inevitable. The planet couldn't support even half of them in the long run. So they had to go.” Silex lapsed into silence.
“You started telling me about the...depopulation.”
“I did, did I? Well, the shields were starting to go up in your time, I think?”
“That's correct.” But the shields had been conceived as a way to keep the masses alive, not to kill them. At least, that's what the masses themselves had been told. “It must have been fantastic when it was finished,” Kai Sen added.
“I'm sure it was, but there was trouble brewing. The great basin was flooding. There were millions of refugees, and they all wanted to come west. It was around this time that the government collapsed. Or was brought down.”
“Brought down? What do you mean?”
Silex grinned. “Well, it's a matter of perspective, isn't it? Yes, the government ceased to exist, but it's wrong to think that it was unexpected. It was around this time that the building of cryonic facilities really started to intensify. The wealthy, the high-born—all of them went under at various stages, leaving only a small number of functionaries to oversee the greater collapse. Not that it needed much help. The deed was occurring even faster than had been thought possible.”
“When did Shulao fall?”
“Hah! Now you're putting me on the spot! Well, I believe the Long War started in the late 'nineties, when my parents were children. This is interesting stuff—I'll have to ask my father. But to answer your question, I remember now. The Battle of Shulao was in 2111, only a few years before my parents went under. Luckily, those of importance had long left for Zhenghe, where most of the later cryonic facilities had been built. Millions died in Shulao, of course. A shame, I suppose....”
“But it had to happen,” Kai Sen said.
“You understand,” Silex said. “But Shulao was your own city, was it not? Your family were there?”
“They were.”
“Then I can appreciate your sadness,” Silex said. “My family was lucky enough to remain together. The same cannot be said for many of my colleagues and their families. And to think that you were under Shulao during those years. It's a miracle that anyone made it out of the city.”
“Many of the sleepers appear to have perished. But there are more sleepers alive down there. I wonder how much longer they can last.”
“You would like me to revive them, of course. I can assure you that measures are already underway to make this a reality, although there have been a number of mishaps already. Minor problems, soon to be rectified, but problems nonetheless. It appears that access to your chamber is not as straightforward as it might first seem. I believe there was an issue with the power supply, and some matter regarding a lift. At least, that is what I have been told. I don't know—my agents may be holding out for a better price. Perhaps you know something of this?”
“You would have to ask the Chens. They're the ones who revived me.”
“Chens? My agent is a scurrilous fellow called Bao Min. Not to be trusted, but useful nonetheless.”
“I saw him in Luihang,” Kai Sen said, “but not in Shulao. I think he had befriended one of the Chens, one named Cheng. Is he one of your agents too?”
“No, he isn't. But this is not surprising. Bao Min is a clever operator; he would undoubtedly have recruited his own agents. But it seems that these Chens you speak of may have gotten the better of Bao Min.”
“What makes you think that?”
Silex smiled. “You ask a great many questions, and I am not accustomed to answering questions. Let's just say that Bao Min has not exactly delivered on the terms of our agreement. He will not be receiving payment at this time. You are wondering what payment I refer to. Bao Min is a bounty hunter. He finds crypts, wakes sleepers, and brings them to me. He is paid handsomely for each one, but as he did not deliver you, he will not receive payment in this instance. I believe he has already returned to Shulao to revive the rest of your comrades, but it may be necessary to send another agent to ensure that he doesn't fail me again.”
“One more question, if I may?”
“Go on.”
“You referred to me as a 'First sleeper.' What does this mean?”
“I suppose they didn't think of themselves as the first of anything,” Silex said. “They—you—are among the first to be cryonically frozen. You see, we hold you in high esteem, for you began the process that took several centuries to complete.”
“You mean the process of depopulation?”
“No. The process of confiscation. You see, when the people of importance began to retreat into their facilities to 'ride out the storm,' as it were, they left behind a power vacuum. In the years that followed, a new order was briefly established. The few representatives that had been left behind to supervise the great collapse had no chance of holding onto power. There were too many belligerents and the situation was frankly out of control. It was not long before the armies and generals of the time seized power. This was the period of greatest danger for sleepers like my parents and yourself, for it was at this time that the common people might have consolidated their power permanently. After all, the true rulers were deep underground, potentially at the mercy of these antagonists. Their existence remained a closely guarded secret. But for a long time, the status quo remained. The peasants touchingly refer to this as the start of the period of Everlasting Peace. It's a kind of peace, I suppose—it's dead quiet.”
“Shu Wen said something that I didn't understand,” Kai Sen said. “She said something about an empire. What empire is this?”
“Hmmm, that is another question, but I will allow it. She may have said, 'the empire never ended.'”
“That's it. What does it mean?”
Silex leaned forward in his chair and spoke quietly: “Governments rise and fall, kings and tyrants seize power and are later deposed, but the empire never ends. This is a secret even today, and I am telling you because I hold your life in my hands. Do you understand? If you do not want to know this, then I will send you away and you can be a free man. A doomed man, but free. Shall I continue?”
What choice did he have? “Go on.”
“There is a secret organisation. It does not have a name. This organisation orchestrates events, sometimes putting a strong bureaucratic government in place, other times allowing it to fall into disrepair and ruin. It is a ruling elite, and I am a ruler within that ruling elite. You, as yet, are nothing. If I say the word, you really will be nothing. Is this understood?”
“It is.”
“You're a fast learner. I respect that. So when I use words like 'collapse' or 'catastrophe,' they usually conjure the idea that something was unexpected. One should not draw such conclusions in this case. These collapses—and they have been occurring quite regularly in the time you have been underground—have served to further two distinct but interrelated goals. The first goal is Depop. This has largely been accomplished. The second is total control, which requires Depop as a prerequisite and corollary. The first sleepers perhaps did not fully appreciate the process they were undertaking, but men and women like my mother
and father knew it well. The plan was to create such conditions of total chaos and calamity that the masses would exterminate, or by virtue of their actions allow to be exterminated, one other. This did not happen by accident. It was planned, authorised, and enacted.
“Then, when the situation was gravest, when the suffering was greatest, the rulers left the masses to their own devices. To regain control in the aftermath of this great blood-letting, it was necessary at first for the sleepers, upon waking, to ingratiate themselves into the governments of the day. This process began in the twenty-third century. Inexorably, the old order began to be re-established. This process has not yet been fully completed, not here in Baitang or even in Zhenghe. But it is nearing completion. Today, more than eighty percent of the citizens of Baitang are either sleepers themselves, or directly descended from sleepers. This process has largely gone unnoticed by the peasants.”
“Why have peasants at all?” Kai Sen asked.
“It does seem unfortunate that such things are still necessary in this century, doesn't it? But the reality is that an ignorant peasantry still has its uses. Why, without one, we would have to begin oppressing each other, and that wouldn't do, would it? No, peasants retain some value. Unfortunately, this peasantry had been allowed to multiply at an alarming rate. Thus it had to be culled. So it goes.”
“And yet there are people outside the shields entirely, aren't there?”
“True, but their condition is so miserable that it barely deserves considering. The wretches have more to fear from malaria and dysentery than they do from us, I'm afraid. No, I think you'll find that the situation has been stabilised. The masses, simply put, have vanished. The peasants don't know how ironic their love of Everlasting Peace really is.”
“One almost feels sympathy for their plight,” Kai Sen said.
“Almost,” Silex agreed. “But you mustn't imagine that there aren't any problems in our world. There are always new challenges on the horizon. It would appear that those of my parents' generation miscalculated when they devised the great cleansing of the earth.”
“Miscalculated? How so?”
“Their plans were almost too successful. I don't think they anticipated just how many people would die. I mean, the world population was over ten billion for more than a century, and now its a fraction of that. Depopulation presents its own challenges, just as overpopulation had done. 'What problems?' you wonder. The pace of scientific development has slowed significantly, for example. There just aren't enough scientists to keep the rate of discovery up to what it once was. Resource acquisition is becoming increasingly hazardous. Virtually all of the fossil fuels were gobbled up in your era, and there's precious little left now. Vast tracts of the globe have returned to the wild. It's quite primeval out there, as I'm sure you can appreciate. One almost expects the dinosaurs to make a reappearance in the coming decades! It seems that human history has been derailed.”
“That does seem concerning,” Kai Sen said.
“Quite. It's fitting that after an era in which human lives were valued as cheaply as plastic bags, should follow a time in which each human life has value again. As I said, even the peasants have a role to play in this century, which is why they are permitted to live beneath the shields. And that is also why my government is deeply committed to digging up any remaining sleepers. In fact, that is also why we are having this conversation.”
“Why are you telling me all of this? I'm presuming that this isn't common knowledge?”
“Correct. You see, Kai Sen, I envisage a special role for you. I had meant to come to this a little later, but seeing as you have raised the issue, I will outline my proposal for you now. But first, a little background. You asked before about the peasantry and its ongoing role in society. The most obvious use of the peasants is in agriculture; they are employed in planting, tending, harvesting and transporting a range of crops. It was once thought that such activities could be entirely automated, nullifying the need for tenant farmers. But it came to be understood that human labour is in fact far cheaper and more reliable than robotic equivalents. Why deploy hundreds of expensive machines, each of which requires tending, servicing and repairing, to do a job that can be achieved by a few thousand human labourers requiring almost nothing in the way of upkeep? Thus we must be careful not to entirely alienate the peasants. That is why they are permitted to remain living in family groupings, many pursuing a semi-autonomous lifestyle. There is no harm in that, no real need for a police state. The Inner Shield separates us from them, and as long as they meet the quotas, what do I care what they think or do in the meantime? Does that seem reasonable to you?”
“It does.”
“Good. Now I said that we do not want to completely alienate the peasants, but nor do we wish them to be too comfortable either. When one is required to spend the entirety of one's endeavour on obtaining enough food to eat, then there is no time for higher thinking. Such thinking is of course potentially dangerous to us. Thus it is necessary to heavily tax the peasantry, both to feed our own populace and to keep the peasantry in a state of perpetual need. It is a delicate balancing act. We do not have the luxury of allowing our peasants to languish in foetid squalor; it is necessary to provide a basic standard of living. Thus the peasants are more valuable to us than they realise.
“What has this to do with you? You see, Kai Sen, things tend to move in cycles. Sometimes the peasants are more content, sometimes less so. Sometimes there are mutterings of dissent among their ranks, and sometimes our spies find evidence of sabotage. My critics whisper to each other that my rule has been too light-handed, that the peasants have grown fat and lazy during my time as administrator. While I reject most of these allegations, I will concede that there has been a detrimental slide in relations between the inhabitants of the Inner and Outer Shields in recent times. The fact remains that the peasants are becoming dissatisfied with their lot in life.”
“How can this relate to me?” Kai Sen asked.
“How does this relate to you? I want you, Kai Sen, to be my spokesperson, to be the spokesperson of the Inner Shield Authority.”
“Why me?”
“Because they will trust you. You have a certain novelty value. You are a man from the twenty-first century, after all! That in itself is remarkable. What I require of you is to speak to the greater populace regarding what you have seen of Four Rivers thus far. Does this concept appeal to you?”
“What would I be telling them?”
“What you have seen,” Silex said. “With a few amendments, of course. One thing the peasants are keen to hear about is life inside the Inner Shield. Lately a number of vicious rumours have been circulating, suggesting that we live like kings while they toil in humble circumstances.”
“And you want me to tell them that this isn't the case,” Kai Sen asked.
“Precisely. You will tell them that while it is true that the residents of the Inner Shield live better than those of the Outer Shield, the difference has been greatly exaggerated. The details of this speech will be fleshed out later by my chief propagandists. Your speech will cover a range of other topics as well, but this will be the crucial theme.”
“I'm not sure that I want any part in this.”
“Yes. Your conscience trembles at the thought of such a deception. You find it abhorrent. You find me abhorrent and deceitful. This is to be expected. It is not necessary to remind you of the power I hold over you, for you understand this already. And yet I sense a quiet defiance in you. This is admirable, but ultimately pointless. Do you understand me?”
“I don't fear death,” Kai Sen said. “I'm already dead.”
“Already dead,” Silex repeated. “What if I told you that your condition could be cured?”
Kai Sen jerked involuntarily. Had he misheard? “My condition?”
Silex leaned back in his chair. “So you can be rattled. Yes, your condition, your affliction. It is curable. Expensive, but not outrageously so.”
“How do you kno
w about my condition?”
Silex shrugged. “I am privy to a great deal of information. If there is something I don't know, you can be assured that I am in the process of finding out about it. In your case it was a simple matter of consulting some records from the Institute of Cryonics, year 2070. Shall I read from it?”
“All right.”
“There was a United Medical Board, but you didn't work for them, and you certainly weren't on their board of directors. You were their patient. The UMB operated an underground facility in Shulao at the Institute of Cryonics, for the cryonic hibernation of patients with quote 'incurable diseases.' The UMB's charter was to keep such terminal cases in storage until such a time as a cure became available, or funds for storage ran out. In fact the UMB turned out to be quite a macabre organisation. You might be interested to know that in the decades after your encapsulation, the United Medical Board increased its storage fees dramatically. Families of the encapsulated were left with a lamentable choice: to mortgage their own futures to fund the spiralling costs of cryogenesis, or to forfeit their loved ones to the UMB, who openly stated that it would sell the patient's organs to hospitals and research laboratories. This turned out to be quite a racket, and a particularly successful one. Shall I continue? You seem distressed.”
“I want to know,” Kai Sen said. “Tell me.”
“You are a brave man,” Silex said. “It is a credit to you. In any case, it seems that your family kept up payment for a period of twenty years, which was an exceptionally long time considering the level of extortion. Payment ceased in 2090, at which time your organs became the property of the United Medical Board. Now this is where it gets interesting. A matter of weeks before you were due to be disinterred and dissected, you were purchased by an organisation known as the BIP, although there is no information as to what BIP stood for. Yours was not the only body purchased by this organisation. In fact there appears to have been a policy of systematic acquisition of indentured sleepers. It is not known what the BIP intended to do with all the sleepers—many of them crippled by disease such as yourself—but it can be speculated that these motives were not altruistic. Luckily for you, the Long War came along and destroyed the BIP before it could have its wicked way with you. Irony upon ironies, that a diseased, bankrupt sleeper such as yourself should outlive not only the organisation that owned your organs, but also the rest of the presumably healthy population of Shulao. It is a marvel to think that you should be sitting here before me. I am sincere when I say that I am truly honoured.”
