Tin Cans. It’s what the rebels called them on occasion. But Spurious knew they were nothing like the tin cans his tuna salad came from. Their armor was made of a material called gmetal. It was bullet proof, in most cases, and covered their bodies from head to toe. Their armor, combined with the blue night vision goggles attached to their helmets, allowed them to fight in the most extreme conditions.
Spurious forced a smile at the two Knights and continued forward until he reached the gates. It took only a few seconds for the laser to scan his identification card, prompting the gate to swing open. He cringed as the metallic entrance whined and creaked.
Slowly he passed through the stone square surrounding the massive SGS offices on all sides. Leafless trees extended out of the frozen ground, their naked branches reaching towards the gray brick walls of the building.
The office itself was four stories tall and housed about two hundred workers total. The windows were replaced after a sniper killed a worker a few years back. The glass was removed and in its place, the SGS insignia had been edged into the brick.
The top of the office had a copper dome roof tinted dark green with age. All four outside walls had been overtaken with massive vines crawling like bloated veins across the brick exterior.
Spurious entered the first floor of the building, relieved to be out of the cold. He took off his wool beret and tucked it under his armpit, continuing down the hall lined with cubicles on both sides.
His office was on the third floor and could be accessed only by stairs. The elevators had been shut down after another law restricting energy use was passed a few years back. The floor was unusually busy and he shuffled through the crowd of employees to his cubicle, quickly peering into Lana’s work station, which still remained empty. She had now been gone for three days straight, and he was beginning to worry.
He took off his thick coat, dressing the back of the chair. The first part of his day was always the worst, but he found ways to pretend he was not at the office. Sometimes he imagined he was at his apartment listening to his pirated copies of old industrial music by DJs from the early 21st century. Other times he imagined he was reading one of the philosophy or history books from his freshman year in college. Mostly though, he just imagined he wasn’t at the office, and was perhaps strolling through the beautiful State courtyards and admiring the fountains. These modern gardens had been constructed by the State for that very reason, to remind the citizen they lived in a world of relative safety and abundance, much different than the world outside the great walls.
As he settled into his desk he noticed his blue screen was glowing again. He swiped the message button.
Urgent – Open At Once.
His heart stopped and a wave of anxiety rushed over him as he scanned the title of the message once again.
He sat down to examine it closer. It was from an anonymous source. Typically, messages like these were quarantined by the technology workers, but somehow this one had made it through their constant scans.
Should I open it?
Without thinking, his index finger clicked on the holographic blue screen. The message instantly appeared.
Spurious: Meet me at the Ale House tonight. Don’t be later than midnight. Come alone.
As soon as it appeared the message was gone. The burning uneasiness rushed through him again, intensifying. His heart began to race, and his breathing became labored.
Spurious tried to calm himself, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. It wasn’t every day he received an urgent message asking him to meet an anonymous person outside of work. He stared blankly at his cubicle wall, his mind beginning to race. Whoever it was from, he had all day to make a decision on whether he would meet them.
Time: 11:33 p.m. January 23, 2071
Location: The Ale House. Lunia, Tisaia
A mist rose a few feet above the damp city streets. Spurious placed his gloved hands in the pockets of his coat, wading through the thick fog, and making his way down the brick street.
Against his better judgment, he decided to meet Paulo and Ing at The Ale House located in the East Village about five blocks east of the Commons Buildings. Spurious was already 30 minutes late, having fallen asleep after coming home from work.
He took in a large breath and exhaled a puff of visible air into the night, realizing how unusually excited he was. For some reason, he had a burning desire to know who this person was, regardless of what danger was associated with them.
He stopped to peer into the window of one of his favorite stores. The wood sign hanging above the window read, The Magician. Several candles in the windowsill gave off a warm glow, illuminating a shelf full of antiques lined with items from the past.
He had picked up a few trinkets here—a wooden cross the owner had explained held significant spiritual value and a small handheld device with a tiny apple engraved on the back that read, iPod. They were artifacts from the old world, where technology and spirituality were both meant to comfort. But those days were long gone. Religions of the past had all but been forgotten—religion was now the State. God was no longer a being, it was the government.
The East Village was one of the only places left in Tisaia that wasn’t State subsidized. These small businesses consisted of bakeries, taverns, boutique stores, and bars. They were the last of their kind, a haven for the curious State worker who wanted a glimpse into the world as it once was.
Spurious knew the unfortunate truth—the shop’s days were numbered. With more and more of these businesses forced to close their doors each year as the State passed laws banning their products. It was only a matter of time before they were all closed. Some of them broke health laws while others sold illegal electronic devices that wouldn’t pass energy audits.
Fortunately, the State did not have the time or the resources to enforce their laundry list of laws, and while his superiors constantly advised him and his co-workers to stay out of the East Village, most of them never listened.
In the distance, Spurious could see a line of citizens waiting to enter The Ale House. He cracked a half smile and dug his hands deeper into the warmth of his pockets.
The State has a long way to go from shutting this place down.
He entered the back of the line and kept his face nuzzled in his collar, inching forward with the mass of citizens. Within minutes he was inside.
“There he is!” Ing shouted over the noise of the growing crowd. Paulo and Ing had been lucky and found the first wooden table in the bar.
The Ale House was small for an eatery, consisting of only two floors. The first floor was built with rich cedar, salvaged from before the Biomass Wars. The walls were lined with framed magazine articles and newspaper pages also from the past, long before the Lunia Post existed.
The first floor was reserved for tables and patrons ordering food and ale. The underground floor added to the charm of The Ale House. It was made completely of stone and was used mostly as a dance floor, although there was also a bar downstairs. This area was known as “The Cave” and had a rich history. It was supposedly a hide out for the rebels during the first stages of the ongoing Biomass Revolution. It was said that the first rebel leaders of the Tisaian Democratic Union were betrayed by one of their own and ambushed there not two years ago. The Cave was also rumored to have several underground passages leading into the tunnel system.
Spurious raised his hand to summon a bar maid and glanced over at Ing. “Sorry I’m late. I fell asleep in my rain room again when I got off work. I just can’t seem to get enough of it lately.”
“What’s with the naps, man? You sure do sleep a lot,” Ing replied.
Spurious shrugged. “Work has been really stressful lately,” he said, grabbing a tavern chip from a basket in the middle of the table.
“It isn’t a big deal. Just seems like when you aren’t at work, you’re sleeping in your rain room.”
“Consider it a hobby of mine,” Spurious said, laughing.
“Beats what I do after
work,” Paulo chipped in. “I’m always exhausted after I manage to get out of the office. I usually don’t make it past my couch. At least Spurious gets to the rain room.”
Ing rolled his eyes. “When did you guys become so boring?”
“So if we’re so boring, why don’t you explain what you do after work?” Spurious said, irritably.
Ing took a long swig of his ale. “You know, stuff. I watch the blue screen and come here.”
“Sounds pretty exciting,” Paulo sneered.
“Just in time!” Spurious exclaimed, ignoring Paulo and reaching for a pint of ale the bar maid carried towards their table.
“Thanks,” he said, rubbing his hands together and grabbing the cold mug. He took a long swig of the ale and then stole a glance over his shoulder to mentally map out the bar. There were a few familiar faces, other State employees he had seen before, but no one out of the ordinary.
He turned his attention back to his friends. “What’s the plan tonight, gentleman?”
“Actually, we were hoping you could tell us why you invited us here. This isn’t like you. What’s the occasion?” Paulo asked.
Spurious avoided the question. “Does anyone want to check out The Cave later?”
“My old bones could use some dancing, I suppose,” Paulo said with a smile.
Spurious laughed. “I’d love to see that.”
“You know I have been dancing longer than you both have been alive. In my home country of Brazil, dancing was taught at a young age. Growing up, we were so poor it was one of the only things to do for fun.”
Ing cringed. “Dancing, fun? If you say so, old man.”
“Ing, you’re proving you have the mind of a child.” Paulo muttered. “I thought I taught you more than this.”
That’s Paulo! Spurious thought, sitting back and watching his old friend emerge.
“I have the mind of a child because I don’t believe in conspiracy theories? Did you stop to think maybe I just don’t care? Did you think maybe the reason I don’t ask questions is because I don’t want to end up being visited by the Knights?” Ing shot back.
Spurious frowned and ordered another pint from a young barmaid. Her face lit up as he dropped a credit on her tray.
“That’s to keep the ale flowing,” he shouted.
A loud beat of electronic music exploded out of the entrance to The Cave, drowning out his arguing friends. He wiped away a few beads of sweat forming on his forehead and watched the tavern fill with patrons. One by one he scanned their faces, searching desperately for whoever may have sent him the message.
Slowly intoxication gripped him and he found himself staring at the bar, admiring the waterfall creeping down the granite.
“You better slow down there, Spurious. You don’t want to get lost on your way home tonight. I heard the Knights have been snatching State workers up in the middle of the night,” Paulo said with a grin.
Spurious cast Paulo a quick glare while he took another swig of his ale. A few strands of hair fell down his sweaty forehead, but he quickly brushed them back into place. He knew he should keep his wits, but the anonymous message earlier in the day had brought on a wave of anxiety only ale could relieve.
“Ah, I don’t worry about that anymore,” he lied.
“Shit, Paulo, why do you have to dampen the night with some of that crap. I just want to stare at some ladies I’ll never sleep with, get incredibly drunk, fail miserably while asking one of them to dance and finally go home and pass out,” Ing replied. “Is that too much to freaking ask?”
“Come on Paulo, you know just as well as I do those stories are bull shit and are supposed to keep us out of places like this,” Spurious said.
Paulo’s grin faded and his aged face turned stern. He rested his mug on the table and looked away from the crowd, staring at his two friends. “Remember our conversation about the new type of Biomass the other day? When I told you that not everything is as it may seem… Well, there is much you two young men don’t know. Much I haven’t told you.” Paulo turned and quickly scanned the crowd to make sure no one was listening.
“Truth is, when I was written up at work, it wasn’t just because I failed to turn off my lights a few times. My supervisor accused me of spreading negative rhetoric about the State.”
Ing raised an eyebrow. “What kind of rhetoric?”
“The type that gets you locked up. Luckily, the case never made it to the Knights. My supervisor dropped it when his boss got involved. It was blackmail. He wanted the position I had been hired for. So he accused me of spreading lies about the State. The truth, however, is more complicated. I had been discussing many theories about the State with another co-worker. This man told me he was getting info from the TDU. He disappeared a couple months ago.” Paulo paused and took a short swig from his mug.
“I’d be locked up for telling you both, but I don’t care anymore. I have nothing to lose. The State isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, boys. This life as a State worker, it’s all a facade. We’re told lies to hide what is really going on. Do you really think there aren’t survivors in the Wastelands, or in the skeletons of what used to be cities?”
Ing raised his hand to stop Paulo before he could go on any further. “What you’re saying is bordering on treason. You do realize this, right?”
“And I don’t care, Ing. I’m telling you this because my life is over anyways.”
“Let him talk,” Spurious barked. Ing looked over at his normally quiet friend and quickly nodded.
“Go on Paulo. I’m listening,” Spurious said.
“I know there are survivors because I have heard the transmissions. I’ve heard the broadcasts, people on the two-way channels that are asking for help,” Paulo exclaimed.
“Try and keep it down a bit,” Spurious interrupted. “We don’t know who is listening.”
“Radio transmissions? Come on, that’s a bunch of shit. How do you know this?” Ing asked.
“I know because I have a two-way radio. The co-worker gave it to me before he disappeared. He was getting paranoid and said he needed a safe place to keep it, so I stashed it under my mattress in a metal box that blocks signals from being traced. And at night, I take it into my bathroom, where my AI can’t hear the transmissions.”
Ing slammed his mug down on the wooden surface of the table, which was already covered in empty glasses. “Man, this is ludicrous. You’re going to end up in prison, or worse, dead! And I could end up there with you, just for listening. Forget this. I’m finding myself a female, and will pretend I never heard this conversation.”
Paulo stood up to stop Ing as he made his way into the crowd.
“Let him go. Let’s move to a leather booth. Over there,” Spurious pointed.
Reluctantly, Paulo obliged and they moved across the room to a booth in the corner. It wasn’t long before Spurious realized he had all but forgotten the message. He sat down in the plush booth, sinking deeper into the comfort of the aged leather. His curiosity was getting the best of him tonight; first the message, and now Paulo’s stories. After living with such a monotonous routine, it was finally good to have some stimulation, even if there was a risk.
“What type of transmissions are you hearing?” Spurious asked.
Paulo looked down at his drink and picked at the wooden table nervously. “Perhaps Ing is right. Perhaps I should not bring you two into this.”
“Ing just doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”
“That maybe so, but it’s selfish of me to put you two at risk. You don’t know what the State is capable of. What the Knights are capable of.” Paulo paused and picked at the table some more, before his drunken eyes turned back to Spurious. “I don’t know what I would do if I lost you two.”
“It’s going to be all right, you know that, Paulo?” Spurious said, reaching over and patting his friend on the back.
Paulo smiled, revealing a set of perfectly aligned white teeth. “No it won’t. My life is over. I have nothing left to
look forward to, but you…You have so much!”
Spurious raised his glass to his mouth, gulping down another swig of the sweet nectar. “You’re right. I do have a lot to look forward to. Many years of working for the State,” he said laughing.
“I guess I will drink to that,” Paulo chuckled, polishing off the last of his pint.
As the night wore on and the crowd began to dissipate, Spurious caught a side view of a young woman dancing across the wooden floor. His eyes followed her, watching her graceful moves. She swung her arms through the air, gently tossing her long dark hair up and around her face. When the young woman smiled he instantly recognized her. It was Lana.
Shocked into motion, Spurious slid out of his booth, patting Paulo on the back once more, and placing his half-full mug on the table. He pushed through the mob of customers, thrusting his way through them before losing sight of her at the entrance of The Cave.
For a split second, he saw Ing out of the corner of his eye, and he paused to watch his friend flirt with a woman wearing bright red lipstick. A smile curled across his face before he continued on.
The Cave was dim, save for a few candles burning violently, their white wax bleeding down the stone walls. The music was piercingly loud, the echo of bass pounding in his ears. He rested his back against the rough edge of stone, scanning the room for Lana and watching intoxicated patrons grinding against one another. His eyes stopped on a pair of women kissing in the corner, nothing but the shadows covering his eyes.
And then he saw her, dancing in the middle of the room with two of her friends. He froze, watching her as she threw her hands into the air, laughing, while her friends danced around her. He smiled as one of her friends softly bumped into her, throwing her off balance.
A short break in the music revealed the sound of his heart beating rapidly, the pulse pounding in his skull. He wiped a bead of sweat off his flushed face and brushed his hair back into place before making his way towards her.
The Biomass Revolution (The Tisaian Chronicles) Page 3
