"Because you're not a corporation, Ikaros."
"Not yet."
Henry chuckles. "I'm serious. You can take things in a different direction with more degrees of freedom than an establishment-oriented corporation ever could. I suppose it's really just a desire for change, any kind of change that takes us far away from the current path; you can't mess with that, and you certainly can't try and contain it if you really want to see something happen; you just have to set it free … provide it with resources and set it free to do what it will. The point is I'm through supporting Goliath, if you will; to continue to would be just about to give up. And I suppose I probably did for years and years without knowing it till I came across you. I guess you had a way of putting it that made me realise I can't give up like that. I'm not a young man anymore, Ikaros. I know I may not be here too much longer, but, goddamn, I'm gonna make what little time I do have count; and I can thank you for that … at least in part. Look, I trust you; by that I mean I trust that you will do what you do. I evidently don't mean that I believe you won't do anything I wouldn't. I want you to do what I wouldn't and couldn't. That's the thing. I think I understand your point of view, and if I'm so damned imperious and ignorant that I attempt to contain you, then that would certainly be beside the point, wouldn't it? I mean, there'd literally be no point in approaching you if that were my aim; you'd just resist, deflect and undermine, etcetera, and it would all come to nothing. I get that. As far as I'm concerned, you're at your best when you're left to your own devices and your own choices. And, I for one really wanna know what can result from expanding on that, really letting it loose, seeing it through to its 'unnatural' conclusion, as it were, you know? So, really, all you need's an idea that can become a plan and then a programme. What do you reckon? Do you think you could come up with one … a big one?"
Taken aback by his rapid-flowing candour, Ikaros looks at him with curiosity, "Are you kidding me? I could come up with more than just one, man. Of course, I've got a few ideas, and I bet I'll have a few more, and better ones, by first thing tomorrow as well," he adds with a cheeky grin.
"I thought you might."
Ikaros stands silently for a moment, realising Henry's just about as genuine as they come these days. He admires the fact that he's stepping out of the square but still wants to probe him just a little more. "Yeah … it could still sound too good to be true, though, don't you think? I mean, you are an insider of sorts."
"Well, yeah, my company is, but I'm feeling more distanced from the inside with each passing day. And how many layers does the onion have, anyway? It goes way deeper than I've seen; but what I know more than ever is that we should be concerned. From what I've seen, there are monsters in there that are waiting their turn to get out and that can't be dealt with by way of the establishment processes; and that's scary to me. I've kept my distance from a lot of it where I can, but then, a lot of it keeps away from me, too; it keeps away from all of us until it's ready. All I know is that, the older I get, the more I'm aware that by the time I hear about something, something important, it will already have happened or been established or disseminating for some time, and there's not much I can do about it as it's not my specialty, and I don't have… There's something brewing, Ikaros; we just have to brew something else faster and bigger."
Ikaros looks at Henry patiently. Both stay silent for a long moment before Henry continues, "In normal conditions it would be too good to… Put it this way: we wouldn't have been having this conversation just two years ago even. I'll admit that. But, in actual fact, we passed normal conditions a long time ago. I agree with you on that. The rules of the game are different now; in a way, they always have been for guys like you — 'us' if you’ll allow me — living in the spaces in between.
"I've certainly never done this before; never really heard of it being done before — by its very nature, you don't really get to hear about it, I suppose. It's unlikely to be commonplace, I can tell you that much — people are too hell bent on the illusion of control to be a benefactor of free agency of all things.
"I really do want this to be a kind of new beginning for you and me … and for people like us. Well, even those that aren't like us." Henry nods in agreement with himself, then heads towards the bar. "Do you want that drink now, Ikaros?"
"Yeah, a gin and tonic would be great. You know, when I was a little kid — just turned six — I was given my first surfboard at the beach by this cool teenager I didn't even know. I was so happy; I couldn't believe my luck … and I used that thing hard till it snapped in half."
"I bet you did," Henry says with a knowing chuckle. "I bet you did."
Nearly eleven hours later
Ikaros exits the building and stands by the side of the road waiting for a taxi. He glances at his watch, "Ten sixteen," he whispers to himself. After a short while he spots one, waves it down and heads back to his hotel, wanting to sleep off the gin and all the twisted lines of cocaine that warmed Ikaros up to engaging in enthusiastic, arm-flaying, rambling rants for the remainder of the day and early evening before mellowing and preferring to watch in periods of silence the dynamic and dazzling lights of the city that halt at the clearly-defined demarcation line between the electricity haves and have-nots, many of whom are refugees from country areas or interstate. Their over-extended encampments and suburb-squatting areas sprawl desperately into the darkness; the inhabitants have nowhere else to go and only death by thirst or worse awaits them if they try to leave. If they stay, on the other hand, pitiable charity that won't and can't last forever is the best on offer; beyond that is the desperate scavenging, in-fighting and imploding brutality that make such no-go zones so perilous if you have as little as a dime or look as though you may have.
• • •
The refugee camps within Texas and along its borders, although becoming world news in the early stages due to their relative novelty at the time, are just a small part of the massive changes that have taken place right across the former USA over the preceding ten to twenty years. The dramatic changes in the climatic conditions caused large swathes of land to become untenable for continued farming, causing several local and regional famines and ultimately displacing millions as they sought better conditions elsewhere. Although the first and most able to leave made their way unimpeded into safer and more favourable areas, the alarming surge in numbers forced the government to take action in the form of a refugee response strategy, which unfortunately only worked for a period as the relocation and re-settlement programme quickly became too demanding and expensive to be justified in Congress and the media.
In a desperate bid to contain the issue, a range of non-governmental organisations in association with government agencies set up refugee camps around key cities and on the borders of several 'safe' states; however, with diminishing resources needing to be stretched further by the day, the refugee population was merely kept alive in relatively small camps with a capped population that saw many more dying just beyond the razor-wired and electrified fencing. For a time, the government, despite all the evidence to the contrary, told the media that it was working to increase the assistance to the refugees and find an appropriate solution for them: integration within the so-called safe states was out of the question as the numbers were too great, and the continued stability of the safe states, cities and regions had bipartisan support for prioritisation. This resulted in the government directing its message to manage the fear of the remaining productive population within the safe states. The fact was that the government had no intention of doing anything for the refugees as the projections for the coming ten years indicated that there was only going to be ever more instability issues within the nation, including the impending failure of several of the eighteen remaining safe states, which had the potential of unleashing tens of millions into the no-go zones of other neighbouring safe cities and states, a situation that was being largely kept from the public, but which had been identified and propagated by many alternative media sources; this was
vigorously denied by the government who sought to suppress discussion wherever possible within the scope of its ever-extending social control powers.
Concomitant with all this was the increasing limitations on, and policing of, travel movements between states, the issuing of state passports and interstate travel visas for the first time, the implementation of a more stringent visa application process for foreigners, and the establishment of a new agency five years earlier called the Interstate Travel-Restriction Enforcement Agency (ITREA), which had many more powers to investigate, apprehend, detain and relocate citizens, and deport foreigners than any other agency.
Shortly after ITREA began its work, the six strongest and safest states in the Union, after years of fear-inspired collusion, put in place the structures to create and announce a separate nation state called the Six United States of America (US6), which immediately raised tensions between itself and the remnants of the abandoned governmental organs and populations of the other states, and resulted in the former USA becoming known informally around the world as the 'Divided States of America.' Although some opportunists mocked this situation and rightly saw it as just being a prelude to the continuing dismemberment of the socio-economic and political fabric of the former USA, there were many parallels around the world that were emerging concurrently and provided most with cause for genuine concern.
• • •
Back in his room, Ikaros collapses onto his bed, hoping to get up early tomorrow to start processing today's events and plan what to do next, perhaps even seriously consider abandoning the rest of his so-called tour, the highlight of which has probably just occurred. He stares up at the ceiling with the city lights projecting a soft glow through the half-drawn curtains around the room. A small grin comes to his face as he reflects on the sudden change in direction that has opened up a whole new field of possibilities he'd barely even let himself fantasise about previously. He mulls over some of Henry's appealing yet sometimes peculiar ideas and their shared views on the philosophy of action in extreme conditions, and then lets a flood of thoughts about possible futures flow through his consciousness. "We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" he whispers to himself as he shuts his eyes and enjoys the comfort and warmth of his room, and its quietness. Although fully-dressed, he falls asleep quickly on top of the covers and doesn't wake until early the next morning when he rolls slowly off the bed, body feeling thick and aching, and head pulsing painfully. Heading straight for the door, he wonders what kind of Texan breakfast he could possibly hope to stomach in his sorry condition.
Chapter 3
Melbourne, Australia: twenty years earlier (2032)
Sitting on the floor in a classroom, a group of ten-year-olds have been listening to their teacher, who's just finished giving a premature talk on employment and careers, and begins to go around the class asking the students what they would like to be when they grow up, hoping that they've been inspired in some way by the topic. They come up with a variety of usual-suspect occupations, including doctors, lawyers, mechanics, and truck drivers, and, perhaps typically, when asked, some want to be what they want to be because that's what their parents are or suggested they could be or told them they should be. The little girl sitting next to Ikaros indicates she wants to be a nun of all things, which few of the children seem to understand the meaning of, so the teacher clumsily helps the girl explain it. The students accept it silently even though they think it's a bit weird and are unsure how she could make any money out of it.
The teacher then turns to Ikaros. "Okay, Ikaros, what do you want to be?"
Without hesitation and looking at her with complete naїve sincerity, he announces, "I wanna be a mercenary."
"A what?!" the teacher reacts in surprise as the other children begin to laugh mockingly, some only playing off the teacher's reaction rather than the meaning of the 'occupation.' "What about a real job, Ikaros? Don't you want to be something like we've been talking about today?"
"No, not really. I've been learning kung fu in preparation."
"Don't you want to be a ninja, then?" asks one of his peers snidely and ignorantly.
"No … I just wanna be a mercenary … in the jungle," he emphasises.
Feeling disquieted by his aberrance, the teacher decides to move on. "Okay, then … and, ah, what about you, Johnny?" she asks the child immediately to Ikaros's right.
Unimpressed by the teacher's management of the situation, and the response he got from the other students, Ikaros sits silently with a tinge of contempt surfacing, and listens as Johnny announces that he wants to be a famous game designer, to which no one laughs. Ikaros notices.
"Really? That's lovely. And aren't games popular, Johnny?"
"Yes … yes, they are," he asserts with a validated sense of pride at being allowed an association with such a popular industry.
"And you can certainly make a lot of money from designing games, can't you?"
"Yes, that's right. You can," he affirms confidently.
Lips tightly pursed, Ikaros remains silent, annoyed by Johnny's reliably facile nature and the teacher's entertainment of it despite knowing full well that Johnny isn't capable of anything except playing infants' games and in all likelihood will never progress much beyond that, least of all to the point where he can actually produce one of his own.
Fourteen years later (2046)
Deep among the people and the squeeze, Ikaros takes small steps as he files out of the exit of a tram at a busy, inner-city stop. Tired from staying up most of the night finishing an article he wants to show his editor this morning, he heads straight to a café located just next to the building that houses several companies, including About the Times, an online newspaper that he works for as a politics and culture journalist, a now relatively conservative paper with a weekly worldwide readership of around 4.5 million. It had initially carved a name out for itself by being politically radical and subversive, which was, unfortunately for Ikaros, long before he came on the scene; the paper suffered from the typical process of de-radicalisation that uncomfortably reflects not only its name but also its natural will for survival and almost-inevitable desire and impetus for growth.
He's been trying to get some articles printed that are more in line with his interests rather than just what the editor tells him to write or the ones that he can easily guess will be approved. Although he's worked there since he graduated with his political journalism degree eight months ago, his persistence is still rather naïve, not least because of the secretive nature of the company's political and economic alliances, and a corporate culture that presents itself as fostering journalists' own areas of interest; the superficial rhetoric that supports this is what Ikaros is only starting to get a sense of now that he's been pushing up against its boundaries.
His first few attempts were rejected, and he started to get the sense that the editor was humouring him through the appearance of encouragement. Consequently, he was forced to get them published in an overseas paper, which, incidentally, didn't pay him anything for the apparent privilege. Despite this, he soon came up with another idea that interested him, so he thought that he'd give it another shot, just barely allowing himself to hope that perhaps this time the editor would come around to his point of view with the aid of as many of the subversive writing techniques he'd picked up along the way, and using them with as much skill and precision as he could manage.
After Lunch
Ikaros walks towards the editor's office with a degree of apprehension that interrupts the flow of his steps and makes him wonder whether anyone can tell or not. Noticing through the glass that the editor is reading intently, he opens the door and walks in.
The editor doesn't look up until he's seated. "How's it going, Ikaros?"
"Yeah, not bad."
"You know, this is pretty good."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I mean, you've done the research and there're only a few typos … less than the last one, anyway. Your editing skills are improving!"
"Yeah, I've been focusing on that a bit more."
"Look, Ikaros … I know you're interested in this kind of thing, but to be honest with you, we just can't print it or anything like it. I'm not even going to show it to the Editor in Chief — not because it's bad; it's not. It's done well enough, but … you know already, don't you? We can't print an article that's on… What's it about once you get down to it? Not just the end of democracy, but how we've never really had it to begin with?"
Ikaros nods in confirmation.
"I mean, if you want to appeal to a popular audience, which we kind of do here, we're still not in a situation where you can face off alternative political systems — like social anarchism or whatever — against democracy as we've had it and have it now, trying to make these alternatives look credible of all things while attempting to convince us that it's just — let's read between the lines here and paraphrase more explicitly — the insidious propaganda of pseudo-democracy or something that's conned us all into accepting such a low standard for what we mean by democracy and all that entails? I mean, you make it look like we're all completely stupid, even though you're obviously trying to make it palatable one way or another, which is no way to position your audience, not here, anyway… Let's admit it: it's thinly veiled, so you're just preaching to the converted, which, I have to say, probably isn't much of our readership. You know the demographic. You also try and make democracy look like a kind of dictatorship?! But then, it also sounds curiously like you're quite happy with the idea of dictatorships."
"I don't know about that. They're just useful in certain contexts and at certain times, but like democracies, they can be poorly structured and managed … with serious consequences. I don't think that's controversial, so our aversion to dictatorships and the way we use them as a target for contrast and revulsion helps to obfuscate and avoid considering the real and serious problems with the ‘democracies’ we have and that have been allowed to get out of hand. We largely settle for what we have or think we have, but that wasn't the idea to begin with… I wasn't interested in making a preference either way; there are already plenty of people who do that for us. One of my points was that even apparent democracies themselves contain a whole system of micro-dictatorships that support and are in some ways more significant than the so-called democratic structures that govern the nation state; ironically, they're even encouraged by democracies, which should be seen as weird and analysed more than it has been."
NEW WORLD TRILOGY (Trilogy Title) Page 3
