The Society's Demon

by Matthew Lloyd

  Jonas squinted along the road, staring at the heat waves in the distance, smudging the horizon, giving the vehicles traveling on the road a ghostly quality, as if they were half in this world, half in another. “What’s Prosperity?”

  Nico beamed at the name. “It’s our new beginning,” he said his voice soft, “the new home they built for us.”

  “And that’s what you’re going to show me, right?” Jonas still couldn’t get over the idea this was all too perfect. The Society was giving them homes, food, everything they never had. They’d even named the new neighborhood, or whatever it was, Prosperity as if it were a place where people thrived. He needed to see it, to walk in it, and to speak to the people there, to find out if it was real, if human beings were actually working for each other for once, instead of against. He would have to stay alert, stay ready, and if it didn’t seem genuine, if there was something strange or false, he’d quietly come back and make sure people knew about it.

  “Don’t worry,” Nico said, turning to look up the road once more, “I’m going to show you that and a whole lot more.”

  Then they waited, and the talking stopped, the only sound the coming and going of cars. Jonas kept glancing over each shoulder, searching for trouble, for Bruisers, for junkies, or men in Society uniforms prowling amongst the vegetation.

  Jonas followed Nico’s gaze but saw only the usual traffic on the road, trucks and taxis, and time-worn rust buckets. Occasionally, he saw more modern vehicles passing, but nothing he would associate with the Society. They were all about technology, and high-tech gadgetry, the kind of stuff that Jonas would love to get his hands on. If a Society vehicle was coming to pick him up, it wouldn’t be something simple. The CES tower in the square was just a giant TV, but The Society had designed it to look like an advanced space rocket. If Society TVs resembled rockets, what would their cars look like?

  “So how does this work?” Jonas asked suddenly, breaking the silent bubble they had stood in for a minute. “How do they know you’re here?” There were no cameras here, in fact, the only tech in the area was probably the public phone boxes, but they were in Sohalo, and only one of them worked. The rest were little more than backup toilets and Jonas only knew that because every time he walked past them, his eyes stung with the ammonia stench rising from inside each one.

  “Look,” Nico began, his attention now back on Jonas, “it’s hard to understand at first, I know. I was a bit like you at first, skeptical, and I thought they might whisk me and my parents away and stick us in a work camp somewhere, you know, like slaves or something, but these people are actually good.” Jonas doubted that Nico had been hard to convince. He’d allowed his situation to become so dire they would have had little choice. Jonas wasn’t desperate, but he knew many that were. “When we go into Prosperity,” Nico continued. “You’ll be in for a shock.”

  “What kind of shock?”

  “Well, for one thing, there’s never the need to fight over scraps like we used to do. Then there’s the technology, which you’re about to get your first taste of.” Nico reached up and touched the Society logo on his t-shirt, his fingers lingering on it for several seconds. Each time a vehicle passed them and left dust hanging in the air in clouds he brushed his clothes with his hands, his youthful face pinched in concentration. “I’ve only traveled this way twice, but I’m still not used to it, don’t think I ever will be.” Nico said raising his eyebrows. He stepped back from the road as a truck roared by, a mound of dirt piled high in the back, its sloped sides shaking, and pieces of debris skittering across the road to strike Jonas’ sandals. “And to answer your question, because of the signal.”

  “What signal, Nico? I don’t see any electronics on you,” he finally said, gesturing to Nico’s clothes. His eyes widened as his brain quickly fashioned an answer, the most obvious one. “Did they put a chip in you? Are they tracking you?” Jonas stepped away from him, repelled by the thought. It didn’t surprise him, not really. How else would they monitor their workforce? “Is that how they know you’re here?”

  “No, nothing like that,” Nico said tapping the Society logo on his shirt. “The tracking device is here, in this logo.” He lifted his shirt from inside, pushing his fingers against it until the logo protruded, the three rings encircling a sphere. “They don’t make you wear these things, you know. They always give you a choice.” He smiled again, this time at the logo, then turned and looked off up the road. “Our ride’s here…”

  Jonas stiffened at the words. He suddenly wanted to turn and leave, to go back to Zeta and the kids she was helping, and to a familiar situation. He was about to step into another world, the world that the Society controlled. What if they strapped him into a chair and pushed one of those Quantum Society headsets over his head? But then there was that tiny speck of faith inside him. It was like a star struggling to break through the pollution filled sky of Sohalo at night, but it was there. He couldn’t ignore it.

  Jonas pulled on the straps of his backpack, tightening them, making sure they were fastened securely. Up ahead, coming up the road toward them, a bus trundled along kicking out black smoke to cloud the road behind it.

  “Is that it?” Jonas said, shielding his eyes from the sun as he watched it approach. “A bus?”

  Nico ignored his question.

  “That can’t be what you’re waiting for. It’s little more than a hunk of rust on wheels.”

  “Just wait,” Nico urged. “You’ll see it in a second…wait for it…” The bus didn’t slow down. It carried on, moving past them, the faces within looking out at the two boys. Jonas stared up at them as they went by, searching each face. Men and women, all black, all sweating in the heat of the day, probably workers on their way to a crappy job somewhere. He covered his mouth and turned his face away as more dust swept over them. He saw something glinting in the sun, coming along the road toward them a hundred meters or so behind the bus.

  “Look at that,” Nico shouted over the roar of the bus’s engine. He pointed at the shape emerging from the dissipating dust and smoke. “Like a spaceship on wheels!” He turned to Jonas, his face lit up, and then back again, like a kid seeing his long-lost dad approaching after years at war. Jonas patted the shape of the gun in his pocket and gripped it through the material. It comforted him to feel it there. If he needed to, he could pull it out in seconds and, then all thoughts stopped, as if someone had turned off the tap in his mind. He leaned forward, his eyes widening as the vehicle drew up alongside them, with a sound barely more audible than a breeze.

  The first word that came into his mind was ‘beetle’. It was like the beetles that moved from stone to stone and crack to crack, sunlight glinting from their black carapaces. Compared to the other cars on the road, it was small and sleek. It barely seemed big enough to carry two people let alone four, but when a single door opened with a click and lifted upwards like a wing, Jonas realized it was bigger than it looked.

  Expecting to see someone sitting in the driver’s seat, Jonas peered into the car. He was shocked to see it empty, not a human in sight. “There’s no driver?” Jonas asked incredulously, turning to Nico who was watching him, a smile twitching the corners of his mouth. “How did it get here?”

  “Hello, Nico.” Jonas jumped at the sound, his head jerking around to stare at the car. Again, he peered inside. The car remained empty. “I’m pleased to see you brought a friend,” the voice continued, as Jonas searched for its source. “It’s hot outside, approximately twenty-five degrees Celsius. Please, take a seat, and I’ll adjust the atmospheric conditions for your comfort.” The voice seemed vaguely familiar to Jonas. He couldn’t remember where he might have heard it before, but it was definitely a voice he knew. It was a friendly voice, the voice of a mother to a child, gentle and pleasing to the ear.

  Jonas stared open-mouthed at the car. “It talks?”

  Nico laughed and said to the car, “Hello, ANI. My friend here is
a little confused about you. Could you tell him something about yourself?” He sounded like he was introducing a friend, but all Jonas saw was a car. The name, ANI, was also familiar, but he couldn’t recall anyone he knew with that name.

  “That’s understandable,” ANI said. “It’s not every day you meet a talking car. What is your name, young man?”

  “Jonas,” he answered, glancing at Nico who was enjoying every second. “What are you?”

  “I am ANI, which stands for artificial, neural—”

  “—Intelligence,” Jonas said with her, nodding as he remembered why he recognized her. She was the AI computer used by the Quantum Society. “You’re the computer they created, the one from the TV.” He recalled how he’d thought about sabotaging her somehow, hoping to drive the Society away from Sohalo.

  ANI said, “Yes, Jonas, that is correct.” There was a subtle shift in the tone of her voice as if she were pleased. “Would you like me to explain further, would that help to lower your anxiety levels?” she offered.

  “Anxiety levels?” Jonas repeated. “What’s that?”

  “As Nico said,” she explained, “you are confused and unsure of my intentions.” She paused, then added “Because of that, you are experiencing anxiety, an increase in heart rate, elevated blood pressure, and an overwhelming urge to flee.”

  “I wouldn’t say ‘overwhelming’,” said Jonas frowning. “It’s just that you need to be ready for anything out here, especially now that the Society has arrived.”

  “You are wise to be careful, Jonas,” she told him, sounding like a mother praising a child. “May I tell you a little more about the Quantum Society? It might help to reassure you.”

  “It might…I think,” Jonas said, wondering why he didn’t feel any animosity toward her. It must have been her voice. The Society had chosen well. Even though she had no body to speak from, she seemed somewhat human. “This is all new to me. I’m not sure what to make of it.”

  “It’s only natural you might be confused by all this. The Quantum Society is a benevolent organization,” ANI began. “It is their wish to further mankind by providing advanced technologies such as the EDAI educational program.”

  The name jarred something in Jonas. “The one you’re using on my people, in Sohalo.”

  “I detect distrust in you, Jonas,” ANI said. “Do you believe the EDAI program to be malicious?”

  Jonas sighed. “I’m not sure. People are changing, those headsets they put on, what do they do?”

  “EDAI is a program that utilizes sound waves to stimulate cognitive function.” She sounded more robotic now, like someone reading from a manual. “Prolonged use of the technology leads to an increase in the IQ of the user, and therefore a more efficient brain. These are the only changes to occur. Have you observed any other changes?”

  Jonas turned to look at Nico. Nico looked healthier, not to mention happier but then if it was all true, he had food and shelter, and safety. All of those things would have contributed to his improvement. He shrugged, “I don’t know. It’s hard to tell exactly.”

  A convoy of trucks roared by, honking their horns as they passed. It was then that Jonas realized every vehicle that drove by slowed down, and the occupants stared out of the windows at the strange car. If they heard the conversation between Jonas and the car, the road would quickly become clogged with vehicles. If that happened, it wouldn’t be long before the Fathers, and every other corrupted soul in Sohalo showed up. Jonas suddenly didn’t feel like talking anymore.

  ANI seemed to understand his discomfort. “Perhaps we should get going,” she said. “Once we are under way we can continue this discussion. Would that be acceptable to you, Jonas?” ANI asked.

  “Yes, please,” said Nico stepping toward the car. He stooped to climb inside then seated himself on one of the four seats. “Come on Jonas. It’s perfectly safe, and it’s a hell of a lot cooler in here!”

  Jonas couldn’t deny that it was stifling outside. His vest was soaked through at his back, and the dust clung to his face. He turned and looked back at Sohalo, at the ugly tin buildings, and the dead treeless land surrounding it. There was no one forcing him to leave. This was it, this was his chance to find out once and for all if the Quantum Society was all it was made out to be. He stared at the interior of the car. It was plain, with four white seats, shaped like eggs, and a small table in the center. The dashboard was unusual, in that there were none of the dials and switches that might be found in an ordinary car.

  “Jonas?” Nico lounged in his seat. “Come on, man. She doesn’t bite!”

  To hell with it, Jonas thought then. ANI sounded friendly enough, and there was no reason to mistrust them, not yet anyway.

  “Alright,” Jonas said, climbing inside. “I’ll come with you.” He shifted his backpack around and into his lap, taking the seat next to Nico, facing the front. It was comfortable, and seemed to mold around his body like a hand cupping a baby.

  “Welcome, Jonas,” ANI’s soothing voice greeted as the door closed smoothly. “When you are ready, Nico, please state your destination.”

  Jonas stared at the steering wheel. It was sterile white like everything else in the vehicle, like a hospital corridor, and oddly shaped. It was more rectangular than the usual circular forms he was used to, and there was no gear stick, or clutch, or even any sign of pedals. “So no one ever actually drives these things?” Jonas asked looking across at Nico.

  Nico shook his head. “They can drive if they choose to. Obviously, in our case, we’re both too young so it’s out of the question.”

  “That is correct,” ANI agreed. “You are both below the legal driving age.”

  “Thank you for confirming that, ANI!” Nico said dryly. When he addressed her, Jonas saw that he didn’t focus on any location in particular.

  ANI said, “You are most welcome, Nico.”

  “Smartass…” Nico turned to Jonas, laughing. “She’s a feisty one, this AI, be careful.”

  Jonas frowned. “Feisty? But she’s just a computer.”

  “I am programmed to interact with humans in a manner that is more appealing than that of a toaster, for example,” ANI said.

  Nico laughed, but Jonas only raised his eyebrows. This was some computer. She even had some of Zeta’s character traits. He wondered if she was going to start teasing him about his paranoia soon too.

  Nico shifted in his seat. “Wait till you see the seatbelts.” Jonas found himself looking at the door beside him. He was relieved to see that he could still escape if he needed to. There was a small handle by his right hand. But despite the deafening thud of his heart in his ears, and the desire to get out and run back to Sohalo, he stayed.

  Nico was really enjoying himself. “ANI, can you take us to Prosperity, please.”

  “Destination confirmed, Nico,” ANI answered at once. “Please fasten your seatbelts.” Even though Jonas was terrified at the prospect of being driven by a computer, he found ANI’s voice soothing. Jonas turned to reach for his seatbelt but found that there wasn’t one.

  “Where’s the seatbelt?”

  Nico was grinning from ear to ear, enjoying every second of Jonas’ childlike ignorance.

  “Here,” Nico told him and pointed to a glass panel between them. “Watch…” Jonas watched as Nico waved his hand over the panel, and it came to life, a dozen different symbols lighting up its surface in neon colors, like a touch screen menu on an I-Phone. Nico waved his finger in the air, then selected a symbol and touched it with a flamboyant display that would usually have annoyed Jonas. But instead, he was simply fascinated. Nico’s eyes flicked to Jonas’ as with a whisper, a belt slid from the white surface of his seat and snaked around his body, securing him in place before disappearing into the other side of the seat soundless as a mouse darting into a hole.

  “Whoa,” Jonas exclaimed cocking his head to look at the straps crossi
ng Nico’s body. “That doesn’t look safe to me.”

  “It’s safe,” Nico said nodding, “but I understand how you feel. I was the same.” He gestured to the interior of the car. “None of this seems safe. I remember my first trip in one of these things. I kept expecting it to crash, or for the seatbelt to jam and trap me in here forever.”

  “Exactly my thoughts,” Jonas murmured as he examined his seat, looking for an emergency release of some kind. “What happens if ANI breaks down, and we’re stuck in here, in the middle of traffic?”

  Outside, on the road, the cars going by them seemed huge in comparison. The vehicle they sat in was more like a rich kid’s toy spaceship than something that belonged on the road. He didn’t want to imagine what would happen if they suddenly stopped because ANI’s power plug had been knocked accidentally loose.

  “You’d better ask ANI, yourself,” said Nico with a shrug. “She’s a lot better at explaining all this techno stuff than I am.”

  Jonas hesitated. His eyes roamed the interior, not sure of where to focus. “Isn’t there, like, a screen of her somewhere?”

  Nico shook his head impatiently. “No! She’s everywhere. Just imagine she’s the car,” he said. “If you think this is weird, wait until you see Prosperity. She’s everywhere all at once over there. Now, come on. I’d like to actually get going at some point this century, Jonas.”

  “ANI?”

  “Yes, Jonas. How may I serve you?” Her voice again was pleasant to Jonas. It had a kind of liquid quality to it as if he could almost bathe in it. Now that they were inside the car, he could hear her more clearly. In fact, he could barely hear the world outside, or feel it. It must have been the materials they had used to construct the car. It certainly didn’t look like it could rust like a regular car, and there were very few seams, as if it had somehow been created in one piece. The cars in Sohalo tended to be a bizarre mix of parts and colors, like the mismatching clothes the people wore.