Upon Stilted Cities - The Winds of Change

by Michael Kilman

  “Will do, El Capitan.”

  “Don’t call me that,” said Jose, “I hate it when you call me that.”

  “Well you are the one always giving orders around here,” replied Aaron.

  “I beg to differ,” said Jose and nodded his head in the direction of Liza, whose head was already inside the window and butt was sticking out.

  “Well ain’t that a sight,” said Aaron to Jose with a wink.

  Jose rolled his eyes at Aaron, pretending ignorance, and watched as Liza disappeared into the building. He followed quickly and quietly, making sure that the window shutter didn’t slam or make any loud noises.

  Being alone with Liza always made Jose nervous. His stomach tied in knots, his head swelled and contracted, and he could feel his heartbeat in every part of his body. Yet, she did not indicate that she felt the same way. Jose spent many sleepless lying awake, wondering if he should tell Liza how he felt. He feared driving her away, feared to lose her altogether, and so night after night he renewed his decision to hide what was in his heart.

  Jose was much bigger then Liza, and just barely fit through the window. Liza was small and petite, but she hid that fact with her strong will. She had given him no warning of the sharp drop he would face once he was halfway through the window. Jose fell face first into cold and cracking tiles, banging his elbows and sending a shockwave up through his funny bone.

  “Watch that first step, it’s a doozy,” said Liza.

  Jose looked up at a smiling Liza. He felt a lump form in his throat, and he began to choke on his words. Her beautiful brown eyes sparkled against her dark skin and dark hair. Her eyes always hypnotized Jose when he looked directly into him. He looked away from her face and focused on lifting himself up.

  The room was filled with endless aisles of books. But there was a bit of chaos. Some of the shelves were leaning haphazardly in one direction or another. Some were only half full, and most of the books looked withered and ancient.

  He groaned. “Uh... You should have told me before I stuck my head in the window,” said Jose.

  “Well, I thought a big strong man like yourself could handle it. After all, a little girl like me had no problem.”

  Was she flirting with him? His heart leaped with just a tinge of hope, but he also felt queasy.

  “Let’s just find the bathroom and get out of here before security comes around.”

  “Why the rush, Jose? Afraid to be alone with me?”

  Jose blushed and started to speak. Suddenly a loud thud coming from a few aisles over made both Jose and Liza jump.

  Liza grabbed Jose and pulled him down on to the ground, crouching close together behind a bookshelf. They were kissing distance; faces pressed close. Jose, who had never been face to face with Liza before, suddenly became aware he was looking directly into her eyes.

  In a whisper, Liza asked, “What was that?”

  “I don’t know. It sounded like a book falling to the ground, but maybe someone’s here.”

  Jose’s heart was pounding in his chest; he wanted nothing more than to kiss Liza. Her lips were only centimeters away, and he licked his own. He stared into her eyes, and to his surprise, she seemed to be staring right back. What were only a few moments had seemed to Jose like a perfect eternity of joy. She must feel something for him, he was sure of it. He was going to tell her, going to reveal his feelings and kiss her. He opened his mouth to tell her everything, to profess his love for her, but she spoke first.

  “I’ll go check it out,” said Liza.

  The thought of her caught by an SO pulled Jose out of his trance.

  “No! You aren’t going over there, what if it’s security? What if they catch us?”

  “Well if they were close enough to drop the book, don’t you think they would have already grabbed us?”

  Jose thought about it and realized that Liza was right. If it were security, they would have already been in trouble. Liza stood and moved quickly over to where the book had fallen. He saw himself following her without hesitation, though he didn’t remember standing.

  No one was in the room, and there was no sign of any movement.

  “I think it’s okay. I think maybe it was just these old bookshelves are shedding books. Maybe the books were ready to fall, and when we came in the room we bumped a shelf or something,” said Liza.

  “Yeah, maybe you’re right.” Jose wasn’t whispering anymore.

  “Oh, and there’s the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

  Jose knew he had to tell her how he felt. Every time they went to trade school, the other guys hit on her. She had dated many guys in high school but never very long. She was everything to him.

  He saw it then, the book that would later bring an end to their happy trio, a book that would change the way they thought about the world forever. It lay face up staring at him, and looking back; he could have sworn it was breathing. The title, A People’s History of the United States, intrigued him. Jose had heard of the United States; he knew that Manhatsten had once been a part of it before migration, and the thought of learning a little more about the history of Manhatsten interested him. Jose, in many ways, would have loved to go to scholar school if he had the opportunity. He had a kind of thirst and passion for knowledge that was almost as strong as the way he felt for Liza.

  He picked up the book, a number of the pages were torn or missing, and the book itself seemed pretty fragile, but he riffled through the pages a few times, and a few passages caught his interest.

  “Wow, so many books.”

  Jose jumped he hadn’t heard Liza coming out of the bathroom.

  “Did I scare you?”

  “What? Uh, no, it’s just I saw this book and was skimming it a little.”

  “What is it?” She leaned over him and gently put her hand on the small of his back. It sent a shockwave of emotion through Jose, and he forced himself to act like it was no big deal.

  “It’s called, A People’s History of the United States.”

  “The United States? Isn’t that ancient history, like before migration history?”

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Well, that makes sense.”

  “What does?”

  “You realize where we are, right? I mean you almost knocked over the sign when I scared you, and you jumped three meters into the air.”

  “I did not jump three meters in the air,” Jose protested.

  “You did, but that’s not the point.” Liza winked at him and gave him a big smile. She was perfectly aware of the effect she had on boys, and it frustrated Jose a little. “The point is, El Capitan, that we’re in the archives. Someone hid all these books from the public. Just imagine the kind of stuff back here, stuff that no one has read for hundreds of years.”

  Jose’s eyes grew wide with wonder, and he looked down at the book in his hands again. He turned it over with a kind of reverence.

  “Maybe we should get Aaron. I bet he would love to check this place out.”

  Before Jose could even finish his sentence, Liza was already over at the window well motioning for Aaron to come down. He did so quickly, and unlike Jose, he didn’t go face first and didn’t hit his elbows on the cracked tile floor. He stood up and started looking around.

  “Aaron, we’re in the archives,” said Liza.

  “The what?”

  “The archives,” this time Jose replied. “We're in the room where all the books are kept that they don’t let anyone check out anymore.”

  “Wow, really?” Aaron glanced around.

  “Yeah, and look at this one that Jose found.” Liza grabbed the book from Jose’s hands, though not too forcefully, and handed it over to Aaron.

  “A People’s History of the United States,” Aaron mouthed the words aloud. “What’s the United States?”

  “You idiot, didn’t you pay any attention in high school history?” said Liza. “The United States was the country that Manhatsten came out of before migration. This is an entire history book abou
t the world before migration, all the stuff they didn’t teach us in class. Isn’t that freaking amazing?”

  “Let’s take it,” said Jose.

  “What?” said Aaron.

  “Yeah, let’s take and read it and then we can return it next week,” Liza agreed.

  Aaron didn’t argue, he turned the book over in his hands and then began to flip through pages.

  “Be gentle, I don’t think it’s in very good condition after all this time,” said Jose.

  They heard a noise outside of the room and down the hall. This time the noise was clearly footsteps heading right for the door to the archives.

  “Shit, let’s get out of here,” said Liza.

  Without much of a word, the three of them scrambled back up the window well, as quickly and quietly as possible. They had no idea who was coming, but regardless, they had been in a place that was forbidden to the public. Jose hid the book inside his jacket, and the three of them moved back into the streets toward their respective homes.

  “That was close,” said Aaron.

  Liza said, “Yeah, but it sure was exciting, wasn’t it?” She was practically jumping up and down.

  “I didn’t much care for the excitement, but I sure as hell want to read this book,” replied Jose.

  “Since you found it, you can read it first, but don’t take too long, I want to read it too,” said Liza.

  Aaron said, “Yeah, I agree, read that thing quick. You shouldn’t keep a lady waiting, after all.”

  The trio walked several more blocks, mostly in silence, back to their apartments. There was an eerie quiet in the streets, which was unusual for that time of night. Only the crickets chirped.

  4.

  Historian’s Note to the Text:

  Readers of this volume are likely familiar with the events of March 7th, 1235 AC. This event, otherwise known as the last great uprising of Manhatsten, is important because it set in motion a series of events that contributed heavily to the conflict between Manhatsten and the Children of Gaia. Several individuals who were directly impacted by this event became important much later in history.

  Little is actually known of what happened directly after the acquisition of the book A People’s History of the United States from the Lower library, but piecing together several narratives from the descendants of the event, we were able to ascertain the following:

  1. The book, over the course of several weeks, was copied and distributed throughout the Welders Forge and the Sanitation department.

  2. Copies of this book were made using the printing rations of Aaron Hernandez.

  3. Labor conditions within both the Welders Forge and the Sanitation department were extremely dangerous, resulting in numerous casualties leading up to the distribution of the book.

  4. Widespread protests erupted on the streets on March 6th, 1235 AC, for which security detail was completely unprepared to deal with.

  6. Runners were commissioned to quell the protests, a sign of just how serious it was.

  7. According to several video recordings of the court proceedings that followed a series of mass arrests, the book was not a significant contributing factor: it was as old Earthers used to say, ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back.’

  The mass arrests that followed the protests were well-documented, and additional recordings can be found at Library 7181 in sector 2111. However, for the purpose of this historical narrative we will focus on the three most important individuals that became directly involved with the end of the migration period and led the way into our current historical period.

  Matron Mariposa Phillips 833.11.11 I.S.

  5.

  Jose opened his eyes. He couldn’t say why exactly he had opened them. The stillness of the air pressed up against his body. He blinked a few times and listened to the beat of his heart in his ears. He sat up and looked around. Why was he awake? He looked over to his bedside at the red numbers on his alarm. They read 4:58 a.m.

  A low rustling sound like crumpling paper broke the silence. Jose thought it might be a rat. They would have to put out the recycler traps again. He stood and went to the bathroom, relieved himself and then turned and sat down on the bed.

  He looked around the room again. Something was wrong. Something was out of place. But the dark corners of the room did not permit his vision to penetrate the shadows, was there something in those corners? The shapes of the shadows cast by the soft glow of the EnViro dome through the windows began to coalesce into something recognizable. It was moving.

  Jose shivered. Slowly he rose from the bed and walked over toward the light switch. He dared not query the AI and give away what he was up to. If there was something or someone there, he wanted to catch them off guard.

  There was a sniffle.

  Jose switched on the lights, like some wizard attempting to reveal a creature of darkness. The thing rose to full height and charged. It was on Jose before he could react, squeezing him tight, taking his wind. He recognized the scent.

  Jose said, “What in the hell are you doing here? You scared the shit out of me.”

  “They took him. They took him and my family, and they’re looking for me now too.”

  “Liza, what in the hell are you talking about? Who took who?”

  “Aaron. They took him. My mom, she tried to hold them off, tried to stop them but they beat her Jose, they beat her badly. Her whole face was covered in blood and my dad, they tased him until he lost consciousness. But they told me to run. Told me to find a safe place.”

  “Liza... I... who did this?”

  “SOs. They found the book, Jose. It’s all over the vidscreens. They are blaming the book for the protests. They are calling it an uprising. Sanitation is shut down. Aaron’s face, my face, they are plastered all over the vidscreens and tablets.”

  “Gods.”

  Liza started weeping freely. She clenched him so tightly that he thought they would become one being. Jose had never wanted anything so bad in his entire life. He hated that it had to be because of something like this. He smelled her hair. It smelled like lavender. He held back his own tears. Then she lessened her grip and pulled back so that she was face to face with him. Her lovely brown eyes shone brightly despite the low light of the room.

  She swallowed hard. It was audible. “I love you, Jose. I have always loved you. I don’t know what is going to happen to us now, but I want you to know that.”

  She kissed him. He could feel the warmth of her lips and the tip of her tongue as it parted his lips. Then the kiss deepened as he embraced it. A warmth spread through him. Endless joy. She stopped and looked at him, just staring, waiting for his reply, waiting to know his truth.

  “I love you too, Liza. Always have.”

  She smiled through her tears and lifted her hand to his cheek. She pushed him down on the bed. Her kisses made what she wanted very clear, and she began to undress him.

  A high-pitched whine filled the air; it lasted but a second. Then a loud explosion sounded from below.

  “Oh gods, they’re here.”

  Quickly, both of them dressed. Muffled yelling and loud thumps drifted up from below.

  Then, there were loud footsteps coming down the hall. Four men charged in through the door, armored in bulky riot gear.

  Liza jumped up. There was no hesitation in her action. To Jose’s surprise, two of the security forces were already on the floor. She had disarmed one of them and tasered two of them quickly. But Jose, who had never had a violent encounter in his life, found himself unable to move. He sat and watched as the two security guards fought to restrain Liza, as they hit her, as they tased her as she screamed. He watched as her body crumpled to the floor, limp and unmoving. They began to move toward him.

  His father burst into the door and attacked the two standing security officers with a metal rod of some kind. Jose’s father’s face was already bloody. Both men cowered in the corner. Jose’s father screamed at them in both Spanish and English, and despite their best efforts, bot
h men could not get the rod away from his father.

  Then from behind came four additional security personnel. Without hesitation, one of them smashed down hard against Jose’s father’s head. He fell to the floor like a sack of bricks and fresh blood began to flow from the bald patch on his head. Jose could tell, by the way he fell, by the way his body lay rigid against the floor, that he was already dead, that he would never speak to his father again.

  He glanced again over at Liza, still unable to move, still frozen to the bed. For many years after he would curse his cowardice, curse his inability to act. She was breathing. Her chest heaved up in down in a steady movement. One of the security personnel lifted his clear visor and eyed Jose.

  “Kid, if you know what’s good for you, you won’t move a muscle. We’re gonna take this girl in; she’s a wanted woman. Now we’re gonna bring you in for questioning too, and if you don’t move, you may not end up a Runner like this one will.”

  Tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes, but he could not move. Fear held him. Fear smothered him and the cowardliness of that moment would haunt him for the remainder of his life. The silence of his tears rippled outwards to muffle every sound. He watched as they carried the limp body of Liza and then the corpse of his father out the door.

  “Okay kid, let’s go.” One of the security detail prodded him in the back. Jose stood and wobbled. His legs, stiff as dried wood that had just begun to rot, almost gave out. He took a few steps forward until he reached the rim of the puddle of blood that was spreading out on the tile floor from his father’s open head wound.

  It was a great chasm. He could not bear to cross it, could not bear the sight of it. The way his father had fallen replayed over and over in his mind, it would in many nightmares for the rest of his life. He looked at the far shore of the puddle, where they had moved his father's body, where the streaks marked the passage, where the edge was no longer a neat dividing line between blood and floor.

  “Come on, kid. Let’s go.” The voice was agitated, impatient.

  Someone shoved him forward, and his left foot met the blood. He slipped. Jose began to fall. Behind him, the security detail did attempt to catch him, but missed. As his head crashed hard to the tile floor, he imagined that this is what his father had felt, that falling had been the last experience of his conscious mind. He felt the hard crash as the back of his head collided with the floor, and then all was black, and worlds and lives seemed no more.