‘Iris...’ began Zinnia cautiously.
‘Look, do you see this on my wrist?’ Iris indicated the silver elastic metallic band she always wore on her wrist. ‘This belonged to my mother. I still remember that day. She had come to visit me one last time, before she was sent to the Dissolution Crypt. Being an Altklug, she had to take special permission to see me. This band was hers and she gave it to me that day, on an impulse. She asked me to keep my beautiful hair tied, so that it wouldn’t attract unnecessary Altklug attention. This is all I have left of her—this band, which I wear on my wrist all day, and then sleep with it under my pillow. I did keep my hair tied like she earnestly advised, but it didn’t work. Like it or not, the Altklugs did notice me and I noticed them.’
Iris was silent for a moment as she studied the silver band which glinted in the moonlight. ‘I want to live my life Zinnia,’ she added, vehemently. ‘Live my life to the fullest. In a short while, my expiration date will draw near. I want to do all the things that I’ve wanted to do before that. If I have to die, let me die with the satisfaction that I’ve lived my life the way I’ve wanted to. Not the life the Altklugs want me to live―drab, servile and like a slave! Look at the way they treated you this afternoon. Wash Receptacle cleaning for adding a variation to a name? That’s why I want to die with a satisfied conscience. Don’t you see, Zinnia? If I don’t meet Sven and experience and share the love in our hearts, I’ll die anyway!’
The anguish in her voice cut into Zinnia’s heart. Suddenly the older lamebirl burst into tears and clung to Zinnia. She sobbed hard, her entire body shaking with misery.
‘I don’t want to die...I want to marry and have children and I want Sven to be the father...’ she sobbed.
Zinnia was silent. Her young mind was a tight-strung ball of emotions, powerless to cope with the outburst. She wanted to console Iris but the right words seemed to be cluttered at the back of her mind. She wanted to stroke her hair and help her ease her pain and fear, but her hands merely held onto Iris’s hands in a tight, clammy clasp while anger whistled in her head. Strong, beautiful, cheerful, kind Iris who needed love and wanted a life, was instead miserable and being pushed slowly towards a forced death under the Altklug rules. She was right about their existence—they were all slaves. Slaves of the Altklug system, slaves of a destiny framed by the Altklugs and slaves of a life with no future...
At length, the sobs receded and Iris sniffed. In the moonlight, her long hair was illuminated into a silver halo and her cheeks shone with the wetness of the tears. Her beautiful eyes were aggrieved and pensive. ‘Promise me something, Zinnia?’
‘What is it?’
‘I’ve tried to be brave all my life. All the lamebren think I’m wonderful. Promise me you won’t tell a soul of our conversation, my breaking down…about us meeting here, or about Sven and me? At least until...my date...after that, I don’t care...I guess...’
‘I’ll never tell a soul of what passed here today!’ Zinnia said fiercely. ‘Not now, not ever...’
Iris broke into a weak, watery smile. ‘You’re a good girl Zinnia. Good, strong and focused. If you had the right backing, you could’ve been our hope...’
‘Hope? Hope for what?’Zinnia appeared confused.
‘Nothing,’ Iris dismissed. ‘Zinnia, thank you! For listening. Who listens to a frustrated lamebirl anymore?’
Zinnia smiled. ‘I do and I will. But you’re welcome.’
‘Let’s go, shall we? It’s almost Dinner hour. I have to give all of you an update on Preceptor Amadeus’s lecture—yes, I did attend it. And then I have the Isolation Chamber tomorrow to look forward to...’
Zinnia glanced at her quickly, but she was still smiling and Zinnia wondered if a single meeting with Sven could make Iris regard the threat of the Isolation Chamber with cheer, what would a life with him do to her? Well, love did have a way with life. . .
9
‘Today we may feel that we are living in a perfect world. But are we really?’ Preceptor Amadeus passed a cruising gaze over the gathered Altklugs. ‘More than some billion years ago, life on this planet passed through phases of evolution. On a large scale, human life was totally different from what it is now. All those who need detailed information can avail our vast library of chips at the Main KlugBiblio which has a stock of history collected via satellites over millennia. It is chronicled under “Earth History”.’
Preceptor Amadeus looked imposing and distinguished despite his rather short stature and his bald head shone under the hall lights. Zinnia felt as if she was right there in the bright hall—the murmur of the crowd, the heat of anticipation in the air and Preceptor Amadeus’s voice speaking right into her head.
‘But for now, let me present before you a brief picture of life as it was in some phases of evolution. At one point, human life was riddled with inequality, various dividing systems, poverty and untimely painful death. Everything depended on money and what it could buy. Corruption was rife which led to more damage and strife. Life was at its worst with misery, pain and fear—the highlights of human existence.
‘Simultaneously, scientists were making new discoveries and major developments in Biotechnology and then Nanotechnology. But millennia passed before these two could change human life forever.
‘Gene Therapies and Bio-printing started enhancing the ability and appearance of the humans. This led to one of the biggest discoveries ever—Reversal of Ageing. It was at this point that the first indications of the possibility of age being reversed were seen and soon organs, bones, muscles, hair and skin could be reconstructed, veins and arteries could be re-grown. It was magnificent and humans began conquering age.
‘Biotech and Nanotech were so superiorly developed that death rates decreased rapidly from decade to decade. Then the prosthetic or non-biological body parts became affordable—which meant that the human bodies became as strong as machines. But it was when humans learnt to transfer consciousness from broken human bodies into new ones that the first step towards eliminating death began. But it was several years later that sudden and unexpected death was conquered. Also simultaneously birth-rate reduced. With an indefinite span of life, the desire to give birth to children to further the family name became redundant.
‘On the job front, automated, superior systems eradicated the need for humans in jobs and a spectacular molecular nanotechnology industry came into being. The success of humanity was also in its prosperity, but at the same time, commerce began to get redundant too.
‘This was also the time when people seriously began taking effort at eliminating poverty. They began by experimenting with monthly allowances for the poor leading to larger amounts and finally over many, many years, basic necessities like food, medicine, clothing, vehicles, housing, public facilities became freely and easily available. Earth became a commerce-free world, which meant that stress and worry over earning for a living became obsolete. By the way, if you need to know anything that happened on this earth since it came into being, its past, its varied cultures, people, history, books—it’s all stored in the DNA section of the SensorLib.
‘Anyway, human existence became a life filled with happiness, affluence, intelligence, and humans began to enjoy a lifespan which can almost be called immortal.’
Preceptor Amadeus paused. There was a hush in the hall. It was a silence laden with respect and Zinnia sensed the controlled breathing in the room.
‘Today we have to understand that this is the life I would call perfect. Stress-free, happy and filled with the knowledge of a free existence. So let me ask you all a question—today, are we all happy? Are we stress-free? And by we, I mean we all—the Altklugs and the lamebren. Are they happy? Are they free? No, they are not. They are under the constant burden of aping the Altklugs, of matching their intelligence, of trying to be like the Altklugs. Whereas my question is—why should they? Why can’t they just be them? They are special and why can’t they remain special? Why must we regard them as lamebrains and treat them like dirt? A
nd thus I come to the main issue—why can we not consider Age Progression for them?’
A murmur rose from the audience—a murmur of unrest, of concern, of unvoiced confusion. Preceptor Amadeus glanced at them all, his gaze piercing and scrutinising. The image flickered and dimmed and the voices receded from Zinnia’s head. Iris switched off the holo-view and stared at the lamebren. The members of the Secret Society were present in the Cubicle Tory. It was well past their bed time but none of them were sleepy.
‘What do you think?’ she asked softly.
In the low light of the Cubicle, the lamebren looked tiny and vulnerable. Camilla and Cheska in their similar pajamas and their curls, looked zapped. Crispin was frowning, a restive hand fiddling with his untidy shock of hair. Reed’s eyes behind his glasses were downcast and Berk appeared more anxious then ever―both had their mouths open in awe. Zinnia struggled to emerge from the trance of Preceptor Amadeus’s magnetic lecture.
‘He is fantastic!’ she expressed, warmly.
‘And brave,’ Crispin stated, flatly. ‘I am surprised they haven’t put him in confinement as yet.’
‘He was amazing! The Altklugs were taken aback by his direct, no nonsense attitude. He is charismatic, I tell you,’ Iris praised.
‘And he is garnering a lot of support,’ Cheska added. ‘Perhaps one day he may even achieve his objective.’
‘If he isn’t stopped for good before that,’ Berk remarked, a little glumly.
‘He’s got supporters, solid backing too,’ Camilla pointed out.
‘Whatever, whenever!’ Berk shrugged.
‘But still, it’s great to hear him speak,’ Iris cut in. ‘He is so inspiring!’
‘But how can we make use of it all?’ Zinnia asked. ‘We can’t join him, can we?’
‘Of course, not!’ Crispin remarked. ‘That would be the end of us all. If the Altklugs ever get wind of the fact that we are interested in Preceptor Amadeus and his theories, we would be regarded as Betrayers—and Betrayers face a fate worse than the Dissolution Crypt.’
‘Don’t scare her, Crispin,’ Iris cut in hastily. ‘We cannot be labelled as Betrayers ever. We are too insignificant in their eyes, so let’s not imagine the worst.’
‘We can keep ourselves updated with his philosophy. You never know when it might prove useful,’ Cheska suggested.
‘I don’t’ get it,’ Zinnia frowned. ‘We lamebren have always been warned to stay out of the lives of Altklugs. But we have never been stopped from being creative or productive, have we? So why would they stop us from trying to learn something new?’
‘They want to give us a chance of developing into an Altklug. You know like a late bloomer...so we get good education, opportunities for development, till the age when they realise, for a fact, that we are a hopeless case,’ Reed spoke up.
‘And this—Preceptor Amadeus’s theories are not just something new—they are revolutionary and dangerous. They may even shake the foundation of the Altklug world,’ Iris said quietly.
‘But then why is he still allowed to go on?’
‘Because he is too popular to be insignificant and Governor Tisya is very careful with her policies. She will not do anything to jeopardise the peace in the Altklug Dome.’
‘However I bet, she’s thinking of ways to put an end to it. We just don’t know about it yet,’ Crispin prophesied.
‘She’ll have to be really very smart about it then. Because from what I saw today, Preceptor Amadeus and his theories are here to stay,’ Iris declared.
Zinnia observed the lamebren who were all deep in thought. Not one of them had referred to the Wash Receptacle punishment of that afternoon, preferring to relegate it to the background and Zinnia was grateful for their thoughtfulness. Iris seemed calm and there were no signs of their encounter earlier that evening, neither of her outburst nor of the anxiety of the Isolation Chamber the next day. She seemed composed and in a way even happy. How unpredictable she was sometimes and yet she was such an inspiration to Zinnia. She possessed a strength which Zinnia doubted if any one of the lamebren possessed. And yet she had been foolish enough to fall in love with an Altklug. How in heavens was she ever going to hide her true feelings from the world and more importantly, how would the Altklug world react, if they ever found out?
Outside the window, snow fell gently, noiselessly but a shiver ran down Zinnia’s spine.
That night, Zinnia tossed and turned in bed. Her thoughts swung from Iris to Preceptor Amadeus’s speech, making her fidgety. The other two lamebren were fast asleep. For all her tumultuous emotions, Iris seemed to be in a deep slumber, one hand tucked comfortably under her pillow. Finally, Zinnia rose and stood by the window, sweeping away the curtains and clearing the white frosty sheen that had gathered on the glass. The window overlooked the entrance to the Cubicle and the long drive way. In the illuminated lamps, the entrance looked stark except for a van. It was a black van with no windows and nothing written on it. Like a big black box, she thought with a frown. She had never seen this vehicle at the Cubicle before. Who could be visiting at this hour of the night? She stood for moments staring out at the van, when a sudden wave of fatigue found its way through a big yawn. Time for some sleep, she decided and returned to her bed.
*****
The mournful siren awoke her with a start, the slow high-pitched sound creeping into her consciousness and shuddering her awake. Startled, her eyes shot open and for moments she remained almost paralysed in her bed, staring at the plain white ceiling. The Siren of Departure...the heart-wrenching wail seemed to etch a lingering bitterness into her mind. The Siren of Departure? But that was played only to announce the departure of...Zinnia jerked up in bed, her head spinning with the thought. But who? She frowned clapping her hands over her ears to block out the hateful screech and simultaneously looking for Iris. She would know, she realised and turned to see if the older lamebirl was awake. But Iris’s bed was empty. Camilla sat up in her bed too, appearing bewildered and lost. She rubbed a hand over her sleepy eyes and thrust another through her untidy curls. Outside the window, a crimson dawn stained across the sky.
‘What’s happening?’ Camilla murmured groggily.
But before Zinnia could respond, a cool voice announced through the Ret Cubicle, ‘Lamebren, gather in the Hall at once.’
Zinnia and Camilla glanced at each other surprised, suddenly wide awake. They joined the other lamebren trooping down to the hall. Everyone appeared sleepy except Cheska and Crispin who were alert.
‘What could this mean?’ Crispin frowned.
‘It’s never happened before, has it?’ Cheska asked.
His twin shook her head. ‘Not that I remember.’
‘But where’s Iris?’ Zinnia wanted to know, as they formed queues before the dais in the mirrored hall. She sent a searching look across the room, but Iris was nowhere to be seen. Had Supercustodian sent her on an errand early morning?
The tick-tack of shoes announced the Supercustodian’s arrival. She stood in a pool of soft orange rays of the dawn and appeared grave and unsmiling. She stared at the lamebren solemnly for a moment.
‘We would like to inform you that from today there will be a change in the management amongst the lamebren. Until now, G10 had been in charge of your group. From now on, another lamebirl will take charge, since G10 won’t be here anymore.’
Zinnia flashed a quick confused glance at the twins and Crispin. Iris won’t be here anymore? And no more in charge? Had she been sent to another Cubicle? But wasn’t she remanded to the Isolation Chamber for the day? Then why the sudden change of plan? Questions crowded in her brain, pining to be answered.
Supercustodian continued to gaze at them gravely, her pinched nose scrunching closer. The mole on her cheek seemed to twitch ominously. ‘G10 has been sent to the Dissolution Crypt.’
Exclamations reverberated in the hall. Shock slammed into Zinnia so hard that the blood froze in her body. For a moment, the world tilted around her. Iris sent to the Dissolution Crypt
? No, she must’ve heard wrong. Iris still had another year to go. Today she had to report to the Isolation Chamber, not the Sleep...The siren! It was for Iris...Sudden understanding streaked into Zinnia and a tight band squeezed against her chest as the horror of the truth sunk in. Her throat constricted as the words repeated in her head—Iris sent to the Dissolution Crypt!
‘But, why?’ The words were out of her mouth before Zinnia knew it.
All the lamebren gasped.
Supercustodian turned to drive her down with a cold, cruel look. ‘Why? You dare question an Altklug for a reason?’
‘Ma’am, G10 still had a year before the Expiration date,’ Crispin spoke up. His eyes were moist and a hint of anger glinted in them. His dimpled chin stuck out with determination. ‘We just want to know why her date was advanced, that’s all.’
Supercustodian turned her hawk-like gaze on the lamebroy. ‘Governor’s orders, that’s why and that’s all you need to know. Now back to work. G11 you will replace G10 in her duties until further orders.’ She nodded at Camilla who was staring at Supercustodian wildly while tears poured down her flaming red cheeks fast.
The tick-tack of the Supercustodian’s boots receded into the office. The hall echoed with a stunned silence after her departure. The silence was so profound that Zinnia could hear the clamour of her heartbeats, drumming in her ears. She continued to stare at the slanting orange rays of the sun. They seemed brighter and had shifted position through the hall window.
Camilla burst into sobs. ‘No, no...’ she repeated, holding her palms over her face in distress.
Cheska rushed to his twin and flung an arm around her. Crispin stared at Zinnia. The others shuffled their feet, uncertain and fearful.
Revolt of the Lamebren Page 9
