“And if you ever want to learn stuff, you just click here, and then write what you want to know and the answer comes up. You can also press here and say what you want if you don’t know how to write it! The teacher makes us write our questions because we have to practice our spelling and grammar.” She demonstrated by clicking the button for voice search, and saying, “What is an apple?” The screen showed a picture of an apple followed by information about the species of the plant life, nutritional value, climates they are best suited for, and history of the apple including the biblical history in the Garden of Eden, and the story of Newton getting hit in the head with an apple, leading to the discovery of gravity.
Now Jack was impressed. He wondered where the information came from, and how much information was there. He intended to spend some time playing with it later. Before he could thank Jessica, she said, “Oh, and you can press here and it will take a pik-sure or video that you can save.” She pressed the button and a picture of Jack’s crossed legs appeared on the screen. He flipped the pad over and saw a small lens embedded in the top corner.
“Is there anything else this thing can do?” Jack was almost afraid to ask.
“Yeah, it can tell you who everyone’s parents are. Mom says that is so they know who they can have babies with so they don’t inbreed, whatever that means.” She clicked a couple icons and got to a box. She clicked a picture of herself then dragged it with the stylus into the box, and a new display came up:
Jessica Fironia, Age 7, sufficient DNA spread. Warning! Subject not able to conceive due to age. Approximate time until next ready to conceive, 5 years, 7 months, 13 days, plus or minus 80 days.
Jessica was proud of what she brought up on the screen, although she didn’t have any real idea what it meant. Jack however, had answered one of the questions from the list. I guess that’s how you keep from sleeping with your cousin or aunt, he thought.
“Jessica, thank you for teaching me how to use this. I have to go now.” Jack wanted to get back to his room, freshen up, and then go track down Teague for some more questions. Also he was thinking about Wendy and wanted to find her and see if she would have dinner with him.
“Jack, can you come back later to play? I am sure my mommy would like to meet you, she likes meeting new people, ‘specially men!” It was innocent but Jack chuckled to himself.
“I would be delighted to see you again Jessica, I am sure we will see each other again another day.” Jack got up, got the map of the complex on his pad and saw there was a small arrow representing him and what direction he was facing. He shook his head in awe. Jessie jumped up and went inside the apartment, shouting, “Mom! I met a new guy named Jack! He didn’t even know how to use a pad! Can you believe that?” Jack smiled as he made his way to the elevator. He thought it best not to meet Jessie’s mom right now... she might want to take advantage of him.
Chapter 19
Jack headed back to his room, washed up and used the restroom, then settled in at the desk to do some research using the newly discovered tools in his datapad. He clicked through the menu options attempting to find the search function Jessica had shown him. He came across a directory of people in the facility. Curious, he looked for Wendy and found her under Roberts, Wendy J. He didn’t know her last name, but there wasn’t another ‘Wendy’ in the list, so it had to be her. He pressed the button for video call, hoping he was doing this right. It took a moment, but her image appeared on the screen, looking annoyed. On seeing who was calling, her face, smudged with grease, dirt, and sweat, lit up. She was lying on her back, holding the pad above her, her other arm reaching up past the view of the screen. “Jack! I didn’t expect to get a call from you; I guess you figured out how to use your pad?” She looked away from the screen, focusing wherever her other hand was.
He smiled. “Yeah, a little girl taught me. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” She looked back at the screen and appeared perplexed at the little girl comment, but she didn’t pursue it.
“No, not at all. I’m just in an awkward position under this heating and cooling unit and a little frustrated with the progress of the repair.” She emphasized the word with a little grunt while she pushed on whatever she was working on. She relaxed after that and smiled. “So, what’s up?”
“I was just playing with my pad and figured I would give you a call and see if you wanted to have dinner with me later.” He didn’t know if Wendy was feeling the same way about him as he was about her and didn’t want to take it for granted that she was going to be with him tonight.
“Are you asking me on a date Jack?” She was poking fun at him and he recognized it, so he just smiled. Seeing her attempt to goad him didn’t work, answered his question. “I’ll be done here in about two hours. Do you want to meet me up at my place? It’s a single apartment on the second level.”
Jack didn’t miss the emphasis on ‘single apartment’, but he wasn’t sure if it meant she was single and available or just single and not with child. He decided he would have to wait until the right time to start asking questions like that. “I can do that. It might be about three hours though, I have some research to do and I still have to get together with Teague again to talk about tomorrow. How do I find your place?”
She told him how to locate her apartment, then with a note of curiosity in her voice she asked, “What is it you’re doing tomorrow that you have to talk to Teague about?”
“I guess they’re taking me to the Freezer tomorrow. I’m excited because I want to see if I can find anything about the year leading up to my death.” What looked like a wave of anxiety passed over her face, and he took it as concern for him going all the way up to Montana so soon after waking up. “Don’t worry,” he said reassuringly, “I feel like I could run a hundred miles, and I’m sure that a quick trip like this will be plenty safe.”
Her brow wrinkled for just a fraction of a second before she relaxed. With a hint of a grin, she said, “I’ve seen first-hand how good your health is, Jack, and I’m sure you’ll be fine. We can talk about it tonight.” Jack nodded. With a distant look on her face she said goodbye and clicked off.
Jack leaned back in the chair. A date? He felt a little flutter in his belly at the thought. I haven’t been on a date in seven years! He turned his attention back to the datapad in an attempt to take his mind off of Wendy. There were some things he wanted to learn before he spoke to Teague again.
* * *
He found the search function with little difficulty, getting the hang of navigating the datapad. He clicked the icon for voice search, and said, “What is a Mute?” There was a flash and information scrolled onto the screen. It read:
Mute
Pronunciation: myüt
Function: adjective
Definition:
· unable to speak : lacking the power of speech
· characterized by the absence of speech
· remaining silent, undiscovered, or unrecognized
· contributing nothing to the pronunciation of a word or contributing to the pronunciation but not representing the nucleus of a syllable (i.e. The ‘e’ in Bike is mute.)
He frowned when he read the information. This wasn’t what he was after, and he wasn’t sure exactly how to phrase the question to get the appropriate answer. He tried again, hoping the machine could understand. “Is there a definition for Mute that is only pertinent to recent history?” This time the screen came up with a picture of a man that looked to be horribly burned. Aside from the rough skin and lack of hair, the man’s features were all slightly out of proportion to one another. He was, in a word, ugly. Jack read the description.
Mute
Definition:
Mute is a slang term for a group of people who call themselves “The Evolved”.
History:
Approximately thirty five years before the communities referred to as the ‘Enclaves of Science’ formed, a small trading outpost in an area formerly known as ‘Oregon’ thrived. Within a decade of its concep
tion, it had grown to a city of thousands of people. While their technology was not very advanced, the trading had brought them some pre-war technology, including a library of medical text books and some very advanced medical equipment. The local doctors studied the medical texts and publications as well as computer databases that had been recovered and traded off to the merchants. Within a few years they were very proficient doctors and some had picked up research on genetic engineering. Their philosophy was: since the earth had changed so dramatically, the only way humanity would survive in the long term was to adjust people to fit the environment. They began experimenting on “forced evolution”. There were two methods of research. The first was to create engineered viruses that would bring about massive genetic mutations. This was not very successful, and resulted in hundreds of deaths and a short but violent outbreak of plague before it was given up. The second, more successful method was to modify a strand of complete human DNA by removing various sections and then inject the modified strand into a clean, fertilized human egg. When the child was born, the mutations were documented. When a desirable mutation was discovered, the resulting child’s DNA was used for the next experiment. The final strain of DNA that was used was a result of over four thousand deaths, most of which were fetuses or stillborn babies. A process to recreate the strain of changes in each newborn was repeated over the next ten years, and resulted in a documented population of over three thousand mutated humans.
Characteristics:
“The Evolved” retained a majority of human DNA, but the changes gave them traits not commonly found on a normal human. The most noticeable was the harder skin, about the thickness and density of the hide of a cow. The texture of the skin resembled that of burned flesh, and the body was completely without hair. The tougher skin allowed them to withstand harsh weather conditions substantially more effectively than a normal human, despite the lack of hair, and also allowed them more tolerance to the type of radiation found frequently in the post-war world. The organs like the heart and lungs were larger, which gave them more endurance and stamina. These organs were also far less susceptible to disease or infection. Musculature was slightly enhanced, as was the ability to see better in darkness, and the ability to hear.
The downsides to the mutations were a decreased sense of smell, increased tendency towards violence, and decreased capacity for intelligence. The reproductive process was changed enough so that mating with a non-mutated human became impossible.
Current situation:
The “Mutes” as they are referred to by normal humans, are considered ugly in appearance, and are regarded as undesirables. As such, no community, including the one that created them, allowed them to live within their ranks. The Mutes have developed their own culture, and tend to be somewhat nomadic. The differences in their reproductive capabilities made them immune to the anti-fertility virus that was released during the infighting within the EoS. There are currently believed to be between ten and fifteen thousand Mutes in the continent of North America, with an unknown number living in Central and South America. It is also unknown if any have made it to other continents. They usually travel in groups of twenty to one hundred, and are considered hostile to anyone not of their mutated race. Very little is known of their culture as they have only been observed from the outside. Attempts to establish trade or treaty with them have always resulted in failure. When a ‘clan’ of Mutes comes across another community, they will harass that community, steal from them, kill any patrols they come across, and will not stop until either they take over the community or are killed off.
A chill ran up his spine. Perhaps this was reason they needed to build another underground city to live in. He wondered why Teague had not mentioned this yet. Surely they were a threat, just based on the fact they warned the children not to go outside alone. It was time to get some more answers.
* * *
He found Teague in the cloning room, talking with another man. The man was about six feet tall, medium build, grayish hair, and had very distinguished looking facial features. He was dressed in an outfit that hinted at formality, but Jack hadn’t really met anyone dressed in anything but work clothes or the scrubs he was wearing, so for all he knew, this was standard casual clothing.
“Oh, hello Jack.” Teague said when he saw him. “I would like you to meet Marcus. He heads up the council that governs our community, and is, for all intents and purposes, our leader.”
Jack walked up to them and held out his hand. “Nice to finally meet the boss, Marcus.” They shook hands. Jack got the feeling Marcus was examining him as if he were admiring a sculpture or a painting.
“I am pleased to meet you, Jack. Ironically, I was just down here getting a status update on you. I trust you are learning a lot today?” Jack wasn’t sure he liked this guy. It was the way he looked at Jack, more like an object than a person. Something about the man, perhaps the way he talked, suggested he was cloned like Teague, possessing hundreds of years of memories. Perhaps having lived that long gave one a sense of superiority. Then again, maybe Marcus had been leading this community for so long that he couldn’t help but automatically assess each new member. Jack decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, and ignore his first impression. This guy, after all, had been responsible for bringing Jack back, and he was grateful for it.
“Probably more than I ever wanted to know.” Jack said it with a grin on his face, trying to keep the conversation light. “Teague has been an incredible resource, and a fantastic teacher.”
“Good, good.” Turning to Teague he said, “Why don’t you two come by my quarters after Jack returns from his reconnaissance tomorrow.” He turned back to Jack, “Jack, it was a pleasure meeting you, and welcome to New Hope.” He turned and walked out of the room.
Jack looked at Teague in confusion. “New Hope? What was that all about?”
“That is the name of our community. I hope you didn’t get the wrong impression about Marcus. He probably seems a little stuffy to you, but he is a great leader, and a real visionary.” Teague looked sincere as he said this.
“You’re right, he kind of gave me the creeps, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.” Jack didn’t expand on that. “So let’s talk about the mission tomorrow.” This was one of the reasons he had come looking for Teague, and he wanted to get on with it.
“Well, it’s less of a ‘mission’ and more of an ‘outing’. You will be looked after and never in any kind of danger.”
“If there is nothing to fear outside, why are we living underground?”
Teague didn’t take the bait. “I didn’t say there was nothing to fear outside, just that you will be safe.”
Jack wasn’t about to let this go, “I will feel a heck of a lot safer when I know what we might run into. What kind of horrors exist in a post nuclear wasteland?”
Teague hesitated a moment before shrugging. “I suppose someone told you about the Mutes?” Jack only nodded, wanting to get as much information as he could.
Okay, why don’t we head to the armory and we can talk on the way.” Jack’s eyes lit up at the suggestion and motioned for Teague to lead the way.
“The Mutes are by far the most dangerous living thing on the surface, but there are indeed other dangers. There are two larger communities similar to ours that are not exactly... in line with our philosophies. The closest is the Calis.” He pronounced it like ‘Kal-eeze’. “They call their community Cali, after an EoS city that was near the location they currently reside. As you can probably guess, they are located in what used to be California. They have many mineral resources available, and that has given them the luxury to trade heavily with other communities. Their population currently numbers around three hundred, and like us, only their ruling class are clones of the original survivors. Relations with Cali have been strained for the past five years.”
“Strained? Is that a fancy way of saying we are at war with them?”
“War? Oh no, nothing like that. There have been some sit
uations that turned violent, but it’s more like we have restricted trade, and we are always extra careful when dealing with them. We used to trade men with them, sometimes for resources, sometimes for men to come here and fertilize our women. The agreement was always to send a man to mate with a prearranged number of women. However, they started forcing our men to be with more women than was agreed upon, so in more recent years, we have traded fertilized eggs that they can plant in their women or grow in their artificial wombs.
“Like I said, Cali is not exactly in line with our philosophies on expanding the human race, particularly where it comes to government.”
Jack was intrigued. “What’s their problem? I would think after all humanity has been through, everyone would be working toward the common goal of saving it.”
“The problem goes all the way back to the first big war. When the war started, the majority of California residents did not want to participate. The U.S. was already in Iraq, Israel, Afghanistan, and Iran, and California was the most outspoken about pulling the U.S. troops out and letting those countries’ governments handle their own problems. China had been taking over countries to the north and south of them, and the U.S. had not responded with force, so they figured they could take Taiwan and nobody would bother to stop them. The problem was, the United States had a treaty with Taiwan, and were bound by it to protect them. If they let China take over, it would tell the rest of the world that a treaty with the U.S. was worthless. The U.S.’s hand had been forced, and troops were sent. With the other wars going on, the military was stretched to its limit, so the government had to bring back the draft. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and California seceded from the Union. Many members of the military were from California, and all of a sudden they had to choose between their country and their state. It got ugly.
The Freezer (Genesis Endeavor Book 1) Page 17
