‘How can we stop them?’ Maisie asked, confused. With her two pigtails at odd angles, she looked very young and innocent.
‘Maisie is right. The Altklugs are far superior to us in every possible way,’ Ivy, her best friend added.
‘Not in every possible way,’ Zinnia corrected, quickly. ‘We do have something that they don’t have.’
Crispin looked at Zinnia with interest. Even the ever doubtful Berk leaned forward.
‘Time,’ Zinnia pronounced.
‘We do?’ Crispin asked with hope in his voice.
‘Yes, we have the capacity to outlive the Altklugs. We can live on for years if we are not terminated as per their convenience.’
A stunned silence ensued as they all stared at Zinnia in wonder.
‘Is that true?’ Camilla confirmed.
‘Yes, I’ve just read up on this topic.’ Zinnia told them about what she had read in the Sensorlib. ‘The Altklugs actually should fear us and not the other way round.’
‘Wow!’ Crispin whistled.
‘That is... something...’ Cheska remarked.
‘Still, what can we do?’ Berk insisted.
‘He’s right. Even if we do have the power to outlive them, we can’t and they won’t allow us to,’ Cylia agreed.
‘That is exactly what we need to figure out. How can we use this knowledge to our advantage? Ideas, anybody?’ Zinnia glanced at the lamebren one by one.
The blank faces spoke volumes. None of them responded.
‘What if one of us tried to escape?’ Zinnia suggested softly.
A collective gasp ensued. Zinnia too, was surprised at herself. Escape? How in heavens had this idea cropped up in her mind?
‘Escape! You must be crazy to even think about it,’ Ivy spoke harshly. ‘You have no idea what you are talking about!’
‘Escape is out of the question,’ Reed said. ‘Because, first, there’s nowhere to go and second, even if anyone tried, they would be caught within seconds.’
‘He’s right,’ Crispin agreed. ‘The streets, all public spaces are under surveillance and every single action of the Altklugs is recorded and stored. So is ours. The Dome is a fool-proof world.’
‘What about the Snarl—the forest outside the Dome?’ Zinnia asked.
The twins stared at Zinnia in wonder, their lips slightly parted, revealing their crooked teeth.
‘You aren’t serious right?’ Cheska asked.
‘Look, all I’m doing is studying the options.’ Zinnia shrugged.
‘The Snarl? Have you forgotten Leo Leroy? Well, we haven’t. You really have to be mad to step out of the Dome and into the forest. Survival chances are nil. There are wild animals and all kinds of monsters in the Snarl. Even the Altklug Ace-world, despite all the restrictions and the continuous fear of death, is a better place than the Snarl,’ Maisie scoffed.
‘Which is precisely why the Altklugs don’t worry about us escaping and also why the Diaphanous Seal fencing it isn’t monitored at every exit,’ Ivy added.
‘In short, there is no means of escape,’ Cheska reinforced.
‘Which is all right because no one’s trying to flee,’ Crispin concluded on a note of relief.
Zinnia was silent. While the others continued their exchange through whispers, her mind replayed Ivy’s statement and a train of thoughts was unleashed… Had Iris ever thought of escaping with Sven? Would she have eventually done something as foolish as try to elope? But elope where? There wasn’t a safe corner in the Altklug Dome, the Sky Radars covered every inch of the Dome and nothing was undetected. What chance did Iris have? What chance would any of them have, if they ever planned to escape?
The meeting adjourned and the other lamebren returned to their rooms. Zinnia slipped into bed, willing herself to sleep but Iris’ empty bed made her restless.
‘Zinnia, you aren’t asleep, are you?’ Camilla asked softly.
‘No, why?’
‘There’s something...I mean...I want to ask you something.’
‘What is it?’
Camilla sat up in bed, and pressed a restless hand through her ample curls.
‘Have you ever been assigned work at Commander Burdock’s house?’ she asked.
‘No, so far I haven’t been assigned to any house—except the K. Ports. Why?’
‘Well, actually, it’s just that he’s a little odd...’
Zinnia heaved herself on her elbow and looked over at Camilla. ‘What do you mean? Odd in what way?’
‘No, I guess it’s just my imagination,’ Camilla brushed it off.
‘Imagination? Please explain,’ Zinnia insisted.
‘I don’t know. It’s just that Commander Burdock makes me a little uneasy. Whenever Cheska and I go over to his house, he works in his study and asks me to sit in one particular chair while he works. Cheska is sent to assist in the garden, never inside the house. And all I do is sit and do nothing!’ Her voice sounded awkward and uncertain.
‘That’s strange,’ Zinnia replied reflectively, studying her friend. In her own rather cute way, Camilla was good-looking. The blonde curls and the crooked teeth added to her personality instead of marring it. She appeared older since Zinnia’s arrival, her body looked curvy and the permanent pink glow on her cheeks added a charm to her personality.
‘Perhaps, he’s probably just wondering what to assign to me when much of the workload is taken care of by their Humanoids. This has happened twice and somehow I don’t really like it. I feel so drowsy there, sometimes so relaxed that I never realise when time has passed by. But finally when I leave, I feel sort of strange, tired and with a body ache. Perhaps it’s all the inactivity,’ Camilla concluded.
‘Possibly,’ Zinnia agreed.
‘Good night then, sweet dreams.’ Camilla smiled and lay down in bed.
‘Good night.’
But Zinnia didn’t sleep for a long time. For some bizarre reason, the conversation with Camilla had nudged an instinctive distrust for Commander Burdock and for the first time, she experienced a twinge of worry. She would talk to Crispin about it, she decided. Finally, as thoughts dulled into an ache, she dosed off into a restless slumber.
11
‘There is going to be a change in the order of things,’ Supercustodian announced.
The lamebren were gathered in the mirrored Hall, alert and attentive in their straight lines.
‘As I call out the numbers, please step away from your line.’
As Supercustodian read aloud the numbers from a padlet, Cheska stepped aside with Reed and Maisie. The other lamebren stared at them. Camilla turned white and Zinnia’s heart began to pound. What was happening? Surely, not again...
‘You have thirty minutes to pack. You three will now be staying in the new Ret Cabana in the Northern Quarter,’ Supercustodian said. ‘Please ensure that you carry your padlets with you and take all your belongings.’
A stunned silence followed. Zinnia whipped around to see Camilla clutch Cheska’s hand.
‘No please, let him stay with me. I...I can’t live without my brother,’ she beseeched, the tears beginning to flow swiftly.
Supercustodian turned cold eyes on her, her pinched nose pointed and ugly. ‘How many times do I have to tell you that tears are a waste of emotion G11? And bonds reduce the efficiency of a person. It would do you good to remember that our Ace-world is all about optimum efficiency.’
‘Ma’am please!’
‘Thirty minutes!’ she announced again. ‘And the rest of you, to your classroom.’ With that she tick-tacked out of the hall.
Immediately the lamebren gathered around Cheska, Maisie and Reed who appeared bewildered. Camilla clung to her twin, the tears pouring freely.
‘It’s all right,’ he comforted, but his usual pink face was white and tense.
‘No, it’s not. They are taking you away from us—just like Iris!’ Camilla cried.
Ivy held Maisie’s hand and Berk hovered around Reed. Only Lorde stood back from the group, watching the pr
otests and exchanges with a look of contempt in his eyes.
‘Is that true?’ Berk asked, gazing anxiously.
‘No, it’s not,’ Crispin spoke up. His voice was firm and controlled. ‘I think I know what they are doing. They are trying to break up the groups. Cheska and Camilla, Maisie and Ivy and Reed and Berk―it’s like trying to break up a pack,’ he explained on a bitter note.
‘And we can do nothing to stop them,’ Cheska concluded, with a sigh.
‘Not now perhaps,’ Zinnia said.
‘Not ever!’ Azalea shook her head. ‘We were born losers and we will remain losers.’
‘No!’ Zinnia snapped. ‘We are not losers and never will be, you’ll see. But for now, it is important for all of us to be strong. Cheska, Maisie and Reed―you will remain strong, won’t you?’
Reed looked thinner than ever as he towered over the rest of them. ‘We don’t have a choice, do we?’
‘Look, I think we had all better disperse. We have to be in class in five minutes and these three have to pack,’ Crispin said sensibly.
‘I am not leaving Cheska!’ Camilla’s voice was fierce with determination.
‘Listen twin, I’m going to be fine. We are all going to be fine. The new Ret Cabana is just ten minutes away from here. We’ll be meeting all the time and besides, I’m sure this isn’t a permanent arrangement.’
Zinnia observed as he consoled his sister, his hand on her shoulder. With their curly heads propped together in shared whispers, she could understand their physical as well as their emotional bonding. A wave of sympathy and anger drove through her. What if it was not a temporary but a permanent arrangement? Why should they be separated? They were twins after all, they needed each other. For that matter why separate best friends Ivy and Maisie, and Berk and Reed either? What kind of a game were the Altklugs playing? Whatever it was, it was mean and cruel, with complete disregard for the feelings of the lamebren.
‘Ok lamebren, get going,’ Bosco appeared and began hustling them away. ‘Back to class all of you!’
‘I’m going up with Cheska to pack,’Camilla declared, her tone defiant.
The others thought it wise not to argue. The lamebren hugged Cheska, Reed and Maisie, whispering goodbyes, under Bosco’s watchful eye. An unspoken understanding seemed to bind them. As the group separated and the rest of the lamebren moved to their classroom, Zinnia experienced an acute sense of anxiety. They would see Cheska, Maisie and Reed again, wouldn’t they? She wished Iris was with them that moment. Iris, who always softened the impact of reality, protected them and gave them strength. She touched the wrist band as an ache of longing descended on her. Iris...
Zinnia was absent-minded in class and barely heard a word of what Bamian was explaining, about how dreams could be harnessed to solve problems and make discoveries. She sat up when Camilla appeared by the classroom door, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen and her cheeks a bright red. Bamian glanced up at her and without a word consulted his padlet.
‘G11―you are late.’
‘I’m sorry―my brother and the others...’
‘Yes, yes I know―they have been transferred to the new Ret Cabana,’ he cut her short impatiently. ‘Sit down, I was about to demonstrate something to the class.’
Camilla slipped into her chair and bent her head over her padlet.
Bamian placed his padlet on the shiny metallic table and searched the faces of the lamebren.
‘You, come forward,’ he ordered.
Berk rose and with small steps, hastened to the front of the room.
‘As you already know, Altklugs have taken giant leaps in terms of knowledge and technology. What you don’t know is the extent of that leap. Today I am going to demonstrate a small experiment. It is about dreams. Dreams, as you lamebren know them, are thoughts that form an in-cohesive whole in the brain while we are sleeping. Today we have harnessed these thoughts and channelised them into constructive means. Sometimes, we have been lucky to turn the dream into a discovery by expanding on it. Are you following me?’
He glanced at the lamebren over his glasses and at that moment looked so much like Aerobut that Zinnia was convinced that they had to be related.
‘So, let’s begin. Shut out all light!’ Shutters dropped down over the windows, plunging the room into darkness.
‘B18 close your eyes. Now you are fast asleep.’
As Berk closed his eyes, within seconds he seemed to sway gently. Zinnia watched fascinated.
‘Now let’s see what this lamebroy is dreaming about...’
Bamian pushed a button on his padlet and immediately a light flickered in the room, like a projector and images danced in the light. Zinnia’s eyes widened in amazement. A quick series of images flashed by—Reed smiling, a van without anything written on it, Reed sleeping in the dorm, pulling plates out of a server, Reed at Governor Seeya’s Museum...
‘Okay enough! Shutters open, B18 please awake...’ Bamian was smiling, looking very pleased.
Berk opened his eyes, looking a little dazed and confused.
‘You can return to your seat now.’
The lamebroy stumbled back, uncertain on his feet with disorientation.
‘What we just saw was totally fascinating. When B18 was asleep, his dreams consisted of visions of his friend, his activities, his insecurities. Dreams in this form are psycho babble as we call it and would serve self-analysis, but are totally useless in terms of psycho-techno advances. On the other hand, if you were to test an Altklug dream, you would find something completely different. His thoughts do not manifest into a dream—which is a lamebren prerogative—but would manifest into what we call a thought-harness process. The thoughts would consist of work, of theories, of discoveries, sometimes subconscious which can be harnessed and ‘logicalised’ into reality. This thought-harness process has been very important in the psycho-techno advancement of the Altklug world. Am I making sense?’
He threw a shrewd look across the classroom, assessing and gauging the absorption of knowledge.
‘Any comments? B15?’
Crispin rose. ‘Sir, you mean to say that psycho-babble is not present in Altklugs?’
‘That’s right. It is a tight competitive world out there. Altklugs have to perform with optimum efficiency to justify and support their existence in our world. Which means, their life would have no space for idle thought like you lamebren have. No idle thought, no over-reactive emotions, no bonds—the perfect equation to erase psychobabble. The perfect definition for cent percent success.’
Zinnia raised her hand.
‘Yes, G23.’
‘But Sir, what if you were to find psychobabble in one of the Altklugs? What happens then?’
‘Then, he would probably be sent to the Lab for analysis, which I may tell you, is not a pleasant affair,’ Bamian shrugged.
‘What about Humanoids?’
Bamian looked surprised. ‘Humanoids are as close to Altklugs as they can possibly be which was why Altklugs had it so difficult to overthrow the Singularity years ago. But at the same time, they do reflect psychobabble and when they do, the situation can be a little dangerous.’
‘How is that?’
‘Humanoids are machines which copy human behaviour and emulate their emotions. But being machines they are programmed to be used with minimum emotions. If at some point their programming is overturned, like it did in the era of the Singularity, they can overtake the humans. But that isn’t possible now. The Altklugs are far too smart to ever allow Humanoids to rule the Dome again. Besides, a lot has changed since then. Today we live in a futuristic world where simulations are an inherent part of our life and which, day by day, have become difficult to separate from reality.’
Bamian looked at the blank faces of the lamebren.
‘Okay, let me explain. You all saw what B18 was dreaming about. With simulation—an art which Altklugs are perfecting—B18 can experience the same trauma and fear of losing his friend as if it had actually occurred. But that is a temp
orary phase unless you want to continue to live in that simulation. And Humanoids, I believe, are incapable of experiencing simulations.’
Zinnia flashed a quick look at Berk, who had his eyes cast to the floor. The poor lamebroy’s innermost fears were being publicly discussed as if they were as simulated as the emotions of the Altklugs. Bamian’s tone was casual and indifferent and it hurt her deeply.
Camilla raised her hand.
‘Yes G11.’
‘Sir, is psychobabble wrong? Because now that my twin has been sent to the other Ret Cabana, like Berk here, all I can think of is him and his safety.’
‘Same here. I shall keep wondering if my friend is all right too,’ Ivy spoke up.
Bamian glanced from Camilla to Ivy, a frown on his face. ‘Safety? Why should you bother about their safety? That Ret Cabana is well-equipped, it has good Exectors and the jobs assigned would be dignified, I presume.’
‘But I won’t be able to meet him!’ Camilla exclaimed, frustrated.
‘Which would add to your efficiency quotient, I am sure,’ Bamian concluded, coolly.
Camilla stared at him, an expression of helplessness on her face. She exchanged a quick look with Ivy, who appeared equally lost. Zinnia felt annoyed. How does one expect an Altklug to understand that life exists beyond ‘being efficient’?
‘The Governor must’ve made the shuffle for a good reason. We must learn to trust her judgment. Well then, class is over for today. Tomorrow I shall do another exercise with you.’ With that Bamian picked up his padlet and marched out of the room.
Revolt of the Lamebren: Book 1 of the Super-Dome Chronicles Page 11
