Before he could ask a question, she acted quite brusquely. This was for the benefit of cameras that might have picked up the body brushing. It would show that on the 2 occasions, it was accidental when she was reaching for the vegetables and she had not relished rubbing against him. Wolf sensed that this was clever because he would be very closely monitored given his marked status.
She went off to another section.
Then he concealed himself amongst the shelves. He saw Lazer approach her casually in a false show of sincerity. He heard them laugh. She was a good actress. There was no way people would mistake her as being from the Fringes. Her mannerisms were perfect.
It was beginning to make sense. There was no way she could possibly move around without being caught. Whoever had configured her entry had calculated her chances of success and found that she stood a better chance by being linked to her greatest enemy Lazer because her tech footprints would be tagged to his and would not immediately arouse suspicion. He kissed her lightly on the cheek before she left for the check out. Wolf went to an obscure part and avoided him although he was sure that Lazer knew of his whereabouts.
He hoped that the simulation that was guiding her was accurate enough to enable them to escape.
Wolf knew that everything was monitored but by the time they came back to recheck they would have left. A perfect world did not come by accident. Loopholes had to be closed; individuals who asked too many penetrating questions were silenced and tech glitches were fixed. To the outsider, Genetica showed people going about their work in bliss and there was harmony with their pristine environment. The lawns in the parks were a perfect green; the little clumps of forests that stood in strategic locations in the concrete jungle blew gracefully to the breeze and had a realistic sylvan beauty. The fish in the crystal clear ponds dotting the various mass transit centers and parks looked friendly and welcoming.
These props were meant to emit a warm atmosphere and put the populace at ease. It made them feel that they were part of a perfect world where everything worked in harmony.
But this was all an elaborate fiction.
The lawns, trees and fish were all artificial. The grass and tree leaves were made of a durable polymer that was painted in various hues of green.
Even the breeze that blew so perfectly was artificial from wind generators.
The perfect blue sky was also artificial as the climate was controlled. Its people had never seen dark clouds and were not familiar with concepts such as tornados or natural disasters.
The water in the ponds was made of a transparent synthetic jelly. It could turn into ice within seconds or heat up to high temperatures killing those unfortunate enough to be deliberately pushed in. Nothing happened by accident. The fish that looked so cuddly, warm and sensitive had surveillance cameras in their dreamy eyes.
Wolf remembered walking through the wooded areas and park with his mentor Zugovsky. He had explained all these to Wolf who looked shocked that this vista of environmental sustainability was all a lie. “Our beloved Genetica is built on fiction. It is easy for citizens addicted to all the tech wizardry to digest it rather than face reality.”
These props were all built by the Mx Corporation for surveillance purposes. They could all turn violent against its own citizens. The blades of grass could turn into sharp razors slashing and maiming; the fish were robotic machines with listening devices and could even gnaw their victims like piranha. The trees were a marvel of perverse science. They could kill their victims by bringing down chemically poisoned leaves!
He remembered that they had sat by the pond and Zugovsky had said, “Genetica is doomed by its own super efficiency. It fools itself by not using the planet’s resources assuming that by generating its own artificial resources it will exist forever. Its biggest flaw is that it does not encourage rebirth. There is zero birth rate. It is not able to generate life from within and from without. The tragedy Wolf is that we delude ourselves by believing our fiction.”
As they walked away he whispered to Wolf that the fish in the pond had two lenses; one for looking at their watery world and another for looking at those above them. Both lenses were integrated with powerful listening devices. But why had he deliberately made disparaging comments knowing they were listening? He had also said something very strange, “Wolf I brought you to that pond because one day it may prove useful to you. The jelly and fish can be tampered with! There is a tunnel under it which will take you out and bring you back to save this place.”
A short time later Zugovsky vanished never to be seen again, as if he had never existed.
It all now made sense. By being with him, Wolf was also marked. He had been groomed for chaos so that he would return. He just didn’t know how things would play out and perhaps that was the ideal situation.
+++++
Wolf had almost forgotten about the encounter until it was time for dinner and he was preparing salad of purple tomatoes, green carrots and white lettuces with orange mayonnaise. He immediately brought his g-pad not sure if he would find Lilydeen.
She was in the StatsLine catalogue. He was pleasantly surprised to find that someone had hacked into his personal data so that it registered that he was compatible with his choice. Still, he went through the charade of pretending to check out other girls in case they traced back the hacker.
+++++
But when Wolf finally clicked for her he noticed that there was another pending request! He sent his request to the network centre. He looked at his timer. If she chose him, he would expect her in half an hour from when he clicked through the request. He marveled at the cunningness of the program she was using. By registering more than one request she did not arouse immediate suspicion. The question was; would Lazer accept a rebuff and what would he do about it in that short period of time?
Since no one was married, men and women throughout Genetica were ordering playmates. Relationships were simple, efficient and involved no emotional baggage. Wolf remembered that Fing was a major shareholder in GroupBond which were group activities between compatible partners. For an additional fee, the partners could be injected with ‘adventurous genes’ to instill spicy activities. Another invention BigPlay involving younger teens had proved quite popular with older inhabitants.
Wolf, like all other inhabitant used his g-pad whenever he wanted company. He keyed in his personal details and vital statistics. There were a number of providers although StatsLine was the biggest. They provided him with a list of prospective ‘friends’ who were compatible. Bored with current girlfriends? The center had an inexhaustible list of compatible partners. Bored with girls? A GM center (for a modest fee) could temporarily genetically modify Wolf to have a gay sexual orientation. HeritageLine was another service that delivered clones carefully modeled after historical figures. Based on one’s preferences one could order up past celebrities or go back in history to Cleopatra or Julius Caesar.
Wolf missed Roneel. Everyone got company for sex but he got company to talk and share ideas.
“You’re acting like someone from the Fringes,” Wolf had joked. “Next you’ll want to get married!” He had heard that many Fringe people spent so much of their time on spiritual activities and family life. All foods were produced organically. Another reason why he wanted to escape was that he wanted deeper bonding with people rather than the superficial relationships that was the norm in Genetica.
“Isn’t it boring to have these enhanced erections for 1 to 3 hours? Don’t you feel bored, sick and wasted after a while that it’s not the real you but chemicals inside you that provide all this? It’s more fun penetrating each other’s minds. Engineered perfection is boring!” Roneel had argued. Although he had laughed, the argument had struck a sensitive chord and convinced Wolf that he had to move away.
+++++
“It’s dangerous and we don’t have much time,” Lilydeen whispered as she brought out a gadget and went around the room signaling to him to be quiet.
She pointed at the ar
twork by his bedroom wall. She carefully turned it around so that it faced the wall.
“The eye has a surveillance camera.”
“I always thought it was warm and endearing.”
She looked at him closely, “You have a soft spot for that artwork otherwise I was going to put it in the bathroom.”
Wolf was not quite sure where he was to begin. She looked exactly like the girl in his dreams. “Are you from the Fringes?” he asked awkwardly.
“Yes. By embedding me in StatsLine I could pass for someone from here.”
He realized that without this ruse she could not last more than a few minutes in Genetica.
“It’s amazing. I trained for this and can’t believe I’m here.”
“You’re very brave,”
“I hope we’re strong enough to survive this. Strange that you look exactly like the guy in my dreams.”
They looked at each other awkwardly and nervously. He appreciated that she had to overcome her distaste for clones and link well as a team to accomplish their mission.
“I’m so glad to see you,” he said trying to make her relax. His g-pad started buzzing. It was Chloe, “Wolf is everything okay? I worry about you.” Her face looked concerned on the monitor.
“Everything’s just perfect,” he said breezily.
“Call me if you need to talk.”
“I will. Take care,” he said. He turned to her. “I assume that you did not come here to have a good time!” His joke sounded awkward and he hoped he would improve.
“I don’t think I can manage the 3 hours,” she laughed.
“So I won’t ask you for a French kiss,” he chuckled.
“I might become chemically inclined.” It sounded silly and they laughed.
“You need to take out the gadget,” he said.
She seemed to know and was just waiting for him to make the suggestion. He got on the bed and she carefully removed the chip from the base of his neck. She had been trained to do this as cleanly as possible.
“They’ve been watching you Wolf but you probably know that already.”
“It’s amazing how your people can hack into the system here.”
“We have inside help but you’ve sensed that already.”
“I wonder if someone secretly fed me those data.”
“We fed them to you. That’s why the Corporation wanted you observed.”
Wolf looked stunned. “Why was I chosen? It doesn’t makes sense,” he said sounding blasé.
“For some time you’ve been frustrated with your world. You hate the GM foods and pills; you hate the 1 to 3 hour pleasure times. You even hate those purple tomatoes and green carrots. You don’t actually eat them, you just swallow them. You’ve been trying to challenge your life. Most people here would cover their issues by taking more pills or burn some neurons but you are special Wolf.”
He seemed mesmerized by this soliloquy. “You know so much about me.”
“You hate your perfect body. Even when brushing your teeth or combing your hair, you avoid looking at your face. You think you are a work of fiction. You’re offended by your genetically modified saliva that tastes just right in a relationship but you feel it’s like glorified chemical droppings, to use your words which you had mumbled under your breath one evening,” Lilydeen paused. “You were so unhappy that you decided to be honest about life here. You rattled them!”
Wolf shrugged. There was little he could do. They had arranged the accident for him and a mini drone kept him company daily. Strange that it hadn’t made its appearance yet.
“You’re still unhappy Wolf. You wake up half the night feeling the frustration well up in your chest but you suppress it. You’ve stopped taking smart pills that would put down these woeful emotions. You control your breathing because you’re intimidated by that mini drone watching over you like a jealous lover.”
“I know it sounds foolhardy but I wanted to make a difference.”
“You are fortunate Wolf. You have a choice. You can fight it.”
“How?” he asked.
She ignored the question. “The records show that you had developed quite a hunger for historical games. You have the chance now to be a hero, hiding in tunnels and dark corners, living the life of a fugitive, hounded like an animal, all in the cause of righting your system?”
“How?” Wolf asked again.
“The appropriate question is, ‘Are you willing to do this’?”
“Being on the run, risking death, fighting the Corporation?” he asked in exasperation. “I’m already dead here.”
“It’s going to be dangerous.” This sounded like a profound understatement.
His g pad whirred urgently. It was Lazer. “Brother I don’t have much time. I must speak to her. She’s there.”
Before he could say anything, she took the g pad and spoke. Although her voice was friendly and relaxed, she looked tense and nervous. Time was not on her side. The conversation ended and she said, “He’s so sure you’re going down shortly and asked for some time with me.”
“How did he connect to you?”
“My Oracle program probably simulated that having him onboard increased our chances. But you already know all this.”
Wolf had been provided with a comprehensive picture of Lilydeen and it was on that basis that he decided to commit himself. “You don’t have issues like me,” he said for want of something to say.
“Once you get to know me you’ll probably have regrets,” she laughed. “In 15 seconds your mini drone friend is going to show up. You are going to shoot it not because I am telling you but because you want to do it.” She passed over the weapon. “One other thing; the Corporation wanted you suspended with immediate effect. Have a quick check of your g-pad. Your page has been wiped off as if you didn’t exist. You were deleted some time ago and they have put out an item that you were placed under observational suspension because of your erratic behavior, a most unfortunate result of the skiing accident.”
Wolf gasped.
“Fing has already recorded his message of regret!”
The mini drone whirred rudely, with supreme confidence, like an erect organ, closer to his window. Its lighted middle eye seemed to sneer at him.
Wolf stretched out his hand as if in a welcoming gesture of friendship and shot it in the head.
The bullet shattered his window. The drone made a loud screeching noise as if totally surprised by this show of bravado before it began to fall.
“What’s next?”
“We run!’
“I’ve never run before!”
“You’d better start now. You’re a risk taker and you’ll thrive. They’ll be sending another drone and a platoon of robots is on its way.”
“Where do we go?”
“To the Fringes.”
He was surprised to see that Chloe’s artwork was facing them again with its eyes glowing. It was one of those clever tech arts that could appear on both sides of the canvas. She was about to shoot it when he stopped her. “Growing sentimental, are you?” she said with a subtle smirk. The eyes seemed to fix her a dark malevolent look.
They went down the elevator. They could hear the crash of glass in his apartment as robots made their way in.
“There’s an old tunnel at the underground level mobile carrier park. It’s a very old sewer line. We’re going to get into that.”
“Didn’t they pour concrete on that?”
“They did but we reopened them. Out tech is very good.”
She fired almost before the lift door opened. Three robots lay in an obsolete pose.
They moved very quickly trying to make as little noise as possible. They crouched down and crawled towards the manhole. As Wolf opened it, she watched tensely with her weapon raised for more robots that might come down. The thought had hardly flashed when three more robots raced towards them with their weapons raised. She had started firing the moment she heard their footsteps. They all collapsed in a heap in the semi darkness. She rus
hed over to Wolf and closed the sewer just as more robots rushed in firing at them.
She put a wedge bar on the metal cover and then flashed an orb of light. “They’re not going to follow us here. They never venture into unfamiliar territory without orders or examining what they’re up against,” she said as she walked at a leisurely pace. But if they did, the metallic wedge also had an explosive device.
He noticed that the tunnel was well maintained probably by the Genetica Underground group he had heard Roneel whisper one morning.
She seemed to read his thoughts, “There is an underground city of those who escaped from the Corporation. We will not meet them today. Perhaps another time.”
“But won’t these robots be waiting at the end of this?”
“For our grand appearance? A whole army will be there to welcome us at the 2 sealed spots. They know we’re heading onto one of the 2 routes. There are other routes they don’t know about. But we are not going yet. We have markers to place here first.”
“Where?”
“They haven’t told me yet.”
“Won’t the robots be suspicious if we don’t show up?”
“They won’t. Both outlet areas have been booby trapped to go off at the approximate time that we’re supposed to come out. We then make our escape into the desert. One of your personal items will be dropped in the direction we escaped in a hurry. That should take them on a wild goose chase while we do our part here!”
“You guys think of everything,” he laughed. “So where do we go from here?”
She looked at him in mock exasperation, “You’re so inquisitive. Give me a break. They haven’t told me yet.”
They both laughed.
Chapter 8: Genetica: Work to Do
Wolf spoke as she cautiously opened a manhole cover. “From the direction we are going and the distance I guess we are coming out near a park and a wooded area. I don’t think that’s wise.”
“We need to get near the Super-machine complex to place the first marker,” she paused.
“So we need to say hello to Dr Mengele?” he asked lightheartedly.
“I’m sure he would be proud of you,” and immediately she regretted saying it. He was surprised that she had heard of the rumors too and yet they had still chosen him.
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