She started walking briskly, but not enough to draw attention. Soon, she was at the turn at the end of the street. She jerked her head to quickly look back without stopping.
Noticing she had almost rounded the corner, Wilkes hollered, “Tabitha!”
Not this girl, Wilkes. The potato woman is proof you are not to be trusted. Erratic behavior? Forced memory download? Ugh. If it got any worse…. She couldn’t let it get any worse. Being out here with him, she was still in his custody, cuffs or not. She looked forward and started a steady jog around groups of people and between bushes, careful to stay out of the street.
Finally she had gotten out of his sight and her side was cramping up. Too soon to run, my body’s not ready for that. She slowed down and sighed. Luckily, she had drunk some water with the sandwich pocket, but still, she was running just after eating and her insides were not happy with this.
She looked back and saw him at the end of the road, but hoped he didn’t see her. She dodged into a crowd of people, ducking, walking quickly, and weaving her way through the crowd.
Would he devote a good chunk of his day to pursue her? Wouldn’t the crew at the police station be needing him for something? There had to be something he needed to do. Surely she didn’t merit the effort it would take. Chief Mickler might be needing him for something; really, the man had to have some sense. Tabitha didn’t think she could be that important to him. Would he be calling on reinforcements? Please, no, she thought.
To her surprise, Tabitha walked right into a man with a dragon face.
“Russ!” she exclaimed.
“Oh, I remember you. What’s your name again?”
“Walk with me okay, I’m in a hurry.” She took his arm and kept moving briskly.
“Why the big hurry?” he asked.
Tabitha couldn’t look away from his snake-like eyes. They must have been wearing contacts.
“Oh, nothing, I just need to do so much today.” She walked very closely with him, hand still on his arm, hoping to not stand out as much.
“Such as?”
“Well, I’ll be leaving soon. I just want to take it all in.” She continued briskly guiding him, turning her head in closely toward him as she talked, hoping it didn’t make him too uncomfortable. He had to know something was up.
“I’m sorry I can’t show you around. I’m just heading back to work from my lunch break. There is a Historical Museum beyond Galaxy Lane that you may want to visit. I suggest it, anyhow.”
He was really a very well-mannered fellow, and it didn’t go with his look at all. She had to try really hard to reconcile the two.
“Well, thank you, I just might.”
“I really must go now. Enjoy the rest of your stay! I hope the ride home is pleasant.” With that, Tabitha watched him go, the first man with a dragon face that she’d ever encountered. She wondered if he was used to being stared at.
Her eyes were drawn to a gallery, looking into the windows. There were shadow boxes. On closer look, she noticed each represented a landscape. The first, moon gravel. It was as if the gravel were glued inside of the casing. The second, Mars. There was a red dust clouding her vision, and then in the background, which had to be painted, was a rocky formation. It looked so familiar. Of course, it was just a memory of a dream. Fascinated, she stood there for a while in a daze. People passed by and pretended not to notice her. She kept her jacket hood up to hide her hair. For a while, she had stopped looking around for Phil. Hopefully, he had given up on the chase. Finally, she walked on, aimlessly.
Next to the gallery was a clothing store. She would not have even noticed it except that there was a display of baby clothes in the window, front and center. Mannequins wore cute little sailor suits, some of the clothing looked rather unisex. In a bassinet, a doll lay with the cutest one piece lace shorts set. Her heart sighed. She thought of Peter and envisioned herself holding him in the little sailor suit. Yes, it was just about time to go home. This would be her last walk in Boston, 2047. She truly missed her son, and yes, she had to admit, her husband.
Still, it just seemed prudent to wait until rush hour traffic died down, so a last walk through town was not indulgent at all. She kept reminding herself to return to 4:30 in the morning. No one would know. She’d kept the Envo safe. This was all just a little getaway. The jail visit wasn’t fun, but, strangely, she did catch up on her sleep there. Not to mention, she’d just broken away from Phil’s grasp. Would he still be around if she headed back for the Envo right now? Would her running be considered behavior that warranted being apprehended again?
Luckily, Tabitha had run while his head had turned, or he surely would have caught up to her. And what would happen then? No, it was best to keep her distance from Phil now. So she had every right to take in the sights; besides, it was on the way to where the Envo was parked. She was not a wanted woman; she had no charges against her and no clock controlling her time here. She’d beat the clock when she got in the Envo.
She walked on, then she realized she’d blend in better if she took the people mover, or ‘slider’ as they called it. So she got on and kept her head down. She stepped off near the 24 hour coffee shop, still looking over her shoulder from time to time. All tables were full with people staring down at their devices, or in a few cases, up. Two people walked out of the coffee shop and smoke piled out. It smelled particularly strong today and made Tabitha’s eyes begin to water. She was getting stares but gave a smile back as if she had just been looking for someone, and poked her head inside to complete the charade. Nope, not there. The “Freedom from Addiction” Center was just a few shops away, still in the same place as it was during her last visit to 2047. She decided to stop in and kill a little time, wondering if the same man with the sad eyes would still be there. It would be a rare thing if he was, though.
“Welcome to Freedom from Addiction.” A smiling woman beamed at her. “Do come in and have a seat. You can call me Kat. You look a little weary. How can I help you? Do you need an aguafer?”
Tabitha shook her head no. She figured she’d get a lot of attention, remembering this place was pretty abandoned from the last visit. She didn’t expect a smiling, beaming face greeting her.
“There used to be a man here…”
The woman looked puzzled. “Not that I can remember. This place is run by myself and my sisters. Our father did start the place, but that was twenty years ago.”
“He’s no longer living?”
“No. He died young. His partner was here for a while, but he is now living in the mountains. Big surprise, huh? He comes back to check on us now and then and contributes to keeping this place running. He helped my father run the place for a while, and then he set up shop in the mountain area. Such a good man, that Jared.”
Tabitha remembered the man in the alternate 2047, tired looking with sad eyes. “How did your father pass, may I ask?”
“It was five years ago. I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Wait, his name was Jared? Your dad’s partner?”
“Yes. Jared Hansen. He had been through a lot himself. He knows how to help people here, and I’m sure he’s doing a great job of it where he is now.”
Could this be her brother, Jared?
“Um, did Jared have a daughter?”
“Yes, a daughter and wife, or I should say, common law wife. They parted ways, and Jared seemed pretty lonely. He devoted a lot of himself to helping my dad. He’s a good man.”
“What was his wife’s name?”
“You think you know them? Gee, I don’t recall. She had an accent, she was Creole, not from around here. She sort of stuck out, very unique. She came in here with him to get him help that first time.”
So, that was Jared. There’s hope for my brother, Tabitha thought, her face lighting up.
The woman continued, “Of course, he did some back sliding at first. But many do.”
“Well, it’s really good of you to keep up the fight here.
Drug sims right around the corner and all,” Tabitha said.
“Drug sims were very hard to fight. All we can do is hope to offer solace to some poor soul who bought their line of bull. You know, after-effects and all. Their claim is that it only affected the brain. Sad thing is, the brain controls your physical being. If your mind is in shock from wanting a substance, it will affect your body. So, we treat the mind here. A lot of it is training the self-talk and the belief system. But we have medical staff in the area; we can get a person to the right place, based on their needs.”
“Well, is it better now that the drug sims are simply mood sims?”
“No, it’s not any better. It only makes it sound safer and more innocent. Like taking a Tylenol. They offer moods from one end of the spectrum to the other. Moods like ‘numb, blitzed, and calm.’ Some of those moods make a person temporarily incapable of making decisions. Some people’s minds are predisposed in a certain way, and they don’t react favorably. Did you know, Perpetually Calm is a variation of what the mood sim offers? They spray it as a mist in the jails here. At least once or twice every day.”
A calming mist? Is that why I slept so well in the jail? Tabitha didn’t dare say it out loud. She was getting good at knowing when to hold her tongue and doing so when needed. She couldn’t sense in any other way that she was being drugged in jail. But she remembered the mist. She also remembered the potato woman, Ellie May, getting quiet sometimes and just humming. The woman never had any outbursts; she just said strange things.
“Kat, are they required to inform people of this when they are booked?”
“I would hope they do. This is something I plan to research. They have only started doing this in the last few months. Supposedly they have a good reason, but I wonder if they’ve thought all the repercussions through. Just wait until they get a lawsuit.”
It was on the tip of Tabitha’s tongue, but she didn’t dare say a word. It would mean a delay of her getting home. They certainly hadn’t informed her. What of the Potato Woman? Was the mist hurting her in some way? Was it possible she had an unfavorable reaction? Maybe. But then, it was possible she would have been crazed and violent without the mist. There was nothing Tabitha felt she could do.
Tabitha also felt sure that, if asked, the lieutenant or even the chief would tell her that they conferred with medical staff about the repercussions of such a product. Obviously, they felt justified in using it.
So, I came here and got some sleep because I was drugged in jail, she thought. Good thing I got out right away. Who knows what might have happened if I was exposed to it long term. And why didn’t they tell me? Oh yeah, probably because of my “erratic behavior.” If I were to get a drug screening, would it show up in my system? How long before it exits my system? I breathed it in. It’s in my system. She was starting to border on paranoia, knowing that it was not good to bring any proof of her visit back home. However, this could not be avoided. It was done without her will, and she could not have explained to anyone here why she couldn’t afford to bring proof of her visit. She could only hope there’d be no reason for such medical testing in the near future.
“So, in the mountains, where all the men who want to preserve their ‘viability’ go to be away from the city, are there jails?”
“Yes, to some degree.”
“Are they using the mist there?”
“No. They are not.”
“Is it only the jail that uses this mist?”
“No,” Kat answered quietly. “They’ve been using it in the schools for a while.”
“What led to this?”
“The crime rate was high for a while. About ten years ago they started using the mist.”
“Doesn’t it seem possible that this mist is altering the genetic make-up, leaving people less likely to produce male babies?”
“Yes. We are researching that. I’d move away from here if I could, but I can only make a difference while here. I am under the guise of stopping addiction, while the true enemy is our leaders who are drugging the majority of our population without their knowledge. But what I have also surmised is that the mist is seeping into the ground. It is affecting our crops and water. It is only used in the big city areas, but it will spread even to those who have sought to get away.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“My father was a shrewd man. He also used to be part of the city council.”
That explained the sad face. Tabitha was sure the man she had seen in the former 2047 was Kat’s father. Only, in this variation of 2047 he was no longer alive, but her brother was. The man had been privy to a conspiracy that did not exist in the former 2047, a conspiracy he most likely did not approve of. Sure, some things were much better, cleaner, and safer in this place in time, but was it worth the secrecy and trickery of the people who lived here? It appeared they were only drugging women and any men who were of such low status as to live here. Tabitha suddenly remembered seeing a mist sprayed at the playground. It was widespread! Those who felt they were rebelling and staying here were getting drugged as well. It was a shame; this beautiful world had such sinister goings on behind the scenes. This was the world in which her brother did not die a sad, shameful death. She was still unsure whether the act of drugging the population here was due to a fear of the sheer numbers of women in comparison to men or if it was a status quo move that initiated the whole imbalance of the ratio of women to men.
A realization brought Tabitha back to the moment. This is a version of 2047; it is not necessarily the future that will happen. Surely, it appeared those in charge knew of the effects of this mist they were using, but they were not sharing that or even letting people give consent for its use. Did the parents of kids in schools here consent to this? Most likely not. There is nothing I can do about it now. A line of events lead to this. There is a chance those events won’t happen after I get back to 1999. If only she could somehow ensure the positive trajectory could continue for her brother…
Curiosity made her ask, “How do you plan to stop the use of calming mist?”
“I have a network of people with me. We are trying to raise awareness. I can spread information, but I have to be careful. We invite people in and give them the talk. I ask them if they are aware of the mist that is used in the schools. Someone told me it is also used in courts. Like I said, I bring it up to anyone who comes in and those who just stop and talk to me. Some of them are wary, some have to be coaxed just to come in here. I can’t let those in charge know what I am doing. We are looking for other ways to spread the truth.”
“Well, thank you for everything you have shared. I honestly decided I’d pop in because I had been here some time ago, and I’m just visiting town again. I was wondering about that man with the sad eyes.”
“My father. Yes, that would have been him. You must have been really young when you met him.”
“Yes. I suppose you could say so. It seems as if it was a lifetime ago.” Tabitha reached out her hand to shake, but Kat put her arms around her instead.
“Nobody shakes hands anymore,” she said. “It’s either no touch, or full hug. I hope this is okay with you.”
“Yes. Thank you.” A tear escaped Tabitha’s eye. She hated how easily they would spring forth lately.
“Be careful, and stay aware.”
“I will.” She went out the door and into the open again, where she was hoping a lieutenant and his police force did not lie in wait for her. One look both ways, and she decided she could safely move forward.
Chapter 13
A Test
“Fortune befriends the bold.” -Emily Dickinson
Just down the road Tabitha reached the Mood Simulation Center, and the lunch crowd was in full swing. It reminded her of the brouhaha surrounding the drug sims. So, it appeared that getting a mood alteration was the favored lunch of choice. Tabitha saw one man who stood out among the others, a young man with a slightly tinted-red face.
A couple
of kids ran through the crowd to the opposite side of the street. Tabitha turned her head to watch them. In the corner of her right eye, she noticed a vehicle pull up in front of the Mood Sim Center.
“You can’t park there!” the owner bellowed to the driver.
“I’ll just be a minute,” the driver answered in a deep male voice, having moved to the back of the vehicle.
Tabitha was not able to see the man. She turned again to look at the kids who were hollering and making noise. A trunk door opened on the vehicle. Just then it registered. That vehicle stood out among all the other vehicles she’d seen here, just as the Envo stood out…
The man reached into the trunk and pulled out a huge weapon that looked like a long assault rifle, only clunkier.
Tabitha stifled a scream and then ducked at the side of the car, hoping he hadn’t seen her. It was George Mahoney, standing on the other side of the car with a weapon. An assistant sat in the demo chair outside the Mood Sim Center, worrying about nothing, and Mahoney took aim. Quickly, Tabitha moved around the side of the car, still ducking, then dove at his feet, knocking him down more likely with surprise than with her strength.
A high pitched shriek sounded and a blast of blue came from the weapon, which was now aimed at the ground. A huge hole appeared where there was cement pavement before. The man steadied himself so as not to fall into the hole, then scurried the other way, knocking people down to get into his vehicle and escape. He scrambled in through the passenger side and started the engine. Alarms were blaring, and a police vehicle drove up, but George Mahoney was gone. Pauline, Lt. Wilkes, and another female officer got out of the car.
“It was him!” Tabitha called through her tears. “George Mahoney.”
“Did he hurt anyone?”
“No,” she answered.
“Why are you crying?” Pauline put an arm around Tabitha and pulled her in for a hug. Wilkes called for help on his police radio, then took off.
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