Intentionality Page 7

  I shall attempt to sleep. Tomorrow may very well be a pivotal day but I also have a room to dress for a Graduation Ball that I am not, under any circumstances going to miss.

  Fourteen

  It’s Lily who is up and ready first. No surprise there. However the only reason I am reclining in bed is that I am finding it difficult to believe how well I slept. No dreams, none. Not even my tusked friend popping in for a swim. Lily is telling me that it is her turn to visit the girls in the medical bay. Dawn is still quite confused, continually expressing mathematical equations in her sleep. She is now able to function quite normally while awake though, she says she is to be a particle physicist, that’s something to do with making and storing energy I think, but it is so far away from my comfort zone of knowledge that I am better off not knowing any more. Grace is on her way to a miraculous recovery. Well, recovery is not really the expression because that means a passage back to your old mental state and that would not be true. I suppose we could call it ‘extreme recovery’ as she is to be a Doctor of medicine and as soon as she was well enough, she leapt out of bed diagnosing the other patients and administering drugs. This was, I am sure quite terrifying for everyone else but it seems she can’t remember a time when she was incapable of doing these skills; such has been her speed of maturity.

  Lily will be a welcome sight this morning as she has strict orders from Summer to remove Doctor Overdrive and bring her to help with the Graduation preparations. Matron Spendlove will be only too pleased to sign the discharge notice with a moments’ notice.

  I heard that poor Dawn needs to take another brain scan but that it’s not looking good. I can at least sympathise with her on this, so I have offered to drop in with Lily and have a chat to Dawn about my options. It may clear her head to know that there is another route for her, if she also fails to ascend. At the very least we could be roommates, if of course she will have me! I might be a little more bearable to live with now that the buzzing has relented. It seems to be dying out all of a sudden, quite miraculous really. That conversation with Mrs Alder must have calmed my subconscious somehow. I was always worried more about not going than the actual next step towards Intentionality. I hope it’s my Evo-gene taking over so that I can ascend with Lily.

  Walking along a gleaming white corridor, with the sea in sight and the calming sound of bubbles cascading along the outer shell of The Nest, I wouldn’t be blamed for thinking positively about the prospect of growing old down here.

  However much I talk myself into giving this option a chance, I come to the same lonely conclusion. I have never been without Lily. We have always made plans with the comfort of assuming that we will be living in Intentionality together, I have a gene that is supposed to aid my fellow race, this is what I was selected for seventeen years ago. To fall at the final test when Lily and I have been through so much would be a terrible injustice.

  I am prepared to hate the Mono deck. In fact I think I may NEED to hate the Mono deck just a little, so that I have the incentive to concentrate during the Ascension test.

  “Good Morning Madam, would you do me the honour of allowing me to walk ten paces behind you so that we may pass small talk through the highly air conditioned atmosphere?” transmitted a voice I know.

  “Only if you promise to act bored rigid, I don’t want your face to look like a child with a new toy and give the game away,” I retorted.

  “Your movie was greatly appreciated last night. I assumed as it was silent that you wouldn’t take kindly to a response, so here I am in person,” Willem replied.

  “You got the message! Oh my goodness, I can’t believe it. Where were you? How far did it travel? More importantly, of course a girl always wants an answer!”

  “Now who is the one that needs to be told to look bored? You won’t believe this. I was actually doing some processing work deep in the ocean ravine not far from The Nest but certainly further than I had been the first time I heard your thoughts. To add even more astonishment to the already seemingly fictional plot, I was sitting in one of our deep-sea diving subs, which as you can imagine has an impenetrable hull. Nice going lady.”

  It worked. I can transmit out from this place. I am so pleased to have tried that trick last night. There seems almost no reason to go to the Mono deck now. I am convinced that my Evo-gene is exactly where it should be. Why else would I be experiencing such a vast and rapid swing in my capabilities?

  It’s too late to turn and run now though, I have just spotted the welcoming committee. Mrs Alder is standing looking at ease with her Mono counterpart.

  “Good Morning Mae. I must introduce Mrs Jones she is the teacher in charge here at the Mono school,” said Mrs Alder.

  “Oh great, it’s Mrs Jones! She is a… relative on my grandmother’s side. When we go down to the air hole ask her about Mono history. She will be able to talk to you about me and once we are introduced I, as a trusted and highly ranked Mono will then have the privileges to speak with you for real,” sang Willem.

  “That sort of cunning plan can only get someone in to trouble Willem. I am not so sure that I need to know about your history any more as I am convinced that in just seventy-two hours I will be on a sub, bound for the surface. I think that by then I shall be able to transmit to you from Intentionality and so we won’t need to be introduced formally,” I countered.

  His face dropped. The sparkling eyes of a puppy with a master plan dulled, simultaneously he looked away. He really has been waiting all this time for a receiver. I am so confused. Why should I perpetuate an illegal friendship that would be finished before it began? Yet my mind tells me that this link is very important, I have even convinced myself that the voices and buzzing are lessened by his presence.

  I didn’t have another moment to reflect as he quite obviously intended to throw a surprise attack into the mix.

  “Mrs Jones, how lovely to see you again, I am the officer in charge of the safety talk this afternoon. I have arrived to show the children some of my equipment so that they can practise before we are in the confines of Deck Zero. I didn’t realise that you also had another visitor this morning, but the extra hands would be extremely useful!”

  That was underhanded and more than a little impressive. I can’t wait for him to come up with the reason for arriving empty handed.

  “Can I ask for a little help bringing the resources up from the lift?” he enquired angelically.

  Smooth, very smooth!

  It was Mrs Alder that offered my help, almost as if reading a script. She felt that it was within protocol for me to be alone with a high-ranking Mono, especially as I would need to learn how to make light conversation with people other than Seeders in the future. I nodded and did I was told. It’s hard to look dutiful while giggling on the inside!

  Willem and I walked in a measured way, keeping an appropriate distance from each other along the corridor. I chose to ride on the travelators and he continued alongside on foot. Nothing unusual happening on the outside but inside there was a storm of hilarity, as comfortable as the giddiness my sister and I feel when we catch a glimpse of our mutually sarcastic thoughts during class. The closeness I feel to Willem is quite disturbing. He feels like a relative, possibly another sibling, like I have been privately joking with him my entire life. I guess that it is the immediate trust you have when you can hear the inner conversations of someone. It is also clear that Willem has a way of creating a barrier; rather like the one I can project. But I am certain that he cannot hear my sister without being in the same room and likewise she cannot hear him through a wall.

  Willem opened the lift with his communication cuff, not a second after watching the last glint of corridor light extinguished, we caught sight of each other and laughed at the incredulity of what had just happened. After the fear of being found out and harshly punished not two days ago, we were now travelling together with the permission of my mentor.

  “Mae, I need to ask you if you are serious about staying. I don’t want to get my ho
pes up. I want you to be aware that I can’t be your surrogate sibling when Lily goes, but that with my privileges I can be around more often. It’s not widely accepted or advertised down here but the Acers and high-ranking Monos do communicate and socialise. Mrs Alder is a regular visitor to the Mono deck because she is friends with Mrs Jones. They qualified as teachers together. That’s why this little trip has been allowed,” revealed Willem.

  “Quite a tangled little web down here isn’t there, one that I am completely oblivious to. We know that we are only fed the information that will hone our skills and therefore our use, but more and more I am seeing that the Seeders are the hostages here, not as we are led to believe the Monos.”

  Willem took a deep breath then, and began to tell me the most heartbreaking story I have ever heard.

  “Life on the surface is hard Mae, the world was ravaged. Intentionality as you see it in the films is the only finished area. If you continue to live here you are going to need to accept that not everything in those films is completely accurate. Many places are derelict, beyond repair considered as graveyards. The Monos as you also know were left to find their own way, living in the container shantytowns. The Monos are segregated into areas, they are not allowed to mix. Once assigned to an area it is an expectation that the families will be contained there forever. There is no freedom of communication. I can’t begin to imagine what it is like for the Monos in Intentionality, or the ones who are working in the farms or The Grid. We have passed on our knowledge and have become independent in our own living environments. However, it is considered a great honour to work here in The Nest. This place is the height of luxury. Only the best families were originally chosen, those with previous links to science or the government. Many of the Monos you see cooking or cleaning, are the relatives of the people in charge before the Evo-shift. They survived the plague and the devastation by having the immunity necessary. In the case of my family, the story is complicated and incredibly harsh. My great-grandparents were the very first to be born after the Evo-Shift. My great-grandmother was born to a parent that had contracted and beaten the plague.

  “They grew up in the same shantytown, fell in love and married very young. Life expectancy was very poor. They grabbed and held on to whatever happiness they could. My great-grandmother began experiencing flashes of inspiration, mainly research knowledge, as her parents were geneticists. She kept the secret hidden for years even from my great-grandfather. Shortly after my grandfather was born, a message came from a woman called Eden. She was a scientist that had discovered the Evo-gene and importantly a way to test for it. All of the women in the shantytown were made to register for testing, their opportunity to assist with ‘the prosperity and longevity of mankind’. That’s what it says on the letter. They were all keen to help, anything that would alter the situation in the shantytown. Before she left for the registration, my great-grandmother told my great-grandfather everything. She had made the same link that Eden had, but did not act upon it for fear of divisions in the fragile recovering society. They agreed to hide my grandfather. Heartbreakingly, she vowed to remain silent about her marriage and motherhood.”

  “Did your great-grandmother help with the planning of The Nest?” I heard myself ask naively.

  “My grandfather was brought up without a mother, Mae. The scientists did their tests and took my great-grandmother away for the ‘greater good’. We don’t know what happened next in her life, we can only hope that she survived the testing and that maybe she lived a happy life, even though she was no longer allowed to live with her true family.”

  Tears roll down my cheeks. How could the people from the life I was about to lead be so callous? Even if they didn’t know about her son or husband, how could they steal a person? It was kidnapping wrapped up in duty labelled paper. It couldn’t be interpreted as anything else when the lady wasn’t given the opportunity for a farewell. It would be like taking the Seeders away in the night without the celebration or not allowing the next group the opportunity to learn about Intentionality and all of the hard work that has been done there to secure our future. How things have moved on. Thank goodness Eden’s grandchild Natura is a different thinker. At this moment all I want to do is hold my sister and never let go. How can I tell her this horror story and then expect her to go on living happily in the luxury that came from the sacrifice of the innocent?

  At least in the Mono school I could find some comfort in the knowledge that these Monos had fought to be here. My fears about them being servants and hostages were untrue, that had happened years ago, before my existence. I decided to enjoy my day with the Mono children; resolving to be a little less believing of the system when I ascended. After all I was to be a person who could translate the old texts. Maybe I could earn the responsibility to research the very first records produced after the Evo-shift. I could possibly work secretly towards discovering what happened to Willem’s great-grandmother.

  My day did in fact greatly improve. The children are well behaved and inquisitive, free to learn for interest’s sake, not to be groomed and channelled into one specific area. The children are observed and their talents are fostered because The Nests upkeep relies on the culmination of many skills. In the main these skills are practical, interesting and incredibly valuable to the continuity of humans both here and on Intentionality.

  By the end of this last free day, I felt contented. I have more options than anyone else in my class. It’s time to troop back to my pod, reflect with Lily and begin our preparations for the next three days.

  Fifteen

  5th October

  Craig, those last notes you sent were top-notch mate. Tell Will to stay in touch with the twin Seeder above all else. He must try to gather the information about the Evo-genes passing up to Intentionality. We know that there have been a couple of quite desperate E-mails passed around lately. We are looking for any link between each of the Seeders. Something has gone wrong. We think that this time they need the Seeders, rather than just want the process to tick over.

  Will is absolutely correct with his potted Seeder history. We have no record of twins. This must be vital in some way but without going into the docking station we have no idea how important. We need to infiltrate the docking system somehow, with a view to releasing the records. According to our last observational mission, following The Harvest last spring, the figures just don’t add up. More Seeders are entering than are exiting.

  If our contacts are correct, we are considering several options.

  1. The Seeders are accepted into the city undercover;

  Or

  2. Some remain in The Grid to do their research.

  Whatever we find out from the twin, one thing is definite. We are not yet ready to do anything about getting into Intentionality to regain our correct place in society.

  Speak soon, Luke.

  Sixteen

  Oct 5th

  Craig, I have found out more. One of the twins may not go. She has not got enough brainpower. I’m not sure if that’s a vital piece of information for Luke but it is pretty final for her chances here. She has weekly scans to determine how her Evo-gene is responding. Hers, it seems, is not what they want up there on the surface. She may have to stay down here a while longer or train to teach. I have also found out that she still needs to take the Ascension test. Something about candidate reference numbers and her Evo-signature, which tells them where she is at all times. So I don’t think we can realistically get someone unauthorised onto that Harvest sub. If we need to get a Mono into The Grid, I could suggest a change of work permit for you mate. That would at least get you to the docking station. Fancy a spot of sub piloting?

  Will

  Seventeen

  “I’ll have the fabrics smoothed out over there, chairs placed around the tables at even intervals, someone needs to put up the mirror ball, and the hall of mirrors will need to be secured to the walls. I shall be working on the music downloads. As Dawn has only just recovered, she can fold the napkins
to look like swans from the instructions on the communicator band. Grace can dress the rest of the tables. I have already dressed one table as an example. Lily has offered to create fabulous table decorations, if Mae goes to the botanical gardens to collect the blooms. That just leaves Skye,” ordered Summer enthusiastically.

  I love to watch Summer work. She has always been the first up and the last to bed during the preparations for these one off occasions, so we don’t at all mind when she treats us like her servants. We comply readily because actually we know that without her, nothing would happen. Life would have spun on, in its mundane way. A bit like a nutritious meal, giving us everything we need but without the delicious luxury of a cake to look forward to. Summer is our slice of cake with a cherry on top. The only thing I can’t imagine is her working out strategies at mission command, dressed in an army uniform. How will she match her nail polish to her boots?

  “Do the Mono gardeners know that I am coming? More importantly, I don’t have the task of choosing appropriate greenery and blooms, do I?” I asked tentatively.

  “Luckily for you Mae, your sister has already drawn up, E-mailed and visited the gardens with an illustration of the table decoration, suggested foliage and flowers. All you need to do is drop in and collect the box. Remember to smile brightly and thank them for their time, lots of compliments about what they have grown etc. It’s a job that was made for you. By the time you get back I shall need you to set the torches around the room,” Summer replied.