Intentionality (14 page)

“Well you can tick number one goal off your list, I am hearing loud and clear, but not my sister yet. So you had better get convincing me of the greater good because when she begins talking again, I want to be able to chat calmly, something tells me I won't be able to carry off relaxed in here with you!”

With that he flicked a switch, the world to which I had become accustomed dropped away. The sight before me improved tenfold. The black was now green, swaying like a dance in front of me, urging and calling me to enter or follow. Huge floating creatures began appearing from all sides, some with gapping open mouths as they gathered in food and information. Others stared vacantly as they swam past. None were concerned, all were busy.

The sub veered right and then sharply down. The screen shone green, beeped and went blank, then repeated the pattern until I could see a gathering of green dots merging together to become a curved shape. Out in the distance just at the end of the full beam, there were rapid circular movements in the water and what looked like the seabed. This fell away at an angle, giving way to a black swirling mass of water and bubbles, nothing else dared to go near. The creatures that had taken up positions next to the sub on our journey were now falling away. Willem shot an anchor into the seabed then looked across the small cockpit, his eyes glowing in the light of the dashboard. I could feel the physical adrenaline rush emanating from his body.

“No more than a handful of Monos have ever observed this phenomenon. It is our greatest secret, bargaining tool, and way forward all rolled into one epic natural power source!

“I have named it the Abyss, after a film I once watched from a pre-Evo-shift collection. It's frighteningly beautiful and colossally powerful. If you sit here long enough it puts you into a trance, almost welcoming you in. We don't have a ship strong enough to research its insides, but we think it is a whirlpool caused by the Earth's plates moving underneath during the Evo-shift. We have an incredibly gifted engineer working full time on plans to harness the power created. We are already in a position to feed the power to The Nest and then aim to supply the surface, enough to build a new city for the Monos and then further to Intentionality. This means we have something the Acers want, in order to gain an agreement from them with regards to us sharing Intentionality, on an equal footing.

“Paul our engineer has developed a way of harnessing this water energy. It's called the Generated Marine Power System, GMPS for short. If you look to the left of the Abyss, you will see a small cuboid structure. We have been secretly working on it for months. It's actually the hull of a submarine that was tragically lost when the first Seeders attempted to transfer to Intentionality. Only one girl survived.”

“I know who that was Willem; she told me, poor Mrs Alder.”

“She has been incredibly brave; obviously this is almost a grave site for her. We had a very special memorial service and buried the remains of the bodies next to the footings of The Nest. The sub had not been touched for years. The first Grand Acer wiped the event from all historical records. It was my team and I that found the sub on a housekeeping mission, after entering this part of the seabed you can imagine our shock to also find a gaping hole so close to The Nest. We wondered if it was the creation of the Abyss that tore the sub from the air hole in the first place. We also worried that it may happen again. However Paul has assessed the pattern of the energy release and it is incredibly stable. It feeds itself, nothing short of another Evo-shift will ever set it off balance again.”

“If you are tapping into its energy release surely that will upend the equilibrium Willem?”

The Abyss is so vast and the waterpower emitted so inordinately excessive that we can channel off a small amount for our generator without actually getting critically close. If we need more, we plan to build another small generator unit rather than making the existing one larger. In reality we can build generators all of the way around the circumference that will feed the whole population forever, without needing to physically touch the Abyss. We can't at the moment get any closer to it, even if we wanted to. It would just suck us all in.”

More and more I want to be on this side of the glass, both in practical terms so as not to be swept to my doom, but also emotionally. These are the good guys, the cavalry, and good against evil. But what and who that evil may be, I am still to find out. As far as my upbringing is concerned I am to be a communicator, a historian, researching the old ways. That doesn't sound dastardly to me! My sister has gone willingly, I would have gone willingly. Something tells me I know a mere drop in the ocean of information privy to Willem at this moment.

We ate then, silently, each considering the facts. Willem told me more about his childhood, about always having the gift. Feeling special and alone at the same time but travelling quite quickly through the Mono ranks because of his birthright. His family it seems are leaders down here. With the adoption of Mrs Alder as an honorary Mono the group was finalised and this is when the plans began to form towards a small readjustment of the new society. They had become more and more convinced that Natura was not going to honour the agreement formed by Eve stating that they would be allowed to live together once Intentionality was complete.

Then it struck me like a memory, exploding into my mind's eye.

“Were there more survivors of the Evo-shift and plague? I mean, there surely were places on the earth like ours, where the shift was weaker and the plague had been survived.

“We are called Alpha Nest, wasn't that Greek, didn't it mean First?”

The connotations of that thought travelled to my brain much later than the initial thought exited my mouth. The silence next to me informed me that maybe I should separate my mouth from my thought process from now on. But it is a thought never the less. What if there are other areas in the world like ours or even more advanced than us. Possibly less advanced, therefore needing our help. This could mean that Natura is in fact Queen of the world! They are her Nests, and that many more hundreds of girls such as me are being groomed. Surely we don't still need the knowledge to rebuild from those girls. The alternative doesn't bear thinking about. If I am correct with my wildly extravagant imaginings and there are other places in the world like ours, maybe they all live together. Willem would want to go and live there instead of here with me and Lily. Alternatively, finding those places could make them feel threatened, they may wish to harm us, upset our perfect system. The worst case scenario would be war. Due to the compassion and patience of the Monos we haven't had a war in many generations; we don't want to start now. Looking at it much less selfishly, these pretend people that I have just invented may be really suffering. They may not have adapted after the plague. They may not have Acers or worse still they may be Acers with no Monos!

“Ship to Mae, come in Mae!”

I did it again didn't I? I left my body for a short time and travelled to ‘Mae World' where thinking is a speed sport and anything else is completely outlawed.

“I have been both speaking and communicating to you for the past five minutes. What was going on within your comatose exterior?”

“Well I began with calm thoughts relating to finding other people like us and ended with World War Three as usual.”

“We have been wondering about other places on the Earth like ours. My grandfather was the first to question the use of the word Alpha. He has recently become very interested in your ceremonial gifts. Mrs Alder told us that they were very simple when she was ascending. However, yours seem to have machine type coding engraved inside. If there are other Nests, it would make sense that you girls will need to be referenced easily by the monitoring computer system, one idea is that you have a serial code for identification, which unfortunately makes you more like a factory machine, than an important future leader in Intentionality. I suppose if you are precious to them it makes sense that they want to keep track of you. We agreed not to tell you because we need you to ascend next time. Too much information and uncertainty may impair this. It seems that you are doing some detective work by yourself, so I think we may need to change our game plan.

“How did you shut me out by the way? I should have been able to reach you through our internal communication?”

“I have always been able to do it. Whenever my worries seemed too much to share, or when the dreams got horrific and I didn't want Lily to be scared, I just closed the mental door. Nothing can get to me then. In a way, I think that's what the blackouts are too. It's a safety mechanism, my ambition is to be able to channel it again the way I did when the guard tried to take me. It was the same feeling except I was able to project the power out rather than short circuit myself.”

We travelled further then, up, to just under the surface of the ice. The sub became eerie, quiet, as Willem cut the engine. Unlike the depths though, there was the rhythmic sound of the waves lapping against the underside of the ice mass. I had imagined the ice to be bright, gleaming white in colour, finding black and green was a huge disappointment. The creature from my dreams did not put in an appearance either. Still, to be so close to the surface, to freedom was exhilarating. Not at all like being trapped in that dream with the sea creature. However, I was becoming aware that my breathing had changed, a little more ragged and something was annoying me, something in my subconscious, making me feel restless. I realised that the hilarity on my sister's sub yesterday was excitement for the future on land but also the relief of finally cracking out of the shell that had entrapped us all of these years.

As my ears became accustomed to the rhythm, a low buzz began at the back of my head. It too was rhythmical in its repetition. Just after tuning to the buzz instead of the waves, its intensity heightened instantaneously, quite literally throwing my head back on to the headrest.

ESCAPE

I planted my feet on the floor and grabbed the seat in a vice like grip. My head swam leading to huge waves of nausea that buffeted my stomach and throat. I screamed then, it was all I could do to remain still. The searing pain washed over me and predictably darkness followed…

“Mae, you have to come back to me. Shut down the grip on my neck. I can't power this sub with no hands. We are spiralling down towards the Abyss.”

These were the desperate pleas of my companion; Willem was in danger. I came to faster than ever, forcing myself to breathe and recover whilst assessing the damage. It seemed I was the attacker! I had been holding Willem against the sides of the hull in a vice like grip produced in my mind. He could not move and was clearly struggling to catch his breath under the weight of the force that I was exerting on him. I let go immediately, secretly pleased that I had attempted once more to protect myself against harm (whilst being unconscious). The gloating was minimised quite quickly by the feeling of dread that swept through me, as I viewed the Abyss rapidly coming into view. We were plummeting to our deaths.

Coughing and spluttering and of course cursing under his breath, Willem swiftly and adeptly began controlling the sub. It took what seemed like hours for him to control the fall; the sub shuddered and screeched. Huge bubbles bombarded our front screen and banged on the hull. At one point we tore straight past a shoal of fish, which seemed to be spectating behind a safety railing. I wanted to scream but I was too petrified.

Eventually it became clear that we were not going straight into the middle of the gaping black mouth of the seabed. Willem had been able to guide the route of the sub, a little to the right, therefore removing us from the most direct path to certain death. The sub stopped lurching under the strain as the sea began to take the weight. It had been the Abyss pulling us under. We had become entangled in its vacuum. Once back from the brink of oblivion, he glanced across and smiled. (Quite a surprising response I felt, towards the attacker girl in the passenger seat!)

“Well Mae, we don't have to worry about your safety any longer do we? I shall just need to inform the rest to be on guard, if they are ever near you in a situation where you are about to implode. You were clearly struck by something crazy. I could even hear a momentary faint buzz in my head. That obviously was just before the iron grip, because once that started all I could hear was the slowing thud of my own blood dancing erratically!”

“I am so sorry Willem. The minute I thought about getting out on to the surface, that buzzing returned. It's the one that has been recurring whenever I am in a situation where my brain is thinking about leaving The Nest. There must be a way to control my reaction somehow. I think I am getting better at it because previously I have just woken up with a wet flannel draped across my forehead in sickbay.

“Occasionally the buzzing frequency changes and I am left thinking that I can hear words being pumped rhythmically into my head. They are always a warning. The last one was during The Harvest. I am certain it said ESCAPE, the same as just now. The voices are always female and incredibly urgent. ”

We are nearly out of fuel or oxygen. I can tell because an indicator light is flashing red quite aggressively. Willem is heading back to the air hole dock. He is shaking, I can tell, but too heroic to let on. Or maybe he is just trying to hold it all together, so that we arrive on The Nest and not at the bottom of the Abyss. For whatever reason, Willem is quiet again. I am left to my thoughts, which of course turn to Lily my darling sister. I need her like fish need to swim and birds need to fly.

We surfaced without a hitch but Willem was still not happy about the incident. So we were whisked away to the medical bay, apparently falling too fast into the depths can cause horrible problems with your ears and body. We are both fine. Willem is ashen. There has been whispering behind closed curtains but also concerned faces, so I don't think they are about to accuse me of attempted murder.

Mrs Alder has been to visit. She too is shaken. The incident of course reminded her of the sub tragedy she witnessed those many years ago. It is still as raw as if it were yesterday. She clearly blames herself for asking the Monos to give the girls a burial, because if she had remained silent, the Abyss would not have been located and Willem her best friend's son would not have been in such a dire situation with two completely unpredictable forces of nature.

The hum is back.

It began as I spoke to Lily. She communicated when I was resting. Gushing would be a better word, ranting would be another. She told me about her decadent bedroom. Four-poster beds, beauticians who perform the wildest transformations to hair and nails we could ever imagine, teamed clothes by the cleverest designers. Summer however has not touched her wardrobe. She has morphed into a commander overnight her only dalliance with the unregulated, being black patent, killer heels. She has already visited every girl with the itinerary and has of course volunteered herself to enter the next phase first. Grace feels that she can wear designer suits as a Doctor but has drawn the line at elongated eyelashes and talon like nails. She has opted for smart, neatly clipped nails in navy blue, with a hint of a sparkle to match her suit and tights.

Skye, Lily reports, is completely disinterested with the show and has requested to be stationed immediately in the lab. She is, in fact, the first to say farewell later this evening.

The separation has begun; we are no longer a force to be reckoned with. As a unit we were formidable. Down here we were the group to be part of, the group to get things smoothly and effectively achieved. My only hope is that once we are settled in our Evo-gene matched careers, we can relax and spend some quality time together once again, reminiscing over the happy times on our journey to Ascension.

The rant followed quickly along from the gush. Lily had felt my fear; as a result she wanted to know why I was not making every effort possible to stay calm and focussed. Of course I did not retell the whole life and death experience. Just that I was again experiencing the buzzing, which had made me worry. Neither did I feel it appropriate to disclose my new powerful self-protection skill. Once I am residing in the safe confines of Intentionality, I am not expecting to need it. Therefore she really does not need to know about my uncanny ability to apply a force on an object or human, without touching them. I can't see it coming in handy in my future line of work.

That buzz is really getting to me now. I wonder, have I been slightly damaged by the pressure change. My curtains are closed around the bed and I am supposed to be resting, but I can hear footsteps. There are several sorts of footsteps around this ward. The orderly, relaxed ones of the Mono nurses, they are routinely checking on Willem and me. Then there is the ‘hurried Doctor in a rush with no time to chat' type ones, running through this ward to enter the ward next door, which is for the sole use of the Mono community. The newest pair of footsteps are coming hurriedly towards my side of the corridor, it's almost a skip. Then a reeling in of speed followed by a few more uncontrolled half jogs. Then there are voices along the corridor, excited ones, a bit of hustle and bustle and a large authoritative HUSH! I find myself looking at a shadow to the right of me. Someone is attempting (not successfully may I add) to find the entrance to my curtaining. I am relaxed, this I am certain is not a trained guard arriving to drag me away again.

“Mae, MAE! I am so positively brimming over with excitement that you are still here.”

Dawn practically threw herself on to the bed with the full force of a tree being felled. She wrapped her arms so tightly around my chest that I thought I may not live to tell her how wonderful it was to see her so well again. In the hour that passed Dawn explained how ill she had been by the poisoning and that she feels she may have been close to death at times. She told me about the cloud she had sat upon in the sky during her induced coma, just watching us all go about our lives. She was happy and content to stay there until it went grey and cold. She says she thinks her body was giving up, coming out of the coma and beyond, towards the opposite of life. Dawn was miraculously brought out of her drug induced reaction by the care of Nurse Spendlove, who not only diagnosed the poisoning; she efficiently administered the antidote, then later read to her each day, kept her up-to-date with the news and even regaled The Harvest to her through gritted teeth and rivers of tears. Dawn made the decision to fight after hearing that I was still here, alone and scared. It was a turning point. The way back from the coma was clear she says, she just shimmied to the edge of the cloud and let herself fall. It was as simple as that! When she landed her eyes opened and in flooded the brightest light she had ever seen. It was again Nurse Spendlove that arrived at her bedside but not alone, she had with her an army. Mrs Alder had come to calm Dawn and reassure her that she would get another chance if indeed that's what Dawn wanted, Mrs Jones also arrived and she took time to explain what she thought had happened. Later the Doctor attended to put Dawn through some physical checks. She had been up and about for roughly two hours now, yet she was back to her old self, full of energy and incredibly intelligent. She had already pieced together most of what I had gleaned from Willem and Mrs Alder in my many days of detective questioning, teamed with scholarly listening.

Dawn said that she had been given a second option; rather like me she has been offered an honorary position here in The Nest. Not teaching like me. She doesn't have the Evo-gene of communication. She is of course a physicist; she understands perfectly the importance of the Abyss and what it could mean to thousands of Monos. Dawn has, she feels, a huge debt to pay to Nurse Spendlove because of this she has almost certainly decided to stay.

“I can't think of a more rewarding position, co-creator of a generating system that can supply completely sustainable power to thousands, indefinitely. It's a physicist's dream,” sang Dawn.

I am now wondering whether the cogs of this little team have been working overtime again. Is it a coincidence that Dawn recovered so quickly after The Harvest, therefore, missing her chance to ascend? Seems a little fortuitous, but then these people need a little good fortune, even if it is of their own making. Dawn is entering into this agreement happily. You don't get if you don't ask!

I myself am still questioning why it is that I am happy to trust the Monos rather than my Acer leaders on this, when I was so completely set on the value and benefits of ascending not two days ago.

Dawn has had her communicator band removed. They told the new Grand Acer that it was interfering with her rehabilitation. She too has swapped to a tracker anklet; no serial numbers to identify us as factory produce anymore. We sit for a long time before Dawn finally asks if I'm feeling well. Apparently my colour has dropped, I am sweaty and looking agitated. I have lived for so long with those static interferences in my head that I don't seem to notice or think to mention them. Not that Dawn can do anything about them. After a while the nausea kicks in, followed in sequence by the urge to scream again, but its words which are not my own, that come trailing out. For the first time I feel like a channel, communicating verbally for someone else.

“Escape, help us, Escape!”

The pain continues to beat in my head, hammering a rhythm.

I can hear myself screaming, blood-curdling cries for help, for salvation from whatever it is that is trapping or damaging those poor souls.

I can feel that my body is no longer on the bed, but I am not in control of my actions. I am literally banging on my skull with my hands trying to get in, trying to hold my brain, to comfort it, swaddle it and block the messages. Why when all I need is for it to stop will the blackness not return?

It is Willem that finally finds a way in. From deep inside my brain I can hear him calling my name, over and over until I am capable of responding. I find a way to visualise closing the door, ‘mentally' on the fuzz and pain. I have survived and in the process found a way to capture it, but in doing so I have also closed the only line of communication for that lost and wounded soul. Of one thing I am certain. The cries are not my sister. It is then that I am able to rest, finding myself again in the comforting arms of my hero, in a ward bed, rocking, shaking, troubled, but not alone.