Intentionality (17 page)

The sandwich was tasteless, the liquid warm and non-descript. I am ready. Let me go.

“…2, 1, BEGIN LOCK DOWN”

From the outer edge of the chair come flat metal bars. They have simultaneously locked down my upper legs, arms, wrists and ankles. I am completely immobile and utterly petrified. I have travelled on a shuttle of emotions in just a few short seconds from pampered and spoilt to treasured and relaxed, now this. Before I can scream and beg, plead with all of my strength; a large visor slides out from the top of the chair. It moves over my face, past my chin and comes to rest on the seat back, in effect dividing my shoulders from my head, whilst simultaneously pinning my head to the headrest. My head is now cocooned in a gold fish bowl, rather like those ancient deep-sea divers. The previously inaudible buzz has increased in volume, I can breathe, there is air all around me but it is so oppressive that I feel strangled.

My chair is now travelling slowly, mechanically towards a small opening. I can't really see anything to mention. It's black, just very black.

To the right and left of my chair there are rhythmical clicking sounds. These are the same as the ones that my chair is producing. I can assume that they are emanating from the chairs that my fellow Acers are strapped into. Of course I can't use my sense of sight because my head is fixed into position on the headrest but my hearing, although slightly disabled by the cap, is filtering information to me about my surroundings. It and my sense of smell are just about the only senses I have that are operational.

After around one minute of clanking and clunking along a track my chair stops abruptly. I am being reclined to pass through the small tunnel entrance, through metallic doors. I am focussing on the destination because my brain is working overtime. Is this a shuttle? Will I be launched into the tunnel? Why am I still just as conscious as before? Then the answer floods in to my memory. Lavina has forgotten to give me the medication, the one that is to make my journey bearable. She was clearly distracted by our conversation. I shall be awake for the whole journey being buffeted and manhandled around every bend or dip.

It's too late; the chair is in motion again. We exit the small opening. Revealed is a sight I could never have believed to be possible.

I fear that I am going NOWHERE.

In the dimly lit void, there are rows upon rows, making columns next to columns of chairs that are identical to the one I am trapped in.

They are hanging from metal poles; each chair is a regulation distance from the other, positioned so that the right chair is fractionally in front of the left. The chairs above and below are in an exact line, what I see is very much like a huge cube or ironically a ‘Grid' formation. I should be asleep, that much is clear. I should be dreaming of my destination. I should not ever have been witness to this holding bay. Why have the Acers before me not gone through the tunnels towards their new life?

Maybe, just maybe the spookiness of the room and my fear of the journey have fooled me into thinking dark thoughts. I suppose that there is a strong possibility that these are in fact empty chairs, being stored for future use. I shall calm down and wait to see what happens next.

The audible buzz is now greater, like interference on a speaker. However above that I can hear voices, which belong to heavy booted footsteps. I am working on instinct now, not wanting to get Lavina into any kind of trouble I shall pretend to be asleep.

“… so I said to her, you try being in the dark twelve hours a day, lumping about heavy equipment. Then you can complain about my lack of energy and failure to put the dishes away!”

“22.52.05.14 has a fast heartbeat, it will need monitoring closely don't want it fading too quickly. You get the chair to the right I can take this one.”

The voice has stopped and turned into grunting. My chair is being moved and not gently. I feel the sensation of swinging followed then by a bang, so violent that my teeth crash together and my brain collides with the side of my skull. There was a sharp pain down my spine and then more vibration that sounds like a whirring of an electrical tool.

In front I can see the rounded, white back of another chair, nothing else. Complete darkness surrounds all other viewpoints. My hearing is struggling against the buzz. My sense of smell is of no use here. I have now been stripped of all useful senses. No measure of movement is ever going to release me from the metal restraints. I am left to my thoughts.

An expanse of time has passed, my chair has warmed, the visor in front of my face has begun to boot up, and it is counting down, entering the start-up mode. I can just hear that the chair next to me is also running through this. We are not moving. That is evident from the lack of vibrations.

My screen is beginning to display colours, shapes and scenes from the Evo-shift and beyond. This is our history. The monitor is asking me to verbally answer the questions flashing in front of me. They relate personally to my Evo-skill. There are words in different languages, places of the world and electronic simulations of conversations to translate. My Evo-gene has responded as it should. I find myself talking in languages I previously didn't know and in some cases do not know ever existed. The cap is buzzing louder and louder, my ears are sore, the earrings are literally burning hot. The more the questions fly across the screen, the louder the buzz becomes as my brain takes charge. I recognise this scenario; it's an exact copy of my own personal Ascension test.

I am to answer the same questions.

I am reliving the test.

I am horrified by this revelation, if
I
am to repeat my test…

We are all reliving our own test.

This is my first repeat, but if my initial instinct was correct and those chairs are filled with new Acers as opposed to being parked, waiting to be used, those girls have been there since the last harvest, how many times have they repeated the Ascension test?

WHY?

For the first time I can feel tears rolling down my cheeks. I release a scream, which almost blows my eardrums apart. There is nowhere for the sound to go and definitely no one to hear me.

11th October 06:27 hours

Message to: Grand Acer, Alpha Nest;

Dictated by: Natura.

The shuddering is uncontrolled, as is the stare. There really is nothing I can do to communicate with these people. I am spent; every ounce of will has been broken. Eventually, there will be words to say, about our next move: Lily's future together with the future of the girls on The Grid. However, during this moment of emptiness, I cannot bring myself to climb back into reality. Not yet, not when I have witnessed and possibly experienced a tragedy.

Over to my right is a warmth, the shadows of people, protectors. To my left someone is crying, huge ragged breaths follow deep wails of desperation. This is Dawn; she too has had her world shattered in the last hour. We had no one down here but our classmates. They were our family and sanity. I have just delivered a blow that has severed her support network and left her in effect an orphan. She and the bystanders, I am sure are thinking what I already know. Those Grid girls cannot stay like that forever, that cruel factory process that they are going through will only do them harm. Dawn has been slightly protected by my inability to describe just how agonising the persistent electronic buzz really is. That teamed with the perishing temperature, cramped conditions and the constant brain drain of the Ascension test. I can estimate a shelf life of days, before some Acers fall by the wayside. That is my most terrifying realisation. What will happen to those Acers, my sister and friends when they can work no more? Perhaps I only experienced my first shift in the Grid; maybe these girls work in rotation, one test at a time. However I very much doubt that such a humane scenario exists.

Willem breaks the uncomfortable silence.

“Mae I am going to be firm with you. All is not lost, Lily is not in that contraption and neither are you. With the help of the Grand Acer…”

His speech came to an abrupt end at that point as Paul the engineer came hurtling into the room.

“This has just been intercepted by Luke. You need to read it urgently.”

It's another blow I can sense it.

Willem read the message carefully, before turning to the waiting crowd.

“We need to reassess our plans here. The Resistance will help. They are ready. Your video evidence could never have been anything but condemning for Natura and her government. This is a copy of an E-mail, sent to the new Grand Acer. At last we hold the element of surprise, as he has not and never will receive it. Mae, Natura has sent for you. If you do not arrive, Lily will be, in her words,
disposed
of. This is clearly a desperate move because she has relinquished the need for another Ascension test. Something is very wrong. We can sneak in while her thoughts are elsewhere.”

Suddenly people are moving, awoken from their statuesque poses. Purposeful and full of clarity, they begin to sketch out a plan.

We have just the hours of the night to get to the mainland, then between the hours of sunrise and dusk to achieve our goal.

Lily will be taken by Julia and Elizabeth to an underground storeroom. It will be my job to communicate to Lily, to tactfully explain why she must deviate from her previous instructions. That's something I need to build up to. Possibly write a script. It is definitely not something I am about to do now. I will have time while we are travelling on the sub.

Craig is on his way back to The Nest. Of course, Natura sent for me so he has been allowed clearance immediately. However because the new Grand Acer has not been informed, we shall all be able to travel to Intentionality together on that one sub. There will be no need for an extra sub to be hurriedly and secretly prepared. I do not need to worry about being alone. If we leave at night through the air hole in Deck Zero, with Craig having docked under The Nest, the Grand Acer will not be informed. We will not have to explain our movements to Acer guards, who will be at the top dock, leaving only the small possibility of anyone interfering with or discovering our tight timetable of plans. The first time someone may become suspicious will be the moment Lily is sent for to be moved towards the cylinder process. They will find that she is sadly missing for the disposal process!

With Lily safely hidden, and a well-timed arrival, there should be just enough confusion in the ranks of the troops to be able to find Natura and reason with her. The Monos still want equality but now they will demand that she steps down as leader. Therefore putting an end to whatever tests she is carrying out on those new Acers in that factory void.

We fear that we may not be able to stop the process in time for Grace and Summer to be taken to the cylindrical rooms but there is a possibility that once there, they will be held there, while the search for Lily goes on. I remember that all chairs exited the cylinders at the same time and for some reason I feel that this is vital to the process.

For now I wait. Everyone with the exception of Dawn has left to carry out their own necessary jobs of preparation. Willem will lead events both here and during the journey. Once inside the underground tunnels of The Grid, he will hand over command to Luke.

Mrs Alder and the rest of Willem's family are planning for life after the takeover. They know that the first few hours after a major upheaval are vital to the security of the incoming government and for the safety of all involved. Dawn will not travel to Intentionality. She and Paul will remain on The Nest, she is not long recovered and Willem wants his Abyss plans guarding, possibly even developing once life has settled. She is incredibly happy to be away from any potential uprising, her skills are in numbers and theories not negotiation or quick practical thinking amongst threatening situations. I am relieved because if everything does go wrong, I shall at least have saved one of my dear friends.

The Grand Acer is at present contacting his daughters; we need codes for The Resistance and then their assistance in hiding Lily. They will fight with us. Their history of being let down by Natura and her medics in the case of their mother has neither been forgiven nor forgotten. We have guaranteed their safety in the tunnels. Once they are hidden with Lily, they will become our responsibility. We wait for their decision, in turn The Resistance wait for the codes.

I have to say that I am feeling braver by the minute. Now that the secret is out and the shock has dissipated, I am left with hope. Strange but encouragingly true. I must be able to assist somehow; surely my Evo-skill can be useful for things other than translation. I am a born communicator, wouldn't it be incredibly useful if I could get a message to the Grid girls. If The Resistance can infiltrate the E-mail system over in Intentionality, then it makes sense that they could attempt to access the main computer supplying the Ascension test. It is clear that our Grand Acer knew nothing of the horrors in The Grid void but surely if you are in charge of ‘The Grid' in general you have some understanding of the computer system or who is responsible for its maintenance and programing.