Intentionality (23 page)

A mental head count told me that my sister, Willem, Skye, Craig, Luke, Mrs Alder and Summer were all alive and well. Of course Dawn was on The Nest still, so I assumed she was protected. However I had no way of knowing what the circumstances were like for the others in our party. Had Natura's guards begun fighting to protect what little they had left of the command? Or was there in fact only a skeleton army employed because no one expected to be challenged? If the commander was to be trusted (I had no doubt he was telling the truth to save his beloved leader) the citizens of Intentionality were not the rioting type, why would they be? Living in their spoilt luxurious bubble of wealth, health and beauty; it seems to me they would only begin to question once the power went off.

This imminent situation was the one we were to overcome next.

As Summer released me from a bear hug, which constricted my breathing more than the wet suit in the sub, she handed me a palm held tablet device. It detailed our next steps…

Mrs Alder had succeeded in uploading the programme that was to reactivate The Grid girls but it meant that they were no longer supplying the electricity for the city or the perimeter fencing. We were invited to add our opinions to the discussion.

I had noticed Luke and Craig leaving soon after the commander. I assumed that they would be at the meeting too.

We left the grandeur of Natura's quarters soon after the guards secured it, her weeping maids making the body presentable for a hurriedly planned broadcast to the citizens of Intentionality. Summer had been given this as her orders just before passing the tablet on to me.

There seemed to be no real opportunity to say any more to our beloved friend Summer as we were escorted away from her all too quickly. She appeared to be thriving in her new role as commander-in-chief of this little situation. We promised to meet up later in the hurriedly prepared canteen, even guardians of the city needed to eat! Lily and I kissed Summer one last time, and left her to continue on her mission.

As we entered the meeting room it became apparent that a heated discussion regarding the disposal of Natura was in full passionate swing.

“… and in my book criminals don't get state funerals,” spat Craig.

“I don't agree to her body being pandered to by any of my Monos. If they want her dealt with they can do it themselves!”

It had been agreed by the incoming government that Natura's passing would be better accepted with less chance of complete panic, if the people were allowed to say goodbye. As was usual when Eve and Eden passed away, there would be a state funeral. Craig and especially Luke fought vehemently against this option.

However Mrs Jones calmed the situation, describing this state funeral as ‘a simpler and far quicker resolution to the issue of a new government being accepted' if the people were to be allowed to follow their traditions, they would be far more inclined to trust us to make fair decisions over other more urgent matters. The Mono maids could work with Natura's body efficiently and effectively over the next few hours and then a broadcast could be made as early as this evening, thus speeding the transition and halting the mistreatment of any more Monos a moment longer than necessary. Anything short of that, she surmised, may result in bloodshed that would be forever on his conscience.

I have to say she was incredibly impressive as a negotiator.

The transition from a dictatorship for some would be positive. The hundreds of Monos working in glorified slavery would be free to choose where they wished to live and what they would do as a career path. They stood to gain immensely from this new necessary shift of power. The Acers stood to lose. There was no way of sugar coating their losses in this. Natura had ‘wrapped them in sheepskin and fed them by hand'. They were, never the less, very self-sufficient, highly academic professionals. That fact must not be forgotten or underestimated but they had been living a fairy tale. Soon and I mean within the next seven days, the truth would out. Some no doubt would be appalled as my sister and I were. Others will fight the change, believing the ideas of Natura to be correct. The Acers were always considered to be the better human set, because of their Evo-Gene. They would need monumental amounts of coaching to see it any other way.

For Lily and I, and all of the girls who owed our lives and emotional development to the Monos on The Nest, it would be a relief to see our friends treated as equal. A government where all sets were represented was the only logical route to take.

“Mae, Lily, how wonderful to see that you are unharmed. We feared for your survival once we had heard that you had been captured,” smiled Mrs Jones.

“Mrs Jones I can't tell you what a relief it was to see Summer sweep authoritatively in through those double doors. Lily and I had tried all we could but we were booked in on that torture chair and there was only a one-way ticket as far as that horrible woman was concerned!”

“We must not keep you here for long, however we would like to ask if Natura told you directly why she had developed your sister and yourself so specifically. Skye has been able to identify what The Grid girls were there for and that is beyond belief, but there is no record of why she engineered twins. There must have been a reason. I suppose we are looking for some hidden problem that we want to be aware of before it becomes an emergency in the coming months.”

That is a good question. I think we can assume that as she had been patiently waiting seventeen years for us to become useful, there is no imminent danger. However we were quite clearly part of her forward planning.

“She didn't divulge much of her forward planning. She was more intent on boasting about what she had done to our mother. We are clones of a person with extraordinary powers. Apparently she exhibited enormous energy potential. I can only assume Natura's plans were fuelled by greed and the need to feed, clothe and entertain those needy citizens in the city. I think we were just a larger electrical resource, Mrs Jones, nothing more than that. She just hadn't considered the side effect of the other powers our mother would pass on. My only disappointment is that she didn't stay alive long enough to know that she had been defeated,” I replied whimsically.

“Yes, Mae feeding those greedy citizens is our next dilemma. Of course we don't need the perimeter fence to be electrified any longer, as Natura's nightmare has come true, we have invaded! But those people and of course our future citizens do need power to go about their mundane lives. If you think that we are not in immediate danger of an emergency, I will ask Julia and Elizabeth to escort you to the medical bay, they have been desperately worried about your welfare since strapping you into the transporter pod.”

“Torture chair, Mrs Jones, let's not perpetuate the illusion!” I retorted as Lily ran towards the slowly opening white wooden doors.

The sorrow in the eyes of Elizabeth and Julia was apparent, even when well disguised by the smiles that both girls had pasted on their faces. I had somehow transferred my knowledge in that preparation cylinder. In the same way that Lily was able to communicate with the commander. The girls were in mourning, for their father the Grand Acer.

They took us straight to the medical unit without asking a thing from me. I made a mental commitment to them on that journey, that as soon as possible I would return to the sunken sub and endeavour to give the Grand Acer an appropriate farewell. I would take his daughters to the beach where we surfaced in order to show them how brave their father was, how his actions changed the situation for many Monos. I hope that after the grief has relented they can be proud of his legacy. I will certainly do all I can to make sure their future is a safe and privileged one.

On entering the medical bay my first sight was that of Willem, broken but not down. He stumbled towards us on his crutches, trailing a drip attached to his left arm. He had been stitched and bandaged, but more importantly saved. His skin though still pallid was at least warm, unlike the last memory I had of him before I was captured. I felt the heat of his cheeks as we embraced. I looked into his eyes to ascertain how he was really feeling but what I got was tears of joy.

“Mae, look!” shrieked Lily from behind me.

Before I turned I could hear her feet gathering speed as she ran away from me down the corridor.

Standing together, discussing something incredibly serious were both Skye and a Doctor in a white coat. My vision was impaired by the tears, but I felt sure I recognised that stance; slightly tilted head, hand comforting the other person's arm as usual…

It was Grace.

As she paid more attention to the explosion of sound and speed barrelling down her quiet ward, she became more animated, flinging her arms wide to welcome Lily.

“We got them all out Mae. We hid them in the tunnels. We didn't know what was going on at first but when Craig began E-mailing it became very clear that the girls from your Harvest were all in danger…” admitted Elizabeth. “… but that's why the patrols were out looking. That's why Willem got hurt isn't it?”

“No Elizabeth, Willem got hurt because Natura was feeding her greed. She desperately needed my sister and me to keep her and her Grid monstrosity alive. She had no idea that her little world was crumbling around her ears. She displayed no remorse, or fear when she had us dragged up to her palace reception room. You must not blame yourselves, not after everything your family have sacrificed.”

Grace arrived then to comfort the girls; she offered them food, rest, the safety of her ward and a nurse to talk to. Whilst we imparted what we knew about the torture chair together with our opinions with regards to what it may or may not do to an Acer's body and mind.

Skye has been reading through the notes kept by the technicians and scientists. They may unravel some of the mystery surrounding our twin creation. My hope is that they tell us about where the disposed of Grid girls are resting. Some of these notes are in languages she does not recognise.

We are needed at last for the gift of communication, our long forgotten Evo-skill. It is my intention to use it!

The state funeral was drab, hurriedly arranged and with no focus on tradition, beyond the need for the event itself. There were no floral tributes from loved ones, no folding of the city flag or a soldier lined salute as the coffin entered its final resting place. No one complained or protested her unexplained and sudden passing. There was no commotion of mourning, wailing citizens, or desperate acts of devotion in memory of Natura. The quick, efficient event that lasted no more than an hour was surprisingly uneventful. For all the sacrifices Natura had made, her citizens were not overly attentive towards her final farewell. They came out into the streets for a short moment while her hearse ambled past. Then they receded back into their offices.

My guess is that the topic of conversation once back at their desks was not how upset they were to be losing their leader. More likely that the discrete discussions would have been much focussed on what will now happen to the quality of their standard of life now that the last in the line of natural rulers was buried. Only a handful of dignitaries attended the church service, not willing to be seen to condone her actions. The well-planned gesture, as predicted, must however have worked to quell the hysteria. By the time Mrs Jones and Mrs Alder made their prepared address to the city, through a news agency broadcast, we had solved the problem of power. It had been lying at the foot of The Nest for decades, untapped and uncharted, Willem's Abyss.

Dawn and Paul worked tirelessly to transfer the untapped hydro-power into that which was useable by us on the land. We found that there were some stores of residual power in The Grid but as we were not powering the perimeter fence, our requirement was ironically very low. The citizens of Intentionality had already tapped into solar and wind power by themselves years ago as they strove to be more thoughtful towards their environment.

There were of course arguments and demonstrations along the way. But everyone likes a good story don't they? What the people of Intentionality really responded to was the opportunity for family reunions. Lily and I spent hours researching the family history of those initial surviving families. It seems that it was not unusual for parents and children to be dragged away from their container homes in the dead of the night if they were found to have emerging Evo-gene capabilities. We were spurred on in the dead of the night by the thought that we may find out what happened to Willem's great grandmother, when she was taken to be an Acer. Alas these records are not immediately accessible. The first volumes of inventory registers make note of highly confidential papers (called Evolution Documents) needing to travel to the vault, but we have found no mention of this place on the blueprints for the palace as of yet.

The family reunions have made the transition of shared living, a positive progression, with some lone Acers even choosing to live beyond the perimeter fencing, back with the relatives of their ancestral link.

An investigation into Natura's leadership and the council set up to monitor her is ongoing. The commander that first spoke to us during that harrowing few moments when Lily and I were fighting for our lives, is helping us to piece together the identities of the personnel in Natura's most trusted and informed leadership team, which is surprisingly small. It has become abundantly clear to us all that she had a mental condition, which influenced her character and her decision-making. Mostly she led by threatening her personnel, rather than informing them. It seems not many Acers even in her coveted inner circle, actually knew the extremes she was going to. Those who are guilty will of course be punished, according to their crimes. It is with great relief however that we find ourselves in a situation where the leader is no longer our responsibility.

Willem is planning a trip back into the Polar Ocean. He intends to find the other Nests. At least one is listed in the journals of the scientists, as a place for Harvest and another is listed as ‘The Nest of Eternal Peace'.

The latest discovery is a port called ‘Haven', it is hidden over the snow-capped mountains behind Intentionality. Of course no one recently has had need to trek that far for goods, but Haven is the last recorded sighting of the breakaway leader Morris Ward. Craig and Luke have decided to follow that trail to its natural conclusion. They are hoping to find a ‘sister' city, founded and developed by Morris Ward himself.

They leave tomorrow.

That brings me to the here and now. We chose to develop a new event, a memorial and a way to move forward. Not one copied from the time before the Evo-shift and not an adaptation of a Natura truth bending exercise. We have called it
‘The Commitment'
to signify our intention to remember our losses, but in turn to make connections and promises, plans and assurances. That we will move on, using every positive force and advantage we have on offer. Never again are we to segregate and demean or humiliate. We are incredibly aware of our luck in surviving the Evo-shift, forever grateful to those who took charge during that monstrous time, but we don't need to marshal the people of this generation, as they did all those many years ago. Our people are not frozen in fear. We intend to build Intentionality as a region, not solely as a defended city. Our citizens will have the freedom to roam and grow, new citizens will be welcome to join our society, as we explore and possibly find neighbours in other areas around our planet.

We have no records to tell us what happened to those Grid girls in the generation before ours. We have only the records of their names from The Nest and their serial numbers, which were accessed by Julia whilst working through The Grid computer database. This wealth of information tells us not only what we have lost in their Evo-skill, in addition it informs us as to what they looked like, but it is nothing more than a scientific table of fact. Clearly, what these girls thought, the bonds they made with others and their personality were of no consequence to the Natura regime. As a result we have no way of knowing how their life would have complimented Intentionality, or added to its rich mix of skills.

Mrs Alder and Mrs Jones can fill in parts of that jigsaw, they had contact of course with many of those girls in The Nest, and understandably they find that delving into this memory of so many teenagers lost is at the moment an unbearable task. One which we are not prepared to put them through. We wanted also to find a way of thanking them posthumously for their sacrifice. The Grand Acer who we have decided as a mark of respect and at the request of his daughters is to remain in his final resting place inside the sunken sub. The area has been classified a nature reserve.

It is here, by the ocean's edge, that we stand united this evening. We are enveloped in a cove and shadowed by that cliff I scaled making my escape. Who would have imagined this place could be so beautiful.

Summer has of course once more organised the memorial. We are clothed in sombre colours matching the deep blue of the ocean. Each of us has chosen the name of a Grid girl. We have written it on one of the perfectly folded paper boats prepared lovingly by Elizabeth and Julia. They are white to represent innocence, each one bearing the flag of Intentionality, teamed sensitively with the phrase ‘Thank you'. As the sun dips below the horizon we will set each boat down onto the ocean waves, they will sail away to freedom, releasing those tortured souls. Elizabeth and Julia will release a wreath for their father, it is also white but in the shape of a heart. My hope is that they will be left alone to perform this final act, but that they will feel able to join us as their surrogate family and lean on us for support later on in the evening.

After the memorial will come a treasured moment of reflection, a silence of no more than twenty minutes. This is the length of time it generally took for one rotation of the Ascension program, precious time to plan a new path for the coming year, to cement our intentions, to let go of our past. The beach is a perfect place for this reflection, with lots of room to sit, bury your toes or contemplate the grains of sand. Of course the soothing, repetitive sound of the lapping waves will enhance the feeling of calm undisturbed thought.

Then we will celebrate how far we have come as a group. Summer has produced cocktails and canapés especially for the occasion. Behind us there is newly laid decking and comfortable chairs to sit and contemplate or to make new friends. The cold of this region at this time of the year is a consideration. With time and goodwill, large, glass fronted wooden shacks are to be erected with heated rooms. However, for this year we will make do with large beach fires, warm throws and lots of warm food.

Everyone involved with our incoming government has been invited, many have arrived. Of course our special and most treasured guests are the first few Grids girls to recover. Mrs Alder truly worked a miracle with her inspirational deprogramming idea. The girls who entered The Grid last are the ones who have responded the most miraculously. Some came back to us within hours of accessing the new program. Once the brainwashing of the Ascension test had been removed and replaced by the soothing images and sounds of the natural world, the girls literally woke up. Fortunately these girls have not been tainted by any loss of ability. They have in effect been asleep for a prolonged length of time. This is not the story for everyone. The worst affected are predictably those who have been under the influence of the Ascension program for months on end. These poor girls are the ones that we were sent to replace. They have not woken and show no sign of doing so. Grace fears that they never will. She has experienced varied successes with the girls who are partially awake. Some are floating, lost between being conscious and a perpetual dream state. Grace is experimenting with sound and smell as a vehicle to help them find their way back to us.

We have planned for the commemoration to evolve into a celebration which will continue through the night, deliberately planned this way so that we leave on a positive note during the new day's sunrise. We have the rest of the night to appreciate what we have; in a way what we have always had in common. The skies above us at eventide during this season are a wondrous sight; magical evolving colours sweep across the horizon. They wisp upwards as they pass over our heads on their journey towards the mainland. With every moment their hue deepens and in turn lightens with an unbelievable cross-matching of the colour spectrum, quite poignant and relative to our evolving mix of citizens.

The success of
‘The Commitment'
will be measured by the proceeding days. We should leave our beach haven refreshed, closer. Well prepared for a future of hard work, tough decisions, love, joy, patience, kindness and empathy towards one another.

Anything is possible if we continue to work as a team. Fundamentally no one person should feel less than another because of their differences.

No more secrets, no more lies…