Love in the Time of Technology 1 (6 page)

Chapter
9: Escape to the Fringes

Genetica had been built over an old city which still had abandoned sewer lines, tunnels,
subways and undergrounds air vents. The Corporation had sealed them all off not realizing that they could be easily reopened and used against them. There were so many outlets leading in and out.

Lilydeen consulted a map on her tab.
They had come out miles away in an empty street in the Fringes. In previous times it had been a neighborhood for yuppies on the make. Many buildings had been overgrown with vines, brushes and undergrowth. These parts gave the impression of an immense green house that had thrived because of the lack of human activity. It looked like the city had thrived in a previous era. The current inhabitants had put in some effort to make their sections livable. The lower levels of high rise buildings had been repainted in garish colors and amateur plaster work had been undertaken on crumbling facades. It appeared that the upper reaches had been left to bats and the elements although from the US flags and other paraphernalia flying from them, he guessed that they were also used by intrepid inhabitants for moments of solitude or intimacies.

Looking at
one of the US flags flying so proudly, Wolf had the overwhelming feeling that he was free. He could speak, think and dream as he wished unlike his life in Genetica where he was always on his guard.

“You’re so deep in thought,” she said gently.

“It looks like a nice place to survey the world
.” He looked up at a derelict sky scraper.

“You’re not thinking of going up there, are you?”
she smiled. She knew that he wanted to dream about the possibilities of an expanding horizon and that it was important that he went up as far as he could and saw the world before him.

They walked up
an endless flight of stairs. They had to be careful of crumbling masonry works.

They managed to reach the highest point and from their vantage point they saw
the patchwork of communities in their small pieces of claimed land, the glass dome shining like the hideous egg of a dying beast, the savannah lands and beyond it the desert. They saw that they were like an island with the vast sea encroaching on them. He had only heard about it and he gasped in awe at seeing it for the first time.

They heard the faint whirring of rotors from
heliships in the distance. They sensed that they were out looking for them.

As they returned to the
ground level, they saw Mario looking at Wolf in awe.

“You look so perfect,
” he smiled. “Welcome to the Fringes!”

Wolf was going to make a joke that he also looked like an inhabitant but held his tongue. He might be treading on sensitive ground.

“Stop treating him like a distant cousin,” she turned to Wolf. Mario blushed and Wolf sensed that he had also emanated from Genetica. She had not seen Mario’s reaction and Wolf was thankful that she had not caught on. “He’s a kind of tech wiz kid and sometimes forgets he’s with people.” Wolf could see that she was very fond of him and treated him as a brother.

“You came
back safely and took in the heights.”

“He wanted to see the world,”
she laughed and then turned serious. “Of all places why did you bring us through here?”

“We’ve been through this. This was the best option.”

“So what sort of things do you do?” Wolf asked and Lilydeen looked irritated.

“I was beginning to feel worri
ed that you were not going to ask. We’re going to be great friends. I’m going to teach you all I know and you’ll let me in on some of the wizardry in Genetica.”

“He’s linked to the
Oracle program that can simulate the future and do other complex things,” she said.

“I fed her most of the data about you and of course you know more of her then she knows about herself.”

“Aw thanks. Now you’ve given everything away there’s no mystery left for romance,” she joked.

“Be careful what you say and don’t speak too soon,” Mario laughed.

Wolf seeing how she was very uncomfortable with the prospect of falling in love with him quickly changed the subject, “I’m sure you can get the Oracle to help me find out why I keep dreaming of this guy Dr Josef Mengele.”

The name seemed to trip something in Mario’s wired brain. He shuddered but pretended that the sound of oncoming drones and
a heliship had affected him. He hoped that Wolf had not noticed.

They hurled themselves against the shadows of
the building the moment they heard the rotors coming closer.

They hurried off. They were already late for their rendezvous.

The city went on endlessly with some areas looking well ordered while others looked neglected. The sea gradually glistened in the distance.

Wolf
was pleasantly surprised that the Fringes did not have the controlled climate of Globia. The sun was warmer. Dark clouds formed in distant parts of the sky. Birds flew freely and insects moved in their own familiar spaces.

“We have to move through a rough neighborhood,”
Mario told Wolf with just the slightest tinge of nervousness in his voice.

Wolf looked inquisitive.

“This neighborhood is made up of gangs that are quite wild.” She could see that this would take some time for him to digest. In Genetica these gangs would have been given smart drugs to stop them from mugging, raping and terrorizing people. They’d be very law abiding citizens. If the smart drugs didn’t work, they were quietly deleted. In the Fringes, it wasn’t that simple.

Mario seeming to read his thoughts said, “These gangs take crazy drugs rather than your smart ones.”
It sounded witty and they laughed. They knew that it amounted to contrasting outcomes. The crazy drugs made the groups assertive while the smart ones made the Genetica citizens docile.

They went to an abandoned building
for Mario to get his bearings from the Oracle. “Once they give me a safe route we’ll move,” Mario said lost in his tech world.

They had some time to rest
.

He beckoned to her.

“What are we going to do about Lazer?”

She pretended not to understand.

“He may follow you here?”

“To the Fringes?”

“You sense that already. Lazer has plans.”

“He won’t survive here.”

“You’ll be very surprised. He’s highly intelligent and is lethal. He’ll be able to hold his own.”

“Can he be stopped?”

“All things go through their own motions. Time is not on our side and we will have to move fast.”

“I wish the Oracle would not treat us like children.”

“But sometimes knowing the future can be a very dangerous thing especially if we try to change the present.”

Mario and Wolf
sat huddled together.

They both felt very drowsy.

Wolf could feel his face getting flushed and his lips and eyelids twitching.

It was Zugovsky smiling at him. “No I disappeared before they could get to me. I work for the Underground to develop a more sustainable
Genetica,” he said anticipating his question.

“Why me?”

“You are that rare breed that the best genetic modification and enhancement technology cannot put down, an individual with all the best attributes of humanity.”

He shrugged at this praise.

“You have the qualities we want to develop in everyone; the restless spirit always questioning, thinking and looking to find better ways of existing.”

“What’s going to happen now?”

“We’re using a highly complex program to simulate the future of your mission. The end result is supposed to have a domino effect on Genetica,” he paused. “The success ratio is low but you know that. I cannot say anymore as the various events are unfolding in due time.”

“Is Roneel okay?” he asked impulsively.
”And who is Dr Josef Mengele I keep dreaming about?”

Zugovsky acted as if he had not heard the question
although he seemed tense at the name. “Oh,” he said almost in an offhand manner. “I’m happy you’ve got along well.” There was a pregnant pause. ”You will in due time bond with that woman.”

He thought this was some kind of a joke given that they were biologically incompatible.

“And produce an offspring that will herald a new beginning.” Before he could reply, Zugovsky had moved off.

She
was tapping him gently on the shoulder. She couldn’t help noticing his perfectly formed face and wondered how she could ever fall in love with him. She just didn’t like clones. “Sorry to wake you up. We slept for such a long time,” she whispered.

Wolf could sense her revulsion but pretended not to notice.

“We’d better start moving. They have given the coordinates to the rendezvous point,” Mario said. “It is an underground track that we will have to follow. It is currently the only safe way.”

They walked at a brisk pace.

They turned into the next block.

A beggar walked slowly up to them asking for food.
This never happened in Genetica but he appreciated that food would be scarce in these parts. He reached into his pocket and absentmindedly brought out a piece of green carrot. It seemed to glow and come alive in his hand. The beggar was struck with fear and ran away quite fast.

On the next block they saw an old man holding up a hand written sign that read, “The Day of Judgment is N
igh!”

“He’s part of a spiritual group
that lives around here.” Seeing that Wolf looked puzzled she added that in Genetica they took smart drugs to get euphoric. In the Fringes some people had spiritual experiences and felt better.

Wolf seemed bewildered as
Genetica had no beggars or spiritual groups.

The old man looked intensely at them and especially at Wolf and continued muttering, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness; prepare a pathway for the Lord’s coming; make a straight road for him.” He stopped suddenly when the significance of his words seemed to shock him. He kept looking at Wolf
. He gasped then shouted, “The messenger is here! The messenger is here!” He ran shouting down the street, “The Messiah is coming soon.”

Wolf was mesmerized by this display
but Mario and Lilydeen were worried.

“Come on let’s move,”
she said. “A crowd might build up thinking you’re here to take them to the sea.”

They kept walking. They wer
e now very close to the underground railway tunnel that was their rendezvous point.

All of a sudden
out of nowhere they were accosted by a gang of unruly scruffy teens. They were a multicultural mix featuring dark, yellow, brown and white complexions. They spotted tee shirts torn at the sleeves, caps and various tattoos of whose origins he did not know. He sensed that they were logos and symbols of sports teams, singers, movie actors and corporations of a long lost time. One had a sign called
Facebook
. These gangs found vigor in the past. It seemed to give meaning to their present lives.

“Look who we have here!”  a burly muscular
teen in a vest and blue tights said looking at Wolf. He seemed to be the leader of the pack.

They all looked at him with great admirat
ion. They could see that his blond hair, blue eyes, handsome face and well honed body were perfectly designed.

“Look guys, he’s helping us against
them
. Don’t do this!” Mario shouted.

“Let us go,” she said.

Although they could easily beat them, they were trained to avoid confrontation unless it was absolutely necessary.

“We’ve no quarrel with you
guys. You can both go. We just want him.” The leader seemed to salivate at his new found prize. “This hombie is mine.”

There were murmurs of disapproval from the rest of the group. This was a rare find that had come to them from
Genetica and surely they could all share in this booty. It was too much for one person.

A
burly youth standing close to Lilydeen sniffed  at her. “You from there too?”

S
he swung her hand so fast in a karate chop over his neck and kicked him in the posterior.

“Guys have you no shame. He is not an animal!”
Mario pleaded.

“He’s not one of us,” said a
sensitive looking youth with a carrot top haircut and ear rings around his neck and ears. He was implying that Wolf was not human since he was a clone. “You’re not bad looking either,” he said to Mario.

“We should harvest him,” a pimply faced youth with blotched skin and frisky cat like eyes said to murmurs of approval from the others. He was pleased that his suggestion was a popular one. His mouth was drooling.

They had heard fabulous stories of Geneticans having all night parties and orgies with individuals who looked like celebrities. Good luck had smiled on them by gifting them with this fine specimen. Even his blood could be sold as an immunizer against diseases.