The Birth of Love (21 page)

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Transcripts of interviews with members of the anti-species conspiracy of Lofoten 4a, Arctic Circle sector 111424

Part 2, 1.45–2.45 p.m. 15 August 2153 Interview with Prisoner 730005

At time of commencement the prisoner will not disclose his real name.

Prisoner 730005, your co-conspirator Prisoner 730004 has confessed to everything. She has supplied a very full account of your activities. You will understand that we want to verify her account and to ask you some further questions. For your own protection and that of the species. Your other co-conspirators will shortly be interviewed too.

I have no co-conspirators.

Prisoner 730005, you are aware that, with your co-conspirators, you stand accused of the capital crime of conspiring against the Genetix and thus against the survival of humanity?

I have not conspired against anything or anyone.

You are not here to express your opinions about the justice of the Protectors, Prisoner 730005. The Protectors are very
disappointed in you. They fear you have behaved in a manner dangerous to all. What do you say to this?

It hardly matters what I say.

They regret to inform you that while they seek to assess all matters reasonably and dispassionately, your case – and that of your associates – must be considered a crime. We are appointed to discuss with you the precise nature of this crime and to relay information to the Protectors. Do you understand?

It hardly matters if I understand.

It matters to the Protectors, Prisoner 730005. And it matters to us, on behalf of the Protectors. Can you firstly explain to us how you came to be living in the Restricted Area?

I went there when I left Darwin C.

Why did you leave Darwin C?

I can barely remember what I thought at the time. My life in Darwin C has faded from my mind, like a malevolent dream. I only really have clear memories of life on the island.

Correction, Lofoten 4a, Arctic Circle sector 111424. We do not believe that you have no recollection of your life in Darwin C, Prisoner 730005. Please apply yourself to the question.

It’s something about … I think it was boredom, in the end, a lack of anything – meaningful or joyful. I think the years I spent in Darwin C were so lacking in love, or despair, or any extremity that makes you feel you are actually here, on the planet … that they have been effaced by my experiences since then. I just see myself as this distant figure, a nervous
man, running through the glass tunnels, processed from place to place, breathing in processed air, glancing up at the dangerous blue skies from time to time. It is as if I am seeing myself from a great distance.

How did you leave Darwin C?

We all left Darwin C. We were a group of friends and we left together.

Who were your co-conspirators?

I told you already, I have no co-conspirators. I am not part of a conspiracy.

Prisoner 730005, we must explain to you on behalf of the Protectors that you are advised to co-operate with our questions.

I will co-operate, but I am not telling you who my friends are.

Ah yes, the pact. Prisoner 730005, we must advise you that your co-conspirator Prisoner 730004 has not been so mindful of the pact and so withholding further information is irrational and futile.

In that case, if this poor prisoner has not been mindful of the pact then you do not need me to tell you who the others are. You can allow me to maintain my sentimental allegiance to our pact.

There is no place for sentimentality here, Prisoner 730005. We will return to this question later. What was your allocated role in Darwin C?

I was an engineer, dealing with environment conditioning units.
Your sector?

Sector 1127.

How did you meet this woman they call Birgitta?

When we were in the crate, leaving Darwin C. I met her then.

You had not met her before?

No, I had only heard of her.

You had heard what about her?

That she would be a mother.

Correction, egg donor. You also adhere to this delusion that Birgitta was carrying a progeny of the species?

It is not a delusion.

On behalf of the Protectors we are obliged to advise you that such words constitute a grave threat to the survival of the species and cannot, for the common good, despite the generosity and forbearance of the Protectors, be permitted.

I do not mean to threaten the species. I am merely telling the truth.

This selfish anti-species delusion was shared by all of your group?

They all saw Birgitta give birth, with their own eyes, yes.

Prisoner 730005, we must warn you again.

I understand your warning. Yet you have also told me to cooperate. So I am trying to co-operate by telling you what I saw.
Are you claiming that you left Darwin C, risking everything you had, casting away the life that the Protectors in their infinite generosity had bestowed upon you, just because you heard a story, a mere myth? This is not logical, Prisoner 730005.

It is not logical, I agree. I was not behaving logically at the time. I had found that logic only worked up to a point. But there were some other factors too. Though I don’t think they were very logical either.

What were these other reasons?

Well, the most significant among them was that I had a dream. I dreamed of blood, and drinking blood. Swimming in blood. That is one of the few things I remember clearly from Darwin C. When I woke I realised I had to leave the city.

You attached significance to this random twitching of neurons?

Yes.

You did not seek chemical therapy?

No.

Were you regularly seeking sexual release?

Occasionally.

Not regularly?

I don’t really remember. Such loveless liaisons seem tawdry and irrelevant now.

Did you go to the same Sexual Release Centre as Birgitta?

Yes, I went to the Sexual Release Centre where she worked.
Did you seek sexual release with her?

No, I did not.

We will check the logbook, Prisoner 730005, so you should be honest.

As I said, my recollection of Darwin C is tenuous, but I am quite sure about matters concerning Birgitta.

How did you find out about the conspiracy to leave Darwin C?

There was just a morning. A wonderful, extraordinary morning. A friend told me that something had changed and we could never be the same again. I did not understand at first. Then I heard someone talking about an old, neglected idea, the Magna Mater.

What do you mean by this?

We are not entirely sure. But it is a force flowing within everything there is.

Everything there is where?

Everywhere.

You will explain yourself in plain speak, Prisoner 730005.

It is not my place to explain the life force.

What do you mean by the phrase you have just produced?

Which one?

You know precisely what we mean, Prisoner 730005.

I’m really not sure I do.

On behalf of the Protectors, we must warn you against such refusal to co-operate with our inquiry. Do you admit you have desired the ruination of the species? That you have favourably contemplated societal collapse?

I do not desire the ruination of the species.

By leaving Darwin C and going to the Restricted Area, are you saying that you did not desire the ruination of the species?

I did not. I think life is an extraordinary thing. Even in our despairing times, I am grateful to have lived. But my thoughts and desires are not important anyway.

Who is Birgitta?

I do not really know who she is.

You have already confessed that you met this woman. Do not try to deny this now.

I am not trying to deny it. I met Birgitta. I was on the island …

Correction, Lofoten 4a, Arctic Circle sector 111424.

… with her for many seasons. I know her. But I do not entirely understand who she is.

Prisoner 730005, you will explain yourself in plain speak.

I cannot be plainer, I am afraid.

Do you know this woman called Birgitta?

Yes, in some ways I do.

Who is she?

I cannot tell you precisely.

Why not?

Because it is beyond my powers to comprehend.

Prisoner 730005, you are not co-operating and this will only worsen your position. For your own protection, let us try to understand matters more thoroughly. Your co-conspirator tells us this Birgitta worked at the Sexual Release Centre. There is no one called Birgitta on the data records of this centre. Several women disappeared from the Sexual Release Centre at the same time. We are happy to assume each one of these women is Birgitta and, as we find them, which we shall, deal with them accordingly. For their protection and for the protection of the species. But it will help us, and help these other women too, if you tell us now what Birgitta’s real name was.

I only ever knew her as Birgitta.

You are saying you left Darwin C for a woman you had never met and whose real name you did not know?

Yes.

You clearly do not understand how grave the situation is. We are trying to help you, on behalf of the Protectors. But you must be more forthcoming. Tell us about your departure from Darwin C.

I just remember a long journey, and everyone very silent and afraid, and then the sea. The sea, I remember that very clearly. The smell of salt and air.

Who was directing you to Lofoten 4a, Arctic Circle sector 111424?

Our guides.

Who were they?

I do not know.

What did they look like?

I cannot remember. I never saw their faces.

How many of them were there?

There seemed to be many. But perhaps there were not so many after all. It was a very small boat.

Can you be more precise, Prisoner 730005?

I am afraid I cannot.

The Protectors, via us, assure you that it is categorically in your interests to co-operate fully.

I understand that is one way of looking at it.

What do you mean by this?

If I wished to survive and go back to Darwin C, then I suppose it would be in my interests to co-operate. Otherwise, it is not in my interests.

The Protectors will decide what your interests are, and how best to protect you and more importantly the species.

I am sure they will decide for themselves. But I think my interests must be very different from those they decide for me.

Prisoner 730005, we must warn you that such remarks are not appropriate.

I am sure you think they are not.

We know they are not. Where are your co-conspirators?

If you mean my friends, then I do not know. Are they not all here? Have some escaped?

You are not permitted to ask questions. Why will you not tell us, and thereby the Protectors, precisely who was living in the Restricted Area?

I cannot. I promised.

Yes, your pact again. This counterproductive allegiance to an obsolete agreement.

I do not understand what you are saying.

Who was Birgitta’s egg donor?

I do not understand this term.

You understand it clearly, Prisoner 730005. Who was Birgitta’s egg donor?

I do not know what you mean.

What did you do on Lofoten 4a, Arctic Circle sector 111424?

We lived. We worked. We waited for the birth.

Some of your number died?

Yes, they did.

Who were they?

I cannot tell you.

On behalf of the Protectors we are obliged to warn you again that such a failure to co-operate will stand against you
in the ultimate verdict.

I understand. As I said, I am not sure it matters much to me.

We think you will find it does. How did you live?

Those of us that lived, farmed and foraged. It was a hard life but a better one, infinitely better, than the lives we had in Darwin C.

Your egg and sperm donor were from Lofoten 4a, Arctic Circle sector 111424?

My parents, yes.

When did your egg and sperm donor leave?

When they were forcibly taken away.

No one was forced. The arguments for the necessary action to save the species were compelling, Prisoner 730005. You know this, you have had it explained to you many times.

It is what I was told when I lived in Darwin C, yes.

Who is Birgitta?

I already said, I do not know. She is an ordinary woman but then she must be something else besides. Or there is something else working within her. There may be some who have more developed notions of what she is but I do not.

Who are these people who know who she is?

They do not know. They simply have their notions. No one on the island told anyone else what to think or feel. There were no laws that governed our thoughts.

You are mistaken. We live in a universe governed by laws.

The Protectors marshal these laws for the protection of the species. Without these laws, we perish. Will you tell us who Birgitta is?

I can tell you she is a woman from Darwin C. I never knew her real name. I can tell you she has long hair. Or she did, I don’t know if she still does. I can tell you she sings beautifully. I can tell you she raises her hands when she laughs. I can tell you her skin is pale and threaded with delicate blue veins. I can tell you I love her. Is this what you want to know?

On Lofoten 4a, Arctic Circle sector 111424, was Birgitta one of your partners in sexual release, Prisoner 730005?

No.

Then why do you speak of her in this way?

Because I miss her. Because I cannot believe it is all over. It is destroyed utterly. The community we established, which we worked so hard to establish, which was founded on love and solidarity, has been burned to the ground. I will never see it again.

Where is Birgitta now?

I do not know. I lost sight of her, among the flames. I cried out to her. But she was gone, and then they seized me. They smashed me around the head and I knew nothing else, until I woke up here, in a cell.

Do you believe that Birgitta escaped?

I only hope she did.

On behalf of the Protectors we must ask you if you want to
be allocated another role in the struggle for the survival of the species, Prisoner 730005.