Empire

Chapter 1: Lydium. Annum 0.

Do you feel like an outsider? Like you are here, flesh and blood, pain when you pinch, but still somehow, you aren’t…? Like… you don’t belong? If your answer to these questions is in the affirmative, you may continue reading.

Jack swiped the book shut and looked at the tourist agent sitting across the table.

‘So, any questions?’ The agent looked up from his screen, first at Jack and then to Maria, who was still engrossed in the book on her screen.

‘Well’, Jack, started, ‘My first question of course is how I am going to remember or know or, even, recognize this once I’m there?’

‘Yes…what’s our exit code going to be?’ Maria swiped her book shut with a slightly worried expression on her face. ‘I don’t know about you, Jack, but I would like to be able to… you know, come back!’

‘It’s not like our normal bed-to-sea-to-bar-to-bed holiday at Eternal Sands, honey – we talked about this...’

‘If I may…’ interrupted the agent. ‘Both your questions are critical. I need you both to listen carefully and understand what you’re getting into before you make your final choice. We make every effort within our bounds to ensure that you recognize and learn the exit code. However, mistakes do happen – minders are increasingly expensive these days and Empire is ten times more crowded and chaotic than it was a decade ago – both with natives and tourists.

Now, this is how it works. We will first do a series of data gathering tests on both of you, for preservation and to ensure that you will cope on Empire. This will take up to two mesi of your physical presence at your labs. Once we have all your information, and you have made the full payments, we will be ready to go when you are. On the day of departure, you will each be disaggregated here, transported and introduced via IVF into a carrier receptacle on Empire, where you will be regenerated as a new-build. Your genetic signature remains intact in the process and will be used later to identify your exit code. Are you with me so far?’

‘Yes, we’ve read the brochures. Please go on.’

‘Now this is where it gets tricky. Unlike here, Empire does not have the technology for implanting memories and it is too dangerous for us to use our tools there. In short, you will not remember that you are tourists. Our minders try their best to ensure survival of the new-builds they are designated to until they are of an age to assimilate information and make decisions – this is generally 12 years Empire-time, so 4 mesi our time. Once this tricky stage is passed, a minder will introduce the Book to you and explain its purpose - the Book is your exit code. From then on – here the agent paused and circled a clause in the contract – your minder is relieved of all liability. You will be fully responsible for deciding to accept that you are a tourist, and when and whether to leave Empire. If you do choose to accept the fact that you’re a tourist and want to leave, follow the instructions in the Book. Just remember, any deviation from the instructions will mean we cannot reconstruct you here – you will have to obey the Book unless otherwise specified by a minder.’

‘Well, that sounds complicated, and pretty exciting, don’t you think, Maria?’ asked Jack. ‘Imagine… this is what we would talk about as young ones, constantly – a new life… a life full of unexpectedness… and danger… and excitement! Oh, I can’t believe we are actually going to the Empire of Chance!’

‘Not to be a wet blanket, Sir, but I would like to reiterate that the dangers accompanying this holiday are not to be underestimated. These things rarely go wrong, but I am obliged to tell you this – in the event of your exit going wrong, one of two things could happen – either you remain on Empire, or you unexist. Also, you will not remember the time difference between home and Empire due to the reconstruction process. The maximum length of a holiday averages around 2.5 anni home time. By this time your exit code should activate automatically, though you may choose to deactivate it if… if you do not wish to return home.’

‘Ohhh!’ Maria shivered slightly. ‘How happy they must be, the natives there! Living their life as they wish, doing what they want, choosing how they live, how they work… no wonder they live such short lives – it must be tiring to live so dangerously for any longer than 3 anni!’

‘Well’ said Jack ‘they also choose how to destroy their planet and one another! No wonder some of them don’t even make it past 3 mesi! And they don’t even have new-build care facilities… the place sounds barbaric…’

‘Do you still want to go ahead with this, Sir?’

‘I think so… I mean, safe is good…but life is a bit tedious these days… I would rather spend a few mesi in a barbaric land and take my chances, so to speak! Oh… Maria and I… will we be together there?’

‘Ahh. That is a tricky one, I’m afraid.’ The agent frowned. These two were almost sold on the idea and despite – or was it because of – things getting crowded on Empire, tourism had dried up of late. He needed customers. ‘We will be transporting both of you to nearby locations. But, Sir, the entire point of this holiday is that it is the Empire of Chance. There are several…possibilities.’ He paused and looked at Maria and Jack. An uncomfortably long silence followed. ‘Ahem, well…’ he continued. ‘The beauty of an Empirical holiday is that the chances are high that you and Maria will end up together. The natives believe this to be an almost magical phenomenon. They have a strange word for it down there.’

‘And what’s that?’

‘Love, I think, they call it. In fact…’ and here he looked very uncomfortable, but plunged on, the words all coming out together and in a rush ‘I shouldn’t be telling you this, but it doesn’t make a difference anyway… the two of you can make more new-builds yourself. That is how the natives were first introduced on Empire, actually… the first tourists made some mistakes which is when we realized they didn’t remember who they were … and we cannot afford to bring unplanned new-builds here – babies, the natives call them – even if they want to come.’ He shuddered as he said the word, as if he had tasted something sour.

‘Well,’ said Jack after another uncomfortable pause, and glanced over at Maria who laughed nervously. ‘We’ll take it. We’ll take our chances with Empire and to Hell with the consequences. What do the natives call it by the way? Isn’t Empire our name for the planet?’

‘Earth. They call it Earth, Sir’ said the Agent with a triumphant smile as he took their money.

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Chapter 2: Empire. Year 12.

“Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”

Jack shut the Book and looked up at his mentor. ‘How does one prepare praise out of another’s mouth, Sir – isn’t that meddling with free will?’

Thomas looked down at him with affection. The boy was precocious and very smart for a 12 year old. He was proud of the boy – his fiftieth tourist successfully raised past the tricky first 12 years. The Agency back home on Lydium would be happy. Soon the boy would be ready to hear the full details about the Book, and start the slow process of accepting that he wasn’t a native. That he didn’t belong. He wondered if the boy would find the process as easy as he had – sometimes the boy questions too much. Thomas’ record as a minder was of course helped by the fact that he had chosen a relatively advanced part of Empire as his territory. Technological facilities for new-builds (he could never use the word babies without a shudder) were actually quite acceptable here. Thank goodness he hadn’t chosen the Pacific Islands…they were a minder’s nightmare!

‘There is education and providing information, son, and there is meddling with free will. The two are quite different, though often we feel the lines getting blurred between fact and opinion. If I were to describe the qualities of a great man before you met him – qualities that are a result of facts I know about him – which you may verify, and my personal opinion – which you can choose to accept or reject. And if I, in doing so, manage to convince you of his greatness – will I not then be preparing praise out of your mouth? Just remember – verify facts, and form your own opinions based on what you know, what you hear, what you see, and what you feel. Everything else is redundant…. Now go along, Maria should be here any minute and will want to play Indians.’

‘Yay, Indians! Yes, Sir!’ said the boy, only half remembering what he’d just heard as he ran off excitedly to greet Maria.

Maria…! Oh, she was a whole different deck of cards! She was stubborn, prone to seeking out danger and somehow, different from the rest. She treated Thomas like… well, like a new-build would a minder back in Lydium! It almost felt like she already knew…but that was impossible! Thomas shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thought. He was getting old and weary of the constant attention he had to pay to keep himself and his charges safe here. It was time to go back home. Empire was getting increasingly unsafe every passing day. Once he had fulfilled his responsibilities with Jack and Maria, he would use the exit code...Lydium, here I come!

There had been some talk lately, (he had a back-channel satellite comms link set up with a trusted mate at the Agency), talk of a memory-implantation scheme they were trying out at the Agency that would ensure that the tourists always knew who they were and what they were meant to do if they wanted to return – it would make minders like him entirely redundant, but that sort of technology was light years away from implementation, especially in as unstable an environment as Empire…or was it?

‘Thomas! Come here at once, you have got to see this!’ He sighed, and packed the Book away. However much she was scolded, Maria refused to call him Sir. She liked ordering people around. Thomas smiled ruefully as he remembered – she was the Director of his home province after all!

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Chapter 3: Empire. Year 27.

‘Wooohooo! Wow! That was superb! Do it again? Race you to the cable car!’ Maria and Jack raced to the cable cars and could barely keep still for the five minutes it took to get back on top of the mountain. They were on a bungee-jumping weekend break, and were having a ball. Thomas had tagged along, mainly at their request – he didn’t go in for that sort of stuff, but he had to admit the view was great from here. Jack yelled to Thomas to come over and buckle him up again. He turned around to find Maria already at the edge, her arms raised upward like a diver’s. Jack laughed and started to yell, ‘Wait for me’ but the words froze as he realized something was very wrong. ‘Maria! You are not buckled in! Maria, stop!’ He dashed to the edge as she looked around, smiling, her expression changing to worry and anger as she saw him headed straight for her. She turned and tried to jump, but he leapt and tackled her, bringing both of them down with a crash, dangerously close to the cliff-edge. Thomas ran up and pulled them up to their feet. Jack shoved him aside, and enraged, turned on Maria. ‘This is about the damn Book, again, isn’t it?!’ Maria just stood, staring at her feet in damning silence. Jack fumed and grabbed her shoulders, shouting ‘Why? Why can’t you just let it go? All this…this…bullshit about another life and another planet and that distasteful…exit code! I know that this is one of the codes assigned to us, Maria, I’m not a fool and I’ve read the Book as well. It’s suicide, Maria. That’s what we call it. Suicide. Nothing more than that. An act of desperation, of a person who has nothing left to live for. You have everything… I don’t understand…’ He stopped, shook his head and sat down with a thud, hugging his knees and burying his head in his hands like a five year old who didn’t understand why his parents where fighting.

Maria sat down next to him and put her arms around his shoulders. ‘I’m sorry, Jack…I…I don’t know what to say. We have had this conversation before. You know I believe what the Book says, that I have my reasons…I’m sorry…’ Jack looked up at her, and then at Thomas. ‘It’s your fault, Thomas…this is your doing!’ he said, pointing at him. ‘You’ve put those ideas in her head, and because of you, I almost lost her today… the one person I care for, the one person I... love!’ Maria gasped and stared at Jack as he grabbed her again, with passion this time, and kissed her. She resisted for a few seconds, but gave in to him and kissed him back. Shocked at herself, she jerked back and pushed him away.

‘Marry me, Maria!’ Jack blurted, impulsively. ‘We’ll stay here, stay together, we have Thomas… we don’t need anything else….’

‘No, Jack, don’t do this…we’re tourists Jack, this is not our home. It will never be.’

‘We’ll build a house, we’ll have kids, and raise them to love us…Maria… why can’t this be home? We don’t have any other!’

‘You may believe that…but that doesn’t change facts… Jack, please...tourists don’t marry…we aren’t meant to have kids…’

‘Tourists?? You keep saying that! Maria…we were born on this planet, and raised on this planet. How…how on Earth, can you call us tourists?! And what does it matter, anyway, whether we are tourists or not? How does that even make a difference to the lives we lead and the choices we make?’

‘You know what…you’re right, Jack, it doesn’t matter! Whether you believe you’re a native or a tourist…your stay here…our stay on this planet is temporary. Today here, gone tomorrow. I do not want a marriage…I do not want a family, a house…when I’m gone I do not want to leave a footprint!’

‘A footprint?’

‘A burden, Jack. A legacy of a resource taken, and nothing given. This planet is obsessed with carbon. They consume carbon in all its forms, emit it in its gaseous form, and are now suddenly worried there is too much of one, and too little of the other! I am determined to give if I can, and take as little as possible from here. I have measured the footprint of every action I take, every day, and make sure that I do not consume any more than is necessary. We are at the prime of our youth. At an age, on this planet, where we can get by with little care from the rest of society. Soon we will get older, and as we do, we will become increasingly dependent on the society around us, taking more, and giving less. Ultimately… a full lifespan is a net consumption, a net reduction in the resources left on this planet. This is a cycle each and every…human goes through. And by Ragnar, the planet has more than enough humans! Jack… you must understand what I’m trying to tell you…I can’t… I don’t want…the Book…’

‘Maria…Maria, Maria…remember what you told me once, years ago? That you had this dream, where we were both tourists deciding to come here, and I told you – ‘to Hell with the consequences?’ You told me, that in your dream, that was when you truly started loving me. Well, guess what? The Jack in your dream – that is the real me. Forget the Book, forget this planet, forget that you’re a tourist… to Hell with it all’ He held her in his arms and kissed her long, and this time, she didn’t push him away.

Thomas walked quietly away. His heart was troubled, by several things, not least by what he feared the outcome of their actions would be. But he was no longer their minder. He had fulfilled his duties fifteen years ago, and though he still loved them (goodness, even he’d starting thinking like a native!), he respected their privacy, and above all, he respected their freedom to make their own choices.

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Chapter 4: Empire. Year 42

‘If its broken, what do we do?’

‘Fix it?’

‘That, my boy, is exactly what we are going to do. We, are going to fix this planet. You and I and your mother Maria, and Grandpa Thomas. Now how do we start fixing it?’

‘By cycling to school?’

‘Exactly!’ Jack picked him up, threw him up in the air, and caught him as he came down squealing with delight. He looked over at Maria who sat in the garden watching them play with that characteristic look on her face of half-pleasure, half-anguish…like she is so glad of what she has, that she’s scared of losing it.

‘I need to talk to you Jack’ she said, getting up and walking up to him, as he sent the boy off to school on his new bicycle. ‘Jack… there’s no gentle way of putting this. I think its time for me to leave.’

‘What do you mean? Leave where?’

‘Home , Jack. It’s time for me to leave this planet. Please…please don’t’ stop me this time.’

‘Maria…but…the boy…look – the last time you wanted to leave, it was because you said you didn’t want to leave a negative legacy behind. Don’t you see, that by bringing this boy up to think like you, you’ll be making a positive contribution?’

‘Jack – you’re an idealist. You always were…At home you were the one that went on about how we were flawed since we didn’t let free will flourish…’ She stopped suddenly as she caught Jack’s quizzical look, and clapped her hand over her mouth and stepped back as if she had said too much. ‘I’m sorry, I’m…not feeling well. I’m going in for a bit.’ Jack started after her, but thought better of it, and stopped.

Thomas watched their conversation, and watched her go in. He gave her five minutes before knocking on her door. ‘Maria, I need to speak with you’ he said. ‘So… the rumours, they were true, then.’

‘What rumours?’

‘The ones about the memory implants. You remember everything – you have since you were old enough on Earth to formulate memories.’

Maria sighed. ‘Yes, Thomas… I do. We were the first to sign up for the program.’

‘We?’

‘That is what worries me, Thomas. Jack signed up as well. We both had our implants at the same time, in the same room. I don’t understand it. Jack doesn’t remember a thing… in fact, he seems to think he’s a native. It’s a wall, Thomas, between us, and there is nothing I can do about it, as long as he cannot remember.’

‘Oh, heavens…this is worse than I thought’ Thomas said, shaking his head and sitting down.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Maria…you are not going to like this.’

‘I need to know what’s going on Thomas. Imagine – every moment of my waking life on this planet, all I want is to go back home, with Jack. And Jack… since the new-build, he’s not even looked at me. He’s so taken with his…son. Thomas… what is going on?’

‘I should have told you earlier, Maria… I'm sorry… I wasn’t sure if you actually remembered, or if you had just chosen to take the Book at its word. My sources at the Agency back home. They said that the experiment wasn’t limited to memory implants. It was a control experiment. They wanted to see if they could control the population at home by selectively programming tourists to either, remembering everything and wanting to come back at any cost, or…forgetting everything and wanting to stay here at any cost…’

‘You mean…they did this to us on purpose? After Jack specifically asked if we will be together here?’

‘Maria…they didn’t know…they didn’t think either of you would ever find out… I mean, things are so unpredictable here, they figured you would think it was chance…they miscalculated. They forgot about me.’

‘So, what are you? Some sort of self-styled free will vigilante?’ Maria was angry, and she didn’t care if Thomas got the brunt of it, though she knew it was not his fault. After they specifically asked to be together, a vetted tourist Agency…to run experiments on them? Like they were some lab rats?

‘Maria… this goes higher, much higher than the Agency. The Federation knows about these experiments, Hell, they probably fund them, but with zero accountability. Why do you think I have a back-channel satellite link? The Minders are forming an underground resistance. Empire…Earth…is the perfect hiding ground for us. Federation have over-reached themselves back home. I mean, stability and prosperity is one thing…but this….’

‘Thomas. My mind is made up. I am going back. I need the exit code.’

‘After all I’ve told you? Maria – you have a family here, and you can be of much more use to the resistance here, than there…become a Minder…take care of your son.’

‘Thomas you don’t understand – you don’t know what it is like, to not belong. To not just feel it, but know it. I look around me and everyone I see, seems like a different species…like beings from a different planet. Different manners, different sounds, different feelings, different desires…its like I’m in a museum…some places I linger, captivated by what I see, drawn to a pretty object…and then suddenly, I’m tired and simply want to go home. And Jack…’ She shuddered, choking back a sob. ‘Anyway… I am Director of our Province. I can be of much more help back at home. I shall pretend I know nothing of the experiments, that I used the exit code of my own volition. I will find out as much as I can and let you and the other Minders know what’s going on here. Home needs me, Thomas.’

Thomas looked at her for a long while… Maria – the girl who remembered. He had never known, had hardly ever seen her, back at home. Only as a figure on television, making speeches at the new-build schools, and at big corporate parties. Here, on Earth, he had raised her as a child, had grown to love her and respect her as a human being. And now she was going to leave again, return to stability and prosperity. But he knew she wouldn’t forget. Just like she had never forgotten where she came from. ‘O.K. Maria… I understand. Your stand-alone code is the subway station. The other exit code was if both of you wanted to leave together, but I guess Jack will stay here, now.’

She stood up, walked over to him and gave him a quick kiss on the head. ‘Thank you, Thomas. I’ve already packed my bags. Tell Jack…tell him I will miss him.’

Thomas watched as she walked out of the front door and down the road. He watched her until she turned the corner. He sighed again, and went in to tell Jack something he probably would never understand. Jack...the boy that forgot.

*****