Cycle 4
They told us we would be safe. They said they would provide shelter, food
and medicine.
The war had been devastating. It started so far away and then it came to
us. We had been unprepared to fight for
our homes. There was so much death, so
much suffering. Our comfortable lives
were gone. We had to learn to survive.For so many years we scavenged to make shelters, struggled to scratch farms into the ground. When they came, we left all of that behind us.
I wish I had never come. I wish I had stayed, run, hidden.
But I had to take care of my family and the lure of safety was tremendous.
We walked for days. So many were sick and others were dying. There were fights over food, water and, in some cases, our very lives. One woman killed my wife over scraps of food. I wasn't able to bury her. We were forced to leave her there, on the side of the road.
I should have run away then, snuck away in the night.
But I had my children. I wanted them to be safe.
When we first arrived, I thought things would be better. We had food and medicine. I stepped forward to help lead the large number of people in the cramped building. I helped to establish the rules. We would live together in an honest society where all were taken care of.
But life wasn't all that they promised. Yes, there was shelter, food and medicine, but it came at a price. We became slaves.
They locked us in.
It was for our safety. It was for peace and order.
There were those that rebelled. I am the last of them.
This morning, I go to trial for treason against the very society I helped establish. I can't run now.
I fear I will be dead by the end of the day.
David Stevens
Construct 11, City 4, Nation State 12
Construct Established Cycle 1
Governance Ratified Cycle 4
Amended Cycle 5
Amended Cycle 6
Cycle 7 Cycle 8 9
1. The Leadership
will govern the Construct. No other
being will dictate the rules and regulations thereof.
2. For the safety of
the beings living within the Construct, none will speak of or enter into the
Outside.
3. Treasonous
speaking or acts thereof, against the Leadership, the Construct, or the
executors of these Guidelines, will result in Easement.
4. In exchange for
shelter, food, medication and instruction provided by the Leadership, all
beings will work six days for every seven.
On the seventh day, with minor exceptions for kitchen and medical staff,
all beings will be allowed a rest day.
Exceptions will receive a rest day on a separate day based on staffing
needs.
5. The invigilators
will patrol the Construct, offering guidance on the proper execution of these
Guidelines, under the direction of the Head Councilmember. Beings of the Construct will not argue or
otherwise show disrespect toward said invigilators.
6. No being will
harm another being in any way.
7. Once beings have
reached the age of maturity, 18, every being will partner with only one being
of the opposite sex. Mating with any
being other than a partner is prohibited.
Each pair of beings will produce one offspring only. Violations of this rule will not be
tolerated.
8. Stealing will not
be permitted. Thieves will be sentenced
to Easement.
9. Honest dealings
with every being are expected.
Dishonesty will be dealt with harshly.
10. Personal
belongings will be reduced to required materials only. The population will be allowed to retain
their current level of belongings but inheritance will not be allowed.
11. The age of
beings within the Construct will be numbered no higher than 80. 79.
78. 77 76 75
Saturday, Week 52, Day 6, Cycle 88
The metal hanger scraped against the bar as Dan
pushed it to the side. The distinctive
sound grated against his already frayed nerves.
He muttered under his breath as he grabbed the next one,
pulling it out slightly to see which pair of pants it was. He frowned.
It wasn't the one he was looking for.
"Where are they?" he grumbled as he shoved the hanger back into
the closet."Rita," he hollered, "do you know where my favorite pants are?"
There was no answer. Dan looked toward the bathroom door. It was closed. She didn’t hear him.
He stared at the closet again. "Why do all the clothes have to be brown?" he murmured impatiently.
But was it the clothes? He'd been feeling this way for quite a few days now. He couldn't pinpoint why or when it began, but he did know it had been there for a week or two… or three. And it seemed like everything was annoying, including the color of his clothes.
He pulled out the hanger he had just put back. He sighed as he removed the pants, chiding himself for complaining about something he couldn't change. Every regular being in Construct Eleven wore brown clothes and he was no different. There was no sense in getting upset about it.
Steam drifted into the hallway as Rita opened the bathroom door. She emerged through the billows, rushing into the bedroom. With quick movements, she began making Dan's bed.
He watched her as she worked. She was as slender as she had been when they partnered eighteen cycles ago. She had her long, medium brown hair pulled back in a low bun like normal. Even though she was beginning to show some signs of growing older, he still found her beautiful.
"I can do that Rita," he told her as he shoved a leg into his pants.
Glancing over her shoulder, she scoffed at him. "As long as we’ve been together, Dan, I have always made your bed. It's what I do."
"Okay. It doesn't mean I can't do it, though."
"I know." She stood and gave him a half smile. She was average in height, but barely came to his shoulder.
Dan sucked in his gut as he tried to fasten his pants. "Do you know where my other pants are?"
"I've already sent them to the laundry this morning. This has been the only opportunity I've had recently to get them in the wash."
"Oh. Well… they fit me the best." Dan fussed with his shirt, making sure it was still tucked in.
"You should go to the exercise rooms more often. Your pants will fit better."
Dan grimaced at her but she didn't see it. She had gone back to making his bed. "I was speaking more of the length." He was taller than most beings in the Construct. His head almost brushed the doorframes when he passed through them.
She began making her own bed. "Well, it still wouldn't hurt. You're almost to the midpoint of your existence. That stomach won't go away as quickly as it used to."
Rita almost sounded angry.
Ignoring her comment, he pulled on the cuffs of his shirt. They always seemed too short.
He watched her for another moment, fretting over the small wrinkles at the foot of her bed. Maybe to others, she would be simply trying to create a perfect surface. But Dan knew her better than that. She was avoiding conversation with him, just in case they talked about what she didn't want mentioned.
Dan tried to break the sudden tension. "Listen, I was thinking."
"Yes?" she asked as picked up his pajamas from the floor.
He gave her a weak smile. "Sorry," he said as he gently pulled them from her hands. "I was thinking maybe we could spend some time together tonight. We could go to the Entertainment Floor. Maybe we could get wild and spend some credits on something we don’t need."
Her smile was quick, forced. "That sounds nice, Dan. But uh…."
She seemed nervous as she looked around the room. She bent over to pick up a stray sock. As she stood again, she said, "You know how tired I get."
He tried to catch her eyes, but she avoided his gaze. She took his pajamas from his hands and stepped toward the closet.
Dan pressed his lips together as she walked past him. They hadn't spent an evening together in… he couldn't remember. As he stepped over to his bed, Dan tried again. "Perhaps you could make an exception. I'd like to spend some time with you."
Her answer had a snappy tone. "You know I need to follow my routine. If I don't, I won't be able to sleep. That just makes the next day horrible."
The combination of her response and his cross mood had eroded his patience. As he sat on the bed to put on his shoes, he decided to break the self-imposed ban on what upset her the most. "You didn't need the pills in the past."
“Dan, we’ve had this discussion before.”
He clenched his jaw to control the anger that filled his head. “You’ve been taking more.”
"I refuse to argue with you!" She stomped the few steps from the closet to the bedroom door. Two more steps and she was in the bathroom. She slammed the door, shaking the adjoining wall of the small sleeping room they shared.
“Did you think I didn’t notice?” he called after her.
Dan rubbed his forehead to ease the headache that was forming. He exhaled slowly to calm his emotions. Once he left their accommodations, he would need them under control. In order to abide by the Correctness Guidelines, emotions weren't sanctioned in public areas.
Through the wall, he could hear her rifling in the medicine cabinet. His jaw clenched again as he realized she wouldn't be joining him for anything.
Dan stood and stepped to the long mirror on the closet door. As he straightened his shirt, he took a closer look at himself. His stomach was rounder than it had been in cycles past, protruding slightly over his pants. Gray had started to appear randomly in his dark brown hair. Fine lines were deepening in his olive skin around his mouth and eyes. Perhaps Rita was right, maybe he should spend some time in the exercise rooms.
He shook his head at the thought. He hated exercising.
Dan reached back into the closet and removed the one piece of color that only he was allowed to wear. He placed the medium blue stole around his neck, the symbol of his role as Head Councilmember. It was similar to the color of the evening sky and draped almost to his knees.
As he tugged on the tails, he felt the mental shift that always happened when he placed it on his shoulders. All the responsibility he carried as Head Councilmember steeled his thoughts and gave him focus. He let the frivolities and irritations of his everyday existence slide away.
To say he led the Construct was an overstatement, in his opinion. The Leaders were the beings that governed. The Council simply executed their rules and instructions. His job was to oversee the Council, to make sure the rules were being followed and to handle any infraction. The Leaders did not appreciate having to deal with mere rule-breaking. In the ten cycles Dan had been Head Councilmember, he had never requested their assistance. He was proud of that fact.
Rita reappeared from the bathroom. "Is Daniel up yet?" She seemed calmer.
Dan stepped into the doorway of their sleeping area. He tugged on his cuffs again. "I haven't seen him."
"Well, we still have a little bit of time."
"We do, but his ration starts in twenty minutes."
"When did Daniel's ration change?" Alarm filled her voice.
Dan gave her a strange look. "You don't remember?"
"What do you mean?"
"It changed when he turned fifteen, nearly two cycles ago."
Daniel’s door popped open and he appeared. He seemed surprised to see the two of them outside his door.
“Good. You’re up.” Dan looked him over quickly. He seemed to have grown overnight. He was almost up to Dan’s nose.
It impressed Dan how much he looked like Rita. Daniel’s medium brown hair was tussled like he had just gotten out of bed. He had her light colored skin and her round face. His mouth seemed to produce her smile. But Dan was never sure where Daniel got his bright blue eyes. Both he and Rita had brown.
Daniel put his bookbag over his shoulder. “Yes. I wanted to speak with Paul before ration.”
Dan's jaw twitched at the mention of the elderly male's name. “I see.”
Dan cleared his throat as he stepped into the living area. He walked purposefully over to the desk and flipped open his satchel, causing the buckles to clatter on the desktop. He began gathering his papers and, with effort, placed them carefully into the satchel.
“You look very handsome today, Daniel,” Rita told him.
Dan glanced over his shoulder to see her brushing Daniel's hair from his forehead. She continued, “You look so much like Dan when he was younger. I remember when we named you. I didn’t want to give you the same name as Dan. But it’s turned out well.”
Daniel squirmed and shot a glance toward Dan. Dan tried to hide his smile as he helped him out. “You should get going, Daniel, or you’ll be late.”
"Yes, you shouldn’t be late.” Rita stretched up onto her tiptoes and placed a small kiss on Daniel's cheek. “Have a good day.”
“Uh, thank you, Rita,” Daniel said as he took a few uncertain steps toward Dan. When he got closer, he extended his hand.
Dan frowned at the meekness Daniel was showing him. When did he become so scary that his own offspring was timid approaching him? They used to have such a good relationship. When he was little, Daniel would run to meet him when he walked through the door. They would play and spend time quietly enjoying each other's company. What had changed so much?
Dan took Daniel's hand and shook it. It was a custom his own male caretaker had taught him. He had been told it was a common practice in the previous society, but because physical contact in public was discouraged in Construct Eleven, it had become a rare occurrence.
“Are we okay?” Daniel asked as he pulled his hand back.
“Yes.” Dan went back to his papers.
"It's just that you seem… mad at me."
As those words hit his heart, Dan pursed his lips tight. "No, Daniel. I guess I woke up in a bad mood today. I apologize."
Daniel gave him a polite nod of his head. “Have a good day then.”
"You as well," Dan said over his shoulder.
As Daniel turned to leave, Dan added, "Don’t let Paul fill your head with half-truths. We don’t live that way anymore.”
Daniel opened the door. Before he exited, he paused and glanced toward Dan without saying anything. Daniel gave Dan another respectful nod and then quietly pulled the door closed.
Dan stared at the door. He didn't like Daniel spending a lot of time with Paul, who had been teaching Daniel the old ways. They weren’t the ideas the offspring of the Head Councilmember should be learning. But Dan had made a promise to Paul, long before he was Head Councilmember. It was a foolish promise to a foolish elderly male by an even more foolish young being.
Dan wished he had never made that promise.
But he always kept his word. Even though it was driving a wedge between him and his offspring, he had never rescinded the promise.
Dan felt Rita's glare from across the room. His skin bristled.
“Paul doesn’t mean any harm, Dan," Rita said coldly. "He cares about Daniel, about all of us. You used to know that.”
“Perhaps,” Dan said as he closed his satchel. “But Paul fills Daniel’s head with notions and ideas that we have moved away from. It’s best if Daniel focuses on the here and now, not the old ways.”
Dan exhaled hot breath as he strode toward the exterior door. The conversations this morning had turned his foul mood even more sour. He yanked the door open. “I have some errands to run. I'll see you later.”
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete