“Maybe we’re wearing rags and smell bad to you, but I can still read. We still have books and school. Can’t make new stuff anymore. The air filtration system is inches from complete shutdown.” Raven explained her mission to find a safe place for the remaining people in the Arc to settle, and that she doubted Noah had been serious. “He’s probably going to laugh at me when I go back to tell him about this place.”
“You’re going back?” Tinsley gawked.
“I have to at least try to get them out of there.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, but you should talk to Tess about it before doing anything. Bear with me a moment. I’m going to draw a little blood for some tests. Is it all right if I take a sample from your daughter?”
“What do you need our blood for?”
“Testing to see if you’ve got any parasites, diseases, or other conditions that would require treatment.”
“Oh. Okay. Sure. Yeah, I’d kinda like to know, too.”
After drawing blood—Tinsley sat there watching the needle with little outward reaction—Iris conducted a quick physical on both of them, then leaned close to whisper in Raven’s ear.
“Are you experiencing any unusual discomfort in your reproductive organs? Sexually active?”
“No and no. I haven’t been, uhh ‘active’ in six years… unless my hand counts.” Raven chuckled.
Tinsley held up her hands. “I count on my hands sometimes.”
Iris and Raven laughed.
“Wow, really… that long? Surprising.”
“Thanks.” Raven smirked, taking it as a compliment to her looks. “Too worried about genetic issues. There’s only 182 people in the Arc.” She explained how nine out of ten babies came from people being matched and asked to keep humanity from dying out.
“I’m really lucky because my mommy wanted to keep me.” Tinsley looked down, swinging her feet.
“That is… tragic.” Iris regarded her with a pitying stare.
Iris gestured at a doorway. “All right. I don’t see any external parasites or skin conditions. Physical’s pretty much done. Why don’t you two go in there and clean up? I’ll go get you some clean things to wear.”
Walking into unknown doors naked didn’t rank too high up on Raven’s list of fun things to do—at least not since she’d been three—but she suspected the other room would be empty of people and probably contain a shower. She slid off the table and padded over, peeking past into a small room that indeed held a shower stall and toilet.
Tinsley eagerly followed her into the stall.
This water smelled quite different than back home, lacking any chemical essence. She managed to coax Tinsley into removing the sandals, and proceeded to clean up. The water running into the drain ran almost black for the first few seconds.
Eventually, she realized she continued to shower only because it felt amazing and not because she needed to get cleaner. After drying off with towels she found hanging on a nearby bar, she wrapped herself in one and peeked out at the curtain-walled alcove. Soft voices outside the walls sounded like Sienna and the other kids talking to medical staff. Everyone seemed happy and calm. Iris had gone off somewhere else. Not knowing exactly what to do, Raven sheepishly padded out from the shower room and sat again on the exam table, clutching the towel to her chest.
Tinsley climbed up beside her, carrying her sandals.
When she realized that only her tool satchel and katana remained—the poncho and her inside clothes gone—Raven tensed. She didn’t like the idea of having to run back to the Arc with only a towel to wear, but she’d do it if it came down to that.
Her panic ebbed a moment later when Iris returned carrying a bundle of fabric. “Here you are. Two sets of undergarments, a dress for your daughter, jumpsuit for you, and some shoes.”
Raven eagerly accepted the bundle. “Thank you.”
Iris gestured past the curtain. “Once you’re dressed, head on out to the corridor. Paul will show you to Tess. Do you have any questions for me?”
“Guess we’re in decent health?”
“Surprisingly so, yes.”
Raven pulled on the shockingly white inside pants and tank top. “How long has it been since the Great Death?”
“I’ll assume you’re referring to the period where the Earth became largely inhospitable to mammalian life.”
“Yeah, that.” Raven stepped into an olive-drab jumpsuit.
“We’re not completely certain given that our records of the past have a gap. Based on the information our forebearers brought from the arcology as well as what they found here, I’d say about six centuries. But that’s an estimate.”
“Wow.” Raven plucked the clean inside pants from Tinsley’s hand, since the child had been gawking at them, and dressed her. “That arcology? So there were others?”
“Oh, yes. We believe many such bunkers were created. Again, information is more rumor than fact, but the first few appear to have been the brainchild of a billionaire who believed the warnings about an unlivable planet. Governments eventually built arcologies as well, but only after people started dying and they couldn’t ignore the scientists anymore. Those arcologies suffered from the usual problems inherent with government building anything.”
“What does that mean?” Raven pulled the dress on over Tinsley’s head.
The girl jumped down and ran in circles, twirling around and giggling.
Iris folded her arms. “Built as fast as possible by the people willing to do it as cheaply as possible.”
“Wow. That doesn’t sound like a smart way to do things.” Raven picked up a set of boots somewhat similar to her old ones… only devoid of duct tape and made from greenish fabric rather than plastic weave. They also didn’t appear to have been worn before. She stared at them as if she held spiritual relics. “These… are new?”
“Yes. You’ll find we’re a bit more capable than the conditions you’re used to living in. Oasis is by no means caught up to the technologies prior to the collapse, but I suspect this is about as good as it can get. It’s astonishing to me that your arcology is still functional at all.”
Raven told Iris about being on the technical team and spending the past four years fixing and rebuilding things. Her mentioning that the monoethanolamine substrate in the CO2 scrubbers had become worthless surprised Iris about as much as if that naked savage had whipped out a chess board and challenged Raven to a match. Indignant, she explained how the ponchos happened because of limited materials demanding they make garments that a child wouldn’t grow of and their need to hand-sew everything favored a simplistic design.
After she finished putting on the new clothes, Raven took Tinsley by the hand and followed Iris across the outer medical room to the door. Some old clothing from Sienna and the kids sat on a steel table, radiating an awful smell she hadn’t noticed before. Having a shower and an hour or so apart from exposure to the garments made their rancid odor obvious. Though, rather than thinking sewer, she recognized the smell as the hydroponic fluid.
Sienna, also in a greenish jumpsuit, and the kids waited out in the corridor beside a twentysomething man who reminded her somewhat of a younger Donnie Chen, Ariana’s bio father. The boys and Cheyenne wore shorts and tank tops, Ariana a white dress similar to Tinsley’s.
“Good luck and welcome to Oasis,” said Iris.
“Is that why it says ‘oasis’ everywhere?” asked Raven.
“Sort of. I believe the founders named this place because the word was all over already.” Iris chuckled. “We don’t exactly have the technology to print words like that on walls.”
“Oasis, huh?” asked Sienna. “I kinda like the sound of that.”
35
Tess
Whenever you have more than eight people in the same place, someone’s going to want to be in charge. That’s the one you need to keep an eye on. – Ellis Wilder.
The young man introduced himself as Paul before leading them down a corridor deeper into the building under t
he giant silver orb.
“My role here is essentially assisting Tess and keeping track of our people. Mostly, who’s related to who, who lives in what dwelling, and so on. Since you are from the arcology nearby, it is quite possible that you are potentially related to people here. It would be distant relations, but still best avoided.”
“How can you tell who is related to who?” asked Sienna. “I mean, for us? Do you have the machines to test people?”
“Yes. Actually, we do. The group that originally established this place consisted primarily of doctors and scientists.”
“The ones who left the Arc,” said Raven. “Wow, it’s true.”
“Oh, I meant…” Paul chuckled. “This facility was originally created as a biodome during the collapse. Similar to the arcologies, only they hoped to survive above ground. The sphere you’ve no doubt seen already is airtight and allowed for the preservation of a habitable atmosphere during the worst of it. By the time the people who left your arcology found this place, I want to say about three thousand people remained from the original Oasis team. From what I learned in school, many of the newcomers were also scientists.”
Sienna frowned. “Yeah. Most of the educated people left.”
Her explanation of how the Arc had collapsed to near primitivism continued down the hall into an office where an older white woman with short, wavy dark grey hair sat behind a huge U-shaped desk. She wore a dress similar to the ones they gave Tinsley and Ariana, but also had simple black shoes. The woman’s presence gave off such a feeling of authority that Raven found herself feeling like a child walking into a school classroom again, hoping the new teacher liked her.
“Ahh, much better.” Tess smiled, stood, and walked out from behind her desk, offering a handshake. “Good to see you all cleaned up. I hope the boy is feeling better?”
Xan glanced at the gauze sticking out from the leg of his shorts. “Still stings but I can walk on it now.”
“Good, good. My name is Tess Summerfield. I’m the one who gets stuck making all the difficult decisions. Curious where you came from.” She gestured off to her left at a blue sectional.
It appeared to be hundreds of years old, but mostly intact.
Paul politely excused himself and left as everyone else except Tinsley took a seat on the giant couch. The six-year-old found the plastic plants over by the window far too in need of checking out to sit still.
Over the course of the next half hour or so, Raven and Sienna explained everything about the condition of the Arc, what they’d been taught of the outside world, the encounter with the feral, the cougars, and their trip here.
Tess listened, nodding or asking brief questions to clarify some things. After, she explained that Oasis had grown from an initial group of people sheltering inside a sealed biodome—which now contained mostly hydroponic farm tanks—to a proper town. They did not order people to have children, but did require people wanting to have kids to go through testing to make sure they weren’t related. She appeared to like Raven’s experience as a tech as well as Sienna’s work as a teacher.
“It’s quite different here as you might expect.” Tess smiled at Sienna. “We have enough children that they are organized by age into different classes.”
“I can’t believe how many kids are here.” Raven whistled. “The most I’ve ever seen before was my group growing up, and we had nine. I was the youngest.”
“By eight months.” Sienna nudged her.
Tess nodded at Raven. “Your experience sounds good. While you’ve no doubt been working on older machinery, that you’ve been able to keep them operational is a testament to your ingenuity. I think you’d be happy performing the same role here. Both of you, and of course your children, are welcome to stay. As far as we know, there aren’t any other settlements out there beyond a few scattered feral tribes.”
Raven sat up tall. “I’d love to stay here. But… I have to do something first.”
“Oh?” Tess tilted her head.
“There are probably at least 175 people left in the Arc, and the air filtration system is dying.” She explained the CO2 scrubbers running on a substrate so saturated with dirt it didn’t do anything, the windmills being on the verge of literal collapse, and ventilation ducts riddled with grime to the point the gunk formed inch-thick pads. “I have to go back and lead them here…. If that’s okay. I mean, I have to go back and get them out of there anyway, but I’d rather bring everyone here than insist they try to build a village from scratch outside.”
Tess showed little hesitation before nodding. “Of course. I sincerely doubt anyone alive in the Arc now even remembers the conflict that happened. My great grandfather was part of the group that left. There’s no reason to be needlessly cruel to the ones who stayed behind. Fear of the unknown is a powerful thing.”
“So I can go back and bring them here?” asked Raven.
“Of course, dear.” Tess smiled.
She looked at Sienna and the kids. “You guys are all gonna stay here where it’s safe.”
“No.” Tinsley ran over and jumped in her lap.
Raven squeezed her. “I brought you with me out here because the Arc is dangerous. More dangerous than being outside. Oasis is safe. I can’t possibly take you away from a safe place to risk a three-day walk.”
“But the cougars! The ferals!” wailed Tinsley.
“Exactly why I need you to stay here.” Raven bowed her head. “Alone, I can outrun them.”
“Not the cats,” said Xan. “Them things are fast.”
“Those,” muttered Sienna. “Those things are fast.”
The kids chuckled.
Xan looked at Tess, indicating Sienna with a thumb. “Mom’s a teacher.”
“Ferals?” asked Tess.
Raven explained being attacked by a naked man with a beard down to his knees who kept trying to bite her.
“Hmm. Some of our scouts have reported similar tribes, but they haven’t been close to Oasis.”
“Not that close. I ran into that guy only a few hours after leaving the Arc. Haven’t seen any more since.”
Tess looked over at Sienna and the children. “I agree with Raven. The world out there is no place for children or those who aren’t prepared for dangerous situations.”
“She should stay here, too, then.” Sienna patted Raven’s hand.
“Raven has the sort of determination in her eyes that I usually look for in our scouts. It takes a certain kind of person to reach a place of safety, then go right back out there to help other people. I’m sure she’ll be fine. However, I’ll send an officer with you.”
“You have security officers here, too?” Raven blinked.
“Of course. When you assemble this many people in one place, some of them are bound not to behave themselves.” Tess sighed. “It is a regrettable fact of human nature.”
“Is that why our security officers are so bored? There aren’t enough people for anyone to be bad?” Xan grinned.
Tess smiled. “That could definitely be a factor. All right. I assume given the direness of the situation, you’ll be looking to get back there soon. Let me speak with Paul for a moment. He’ll figure out where you will be living here. Perhaps, you can set off in the morning. You do look like you need some rest and decent food.”
“All right.” Raven brushed at Tinsley’s hair. One more night hopefully won’t be the reason they all die.
“Can we live in the same place?” asked Sienna. “Or at least adjacent ones?”
Tess cocked her head. “The two of you are a couple?”
“No, we’re basically sisters. Not by blood.” Sienna grinned at Raven. “We’ve been like inseparable since age two.”
“Oh, I see. I believe we might have some family-sized huts available. We keep building them as materials allow, planning for growth. However, an influx of over a hundred might require some people tolerate tents for a bit.” Tess stood and went to her desk. “Putting you all in one dwelling would definitely be efficient.”
She picked up a phone and proceeded to explain the request for living space to someone, probably Paul.
Sienna looked over at Raven. “Wow. Other people do exist.”
“And they’re nice.”
“Not what I was expecting.” Sienna exhaled, blowing her hair off her face. A shower had left it hanging loose and straight.
“Nothing’s what I was expecting.” Raven patted Tinsley’s back. The child hadn’t stopped clinging since learning she had to stay here. “But my expectations weren’t all good.”
“That’s good.” Sienna wagged her eyebrows.
“All right.” Tess set the phone down. “Paul will be here momentarily to show you to the housing pod that will be your home. Lara will be in touch with Sienna within a few days about teaching. Raven, you can speak to Jordan once you’re back from the Arc. He’s our head of maintenance.”
Raven stood. “Wow. Okay. This is real, right?”
“As real as anything else.” Tess walked up to them. “Oh, I should probably explain how food and supplies work…”
36
Above Ground
People have a damn bad habit of not realizing what’s really important until after they forget where they put it. – Ellis Wilder.
The housing pod sat near the end of a ‘street’ on the eastern side of the orb building, almost at the edge of the village. None of the streets in this settlement had paving, nor the width to accommodate a car. The pod’s windows offered a view of Oasis’ windmill field. They used smaller turbines, half the size of the ones at the Arc, but they had longer blades and perched atop poles rather than steel lattice towers. The land in and among the windmills appeared to be a literal farm as well.
Workers assembled more pods not far from the one Paul assigned to them. The simple structures varied in size from small dwellings intended for a single person with about as much space as her old room in the Arc to pods like theirs, almost five times bigger. Except for a small toilet/shower room in the back corner, the place had no interior walls, being one large open area. Two bunk beds against the left wall and one slightly larger one-level bed on the right made for five mattresses. The expectation had likely been for parents to share the big bed, and up to four kids in the bunks. With seven of them in the same pod, sharing would be the norm.
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