by Gadi Migdal
He looked at her for a long moment and then, instead of answering her question, asked, “Do you remember what work your parents did?”
Surprised by the unexpected question, Nola pondered. Work? “Dad worked in the pastry shop, and Mom was the manager of a hydroponic farm, but I don’t know what exactly she did in her job,” she admitted.
He smiled at her understandingly. “That’s alright, Nola. You were just a little girl. It doesn’t really matter what they worked at; the point is that they worked.”
“Why?” Nola asked. “After all, everybody has work.”
“What makes you think that, Nola?” he asked.
She looked at him in surprise. “Everyone I have ever known had work.”
That’s right when speaking of the city residents, but not everywhere else. Work is the main difference between Neifar and the rest of the galaxy.”
She scanned his face. “You mean to tell me that in the rest of the galaxy they don’t work?”
“Most of the human race hasn’t worked or studied for over 1,500 years now.”
Nola looked at him with a doubtful expression. “How can that be?”
“Because they live too long. Do you remember what the average life expectancy is for humans?”
For the third time, Nola found herself surprised by an unexpected question. “About 130 years on Neifar and 420 years in the rest of the galaxy?” she hesitated.
“That’s right my dear, you have a fantastic memory. And in all those long-living worlds, nobody works or studies.”
“Why?”
“Mainly because of the enhanced animals and brains.”
Nola laughed with relief, “Grant, those are such outdated arguments. Do you really claim that talking dogs and intelligent computers are plotting against us?”
The old man shook his head. “No, my dear. They didn’t create the situation. They are a product of it. You understand, after the Seventh, the development of the brains and the enhanced animals made any need for work redundant. Back then it sounded like a blessing; everyone thought that humans would use that free time for research, creativity and art. It didn’t take long for that dream to shatter. Instead of using the tools that they had at their disposal to advance themselves, human beings became addicted to pleasure, idleness, and inaction. And the longer their lives, the greater their degree of idleness.”
Nola looked at him in wonder, “how is that related to their life span?”
“The longer people live, the more boredom they experience and hence try more things in order to fight it. The battle against boredom became the main goal of humanity. And like every human goal, it also has changing fashions. For example, there was a long period where everyone spent all their time at meals. They were all addicted to labor-intensive, luxurious meals, the preparations for which took weeks, and the dining went on for days. After that it, the idea of returning to nature became popular. Everyone took off their clothes and went into the woods to live as hunter-gatherers. There were other addictions, some more worthwhile than others, such as art and creativity or learning new languages without the use of a learning helmet. Some were less so, like fighting and war. Humans move from one source of excitement to the next according to the latest trend. The sex addiction was only one of a long series of passing fads.” He laughed, “I wonder how many of the people living today owe their existence to that period.”
The impatient look on her face wiped all traces of laughter from his. “In any case, our forefathers understood the enormity of the disaster they expected as a result of humans being unable to resist any new fad.
Nola snorted disdainfully, “Disaster, Grant? Because people enjoyed one another’s company?”
“No, Nola. Enjoyment, by itself, is not the problem; but it leads to a very deep crisis . The human race lost its ability to delay gratification. That was the problem that our forefathers recognized and were afraid of, which is why they fled to Neifar to found a different kind of settlement. In the rest of the galaxy, the situation is completely different.”
Nola looked him over intently, was he joking? “Different how?”
“Different in the sense that it’s possible that in a few hundred years, the human race will come to an end.”
Nola looked at him skeptically. “The end of humans? Because people have time to entertain themselves? Aren’t you exaggerating a little, Grant?”
“I would be happy to find that I am mistaken, but the facts of the matter are pretty clear. People have no purpose or interest worth living for. And even worse, these days most people in the galaxy are addicted to something called ‘stories’.”
“Stories?”
“A kind of dreaming machine, my dear.”
“What’s so dangerous about dreaming?”
He shook his head, “There’s nothing dangerous about dreaming, my dear. Sleep is dangerous - it’s not normal sleep. The dreamers are sleeping inside of a kind of life support machine. In fact, you could say that it’s an eternal sleep. Since everyone is dreaming and sleeping for decades, there is nothing to wake them or make them move on to the next addiction trend. The human race is simply sleeping itself to death.”
“If that is true, how is it that I have never heard of someone sleeping in a machine?”
“Because we don’t have any dream machines in the city.”
“Why not?”
He shrugged, “It’s very simple. We don’t allow them to enter Neifar.”
“Why don’t other planets do that?”
“They can’t, my dear. They’re addicted.”
“So why is it that there are no addicts here?” she insisted.
Grant slowly selected his words. “That’s the advantage of the size of the city - we aren’t bored here. We in the city are different than the rest of the galaxy. We don’t have artificial intelligence, and everything is done by humans; that’s how we make sure people have interests and employment. All learning in the city is done without helmets, but rather in schools, with teachers and screens. In schools, children meet one another and discover shared interests. We also make sure that all city residents go out and travel around the galaxy. Officially these are business and acquisition trips, but in practice. their main purpose is to provide our people with an understanding of the situation in the other worlds. The bottom line is, we are the exception, the rest of the galaxy is bored to death, literally.”
She shot him a penetrating look, “I have trouble believing this, Grant. In any case, how is it possible that I never heard about this?”
“Because it’s simply not an acceptable topic of conversation. And you left the city as a child, my dear. We don’t teach it in schools, and parents mostly avoid talking about it with their children. In general, the residents themselves discover how lucky they are when they leave the city for the first time.”
“So, nobody in the city knows the situation in the rest of the galaxy until they turn thirty and are permitted to travel outside?” Nola asked in a doubtful voice.
“Precisely,” Grant answered calmly. “We let the city residents discover it on their own. It’s only when they leave the city that they are exposed to the boredom of the rest of the galaxy and the grave consequences of their behavior.”
Nola burst out laughing. “That’s stupid, Grant. The galaxy is enormous; people can travel to interesting places, meet new people, try different things, learn novel ideas. Why would they get bored?”
He shook his head regretfully. “The technology in the rest of the galaxy is much more advanced than you can imagine, Nola. We in the city chose to block most of the innovations, in order to challenge ourselves and to force the residents to find purpose in life. But in the rest of the galaxy, people got used to everything being very easy. Want to learn a new language? Put on a helmet and you know it. Want to be inspired in order to write a book or compose a song? There are drugs and he
lmet programs that will take care of that. People no longer need to make an effort in order to accomplish anything. And what’s worse, they have no will to try. Go on adventures in the galaxy? Most of them will tell you that it’s expensive, dangerous, complicated, and takes a long time; it’s much easier to just have a good quality dream.”
Memories from twenty years of coordinating sprang to Nola’s mind. Memories of long, idle nights filled with contemplation.
“But boredom can also encourage original thinking; people will want to fight boredom through dedication to work or trying new things,” she protested.
“Perhaps in theory, but when it comes down to it, we don’t see them doing that.”
“Fine, but they still have one another’s company,” Nola argued. “People can enjoy the company of others.”
“Really?” Grant asked, looking straight at her. “Think about it, enjoying other people’s company comes from sharing experiences and similar desires. If everyone is bored and devoid of experience, people have nothing to talk about. Every social meeting is a reminder of the situation and a kind of torture for most people.”
He raised a hand to silence her protestation. “Most residents of the galaxy need very special reasons to meet face to face. In that sense, the city is an anachronism, my dear. We live in an old communal structure, which was created for people who wanted to live next door to their friends and families or close to their place of work. In most of the galaxy, there is no reason for such a structure. This difference makes us stand out in the galaxy.”
He stared into her eyes, “The galaxy is full of lonely people. Most of them live alone, on huge family farms, surrounded by intelligent machines and enhanced animals. They only communicate with their friends through the network, if at all.”
This was ridiculous. Nola wanted to shout in frustration. “That’s so stupid, Grant! If the technology causes so much unpleasantness, why don’t people just give it up?”
He chuckled. “Now you understand the situation, my dear. This is the irony of progress. Technology always moves forward. Never backward. It’s simultaneously a blessing and a curse. People have grown used to the comfort and ease and do not even see the curse that comes with it.”
“And all of this stems from them living too long?”
“No, the problem isn’t the length of life but its content. By the way, do you remember why we don’t use life-extending treatments and make do with such short lives?”
“Of course, I remember, our forefathers agreed that the whole city had to bear the burden of the coordinators.”
“You’re right, the covenant between the city and the clusters requires that the life of each coordinator be tied to the life of her egg-layer. We in the city chose not to live longer than our coordinators. As long as their lifespan matches that of the egg-layers, no one in the city will live longer than them.” He smiled at her. “It was important for me to remind you of that point. Despite what you think, the coordinators were never abandoned or forgotten.”
He went quiet and looked as though he were reminded of something, “You’re right about one thing, Nola. Thanks to the coordinators, the city residents have a better life than most of humanity, but they aren’t sacrificed for the city’s benefit, rather the opposite; they are granted a rare opportunity - the opportunity to live a life that is envied by all of us city dwellers. We are jealous of each and every one of you.”
Nola recalled what her father had said on the day she had left the city, “I wish I could go in your place, my girl. You are about to go to a magical, enjoyable place, and you will be an outstanding coordinator. I love you, darling.”
She felt a lump in her throat, “Is that why you got mad when I said that you treat us like objects?”
“That’s exactly right,” Grant leaned forward. “Tell me, my dear, when you lived in the cluster, did you ever experience protracted boredom or a sense of purposelessness?”
“No,” Nola admitted.
“In all of your years in the cluster, did you ever feel redundant and consider escaping or taking your life?”
“Never,” Nola was astounded.
“Do you understand how fortunate you are? You have a full life – a calling, purpose and now, in addition to all that – you are going to go on a journey in space.”
Nola closed her eyes so as not to burst into tears. Her life had indeed been satisfying up until two weeks ago; until the she-slave began to die and the memories of her childhood and her family began to emerge.
“I guess I am fortunate, Grant. I never thought about it that way.”
“I am pleased to see that you realize that, Nola.”
“I understand something else: that the coordinators are being exploited by a council of intelligent creatures that don’t really need them.”
He shook his head, “I think you are mistaken, Nola. The fact that they insist on having you proves how important the coordinators really are for the egg-layers. In any case, investigating the subject will give you something else to fill your time on the ship.”
She smiled. It was hard not to smile in Grant’s presence. “Grant, I have a request. I really miss my parents; I have to see them before I go.”
He waved his hand, impatiently. “Obviously, my dear, why do you think I came here in a two-seater hovercraft?”
She looked at him in surprise for a moment, then laughed, “You’re a clever man, Grant.”
Chapter 6
Family
“Mickey, I took six corn buns and a Krantz cake,” called Charlene from the bakery entrance.
“No problem Charlene, I wrote it down. Spoil my favorite baby,” Mickey waved to her, smiling, and typed her purchase into the screen.
She waved goodbye and left, pushing the baby stroller in front of her. He looked in the direction of the clock on the wall. His shift would be over within half an hour, which would leave him enough time to get home and connect to the weather satellite broadcasts. Maybe she would be outside. He hoped so.
His telebracelet buzzed. He grinned at his wrist, “Yes, my dear. I remembered to bring cheesecake for tonight.”
“Mickey, come home immediately. Council member Grant is here. It’s urgent.”
“What happened?” He grew anxious. “Is Colin okay?”
“Just come,” said Eva.
He scanned the bakery. There were only three customers, regulars, milling around between the shelves.
“Dear customers, I have to go. Please record your purchases before you leave.” He requested before heading out.
He arrived home in 20 minutes, threw his bicycle down on the driveway, and ran inside the house.
“Hello Mickey,” Grant smiled at him from the comfortable armchair where he was sitting.
He stared at the council member. “What happened Grant? What’s the emergency?”
Grant laughed. “It’s not really an emergency, Mickey, more like a matter of a very busy schedule.”
“Busy schedule? What schedule?”
“Until she has to leave, Mickey.”
“She?” he asked and grew focused. There was only one person Grant could be referring to.
Grant looked at him without saying a word, then pointed at the door to the room at the end of the hall. Mickey looked at the door; it was closed. It was always closed. They never entered Nola’s room without a reason, and in twenty-two years, the only reason had been to clean the room.
He walked quietly toward the door and felt as though time had warped. Each step felt like an eternity.
The door looked as though it was moving away from him.
In one motion he leaped towards the door and opened it.
Eva and Colin sat on the bed, speaking with a pretty young woman, with long, dark, straight hair, sitting on the chair across from them. The three of them raised their eyes to him. He recognized her immediately, a
s did she.
“Dad,” and she was in his arms.
He hugged her quietly, with all his might. Too stunned to speak.
He felt her heart beating powerfully against his chest. He could smell the scent of her hair, which brought back old memories. His daughter was home again.
“Nola, what are you doing here? How can this be?” He finally asked, as he wiped his tears on the sleeve of his shirt.
“I can’t really explain that, Dad.” Unlike him, she did not try to hide her tears.
“Try anyway,” he requested. He closed his eyes and waited for the dream to end. She couldn’t possibly be here. He opened his eyes and looked at her again. She was still there! His daughter had returned home.
She looked at him seriously, “There is a new swarming. A special swarming. I am going to be its coordinator. I have to leave here in two hours.”
“Two hours! Why?” He protested.
“I’m sorry, Dad. It’s not up to me.” Another tear rolled out of the corner of her eye.
He hugged her again. Eva and Colin sat quietly on the bed and looked at them. Eva’s face was dripping with tears. Colin looked more intrigued than anything.
“Colin, have you met your older sister?” Mickey asked hoarsely.
“Yes, Dad. We already met. I have a big brother - he’s already seventeen!” Nola laughed.
She had a pleasant laugh. He had always loved the sound of her laughter.
“Nola, perhaps you’d like me to invite Glen over?” Colin asked.
“Glen?” she looked at the boy, not understanding.
“Yeah, he’s the big brother of Olaf, my best friend. He told me that you were really good friends before you went to the cluster.”
Glen. His smiling, freckled face suddenly passed before her eyes. She had completely forgotten that sweet boy. It would be nice to meet him again and hear a little gossip.
No, she realized immediately. That could never happen.
“No thanks, Colin. It’s not a good idea. It’s forbidden that anyone besides you three know that I was here,” she answered him with a forced smile.