PART V
Seated in front of their screens, hundreds of people stared at the projection on the window panels of Zillo’s office. It had been a while since they had been addressed by the Pope. From investor for the Church, Zillo had risen to General Manager of Vatican Software Inc. He was the voice which the Vatican needed in order to survive. With Carda’s assistance he had helped achieve a goal of prominence for the Church that he long-desired for it. This status was fragile. Like everything else it was the result of a sustained battle against the competition. Above all, it was a product of the efforts and the vision of a few minds of greater insight. In the office Roch received the signal from Zillo, who raised his arms as though addressing the Pope on his balcony. The camera began to broadcast. The images merged in real time.
‘When I reported to the Pope that we had reached a point at which even our own parishioners were buying Islamic World, he granted me authorisation. And here it is.’ Zillo raised the brand new box of the new version of Vatican World.
He could not help but smile at the ovation as he stretched his hands out in front of him, gesturing for silence.
‘With the help of my dearest and most talented programmers here beside me, we will reach every home that has been waiting for this message. We have lost valuable ground. We will now win it back. Knowledge is generated by millions of people working to that end. You are the reason for and source of that knowledge. It is within everyone’s reach. To you I say “thank you”. For your involvement in the order and development of the world. For the happiness of the entire population. Here it is. The key to truth,’ Zillo raised the access key to Vatican World Cf.
The clamour of the crowd in the square was deafening. The Pope gave a final wave, while the first images of the game merged into that of Zillo standing alongside his hundreds of waving operators all wearing almost perfect smiles. Thousands of people in the square waved their arms in return. Both the display at central office and the huge screen next to the Papal balcony were split to broadcast both images. Side by side, united in common joy in an almost fraternal embrace. Neither the users in the square at the feet of the Pope nor the IT workers at Zillo’s feet could hide their excitement. They provided the means to the well-being of society. As the game gradually took over the whole screen, little by little the crowd began to form an admirable queue. Thousands of well-behaved fans approached the stands under the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica eager to buy the first boxes of Vatican World Cf.
The sound of a box landing on the table woke Galo. He had fallen asleep on the sofa with the screen on. In a reflex action, his arm lifted the hand control to turn it off.
‘How was the launch?’
‘Zillo wouldn’t let me leave. The poor man wanted to make sure I got the same recognition as Carda.’
‘As if you cared.’
‘Carda obviously did.’
‘Same face?’
‘Even in the middle of a reception he is unable to hide his displeasure. The more Zillo praises me…’
Galo got off the sofa to embrace her with one arm while with the other he lifted the shiny box which contained the access key, the control glove, the special sensor and the projection card.
‘My little genius.’
‘Not only does it have the “surprise option”, each projection card is loaded with secondary characters, secret weapons, additional locations and much more,’ Vera imitated Carda’s deep voice.
‘Now he’ll leave you in peace.’
‘I hope they assign him to another project. Zillo wants me to be Head of Support.’ Vera took the box from his hand. She held it up in the air while Galo opened the trunk that was against the wall. She dropped it onto dozens of other boxes with access keys, cards, controls and consoles, which would remain buried under a red cloth.
When Vera had got home that night nothing had changed except for Galo’s hours at the technical college. They had hardly ever argued. They did not really know how to. Vera’s prolonged silence was unlike any other he’d come across before. When she did not look him in the eye, he knew she was annoyed.
‘I knew you’d object.’
‘Doesn’t it bother you?’
‘It’s six months. They compensate me for the change more than generously. This could be our chance to go away and live the life we want.’
The words were piling up inside Vera’s head. Words were not her realm and she found it difficult to put them in order. She preferred to be concise, keeping thoughts to herself only to express what she had concluded. Galo had learned to be patient. Vera went over to the window, where she usually felt better.
‘The opportunity has always been there.’
‘So has my insecurity. Go ahead, say it, I don’t mind.’
Galo went up to her hesitantly and took her hand to bring her towards him and hold her close.
‘If we continue exploring, we can make it bearable.’
‘Time will fly, I’m sure.’
Resentment was not a feeling Vera was familiar with. For the first few weeks of his new schedule Galo would find a note in his pocket each morning. ‘Last night I was watching you as you slept. It seemed like time had stopped.’ The next day, ‘Think of a cloud and a treetop,’ and the one after that, ‘that’s what we are.’
She would accompany Galo to the station before cycling to one of the usual natural refuges or in search of a new one. Vera roamed around the periphery of production on unoccupied land, a sort of limbo, where all her doubts were dispelled. Every day she left for work before one in the afternoon and Galo arrived home before two. Official shifts from eight until one and from two until seven -the new global law. People had to live close to their workplace. No more than five stops away. Schedules ruled everyone and everything. Leisure time rewarded the work of satisfied employees fairly. They had never been given so much. Screen technology offered endless possibilities for taking care of time. On the one hand, work-induced stress and related conditions of the past had been swept away thanks to increased personal time. On the other, free time flew by with all the entertainment on offer. Hundreds of avenues opened up with games fulfilling lives, desires, aspirations. To eradicate all possibility of boredom and its consequences, entertainment prevented the hours from becoming disconcertingly permeable to the unknown.
Galo made an effort to visit the spaces they shared. They had promised each other not to abandon the routine which gave meaning to their lives. Each in the absence of the other. Together in their purpose until the day’s end. But Galo’s loneliness was barely relieved by the pleasure of contact with nature. For him, the only thing that made sense was Vera’s presence. Without her, places brought back feelings of discomfort and the distress he had felt on the day he had got lost in the woods. Without telling her, Galo would return earlier each afternoon and wait in the flat. It was a long wait. He knew Vera would want to hear the story of some discovery or other, however small. She would ask for descriptions which Galo could not give her of spots he had never visited. When she discovered anything new, she would give him the coordinates and explain how to get there.
‘You know how it is. The thought of getting lost makes me nervous,’ he tested her reaction.
‘Are you going to remain cooped up all that time?’
The fear of disappointing Vera made him lie.
‘If you don’t mind, I’ll only go to our refuge. I prefer to wait until we go exploring together again. We both know I’m not much good at finding my way back. You wouldn’t want to lose me,’ he joked.
Vera, on the other hand, lived for the end of the day when she could tell him where she had been and what she had seen. She had made a map of the region and marked every detail on it. To show him.
‘The woods south of Marcigliana.’
‘Yes.’
‘Didn’t you go there yesterday?’
‘Yes…’
‘Didn’t you see the cameras? They’ve installed cameras. Did you get beyond the perimeter?’
‘I d
idn’t actually go in. I thought you wouldn’t be going back for now.’ The excuses would do. Just.
‘There are no places left. There are more and more cameras,’ Vera distracted herself from Galo’s fudged attempts at avoiding the issue. She shuddered at the knowledge that security continued to restrict green spaces.
‘I’m worried that you’ll be found out and told off.’
‘For sitting and looking at what nobody’s interested in.’
‘Promise me you won’t do anything too risky.’
‘What do you think might happen? That they implant an ID sensor. I don’t think they can override the company.’
‘The company or the rest of them. It’s all the same.’
Galo choked on the question he could not ask her: was it worth the risk?
Although the hours of rest were long, for Vera the time was too short. She was absorbed in a world which took her further and further away from the hall saturated with screens. She could sense a huge gap, invisible like an immense ghostly structure. Something that widened around her until she felt the void which could suck her in and make her disappear. As if the air were not made up only of oxygen and other gases but of dark spaces with no energy, no force. With nothing to breathe.
A few days after the launch, Carda called her out of the development room. He held a magnetic card up in the air at the height of Vera’s face. No response.
‘Your own office. Congratulations.’
In normal circumstances Carda would not have expected Vera to share with him her joy or satisfaction. He was not surprised that this time it was no different. He gave her a few seconds in case she had anything to say. Vera lifted her open hand and Carda dropped the card into it.
‘You will also have greater access to the system. And naturally, greater responsibility over the staff. I’m no longer your boss. Zillo asked me to explain procedures and the system to you. I know it very well. Now you will get to know it.’
‘If it’s not absolutely necess…’
‘It is. You’ll have limited access. It’s all divided into modules. Nobody has complete access.’
He went with her to the office. At the end of the corridor he stopped in front of two adjacent doors.
‘The other one is my office. I’m in charge of the Cf updates. Until the next project.’
Vera could not tell whether Carda had noticed her disappointment. He opened the door with his master pass card as if it belonged to him. Vera entered and waited next to the door for Carda to leave. Carda did not misinterpret Vera’s immobility. Saying nothing, he coolly went up to the brand new screen on the desk. He lifted his thumb to activate the sensor disregarding the feeling that he was not welcome. The jumble of Vera’s thoughts was crushing her between the temples. So much so that she might not be able to help them burst out, even if for the first time. Aware of this, Carda would push Vera to her limits and without giving her time to explore them, he would pull her right back. She had never been forced beyond those limits. It was only a matter of seconds before he would give Vera something that she could hold on to so as to dissipate her rage, which restored her to normality. It was a game Carda repeated as if to put her to the test.
‘Once the threshold has opened you’ll be able to record your V-pass.’
The screen lit up right away. Carda went up close to look into the tiny camera. He leant on the back of the empty chair. Vera followed his movements with a heightened awareness. She could not tell whether Carda entered the changes while standing as a sign of respect or tolerance. Still she did not offer him to sit.
‘You can now register your V-pass.’
Despite gravity weighing her down like lead, Vera, ethereal, reluctantly dragged her feet to the table. She stared at the screen and lifted her thumb in front of it. Immediately a voice welcomed her.
‘My V-pass has been erased as you registered yours. Now nobody but you will be able to authorise access to your terminal. This time there are two passwords. Martino’s orders. Security enhancement. You can register them at the end.’
Carda took Vera’s silence to be like his own.
‘Sit down, please.’
She sat in front of the keyboard while Carda remained standing behind her, reflected in the screen like a faint shadow.
‘You’ll have access to avatar interconnection so that you can identify possible hackers. The code inspection system has been activated. Anything unusual will come to you for analysis. You’ll be able to block codes to deactivate any malware. As you know, every operation is recorded in the database. It’s mainly needed as proof when prosecuting hackers. You don’t have access to the IPSs. If there’s any intrusion, Security will get in touch with you. The systems are extremely efficient and make up for ninety-eight percent of human error. The other two percent is why we’re here.’
Carda demonstrated how to open the access windows. He showed Vera each part of the intricate system which supported Vatican World Cf. ‘The basic checks are essential in order to verify that it’s working properly. You’ll find all the technical information in the documents with your name on. See you on-screen.’
Spending the afternoon with Carda, receiving his instructions, made the time she was not with Galo that much worse. Suddenly the solace of the morning seemed to have been instantly wiped out, just as Carda had wiped himself out from the cybernetic corridors of her new terminal. Although she had a new job independently of Carda, more than ever she was being asked not only to be part of the virtual world, but also to rule over its meanders of which she was now a guardian. When Carda left at last shutting the door behind him, Vera remained standing in the middle of the room. Motionless within a strange silence in which the memory of Carda’s presence hung as a pervasive mark. She shut her eyes. Her breathing deepened, trying to renew the space around her. With the tempo of her rhythmic breathing, Vera would fly to the same place where from the convent bell tower nothing threatened her. There, without leaving the world behind, it became a different space for her. Without imagining it, without time, without surviving. Vera spent longer there each time she went until she rid herself of the blunt ways of reality.
On hearing the shrill sweep of the magnetic card, Galo switched to the music station. Vera had just got home. She was not interested in commercial news, or political broadcasts, or advertisements for digital products. All predictable and interminable. Galo felt guilty when he followed the news that was repeated on The Other One, the only radio station that survived free of advertisements or commercial news. Like the rest of the population, Vera had a vague notion of the recent deaths. In a puzzling coincidence, suicides were being announced from various countries around the world on the few underground channel networks. The smaller voices of The Other One were lost in the powerful swirl of the political leisure markets. The minority group of listeners licked their lips in their obsession with opposing doctrines, devoting their free time to dissent. Microscopic within the megalomaniac technological system which worked flawlessly, their presence was barely an amusing sideline. The Other One broadcast the news discarded by the H.T. mechanisms. News that was scorned for not carrying progress forward, promoting well-being or stimulating the population. Vera was right. Life was to be found elsewhere, while Galo needed to fill his when he was not with her.
Life had not become any easier for Vera either. As Head of Updates, although he was not her boss, Carda continued to keep a close eye on her. They both reported to Zillo. At least it was not Carda she had to submit her weekly report to. Most of their meetings were on-screen, a constant reminder that he was sitting only a couple of metres away from her desk divided by a thin wall, which might as well have been invisible.
The new routine was merciless with Vera and Galo’s dreams. These began to crack, separating the two of them in a deep, insurmountable dullness. The edge of the abyss was where they were able to come together again. They had almost become a couple like any other. Without embracing the interests of the rest of the population, everyday life seemed
alien. They had to make an effort to fill the daily distance between them. Galo coped better than Vera. He found support in the reality he understood. Vera’s reality was as intangible as it was shunned by others. Routine filled both of them with despair when the only incentive was to pass the time.
‘Tell me. Show me where you’ve been.’
‘There isn’t much left to explore,’ it pained her to confirm the presence of new barriers. ‘Leave the music on. I’m exhausted.’
‘Do you want to hold my hand while you sleep?’ Vera closed her eyes and took his hand while she travelled once more far from her body. Galo held her fingers tightly by his side with his eyes open to the darkness.
The world was getting smaller, confined within stringent limits. Spaces fenced in by statutes, security, cameras, surveys, declared dangers, canonized procedures. Behaviour and routine all marked out. Clear boundaries against free will, desires, drawn like rails for the human soul.
Living was the only purpose of life. Existence reduced to its own defence. The planet as a museum of itself, its treasures kept as if in a national library. For those few interested, assets could be visited day in, day out by heliplane or by bus, along platforms as if on a conveyor belt. As though flicking through the pages of the planet wearing cotton gloves. For most people, from their screens – landscapes copied to perfection in three dimensions. With the holographic capabilities of technology. The planet with a higher definition than reality itself. A world duplicated on millions of screens to be visited by millions of avatars. ‘For life itself’ was the sole objective. Life for life’s sake, the World Government had concluded, was the basis of society. There should be no other aim. The task was complex enough as it was.
The Vatican Games Page 10