“Well, for one thing, I’ve never been up here, so I didn’t know about this particular part of the building. I did like studying here though, but the Science Centre is more prestigious and offers more opportunities for personal, not just social, development”.
The next lift was close to the one from which they had just exited. They got in and Cat told it to carry them up three more floors. They stepped out only a few seconds later onto a long balcony surrounding the inside of the central area, overlooking the park-like space.
“Our company is right there,” Cat pointed to a nearby office and workshop space, with glass windows as the rest, physically and visually separated from the neighbouring spaces by walls. Or it seemed. In fact, it was not possible to tell which separate rooms belonged to which company.
“Company?” Lon was lost. “Isn’t there just one company; the Technology Centre?”
“No,” said Cat, almost sounding as though she was talking to an idiot, “that’s not possible without government funding, so investors buy or support separate companies within the building”.
“That’s why the Science Centre has more opportunities; there’s a hierarchy to work up through, whereas here it depends on the company you’re in, and they’re all smaller than the Science Centre,” explained Eve.
“Oh, so how big is the company you work for, Cat?” he asked.
“We’re not a large company by any means, but we have some very skilled workers, and some very committed sponsors”.
They approached the entrance to Cat’s company’s space.
“In fact, there are only a few more rooms than the ones you can see now,” she added.
The door slid open at sensing human presence, and the three stepped inside.
As expected there was a small reception area, complete with the classic company receptionist.
“Enjoy your lunch break Cat?” asked the receptionist lady.
“I did, very much so, thank you,” Cat said.
“And we have visitors?” she directed her attention towards Lon and Eve.
“We do indeed. Eve, Lon, this is Kaya; Kaya, this is Eve and Lon”.
“Howzit?” greeted Kaya.
“Hi,” said Eve.
“How’s it going?” responded Lon.
“They’re going to be working with me on a project, that’s why they’re here,” Cat explained to Kaya.
“Okay, then don’t let me stop you from getting started!” said Kaya. “Go on through!” she laughed happily.
Cat, Lon and Eve passed through the door behind the reception desk to a room that could not be seen from outside the company’s confines.
The new room was long and thin, and contained numerous workstations, yet few workers.
“Why’s it so empty?” asked Lon.
“Because it’s Saturday,” again Cat sounded as though she were talking to someone of much lower intelligence.
“Oh, yeah. I forgot,” he said.
They did not remain in this room, however, but passed on into the next, which was almost identical to the last.
There was but a single man in the room as they entered. He looked up from his work terminal, swivelled on his chair to face the new entities in the room, and gave a big “Welcome!”
“Lon, Eve, this is Strys; Strys, this is Lon and Eve who I told you about”.
“So you two are gonna help us?!” said Strys in a large voice, and with a large grin spread across his face.
“Um, yeah,” said Eve, quite unsure of what they were to help with, “we’re gonna help you with a networking project”.
Cat sniggered lightly.
“Oh, that’s right! Our ‘networking project’!” Strys gave her an over-emphasised wink.
Now Lon and Eve realised he must know about their situation.
“Come! Sit!” he voiced loudly, “Both of you sit down nicely next to me,” he pulled two chairs from under the worktop, one on either side of him.
Lon and Eve followed his instructions and sat, forming a sort of triangle so they could all see each other clearly.
Cat leant against the work surface near them.
Strys, still smiling widely, lowered his volume to a more natural level, and, still in an excited tone, asked “What preliminary research have you two been doing for this ‘project’?”
Lon and Eve glanced at each other; neither of them quite got what he meant.
“Okay,” said Strys, “I was told you started researching this ‘project’ last night”.
At this point it became a little more obvious to the two that he wanted them to recount their whole story, again. But why continue to talk as if in code? He seemed a little odd.
They recited the most up-to-date version of their story.
At some point during the narration Strys’ smile sagged, although it did not disappear completely. “I see. So this morning’s episode is the reason you were late to get here”.
Lon and Eve both nodded.
“And now we don’t know what to do,” said Lon.
Eve had a sombre look about her.
“Don’t worry my friends,” began Strys, “if you help us, we can help you”.
“How can we help?” said Eve, not offering, but genuinely asking how they could possibly do so.
“First things first,” said Cat, “Strys, can you hack into the police database and check their criminal records?”
“Ja, not a problem!” he replied. He span himself around on his chair, and began to tap away at his computer monitor and the artificial keyboard on his desk, much in the same way Tan did to hack into the NGT system database the night prior. “Just bear with me for a moment. The police system is a little tricky…”
“Can you get caught?” asked Lon.
“No man!” Strys broke out into laughter, “Nobody can catch me, my friend!”
That was not the answer Lon was looking for. “Okay, then, what if it were somebody else trying to hack into the police database from here?”
“Well, if they’re really bad! Our security system tells onlookers that we’re in Angola!”
“Oh, is that software that Tan wrote?” asked Lon.
“Yes, it is! You’re so attentive!”
Lon thought Strys’ overly happy personality was a tad creepy.
“Sorry this is taking a while, even though we’ve got many provisions here for this kind of thing, it does take some time. As well as that, the police database has a stupidly large defence,” explained Strys.
“I take it you can’t alter anything in the database too, right?” asked Lon.
“Well, yes I can, but they’d be able to figure out that I’m not in Angola”.
“And we can’t risk that,” Cat added, “because if they discover we’re in the Tech Centre, then everyone here will be screwed. The government have been trying for years to find a reason to shut this place down, and we can’t afford to give them one”.
“Well… it makes sense,” admitted Lon.
“Ah, almost done it,” said Strys.
“You’re taking your time,” Cat said.
“Hey, you try doing this quicker!” he laughed. “Count to ten, and I’ll be in before you finish,” he challenged them.
Cat began to count, “One… two… three… f-”
“And we’re in!” yelled Strys excitedly as he punched the air.
“I’m glad you find this amusing,” sad Cat.
Indeed it was as if it were a game to him, yet more like a dangerous gamble to Lon and Eve.
“Right, lemme see…” he said.
The other three stood gathered around the monitor.
“Eve, could you please tell me your ID number?”
Eve obliged and told him for what he had asked.
A few taps later he brought up her records on the computer monitor.
“Evelyn Chen” was the title of the page, under which Eve’s face was displayed, the same picture as her digital ID card, followed by a list of information, just as in the NGT system database
, only with much more data: place of birth, parents’ names, education, etc., as well as a picture of her fingerprints and one of her retinas.
“Bloody hell!” exclaimed Lon, “I didn’t think they’d keep so much information on people!”
“Isn’t it to be expected?” asked Cat rhetorically.
Strys scrolled down the page past the personal details to the section entitled ‘Criminal Status’, under which were written two shocking words, ‘Terrorist Threat’.
Upon reading this Eve almost fell forwards; her knees became weak and she immediately felt nauseous.
Lon jumped towards her and gave physical support, then helped her into her seat. He quickly turned back to the screen to see if he had read correctly. “Where the fuck did they get that idea from?”
The smile on Strys’ face had fallen off completely, and he looked serious in front of Lon and Eve for the first time. He read the accompanying comments for the criminal status out loud, “This person has direct links to an as yet unknown terrorist cell, likely from China, responsible for multiple kidnappings and murders in the Ntshona area. Furthermore she is highly capable of inflicting bodily damage with or without weapons. Approach with caution”.
Eve began to weep with her head in her hands, “Wha… what am I… what…”
“It’s okay, Eve,” Lon comforted her, “we’ll get this sorted somehow”.
“They… they think I’m Chinese,” she sobbed.
“What are these people thinking?” asked Strys. “You can tell by looking at her she’s not dangerous!”
“It’s absolutely ridiculous!” Cat’s seemingly unceasing placidness was beginning to waver. “But now we know why the police were so violently pursuing you”.
“Lon, please tell me your ID number, we need to see what they have on you”.
Lon told him, and a few seconds later his information was onscreen in the same format as Eve’s.
Strys scrolled down to the ‘Criminal Status’ section.
‘Potential Terrorist’ read the status.
Lon had expected something along those lines, seeing that he had been pursued all morning along with Eve. He leant towards the monitor to read the status comments. “This person has a close relationship with terrorist Evelyn Chen, who is directly linked to an as yet unknown terrorist cell, likely from China, responsible for multiple kidnappings and murders in the Ntshona area. Furthermore this man has attacked and injured numerous Ntshona police personnel using short range and long range weapons. He is believed to be in possession of a multitude of firearms. Approach with extreme caution”. He let out a large sigh. “Well, at least…” he took in a deep breath and tried to steady his trembling, “at least we left an impression”.
Chapter 6
Many minutes past as Lon consoled Eve while Cat and Strys conferred privately in a separate room about the situation.
“How will we get our friends back if we’re considered terrorists?” Eve cried bitterly, the tears dampening her lap.
Lon gently lifted her face by her chin, looked her straight in the eyes and said with confidence, “We will get them back”.
This was impossible for her to believe. How could he be so confident? Was he stupid? Did he not understand what was happening? Yet, somehow, there was a connection between them at that point so strong that Eve changed her mind to be more in accordance to his.
The door to the workroom opened, and in returned Strys and Cat.
Immediately Cat spoke. “This situation is very complicated”.
Really? Lon refocussed his attention. He wanted to comment sarcastically, yet thought it better not to. “In what way?”
“We can’t explain everything clearly at the moment, but the way things have turned out may not be completely negative”.
Eve too realigned her attention towards Cat. “How isn’t this negative?”
Cat sighed. “Like I said, it’s not easy to explain now”.
“Why not?” asked Lon. Why did it seem like she was stalling for time?
Strys answered, “Because it really is quite complicated. Put it this way, if we explain it wrong, we might affect our chances”.
This intrigued Lon. “Chances?”
Strys looked for backup from Cat.
“Just trust us on this, we’ll explain properly later,” she said.
Eve dried her tear-soaked chin with the back of her hand, sniffed, and said “Isn’t there something you can explain to us now?”
Strys took his seat. “There are many secrets in this city”.
“So we’ve been told,” said Lon.
“Yeah, well it’s true. There are a lot of secrets in the whole country, in fact. The government does a lot of bad things”.
“We’ve noticed that,” said Lon.
“No, we still don’t know if the government is truly involved in what happened to you two. But we do know that the government has been doing other terrible things for a long time”.
“Like what?” asked Eve.
“It’s pointless telling you everything,” said Cat, “because we don’t have proof. We want to expose them, but haven’t had a proper chance until now”.
“Now?” repeated Lon.
“Yes, but again, it’s best if we don’t tell you everything now”.
Lon and Eve did not know how they should feel.
“Anyway,” said Strys, “It’s getting close to evening now, I think you two need a proper rest, and you need to see a doctor about your injury,” he was looking at Eve.
She looked back confoundedly, “What injury?”
“Didn’t you guys tell her?” Strys looked at Lon, then Cat, then back to Lon.
“Shame man! Eina! It looks sore!”
Eve was still confused.
“Yeah… Eve,” said Lon, “you’ve got a massive bruise on your face”.
“Huh?! Have I?!” she touched her right cheek where she had earlier been struck by the policeman and his baton. “Ow!” she did not notice until that point that there was any pain. The adrenaline must have kept it numb until it became unnoticeable without a touch. “Why didn’t anyone tell me? I feel stupid”.
“I didn’t want to alarm you,” said Lon.
She punched his arm and called him “Idiot”.
“Ow, you little sod,” said Lon, to which Eve gave a slight smile.
“Right then, we’re going to the hospital,” stated Cat.
“Which one?” Eve asked.
“There’s one on the way back to the city that I think would be the best place to go. It doesn’t have many ties to the government”.
Lon and Eve stood, ready to leave with Cat.
Before continuing with his work, Strys warned Cat, “Be careful, hey. If they’re looking for terrorists, they’re going to be thorough. Remember to change your plates and your paint colour regularly”.
Cat smiled at him, “Thanks for the advice, but you know I’m not stupid”.
Strys laughed. “And you two,” he addressed Lon and Eve, “you mustn’t get yourselves killed”.
“We don’t plan on it,” said Lon.
Eve simply nodded.
The three of them left the company area, passing Kaya at the reception desk.
“I hope you enjoyed working on your project! Cat, fetch me some apple pie the next time you come in, will you?”
“Of course, anything for you my dear,” replied Cat as she closed the main entrance door behind them.
The Atrium was still lit with the shine from the sun, however, it was waning. Eventide was setting in, and the shadows cast inside the building were long.
“We should be safer in the dark,” posited Cat.
“How come?” asked Lon.
“Less chance of anybody seeing my car change colour”.
They stepped into the lift which took them to lower floor of the atrium.
“How come you and Tan have that kind of paint on your cars? I thought nobody used it because it’s so expensive,” said Lon.
“Nobody
uses it because it’s illegal,” said Cat, “that’s one of the reasons I don’t want anyone seeing me use it”.
“Oh. I take it that it’s illegal because the government or police won’t be able to track you so easily, right?”
“Exactly”.
“It’s completely understandable,” Lon said.
They entered the next lift to take them to the ground floor. Cat gave it the instructions.
“Where will we go after the hospital?” asked Eve.
“My place,” replied Cat.
“Where is your place?”
“Near the city centre, so we have to be careful”.
The lift came to an early stop and let in another passenger.
Eve turned her face to hide the hideous bruise she was now conscious of.
The inside of the lift was silent for the remainder of the journey.
Once on the ground floor, Cat, Lon and Eve alighted and went straight to the check-out console by the nearest exit, checked out using their palm screens, then left the building.
The air outside was much cooler than earlier, yet still quite warm, and the sky was already darkening.
Fewer cars were present in the parking areas around the Tech Centre, and the area’s human presence had also decreased.
As they walked towards Cat’s car, Lon could not help himself from staring at the emerging moon. Were there really people up there? Had the government actually censored so much information? He squinted in a futile effort to see the surface more clearly.
“What are you doing,” Eve asked him.
“Oh, I…” he exhaled deeply, “I want… I mean, I… I want to go to the moon”.
“Where did that come from?” asked Cat.
“Well, ever since I was a child I’ve wanted to go to the moon, but never thought it was possible. But if what you told me is true, it’s already been done. The thing is, I won’t get the chance to go because of the restrictions put on normal citizens by the government. Not to mention the fact that they think I’m a ‘potential terrorist’”.
“Already been done?” she repeated, “It’s been possible to go to the moon for well over two-hundred years”.
“What?! You’re taking the piss now!”
“Seriously, and it’s well-known history in the rest of the world, not just ‘American propaganda’”.
Ntshona Page 10