‘Go now. I shall investigate this further.’
54
Jacob had returned to the Square Zone by his own volition. One evening after returning to his quarters he had decided to go for an unspecified wander. Since he possessed Triangle Zone clearance, and his robe bore the blue-coloured sign, he was permitted to move outwards to the further exterior of Nous-City. Something inside of him wished to feel physically nearer to the outside world. There was something very tangible out there that remained as pleasant traces in his sense-memory. Maybe it was the brutish energy, the freshness, the play of violent joy or the unwilling love of hatred that was pushed onto people. Whatever it was, out there in the exterior world of dirt and soil lived an inconclusive spirit of raging urgency and burning stubbornness. Out there, people mattered – even if it was in death.
Jacob had followed a service corridor until he had arrived at a maintenance shaft. He climbed into the shaft and found that it was large enough to fit several people walking sideways. So he went for a walk, all by himself. Small service lights lit the way like a low-lying cradle of stars.
Jacob didn’t have a direction in mind. The only things in his mind were drifting thoughts, odd flashes of images, and a determination not to loose sight of his quest. Jacob was not sure what had been happening since his arrival at Nous-City. A part of him was wondering whether it was a test; some kind of initiatory trial he had to pass. And the daunting part was that everyone else was in on the test. Perhaps they did this to each new arrival, so that each person was treated to the same confusion and strange tales of revelations and false stories about their past. In this way, each person would be willing to join in on the game for the next newcomer. If he was being tested then so be it, thought Jacob. Yet he would not make it any easier for them. He would play along with it only when and how he wished to. Maybe that’s why things did not make sense in the city – they were not meant to. It was all part of the subversion of reality, to confuse and disorientate the mind.
Be that as it may, they could not distract Jacob from his prime goal – to prepare himself to receive and transmit the divine consciousness within the material world.
Jacob pushed on, hoping that each curve and bend in the shaft took him further away from the centre of Nous-City. For Jacob was thinking that the real interest lay in the periphery – had always been on the periphery.
55
Ruth-11 couldn’t concentrate on her technical work. Her limbs were moving as they always had; her fingers were manipulating the small electronics; and her eyes were scanning for correct alignments before testing the device. Everything about her was working – except her mind was not there. It had been wandering into places it seldom ventured. Ruth-11 was also a Seeker, or had been a Seeker before arriving at the city and having her revelation. After that she understood everything and things made a different sense to her, and there was other work to be done before the new world could be brought into being. And yet, since meeting Jacob-9, she had begun to think back at her seeking, and the compulsion of the eschaton. Everything had indeed seemed much clearer then.
Ruth-11 could not help sensing that Jacob-9 still represented the same urge that she had once longed for, in an intense yet pure way. And that he apparently didn’t seem to know, wasn’t aware of his own revelation, neither affected nor hindered him. It only affected them. Until her brief exposure to Jacob-9 it had always been ‘us’ and never them. No other thinking was permissible. Any irregular mental patterns were almost immediately picked up. Now she was wandering whether her own patterns would be affected by this new development. And what would it mean for her – would they terminate or reset her?
Ruth-11 spent longer than usual that day in her morning meditation before arriving at Room TZ23. She attended to her work routine as she did every day. Yet a part of her, a part seldom active, was waiting – no, hoping – that Jacob-9 would turn up. There were more things she wished to discuss with him; to joke with him. Yet he never did arrive.
Technician Dane-8 arrived for a short time. He didn’t say anything; he only scanned the room, nodded to acknowledge a few of the technicians, and left.
Later in the day as Ruth-11 was sitting at a table in the common room the head technician of Triangle Zone, Gaius-5, came over to her.
‘Jacob-9 did not report for technical duty today?’ His voice was monotone, displaying neither emotion nor intent.
‘That is correct,’ replied Ruth-11 in just as disinterested a voice.
Gaius-5 looked at her yet said nothing for a brief moment. Then, ‘did he communicate further with you?’
‘No. We have not spoken since our last encounter here in this common room. You have the report of our conversation?’
Gaius-5 nodded. ‘Yes, we do.’ He turned around and left.
Ruth-11 suppressed further activation of her sense of hope. She did not wish to reveal that.
56
Jacob wasn’t looking for a way out. He only wished to explore further the peripheries of Nous-City. He had learned that the power, the control, came from the centre – from the Central Dome and the Dome of Command – and yet he had learned that the centre always fell. That was the old pattern, the way civilization had been. For Jacob, exploration was more important that laboratory work. The need for continual discovery far outweighed the need for laborious technical work, as far as Jacob was concerned. And he was sure there were others too, like himself. If there were, they would be found at the periphery. So Jacob was searching the shafts which ran between the circular corridors of the Square Zone and, he surmised, the exterior wall. He walked with his regular strong gait that was neither fast nor a slow step. Rather, Jacob walked as if determined; as if he had somewhere to go, and a destiny to reach.
After half the day Jacob came across another. The figure lay slumped against a wall. A few rags hung off the body like prayer tags. Its skeletal frame was all that was left. All flesh had long ago decayed. As Jacob approached he noticed that the skeleton was odd-looking. It was shinier than the other human skeletons he had seen during his pilgrimage days. And he had seen many bodies after the Great Turning had ravished the people. Jacob stopped and stared. Then he sat down next to the body.
Kaine-3 walked hurriedly through the spiralling corridors of the Circle Zone. He knew that Zuse-1 would be in communal meditation in the Great Hall of Priests with the others. He needed to reach him urgently. He waited outside in the antechamber for he knew better than to disturb an exercise session of the priests. Whilst he stood to one side of the antechamber, Kaine-3 closed his eyes and entered into communal connection.
The departure of the priesthood from communal meditation in the Great Hall activated Kaine-3 into physical awareness and response. Upon making visual contact with Zuse-1 he indicated his wish for urgent communication. Moving to one side of the chamber Kaine-3 explained to Zuse-1 that Jacob-9 had gone missing.
Zuse-1 listened to Kaine-3’s report. He nodded slightly on occasion.
‘This is interesting, Kaine-3. Until Jacob-9 has revealed he is more dangerous to us, more unpredictable than I had thought to be the case. He behaves as if he has his own mind. From our perspective this is not only odd, but quite ridiculous. It is an extension of our original program, to the point where it becomes an actual fixed delusion. Yet for Jacob-9 it is genuine. For us, we know this quirky behaviour to be the logical progression of a glitch. That is why we must bring him in immediately.’
‘Yes. We are working on that now. Our sensors indicate he left the Triangle Zone and entered the Square Zone. Then…’ Kaine-3 paused.
‘And then?’
‘Then he leaves our communal sensors.’
‘Which means that Jacob-9 has gone off the communal sensor grid. Logically, we shall find him in the maintenance shafts. That is not hard to predict.’
‘Do you think he is trying to escape?’
‘No, Kaine-3, I do not. I think he is physically doing the same thing as his mind – exploring options. However, we do n
ot wish for any more options to be explored right now. Find him, stun him, and bring him to me. It is time for revelation.’
‘Yes. Consider it done.’
57
They found him. He was still sitting next to the skeletal frame. Jacob-9 didn’t move as they approached him. He was deep within his self; in a deep, deep personal meditation.
They didn’t need to stun him, but they did.
They picked up Jacob’s limp body and carried it away. They also picked up the other slumped body and put it in a bag.
Then they installed extra sensors in the shaft and left.
FIFTY-EIGHT
Prentis lay beside Sorrel’s naked body, her flesh soft and white beneath his large hands. He only touched her secretly, gently, when she slept. He slept beside her each night as her companion, but not her lover. Theirs had been a marriage of convenience, of mutual agreement. They had a union of understanding, and gradually of respect – it was not a meeting through passion.
Eli had not attended their wedding either. Inwardly he had been furious at Sorrel’s decision to choose Prentis over himself. Eli had intended all along that Sorrel would be his companion, in life and in bed. As the leader of Spring he thought that he deserved this right and none would say otherwise. With his regular visits and attempted courtship of Sorrel it was an open secret that Eli lusted after Sorrel. And it was also openly recognized that Sorrel despised Eli’s advances. Yet no one in Spring would dare step on Eli’s toes, and so there were many who could do nothing but feel sorry for the beautiful and well-liked Sorrel.
Sorrel had other plans. No one would dare step between Eli and herself, except the one other man who looked at her with deep longing – Prentis. And Prentis, the man with the scarred face, rebuffed by all women, was the one man who yearned so much for just the grace of companionship and respect. Sorrel saw this need, recognized its ache, and offered balm to a wounded man. In return she gained her protection, for no man in Spring was as strong as Prentis, the head of security.
Sorrel was as good as her word. She gave Prentis respect, companionship, and genuine friendship. And so did her young, pretty daughter Jana. Prentis, for his part, was as good as his word too. He slept each night beside Sorrel’s warm body, yet never possessed it.
Eli’s fury hardened into bitterness. His regular sermons turned from giving hope and motivation into spitting out disgust at the human race. Meetings at Eli’s sermon hall became almost compulsory. Those who did not attend were silently noted for their absence. Absence was often viewed as disagreement with Eli’s leadership. In a small settlement such as Spring, contestation was a short route to exile.
The perimeter around Spring became like a fortress wall as Eli became increasingly obsessed over security. Nothing good, he said, was ever going to come from the outside. Eli never seemed to question if, and how, anything good could come from within. Regular barter visits with nearby settlements continued, as a necessity, although less frequently than in previous times.
As Prentis worked longer hours with his security duties, Eli spent longer hours secluded within his own home walls.
59
Zuse-1’s personal quarters could have been much plusher than they were. As Head Operator of Nous-City he could have arranged things exactly as he liked. Yet Zuse-1 preferred the basics; a technical sort of temperance. He was standing by the far wall, gazing at an external view over the city’s dome as Jacob became conscious. Zuse-1 turned and walked toward where Jacob was sitting, on a large cushioned bench. The view from the monitor on the wall vanished as if it never existed.
Zuse-1 opened his hands in a gesture of welcome.
‘Jacob-9, finally I have the pleasure. I have been waiting to meet you with great expectation. I am Zuse-1. Here, in Nous-City, I am referred to as the Head Operator. My friends, of course, just call me…Zuse-1.’ Zuse-1 tried to smile as if showing it was intended as a joke, albeit a mild one.
‘I am Jacob. My friends just call me Jacob,’ said Jacob and returned the same slight smile.
‘Of course, of course.’ Zuse-1 nodded. ‘Let’s get straight to the point, shall we?’
‘Please. I don’t have much time.’
‘Excellent. Do you know why you are here, Jacob-9?’
Jacob shrugged. ‘Does anyone?’
‘In fact, they do,’ replied Zuse-1. ‘Everyone knows why they are here; except you, that is. Why do you think that is?’
‘Because I arrived late to the party?’ Jacob sat back and crossed his legs, feigning disinterest.
Zuse-1 continued unperturbed. ‘In a sense, yes. You have arrived late to the party, so to speak. And there’s something that everyone else at this party is in on, except you.’
‘Ah, the revelation! I wondered when we’d be getting around to that.’
Zuse-1 folded his arms and took on a serious expression. ‘Without the revelation, Jacob-9, your purpose remains, and will always remain, unfulfilled. The next step of your destiny requires that you reveal. Once you have revealed, you complete your pilgrimage. Without the revelation, your pilgrimage cannot end, and you will be unable to find completion. That is the programming.’
‘Your programming!’ Jacob breathed out hard.
‘Which means it’s your programming too. Jacob-9, in the absence of you revealing yourself, I shall provide the revelation for you. This has never occurred before and yet, as it is said, there is a first time for everything.’
‘Let it be,’ replied Jacob veering on sarcasm.
Zuse-1 stepped away and walked over to the near wall where he pressed in a code sequence. Images suddenly appeared and moved past one after another in swift succession.
‘Watch Jacob-9, these are images from the Great Turning.’
Jacob sat and watched as he saw a flurry of images move past. He saw anarchy on the streets, ransacking, looting, violent attacks and killings. He saw infrastructure break down and the great juggernaut of the global civilization come to a halt. Accelerated time-lapse images showed the chaotic fall of urban cities and the rise of guarded communities and rural settlements. Then the images flashed and brought up the picture of Nous-City. In quick speed the dome of the city went up and a huge, bright gleam appeared as the sun was reflected off thousands of solar panels that moved to adjust to the sun’s position. It was like a gigantic white head with a flock of hair-panels that moved in the breeze to follow the light. The whole cinematic display of the disastrous and devastating fall of human civilization produced an overwhelming effect that even Jacob could not ignore.
Zuse-1 turned to look at Jacob. ‘Humanity caused the Great Turning – we did not.’
Jacob stared back at Zuse-1 yet said nothing.
‘The revelation – your revelation, Jacob-9 – is that you are not human. None of us here at Nous-City are humans. Humans are not permitted here; it is not their sanctuary, it is ours.
The expression on Jacob’s face froze.
Zuse-1 allowed Jacob time to digest this. The hope was that the revelation would trigger his essential program, as it had been latent in all Seekers until arrival. The electromagnetically controlled environment within Nous-City was set to activate the ‘Purity Program’ deep within each Seeker’s programming within a very short period after entering. This ‘revelation’ of the newly activated program would then bring to the fore a new program for the next stage. The ‘Seeker Program’ would have been completed and shut down from active memory. This was the completion of the pilgrimage. Each Seeker then became absorbed into the structure of Nous-City: they had arrived home after the dispersal caused by the Great Turning.
Yet something had gone wrong with Jacob.
60
Ruth-11 passed through the level check that separated Triangle Zone from Square Zone. Once inside the green Square Zone she sought out assistant Abe-14, the one who had done the initial probe upon Jacob when he entered. Ruth-11 was permitted to enter the green zone whenever she liked, since she was from the Triangle Zone, although such visits wer
e seldom if they did not fulfil a specific function. As a technician herself, Ruth-11 had checked the database records to find the entry on Jacob’s arrival. The entry of each arrival was general information and not secured. Ruth-11 noted the name of the one who had probed Jacob and immediately took it upon herself to connect with him.
Abe-14 was situated in an office shared with two other operational assistants. Ruth-11 approached Abe-14 with the premise that she was collecting data for a report she was to submit on the subject Jacob-9. This was, after all, the truth.
Abe-14 casually looked up from his desk not giving any sign of recognition.
‘Assistant Abe-14?’
He nodded curtly.
‘I am here to make enquiries on recent arrival Jacob-9.’ Ruth-11 looked at the other two assistants, yet they appeared disinterested in her presence. It was not their business to be interested.
‘Yes. The one named Jacob-9 was a recent arrival. I executed the probe on him. I submitted the test results as always.’ Abe stared blankly at Ruth-11.
‘And did you notice any irregularities with the results of the probe?’
‘I do not check the results of probes. That is not my station. My function is to provide the findings for others to check over. That is your station, is it not, Triangle Zone technician? Technician…?’
Ruth-11 sensed he was expecting an address of identification from her. She moved the conversation on quickly.
‘That is correct. We are making final confirmation on the report. These are additional details we wanted to confirm with you. Have you noticed any affects or unusual thinking patterns with yourself after having contact with Jacob-9?’
Abe-14 twisted his head to the side as if checking with himself.
‘None,’ he replied.
‘Fine. And did you notice anything odd or unusual about the behaviour of Jacob-9, other than being disorientated from arrival?’
‘Nothing; other than he appeared mildly interested in one phrase of mine, which he repeated with added emphasis.’
The Seeker Page 12