Broken Mirror: Apophis 2029

by Michel Savage

  The door opened on cue when the timer on the screen ran out. This time, it was Beatrice herself who was waiting outside the doorway, and I attempted to display a decent degree of false pleasantries as I could muster for the moment. After responding in turn, she motioned me to join her as we made our way down the corridor.

  "The General has granted an audience to just to learn a little bit about you and hopefully find a place for you in our community, Caity." That shocking revelation caught me off guard and worried me a more than a tad. Did they really have the mind to keep us trapped down here? I was sure our friends up top were starting to get concerned that we had not yet returned since several days had already passed in our absence. She handed me a clip to tie up my hair, which was now gratefully clean from using the hydrosonic shower, of which I cheated and used water from the tap to finish the job. Having steam and soap bubbles vibrating across your naked body at high frequency was a sensation I don't think I could ever actually get used to. Admittedly, it was a highly efficient use of water for such a mundane task, but in my own personal opinion I found sonic showers to be a slightly unnatural if not just a measurably unpleasant experience.

  I accompanied Beatrice down the corridors with a pair of armed guards following in our step. I wasn't too terribly anxious to meet this brash Kane fellow again face-to-face, but admit I was actually curious as to how this group of people had survived so well for over half a decade all bottled in like this underground. They must have had a great deal of supplies in stock and resources to spare for such an extended stint.

  Hoping, as I was to see my friends, after being ushered through a set of steel double doors a brief smile of relief crossed my face as I saw both Haiti and Thorn sitting at a large oval table before us. Across from them sat the General; a smug gleam in his eye and cheerless thin line of his lips as he turned his glared my way which was surprisingly effective at quelled my spirits or making any attempt to openly greet my comrades.

  Haiti's crazy dreadlocks were now replaced by a mash of hair that looked like a botched attempt at being cleaned without the advantage of running water. One would imagine that sonic showers were not prominently designed for his type of hairstyle. Thorn himself looked just as joyless, sitting there in his identical brown jumpsuit. Both of the men looked at me uncomfortably when I walked in, which swiftly set the tone in the room. I was assuming this was going to be an unpleasant conversation.

  Beatrice sat me down next to my companions and moved around the table to take her position in a chair behind the General while a pair of guards took their posts at the door. I really didn't know what to expect and began to get nervous from the heightened tension hanging in the air. Being under the spotlight like this really wasn't my cup of tea.

  "Now that you are all here, we need to address certain issues about your continued residency here at Haven," Kane granted his stern words without meeting us eye to eye. A quick glance over my shoulder showed my companions were just as disturbed by the General's statement.

  By the way he carried his words, Kane was the Alpha-male around here and made sure everyone knew it. In short order, he assigned us various job duties and made it clear that we would only have limited access to sections the facility until the day we earned the privileges the other residents enjoyed. Apparently, the earth-toned jumpsuits we donned were status marks of the lowest status level one could have here in their improvised community. A pseudo-totalitarian society had evolved here over the years of confinement that relied on subordinates who were valued solely by their skills, position, and above all, loyalty to the General who was now Top Dog; and had been for quite some time.

  Both of my male acquaintances were ushered off with a set of attendants who directed them to their new accommodations and were dictated their new responsibilities in the 'social group' as Kane so tartly titled it. When the verbal thrashing was over, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach, even though Kane abruptly ignored me altogether as he got up to leave the conference room. Thankfully, Beatrice, who had been quietly sitting in the background without uttering a whisper the entire time, came over to offer a kind hand to let me up out of my seat. I think she could see the sullen look in my green eyes, and I didn't feel well to say the least. Honestly, I wasn't very good at handling sudden amounts of stress dumped upon me in such an unceremonious manner.

  "Don't fret, child," the old woman murmured softly, "the General likes to assert his authority when need be, and you three haven't had the advantage of being aware of the numerous sacrifices and hard work that he has accomplished over the years to keep us safe, and to our devoted communal environment we have all come to appreciate as a result of it. He just doesn't know you. His stern disposition will dissolve over time ...you will see," she tried to assure me, though it sounded more like a sales pitch the way she slathered on her praise of the unpleasant old bastard.

  "Why wasn't I assigned a post?" I had to inquire the older lady, not quite sure why Kane had failed to address me directly as he had my two friends.

  "Oh, I think it is because you might remind him of his daughter," she revealed with a sigh of faint sadness, "she would have been about your age, and I might say that you faintly resemble her too. The poor girl passed away a few years back in an unfortunate accident when a portion of the tunnels collapsed..." Beatrice added; but strangely, just as quickly as it was mentioned she changed the subject; even though I had a mixed emotion of both guilt and relief, "anyhow, he put me in charge of seeing to your welfare. He has a reputable habit of being more strict with the men, of course; but I will help you find your bearings here, as long as you willingly comply to the rules," she ended with a pat to my shoulder.

  I felt an itch in the back of my throat when she said that, I really didn't like this word 'comply' or the slight inflection of how she had used it.

  "Are there many people living here," I inquired as she led me out the door and into the main hall; trying to make idle conversation to glean what bits of information I could gather.

  "Yes, quite many, dear..." she trailed off and quickly changed the direction of the conversation yet again, by intent, "Oh, silly me, I almost forgot to show you the arboretum!" Beatrice announced as she turned us about and headed the other direction to a white corridor lined with an array of piping. The room beyond was a far cry different from the stale environment of the rooms I had seen thus far. We stepped into an enormous chamber with rows of trees that reached up high into the ceiling, which glowed with a pale turquoise light. What struck me by surprise was the abundant use of fountains incorporated into this garden gallery, as one might expect that water itself would likely be a scarce resource for the inhabitants in such a confined ecosphere.

  There were several other individuals mulling about in green and blue suits. Some were attending the plant life, while others sets of two or three others simply appeared to be enjoying themselves with leisure conversation around the park. The leaves on all of the trees seemed brighter than normal, almost surreal. Then again, I figured it must have been the strange tint of the lighting. Still, it was impressive they were able to grow all this down here so far underground under artificial sunlight.

  "Quite a marvel isn't it!" Beatrice boasted, though it was more of a rhetorical question, "This is the garden area where we like to take our personal time to reflect," the pretentious old woman confessed as she led us inside. Hurrying along to keep up with her, I was momentarily distracted by the gentle song of a bird, and with a quick search by eye I finally centered in on a tiny speaker perched among the tree branches as its source. That discovery was a little disheartening, though I realized that these recordings playing the sounds of nature were merely being used to enrich the atmosphere within the nursery.

  "I'm still not sure what it is you want of me," I uttered when I finally got my host's attention once again, "and when may I see my friends again?"

  "You can visit them in the main cafeteria in the worker section below during their meal break," the elderly lady responded, but that wil
l be more than a few hours from now," she turned again towards a set of round doors that led to a brightly lit glass elevator, "but for now, there is something important I wish to discuss with you, Caitlin."

  Her change of tone caught me off guard, but I was willing to listen if there was something that affected me directly. I sure as hell did not want to stay down here trapped in this bunker to rot away my life with the rest of these indentured servants to Overlord Kane. The problem was; there was the issue of not being able to make our way back through the vent system the way we had arrived, which had ended up being a one-way trip to nowhere. The population down here had electrical power and ample supplies and were still functioning with a measure of decency after all these years cut off from the rest of the world; so it was still worth investigating just how they managed this feat under such extraordinary circumstances.

  It took me but a moment to decide to play coy and let Beatrice expose as much as she would allow; just to see what I could learn.

  "Certainly, Miss Beatrice, what can I do for you?" I turned on the act of being submissive to her persona to help me glean whatever information I could about this facility. Though, on the other hand, I had no idea she was playing me for a fool.

  "Our little community has suffered some losses ...a few setbacks recently," she revealed as we exited the elevator on the upper level of the arboretum, "and some fresh perspective provided by a person like yourself, Caity; someone recently from the outside world would help us here immensely. Your insight would be invaluable, even essential," she explained.

  For the first part, I could understand their dilemma; as a community of civilians under the rule of a military commander who were in the unfortunate position of being trapped down here by the collapsed tunnels and a horde of infected blocking their only means of escape to the subway sections and the surface. However, as she explained their dire situation, her story took an unprovoked turn that I found personally distasteful. Beatrice wanted to address the community members of Haven to introduce me as a survivor from the surface, but it was like a kick in the teeth when she asked if I would be willing to twist the truth 'just a tidbit' as she so eloquently put it.

  The fact was, life up top was a hard struggle for survival, but there was certainly many options that could change that. Down here in the bunker there were doctors, scientists and engineers that could assist to re-educate and rebuild from the basics to help their entire community make a fresh start on the world above.

  I would suspected that the generators we had revealed in the basement of the building where my friends and I had set up camp could rerouted its power to the exterior lines. I could imagine if they set up a walled grid and made an attempt to devise a secured perimeter to keep out any stray infected there was always the chance we could continue the fight and try to produce on a real cure for the plague. There was no reason to wallow and waste away the rest of our lives like subterranean rats deep underground like this; that was a horrible thought. Though, as Beatrice began to debate the beneficial points of their social setting, there were a few if any meager advantages to her opening proposal.

  "So, as you have noted, Caity, there are many dangers out there, and the outbreak of the disease is still rampant," Beatrice confirmed after our hour long discussion on the current state of the world outside her small slanted comprehension of the ones both she and her fellow servants enjoyed here in Fallhaven.

  "But, that might not be the case everywhere," I tried to argue, "there are many groups of survivors who strive to live normal lives," I contended, attempting to plead my point with her but losing the overall mark I was trying to outline.

  "But you agreed that their lives where harsh, and existence was day by day, without the security of knowing what their future could be." Beatrice played against my own words, "Life is safer down here, for the time being mind you ...perhaps in time, we can try to rebuild society into a resemblance of the way it once was."

  It was a tough argument; one that had many sides, but that placed their health and safety above their individual freedom. Truth was, the world above was a scary place to be, but Haven was also more than a bit frightening in its own way. In the end, I finally agreed to do as she requested, if only to play for time.

  As a reward for bending to her wishes, I was granted a new residence on the privileged green level. Worker status also had its rewards, such as ease of duties and better quality of meal allowances and personal accommodations. That bothered me to a certain extent, but I didn't want to appear ungrateful. Beatrice gave the orders that provided me with an emerald green uniform to match my post, as there were certain regulations all residence of Haven had to abide by. Likely that was because of the oppressive hand of General Kane keeping everyone in their place. As promised, she directed an available chaperon to show me how to get down to the tan-zone cafeteria level during their meal break to find my friends.

  Once there, I was appalled at the sterile environment of their meal room where the brown suited laborers gathered. It resembled a prison environment compared to most of the settings on the upper levels. It took me a few minutes to find my friends through the almond haze of bodies shifting through waiting lines at the service counter to their designated seats with their meal trays in hand. I couldn't help notice that my assigned female escort also kept an diligent eye on me as she stood by the door away from the crowd.

  Haiti stood up and waved me over when I spotted them and we made eye contact. Thorn was also there with a smile on his face. They kept a firm grip on their platters as we sat down together, not wishing to loose their paltry meals. From what Beatrice had led on, down here food was used as a form of leverage against the workers; like a reward or payment for services or loyalty.

  I looked at the slop they had been served, feeling guilty about the finer meals we were provided on the green level. Nevertheless, my companions appeared righteously grateful to have some decent grub that didn't entirely consist of anything out of expired tin containers and tainted water.

  "Here, try this Caitlin," Haiti gleamed as he offered me his drink, "they have fucking soda pop here man!" I accepted it and politely took a sip, not wanting to sour the mood of their feast if they knew I had been served a gourmet meal before coming down here to visit them.

  "What is it they have you two doing, you both seemed a bit distraught back in that meeting with the Director." I asked.

  "Distraught?" Haiti spouted in his usual booming voice, "Girl, we were rightly upset!" he bolstered aloud, but he tuned down his voice after noticing several people turning their heads towards his outburst, "That damn evil-eyed old man is bad news," he tried to whisper in my direction while referring to his thoughts of General Kane.

  "Maybe, you should try not to draw any attention to us," Thorn advised harshly, so Haiti began to ease his initial excitement, "we were separated into cell rooms for three days until we saw you again back there, Cait. Are you alright?" Thorn asked with gentle eyes.

  "Yes," I smiled back weakly, noting his concern, "same with me, but I was put in the care of a woman named Beatrice, she was that older lady who sitting in the back of the room. Have you two happened to have heard anything about her from the others?" I inquired as Haiti made a conspicuous note of my teal shaded threads.

  "They assigned us duties cleaning up corridors through the maze of maintenance rooms down here, but no, we haven't heard anything about that woman; but I'll ask around if you would like," Thorn replied.

  "Aye, if we can, people not too friendly to strangers down here," Haiti added with a shrug. I noticed that he had already started making a hapless attempt to repair his braids. His trail use of the hydrosonic showers had done a real number on them.

  "So what's your situation?" Thorn inquired my way over the clattering roar of the cafeteria; which was a subject I wanted to discuss, but there wasn't any degree of privacy sitting in this crowd, and was concerned about being overheard. We had no idea who might be listening. I didn't want to make it sound as if I was getting speci
al treatment, as I actually was; but I didn't want to lower their spirits or spurn any loss of trust.

  "It's like this..." I began, searching for the right words as I referred to the bland atmosphere, "since we are newcomers, their General wants me to address the residents here and tell their people how hard and horrible it is outside of this bunker. Basically, they want to keep everyone in here in this ...this prison for their 'safety' as they put it," I explained with distaste.

  "Whoa," Haiti spat out, "sounds like a power trip to me. The Man, he don't wanna lose control of his servants!" he finished, pretty much hitting the nail on the head about Kane as far as I was concerned.

  "And you're going to go through with this ...what is it called, a propaganda campaign?" Thorn inquired with a raised brow and a light hint of disbelief.

  "I, I don't know yet," I stuttered, struggling with the issue, "but I think we should, just to give us some time to figure a way out of here," I compromised, and it seemed Haiti approved of that idea with a nod. However, by his immediate expression, I could not interpret if Thorn accepted my plan or not. He was hard to read that way.

  As I sat there wavering on his hesitant response, a toned bell rang in the cafeteria hall signaling that the meal break was over and the room began to flood with the sound of clattering trays and the rumble of boots as the workers rushing to get back to their posts. Haiti and Thorn stood up reluctantly, mentioning they had to get back to their assignments and we should try to speak again tomorrow.

  "As a precaution, don't go talking to the other residents here about what it is and isn't like topside, okay?" I hurried to advised the boys before they rushed off, "We don't want to cause any waves and need to keep our stories straight while we figure a way out of this nuthouse," I pleaded. Both of them agreed firmly with that precaution, though Thorn seemed more concerned than Haiti about what direction this objective was going. In short, we were being coerced to influence Haven's residents by telling them a watered down lie; but more importantly, not to influence the local tenants into asking too many questions that might fuel a revolt.