The Birth of Dystopia

by A. Q. Moser

  Using the toilet, Bruno could be heard in the next room. The toilet flushed and he stepped out with a bright-eyed look as if he had enjoyed a nice long nap.

  “Feel this.” Aerial pointed to the spot for Billy to confirm.

  Billy pressed against the scored bulge. With his other hand, he directed his index finger upstairs. “Get me a knife, stat,” he screamed in agitation.

  Bruno ran upstairs, complying with Billy’s bidding.

  “No!” Tamme cried out, trying to leverage his body to pull in his arm.

  Leaving little chance to slip out, Cadet, Billy and Aerial reacted by tightening their grip. May leaned over and felt the bulge, with Wolfgang next and then me, each of us mimicking the face as if we bit into a sour lemon.

  “We fell for a trap,” Aerial claimed, disappointed by her shortcoming. “I should have foreseen this with the fur trapping dream. I apologize for this costly misinterpretation.”

  I had a deep appreciation for what Aerial offered in spite of the dire predicament we were nested in. At first, she was misunderstood and thrown in with the rest of the phoney soothsayers. Watching her apply the dreams to real life has opened my mind to the potential behind this capability. I finally acknowledged the dreams as dreams and not nightmares. As each dream conveyed a message, I was too distracted to piece it together. It was like being trapped within the confines of a dark cave unaware of what was beyond the shadowy mirages. The confusion and haziness of the nightmares made them nightmares. This was what I feared and not the element of the dream itself. Aerial taught me to reflect inward and accept the bad and use it for good. In due time, she could teach me to regain the dream pattern and especially the power to interpret them. I admired her for rising above the hardships.

  Charging down the stairs, Bruno scurried over with a steak knife, the handle extended out. Billy swiped the steak knife and fluttered his arms once around as if to loosen up his joints. Bruno, May, Wolfgang and I backed away to watch from a distance the impromptu surgery. Aerial and Cadet maintained their secure hold of Tamme’s right arm so much so that his arm changed to a deep scarlet red.

  Aerial pointed to the bulging spot on the arm. “Cut Tamme here.”

  Sucking in his lips, Billy prepared to make the first incision.

  Acting frantic, Tamme screamed in pain and started convulsing his body in an attempt to free himself from the abuse. Like removing the bumpy skin off a chicken leg, the steak knife was used to slice out an opening, followed by rounding out the edge of the bulge with a two hundred and seventy degree cut. The loose skin was flapped back to reveal a silvery electronic device. As Billy picked at the bloody device with the steak knife, I quivered at the gruesome infliction.

  Tamme fell silent as if accustomed to torture; his only expression was one of contempt for uncovering the secretive bug. When released by the grip of Aerial and Cadet, he wiped his forehead with his right arm and sat back and studied our fascination with the extracted device.

  Trying to balance the bloody device on the steak knife, Billy displayed it for all to examine.

  “Have you seen anything like this?” Wolfgang asked Cadet.

  “I’ve heard of these spy implementations but I’ve never seen how far it has evolved,” Cadet observed. “The new thing was to implement a self-charging system inside each one of these. Basically as you walk and swing your arms, the battery gets recharged. There was talk of implanting all military personnel with one in the hopes of curving friendly fire during a battle. The only problem was people weren’t exactly comfortable with being monitored constantly.”

  “So they know where he is?” I asked for clarification.

  “Unfortunately yes. Plus I think the bug is temperature sensitive in case it’s extracted,” Cadet informed with a worried look.

  “That’s not good.” Shaking, May entered into a state of panic. “What do we do now? What do we do?”

  Billy allowed the bloody electronic device to fall to the floor, only to crush it with a vengeance with the heel of his foot. “Start packink the cars and wake up Giselle cause we’re out of here in one minute.” He signalled to Bruno to head upstairs.

  Even when Billy had some extreme action plans, Bruno, once again, submitted to Billy’s bidding without a word.

  “We still need him,” Aerial stated as she tried to pull the uncooperative old man up to his feet.

  Billy stopped halfway up the stairs. “Forget him, he could still be bugged. Let’s get out of here.”

  N Unsure what to do, the rest of the group looked to Cadet for guidance.

  “If it’s not too late, he could still serve of value as a human shield,” Cadet offered under a different incentive.

  “Then hurry and let’s go,” Billy approved the recommendation, not just to appease the group but more towards the fact that this would not be the time to debate the matter. He dashed upstairs.

  Taking control of the situation, Cadet stepped towards Tamme pulled out a fresh strip of duct tape and covered Tamme’s mouth. He then callously hoisted the old man by his armpits and heaved him over his right shoulder like he would handle an unwieldy sack of potatoes. He marched upstairs as a trooper with a fully loaded GI field pack. Unusually composed, Tamme went along for the ride. The rest of us escorted Cadet upstairs and out to the garage.

  In the garage, the engines of the bulky silver SUV and the cobalt blue minivan were running. May opened the trunk of the SUV for Cadet to unload the old man. As if moving a cumbersome couch, Tamme was dropped in with a heavy thud. Cadet slammed the trunk and slipped into the back seat to keep an eye on the old man.

  Bearing food packages and disposable drink containers, Billy dropped off half the provisions in the SUV and the remaining items in the minivan. “Where are Bruno and Giselle at?”

  “Right here.” Bruno entered the garage holding hands with a half-asleep Giselle.

  “Oh dear Billy, what have you done to us?” Still in her flannel nightgown, Giselle did not look pleased at being asked to evacuate her home, let alone being awakened twice in one night.

  “Sorry Giselle it’s beyond me. I’ll explain later. We really got to go.” Billy pressed a button and both garage doors were lifted up to let in the early morning light. “Joel and Cadet come with me.” He indicated the SUV with his chin.

  On a time crunch, Bruno, Wolfgang, May and Giselle filed into the minivan without any bickering over the arrangements.

  As the designated driver, Bruno lowered down the window. “Where to?”

  “The old mill,” Billy directed the location of another secretive hideout. “But first get May’s article out on the Internet. Go now.”

  Nodding his head, Bruno accepted the task at hand without another word. He backed up the minivan out of the garage.

  May lowered the minivan window and popped her head out. Like a southern belle expecting her dashing hero to return, she radiated exquisiteness. “Good luck handsome.” She patted her lips with her hand and blew me a sweet kiss.

  Delighted by the impression I made on May, I was more than happy to wave back. It was truly uplifting to be chosen by a beautiful girl. I was looking forward to spending quality time with her.

  Enthralled by May’s display of affection, Billy threw a pensive look my way. I shrugged my shoulders as if I had no clue as to why May would act in such a manner. Not wanting to dwell on the affair, I rushed and sat in the front seat.

  Billy chuckled to himself as if he knew what was going on. He climbed into the SUV next to me. “Nice job.”

  I smiled back, not wanting to pursue the matter further.

  As if remembering his gear, Cadet threw his old duffel bag in the back seat of the SUV and jumped back in.

  Timing it, Billy hammered the gas and blazed out of the driveway, recklessly fishtailing out onto the street. I braced the door handle, trying to stabilize the jerk reaction of the SUV. Coming within inches of hitting Aerial’s beat-up car, Billy straightened the vehicle from the spin in the nick of time. Cadet furrowed his e
yebrows, apprehensive at having Billy behind the wheel.

  Homeless once again, we had to ditch our stronghold like an old pair of reliable shoes. Fear was a strong motivating factor and one I have not grown accustom too. I could not imagine the pain the homeowners Giselle and Bruno must feel for deserting their sanctuary.

  “Hello, anyone there? Can you hear me?” May’s voice played over the two-way radio.

  The two-way radio was by my side. I picked it up and held down the side button to talk back. “Yeah we’re here. Are things alright?”

  “Yeah, no worries here. We got some news for you handsome.” May’s affection sounded so sweet and sincere even though she was not here in person. “Station one-oh-three FM is announcing that the trial of Mister Popular is over. The judge acquitted Mister Popular of the hit-and-run on the grounds of insufficient evidence. There—” The transmission from the two-way radio ended.

  On hearing the revelation of the acquittal, every ounce of strength I possessed drained away like water emptying out of a bathtub. My weakened hands released the two-way radio causing it to slip out and drop to the floor. The Mister Popular trial was not news I wanted to revisit. The haunting images of the tragic death of a young lady conjured remorse for the terrible loss of life. Somehow I felt responsible for messing up my testimony and thus aiding in the release of a guilty celebrity. Call it a hunch but deep down inside Mister Popular seemed guilty of the hit-and-run he was charged for.

  Billy retrieved the two-way radio from the floor. “Hello, hello. You okay there?” He tried to reach out for May, fearing a gruesome demise for her and the crew.

  “The signal is dependent on proximity. They must be out of range,” Cadet surmised as to why the communication discontinued abruptly.

  Forgetting about the two-way radio, Billy focused his attention on tuning the radio station to one-oh-three FM.

  Taking a stand, I pushed the power button to shut off the radio. “Please, I don’t want to hear any more news about the trial.”

  Jacking his head back, Billy did not know how to respond to my objection.

  “Isn’t Mister Popular an actor?” Cadet asked, innocent to my involvement with the infamous trial.

  “What? Did you crawl out from under a rock?” Billy criticized.

  “Sorry, my tree house didn’t have cable.” Cadet was serious about being out of touch with the social circle of A-list celebrities.

  “Oh yeah.” Abandoning the two-way radio, Billy returned his focus on the road ahead. “Mister Popular is a movie star who was accused of runnink over a young lady. Mister Sensitive here witnessed the accident.”

  “The famous always get off,” Cadet concluded wisely.

  Offering a shrewd comment, Cadet’s words had me feeling better. Even if my testimony went off without a hitch, chances were high that the rich actor paid off the jury or judge or had some big lawyer tactic to disrupt the justice process for the family of the young victim.

  “You can thank me later for savink your lives.” Not prepared to dictate how much we benefited from his famous and rich status, Billy allowed the moment to slip away.

  Encountering very light traffic on account of the early morning Billy had us speeding east on the highway across Toronto within minutes of being on the road. He drove the SUV like a Roman centurion racing into battle under the authority of an ambitious Cesar.

  Preoccupied, Billy checked his rear view mirror like Armageddon was happening behind us. “Aah, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it looks like we’re beink followed.”

  Looking back, I could not make out who was following us.

  “The two full-sized vans are followink us,” Billy explained further.

  “I see them in the distance. Not good at all,” Cadet dreaded.

  In spite of our gloomy situation, I just hoped that May and the crew were doing better. Her article was our hope to expose the deliberate experiment and the mass production of the ill-conceived technology.

  Cadet sorted through the duffel bag. He retrieved the hand revolver and inspected the piece for any flaws. He looked over the back seat to check on Tamme. “We still got our human shield and we’re armed.” He waved the handgun while marvelling at the complexity of the mechanical sidearm.

  58

  Stuck in a hot pursuit, we were the rebellious resistance attempting to outmanoeuvre the unlawful military force stationed in two full-sized vans. Unlike the movies, this drama was real and we were losing grounds for any chance at an escape. Attentive behind the wheel, Billy sped, zigzagged across multiple lanes and manoeuvred several fake attempts to exit off the highway all in a desperate effort to evade the pursuing full-sized vans. Periodically checking the rear view mirror, he had the look of a terrified kitten scrambling across a busy roadway.

  Not to make matters worse, I began to feel nauseous and light-headed. I gripped the seatbelt and closed my eyes. I thought back to the tranquility of my apartment, my growing relationship with May, my loving parents, my established friendship with Marie, Billy, Wolfgang, Cadet and Aerial. So much was at stake.

  “Oh no!” Billy slammed his hands on the steering wheel.

  “What is it?” I propped up, nervous enough without the need to be made more nervous.

  “The tank is almost empty,” Billy announced.

  “How much longer?” Cadet asked, leaning forward from the backseat.

  “The readout is sayink ten more minutes at this speed,” Billy explained, freaking out at our grim predicament. “What do we do?”

  Pondering our few options for getting away, Cadet frowned and twisted his head side-to-side. “I think it’s best we find a public place.”

  “Yeah, that’s a great idea,” Billy agreed without any hesitations. “We’ll head downtown to a crowded area. They can’t do anythink to us there.” Focused, his eyes narrowed revealing major crow’s feet around the eyelids. Like a race car driver, his arms were straightened and locked in a death grip, as nothing would pry his hands from the steering wheel.

  Originally we were set to head over to the old mill, Billy’s other secret lair, and meet up with the remaining group. For obvious reasons, we needed to lose our pursuers without getting into trouble ourselves. Accepting the revised plan, we exited the highway and stormed south along Yonge Street. Not wanting to stop and waste the precious fuel, Billy drove through yellow traffic lights and even cut a few red lights. The morning hour meant little traffic on the road and so Billy had more leeway to drive a little reckless.

  “If the SUV goes empty, are we running out together?” I asked not wanting to be separated from the group.

  Cadet nodded yes.

  “No, we split up.” Billy had other ideas. “So at least one of us can get away.”

  The conflicting responses left me confused as to what was the next course of action. “What about using the old man as a shield?” The dilemma was obvious, we had to promptly strategize and execute an impromptu plan to avoid capture. At the moment, time was not on our side to carefully way out the pros and cons of any decision. “We could leverage the life of the old man in favour of letting us go,” I postulated.

  “So, we negotiate?” Billy struggled with the concept of standing up to our pursuers.

  “Even better. Our main objective is to distract them long enough so that May’s article, exposing the Ameliorate project, is posted on the Internet for the public to read. We need to make our stand even if it means sacrificing our lives.” Cadet seemed determined that this was the only way things should go down. “If we run, we could lose it all.”

  There was no better time than now; negotiation was our best option to protect our interests. There was no other way out; we had to face our demons. It might as well be now.

  In the downtown core, the wind blew strong so much so that the traffic lights swayed to the gusty air. We drove past the major intersection of Front and Yonge Street, before settling on an open parking lot catering to nearby restaurants and high-rise buildings. We were in plain view for al
l to behold.

  Nervous chills crawled up and down my spine. A jolt of reality hit me hard; I was yards away from where I witnessed the hit-and-run of the young lady about two months ago.

  “Can we find another place, please?” I begged, not disclosing my reason.

  “No can do. This is it, our stand.” Billy held the steering wheel as if he were still in control of the situation. “We face our enemy and show them what we’re made of.”

  The brave speech of a leader prepared to die, to face the evil headlong despite the consequences. But death was not on my mind. I sought to redeem what was taken from me—my childhood.

  Evading our pursuers was not an option any longer. When Billy reached the end of the enclosed lot, he braked hard and used the SUV’s momentum to spin around to face the only entrance and exit to the parking lot. In the spin, the vehicle bumped a hydro pole with the rear bumper. He turned off the engine.

  Not trying to draw any attention, the two full-sized vans followed us into the parking lot. They were ordinary looking vans by every respect, as neither had any predominant marks to signal them out as of a military nature. They drove liberally around the enclosed lot like a pack of ravenous wolves circling a helpless prey. The tinted windshields of each vehicle reflected the morning sun, but also obscured the drivers and whatever else was inside of the vans. Eventually settling on a distance of thirty feet away, they parked right dab in the middle of the lot’s exit and us. Like cowboys squaring off in a duel, we had to go through them to get out.

  “Let’s face them head-on,” Cadet announced, prepared for an old-fashioned showdown. He tucked the handgun behind his back using his turtleneck shirt to conceal the weapon.