Camilla burst into sobs. ‘No, no...’ she repeated, holding her palms over her face in distress.
Cheska rushed to his twin and flung an arm around her. Crispin stared at Zinnia. The others shuffled their feet, uncertain and fearful.
‘This can’t be,’ Zinnia murmured, almost to herself.
‘But why so sudden?’Crispin blurted out in anguish.
Zinnia knew why, this was the punishment…no warning, no announcement, a rapid clean-up of a messy situation. And Preceptor Sven? Was he too punished in a similar manner? She wondered bitterly.
‘We didn’t say goodbye to her,’ Azalea sobbed and Cylia sniffed. ‘She was such a wonderful lamebirl, so caring and loving!’
Zinnia stared at them and a sudden sense of choking filled her. Almost as if someone was throttling her with their bare hands and cutting off her breath. She whipped around and rushed out of the hall and into the cool, crimson haze of dawn. The lawn felt wet under her bare feet. Zinnia inhaled deeply, gasping for breath. Her cheeks were wet but she didn’t remember crying. She brushed the tears away but they refused to stop, filling her heart with a roar she could not control. Iris...in the Dissolution Crypt? Gone forever? But…but. . .the disbelief refused to go away.
The suffocation was blinding her. She flopped down on her knees and hid her face in her hands. Iris’s voice echoed in her head, like a torture machine, ‘I don’t want to die...I want to marry and have children and I want Sven to be their father...’
Poor, poor Iris―so much in love, such a dear friend…she had taught Zinnia to find vibrancy and colours in the black and white world of the Altklugs, she had given wings to hesitant dreams and courage to timid minds. She had broken tradition to enrich the vision of the lamebren and had brought excitement into reality, and most importantly, she had evoked smiles on sad, lost faces and introduced a spring of harmony in their desynchronised existence in the Dome. Dear Iris, so full of a desire to live and punished so cruelly for that desire, her beautiful life cut short by a whole year just because Governor Tisya had passed an order.
The words repeated in her head till she wanted to pry them out with a piercing ray and force them into oblivion. Force this whole episode into oblivion. She didn’t want to think, feel, or live...suddenly, a flame of anger and pure hatred burst inside Zinnia. She longed to go right up to Governor Tisya and tell her on her face that what she did was wrong. That she had no right to play around with the lives of the lamebren. That the lamebren too were human beings and deserved to live the life they wanted. That Iris deserved to live a life she desired...with Sven! But Zinnia couldn’t, and she wouldn’t because then she too would be punished and then perhaps sent to the Dissolution Crypt and not a soul in this Ace-world of Altklugs would try to stop her from dying. Just as no one had stopped Iris from dying...
Zinnia suddenly rose. Iris had pointed out the digi-eyes that were placed in boxes on the street for public use. She opened one of the boxes by the garden, extracted the digi-eye which fit in the palm of her hand and attached the thin thread-like cable to her padlet. Then she faced the digi-eye and took a deep breath.
‘Last night Iris was sent to the Dissolution Crypt. We were all asleep. I didn’t hear her leave, I was so fast asleep. Iris was my dearest friend, my best friend. She left so silently as if she was an illusion. But she wasn’t. She was a lovely person, in love and with a great desire to live. Her life was cut short for some reason, whatever the reason...I don’t know...but would any reason ever be worth enough to cut a life short? Why do the Altklugs have the right to play around with, a person’s life? Why is it so easy for them to do that? Why is it so easy to control us lamebren? To pick at us, throw us, make us live or make us die—all of it so simple and unquestioned as if what we feel, say or do just doesn’t matter. Isn’t it unfair? I know that these are questions which will most likely remain unanswered, simply because no one is being held accountable. And in the meanwhile Iris is gone. No more seeing that beautiful, kind face…’
Her voice choked on a wave of anguish. . . Her lips trembled as she switched off the digi-eye and replaced it. Her eyes were still streaming with the pain of loss, but speaking it out loud had provided an iota of release. Dawn had passed and the day was fully awake. And Zinnia knew that from now on, she would never really be able to sleep.
*****
Mirella had still not arrived when Zinnia slipped into class. The lamebren were huddled around tables in silence but their moist eyes spoke volumes.
‘I knew it was coming!’ Lorde announced, suddenly.
His voice was clear with the aim of garnering pointed attention which he did because all the lamebren turned to him, astonished.
‘Knew what was coming?’ Crispin asked, the hint of a warning in his voice which Zinnia noticed at once.
‘She had it coming, what with her and that Altklug,’ Lorde sneered.
‘What!’ Crispin’s eyes flashed.
The twins exchanged aghast looks. Ivy and Maisie bent their heads and Azalea closed her eyes, appearing faint. Reed and Berk shifted uneasily in their chairs. Cylia began fiddling with her padlet. Only Crispin stared at Lorde, eye to eye, daring him to utter another word.
‘Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t do anything wrong! She did and that’s why she’s gone. They couldn’t wait for her to be the right age. They had to send her in early and without warning. It was her fault!’ Lorde remarked, his nose in the air.
This time everyone in the room paused in their respective actions and stared at Lorde. Zinnia’s heart was filled with loathing.
‘And serves her right too,’ he finished with a triumphant gleam in his small mean eyes.
He really hated Iris, Zinnia could see that now. Any person who could revel in another person’s death could only be described as inhuman. Lorde had proved that today...
Crispin approached him with venom in his eyes.
‘Get out of here this instant,’ he hissed. ‘You dare say a word against her and I’ll skin you and I don’t care if I have to go to the Isolation Chamber for that. She did so much for each one of us and you ungrateful brat...you don’t deserve to be in the same room as us. Go on, get out!’
Lorde stood his ground for a minute, then with an arrogant half-smirk turned but stopped short. Mirella was standing by the door. Her face was like a tight mask. A shocked silence followed. Zinnia knew that curiosity had been peaked about Iris and Sven, but not a soul from the lamebren would mention the indiscretion out of respect to Iris. But Mirella?
‘You,’ Mirella pointed a finger at Lorde. ‘I want you to meet me this instant in the Klugsage Room. The rest of you can have an off.’
With that she wheeled around and marched off, her head held high in anger. Lorde looked taken aback and the triumphant gleam was replaced with fear. He threw a pleading look at the class and realising that it was futile to hope for support from them, he slowly trudged out of the room.
10
It was shadowy and murky and the trees seemed to block all vision. The path was narrow and wet and Zinnia could barely see her next step and yet she plunged through the dark. Her heart pounded as branches brushed across her face, clawing and leaving a mark. But she didn’t care. She couldn’t stop. A ring of anticipation seemed to grip her as her footsteps quickened. She broke into a run, rushing through the dark undergrowth, her heart beating a tattoo, not of fear but of a strange expectation. Something was waiting for her at the end of this forest, something inimitable, something unique. She was breathless and panting. Suddenly the edge of the forest appeared with a hint of light filtering through the closed-in trees. Zinnia stepped out of the forest and into a beautiful clearing with grass so fresh and dewy that it bounced off the light; flowers bordered the clearing like a round garland, the multi-coloured flamboyance a splash in the eye. But Zinnia wasn’t looking at any of it. She was staring at the sky. The most magical colours streaked across the sky. It was a long rainbow which arched like a graceful bow and vanished into a bright blue
sky. The colours glowed with an in-built fluorescent light and she gasped. The sight filled her heart with a deep pleasure and an immense peace. And in that moment, her eyes flew open. For long disoriented moments, she stared at the ceiling. As awareness crept in, swallowing up the dream and the rainbow, bits and pieces of that feeling wedged in her mind. The memory of her dream was like a warm fuzzy ball inside her heart and Zinnia held on to the feeling of joy and happiness.
She glanced at the empty bed beside her. Iris...she sat up with a jerk. A pain throbbed inside her and she closed her eyes tightly. How could she ever live, day in and out, without her favourite lamebirl? Iris, who had befriended her and shown her the Dome and guided her with her knowledge and understanding―how could she ever wake up every morning and face that empty bed and the day without her beloved friend Iris? With all their brainy discoveries in their Ace-world, had the Altklugs devised a cure for heart pain? Discovered a medicine which would decrease the pain of loss and lighten the emotional trauma of irreversibility? She had forgotten to ask Iris that.
Zinnia stared at the untouched bed. Then impulsively she kneeled down and opened the cupboard under her bed. Iris’s stuff had been cleared out and her padlet had been confiscated. The empty cupboard was a terrible reminder of a life gone by. Zinnia shut the cupboard and slowly lifted the pillow. Nothing. For a moment, she floundered. Then, impulsively, she lifted her own pillow and stared in surprise. There it was―the metallic band which was Iris’s mother’s last gift and which she either wore on her wrist or kept under the pillow at night. Except that before parting she had slipped it under her pillow, like a last message from the lamebirl. She had said goodbye. But more importantly, she had wanted Zinnia to remember her...
A sense of deep loss pervaded Zinnia’s entire being. Like a giant hand had clutched her and squeezed out the flow of life-blood in her. Zinnia knew in that instant that if she didn’t do something she would die. She felt an immense pressure inside of her which threatened to burst if she didn’t do something concrete, something conclusive. Iris had to be the last lamebirl to be sent to the Dissolution Crypt. She had to stop it, somehow, anyhow. She sucked in a quick breath as, out of the blue, everything fell into focus with a snap. She was not going to sit back, awaiting the day which would announce her termination moment. She did not wish to count every day and every hour the way Iris had done and perhaps each one of the lamebren was already doing, consciously or sub-consciously. She did not want to live with that dread, she wanted to live, just the way Iris had wanted to...but how? It was something she would have to figure out and fast. Time in the Altklug world was limited. She slipped the band onto her wrist, staring at it reflectively. Now Iris would be with her forever. Her dreams, her aspirations, her desire to live would now be Zinnia’s goal in life. Iris would not only be remembered by her, but by every being in this Altklug Ace-world....
*****
‘Why are we sent to the Dissolution Crypt in the first place?’
‘I don’t know clearly but it has something to do with development,’ Crispin said.
‘That isn’t very helpful. Didn’t the Secret Society find out?’ Zinnia asked.
‘The Secret Society, as you can see, is of no use!’ Cheska said bitterly.
‘We could do nothing to save Iris—doesn’t that tell us a lot about the futility of our society?’ Camilla added.
They all fell silent. Any mention of Iris and none of them could speak for moments.
‘I think the best thing to do is to research it in the Sensorlib,’ Crispin suggested. ‘We have free access to it, provided Mirella permits.’
‘That’s a good idea. I’m going there right away. Anybody wants to join in?’ Zinnia rose.
‘No, we have to leave for duty at an Altklug house soon,’ Cheska glanced at his twin. ‘We were informed that this is a special job and Commander Burdock has particularly asked for us to be assigned at his house. The charabanc will pick us up in fifteen minutes.’
‘I think I’ll just sit here a while.’ Crispin shrugged. ‘Reed and Berk said they would join me here. They want to discuss something.’
‘Okay then, see you at dinner.’
Zinnia sat at the padlet feeling excited. Mirella had allowed her to use the Klugsage room padlet which housed encyclopaedias of information. She knew exactly what she had to find in that data which spanned information since the inception of the world. She had to hunt out the reason―why year after year, the lamebren were sent to the Dissolution Crypts.
Five minutes later, she had her answer. The padlet provided her with umpteen options and versions and she sorted it by ‘most reliable’. The paragraphs that came up were so interesting that Zinnia enlarged them into a big screen.
The lamebren are humans who represent an age which has long gone past in the lives of the Altklugs. They are a reminder that an equation has gone wrong, at some point in the time of conception. The combination of the conception rays and the three-month pregnancy period are a crucial period in the life of the mother. All care has to be taken to ensure a safe delivery. But despite all precautions, sometimes, a baby is born which just doesn’t respond to all the Altklug cues. It is slow in development and filled with useless emotions. Maturity is slow and speech is delayed. To talk in numbers—a lamebirl or lamebroy has to be 6.25 years to match the intelligence of a year-old Altklug. This difference in the mental and physical age, make it difficult for the two to co-exist.
In fact, by the time the Altklugs reach the end of their productive years, edging towards retirement age, the lamebren just begin to gain maturity—an awkward equation where it’s difficult to balance the odds and evens. While the Altklugs quit the world by the age of fifteen and sixteen, the lamebren enter adulthood whereby they are sent to the Dissolution Crypts, in order to match their life-span with that of the Altklugs. Allowing the lamebren to live beyond their termination dates and the ensuing repercussions are a matter of intense speculation and debate.
Altklugs have formed their own perfect world which hinges on knowledge, technological and nano-biological developments. If the lamebren are permitted to live out their complete ages, it would upset the perfect equilibrium attained in the Altklug Dome and worse, it would initiate a reversal in the process of development, taking the Dome back to the rudimentary existence of by-gone millennia—a life unimaginably tough and riddled with disease and death.
Zinnia paused, her heart beating in excitement as she digested the information. She had gained two very important points through the article. First—the reason why lamebren were terminated and second, most important fact that lamebren could live longer in years than the Altklugs due to their slow biological development. Could live longer if they were permitted to...Which meant that if the lamebren were not sent to the Dissolution Crypts then they could enjoy life, just the way Iris had imagined and pined for. . .
Once the Cubicle lights were out, the lamebren gathered in Zinnia’s room—the twins, Crispin, Reed and Berk. As they pulled chairs around Iris’s bed, the door opened again and in trooped Maisie, Ivy, Azalea and Cylia.
‘When Reed told us, we couldn’t resist. We want to be a part of the society,’ Ivy explained in a whispered tone.
Crispin nodded and indicated for them to pull more chairs.
‘I’ve called this meeting for a reason,’ Crispin began. ‘First of all, let’s maintain silence for our dear departed G10, also known as Iris.’
The lamebren looked solemn as they bowed their heads in subdued respect. The bed-side lamp glowed with eerie concentration. Snowflakes fell outside, piling one on top of the other to form a neat layer. A couple of minutes later, one by one, they opened their eyes.
‘Zinnia here has something to say. In fact she is the one who has called this meeting,’ Crispin explained and all heads turned expectantly towards the lamebirl.
Zinnia cleared her throat. ‘I am a new entrant to the Secret Society which has done wonderful work with their research so far. Unfortunately, we’ve all seen the w
ay Iris was snatched away from us. It has been a great loss to me—and to all of us. But since then, I’ve been thinking. Why can’t we do something about it?’
‘What can we do?’ Azalea asked.
‘How could we have prevented Iris from being sent to the Dissolution Crypt?’ Reed added.
‘Especially since it was done with such cunning in the middle of the night,’ Ivy agreed.
‘And more importantly, who can stop the Altklugs from doing what they do? We are just “nobodies” for them,’ Cylia reminded.
‘I understand these feelings. I felt the same for a long time—I was confused and helpless when I had to leave the Ret Cabana and was brought to this Cubicle. When I came here, I got to understand the Ace-world of the Altklugs. But all along, I felt that despite all these rules and classifications, I had a say. I had been in a way fearless—until Iris was taken away. Not only was it a shock, it changed something in me. I realised that I was becoming afraid. Afraid of the same thing happening to me, to others, afraid of losing all of you...you who have become my family...and then it struck me. This was exactly what the Altklugs wanted us to experience—fear—fear of them, fear of being caught doing the wrong thing. Fear of what would happen if we interfered in their lives, if we ever rebelled!’
‘Rebelled,’ Berk appeared shocked. ‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’
‘Me neither,’ Azalea added. ‘Even the thought sucks the strength out of me.’
‘Please, let’s hear her out first,’ Cheska interrupted, frowning. ‘Zinnia, you want to elaborate?’
Zinnia looked at him gratefully. ‘Yes I do.’
She turned to face all of them. The twins looked eager, Crispin encouraging, and the others extremely sceptical. ‘We all are aware that we have termination dates. But, we now also know that just as Iris was sent to the Dissolution Crypt, anyone of us can be just picked and sent too, right? Unless we fight for our survival and put up a resistance, you and I could be the next on the list. There is no one to stop them, except us.’
Revolt of the Lamebren: Book 1 of the Super-Dome Chronicles Page 10