He heard them discuss a woman who had shaken her fist at their vehicle.
“Too much moe – they’re not used to it. It makes them giddy. Disobedient, too. I can’t believe she didn’t apologise. She said she just didn’t think personal carriers were fair,” said the sister he didn’t recognise. “Moe deregulation happened too suddenly. We ought to add suppressants to the water, the way the Nine did.”
“But spontaneity has come back to us,” said Gracious. “Surely some impulsive behaviour – a little recklessness – is a small price to pay?”
The unfamiliar sister sniffed. “Yesterday, I saw a sister walking along the street crying uncontrollably. When I asked her what the matter was, she said she didn’t know. She just felt sad.”
“Sometimes people do,” said Goodwill. “It’s not the end of the world. It’s abnormal for people to be contented all the time – that’s one of the wrong turns the Nine took.”
“Too much moe slows productivity.” The tall sister was disapproving. “We’ll have to take action. When people are emotional they can do rash things. Surely you see that, Goodwill?”
“I’ve heard some sisters are starting to turn up late for work, or question their superiors’ decisions,” admitted Goodwill. “I’ve also noticed more sisters skipping queues.”
“Our unit is noisier,” said Devotion. “But I can’t say I object. Sometimes it was too quiet.”
Gracious spoke up. “Patience, has the Silent Revolution changed its mind about free, limitless access to moes? Already? That didn’t take long!”
So, the important sister was Patience, thought Harper. Instinctively, he drew the baby closer to the shelter of his body.
“We believe in deregulation in principle,” said Patience. “But some of our sisters need to learn how to deal with moes. Perhaps moe-handling lessons. I’ll raise it at the next Co-Equals meeting.”
“Gracious, we shouldn’t keep you standing around,” said Goodwill. “Let’s go inside to Constance. Lean on my arm.”
Harper knew he ought to go indoors so they could meet the baby – that must be the reason why these dignitaries were calling. But he lingered outside, still talking to the tiny girl in his arms about the tree they sheltered under – a dwarf compared with the ones in his forest, but just as beautiful, he told her. Prominent Sisterlanders held no interest for Harper. Nor did he care for the thought of his daughter being exposed to them. Though he knew he’d fight a losing battle to prevent it.
Constance appeared in the garden, calling his name. “Gracious wonders if she could meet our daughter, Harper.”
“I saw her with the one who calls herself the First Co-Equal.”
“Yes, Patience is here, too. You need to be polite to her, Harper.” He scowled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. But she matters. Don’t antagonise her. Please. For me.”
“If she’s the First Co-Equal, what does that make Goodwill?”
“Her deputy.”
“Second Co-Equal?”
“Don’t be mischievous, Harper. You know very well there’s no such title. Only Patience is numbered – the rest of the eighteen are Co-Equals. Plain and simple.”
“Not quite equals, then. Just like you and me.” Harper stretched out his arms to pass the baby to Constance, intending to stay outside.
But she shook her head. “No, you carry her up. I want everyone to see how much our little girl loves her father.”
“Including Patience?”
“Especially Patience.”
As they walked indoors, Constance remarked, “I haven’t seen Gracious since the baby. She’s ageing visibly. I don’t know how long she’ll be able to carry on working with us.”
He didn’t reply. But in the foyer, he hesitated. “Do I need to put on a hood?”
“Not in your home.” She laid a hand between his shoulder-blades, encouraging him forward.
“Here she is,” Devotion sang out. “Here’s my angel!” She hurried forward to tickle the baby in her father’s arms, and was rewarded with a gurgle.
Harper inclined his head to the visitors but kept his distance, until Gracious spoke directly to him.
“You’ve bonded with your daughter,” she told him.
“I’m her father,” he answered.
She was older than any sister he had met before, yet her eyes glowed at his answer, and he couldn’t tell if she approved or disapproved of it. Nor did he care. She beckoned, and he carried the child over to her.
Gracious rested her palm against the velvet skull, and closed her eyes, smiling. Everyone watched her. Abruptly, her eyes flew open, and the smile collapsed into a semi-circle of surprise. But she recovered herself, and trailed an index finger along the baby’s cheek.
“What?” demanded Patience.
“Nothing. She’ll lead a fascinating life,” she said. “The sights this tiny creature is destined to see!”
“Surely you can intuit something about her future?”
“I told you what I sensed, Patience.”
“I get the impression you know more than you’re saying.” Patience turned her attention to Harper. “Why doesn’t he give the child to someone else to hold? Why must he keep her in his arms?”
“He can’t bear to let our daughter out of his sight. He’s taken to childcare far better than me,” said Constance. Patience pursed her lips, and Constance found herself gabbling. “Even when she sleeps, he hovers by her cradle listening to her breathe, or marvelling at the way her hands curl and uncurl. He’s absolutely besotted with our baby.”
“She’s not just your baby, you know,” said Patience. “She belongs to Sisterland.”
Harper stiffened, but was sidetracked by a question from Gracious.
“I understand Constance is granting you the privilege of naming the child. Have you reached a decision?”
Patience answered for him. “It would be fitting to call her Silence.”
Harper’s face grew stony. “She has a name. It’s not Silence. That was never considered.”
“I see.” Patience was equally unyielding. “You must have an exceptional name in mind, to reject Silence. May we know it?”
“Faithful.”
Constance was surprised. Nothing had been settled – they had discussed several possibilities, but Faithful hadn’t figured. All of the possible names they had talked about were associated with plants and creatures in the Brown Convolution forest.
Patience made latticework of her fingers, and examined the shape. “Faithful. Not what we were expecting at all.”
“It’s perfect,” said Devotion.
“It’s a wasted opportunity.” Patience turned to Constance. “Has it been sigged yet? If not, there’s still time.”
“It hasn’t been sigged,” said Constance. “But Harper has chosen Faithful, so Faithful is her name.” She went to him, and leaned over the baby in the crook of his arms. “Hello, Faithful. Your name suits you.” She touched their daughter’s dimpled fist. “We’ll go together today and sig her name.”
Constance could log it without Harper, but he was not permitted to do it without Constance. She hoped he wouldn’t raise this discrepancy in front of Patience. At least now his name would appear on the registration, after Constance’s.
“Well, of course, it’s entirely down to you, Constance. I mean, to both of you,” said Patience. “But what if there are tens of thousands of Faithfuls logged ahead of her? You don’t want her to have a long list of numbers after her name.”
“Does she need numbers after her name?” asked Constance. “Couldn’t we come up with another solution?”
Gracious tilted her head to one side. “It’s a point worth discussing. Isn’t it, Patience?”
“We could consider alternatives at our next meeting of the Co-Equals,” agreed Patience. “I’ve never much cared for the 66003 after my name.”
“Two Co-Equals in the family: Goodwill and Constance,” said Devotion. “We’re rising at a dizzying pace. I hope nobody her
e suffers from altitude sickness.”
“You misunderstand Constance’s role. She’s not exactly a Co-Equal, but she attends meetings and we like to consult with her,” said Patience.
“Her voice is influential,” said Goodwill.
“Naturally. Who wouldn’t listen to the source who’s given us Silence reincarnated?” said Patience.
Constance was used to Patience’s attempts to claim a mystical kinship between the baby and Silence, but this was the first time for Harper. Shock, followed by dismay, chased away by anger, criss-crossed his face. He slanted a challenge at Constance. Her eyes pleaded with his: Don’t say anything, I can explain. Rigid, Harper turned his back on her, and took a few paces towards Patience. Constance braced herself for a storm.
Unexpectedly, Devotion saved the day by voicing the protest Patience would never have tolerated from a man.
“What mumbo-jumbo! My granddaughter’s nobody’s reincarnation. She’s a baby. Herself, and nobody else. Besides, that’s a ridiculously heavy burden to place on any child. Those sorts of expectations will gobble the wee mite whole. Don’t you think so, Goodwill?”
Goodwill’s eyes slid away. “It’s only a name.”
“It’s more than that and you know it, Goodwill!”
Gracious spoke up. “Why don’t I hold Faithful, Harper? She must be getting heavy.”
Harper stayed where he was, chin jutting out.
“You must learn to share her,” said Patience. “She might not always be in your care.”
His eyes splintered at Patience, and Faithful squawked at the pressure from his fingers on her chubby limbs. Frightened now, Constance moved forward, on the pretext of lifting Faithful out of his arms. Her face was wreathed in warning. She uncoiled his hands from their baby, and transferred the warm, small body to Gracious.
Gracious rested Faithful against her neck, and sighed with pleasure as the baby squirmed against her. “What a clever girl you are, to have a name that suits you so exactly.”
Harper folded his empty arms, missing his daughter’s weight already. He retreated into a corner and watched Patience, who ignored him.
Shortly after, the visitors took their leave, but the atmosphere did not lighten. On the contrary, Harper rounded on Constance, demanding answers. Why was she allowing their baby to be used as a symbol of Silence? How could she stand by and listen to that ridiculous reincarnation claim?
“It’s only a bit of silliness,” she tried telling him. But when he continued to argue, she said, “Harper, Patience could have Faithful taken away from us with one snap of the fingers. This is part of the deal that lets us keep her with us. And lets you raise her.”
“You used our baby as a bargaining chip?”
“What choice did I have?”
Harper shook his head slowly, silently, sorrowfully. But Faithful squeaked, kicking her feet in the air. And some of his tension ebbed away.
The Silent Revolution continued to put down roots. Baby boys were no longer taken from their sources, while boyplace was closed down and boys were educated alongside girls. Flocks of children, girls and boys, mingled freely: it became commonplace to see them with their teachers on the Buzz, going on educational trips, or walking in crocodiles through the parks, having flowers and plants pointed out. Hutchtown was disbanded, and men began to live in units alongside the ones which housed women, although mixed accommodation was not yet permitted. At least, not officially. However, more senior sisters started asking for male others.
Among these developments came an unexpected shift. With matingplace disbanded, more boys began to be born. It was too soon to call it a trend. There were no guarantees it would continue. Scientists were puzzled by it. But the reversal of rigid mating protocols began to percolate through to the birth statistics.
As agreed, Constance spoke at rallies, polishing the new version of Sisterland, but had no involvement in daily decision-making. She hoped, by influencing audiences, to create a public mood for ongoing change. The risk was that sisters would accept a regime change, but prefer life to continue undisturbed.
“Sometimes, ladybird, I think Goodwill suspects she’s created a monster in you,” said Devotion. She maintained her refusal to join the work of the Silenced. But she was not at cross-purposes with them, either. She was allowed to retire from thought-hatching, because her department was being dismantled, along with thought-mending and crafting.
There were still shapers, however. Their skills were required. New orders need old hands, as Modesty put it to Constance. She knew it was said tongue-in-cheek. One of these days, she must introduce her source to Modesty – the two of them would get along.
Nowadays, Devotion concentrated on the garden Goodwill had been able to secure for her, not far from their twoser – and on Faithful. She took to bringing Harper some of her wine. Sometimes, after Faithful’s bath, she’d stay and share a glass with him, talking about the herbs she liked to grow, and the vegetables she was experimenting with – his green fingers impressed her. When he expressed an interest in how the wine was made, she offered to teach him.
“More than she ever did for me,” said Constance, when Harper reported it. She alternated between amusement and irritation at her source’s developing relationship with Harper. Of course, it was better to have them on friendly terms. They had not just Faithful, but their love of nature in common. But sometimes they she felt a tiny bit excluded, especially when they were outdoors.
Harper sprang fully to life outside. By the riverbank, he was the first to spot fish or insects, and to point them out. If Devotion was with them, as she often was during strolls with Faithful, her source was always fascinated by what he said – whereas sometimes Constance had to fake an interest, preoccupied with her work for the Silenced regime. Harper could not pass near a tree without drawing attention to the patterns on the bark. “Touch it,” he’d invite. “Doesn’t it feel more real than anything you’ve ever put your hand on?” It felt appealing, of course. But reshaping Sisterland – that was what truly felt real to Constance.
One day, when Faithful was about eighteen months old, Harper suggested a family daytrip, just the three of them – a visit with Faithful to a copse of trees at the end of the Buzz line. Constance had to cry off at the last minute because of a hastily convened Co-Equals meeting, but Devotion volunteered to take her place.
That night, when Constance returned home to the threeser, she found Faithful in her pop-up, and Devotion still lingering, chatting with Harper.
“We saw copper beeches. Faithful clapped her hands at their blaze of colour,” Devotion reported. “Didn’t she, Harper?”
“Her face, at the sound of the leaves underfoot! I thought she was going to jump out of my arms!”
“And the way she crunched leaves between her fists, trying to cram them into her mouth!”
The warmth between them was unmistakeable. Constance knew she should feel pleased. And she did. But she also felt left out.
When Devotion went home, Harper said, “Devotion loved the crackle of twigs underfoot – she said it was a forgotten sound in Sisterland. Nothing’s ever allowed to lie where it falls here. I’ve tried to suggest it at work, in the parks, but nobody listens. I told Devotion, and she says the tidiness impulse has been carried too far.”
“Sounds as if you and Devotion had plenty to talk about. All she ever does is scold me for overwork.”
“You do work too hard. You’d have had fun if you’d come with us, Constance.”
“I’d have liked to go. But duty before fun, I’m afraid. I can’t miss Co-Equal meetings.”
“Come and sit down. You look tired.” He perched beside her, and began to rub her shoulders. “Have you eaten?”
“Goodwill always makes sure there’s food at the meetings.”
The kneading slowed. “Constance, do the Co-Equals ever discuss Outsideland?”
“No, we’re too busy with Sisterland. I did ask about the man from Outsideland. I thought I might have been able to do s
omething for him. Too late. He’d been discontinued. Don’t stop, Harper, I’m stiff from sitting in meetings all day.” She rotated her neck, relaxing under his massage. “There’s been a setback. That’s why the meeting was called. I’m not supposed to talk about this – it’s top secret. To do with the Nine.”
“I thought the five who held out were relocated to one of the outer belts? Didn’t they give guarantees about living quietly there?”
“That’s what they promised to do. But Innocence and Temperance doubled back from Grey Disjoint. They headed for Righteous, they’re trying to form a rival government there.”
“Is it really a threat?”
“It’s a thorn in the flesh, more than a threat. All the key institutions are based in Harmony, so they can’t disrupt the machinery of the State. But it’s disloyal. And dishonest. Patience says it’s treacherous, and can’t be tolerated. A solution will have to be found to deal with them. I suppose they’ll be put under some sort of restraint.”
“You mean Safe Space? Like the woman you talked about in your sleep last night?”
Startled, Constance asked, “Who did I talk about?”
“You called her ‘mother’.”
“The Shaper Mother. She’s on her way to Safe Space, for subversive activities. While she was under house arrest, she tried to slip away and join the remnants of the Nine in Righteous. What did I say about her?”
“‘Forgive me, mother’. You said it over and over. I wiped away a tear on your cheek.”
“I did my best for the mother. I spoke up for her when the Co-Equals were trying to decide what to do with her. I’m sorry she’s gone to Safe Space. I wish it could have been different.”
“Maybe you should have seen her before she was ordered to Safe Space.”
Constance hesitated. “I didn’t want to,” she admitted.
“Because she makes you doubt what you’re doing?”
About Sisterland Page 33