by Tal Turing
Ann flashed him a delighted smile. “No, I didn't expect to find it available here. It is from Techview, we have it in Corousel, we developed the root pear.”
“It will give me an excuse to visit...”
Ann's eyebrow raised slightly.
“I'm intentionally feeding you some drinks so I can get some answers on Miriam or Miri as you call her.
When I met her, she was still in Sponsorship, she was decked out in magenta hair and nails, flashy corper boots and such, like so many other young ladies who show up at our door and will again and again. I'm no expert, but from my experience, a young corporate asset can expect to work twenty years minimum before they can pay off their debt and that is if they are both lucky and abnormally successful.
But now, not even two weeks later, Miriam is a citizen of the Domes, an officer. I am happy for her, of course, but puzzled how it happened. I have tried to speak with her about it but she avoids the subject. Do you know what happened?”
“I know even less. This is the first time I have seen her in a year. She has promised that we will have time to talk, to catch up, but she's been so busy...and frequently so tired. I am also curious about this Dr. Petyr who is apparently the father of her child...”
“Maybe if we both spoke with her...” Ann offered hopefully.
Now it was Ryk's turn. He smiled a warm, knowing smile and held up his hand.
“Now here is something that I do know and I say this with the greatest of love, even adoration, for my niece; Miriam doesn't divulge her secrets or her thoughts until she is good and ready and even then she may not. She is outgoing and sociable but has an amazing poker face with no tells; and when she finally reveals to you what she has been withholding you will never even see it coming.”
“We will see, but do you know why she did it? Became an asset?”
“It might be more than one thing. Her parents refused to let her continue her studies, but we all assume it was the arranged marriage that did it. She was gone within a week of that, I was out of town but she left me a note. Again, they didn't see it coming. In many ways, Miri was a perfect village girl and immensely popular, with the adults, with the children, with her family and certainly with the boys. And she seems very easy-going but the trouble is that one can't tell what things she will accept and what she won't. Besides, her parents never told her about the plans, somehow she found out from her brother. And that is a sad story in itself.”
“I know that her brother died. She told me about that, she was very upset that she couldn't go home for the funeral. It was only later that I understood why. She confided that some from her home village wanted her killed. Is it true? I didn't believe that such things were still done!”
“It's true, but it's even worse than you think,” Ryk spoke softly and with obvious pain.
“Obviously they did not succeed...” Ann began slowly.
“It was her brother, Mirk, who traveled to the Domes to kill her.”
“Oh, my,” Ann looked deflated as she tried to imagine one of her family in such a role.
“Many in our village believe that it was Miri who killed Mirk,” Ryk began.
“What?!” Ann gasped.
“And so do I.”
First Techview Interlude
Introduction
Every new civilization has its roots somewhere, whether it be the banks of the Nile, a hill in Italy or a port city in Massachusetts. For the peoples of Las Joyas, who believe theirs is the only advanced society that has survived the continuing onslaught of Maltiempo, that birth place is a deep valley located on the North American continent, a valley of underground villages, a valley modified and re-engineered for their use and their survival.
It was there that the first Urbanic Dome was built, followed by another and another leading to a dometropolis –a city of various sized and interconnected, domes.
Thus, said properly, Techview is not a name for that city, rather it refers to the complex symbiosis of domed urban areas, underground villages, the engineered and adapted valley and finally Maltiempo itself.
Success breeds confidence and eventually another favorably adaptable valley was found, far from the first and another domed city was built. But even as new domed cities emerged across the continent, there was never any doubt as to which one was the grandest, which one was the center of knowledge, of new culture, the model for the rest, the yardstick for all.
And, of course, excellence breeds envy.
Ryk
Ryk walked the white halls of Humantis Corporation's Techview North campus. He followed the signs to Laboratory C as directed by the digital message he had claimed from Transom Communication Services, yet another over-priced, under-staffed, branch of the mediocre corporate giant. He would never have stepped foot within their sprawling building nor paid the exorbitant delivery fee except that the sender of the message was his niece, his favorite niece if he were pressed and even if he were not. And he had not seen her in over a year and there had been a long period of time when all thought her dead.
He had arrived the previous day and spoke with a woman named Kya but she had been no help at all. She claimed that Miriam had worked there once but did no longer and that was all she knew. She seemed bitter and irate. The best she would do was direct him to the incubators where he spent half a day before he was able to locate the chamber which held Miri's child. She had added his name to the access list or he would never have gotten that far.
He paid for a reproduction lawyer and they reviewed the current state of the fetus and verified that all proper procedures were being followed but there was nothing more to do. It would grow safely in the chamber for another half-a-year. So now he wanted to see his niece.
But his return to Laboratory C was unfruitful. The same research asset was the only one present and she seemed uninterested in discussing Miri further, she almost seemed hostile on the subject.
His mind worked on a plan as he left the facility and made his way to downtown Transom Dome. It was then that someone touched his shoulder from behind. He turned to find a pretty blonde girl, with kind blue eyes. Her hair was blown out of place by the wind and she seemed just a bit out of breath. She smiled and brushed her hair back into place with a single sweep of her hand.
“Hello, you were asking about Miriam? She was my...she is my friend. I'm on break if you would like to talk?”
It was now clear to Ryk that she had hurried after him. Had she followed him from the lab?
“You worked with my niece?”
“Oh! You are her Uncle Ryk? The one with the swamp farm?” she beamed, “We were all good friends, miserly loves company and the life of a research asset is not glamorous.”
“Research? I had no idea? What type of research?”
“I am Gya, by the way, could we talk somewhere else? There is a tea shoppe around the corner? I'm on break and will have to get back...”
Ryk looked at the girl, she was roughly Miri's age. Then he was suddenly ashamed that he had not even thanked her for coming after him.
“Of course, Gya, I really appreciate you taking the time. I was getting nowhere...”
“Its no problem. I really like Miriam.”
They sat at a table in a crowded tea shoppe.
“You haven't heard of Prianova?” Gya asked. “It is a big buzz word around the city these days. It is supposed to make us a lot of money. I should be happy, if it does really well I could get some significant residual commissions...”
She stopped in mid thought and shrugged.
“Because the more commissions you make, the sooner you can pay off..” Ryk asked, trying to show he knew the basics. Villagers understood the whole corporate indentured servant thing, it was the reasoning that was elusive. He wondered if Gya were an orphan or perhaps wanted to escape an arrange marriage...like Miri.
“Well, yes, I hope,” she smiled weakly. “It just seems so far off now. It all seemed so good from the outside; I thought I would learn new things, make large commis
sions and meet some nice people. In reality, I work so hard that I don't meet anyone except other assets. But Miriam was always so upbeat, so determined, I loved hanging around her. She's cheeky and bratty sometimes but she is funny too.”
Ryk drank in every word, delighted that he had asked about Gya but now heard something, anything about his niece.
“You were both research assets? You worked together?”
“We worked in the same lab but I could never do what Miriam did. She worked with the bugs! I was so frightened for her, no one wanted that job.”
“Really? What types of insects? What did she have to do?”
“No, not that kind of bugs,” Gya whispered, leaning forward, “she worked with virus colonies...she drew that job on account of being the new girl, you know?
She would come home completely worn down, sometimes with bruises, but she would be the first one up the next day. I think she really liked it, she was always making little notes for herself. Anyway, I think she did a good job because the project started to turn around. The Doctor says it was because she followed his directions but one guy almost died tried to work with those things! We didn't...we were worried she might not make it...but she did.”
“Bruises? How would she get bruises working with a virus?”
“Well, because they could make her sick, or even faint. That is what she told me.”
Ryk thought about it. And then, suddenly, he thought of Mirk and how he had died, the convulsions, the way his body jerked and thrashed against the floor, as if he were a doomed puppet controlled by a malevolent force.
Gya continued, happily.
“Anyway, the virals are used to help with fertility, that is how Prianova works and before Miriam arrived it never worked, but now it does. She and the Doctor went to New Berlyn to meet with some investors. She told me you might come looking for her. Please tell her I said hello.”
“I will do that, thank you so much, Gya.” he said sincerely, looking into her eyes.
“It is my pleasure and now I have to hurry back. Somehow we got sucked into another project and it's crazy. I hope Miriam comes back soon.”
“One last question, Gya, I found Miriam's baby, I mean the development chamber...”
Gya nodded. She understood.
“You want to know who is the father?”
Miriam and the Bugs
Breakfast
Miriam watched Ann reluctantly go with the escort she had hired for her. Being an officer had its benefits, especially with the type of expense account that the Doctor's project allowed. She felt bad that she would not have much time to spend with her new friend but at least she had found a way to help her. It occurred to Miriam how few friends she had. Once, she had too many kith and kin to count, before she had run away to the Domes. Now she could count those she trusted on a single hand. Of course Petyr was the most important but her child, their child would need family and friends, that was obvious. And that is how she had sold her summons for Uncle Ryk and her friendship with Ann to the Doctor...and to them.
But she truly liked the older woman, Annabelle had spunk and style. Miriam hoped she herself would be like Ann in the distant years when she also had grown children and time to travel.
Miriam's smile faded and she stiffened as a pair of men approached. Pretending not to care, Miriam took short sips of her tea even as she scrutinized them.
The Doctor, as always, was in a hurry and walked briskly, speaking as he went. Whatever subject he had begun, his personality would force him to finish, whether it was something he wanted her to hear or not. So she was paying special attention to his words.
The man with him was tall and handsome with an athletic build and a head of golden curls. If she did not know better, Miriam would have thought he was one of the hotel hospies, perhaps a masseuse or a sex toy. But she did know better, this was Donyden Cabb, a Senior Officer with Humantis here in New Berlyn and was Petyr's prospective partner. She wondered if he would stare at her chest as much in person as he had over the virtual conferencing link.
She quickly tried to prepare the vile creatures inside her, before they objected to the looks she planned to give Donnie.
We have discussed this already. Petyr does not want me to reveal our bond. I am even to flirt with the other one if it will serve our purpose. So just calm down while I look him over.
“Of course Prianova is a male treatment,” the Doctor was saying.
“I have to admit,” Donnie replied, “I am sold on the effectiveness of Prianova, thanks to the material you supplied, but I am confused. Why isn't the treatment administered directly to the female? It seems a little indirect to start with the man.” He seemed genuinely interested and perplexed.
“My dear boy, you have asked the wrong question. You should be asking why are fertility rates so low? You must first identify the problem if you hope to understand a solution, my solution.”
“He is telling you that the problem is with you men, with your seed, not us.” Miriam chided Donnie, looking up at them for the first time. “But tell me, why it is so important? Sure, couples can't always have their own child, but they can always buy their own custom genetic material. It's done all the time in Techview. Why the fascination with conception and natural pregnancies and all that? No one does that.”
Donnie slipped into the chair next to her, positioning himself between Petyr and herself. His head nodded as she spoke.
“We know how it looks. We do,” he said seriously. “But we are at war. It might not appear that way but it is true. There are too many among the Las Joyas who see New Berlyn as a penal colony, an ugly step-child, the necessary pit stop between Techview/Fulton and the wild west of settlements in our future. We are the rightful third city but New Chicago gets more press than we do and I wouldn't let my dog live there.”
Miriam listened attentively but she also caught the gleam in Petyr's eye. Of course he was pleased. It was their inferiority-complex that made them extra receptive to his proposals.
Oblivious, Donnie waved at a hospie for some tea as he continued.
“And that is why we have to work harder, out maneuver, over-deliver and think bigger than your associates in Techview. And we have to grow, but smarter. We don't want to fill our cities with opportunistic foreigners, or by constantly scraping the villages for assets as you do. We want our future in the hands of our own sons and daughters, loyal New Berlyners, the best and the brightest.”
Petyr shot Miriam a smile from across the table. He loved it.
“You see through us, my dear Donnie,” Petyr laughed. “Prianova solves only half of your problem and that is why we are perfect partners. Techview has little need of what I offer. Yes, fertility rates are lower in the Domes, this is true across Las Joyas, but while Techview is content with a marginal population increase, bolstered by an accumulation of lowly village assets, you demand better!”
Miriam's inner self wrinkled its nose at his words even as her physical face remained placid and controlled. Lowly assets!
“Improved fertility can increase the size of your families,” Petyr continued, “but as the old adage goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.”
“So I have heard,” laughed Donnie, his blue eyes sparkling. But then he seemed confused. “but how does that apply to us?”
Miriam rolled her eyes even as she pressed one sharp nail into her palm. Did Petyr really see her as lowly? She was no longer an asset, but she had been and nothing would change her villager blood. They were partners now, he had said that. He had declared that they had a special bond, a unique relationship.
“My dear boy,” the Doctor continued, “if you can't instill loyalty in your females, then it's all for naught. You want a fertile consort, but you need her to be loyal. You want her to bear your children but also to raise them faithfully. Our Prianova will promote a pregnancy but it can't establish the strong bonds of trust and service which will truly make your house great. It can't.”
“And
you think that loyalty can be promoted in the same way as fertility? Through a drug?” Donnie asked intently.
“Which is why we are here, but keep in mind, it is a procedure, not a simple drug,” the Doctor concluded.
Loyalty? Miriam thought. It was more than loyalty, it was like an addiction, a consuming need. She thought of their unborn child and her heart swelled. She would do anything for it and for Petyr. She realized that some of her feelings were encouraged by the Bugs but who is to say if she wouldn't have felt that way in any event, especially with the baby. But did he really mean to artificially create the same relationship, the bond they shared, in others? For a price?
Even as the question formed in her mind, she knew the answer. Of course he did. And she would support him she assured herself and the Bugs. And they were happy.
Donnie looked over at her and mistook her somber expression.
“Well, I am anxious to hear more, but it's time for that tour I promised this young lady as she does not seem the type who is accustomed to waiting.”
Hangar
The sky was dark but it was a relatively mild weather day and so the vehicle was able to avoid the tunnels and leave the protection of the Domes in order to move above them, affording its occupants a view of the forested walls of the valley, the thick greenish clouds above and the collection of domes below, each a slowly turning mass of shadows.
They descended into the valley's newest dome, two years in the making and activated only that month - New Humantis Dome. Humantis did not have a dome anywhere in Las Joyas but decided they liked the sound of the word 'new' up front.
The dome interior was a darker, quieter version of the outside. The ground was littered with patches of tangled grass and lumpy soil but there were also signs of beautiful, tall, slender trees, colorful gardens. Things that could never exist outside.
“Mostly the workers are landscaping right now,” Donnie narrated as they descended over a patchwork of gardens and groves. In the distance was the skeleton of a large mansion-like building. “But you can see that Humantis House is almost finished, some of our executives are already moving in. Next they will start on the downtown.”