Second, he had learned that the man who was
in the first experiment had died somehow and their course of action
was to hide the fact, even from him. This was even worse and he
began to feel a distrust for his own company.
The next day the head of manufacturing
approached him. “U2258? I want to show you something,” he said.
“Follow me.”
He got up and followed. The two got into an
elevator and then a horizontal transport, eventually winding up on
the 35th floor on the west side. This was an area U2258 rarely ever
saw. It had nothing to do with his work. They walked down a long
hallway.
“I thought it would be good to show you what
has come of your contribution the other day. On their right, he
opened a door and ushered U2258 inside. It was the floor of a chip
manufacturing assembly line. “The new chip, including your
adjustments to the biocenters, will be shipped by the end of the
month.”
That was very quickly for such a new product,
but he could see he had no place to comment. It had already been
decided.
So it was true, they were planning on rolling
this technology out to everyone as soon as possible. With the fate
of this last man, how could they justify doing this?
U2258 mulled these thoughts over in his head
on the way home that evening slowly, intentionally, systematically,
until when he got home, he began to pack. He put in what clothing,
food, and supplies he could and he did it carefully and
thoughtfully.
He slept that night after preparing for the
next morning when he would forever leave his home without telling
anyone.
That night H662 got home just as U1472 was
going to bed. Before she turned out the light he asked, “Do you
like your life?”
“What?” she asked. She was tired and did not
feel like a deep discussion before bed.
“The way things are, do you like it?”
“I guess. It’s just the way things are.” What
was he getting at?
“But what if the way things are could be
different? What if our priorities are all wrong? What if work
should not be our highest priority? What if family should come
first?”
“But our first responsibility is to the
state. Our duty is a political one.” She had been taught this from
birth. First was the state, then society, and finally yourself.
Otherwise they were just being selfish.
“But what if they’re wrong?” he asked. He
certainly was persistent tonight. She wondered what was on his mind
that he kept with this line of thinking. He was behaving very
oddly.
She laid down on the bed and thought about
what he had just said. Suddenly the reality of it struck her. If
family was first, then she was in the wrong one. Because what she
wanted in family was a man who was around, and one who cared about
her. Like D1298.
“I don’t want to live this way anymore,” said
H662. “I want to leave this life and go where the rules are
different.”
“But the only place where the rules are
different would be...no, you’re not going there!” She was suddenly
jolted awake.
“And why not. The outcasts can live any way
they want. They don’t have such rules for living, or so I’ve
heard.”
“But this is all I’ve ever known,” she said.
How could he even consider doing this?
“Aren’t you tired of this? You work and you
eat and sleep. What is your life really about?”
“But this is all I’ve got. I have nowhere
else to go. There is nothing I want out there. Nothing!” She could
feel herself getting upset now. But she could see it written on his
face and she knew that he had already decided.
“I cannot go with you,” she said.
She looked up at him and tears stood out in
his eyes, but he said nothing. How could he do that? Theirs was
never more than an arrangement from the government. They had
nothing but a business relationship together.
“I-I want to go,” he said.
“I know you do. And you will. But I will
remain here.”
“I will miss you,” he said. More tears formed
and U1472 could not believe that this was real. It would change the
way she lived. Or would it? She never saw her husband except on
weekends. She dropped her daughter off each morning to childcare
and picked her up after work. She made or bought dinner. Ate,
slept. All without her husband. What would be different?
Why was it different for him? Had he actually
grown to love her? How could that have happened? She had no such
attachment for him and if he wanted to live with the Outcasts he
could very well go and do that. It would be fine with her.
She laid down and closed her eyes and thought
of new possibilities.
H662 lay there, shocked by what he had just
said to his wife and her response. Was he willing to leave her in
order to have a new life? But how could he stay, now having his
eyes opened? He thought about their relationship. How it had been
arranged by the government and how they had entered into it like a
sort of business deal. Was that the way it was supposed to be? She
would either come with him, or it would be evidence that she did
not love him if he left and she stayed. Then he would know.
But this would be difficult. Not only was he
leaving his wife, but his little girl as well. But currently, who
looked after his little girl? The daycare did. The government
raised their girl. What stake did he have in it? But he realized
that he did care for her. He cared for both of them. But what kind
of life was he giving them if he stayed here? This society was
draining its people of life and by staying he was contributing to
the problem. He was being part of the problem and not part of the
solution. He wanted to be part of the solution, and to do that he
had to leave.
“I’m going,” he said aloud to the room in
general. No one could hear him, his wife was asleep.
When U2258 started out it was still dark, but
now the sky had begun to gray, and the traveling was easier. He had
already traveled to the edge of the city and the buildings thinned
out. He could even see the open plain before him and a thought
crept into his mind. One he could not dismiss. Until he was found
missing, he would have access to much of the information at his
company, but later that might change. Currently he had the security
keys to almost everything, but he would lose those soon enough.
Unless.
If he went back one more day, he could access
the algorithm they used to generate future access. If he used that
he could create a secret way in. One only he knew about. That way,
even if they deleted his known profile with all its access
privileges, his secret one would remain. And then, just in case he
had a reason to get access in the future, he would have it. Just in
case.
He turned around and headed back into the
city. U2258 was nothing if not thorough. Why burn a bridge when he
could keep it open?
It took him two hours to get back to the
building. It stood massive against the skyscape and he had been
able to see it even at the edge of the city since it was the
largest of all buildings. He knew he was coming in late, so that
would take some fast talking, something U2258 never felt equipped
for. He thought beforehand what he would tell them and he made
plans.
Once through the main lobby, his security
badge got him through. He took the elevator and upon arriving at
his floor was approached by A116, the divisional head. “Good
morning, U2258.”
“Hi.”
“Are you just arriving?”
“I did some biorhythmic research from home.
You can check my chip logs.” Indeed, during his walk back he had
created a log for research in some obscure corner of biorhythmic
technology so he had a good excuse. But if A116 opened up the log,
he would find it mostly empty. He hoped he didn’t check.
“Excellent,” said A116. “I look forward to
checking your logs later today.”
U2258 had to hurry. He had to access the
control room. He had security clearance to go in there, it was just
that he either couldn’t be seen doing it, or he needed a good
excuse. It was not something people did every day. And it certainly
seldom came into his job description. He thought about this problem
for several minutes without a good solution until he decided on an
extreme course of action. When no one was looking, he moved to a
corner of the room and pulled the fire alarm.
Lights blazed, sirens wailed, and everyone
began to clear the building. Everyone except U2258, and the
firebots who scurried here and there looking for signs of fire.
These robots were efficient, so he only had a couple of minutes
before the alarm would be called off and people would again enter
the building. And who would they find there? Him.
He opened the door to the control room and
sat before the main terminal. He typed in his credentials, and then
created a separate account. Something that could not easily be tied
to him. Then through that account he created another account with
all the same access he currently possessed. In order to cover his
tracks, he then went back in and deleted the first account he
created, making it impossible to trace who had even made the third
access account.
Being U2258, he did this slowly and
deliberately. Even with a time limit he did not hurry. No need to
make a careless mistake. By the time he had finished, he heard the
alarm being called off and a general announcement was made that the
building was safe. They chocked it up to a fire sensor malfunction.
U2258 got out of the room, but on the way down he met others coming
up. Quickly he ducked into a bathroom and splashed water on his
face. A moment later when he ran into a co-worker, X213, he told
her he was not feeling well and should head home due to a fever.
She shook her head, seeming preoccupied, and said she would tell
his boss.
U2258 was free.
Samuel. He had thought about it last night
and decided that instead of H662, he would call himself Samuel. He
got up and took nothing but the few tools he would need. Nothing
here would go with him. His old life was dead and now he looked for
a new life. Where could he go except to the outcasts? Those thought
too lazy to contribute to society. He hoped it wasn’t true.
The sky was still dark. In fact he would have
some time before the light arose, but that was okay. He knew if he
was going to escape, he didn’t want to do it alone.
Outside his place he hailed a pod. One of the
newer versions. He let it go and summoned another. This, too, was
one of the new models. He hoped they hadn’t gotten rid of it. He
tried again and this third time he was happy to see the older model
he had used earlier. He stepped inside and pronounced a
destination. He was headed back to work. As the pod raced off, he
began his real work or rewiring, essentially breaking the old model
to his will.
Opening up the panel by the front of the pod,
he quickly found the wires that led to the dispatch channel module.
This he carefully disconnected and rewired so that the relay could
not be lost. Then, directing all controls to the emergency
controls, he gave himself full control of the vehicle just as it
pulled up to his old work building. And there, sitting on the steps
of the building, just as the sun was cresting the horizon, sat his
old foreman. The very man he hoped to find.
He stepped out of the pod. “Sir?”
His foreman looked up, his hair disheveled,
and with alcohol on his breath. “He’s dead,” he said. “And
nothing’s going to bring him back.”
“I know. Do you want to get away from all
this?”
“Are you kidding? I’m trying to get back in.
This place gives me purpose. I know I’ve let them down, but if work
had been higher on my priorities, the death of my son never would
have affected me so much.” He was shocked at his foreman’s
response. He expected him to be of a mind to escape with him.
“I understand, sir,” said Samuel.
“H662, are you leaving?”
“I am. I do not believe they have the
answer.”
“But I want to be part of the solution, not
the problem. A part of the answer.”
“I believe,” said Samuel, “that they have the
wrong answer.”
His boss just looked at him blankly for a
moment, and then his gaze dropped back to his bottle. “I’m going to
wait for them to take me back.”
“Okay. The best of luck to you, sir.”
Samuel turned the pod around in a three point
turn and on the third turn, a man stood in the way. He stopped,
rolled down his window and yelled, “What are you doing in the
middle of the street?”
The man paused, then said, “What are you
doing with a hijacked pod?” A shock of fear ran through Samuel. How
did the man know? He quickly backed away. Perhaps this man would
turn him in. “Wait!” yelled the man. “I want to go with you. You
are going to the outcasts, no?”
How could he know that? Hesitantly, Samuel
said in a quieter voice, “Yes. Hurry, get inside.” The man opened
the other side of the pod and stepped inside, sitting in the seat
beside Samuel.
“U2258 is my ID.”
“H662, but I will go by Samuel from here on
out.”
“Yes, I should come up with a name as well.
It is what I hear the Outcasts do.”
“It’s up to you,” said Samuel. “How did you
find out about the pod?”
The man paused before speaking, “It is a
rare, in fact unheard of thing, that a pod would remain stationary
for a lengthy period of time for a man to have a conversation, and
not go to its next dispatch. Therefore, the pod is hijacked.”
“Then why would you want to get a lift from a
hijacked pod?” asked Samuel.
“Because you are going where I want to
go.”
“How do you know where I am going?”
“You just hijacked a pod. People who wish to
remain a part of this society do not do that unless they are crazy
or like prison and reprogramming. You do not look crazy, so you
must intend to no longer be a part of this society. You plan to go
to the Outcasts.”