10: How the Other Half Lives

At ten am on the sixth day Begum ran tired fingers through her hair, nodded and allowed herself a self-satisfied smile. The work had required meticulous attention and skill, and contrary to expectations the design was so complex they’d been pleased to have both inventors constantly hovering over them—checking, testing, thinking.

‘The bulk production module is ready to produce the pads,’ she informed Peteru proudly. ‘These are the first dozen samples. We can start churning them out once you give your approval. Then we’ll begin on the computer.’

‘Thanks Begum, that’s brilliant. We’ll take these up to the Mages now to demonstrate their effectiveness. We’ve no idea how long we’ll be so take a break, then after lunch make a start on the computer. We’ll be down as soon as possible to assist.’

‘Fucken slave driver,’ Begum muttered.

Peteru chose not to hear.

The Mages had been summoned to Ishbel’s apartment where the wrists of four very nervous Vassals were implanted with the chip. Each stepped onto a mat, whispered into the terminal, touched their wrists and reappeared on the mats twenty metres away looking excited and aroused. Unselfconsciously, they began to touch themselves, stopped, took one look at the glowering Mages and threw themselves onto the floor and grovelled silently.

‘Stupid beasts,’ Xanthippe snorted. ‘They’re worried we’ll kill them for being naked and feeling sexy.’

‘A justifiable fear,’ Fabien yawned. ‘Those four fellows were making a nuisance of themselves during the religious service last week. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to administer justice.’ He waved an airy hand and two burly Vassals appeared. A wordless signal was enough for the four cowering men to be led unprotesting from the room, followed by the Mages who laughed and made bets as to which would last the longest. Dumped over the handrail the young men had scarcely time to sprint ten metres before great claws fastened on their necks dragging them to the ground where fangs ripped open their throats. At least a dozen huge dogs arrived to share the feast.

‘These wild beasts are excellent security, don’t you agree?’ Fabien asked a glowering Peteru.

‘Excellent,’ Peteru replied softly. ‘But they’re not far below. What’s to stop them leaping up here?’

‘A laser fence that vaporises anything interrupting the beam,’ Fabien replied, casting a sly look at his young questioner. ‘So I’d advise against going for a walk.’ The menace in his voice was palpable.

The sound of excited yelps, deep growls and crunching bones accompanied them as they traipsed back inside.

‘How long before we’ve enough enseemats and the mainframe that will run everything?’ Ethel inquired calmly as she sat down; the spectacle she’d just witnessed having had no more effect than if she’d been watching goldfish nibble on bread.

With commendable self-control, Uretep stilled the tremor in his voice. ‘A month at the outside, probably much sooner. Then another week to make all the wireless terminals. Alger and Begum are excellent engineers—their knowledge of electronics is formidable, so if it’s OK with you we’ll leave them to get the basic work done on the main frame computer while we look around Oasis to check where enseemats have to be positioned, how many we need and so on. We also need to visit the new city for the same reason. As you’ve probably realised, if the mats are installed as they’re produced, people will get used to seeing them and curiosity will make the final ‘sell’ easier.’

‘Do as you think fit, go wherever you please,’ was the response, which sent a nervous shudder through both young men. Such easy agreement meant either they had won the confidence of the Mages, or they were nearing the end of their usefulness so it didn’t matter what they discovered. The second scenario seemed the most likely, which put them even more on their guard.

For a full week Peteru and Uretep made a meticulous survey of every space in Oasis so they could plan the position of enseemats, calculate how many were needed and foresee all problems. The city was many times vaster than they’d realised. Without the negrav chutes they’d have been old and infirm before completing their task. As it was, the repetitive nature of the construction [they continued to think of it as a construction instead of an excavation] made their task easier. What was needed for one segment would be needed for all.

Three-quarters of the living quarters in the massive circular edifice were reserved for Vassals, but they occupied only a quarter of the available space for dwellings. Three hundred and seventy-five thousand bodies were housed in stone cubes measuring two and a half metres along every edge. Five surfaces were blank; the sixth was open to the corridor. There was no sexual segregation so every floor contained more or less equal numbers of both sexes and all facilities were unisex including toilets and shower rooms. Although each Vassal was allocated a cell, there was nothing personal in them, merely a bed a chair and a hook on which to hang their work overall. Inside the building, which was not a designated public place, no one wore any clothing, which was sensible as the air was very warm and slightly moist.

Vassals worked twelve-hour shifts, so there were always people in the dining rooms, ablution areas, exercise rooms, entertainment halls or other public spaces that were scattered throughout the complex. As there were no doors anywhere in the residential modules reserved for Vassals, Peteru and Uretep were able to see that few people slept alone. Occupied bedrooms usually had at least two men, or women, or mixed couples entwined on the narrow bed—sometimes as many as four. Usually sleeping, never doing anything that could be described as sexual. Despite the crush, the air, although warm and humid, had no perceptible odour, probably because the Vassals’ high standard of personal hygiene was well catered for with excellent showers and washing facilities. Plenty of sleep, exercise, food and cleanliness ensured their health, fitness and ability to work long hours. All the Vassals were physically attractive with very dark skins, symmetrical powerful bodies, and open faces.

Although they wore nothing while inside their module, that didn’t mean they were prepared to do the same outside or at work. When asked about it, both males and females said that would be a terrible thing to do—a dreadful sin. If pressed on the issue they became suspicious and angry, muttering prayers to Domino and Domina to ward off such evil thinking. Simple questions such as where is the nearest negrav chute? Where do you work? Where is the dining room? When is the next meal? How often do you shower? Have you a special friend? received straightforward responses with no suspicion of ulterior motive.

When reporting on this and the Vassals’ universal friendliness, Xanthippe sneered and explained it was due to Peteru and Uretep’s dark skins. Had they been light skinned the Vassals would have cringed and fawned and done everything they could to confuse them. She warned them not to imagine the Vassals’ simple natures indicated gentleness and an egalitarian desire for peace. ‘They’re like trained animals, well behaved when the master’s around, but some days and nights the place resounds with screams and wails of victims hunted down in pecking order skirmishes.’

‘Do Fabien’s enforcers do anything about it?’

‘Of course not. No one gets seriously hurt. We encourage the letting off of steam because it gets rid of frustrations, and that’s of inestimable value in maintaining order.’

‘Surely they’re more than animals? They seem so... I don’t know... so civilized.’ Peteru was having a hard time remaining pleasant.

‘Ha!’ Xanthippe sneered. ‘Try asking them what they think about affection, interests, hopes, fears, the future; topics that require thought and the expression of an opinion, and see if you still think they’re human.’

The following day Peteru and Uretep gently asked several Vassals such questions, but Xanthippe’s education program had taught them from their earliest years that wrong answers would result in painful punishment, so their response was always the same; silence while handsome faces became pinched, and powerful hands bunched into frustrated fists of fear.

Back in their apartment the two young researchers studied plans, calculated how many enseemats were needed and where they should be placed for the greatest efficiency, all the time thinking about the strange dual nature of the Vassals.

‘We know we are the products of Elbert’s genetic manipulation; a successful attempt to make us inventive and creative’ Uretep said as they were shutting down their recording pads.

‘Yes, that’s why we have dark skin.’

‘So Elbert says. But surely the greatest barrier to fresh thinking, creativity and invention would be mind control—brainwashing of infants?’

‘You mean?’

‘Exactly! What Elbert and Xanthippe deliberately didn’t tell us was that we’ve not been indoctrinated with all the crap that keeps everyone else liking and hating and doing exactly what the Mages want. And that’s another reason we can’t be allowed to live once we’re no longer essential. We don’t believe in supernatural gods and monsters. We’ve no feelings for or against any group of people. We don’t care if they’re black, brown or white—all we care about is that they’re pleasant.’

‘You’re right. That’s why you’re the only person I like in this place. Everyone else thinks their caste is perfect and every other caste is expendable. There’s something very wrong when every human on the planet except us seems devoid of compassion. The way those Vassals threw the four guys who tested the mats the other day over the rail to the dogs without any change of expression, he shook his head as if to dislodge the memory, ‘it really upset me.’

‘And the way the victims just accepted it. It was the same with the girl whose throat Ishbel slashed. To everyone except us she was nothing but a piece of meat.’

They sighed in silent frustration.’

But I'm pretty sure the Mages haven’t been brainwashed, Peteru. How come they’re so heartless and cruel; tossing those brave Freemen who tested the enseemats that first day down the ‘exit’ chute to their deaths as if they were nothing. Making a joke of it.’

‘I guess being a few thousand years old might make the Mages somewhat bored and looking for kicks. If not, then it means...’

‘What?’

‘That’s what humans are like! Caring only about themselves and their own interests.’

‘If it is, then I don’t like humans.’ He grunted a laugh. ‘Except for us of course.’

‘But are we human? Are Vassals, Freemen and Aristocrats human? Everyone’s had their brains scrambled and genes rearranged in the womb. How much change has to occur before a human stops being human? None of us have been conceived in the normal way. We’re from genetically modified sperm cells introduced into genetically modified ova then incubated and educated by a machine.’

‘A sobering thought. And the Mages have been cloned so many times who knows how many errors have crept in…’

‘There’s no point in wondering about things we can never find out. We’re here, we’ve a job to do, and who knows, we’ve not had any personal contact with Freemen yet, perhaps they’re different.’

‘Unlikely, considering they’re between Aristocrats and Vassals, but let’s hope so.’