Chapter 6: Games and Waiting and TechElecMech
The twelve biomes were designed to mirror twelve newly-discovered, potentially-habitable planets. They were also ships that would take the human race out into the galaxy. Society had faith their scientists would be able to develop the technologies that would make the project viable. Each biome would remain a ‘work in progress’ right up until launch day. Scientific research would take two paths: tech—the development of artificially-controlled environments and space propulsion systems; and controlled evolution—encouraging changes in the humans inside the biomes through environmental and genetic manipulation. Space propulsion systems would take priority. There would be no point in building the biomes if they could not escape before the Swarm’s arrival and reach their new homes. Survival on the new planets was a secondary concern.
Jayne and Joseph materialized in a small waiting room with windows along one wall. On the other side of the windows were small groups of people. Some were sitting at tables, some were standing at high counters, some were rolling on mats, some were wearing breathing masks and white suits, some were throwing things, and some were avoiding things thrown at them. There were even more people over at the far side of the room, but the view was obscured by the people in front. Each group had a leader or, as Jayne assumed, a teacher or instructor. Everyone wore the same basic style of jumpsuit as Jayne with numbers on the left breast pocket. The only difference between the industrial blue jumpsuits worn by the instructors and the apprentices was the color of the numbers on their pockets. Those on the instructors’ suits shone white instead of orange. In one glance Jayne processed everything that was going on in the room. She was sure that there would be a great deal more to see if she could only stay and watch.
Once more, a green arrow, with the number 13 at its base, began to flash on the floor in front of her. She stood, staring at the flashing arrow for a moment and then her gaze strayed back up to the windows and into the large room beyond. When she forced her gaze back down again, she saw the green flashing arrow double in size, as if yelling at her to follow along. She stepped from the PUT pad and headed in the direction of the arrow. Joseph followed along without so much as a glance down at his own flashing arrow. He’d finally figured it out. It was his job, at this point, simply to follow Jayne and go wherever she went. He couldn’t imagine why it was so important to follow such a young girl, but time, as it usually did, would tell.
Jayne’s arrow pointed towards the far end of the small room, which slowly tapered down in width until it turned into a two-metre wide hall. The off-white walls curved to the left. Once the pair had travelled a short distance, the smooth inside wall was broken by a door. But the arrow didn’t stop at the doorway, instead continuing to travel down the hallway, past more doors, finally stopping in front of what Jayne determined to be door number four, since they had passed doors one through three as they progressed down the hallway. The door slid open as soon as Jayne came near, and she stepped through without hesitation. She was surprisingly even a little excited and her heart rate jumped as she passed through into the next room.
Suddenly she heard a loud klaxon blare behind her. She turned to look and saw Joseph frozen by the alarm just as he was about to step through the doorway. She glanced down and saw a red light flashing on the floor in front of him. His green arrow turned into a red octagon with a white diagonal bar. It was pulsing in size from small to large and back again. Joseph looked at it for a moment and finally stepped back. The klaxon silenced and the red octagon turned into an orange flashing circle as the door slid shut.
Jayne found herself in a small room with air suddenly rushing at her from many different directions. The wind threatened to whip her hair into tangles and knots. After a few moments the rush of air stopped. She stood and looked up at a window that was positioned directly above the exit door. She could see no one behind the glass but she could feel that someone was there. She wondered if they would open the door. As she waited Jayne thought back to the darkened window in the concourse. She felt the nausea begin to swell inside her again at the memory but it was interrupted as the door in front of her slid open.
No one greeted her. With trepidation, Jayne stepped into the large room she had seen through the windows. She was expecting to be assaulted by the noise that such a large group of people would produce, but the silence that met her was both unexpected and disconcerting. The people were in distinct groups and appeared to be talking, but she could hear nothing of what they were saying. The subdued echo of her own footsteps was the only sound she could hear. She glanced down at the floor and the green arrow flashed reassuringly in front of her. She followed as it weaved in and out of groups of people, none of whom seemed to take any notice of her. Straight ahead she saw two boys and a girl moving around inside a five-metre circle painted on the floor. Almost invisible netting formed a wall around the circle. Suddenly they stopped moving. The girl’s eyes became wild as she glanced around as if looking for some unseen enemy. Jayne suddenly heard a very subdued popping sound that seemed to have escaped the silence. The girl’s hand went to her thigh, rubbing back and forth. Jayne noticed a small bean-bag-like object at the girl’s feet that she was sure hadn’t been there before. The blond boy suddenly raised both hands to his face, his eyes grimacing in pain. Bright red blood oozed between the fingers covering his nose, and a small bean bag, stained red, sat at his feet. Five other bean bags were scattered on the floor, at the base of the circle of netting. The third person—a dark-haired boy—was crouched down on his haunches. A sardonic smile crept over his face. He looked up and saw Jayne staring at him. His face quickly blanked of emotion and he looked down at the floor.
The floor in front of Jayne beeped. She looked down at the green arrow swelling and shrinking at her feet. She followed it again. It stopped at a table covered with burgundy felt. An instructor sat at the table, shuffling a deck of cards. As she approached, he smiled. She could see his lips move, but she heard no sound. She stepped forward and caught the end of his sentence: “—hear anything outside of each area due to the sound dampening fields. Come, sit. You are the first. We are waiting for two others. We can play while we wait.”
“Play? Play what?” Jayne asked, taking a seat directly opposite the dealer/instructor.
“Simple game. High card wins,” he said with a smile as he dealt out one card each, face down. “I’ll turn my card first.”
Jayne did not wait. She flipped her card over. It was a Three of Clubs.
“Dear me. You may not be here for long,” he said dismissively, flipping over the card in front of him. It was a Two of Clubs. His eyes widened. “Interesting. You win.”
At that moment, two others arrived, from different directions, and they, too, were welcomed by the dealer and invited to sit. A red-haired girl in her early 20s and an overweight boy about 16 or 17 sat down on either side of Jayne.
“We are all here. This part of your assessment will only take a few minutes, but it will determine where you are sent next. I will refer to you only by your numbers because that is easier for me to remember. So, let’s get started. I will deal a card to you and then a card to myself. If my card is higher than yours, you will leave the table and continue to follow your arrows. Understood?” asked the dealer.
Both the red-haired girl and the overweight boy nodded.
Jayne stood and scanned the room. “Where will we go? Where will the arrows lead?” she asked, slowly slipping back into her seat.
“That depends,” said the dealer. He offered no more information.
“On what?” pressed Jayne.
The other apprentices seemed startled by her continuing to question the instructor and they both looked down at the table, trying to avoid Jayne’s gaze as she turned to them. “Well, I would like to know,” she said. “I was told I would become a TechElecMech.” She scanned the room again. “Nothing in here seems to have anything to do with tech. Maybe I’m in the wrong place.”
“You aren’t
in the wrong place,” the dealer said patiently. “I have your number here.” He looked down at the built-in screen on his side of the table. “Thirteen, Wu 13. Right?”
Jayne nodded.
“And you two—let’s see—Kieren 37 and Moss 124. Right?” he said as he nodded towards the girl and the boy sitting on either side of Jayne.
They nodded back.
“Right then—let’s get this done. It usually only takes a few minutes for me to beat you. I am, after all, a dealer, and dealers are lucky.” He smiled at them. “Remember, as soon as I beat you, stand and follow your arrows and, to answer Thirteen’s question, I have no idea where you will go next. It all depends on how many times you win, or if you win at all.”
He smiled at Moss 124. It was not a nice smile. “You’re first,” he said and he dealt a card first to 124 then one to himself. Both were face down.
“I always flip my card first. If you beat it, you can stay for another round. If not….” He let his words hang and flipped his card. It was a Seven of Clubs.
124 peaked at his own card for a moment before flipping it quickly over. It was a Queen of Hearts.
The dealer turned to Jayne. “You have already had a turn,” he said, turning to 37 and dealing two more cards. The dealer turned his over immediately revealing a Jack of Diamonds.
“Doesn’t look good, 37,” he chuckled.
37 turned over her card, exposing a Ten of Clubs. The dealer waved good-bye to her, but she seemed relieved as she left the table, following a green arrow with 37 at the base.
Next, the man turned and dealt a card first to Jayne, then one to himself. Jayne’s Nine of Spades beat his Seven of Clubs.
He dealt two more cards, looking at the remaining player next to Jayne and flipped his over. It was a Four of Diamonds. 124 followed with a King of Clubs. “Not bad, 124. A winning streak of two does beat the odds, but not by much.”
He dealt to Jayne. She won with a Six of Diamonds to his Four of Spades. The process continued to the fourth round with both Jayne and Moss 124 winning their hands.
On the fifth round, 124 lost. His King was beaten by the dealer’s Ace. He left the table, following his arrow out of the space.
“How long will this go on if I keep winning?” asked Jayne.
“A little cocky, aren’t we?” the dealer said. “Don’t worry. It will be over soon. The record holder had only eight wins in a row.”
He dealt another set and looked surprised to have lost again. His look of disbelief continued to grow as he lost 19 times in a row. He kept shaking his head.
Dealing hand number 20, he flipped his card. He lost again. “This is impossible,” he muttered to himself. “No one is this lucky.”
He was about to deal the 21st hand when his screen chimed and flashed red. He looked down at it, then looked up at Jayne. He shook his head and sighed. “That’s it. You’re outta here. Go!” He turned around in his chair and stared off into the space behind him.
Jayne rose from the chair, looking down at the arrow at her feet. It was pointing to the left of the card table. She followed it across the room until it stopped at the circle of netting she had previously observed. Three stools sat at the edge of the circle. Two were occupied. Jayne recognized the dark-haired boy on the left as the one she had observed earlier. The boy who sat on the second stool was tall, blond, and unfamiliar to her. A woman with a portable tech screen stood behind the stools.
As Jayne entered this area, the woman looked up and asked, “Are you Wu 13?”
Jayne nodded, staring at the blood on the floor inside the circle where the boy had been hit in the face with a bean bag. A man with a portable wet vac moved into the circle and cleaned it up.
“Sit here,” the woman said, gesturing to the third stool.
Jayne sat.
The woman looked at her screen, looked up at Jayne, then back down at her screen. “Ooooh, this should be interesting,” she said. “Alright, boys and girls, take your places.”
The two boys stood up and wandered around the circle, pausing occasionally before finally taking up a position. The blond boy lay down on his side on the floor along the edge of the circle. The dark-haired boy crouched down and waited.
Jayne stood up, but waited and watched, trying to determine what she should do next.
“13, please enter the circle and take a position,” said the woman.
“Why?” asked Jayne cautiously, remembering the boy with the bloody face and the bean bags.
“It’s a test,” the woman answered. “Weren’t you apprised of the process?”
“Apprised?” retorted Jayne.
“Everyone who gets this far is apprised of the dangers. Obviously you must have been told because you are here. Now, take your place in the circle,” the woman ordered.
“I was winning at cards, and when the game was over the green arrow brought me here. I wasn’t apprised of anything,” Jayne retorted sharply.
“You came from cards to here?” the woman asked, as she scanned her screen. “Dear me, you are right.” The woman looked up at Jayne. “This is very unusual. Alright, I will give you the short version. You take your place in the circle and stop in any position you feel comfortable.” She gestured to the boys in the circle. “Like they have. Once everyone is in the circle, the timer will start. Ten seconds will pass. You can watch the time on the timer at your feet and move to wherever you want in that 10 seconds. The bean bags will fire in random directions through the space enclosed by the circle. The test starts with one bean bag and progresses to as many as 20 bags fired at the same time. There will be 10 seconds between each successive firing. The objective is to avoid getting hit. Getting hit hurts. It won’t break any bones or anything, but it will hurt. That’s part of the test. Fear can affect your performance. The other players can affect your performance, as well. After you are hit, the test is over for you. If both the other players are hit before you are, that round is over and new players will join you for the next round. The test will run until you are hit at least once. This is 91’s third round,” she said, gesturing to the dark-haired boy.
“What if I don’t want to get hit at all?” Jayne asked.
“You have to take part or you will be sent back to the nursery. Do you want that?” asked the woman.
Jayne stiffened. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t play; I just won’t get hit.”
“Everyone gets hit sooner or later, but it’s better for you if it takes longer. Your mark will be higher. Higher marks mean better…” she paused, “…more… interesting jobs.”
“Alright,” said Jayne, entering the circle and stopping right at the inside edge. A timer appeared in a blue circle at her feet, replacing her green arrow. It began to count down from ten. After seven seconds passed, the dark-haired boy stood up and stepped one metre to his right and stopped. Jayne watched him. He smirked at her.
Suddenly there was a pop and a bean bag whizzed down at an angle through the space previously occupied by the dark-haired boy. It came to rest at the base of the netting. The blond boy got up and moved near the center of the circle and crouched down.
The dark-haired boy moved to the opposite edge of the circle and again smiled at Jayne. Jayne swallowed and turned around, facing outwards, her nose poking through the netting. There was a pop. She felt moving air tug at the hair behind her head. One of the bean bags had just missed. She turned around and watched the two boys move to another position. She looked down at the blue floor timer and saw a three flashing at its base. Three bean bags this time. Jayne did not move. The pop came. The bean bags flew. The blond boy cried out. A bean bag seemed to come up through the floor right in front of him, hitting him in the chin. He stood and walked out of the circle, rubbing his chin.
The timer restarted as soon as the net closed around the exiting boy. The dark-haired boy, 91, moved again, crouching in place as he stopped. Jayne didn’t move. Instinctively, she didn’t feel a need.
The usual pop rang out and the netting billowed o
ut as each bean bag hit. Four billows meant four bean bags and neither player was hit.
This time, 91 moved and Jayne crouched down.
Pop! Five bags zoomed through space. Two came straight down to the floor and three hit the netting. The time continued to count down and the bags, in ever increasing numbers, continued to pop. Neither Jayne nor the dark-haired boy were hit.
Finally, the counter in the blue circle timer displayed the number 13. Jayne returned to her original spot against the netting and felt a rushing sensation swell from her core, moving through her body until it faded slowly as it passed out through the tips of her fingers.
The dark-haired boy stared at her, his face contorted as if he could feel that he was going to lose. He scanned the circle, his gaze stopped at a group of bean bags gathered in a pile at the edge of the circle. He smiled and walked over, stopping in front of the netting; then he turned and issued a mock salute in Jayne’s direction. He must have figured that the odds were in his favor and that the bean bags would not hit where they previously hit. Jayne didn’t move.
There was a pop and 13 bean bags flew at various angles through the netted space. Jayne watched as the dark-haired boy was hit by two bean bags at the same time. The boy’s knees buckled, as his hands, unsure of where to go, clasped both his face and his groin. He fell to the ground with a groan. There was a cut below one eye and the blood from the wound trickled down his cheek. He didn’t seem to notice that wound as he clutched his crotch. As the pain welled up in his guts, he moaned again. He didn’t get up.
At Jayne’s feet, the timer turned to a red octagon and flashed slowly. Two men rolled a gurney into the circle and gently lifted the dark-haired boy off the ground and wheeled him away. As he passed Jayne, he met her gaze. The arrogance had disappeared from his eyes. What Jayne saw in his face filled her with dread. The boy’s eyes were manic with fear. He was afraid of her. She frowned. She was puzzled why anyone could possibly be afraid of her.
Jayne was directed back to the stools. She sat down, breathing deeply, carefully considering her next set of actions. The dark-haired boy’s look of fear unnerved her. She wanted to leave the game. She didn’t want to see that look of fear in another kid’s face, but she could only leave the game if she was hit. Well, she could be hit, but on her terms, not theirs.
After a few minutes of waiting, two more apprentices arrived, and the contest started anew. Jayne was oblivious to the others, as she entered the circle. She stood slightly off center, placing one foot out in front of her. The institution-issued boots had reinforced toes. They were safety boots.
There was a popping noise and a single bean bag flew straight down and hit the steel toe of Jayne’s work-boots. She smiled, nodded at the woman instructor, and walked out of the circle. The woman nodded back and turned to her portable screen.
The green flashing arrow reappeared on the floor in front of Jayne. It led her back towards the door she originally entered. As the door slid open, she spotted Joseph sitting on the floor, his back leaning against the hallway wall. An amber light ran in a circle around him. He smiled as he saw Jayne. She smiled back. As she stepped into the hallway, the amber circle around Joseph transformed into a green arrow and pointed directly at Jayne.
Jayne and Joseph followed their arrows back toward the concourse, up a set of stairs and into a reception area. The walls of the room were covered in posters advertising TechElecMech and three booths with screens and scanlocks were positioned in the center of the room.
A disembodied voice spoke. “Please sit in one of the booths, place your hand on the scanlock, and state your name.”
Both Jayne and Joseph complied and were unsurprised as an artificial face appeared on their respective screens. It also displayed their names and numbers and the same, disembodied voice stated, “You have been admitted. Please stand and proceed to the PUT pads located in the room to your left.” Jayne got up and entered the room and stood on a PUT pad. Joseph followed.
“It felt like I was waiting forever,” said Joseph, finally. “What happened to you in that other room?”
Jayne was quiet. She hadn’t had time to digest and analyze the reasoning behind the other room’s activities. “I don’t know,” she said.
“Look, that isn’t fair. You go in and do stuff, I have to sit in the hall and wait for you, and then you won’t even tell me what happened,” he complained.
“I played cards and ducked flying bean bags, OK! It wasn’t fun, and I would rather have sat in the hall. So, consider yourself lucky,” she muttered angrily.
The PUT pads activated and, as they stepped off at their destination, their green arrows flashed and led them to a door at the far end of the room. When they reached it, Jayne stood in front of it, lost in thought. Joseph looked sidelong at her, reached over her shoulder, and knocked on the door.
The door opened and they looked into what was obviously a classroom. The man who opened the door spoke. “Yes?”
Joseph spoke first. “Kane 37, reporting.”
The man at the door looked expectantly over at Jayne. She looked up and said, “Wu 13.”
He glanced at his VID. “You’re late. I make a rule of not repeating myself, so you’ll have to find out what you missed from my posted notes. Your VID will have the data. Read it tonight,” he said flatly. “Sit down.”
As they entered, Jayne and Joseph took note of the eight others sitting in desks with their VIDs open in front of them. They sat at the two empty desks. No one paid any notice to the new arrivals. School was a familiar activity for both of them, so they relaxed, and turned on their VIDs. Classes were what classes always were. You listened; you read; you studied; and you learned.