“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.
Chapter 17
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.
Chapter 18
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.
Chapter 19
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 eas
ily 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.
Chapter 20
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.”
“Do you always think through things like this?”
He paused for a few uncomfortable seconds. “Since I only have one brain, and I intend to keep it for the rest of my life, I suppose so.” He smiled, a look that was both disarming and unusual on his large face. He pulled down the visor in front of him and looked into a mirror. “There is one more thing. We must leave immediately, the authorities are behind us.”
Chapter 21
The flashing lights shone through the back window, and Samuel realized two men had already pulled up behind him in their patrol cycles. Cycles were made for speed and could easily outrun a pod. Samuel turned around and saw them both get off of their cycles and slowly walked toward the car, one on each side. Exuding authority, they were tall and muscular with dark hair and grim expressions.
Samuel glanced at U2258 who still had that calm expression on his face. Samuel wished he could feel that way. A man showed up at U2258’s window, and tapped on the glass. Samuel made a move as if to roll down the window and then gunned the acceleration, leaving the two men standing there.
“You know,” said U2258, “they will catch us.”
“I know they’re sure going to try,” said Samuel. He looked over to U2258 and he was smiling again. Samuel decided he liked it. It was an honest smile.
“Where can a pod go that a cycle cannot?” asked U2258.
“To the outcasts.”
U2258 said, “But we will not make it that far. The cycles are too fast, and they will call others. Our pod will be stopped and we will be caught.”
“Not today,” said Samuel. He turned the wheel sharply around a corner and saw a straight stretch of road which would take them much of the way out of the city, but he would have to dodge the pods dropping people off at work. It was a busy morning as usual.
U2258 looked in his mirror again. “Six,” he said. “And they are all behind you, gaining fast.”
“I will get what distance I can, but I have a plan and it will involve running.”
“I can run.”
“Good,” said Samuel. “What is the one thing that a pod can do that a cycle cannot?”
“A riddle?”
“A puzzle with only one useful answer.”
U2258 scratched his chin and thought about this. He seemed interested in the challenge. Now the flashing lights were right behind them again and they began the formation that would bring their pod to a stop, two cycles alongside of him, edging themselves past slowly until they would soon be in front to slow him down by force.
Now the rest of the cycles that had been behind had also come along side as those in front were spreading the inertia nets that would stop his car.
“Well,” said U2258. “They are faster, more maneuverable, smaller, more powerful, lighter.”
Just as the cycles in front were about to throw the net, Samuel looked both ways, turned to U2258, and said, “Go backwards.”
“Oh,” said U2258, but that’s all he had time to say, because suddenly the wheels screech
ed and slowed and then headed backwards. The change was so sudden that they both almost hit their heads on the dashboard display of the pod. Samuel looked backwards as he drove for two blocks and then screeched around a corner while the cycles tried to slow and turn around on the main street, but with so many of them they got in each other’s way and it took longer than it should have.
“All out,” said Samuel. And they both abandoned the pod. Samuel led them through an old tall apartment complex with a flickering light out front. A building he had never seen before, but then again, neither had their pursuers. They entered the front of the building and took an elevator to the top. He knew the authorities would be trying to trap or chase him down. Once at the top he saw the second elevator next to him also headed up toward them. He waited with U2258 for a few moments and then stepped back into the other elevator and headed down again.
“What are we doing?” asked U2258.
“Again, we are going backwards,” said Samuel. “One thing people are not good at doing.”
They hit the bottom floor again and Samuel and U2258 rushed out onto the street. And there, just around the corner were six empty cycles.
This was what Samuel knew best. He pulled out some wires for the first cycle, yanking them out with a jerk. Then he did the same for the other three. “Can you ride one of these?” he asked.
“I’ve never tried,” said U2258.
“Well, neither have I, but I’m willing.”
They turned on the cycles at a press of a button and they were off. For just a second both of them were a little unsteady as they got used to the cycles, but as they sped up they became easier to control. They rode side by side. “You know,” yelled U2258, “they will call in for more backup.”
“No, they won’t,” said Samuel. “I disabled their power. They aren’t going anywhere or calling anyone.”
U2258 yelled back after a pause, “You would have made a very efficient criminal.”
“From now on, we are criminals,” yelled back Samuel.