2020-04-02 - spike - Trapped again Part twelve

Author: spike
Title: Trapped again. Part twelve.
Date: 02 April 2020

“50095223, Unknown reporting for duty, sir!”

The instructor jogged over with a smile. He lowered his voice. “That’s how it is in this… army of yours?”

“Yes, sir. Looking forward to giving this lot a taste of it, too.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing it. Go easy on that big one over there.”

“Why, sir?”

“There seems to be something wrong… He’s walking oddly. He wouldn’t say what and he begged not to be sent to the prison hospital.”

“I wouldn’t worry about him, sir. He just recently received a knee to the groin. He’ll be fine in no time. A little exercise’ll do him the world of good, sir.”

“What the hell did he do?”

Eric told the tale eliciting a chuckle from the instructor.

He nodded. “Consider them your little playthings for the rest of this session. I’ll observe, but I think you know what you’re doing.”

Eric surveyed the room. Every section was full. Every bar, every treadmill, every exercise position. Over eighty in all. “God, I didn’t realise there were so many.”

“Most of them haven’t earned time out of their cells, yet. This and assembly are the only chances they get to meet other inmates.”

Eric nodded and studied them more closely. He walked the room, looking at their displays, stopping at one. He was doing a bench press, poorly.

“Your stance is wrong. Correct it and push yourself. You’re here to get fit.”

“What?"

“Hands, one and a half shoulders width apart. Knees bent, back flat against the floor. Better posture, better performance. Do it.”

“Who are you to tell me anything? A fake black?”

“Black means life, moron. It doesn’t matter what I did to get here. I’m here. I’m his assistant and you’ll do as you’re bloody well told.”

“Or?”

“I could just go over and tell ‘im. He’s no screw. He’s here to help you but he can’t very well do that if you’re not willing to help yourself. Do well and he can reward you with extra privileges. Keep up the way you are and I’ll damned well make sure you lose every single one of them. Now, push that bloody bar up.”

With a grunt, he did.

“And down. Up… And down. Keep up that rhythm. I can see from the screen when you’re overexerting yourself. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be pushing double and feel bloody good about it. Up!”

Eric continued until he was satisfied he could keep it up on his own and resumed his move around the room.

Greuder was on the treadmill when he got there. He joined him on it, running beside him. He was halfway through his five k run and doing pretty well. Certainly putting the effort in.

“Good to see you’re trying at something.”

“OK. You win. I don’t want to lose anything. How do you do it?”

“Remembering stuff? I never relied on the computer to look everything up in the first place. Reference, yes. What I did yesterday? No.”

“I’m like that first one you spoke to. I can’t remember all that!”

“You can. You’ve just put everything you have into the computers while you were out. How do you find your cell?”

“Errr… Walk to it?”

“So, you don’t use the panels to guide you back to it?”

“I’m not a bloody retard, y’know.”

“That proves you have the ability to learn. You know where your cell is. How long did it take to remember it?”

“Straight away!”

“And yet you can’t remember the names of ten simple symbols and what they represent. I’ll tell you how it is for you shall I?”

“And how do you propose to do that?”

“OK… You sit there, staring blankly at the screen and just let everything the teacher says wash over you. You spend most of your time daydreaming. Maybe letting your brain run riot with what-ifs. What if you hadn’t got caught. What if you’d not done it in the first place. What if, what if, what if? None of the actual lesson sticks at all, does it? Something like that?”

Greuder almost stumbled as he stared at Eric. “How? How the pox could you know that?”

Eric chuckled. “You’re not the only daydreamer. I just learned some self-discipline over time. You can too. When I was in school sitting through the boring subjects, like history, I was just the same. Can’t even remember the teacher’s voice now, let alone anything he said. I learned focus when I learned carpentry. You need immense concentration when you’re working on something where a single slip with a chisel could ruin an entire piece.”

“So what do you suggest?”

“First… when you feel that drift. That daydreamy half-awake feeling… Stamp on it. Force yourself back to reality. Stamp on every single one of those what-ifs. They’re toxic to a prisoner. Judging by the fact you’re only two steps below me, that means you’re in for a very long time. Correct?”

“Twenty bloody years, I was lumbered with. And for what?”

“Judging by the size of you and your attitude, I’m guessing there was violence involved?”

“Actually, no. The bloody government. They tried to force through a new maglev line. Went straight through the last remaining habitat of the Natterjack Toad. Really precious place. Beautiful countryside and they would’ve ruined it.”

“So… What? Sabotage? Wrecking the machines before they could lay the track? Stuff like that?”

“Not even that. We marched on the city. On parliament. The police didn’t grant us license to enter to demonstrate there so we forced our way through. Every single one of us got twenty. They cried assault. Maybe two of us actually kicked or threw a punch but they charged us en-mass and had the video evidence to show those kicks and punches. Sedition. That’s what they call it. Brewing up anti-establishment resentment. Anti-government feelings.” He put on a mocking tone. “After all, they only care about us. Their only concern is our well being. A plague on the lot of ‘em.”

It was Eric’s turn to nearly stumble. “You got twenty years? Just for demonstrating against something? Just for waving a few placards about and yelling the odd slogan?”

“You really do like old school! No-one uses placards anymore. The computers are way flashier. Especially when it gets dark.”

“Until the police block them y’mean.”

He sighed and nodded. “Blocked before it even got dark enough to see half the stuff on ‘em.”

“I’ll help, Greuder. Don’t worry. I’ll be on hand to offer advice if you need it. You have my sympathy too but I know that’s worthless.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry I stood up to you.”

“Recovered from the knee bollock interface situation now?”

He chuckled. “Just about. This run’s helpin… helping.” He stared at the screen ahead of him. “What the hell? I’m nearly done?”

“While we’ve been talking, I’ve been increasing my pace. You kept up. You weren’t even aware of it because you had something more interesting to think about. To talk about. Use that but in reverse. I know the notation stuff’s dry, a bit boring but once we get our hands on the flute it’ll all be worth it. Please, try. Start by reading those chapters, but don’t just skim the book for the sake of it. To make it look like you’ve read it. Actually absorb what the book says and not just that… Read those chapters twice. Take on what they’re saying.”

“I’ll certainly give it a try.”

“More than that… Consider this. Every person in this country, probably most of the world puts everything they were to one side and relies on the computer, sometimes to even do their thinking for them. They’re playing right into the governments hands doing that. What did we have before the chip? Credit cards. Driving licenses. Library membership cards. A wallet full of different cards for different purposes. Right?”

He nodded.

“So, the government introduce this new wonder chip. Every single thing, with a wave of your hand. Think of the convenience. Of course, the fact they can track you twenty-four hours a day for the rest of your life, know every single thing you do, everything about you… That’s a small price to pay for a little convenience. Meanwhile, the government clamps down, makes it mandatory and no-one bats an eyelid. That leaves them free to do what the hell they like and Natterjack toads be damned.”

“Shit! You realise you’re sounding a lot like a retro, right?”

“I might agree with some of their sentiments but they’re going about it in the most idiotic way imaginable. I happen to like computers. They’re useful. The trouble is you have to know where to draw the line. Use them too much and they become a danger. Look at what’s happened to most of that class. Can’t even remember something taught to them one day ago. I’m hoping some of this might’ve got you a bit angry. Useful, that. Use it. Learn and learn the old fashioned way. By reading. All the time thinking, screw the government.”

“I will. I bleedin’ well will! I’ll match your score the next test he does.”

“Good. Just remember, that punch in the face offer was a one-off. It’s not on the table anymore.” Eric nodded at the screen. “Five… Four… Three… Two… and you’re done.” He slowed to a stop.

Greuder stepped to one side and walked up to the screen. “I just beat my personal best by thirty-four seconds and I don’t even feel tired.”

“That’s my job now. Assisting him in getting the best out of everyone.”

“Well you certainly know how to do that.” He extended his hand and Eric shook it. “Friends?”

“Friends. You, me and Cerol. Make sure you do join us. Treat the class seriously. I’d like to get good at playing the flute.”

He sighed. “I would too, but we’ve not even seen one yet.”

“I know. That’s why I rounded on everyone this morning. I want to, but the way they’re going, the way you were going, it would’ve been dozens of lessons repeating the same stuff before we even got to hold one. The faster everyone gets to grips with notation, the faster we’ll learn to play.”

“Don’t worry. After that,” he nodded at the screen, “you’ve got me on your side.”

“As there’s no violence, or you claim there isn’t… How would you like to try carpentry when it gets off the ground too?”

“Same conditions as the flute?”

“Until you’re a master craftsman? I’ll not be quite so strict. I know woodwork’s not for everyone and you never know until you try. I will insist on the completion of the first course though. People might be too prone to give up before they get good enough to appreciate it. They’d be able to bow out if it doesn’t suit them after that, but you’re physically strong enough for it. It’ll be a good aid to concentration too. By the time you get out, you might wonder why you needed a computer at all. Added to that, the teacher suggested a class project. Make your own musical instruments you could take with you when you leave.”

“That’s definitely something to think about, then.”

“Watch your recovery time on the screen and move onto the next when it says you’re ready. I’d better move on to someone else who needs a bit of bullying.”

Before he knew it, they’d completed their exercises and left.

The instructor brought up the stats and chuckled. “Unknown.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Best decision I ever made. You’re picking exactly the right people to push.”

“Thank you, sir. Who’s next?”

“Grey sevens.”

“I’ve been looking forward to this one, sir. I know one of them.” Eric leant beside the door, so they wouldn’t see him until they were in the room.

Only twenty entered and the last one… Medeline.

Eric swiped the panel. “Close and lock.”

She span at the sound of his voice. Her eyes widened, she shook her head. “No!”

“Oh yes. I’m going to have a little fun with you.”

“No! You can’t! You…” She blinked, shook her head as if to wake herself up and a smug grin spread. “You can’t touch me.”

Eric walked up to her, clamped his hands behind his back, leant in close and growled. “I don’t need to touch you to make you suffer.”

Her grin twisted into a snarl. She pulled back her arm. “You ruined my life!” The punch landed full force on his cheek. He didn’t even flinch.

Eric glanced over to the instructor who stared aghast at what’d just happened and rushed over.

“Sir. Can you unlock again? You saw what she just did.”

“Why would she even do that? And why unlock?”

“Orders, sir. Any violence against a black and we’ve got to immediately disengage and report to our cells to make a statement.” He returned his attention to Medeline. “As for you, you didn’t let me finish. I was going to say I’m going to work you until your arms drop off, but, that’ll have to wait now. I was hoping you’d lash out. Welcome to the blacks.”

Eric stepped back and stood by the door.

She stared at her fist. The slow realisation of what she’d done leaching into her brain. The horror, the terror of what awaited her slowly spread… Eric nodded, satisfied. “Everything you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself, including this. Bloody retros. Brainless, the lot of ‘em.”

The instructor swiped the panel. “Unlock and open. You might as well have this one off, even if you do get back in time. Report for your usual gym session, if you’re free by then.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

Eric left the room and looked back to see the instructor round on Medeline. “And as for you… You’ll report to your cell too! Under escort. And remain locked down until inspection. I’ll be making a report about your”

The door slid shut.

Out onto the floor, up the stairs and to his cell. Eric waited for the guard to unlock it again. He was close this time.

“I thought you had a job, now.”

“I do, sir.” Eric pointed at his cheek. “I’ll have to lock myself in until a statement can be made. Will that be you or another guard, sir?”

“Someone attacked you?”

Eric nodded. “I’ve had worse but I know my orders, sir.”

The guard placed his hand on the door. “Unlock and open. It won’t be me, but I’ll report the incident. Might be a while though.”

Eric shrugged. “I’ve got books to read, sir. A game to learn.” He stepped inside, the door slid shut and opened to his cell, shutting behind him.

“Activate and lock. Cell, bring up the tutorial for Gravia and inform me the moment the cell’s unlocked.”

“Affirmative.”
* * *
“The door has been unlocked.”

Eric stood by his bed and snapped to attention. “Cell, close and save position.”

“Affirmative.”

A moment later, the door slid open and a guard entered. One Eric hadn’t encountered before.

“It’s been reported that there was an act of violence and you were involved.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You know what this means, Unknown?”

“The act was against me. I did not reciprocate, sir. My hands were firmly clamped behind my back the whole time, sir. I expected it of her, sir.”

“Why?”

“We have a little history, sir. It was my fault she was arrested, naked in the street in the first place, sir.”

“How? How could she be naked? I’ve reviewed her file. Her clothing was behind a solid steel door that had no record of being opened in the previous week!”

“She was using string resonance manipulators, sir. At the time, there was an area of space-time nearby that was out of place, sir. What we call an anomaly. If anything, I saved her from herself that day by displacing her.”

“Is this what you did to the shop assistant?”

“Yes, sir.”

”Why do you consider it saving her?”

“The anomaly in question was a biggy, sir. Previous ones I’d encountered were from worlds that branched much more recently, fifty, a hundred years ago but that one… Living dinosaurs. Millions of years out of place and anomalies are unstable, sir. She was using that world as a means to enter any building she saw fit, sir. When she asked us to help her carry out a pile of boxes from beyond that door in a nearby world, and we refused, she pulled a gun on me. I displaced her in self-defence, picked up the clothes she left behind and dumped them beyond that door, slamming it shut, sir. Obviously, the clothes and Medeline returned here, sir, as did the gun she was pointing at me.”

“I won’t even pretend to understand what you meant there. I suppose it does explain her exclamation that you ruined her life.”

“Not as much as if I’d left her to it, sir. If she’d gone to that world of dinosaurs on the wrong day, she would’ve never seen a human being again, sir.”

“Why did you say you’d make her suffer?”

“I don’t like having guns pointed at me, sir. To be fair, she did hit me before I’d completed that sentence, though. I was going to push her in the gym and push her hard, sir. I still will, next time we meet in there, sir. It is my job after all.”

“And you still have no intention of laying a finger on her?”

“I know where that would lead, sir. I’m doing my damnedest to avoid any risk of block eight, sir.”

“Very well. Your answers do explain the exchange.”

“Yes, sir. I have self-discipline. She has serious impulse control issues. I assume she knew the risks when she hit me, sir? But she did it anyway, sir.”

“And you understand those risks, too?”

“Sword of Damocles, sir. That’s what I call it anyway. One slip up from her, and she’s wearing the same as me, sir. Just as one slip up from me and that’s the last anyone’ll see of me, sir.”

“Now… I don’t need to ask if there’s any lasting pain.”

“You don’t, sir? I thought that was one of the triggers for a demotion to black, or to eight, sir.”

“I don’t need to ask because I can see it for myself. You’ve got quite a bruise.”

Eric shrugged. “I’ve not seen myself in a few days, sir. Not many reflective surfaces in here, sir.”

“Very well. No violence on your part, you’re safe. She, on the other hand, most certainly is not.”

“Does that mean she’ll be joining us down there tomorrow, sir?”

“Oh no. She’s about to find out what being black means and that includes starting with no privileges. And that will continue for a considerable length of time. You’ll only see her during your gym sessions. As for you, resume what you were doing.”

Eric smiled. “Thank you, sir. Oh, sir?”

“Yes?”

“This break from routine has thrown me off a little, sir. I’m not sure if I should be in the gym next or flute or even if I’ve missed that too, sir.”

“The cell will inform you, if you ask it.” The guard placed his hand on the door. “Open.” Stepped inside and the door slid shut behind him.

Eric nodded. “Cell, my routine has been disrupted. What’s the next thing on my schedule?”

“You have missed over half of your gym session. You will not be required to attend. The next item on your agenda is flute grade one.”