"Oh dear," Alice said as she sighed gravely,"This is MOST unfortunate." Alice was referring to the way that the hole which the strange giant rabbit she had been following had just rushed into as though the devil himself were chasing him had just caved in. It looked as thought the wondrous rabbit person had escaped injury but there was now a huge pile of rocks blocking the entrance to the mysterious tunnel and many of them appeared to be far too large for someone of Alice's diminutive stature to move without assistance.
"A pity," Alice mumbled to herself."I somehow have the rather odd feeling that at the end of that tunnel a grand adventure awaited me." An adventure seemed like just what Alice needed most right now, too. Alice was having a great deal of difficulty finding ways to occupy herself during her two week spring vacation from the boarding school she attended in London. Every one of the other youths that used to live in this depressing little village had already long since managed to convince their parents that this was the most boring part of England and that they needed to move immediately to avoid going insane. Alice thus spent the majority of her home visits by herself. The cat that Alice had been given as a birthday present a year ago seemed to refrain from all activities except sleeping and all the other adults in town always were far too busy to spend time with her. That suited Alice just fine. Alice was beginning to grow extremely weary of all the adults that run our humble village as well. The thought that eventually Alice would technically be an adult was sickening to her. The way that obviously no one thought of her as an adult and clearly wouldn't for years to come was oddly comforting to Alice.
Alice heard someone nearby repeating endlessly in a dull monotone voice,"It is late. It is now time to hurry. It is late. It is now time to hurry." When Alice turned her head to look to the right, she spied a young boy about her own age walking briskly through the forest in a manner that was similar to marching. The youth was clad in a grey button-down shirt, grey slacks, and grey dress shoes. His eyes and hair were, oddly enough, also grey and his skin was tan. It seemed that the look on his bland, expressionless features somehow betrayed some of the anxiety that the youth seemed to be feeling about whatever it was he was running late for. In his right hand, he clutched a white stuffed toy rabbit.
"Well," Alice thought,"his voice certainly does seem to be sending me right to slumberland, true. Yes, yes, and wherever that boy is headed will most likely not be as wondrous a place as wherever the giant rabbit creature was headed. However, I continue to currently feel rather uncertain right now. As far as courses of action go, I must confess that at the moment I am simply without a more desirable alternative than to follow the lad rushing by to my right and seeing where he might be headed."
As Alice started towards the boy in the grey outfit, she accidentally stepped on a twig. The boy turned and saw her but almost immediately turned his head without seeming to give her a second thought. Alice managed to catch up with the boy and began following about ten feet behind him. The boy in the grey outfit didn't seem to notice this and continued walking through the forest while muttering to himself about being late for something.
Suddenly, the youth disappeared down a hole. Alice was so stunned by this that she didn't stop walking and ended up falling down the same hole. She found herself falling down the hole for what seemed like an eternity. The whole time she was falling, Alice heard bland, sentimental music that she found to be incredibly irritating. Strangely, Alice was able to tell that the music was created by a machine and not by actual humans with instruments even though Alice was from the Victorian era and no such machines that created music all by themselves existed.
The fall ended as suddenly as it began and the landing left Alice momentarily disoriented. However, when Alice recovered from the fall and began to study the world around her, the feeling of disorientation that Alice had been experiencing increased exponentially. An elaborate series of dirt roads stretched out in all directions. By the sides of these roads sat fields of dead grass and drab buildings that were all in advanced stages of disrepair. Crowds of people who all looked enough alike to be identical twins despite the fact that these crowds were clearly made up of different people were everywhere. Every member of each crowd was engaged in exactly the same dull, repetitive actions as every other member of the crowd they belonged to. Often these crowds could be seen stopping whatever they were doing in unison and going off to take part in some other activity together. A tan sun shone overhead in a grey sky. The buildings, the trees, the people, the clothing worn by the people, and almost everything else in this strange new world appeared to be either grey or tan. The only exception to this was the series of devices hanging from poles at regular intervals along the dusty roads. These glowed in elaborate patterns comprised of every color imaginable.
"Pardon me," Alice said as she rushed forward to stand alongside the young boy she had followed here,"but who are you and what is this place?" It seemed that a startled expression was working its way onto the youths face as he turned to face Alice. As the young boy continued walking, he stopped talking to himself about being late for something and started talking about how shocking it was that Alice had ended up following him here.
"Where I come from," Alice said with mock consternation,"failing to respond to a question that one is asked is thought to be quite rude."
"I apologize," the boy said in a voice that contained only the slightest suggestion of life,"This is all just a bit much for me. You see, it is like this. At precisely 0612.42, I was making my way to the designated play area for my socioeconomic group when a hole appeared before me in the roadway. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to avoid it. I fell into some strange land where I suppose you probably followed me here from. I MUST make it to the designated play area before things get even worse than they are."
"But I'm afraid that still doesn't explain who you are," said Alice as she reached over to tap him on the shoulder. The boy shuddered slightly when her hand made contact with his shoulder.
"I'm Joseph34-27a," the boy said with what sounded like hints of confusion and consternation creeping into his voice,"but what possible difference could that make?" His voice and the look in his eyes suggested that this was a question he hadn't been asked in a long time. Alice, however, seemed oblivious to his reaction to her.
"Charmed," Alice said with what she supposed would be the manner of a member of the royal family attending some glamorous society function,"I am Alice." Alice then bowed elaborately and extended her hand.
"You really must stop this," Joseph34-27a said as he grabbed her handed and pulled her along behind him,"You're going to get us into some serious trouble. Well, of course, trouble might be hard to avoid with you dressed like that."
"And just what is wrong with the way that I am dressed,"Alice asked indignantly,"Mother had this dress made especially for me by one of the finest designers in all of London." Alice stopped walking and put her hands on her hips.
"Come on!!,"Joseph34-27a said with his voice slightly raised,"You are going to get both of us in some serious trouble. Quick, we've got to hurry." However, a minute or so after he said this Joseph34-27a stopped completely and pulled Alice to a stop beside him.
"Now why are we stopping," Alice said in confusion,"I thought that you said we simply had to "hurry" because we are about to get in some "serious trouble" or some such foolishness."
"Yes, I suppose you wouldn't know about that,"Joseph34-27a said in a manner which suggested that he was either unable to detect the sarcasm in Alice's voice or he choose to ignore it,"There is a blue diagonal line above an orange circle on the signaler. That means we must stop." He then pointed to a large circular device hanging from a pole by the side of the road as though to further explain what he was saying.
"So everyone here in this land of yours just does whatever the glowing light tells them to do," Alice asked with disbelief,"that is rather curious."
"Just follow me and do what I do," Joseph34-27a said. It appeared that he had stopped listening to Alice and indeed he had. His mind was too full over anxiety regarding what was likely to happen to him for missing his scheduled appointment at the designated play area. Joseph34-27a didn't dare rush there to try and make it on time or disregard the signaler in any way because that could easily make his situation worse. He made his way there along the path that the signaler was laying out as best he could and Alice followed him as best she could. Whether the signaler told them to skip instead of walking or to turn around and walk backwards, they followed the directions of the massive machines completely. Other groups of people in matching grey outfits rushed back and forth all around them.
After what Alice estimated was about two miles, they came to a rather nondescript grey building. It appeared to be made of some sort of stone. The building was windowless but had two rusty metal doors on one side of it.
"We're here,"Joseph34-27a said uncomfortably. Alice wondered how he knew. This building seemed to look exactly like countless other ones that they had passed.
After pausing briefly to gather his courage, Joseph 34-27a pushed the rusty door open and stepped inside. Alice followed closely behind him. The building appeared much larger from the inside than the outside. The stone floor below them seemed to stretch on endlessly and yet it still somehow seemed to be incredibly confining. Numerous children in matching grey outfits who all looked like Joseph34-27a, or at least like female versions of him, were all walking out two rusty metal doors that were on the other side of the building. Each of these children also carried a toy stuffed rabbit identical to the one Joseph held.
Several adults, who all looked like proportionately larger versions of Joseph34-27a were helping to guide them along. The help of these adults, however, did not seem to be at all necessary. Every child seemed to naturally march along perfectly and appeared to manage remaining in his or her proper place in the formation with no effort whatsoever. It almost appeared as though each child were merely the reflection of the one before it.
Two of the adults stayed behind while everyone else was leaving and stood there staring at Joseph34-27a and Alice as though they were insects that had just been accidentally stepped on. When everyone else had left, the two adults walked a few steps closer to Joseph and Alice.
"You were late," the adult on the left said in a voice that somehow managed to be menacing despite the way it clearly contained not a trace of menace,"and this is not the first time."
"Well, you see," Joseph34-27a began nervously.
"Silence," said the adult on the right,"as my associate was saying, there have been numerous reports from many respected members of our community regarding your being late. There also have been reports of you playing poorly with others and accidentally breaking numerous things. It has become clear that you are disruptive and a community simply can not afford to allow such a threat to remain in its midst if it wishes to run smoothly."
"Sir, no, surely you can't mean that,"Joseph34-27a shouted as a great deal of emotion suddenly crept into his voice.
"Silence," said the adult on the left,"Many have long felt that there was no hope for you but now, today, you have proven beyond a doubt that this is the case, what with you showing up so late and bringing this agitator in her wild clothes here."
"Just what is wrong with my clothes," demanded Alice,"I'll have you know that mother had to pay many pounds to get this dress. Oh, umm, and as for Joseph, you see it isn't his fault that I'm here because."
"I had to help her,"Joseph34-27 said with an obvious effort to remain calm," She followed me here so I feel as though it is my fault she ended up in this place. There's no way she could've gotten by without someone to show her around. I couldn't abandon her."
"And why not?," asked the adult on the right,"she is clearly a threat to the stability of our community. This kind of thinking, as well as your habit of clumsily breaking everything you come into contact with, are why we have had to send for the wagon."
"No," Joseph34-27 yelled without bothering to even try and keep all the emotion out of his voice,"Please, no."
Without bothering to say anything further, each of the adults grabbed one of the children and they began to drag them outside. A crowd which was surprisingly large considering how little time it had taken to form was lined up along either side of the road for what looked like miles in either direction. The crowd roared in unison as they saw the two children being brought out of the building. A team of horses pulled a large wagon directly in front of the building before stopping. The driver seated in the front part of the wagon wore a grey cloak that obscured his face. Each of the horses he controlled appeared nearly dead. The back part of the wagon was essentially a giant cage. It was built out of numerous grey metal bars which were designed to be spaced close enough together that none of the prisoners could jump out and escape but far enough apart that each prisoner could clearly see the hateful crowds jeering at them.
There were already two prisoners in the wagon when it stopped to pick up Joseph34-27 and Alice. One was a very old man who appeared to have not eaten since he was a very young man. His ribs were clearly visible through the blue business suit he was wearing and about an inch of dust seemed to be covering the old man's entire body. The old man was studying intently a book which was several feet thick and he paused in his reading only to periodically push his glasses up further on his hairless head whenever they slid down. In the left corner sat the other prisoner. He wore a robe that vaguely resembled robes which might be worn by royalty but it appeared to have suffered a great deal of wear and tear. It somehow seemed to be constantly changing colors. The man wearing it had long hair which appeared to have been tied in some sort of braids once which were now rapidly coming undone. What looked like several days worth of stubble covered his face. The wild look in his eyes seemed to suggest that he was staring at a scene very different than the one laid out before him, a scene that no one else can see.
Alice and Joseph34-27 were dumped unceremoniously in the cage. After the cage door was loudly shut behind them, the wagon continued moving forward. The faceless crowds by the roadside continued jeering and taunting in unison. Two more prisoners were shoved into the back of the wagon. One was a stunningly attractive woman who was clad only in a skin-tight red body-suit that failed to cover most of her body and barely managed to conceal the portion of her body it did cover. After she was thrown into the wagon, she crawled into the corner of the cage that was farthest from where everyone else was sitting and began muttering to herself far too quietly for anyone to make out what she was saying. The other prisoner was an absurdly muscular young man who wore gloves on his gigantic fists that had what looked like barbed wire attached to the knuckles. He kept looking over his shoulder as though he expected some unseen enemy to leap out and attack him.
"Well, wherever we might be going, I certainly do hope that we get there soon," Alice said with a sigh,"This is hardly the grand adventure which I had envisioned myself having when I followed you here."Joseph34-27 shook his head in disbelief.
"You don't get it," Joseph34-27 said tiredly,"do you? This is it for us. This wagon is headed for the outskirts of town. We're going to the factory where they take all those that the community can't seem to handle. Our mental energy will be used to power the machines that run this city and our forms will be broken down so that their components will be put to what are deemed to be more sensible uses."
"Oh my," Alice said with a sigh as she stared at the tan sun setting on the grey horizon,"I don't care for this at all."