It was already midmorning when I awoke. For a second, I wondered why I was in the living area. Then I remembered. My guest. I still could not believe it. I went silently and slid the door open just a little, maybe just to prove it to myself. There Somni was, resting comfortably on her side. I slid the door closed. I did not want to disturb her.
I started doing my exercises. Even though strenuous, they could be performed silently in a small area. I have done these maneuvers for years. They were based upon ancient martial arts and involve the body and mind; I found them very helpful to me as source of solace when my mind needed it during my university years. This is why Union training came so easily to me. Their training was also based upon these ancient military skills and mantras; using your opponent's strength and weight and inertia to your advantage; the element of silence and observation in preparing yourself against your adversary; strong movements to promote flexibility and agility; the use of your mind as a defensive as well as offensive weapon.
Then it was time for some business. I knelt before the table, and sent my orison spinning aloft between my hands. I could scan with my either my implant or the orison, but the orison was more powerful. Anything other than scanning would require connection to the mainframe, which revealed your location. I could tell that the hunt was on for Somni. From the messages I could intercept, it had taken them a little while to figure out which fabricant was dead and which was missing.
There was no indication of the enforcers looking for me yet, but I knew it would happen. They would look to question all who came to Papa Song in the last few days. My face and genetic signature were all over Papa Song this last week. My identity had been scrubbed several times by the Union connections at the Ministry so I would not be easy to locate. That would make me a target. For this particular mission I had random identities assigned for what was needed; one for my apartment, another for my credit card, etc. If captured, I would be labeled illegal.
I looked through my prized private collection of ebooks and vidis, those kept behind firewalls and encrypted. I wondered which I should show to Somni; her tutelage would start today. Many of these are banned by unanimity; those written by philosophers of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment; Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau, Solzhenitsyn, Founders of the American and French revolutions, The Chinese communist movement, religious books like The Bible, the Koran, Buddhist and Hindu works, etc. Any one of these would get me arrested. To be found with all, I would be executed. It never bothered me before, but now I had another concern. I was putting Somni at risk also.
An anonymous message, hidden within a commercial transmission, unintelligible and heavily encrypted, came across on my implanted messager. It had no content; it was a "ping" of sorts, from Union Command. It signaled that all agents on mission were to check in then quickly change their locations. This was an extreme measure; they did not often do this so Union had probably heard about the missing fabricant and was pulling in their lines. Any response would mark my location, to Unanimity more so than Union. Union already knew where this place, my Neo Seoul safe house, was. My continued silence in response to this message would be a signal in itself.
The only other dispositions to for Union to consider once I did not answer were death or capture. The implanted messagers of Union officers were programmed, they transmitted a final location signal when brain waves ceased or when someone tampered with it, then they stopped functioning, and could not be examined. Union command would know if I had been captured from our contacts at Ministry. No contact with an agent for 4 hours after signal would lead to a Union team going to the agents last known base, destroying physical evidence and sterilizing it; removing all known electronic and genetic signatures. If I did not want them to disturb Somni, or give up my location to Unanimity, I would have to go to command personally. My countdown for contact had begun.
I heard a small noise besides me. Somni was there, awake, cleaned and dressed. She looked scared and shifted side to side nervously. I knew what it was. Doubt and fear had gripped her. I smiled at her. She looked over my shoulder at the small vidi screens I had open, containing words and images. She looked away, scared. Even an unintentional glance at consumer literature was punishable, in her previous world. The Seers kept their fabricants as ignorant as possible.
"These are for you, Somni." I said. Her eyes opened widely.
"Seer Chang…" she said, voice trembling. I bristled for a second at the reference. I forced myself to relax. I did not want to frighten her any more than she was.
"PLEASE" I said, insistently. "Call me Hae Joo." She gulped nervously.
"Hae Joo" she continued timidly "but, fabricants can be excised for this." I looked away, trying to hide my disappointment. I turned to her after a second.
"Well, survival often demands our courage." I said. I looked at her, at the vidis and looked back again. A look of realization washed over her face. Now she understood. We could both be executed for this. The innocence in her expression was disappearing. She seemed to make an internal choice; her body became still, she took a deep breath and stood straight and tall. It seemed that strength came over her. She nodded and knelt next to me.
"But I do not know what to do." She said, looking down.
"I can show you." I urged. Her head rose and her eyes met mine. "But you must want to learn." I said, softly. She nodded, urgently. Was that hope I was seeing in her eyes, or my own joy?
So far so good. So very good. As I raised my hand to maneuver to a bio on Solzhenitsyn, who was referenced in the vidi last night, I heard a growl coming from Somni's stomach, and I turned to her quickly. She looked embarrassed, putting her hands over her stomach. I smirked. Again, I was not being a good host. Even though enjoyable, our hot chocolate indulgence last night would not sustain her as a soap box would. She would have to get used to eating meals like the rest of us. Teaching could wait for a little while longer.
"Would you like to have something to eat with me?" I said. After my workout in the morning, I certainly was in need of sustenance. She gave a timid smile. "What would you like?" I continued.
"I do not usually have anything ..." She started. Then, as if a light went off in her head: "What we had last night." She said, with that eager little smile. I grinned. She communicated in so few words, and her expression and mannerisms, though subtle, communicated volumes. Or maybe it was just me trying to see more in her than she could give.
She followed my every move as I assembled a light meal. She tried to get up and help but I sat her gently back down. We ate around the table in the main room, facing each other. She was appropriate but did seem a little unaware of the convention of polite table conversation. It was to be expected. Fabricants probably did not eat like this. Neither did I usually, to be honest.
"Did you sleep well?" I asked. "After you went back to bed?"
"Yes. The bed is very comfortable." She said, with that shy little smile. "I think that was the longest I have ever slept." She admitted. She returned to her meal.
"Well, for that I am glad." I replied. I took another bite and let some silence fall between us. I was not one for talking just to fill a space so I just sat there, looking at her. She had gentleness in her movements, sweetness in her expressions. Her small smile was irresistibly beguiling. I was surprised at my own reactions, but Somni drew two emotions from deep within me; one was the desire to fiercely protect her, the other was the urge to treat her with tenderness and patience.
I wanted her to ask me something, anything, on her own. My mind wandered back to Papa Song. "How were you treated by Seer Rhee?" I queried finally. She seemed puzzled at the question.
"He treated me like all the other -" she stopped short "almost all the other servers." She looked down, and continued. "He treated one of us…differently."
"Yoona 939." I said. She raised her head, surprised, then nodded. Somni knew that I was aware of what happened but probably not that I had seen it firsthand. I continued. "I think that consumer was wrong to do what he did to her. It was disrespectful. And Seer Rhee's reaction was excessive." I said, returning to my meal. She looked at me, eyes round for a moment.
"You were there?" she gasped. I nodded. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes again.
"She did not follow the rules." She said. "Therefore she was punished. We were all warned. "
"What do you think about her 'punishment'?" I queried. Let the learning begin. She looked pensive.
"What do I think?" she asked, shaking her head.
"I am asking your opinion. What do you think about how Yoona was treated?" I pushed, yet gently. She had to start realizing her voice, opinions beyond nice clothes and chocolate drinks. "Would you have done the same?"
"No, I would not." She said immediately. She then frowned. "Do you mean the same as Yoona? Or Seer Rhee?" That one surprised me.
"Both." I said, leaning back on my arm. I wanted to see if she was able to view situations from the perspective of others, some quite different from she. She looked towards the wall, pursing her lips in though. Yet another expression I would get to know well. Then she looked back at me.
"Yoona knew she would probably be excised for what she did. Yoona took risks. She ran to the elevator to escape punishment. She had no other choice." She paused a moment. "I would not have punched the consumer, or have gotten angry." Then a crinkle developed between her brows and she sighed. I could see that getting into the head of her Seer was more difficult. "I was her friend. I would have let her go into the elevator. It is all she wanted to do. To see what it was like up here with the consumers." She fell silent.
"And if you were her Seer…" I urged gently, with a soft voice. She was struggling with this. She finally shook her head.
"I do not know how to act like a seer, but I do know that Seer Rhee would not let her leave. He is responsible for keeping us at Papa Song. "
"Confined?" I said. I could not help myself. I shouldn't have been quite so blatant. She looked at me blankly.
"Employed. Until exultation." She declared. I looked away because I felt myself getting upset. Somni did not know what exultation actually was. Fabricants did not even consider themselves enslaved. They expected exultation as a reward for their years of hard work, and were trained to look forward to it. Large volume, grand scale murder and butchery is what it actually was. Horrible. It made me sick to think of it, and fearful to think of my Somni going through it. That is what I now thought of her as. My Somni. She broke my silence…
"You are displeased." She uttered. I looked up at her. She was looking intently at my face.
"No." I responded tersely. She did not look convinced. "Yes, but, please understand; not at you." I corrected, looking back at her. She nodded, then continued to look at me thoughtfully. "What made you say that?" I wondered aloud.
"You do this often." she pushed her lips together and tightened her upper lip. The expression looked out-of-place, comical on her soft, pretty face, so I nearly laughed. "You do it when you want to hide what you are thinking." She said, matter of factly, her expression becoming her own again.
"Really?" I said. She nodded. "Very insightful." I was amazed. I did not realize my own mannerisms.
"As servers, we have to learn many languages. Even to see what people think, but do not say." She said, standing and clearing the dishes. Ah, Now it made sense to me; teach servers to read body language and they would know how to serve their consumers better. And make Papa Song more credits.
I joined her in clearing away the dishes and cleaning the table. This was habit for her to do, so I decided not to stop her. I hoped it would make her feel better, more natural.
"Were you treated the same way by some consumers?" I asked as we moved around.
"Yes. Sometimes they would touch me, push me, and make jokes about me. Sometimes they would yell or spit at me." She said, now looking upset.
"And how did that make you feel?" I asked. She thought about it a while, then looked at me again.
"Vulnerable. Frightened. The touching…made me feel most uncomfortable." She crossed her arms and rubbed her upper arm as if remembering the experiences.
I disturbing thought drifted into my mind - how did she feel now, here? She was in an uncomfortable place, after all: Alone with a strange man locked in a strange apartment. I moved away and returned to the table to open my orison.
"How did you stop them?" I asked. Just curious.
"I could not. I just tried to ignore it, or walk away. " She said. " If they became violent, Seer Rhee would intervene." She looked down and returned to sit by my side. I turned to her.
"Somni…" I said, gently.
"Yes, Hae Joo?" She replied, with those dark, wide questioning eyes. She turned to mirror me, shifting on her heels. I liked the way she said my name. It rolled off her tongue so easily.
"If I ever touch you, or talk to you, or do anything that makes you feel 'uncomfortable', please tell me." I asked earnestly. She looked at me as she mulled it over.
"That will not be necessary." She said finally, turning to look at the spinning orison before us. I stopped it from spinning and caught it. She looked back at me, wondering.
"Why not?" I asked, confused. She took a deep breath.
"Because I am very comfortable with you, Hae Joo. You are respectful. Your voice is gentle. Your touch…" she said slowly, her eyes finding mine "...is kindness."
A lump formed in my throat. I was utterly floored.
"Meronym, come in please." The agitated voice of Corbin, one of the navigators, came in over her communication implant. It nearly made Meronym jump out of her skin; she was so engrossed in the narrative ofthe book.
"Yes, I am in my office on A deck. What is it?" She replied, a little irritated. She grabbed a marker, and gently closed the book over it, wrapping it back up in its trappings.
"Well…can you come here please? We need your help with the Valleyman."
"What's wrong, is Zachry OK?" she queried, getting worried.
"Uh, we think so. But he is acting strange and we don't want to upset him." Corbin confided.
"What? What do you mean strange?" Meronym shook her head and wondered. She headed down the hall, to the elevator that went up to navigation.
"Just… come. When you get here you will see what I mean." Corbin said, exasperated.
Meronym heard him sign off. She growled internally. She hoped that bringing Zachry on the ship was a good idea after all. She really did not know how Zachry would react; he had been through so much. The Valleymen tribe was an agrarian society, god fearing folk, family oriented; they relied on the tribe for communal success. The truth was that there was no way she could leave him and his niece alone there on the island, to be eventually eaten by the cannibalistic Kona tribe. But he was in a new world now, and that would take some adjusting. She raised her eyebrows. Much like Somni, in Hae Joo's world, Zachry was naïve in an advanced society. Meronym rushed on the flight deck and worked her way to the front. A group of prescients were looking out of the front window, murmuring in puzzlement. Corbin saw her, and came to her.
"Thank god you are here. I have no idea how he got there." Corbin said, pushing Meronym to the front of the crowd.
"Got where? …By Somni!" she exclaimed, putting her hands up on the window. There, dangerously close the edge of the ship's gentle, sloping front, was Zachry, standing on the bow, his cloak blowing in the rising breeze.