About two hours later (about 0100 hours) Stev pushed the keyboard
away and pulled himself to his feet. He started down the corridor,
stopping a few times to push some fallen wires back into place behind the
curtains. The hallway was dark and musty; walking down here gave one the
impression of traveling through catacombs, especially when the tunnels went
under the river and the walls became moldy(er) from the constant dripping.
Because of the dankness one was always in danger of contracting a cold or
any other disease that happens to be in at the time. Stev turned into a
narrow side corridor and entered Phred's room.
Phred's room also doubled as the source of power for their whole little community. The only hints the this was actually someone's room was because of a musty cot, a beaten-up looking leather satchel, several pill bottles (anti-fatigue, spasm control, anxiety control, etc.) and a complex looking laptop in one corner, the rest of the room was a mass of wires. It was Phred's main job to keep the underground supplied with power, he didn't always used live like this, but it was just easier to put himself in a position where he could immediately fix any problem that manifested itself. No one could really tell how he could navigate the mess of wires let alone manipulate them to evenly distribute electricity without the Party growing wise, but he did it (did it well) so no one asked questions.
As it was Phred was sort of an oddball, he was only seventeen but he rarely spoke to anyone about anything other than what needed to be fixed or updated. He mostly stayed in his room... tinkering. One time he didn't leave for three weeks and when his door finally opened an armada of spider- esk foot high robots came out, walked into random rooms then promptly exploded. Phred had situated himself in the hall and watched the chaos unfold... and laughed (and laughed, and laughed). There really wasn't anything anyone could do, everyone depended on Phred for their power, so they just ignored him and dealt with whatever he sent their way. The only people who really spoke to him were K'rin and a few other eclectic members of the community. Even then Phred really didn't say anything of value, as it was no one knew who he really was, where he came from, anything pertinent about his past stayed locked in his mind. Stev was one of his very few close friends.
Stev stood in the doorway trying to find Phred in the amassment of wires, when all of the sudden sparks started flying and Stev noticed him in a large pile trying to meld some of the metal siding back in place. He had his long scruffy mass of black hair pulled back and was wearing old- fashioned goggles attempting to keep the sparks out of his eyes. Stev unperturbed remained where he was and lightly rapped the doorframe with his knuckles, Phred spun around wide-eyed in surprise. He pulled his goggles off.
"Don't sneak up on me like that" he sighed and plopped down on his cot.
"Sorry" replied Stev in monotone "K'rin said you needed to speak with me"
"Hmmm, oh yeah. I need you to pick me up some disks, wire, metal grating... here" he rummaged in his bag bringing forth a list on old used paper and handed it to him, his hand was shaking slightly "I've written down what I need.... Also" he looked at the floor, almost ashamed "you might want to mention to whomever that it might be time to consider moving again. We've been here for far longer than is wise, we use up a lot of power and it's hard to hide it all. I'm sorry, but it's really hard..."
Stev looked up from the list "I'll bring it up next time we have a meeting. Anyway it might take me awhile to get these things for you. Is that all you needed?"
"Yeah."
"Ok" Stev turned to leave, then looked back "How are the hands?"
Phred cocked his head to one side, focused his alert green eyes on him "How are the dreams?"
Stev gave a weak smile "Touché. I'll talk to you later" With that he left and headed back to his computer. He sat down, and resumed his typing.
**************************************************************************** **
A sharp buzzing brought Stev back to the land of the living. He had nodded off at his console again. He glanced at the clock on the screen, it was 0500, he had to get ready for another day at minitrue. After changing into a quasi-clean set of clothes he swallowed another three tablets with some weak victory coffee, grabbed his case and set off.
He arrived at work at 0700, sat down in his cubicle and read some messages. He controlled an urge to smirk; the annoying punctuality message was absent today. He started on his first project, nothing hard, merely creating a new standing position for a Big Brother poster that was to be plastered across the city in a few days, merely manipulating pixels and such plus a bit of know-how and artistic talent and it was done. It was about 0900 when he finished; he leaned back in his chair to stretch. As if on cue a message came out of the tube "Laziness is a vice", Stev stared at it for moment, put it aside and began to work yet again.
Three tough looking young men appeared behind him (the cubicles had no backs, just three walls and you sat with your back to where the fourth wall was supposed to be. This took some time for Stev to get used to; he had grown accustomed to sitting with your back to the door, eyes watching the windows and doors). Stev heard them behind him and slowly got out of his chair.
"Hold it right there!" Barked one. Stev froze halfway up and looked them over. The boys wore uniforms somewhat similar to those of the scouts, however more serious, more deadly. These boys could not be much over the maximum age for the childrens' organization, and were obviously in training for some security job, this was probably their first assignment. He was now more than ever thankful his mother had forbade him join the scouts when he was five, who knows what he might have turned out like had he been brainwashed at that age.
Comparatively speaking he was not much different than these young men. They were about the same age, same height, same complexion, but Stev was easily 50 pounds lighter than the smallest of them. Where they were muscular Stev was all bone; where they were linear cut comrades whom had never worked intellectually Stev's face was strained with the burden of his work; where they had shallow reflective eyes, his looked as though he had been watching over the world since the first dawn. He stared at them, the exertion of holding his position was beginning to tell on him, in a few moments his hands would begin shaking. The guards-in-training snickered amongst themselves, the tallest one stepped forward.
"Are you Stev Phourlorne?" Stev nodded, keeping calm "Mr. Jenkins would like to speak with you. Please come with us." He nodded, swallowed hard. Jenkins was the overseer of not only his department, but the entire propaganda proportion of the Ministry of Truth, and a highly recognized member of the Inner Party. They knew, they had caught him. He numbly followed the young men down the hall. He was going to go to the Ministry of love, he was going to be tortured, beaten... these didn't bother him so much, he had accepted them as realities ever since he was a boy, it was room 101 that bothered him. Room 101.... He faltered a little and one of his knees buckled under him. The guards took it as an opportunity to test out their new equipment, one of them jammed the butt of their rifle in his stomache, the other cracked him on the back of the skull with some other blunt object, the third stood watch. Stev crumpled to the floor, tried to push himself up but was knocked down again when one of the guards boots connected with his ribs. The stress, lack of sleep, paranoia, everything came rushing back to the foreground of his mind, his vision blacked out and he lost consciousness.
As the guards picked him up and carried him to his destination the rest of the workers in the propaganda department continued their on with their jobs undisturbed.
Phred's room also doubled as the source of power for their whole little community. The only hints the this was actually someone's room was because of a musty cot, a beaten-up looking leather satchel, several pill bottles (anti-fatigue, spasm control, anxiety control, etc.) and a complex looking laptop in one corner, the rest of the room was a mass of wires. It was Phred's main job to keep the underground supplied with power, he didn't always used live like this, but it was just easier to put himself in a position where he could immediately fix any problem that manifested itself. No one could really tell how he could navigate the mess of wires let alone manipulate them to evenly distribute electricity without the Party growing wise, but he did it (did it well) so no one asked questions.
As it was Phred was sort of an oddball, he was only seventeen but he rarely spoke to anyone about anything other than what needed to be fixed or updated. He mostly stayed in his room... tinkering. One time he didn't leave for three weeks and when his door finally opened an armada of spider- esk foot high robots came out, walked into random rooms then promptly exploded. Phred had situated himself in the hall and watched the chaos unfold... and laughed (and laughed, and laughed). There really wasn't anything anyone could do, everyone depended on Phred for their power, so they just ignored him and dealt with whatever he sent their way. The only people who really spoke to him were K'rin and a few other eclectic members of the community. Even then Phred really didn't say anything of value, as it was no one knew who he really was, where he came from, anything pertinent about his past stayed locked in his mind. Stev was one of his very few close friends.
Stev stood in the doorway trying to find Phred in the amassment of wires, when all of the sudden sparks started flying and Stev noticed him in a large pile trying to meld some of the metal siding back in place. He had his long scruffy mass of black hair pulled back and was wearing old- fashioned goggles attempting to keep the sparks out of his eyes. Stev unperturbed remained where he was and lightly rapped the doorframe with his knuckles, Phred spun around wide-eyed in surprise. He pulled his goggles off.
"Don't sneak up on me like that" he sighed and plopped down on his cot.
"Sorry" replied Stev in monotone "K'rin said you needed to speak with me"
"Hmmm, oh yeah. I need you to pick me up some disks, wire, metal grating... here" he rummaged in his bag bringing forth a list on old used paper and handed it to him, his hand was shaking slightly "I've written down what I need.... Also" he looked at the floor, almost ashamed "you might want to mention to whomever that it might be time to consider moving again. We've been here for far longer than is wise, we use up a lot of power and it's hard to hide it all. I'm sorry, but it's really hard..."
Stev looked up from the list "I'll bring it up next time we have a meeting. Anyway it might take me awhile to get these things for you. Is that all you needed?"
"Yeah."
"Ok" Stev turned to leave, then looked back "How are the hands?"
Phred cocked his head to one side, focused his alert green eyes on him "How are the dreams?"
Stev gave a weak smile "Touché. I'll talk to you later" With that he left and headed back to his computer. He sat down, and resumed his typing.
**************************************************************************** **
A sharp buzzing brought Stev back to the land of the living. He had nodded off at his console again. He glanced at the clock on the screen, it was 0500, he had to get ready for another day at minitrue. After changing into a quasi-clean set of clothes he swallowed another three tablets with some weak victory coffee, grabbed his case and set off.
He arrived at work at 0700, sat down in his cubicle and read some messages. He controlled an urge to smirk; the annoying punctuality message was absent today. He started on his first project, nothing hard, merely creating a new standing position for a Big Brother poster that was to be plastered across the city in a few days, merely manipulating pixels and such plus a bit of know-how and artistic talent and it was done. It was about 0900 when he finished; he leaned back in his chair to stretch. As if on cue a message came out of the tube "Laziness is a vice", Stev stared at it for moment, put it aside and began to work yet again.
Three tough looking young men appeared behind him (the cubicles had no backs, just three walls and you sat with your back to where the fourth wall was supposed to be. This took some time for Stev to get used to; he had grown accustomed to sitting with your back to the door, eyes watching the windows and doors). Stev heard them behind him and slowly got out of his chair.
"Hold it right there!" Barked one. Stev froze halfway up and looked them over. The boys wore uniforms somewhat similar to those of the scouts, however more serious, more deadly. These boys could not be much over the maximum age for the childrens' organization, and were obviously in training for some security job, this was probably their first assignment. He was now more than ever thankful his mother had forbade him join the scouts when he was five, who knows what he might have turned out like had he been brainwashed at that age.
Comparatively speaking he was not much different than these young men. They were about the same age, same height, same complexion, but Stev was easily 50 pounds lighter than the smallest of them. Where they were muscular Stev was all bone; where they were linear cut comrades whom had never worked intellectually Stev's face was strained with the burden of his work; where they had shallow reflective eyes, his looked as though he had been watching over the world since the first dawn. He stared at them, the exertion of holding his position was beginning to tell on him, in a few moments his hands would begin shaking. The guards-in-training snickered amongst themselves, the tallest one stepped forward.
"Are you Stev Phourlorne?" Stev nodded, keeping calm "Mr. Jenkins would like to speak with you. Please come with us." He nodded, swallowed hard. Jenkins was the overseer of not only his department, but the entire propaganda proportion of the Ministry of Truth, and a highly recognized member of the Inner Party. They knew, they had caught him. He numbly followed the young men down the hall. He was going to go to the Ministry of love, he was going to be tortured, beaten... these didn't bother him so much, he had accepted them as realities ever since he was a boy, it was room 101 that bothered him. Room 101.... He faltered a little and one of his knees buckled under him. The guards took it as an opportunity to test out their new equipment, one of them jammed the butt of their rifle in his stomache, the other cracked him on the back of the skull with some other blunt object, the third stood watch. Stev crumpled to the floor, tried to push himself up but was knocked down again when one of the guards boots connected with his ribs. The stress, lack of sleep, paranoia, everything came rushing back to the foreground of his mind, his vision blacked out and he lost consciousness.
As the guards picked him up and carried him to his destination the rest of the workers in the propaganda department continued their on with their jobs undisturbed.
