On the eleventh day of her hospitalization the door to her hospital room opened and Dr. Glasmir entered. Before the door closed, Violet again caught a glimpse of a tall, dark haired man in uniform. Who was he and why was he guarding her room? He seemed to have the day watch, while another guard replaced him in late afternoon, and then after dark a third one stood watch. In the morning, "pale eyes," as Violet had come to think of him, would reappear. As far as she knew, the process had been repeated since her arrival. Today, she felt strong enough to demand some answers from Dr. Glasmir.
As always, the doctor sat in the chair beside her bed and asked about her comfort level.
Rather than wade through the trivialities, she said, "Why do I have guards posted outside my door?"
Dr. Glasmir who had forgone his mask three days earlier, smiled widely, which gave his aged face a youthful appeal. "I wondered how long it would be before you asked."
"Well?"
His grin faded. "Before I answer that question, I need to give you some history that goes back three hundred years." He paused and puffed a breath. "Remember when I told you that approximately three hundred years ago the focus shifted from living aboveground to improving the underground?"
She nodded.
"Well, that paradigm shift was a calculated one."
Violet frowned. "I don't understand."
Dr. Glasmir continued. "Unfathomable amounts of money were being directed into terraforming research, which, in my estimation, was a good thing. But about that time, there came a breakthrough in crop production underground. In huge excavated rooms, life sustaining crops were being produced using the elements in the air. Soil was not necessary." He rubbed his jaw. "And, as you can imagine, the powers that developed this process saw the potential for unlimited wealth. This new food source practically eliminated the previous costly one of synthesizing nourishment in labs. Production costs were lowered but the savings was not passed on to consumers."
Violet interrupted. "Why would the government want to get rich off its own population?"
Dr. Glasmir rubbed his jaw. "It wasn't the government that discovered the breakthrough; it was a private company named SBG, Sustainment Below Ground."
"But couldn't the government have demanded that something so remarkable be brought under its jurisdiction?"
"Of course, and it did. But neither of us are naive to the power of wealth. At first, it seemed that the leaders were working to bring costs down for the good of the people, and maybe they were, but after many years, influential persons in high positions were bought or blackmailed by SBG to bring us to our current state. Most of the population doesn't even know how beautiful the earth once was. Daily propaganda makes them fearful of any attempt at terraforming. Other than a hologram of a starry sky, they have no idea of what a sunset or sunrise looks like. The few books that have pictures of the earth as it once was are being systematically stored in unobtainable archives under the guise of preservation of history. Large sums of money are offered to people who willingly turn in books that SBG claims encourage outdated thinking. Their advertising is very effective."
"That's unconscionable!"
"Yes, it is. But the power of the media is incredible. As is the power of wealth to control the media."
Violet returned to her previous question, already suspecting the answer. "So why do I have guards outside my room?"
"To protect you from SBG. Thankfully, the company has not gained complete control of our leaders. There is a small group who has kept the hope of terraforming alive, and there is a growing population who support them. And you, my dear—to use an old euphemism—represent the smoking gun. However, we have hidden your awakening from SBG. Your identity was exchanged for someone else's and we're using the excuse that you are a 'fight or flight' danger to keep guards posted. If your identity were known, you would be considered a threat to SBG."
"But what about the staff who know who I am?"
Dr. Glasmir grinned. "Everyone who works at this facility are members of an organization known as TEA, or Terraforming Earth Again. And only a select few have been allowed to interact with you. To the outside world, you are Mary Jones, a computer programmer with no family who was put into cryosleep two decades ago because of kidney failure, but awakened after a cure was found. Thankfully, the SBG pays little attention to our facility. We are low ranking on their list of potential threats."