Chapter 12
“Dear, why have you waited so long to chat?”
“Mom, don’t start that way. It’s hard enough in here.”
“Are they treating you well?”
“They are treating me.”
“I wish we knew what you were going through. We heard about this boy from the patrol. He could have ruined you. Luckily they were very understanding, very forgiving.”
“Marco was trying to save me.”
“Save you from what?”
“From the rationale.”
“Amelia, that’s an inversion. Like saving someone from a life preserver.”
“A life what?”
“Never mind. Before our time.”
“I’m doing fine. Marco is helping me get through this.”
“You’re not still communicating with that boy?”
“He doesn’t use tech. We never communicated that way.”
“Then how did you meet him?”
“Via what they used to call chance.”
“Chance is best avoided.”
“That’s what they’ve been telling me. Ms. Fields gives me more probability problems than can be done in a night. I think to keep me on what they argue is an inevitable path. However I conclude a problem, it always supports the rationale.”
“That’s because the rationale is derived from science and math in order to calculate the most efficient way for reducing risk and avoiding chance. The rationale is objective: best are we who live in an age supported by logic instead of myth.”
“How about the myth of trace?”
“What do you know about it?”
“Never mind, mom. I don’t want to stress you out.”
“Then how is this Marco helping you?”
“He’s my reward for getting through this. My hope.”
“What is there to get through? Are they feeding you well?”
“Yes.”
“Providing other necessities?”
“They hand deliver all the things you can expect from an actuator: food, towels, sanitary items, all things.”
“All things?”
“Except for trace, mom. Don’t worry.”
“Who said anything about trace?”
“No one did. How’s dad, anyway?”
“He wanted to join us for chat.”
“Then why didn’t he?”
“He’s tired. Very tired. He’s been down since you left.”
“I didn’t leave. The patrol forced me.”
“They didn’t force you. We’ve read the record.”
“They persuaded me, then. Strongly. And you stood by.”
“We consented to your best interest.”
“Was it that easy to send me away?”
“Nothing is easy when it comes to your one child. We worry about what’s best for you. That is our purpose.”
“Then why couldn’t dad stay awake long enough to chat?”
“He’s been tired, dear. Please don’t place this guilt on me. He talks about you all the time. The way you played with your toys and puzzles as a child. When you were a toddler, we used to roll a ball back and forth between us. We remember those sweet years before you commenced your studies.”
“That’s what Marco and I were trying to accomplish.”
“To have a child?”
“No, mom. Not before marriage.”
“You’re too young for marriage.”
“There’s a loophole.”
“Yes, from a different age. Things are different now: better, more efficient. A young woman has the opportunity to find the right man, one supported by compatibility tests.”
“And then have a child to enjoy in its toddler years until everyone resumes their life on flat screens and minis? Marco envisioned another way.”
“There are responsibilities. One can’t play with toys and puzzles forever.”
“What about boards?”
“Digit boards?”
“No, another kind of board, one with wheels.”
“What purpose would that suit?”
“So a person can travel outside the home under their own power. Without aid.”
“There are services for that, and security. There are proper ways of doing things.”
“What about when a person wants to be free?”
“That’s why privacy protects your use of tech.”
“What about freedom from tech? What about the freedom to feel the wind on your face while boarding down an open road, spinning tricks in the air or running through the tall grass with a boy who has given you roses?”
“Amelia, you’re getting too old for fairy tales. I thought they were rehabilitating you?”
“If you’re so confident in the rationale, why are you worried about my progress?”
“You’re right. I guess things take time. What I’d like to know is how long you were sneaking out to see this boy?”
“I can’t say.”
“Why?”
“I don’t remember.”
“How can you not remember?”
“Love is timeless.”
“Nothing is timeless, dear. That is why efficiency is so valuable: why all citizens are better off following the Mod, adhering to the rationale and serving City. Then everyone can make the most of their remaining time.”
“To chat and run searches and watch videos?”
“There are other things.”
“What other things?”
“You will see when you are older. You will have a chance to marry and have your one child. You will know other rights, freedoms citizens before you fought very hard to achieve.”
“You mean trace?”
“Why are you fixating on trace, Amelia?”
“Why are you avoiding the question? And why is dad so tired that he can’t chat with me? Do you know how lonely it is in here without anyone I love around?”
“Don’t they give you time to chat with your friends? They’re not making you spend too much time on the elliptical?”
“There is no elliptical machine in my room. Some residual labor law, they explained. They can’t make us use an elliptical outside the home.”
"Then why aren’t you making the best of their generosity to chat with some normal friends who haven’t abandoned progress and technology? Your friend Liz has been asking about you.”
“I didn’t think she knew I was here. We hadn’t talked in ages, and the patrol only posted my whereabouts for an hour.”
“Liz has always been a good girl, very ambitious. She follows all the posts.”
“And I’m not? I’m not a good girl? Or ambitious?”
“I didn’t say that, Amelia.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“Let’s make the best of this time, dear. That’s all one can do. Make the best of things and live in the moment.”
“Like making the best of dad being too tired to chat because you received an early shipment?”
“Who said we received an early ship?”
“Just a guess, Mom.”
“The patrol said you showed uncommon predictive powers.”
“Then let me also guess that they’ve been delivering the ship early since they took me away.”
“They didn’t take you. You agreed. We agreed it was best.”
“And have they, Mom?”
“Have they what?”
“Mom, you know the question. Have they been delivering the ship early since I came here?”
“Yes.”
“To make you adjust more quickly to my absence?”
“No, nothing could help us adjust. This is a lonely time for us, too. The change just happened.”
“Nothing just happens when the Mod is involved.”
“Don’t say that.”
“You said it yourself. You said there’s no place for chance in the rationale.”
“I didn’t say, ‘no place.’ I said the rationale is meant to reduce chance, to minimize risk like in your probability nightlies. Chance can never be reduced to zero.”
“Then I guess they’re not doing a good job if you’re receiving an early ship every night. That’s far from zero.”
"You’re hurting your mother.”
“That’s not my intention.”
“Then why question things I can’t control?”
“Like dad going to sleep early?”
“Yes. I don’t decide his sleeping patterns.”
“You could wake him.”
“You know he’s always been a sound sleeper.”
“Then take off his headset.”
“Your father is working very hard to provide you the best start when you finish your studies. Let him rest.”
“If I had my way, he could have rested all he wanted.”
“What, with Marco providing for you?”
“That.”
“That, my dear, is what they used to call a pipe dream.”
“Pipes are not dreams. They are real. How do you think water travels? Not all things can be actuated.”
“Don’t talk down to me. Whatever your logical gifts, I’m still your mother. I know the basics. Everyone knows about water, but a pipe dream is still a pipe dream. I know the usefulness of pipes and their limits.”
“In grandfathered homes, pipes provide enough steam to warm a room. Some dreams come true, warmer than radiant.”
“We all have moments of satisfaction, but steam ran out years ago. Patti Page videos with it.”
“Then how do you think the grandfathered homes stay warm? Steam pipes heat Marco’s home. And who’s Patti Page?”
“Another fairy tale before both of our times. Whatever is left of steam heat, it runs on residuals of a former age. Such things won’t perform well forever. They will break down and show their inefficiencies. That is why the Mod encourages people of your generation to exchange those dinosaur townhomes for membership in luxury living towers. The Mod pays top dollar to promote conversion. If Marco would open his eyes, the two of you could live a beautiful, modern life together with unlimited tech and a nightly ship of dizzying proportions.”
“Dizzying from the trace?”
“We would be so proud of you. So happy for you.”
“You’re not going to answer my question are you?”
“If Marco lives in one of those grandfathered homes, perhaps you could talk some sense into him. His family must be resourceful and reasonable to have managed through the transition. Do you think you could talk to him?”
“Weren’t you listening, Mom?”
“I’ve been reading everything you chat.”
“He doesn’t use tech. He doesn’t communicate that way.”
“What other way is there?”
“Now I feel I’m going in circles.”
“Dear, that would be inefficient.”
“As would repeating what I’ve already said to others.”
“Then don’t. Don’t undermine your rehabilitation.”
“Fine.”
“Very well, Amelia.”
“Have a good night, mom.”
“You too, dear. And try to chat with Liz.”
“I’ll try.”
“Might do you some good.”
“I know.”
“Very reasonable girl, that Liz.”
“I know.”
“You’re repeating yourself again, Amelia.”
“I know.”
“Maybe we should end the chat.”
“I know.”
“Stop it, Amelia. You’re wasting words.”
“I know.”
“I’m going now.”
“I know.”
“Do not say it again.”
“Goodnight, mom.”
“Goodnight, Amelia.”