A Child's View (part 3)

Chapter 2


Tum decided one day to leave his tree house for an afternoon, and go down to the square closest to his home. He walked through the scanner where his microchip was processed for the proper security code, and the credits deducted from his parent’s account. He entered the portal from there, and was asked for his destination, except for the nearest square. See, the system was designed to take the traveler to the square unless otherwise directed, and some destinations required an extra fee (meaning also an extra scan), and perhaps a more thorough security check (also meaning another another extra scan). A moment later, the tube he was in moved at incredible speed, and a moment or so later than that arrived at the portal stop just in front of the square.


Tum left through the portal and was scanned once more upon entering the tunnel into the square. After a short distance, he emerged into the square. The place was crowded with people and an “akkutt” was yapping at him. A very close English translation of the word would be “small pet.” The people, of course, had a glazed look in their eyes, and were trance-like, glued to the “sousx” spilling out of the Holographic monitor. Except, there were a few people, just at the edge of the square, that didn’t seem to belong with the mass of trance-like zombies. Their eyes seemed clear, and they had a certain focus about them. At first they seemed to be spaced out away from one another, slowly converging on one point. When they finally arrived at a certain point on the outer edge of the square, they discreetly moved on, on foot, which nobody really did anymore, outside the perimeter of the square. Tum was astounded by this, as he had always been under the impression that the square was a protected security zone, and certainly it must be impossible to just up and walk right out of the square.


He began to follow them, but as he came near the edge of the square, the “sousx” became distorted, and even the monitor screens momentarily dissipated.. For a moment, there was a state of chaos among the people gathered in the square. They seemed confused, and as the bewilderment grew, the crowd became mob-like, with many of the people becoming aggressive. There was some pushing and shoving. Genuine fear could be seen in the eyes of a great number of the people assembled.


Tum continued on after the small group as they walked further from the square. When he got to the edge of the square, a queasy feeling overcame him and he became weak. He could only manage to crawl past the edge. He became too ill to barely move across the edge, and it suddenly dawned on him that this was a security precaution of the square working through his microchip. He crawled backwards, away from the edge, and as he did, he became stronger and in better health again. By the time he recovered, he could no longer see the group that somehow managed to escape beyond the edge of the square. After giving this seemingly impossible escape he had just witnessed some considerable thought, he realized the only plausible conclusion he could reach was that the entire small group of them must not be microchipped. Tum had no idea how that could be, as all the citizens, on every planet in the coalition, were microchipped at birth for reasons of inter-planetary security.


Tum sat in his tree house the next afternoon. How did the small group manage to to interupt the transmission for the entire square? Not only that, the latest “sousx” was that they were a horrible band of rogue criminals that somehow managed to distort the “sousx” throughout the entire inter-planetary “sousx” system. The leaders of Tum’s planet claimed they suspected one or two of the more eastern planets to be behind this act of sabotage.


Now, of course if the more powerful eastern planets were to be accused of sabotage, then they would simply call the accusation ridiculous, and there would be a holographic conference, which no common citizen would ever know the content of, or the deals made. Tum suspected it was to the benefit of both sides from time to time to accuse the other side of such things, whether true or not true for many reasons. He couldn’t know all the reasons for sure, but he suspected reasons could include keeping control over a planet’s population more fully, getting something one side wanted from the other, showing the ability of one side or the other to counter perceived or real threats from the offending side,  or maybe actions meant as a threat - who knows really? Another thing Tum had considered was that the leaders of his own planet we're behind this. It seems to him that the “sousx” had not been perfectly maintaining control over the people in the way that was intended, which of course meant complete and total control. Tum reasoned that it could have been done as a pretext to go after this seemingly growing number of people who have broken free from to a greater or lesser extent depending on the person from the control system. But if so many had already broken out of the control system then why would the leaders expect a stunt like this to work anyway?  Tum pondered this question for a long time but was unable come up with a good answer.  Perhaps the leaders weren't as smart as they pretended to be. Perhaps they had already lost control to such an extent that something drastic was called for. Or, could it simply be that the small group he witnessed that day at the square were independent operators who could even be part of a larger group that has managed to break the ties to the interplanetary social control grid.


While there was still light Tom decided to leave the comfort of his tree house and take the transport, really the only transport allowed on his planet or even the other planets of “Xact” to
the one section of open natural space set aside for his town. Each town or larger city had such a space. An English speaker, or really any sentient creature of the tiny blue planet, might get the impression that this was the park, but that wasn't exactly the case. Although the people were allowed  to take to transport to these areas they could only travel to the area designated for the region they lived in and once there just as in the squares if one of them attempted to venture beyond the perimeter they would experience the same fate Tum did when he tried to walk beyond the square


In fact much of the land of the entirety of “Xact”had been set aside as off limits to the people, and the official reason given was that the natural environments of the planets were being made fragile by  the overuse and over exploitation of the people Tum couldn't decide whether this was true or not, but when he considered who was doing the exploiting, which to him seemed may be the powerful private conglomerates and the government they apparently controlled, the official reason caused him to be skeptical.


Momentarily and of course after all the required security scans, Tum arrived at the natural space. He really only came there because he thought this particular change of scenery might help him to think and sort things out. One central question he couldn't get out of his head - how could this group of people truly exist within the system designed by “Xact?” It seemed impossible. He was really starting to lean towards the idea that the whole thing must be some sort of inside operation carried out by exactly whom  he couldn't figure. It seemed unlikely to him that any of the more eastern planets would be able to carry out such an operation. They would first have to put the operatives at great risk of which the participants would surely be aware of because they needed to travel beyond the safety of their own radiation belts. And if any of these planets where to take care to provide protection against the radiation of space,  then the expense of such an undertaking would be astronomical, so in Tum’s mind that possibility was ruled out. Besides,at this particular time, as Tum could reason, the more eastern planets would have no motive for such an act. It seemed to him that the more powerful eastern planets were content to quietly consolidate their control over the less powerful ones using economic incentives and diplomacy not to mention the implied assurance of protection from the more odious plots and plans of the planets aligned with Tum's planet. For them it was more of a waiting game. Soon Tum's planet would no longer have the financial or military superiority to dominate the other planets. Tum knew they would operate as they had to if they felt threatened,  but generally these eastern planets wanted calm. With calm the other planets would gravitate towards them unless conditions changed drastically.


A slight digression is now in order. For it must be mentioned that there were different levels of “sousx” for the people. This seemed to depend on how much of a role the particular individual played in society, which really meant how much of a role the person believed they played a role in society. If so, there were a few variations on a theme to choose from. This was a clever diversion. These individuals might have a an intense passion about the role they selected for themselves. It also served to keep the people divided. Yet, really there was very little at issue. In fact, the divided people should have been allies attempting to change the corrupt ruling structure of “xact.” Instead, unable to break the trance, they argued and fought with each other. The individuals uninterested in such a role were provided transmissions of games and fashion to divert their attention, as well. As of late, more people were trying to find their civic role, and as Tum had discovered lately, break through the trance at some level, whether it be as Tum’s case, perfectly unaffected, or some lesser degree. Tum attributed this to the deteriorating economic conditions on his planet mainly. He reasoned it must be difficult to keep people under the “sousx” influence as the objective reality was becoming too far divorced from the “sousx.’ Also, as the more eastern planet’s influence grew, their “sousx” was starting to matter more.


As Tum sat by a large tree near the edge of the natural place, he caught a glimpse of something a good distance away and to his right. It was a girl, probably only slightly older than himself. He couldn’t tell for sure, so he walked in her direction to get a closer look. As he approached, trying to seem as casual as possible, he became more confident he recognized her as one of the small group that pulled off the stunt in the square. She looked up at him. “You’ll never be able to travel freely about as long as you have that chip underneath your skin,” she suddenly said. Tum, of course, was breathless. She recognized him? She knew he was trying to cross beyond the square that day, and follow her group of friends? “Yes, I know you tried to crawl beyond the square the other day. Be careful not to think too hard about one thing in my presence. I, and more to the point, others - can access some of your thoughts.Don’t worry too much. Your thoughts are more private than most.” Tum was astounded. However, he also had an uncanny skill. Under pressure, he could ask the direct questions he needed to get the answers he required. “Who are you? What do you mean by others accessing my thoughts? Who? What organization are you working for? I believe you and your friends are the ones who distorted the “sousx” the other day.” The girl laughed nervously. “Well, let’s take your questions in order. Who I am is unimportant for now. What I mean is that others, some in the leadership of “Xact,” have the ability to a greater or lesser degree, to access your thoughts. In your case, however, this ability seems very limited. Just don’t think too hard about any one thing all at once. That, they can pick up on. As for myself and my friends, I won’t yet tell you anything you don’t already know. I don’t want to put you in more danger than you’re already in.” Again, Tum stunned. “What do you mean by danger?” “Think about how you’ve been able to set to set yourself apart from the control system of the ‘sousx.’ Do you believe our leaders are happy with people who have managed that? They’ve only ignored you so far because you’ve refused to act upon what you know, or even simply speak out.” “But you and I are just children really.” “On some planets, for instance the tiny blue one, we might be considered quite far into adulthood, but that is confusing because time is measured differently depending on the planet. This is a digression anyway. You know what you know. They don’t care about your age. And now you’ve tried to crawl across the security perimeter of the square. So, I would think they might be a little more interested in you. I wouldn’t get too worried yet, though.”


Tum was motionless. He thought for a moment about the implications  of what the girl was telling him. He finally spoke. “What do I do now?” “I can’t tell you what to do now. That is up to you. I will give you some advice, though. You have, whether you know it or not, the power to disable the chip inside inside you. Don’t be too obvious when you think about this. Try to disguise your thoughts. You’ll learn how. Once you disable the chip, their ability to limit your freedom will be greatly reduced, but so will your comfort and ability to survive within their system. If you are successful, we will most likely meet again.”