A Child's View (part 4)

She then got up and walked beyond the edge of the natural place, as though she had the freedom to go wherever she wished, whenever she wished. Tum thought long and hard about what the girl told him. He found himself being self-conscious about his thoughts, as he wondered how in “xact” he could both think things through, and disguise his thoughts. And how would he live if he did disable the chip. All of his credits were tied into the chip. No chip meant no food, no clothing, no ride on the transport, and nothing material he might want or need. As he considered her words, he slowly realized the transport meant nothing to him. In fact, the thing was a constraint on his ability to travel, as the girl and her group proved by moving beyond security perimeters at will. Was it simply the chip that restricted movement? Or, were there other factors? As he considered the problem of the chip, he figured out that if he held some other idea in his head, like the latest game or fashion, this would probably camouflage what he was really interested in thinking about.


As it was almost dark, he decided he had better hurry to the transport. As he was walking that way, another problem presented itself to him. He became worried for his family. He certainly didn’t want any of them to be endangered because of his actions.


Tum went through the usual security steps, was in the tube, but suddenly the transport seemed to take off at the usual incredible speed, then with an alarming jolt, stop. Tum fell against the wall of the tube, but apparently was not badly hurt. He felt a slight pain across his shoulders, and his wrists hurt some in two of his limbs because he instinctively tried to catch himself from falling. The English translations for “xact” anatomy are far from perfect, so perhaps one might say it was a slight injury of the neck, and his ankles hurt. He could hear a voice coming from somewhere demanding he stay where he was. This seemed rather obvious to Tum. A moment later, he was completely immobilized. He was standing in the middle of the tube, and could not move in the slightest even within the tube. In fact, no matter how much he willed it, he could move no part of his body. Then, mysteriously, he couldn’t see, as there seemed to be an opaque black hood, or perhaps bag, that covered first his head, and then his whole body. This was very frightening to him, but the fear only lasted a few short moments, as within  an instant, the transport had taken him somewhere he had never been before. He was still unable to move, but the black covering was removed, how he wouldn’t remember, and he could see again. However, the room he was in was very dark. It was a rather small room. Tum’s intuition told him thast the room was designed to make him uncomfortable, and even afraid. Oddly at this point, he had developed a come what may attitude, and was totally unafraid. He may have felt a bit numb. The lights would slowly brighten and dim. Tum came to understand that this was also a form of conditioning. Perhaps, it was meant to be a subtle technique of torture.


Tum didn’t understand how, but from behind a barrier, like a wall or thick glass, he could hear a man’s voice. “But sir, this one has the chip.” “I don’t care. You get out there and get me some answers about that kid,” came the reply. Tum was certain he wasn’t intended to hear any of this. At that instant, the lights came on, full and bright in Tum’s eyes. He was momentarily blinded, but then could see the man in a security uniform standing in front of him. “You think an awful lot about politics,” the man stated as though this in itself were some crime. “And you don’t fit the types provided through the ‘sousx’ for that.” Tum didn’t speak. He simply stared into the distance. An earthling creature, at least one who was aware of the planet’s philosophical ideas, might have labeled Tum’s current state as stoic. “How are you hiding your thoughts so well?” Tum didn’t answer. “Are you aware of anybody within ‘xact’ who doesn’t have the chip?” The man continued to ask what seemed like banal and pointless questions.


        Tum continued to look beyond the man, off into the distance.  At times, the questions were directly about Tum, his beliefs, and even his abilities.




        This last part the man seemed particularly interested in. Finally, the man captured Tum’s attention. “If you could bring us to any citizen that is without a chip, you and your family might find a lot of credits appear for your use.” Tum  ruled this idea out as soon as he considered it. However, it might serve his temporary interests to act intrigued by the offer. Of course, his main interest at the moment was gaining his freedom. “How would I do that?” Tum said.


        The man was shocked that he finally got a question out of Tum. “We believe you already know how to do it. We know you tried to crawl beyond the safety of the square during the incident the other day. Of course, this was a very minor annoyance to us, and if anything, serves our purposes of bringing justice to rogues. It has really made it easier for us to be less subtle in our work. We also suspect you weren’t alone in the natural space.”


        Tum was silent for a moment.  He concentrated his brain waves around the concept as he spoke. “I thought I saw something, maybe some people, outside the square. I tried to go over there, but as you are aware, that seems quite impossible to do. Other than that, I can’t really tell you anything. Yes, I suppose I like to sit and think. That’s why I was in the natural place. However, as to rogues, I have no opinion what -so -ever about them.”


        He stopped there and waited to see if the man was concerned. He seemed to be. Tum was getting good at guarding his thoughts.


        The man thought for a good long time after that. It seemed like an entirety. Then, he handed Tum a small metallic tag with a contact code number. “If you do learn anything, contact me.” Tum was as suspicious of the tag as was of just about everything out of officialdom. He decided to keep the tag in one drawer at home, but never carry it with him. This would make it seem as though he was keeping the tag, which he thought was probably another surveillance device. It would sit in a drawer surveilling nothing. Tum was still immobilized. The dark cloak enveloped him once again. This time he was fearless. Before he could understand what happened, he was back in the transport at the station near his home. He could see fine. He was able to move normally. By this time it was quite late, and he wondered if his parents would be worried about him. They were still up, obviously worried about him, but said nothing to him.


        Tum was exhausted from the day’s events. He went to his room and fell into a sound sleep. After school  the next day, he sat in his tree house as usual. He sat there thinking, but was developing greater awareness of his ability to cloak thoughts, using a technique of dualistic thinking. In other words, he could project one set of thoughts for the status quo, and another for himself. He sat and thought into the evening.