A Child's View (part 8)

He sat for many hours, hoping not to be discovered, as he was thinking. As twilight came, he was getting a bit anxious about the events that had unfolded in the past several days. He tried several ways to gain insight. His main idea was to access, another skill he had developed, the brainwaves floating around through the "sousx" to see if there is anything within any of the patterns that could help him. He did this over and over, but could find nothing of use. Generally, the people were caught up in their mundane thoughts, being so damaged by the "sousx" as to have no comprehension of the servitude they've been placed in, other than that promoted conventional politics used as a diversion for divide and conquer. Although, he could feel the undercurrent of disenchantment building among the masses. As the society loses supremacy and economic conditions worsen, Tum could tell that the trajectory would continue, and society could face a variety of scenarios.  Tum thought it most likely that society would simply face a breakdown of some sort. But the other possibilities he could think of were also quite likely. One of the most frightening was some form of revolt among the masses. This was frightening because he could see the state making preparations for such an event, and could tell that the authorities had no intention of being gentle.

Just as darkness was setting in, Tum was becoming very afraid. The mysterious girl he met the other day appeared. "Your family will get through this fine," she reassured him. "Remember, the authorities can access their chips and their brainwaves through the "sousx." This means that after a time of interrogation and discomfort, perhaps even some of their lesser torture techniques, the likelihood is they will discover your family knows nothing." Although the prospects she presented were less than hopeful, he acknowledged that he would have to accept her description as the way things were for the time being. He spoke, "Well, what do I do now." "Come with me. It is lucky I found you before they did."