Chapter 12
Tom Lanegan stood at ground level above the tunnels. His city was different. The dark troubles that covered the world were mirrored by an unfamiliar blackness. The city’s lights had been turned off leaving the inconsistent flicker of fire as the main source of light. Power cuts had been introduced in an attempt to stop night riots which could not be policed. It was felt that it was worth the risk despite potential criminal activity. Only a few people were left to provide the necessary power for clean water, food storage and important buildings, such as the Prime Minister’s temporary office.
Lanegan knew that he needed a strategy. He was aware that many people would not understand what they had found. For the vast majority of the world’s citizens, Jacob’s theory would have made no sense. There was no longer a general knowledge about the crash and the events that caused it and enough time had passed that justification for the changes that were made at that time were no longer necessary. The only remnants of that time were the objects that people had kept in secret, everything else had been destroyed in vast government organised collections; it wasn’t a forced disposal of personal property, but it was strongly encouraged. Lanegan would have to carefully approach the task of telling the nation about the past, about how sustained peace was a relatively new occurrence. But he also knew it would be hardest to describe what they knew and to be convincing when there was so much he didn’t understand himself. He feared he would appear as a fraud. The nation needed to be inspired. And that would take more than a message from the Prime Minister. He would need help.
Watching Isabelle and Jacob, Lanegan recognised their hurt and worry for their own families. Isabelle had made a tough decision to come to London and offer her expertise in someone else’s place, when she could have been with her family. She, like him, had considered the bigger picture and decided that, for her family’s life to resume peacefully a quick resolution was needed. She left her family for their benefit, a choice Lanegan could relate to.
Thoughts entered his mind of his family. It had been a week since they left and although Lanegan knew they were being taken care of, he wanted to go home at the end of the day and be with them. He was sure that sending them to the New Forest National Park was for the best, despite their pleas to stay in London. There was only a small chance of anyone being hurt, even in the big cities, but it wasn’t worth the risk.
Lanegan hastily walked back into the building.
“JENNY,” Lanegan shouted, “Can you get my wife on the phone please?”
“Pick up on line four,” she replied.
The phone rang for what seemed like minutes. Lanegan immediately went into a slight panic, imagining terrible scenarios.
“Hello.”
“Ella?”
“Tom, how are you? Is everything alright?
“Yes, I’m fine. How are you and the children?”
“We’re fine, don’t worry. They’re concerned about you and miss you. How did it go? Have you found anything new?”
“Well, we think we may have a reason for what is causing people to turn.”
“Really? That’s great.”
“Yes it is. It’s – tricky though. It could be that we have made great errors in our approach to certain things. It’s possible that some of our policies have somehow caused this without intention. We may have committed a great wrongdoing.”
“What do you mean? What are you talking about?”
“Things should have been different - we should have done things differently.”
“I don’t understand, you’re not making sense.”
“First, tell me about the forest. I want to hear what you have been doing.”
“We’re keeping busy and the children are enjoying the open space. I have to say first, I know you have had the reports that people are openly participating in illegal activities out here. I think it is actually worse than they have admitted to you. The military are so consumed with the humanitarian side of things I don’t think they could possibly spare any manpower to attempting to stop it. I know it’s a problem you could do without at the moment.”
“Are these things you have seen personally? What can you tell me?”
“In the short time I have been here, it has been impossible not to notice that people have become more comfortable in certain activities that they are participating in. You can hear musical instruments being played and there is dancing and drinking; it’s obviously not the first time as they seem to know what they are doing. It is as though they are no longer concerned or afraid to do these things. Everyone knows that it is nearly impossible to police such a large number of people and I think many have decided they might as well try and make the best of being here. I’m convinced it has been encouraged and influenced by local people. The thing is the people doing it seem to be having fun, as though they can forget for a brief moment what is happening back where they came from.”
“It’s strange, in a sense what you just said about the forest is a good illustration of what could be a solution to what is causing all of this. What you are experiencing is new to you - to us, but possibly not for some of the people who live there. I have felt something different too, just from talking with Jacob.”
“Jacob? I still don’t understand, what has he said?”
“That by being deprived of something essential, we have reached a turning point where some of us can no longer cope. Our whole system is a socially constructed attempt to achieve a particular goal without any consideration for our needs on an individual level. We have forced people to ignore what comes most naturally to them and to become – functional parts of society.”
“Slow down, what do you mean?”
“Jacob believes that the restrictions put onto people by the governments of the world have forced this change in people. It is a subconscious reaction to being deprived the necessary ways of expressing ourselves through art and in many other ways I can’t even begin to describe. This is all so alien to me, Ella.”
“But the restrictions have worked, Tom. It has never been better. Our society functions precisely because of the rules that we live by and the restrictions that have been imposed. Do you believe there is merit to Jacob’s theory?”
“I have seen video footage that suggests music can cause a good and bad reaction in people. There is no denying it. However, I don’t want to believe it. I am convinced our system is a good system. I am also ignorant of what actions need to be taken if Jacob is correct.”
“First of all you’ve found a possible cause. Now you must work on the solution. The second we arrived here we were welcomed with open arms. The people who live here and those that came before us from the cities, all embraced us and helped us to settle into a new way of life as part of a community that includes everyone. And it is just that, a community. We have to work together and with the military, to ensure we have food, water and shelter. Whatever people are doing here, they are not bad and neither is the evacuation site. We still have the pain of people turning. This is of course especially hard for those who are directly affected, but they are comforted and reassured. We tell them that it’s not permanent and good people are working hard all over the world to put an end to it all. People like you, Tom. It is different here for reasons I cannot easily explain.”
“Tell me everything, what is different?”
“Being forced to stop working makes you step back and look at everything a little closer. Everyone’s busy, but survival doesn’t feel like work. There is a common goal and you appreciate each other more - and we talk, joke and tell stories in a way that was totally unfamiliar to me. Work has always been about work, you know that as much as anyone. In the city it’s all business with polite small talk. I’ve never been asked questions about my interests, maybe because I don’t have interests outside your career and the family. We’ve all been raised to believe in a system with a means to an end. Sitting here around a fire amongst people I have never met before, the first thing I noticed was how open people are. Despite
the disruption and displacement into unfamiliar surroundings, people feel relaxed. You don’t see that in the cities, at least not in the political world.”
“It sounds nice,” Lanegan replied.
“You sound tired,” said Ella.
“I feel fine. I wish the path would present itself to me …”
Lanegan was becoming aware that his role in stopping the riots might involve more than simply a method of controlling them. He was as much a product of the system as anyone else and would have been justified in arguing that no serious complaints were voiced about the direction of his leadership. But now he faced the reality that it could be his responsibility to knock down the system everyone was familiar with and rebuild it with a new design.
“… I wish I was there with you,” he said.
“We all do too.”
Lanegan was silent for a moment. Ella knew that he was deep in thought and allowed him a second to himself.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
“That if I don’t act soon, in whichever way we choose, there will be nothing left to fight for. Maybe it’s time to take a risk. Maybe it’s time to allow people the freedom to explore - to feel free to find new ways to communicate with each other and to allow there to be differences and disagreements without fear of confrontation. We can’t be certain about what will happen, but if we don’t try we will lose everything anyway. We should look at change as a positive move.”
“Are you sure that is the road you want to take? You might begin something that you cannot reverse.”
“What choice do I have? A violent response? I don’t think I can.”
“Whatever you choose, you will be supported.”
“I hope so. I’ll call soon. I love you all.
“Good luck, we love you too – see you soon.”
Tom Lanegan sat and looked at the phone. He looked up to see Toby standing at the door.
“Are you alright, Tom?” Toby asked.
Lanegan raised his head.
“Am I so blind that I didn’t know what was going on out of the city, or did I choose to ignore it? I can’t remember now,” he replied.
“What do you mean?”
“What Ella just described to me. It appears that it is not just the cities that have become lawless, the New Forest has its own issues with being policed. The reports of certain activities being common are true.”
“We all knew some of the old traditions still existed, Tom. Maybe now, those who hold onto them feel as though they can express them publicly, for the first time. Our intention was never to rule by force and we knew this would be a consequence. Obviously more went on than we knew about, but that’s history now. The military have been told not to act as a police force, so who is going to stop some peaceful music, even if they were ordered to. Nobody wants more disruption and there are bigger things at hand.”
“Maybe I have become so consumed with the world’s problems, that I have neglected our citizens. Ignorance is bliss I suppose, that is until people start burning buildings. Could we have stopped this, Toby?”
“You’re asking the wrong question: you need to ask how can we stop this? The longer you dwell on the past, the more it will consume and distract you. Move on. Make things right again.”
Lanegan knew Toby was right. His thoughts returned to moving forward and the people who had helped him so far. His hope now was that they would continue to do so until the end.