CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
"Faith is believing what you know ain't so." - Mark Twain
"How is he doing really?" asked Elder Barry. The chief council elder sat in the center position of the half-moon conference table in the next room.
"Fine. Fine. He's fitting in well...seems comfortable enough. Almost too well."
Desiree addressed all ten elders, six men and four women. The elders were not necessarily senior in years; they are senior in the cause. Elder Barry is in the thirty-something age group while the rest of the elders were either forty-something or younger. They were all nude. True believers.
"Do you see that as a problem?"
"Well, no. Not exactly. It's just..."
"You think he could be a spy?"
"It's possible."
"We're confident—and I speak for everyone here—that he's not. We have assurances."
Whatever that means. Desiree nodded as if she understood. "Well, what's next?" she asked the group.
"That's up to Harry," answered Barry. "He'll lead us in due time. Your job will be to keep him happy, and let him discover his destiny for himself. Be his friend."
"You mean keep him dumb and happy, don't you?" Desiree remarked.
"Oh, oh, an unsuccessful seduction," asserted one of the older female council members. She received Desiree's glare in return. Barry raised his hand about six inches up and down on the table to quell the mounting tension between the two women.
"Sex is not required, Desiree. Whatever happens this can't be personal. You know that, Desiree, as does every member of the board. Is that clear?
"Yes, sir." The council nodded approvingly.
"In a manner of speaking—yes, we want you to keep him dumb and happy, but not too dumb. Let him learn on his own."
"What makes you think he'll stay with us? Quite frankly, he strikes me as a little weak to be the leader the prophesy talks about."
"Oh? How so?" Barry asked.
"Well, he was obviously frightened on the way here."
"Wouldn't you be? Our recruits are always frightened; some just don't show it as easily. He did overcome his fear rather well, don't you think?"
"Yes. I guess so," she admitted, "but there's something I can't figure. He seems to be hiding something. He does ask some good questions, but he's not very free with his answers."
"So he keeps things...er—what's the saying—close to his chest?"
Desiree knew if Harry failed the council's test, she'd be free of him. Besides, there was something very disconcerting about him. She felt sorry for Harry because he was so obviously ordinary, but she was finding it difficult to actually dislike him.
"Oh, he'll stay," said another Elder, a late forty-something woman sitting on Barry's right. "The Council has information you can't possibly be aware of, my dear." The woman's condescending tone made her defensive.
"What information?" Desiree's face reddened, jaw tense, her voice angry. "You let me risk my life, my identity without telling me everything?"
No response.
"Well?" she demanded.
"All right...of course, we didn't tell you everything." It was Barry who answered her. "Your job was to get him here. You did your job. The less you knew, the less you could tell Cyber security if they took your mind. I know you've been there before; however, I don't think you'd be able to escape this time.
"This is not a game, Desiree. It's serious business, deadly serious, as you know," he said, leaning back in his chair. "Please calm down now. Let's not argue. We need you." Pause. "We need your...er...skills to recruit others."
"You're right, I suppose. I should do what I do best and not worry about the politics," Desiree apologized. "I'll do what I can to make Harry comfortable here."
For all of Desiree's tough bluff, she was sensitive. She was disappointed that Barry deliberately dismissed her, not really caring to hear what she had to say. Relinquishing control to leaders in the group was a feeling she had never gotten used to, but it was a fact in the new society—even Outside. Leadership needed a superior status and some layering to be effective; leaders needed subordinates and a chain of command. While she thought that arbitrarily determining levels of society and limiting exposures to some was as militant and as prejudicial as Makr's Cyber hierarchy, she accepted this reality in her New World.
Without another word, she turned to leave, intent on seeking peaceful refuge away from the council. She told herself to let the negative feelings subside. Ignore the negative and relish the positive. You shouldn't feel this way. Get a hold of yourself. Here, the room couldn't help lighten her mood, and she needed air.
Elder Barry sat up abruptly in his chair finding renewed energy—a weight lifted.
"Desiree, wait!"
He looked around the room for approval. There were the knowing nods giving full support, shrugs indicating momentary indecision or lack of responsibility, a puckered mouth or two whistle apprehensions, a few furrowed brows shelve the idea for later, and, as always, those faces with invisible blinders excusing themselves from the decision, abstaining.
"There is someone you should meet," continued Elder Barry. "She will make many things clear to you. There's more to Harry than you know."
.
"So you're Harry," mused the attractive thirty-ish woman who squeezed in between other anxious patrons.
"How are you?" Harry grinned. By now he was used to the constant rush of people all wanting to tell their own exciting story. Always the attentive listener, he never seemed to lose patience when a story took long to tell or was even confusingly told.
This woman genuinely interested him. It is not just her look; it was her mysterious attitude and confidence in the way she carried herself. She reminded him of one of his "femme fateles" in one of his ancient vid chips or books. And she looked and felt strangely familiar. Must be the "chemistry" he has read about, or pheromones, he chuckled to himself.
"My name is Darlene, but my friends call me Dar."
She held onto his hand a bit longer than the other women he met in the last several waves did. Her hand was soft, warm, a little moist—and what he thought all female hands should be, delicate and feminine. Her auburn hair and large brown eyes made an impression, too. Her deep red tresses fell, naturally wavy with a softness and gentleness, caressing her shoulders.
Unlike Desiree whose body was petite, this lady was almost as tall as Harry—about 5'10" and slender in a most becoming way. Desiree was fit, firm of body, yet petite, not quite 5' 3" with shoes; Dar created a picture of long, flowing lines that gave her an imposing presence. Desiree can be coarse, tough, and very sexy at times, at least in the very short time he had known her; while Dar, who he didn't know at all, seemed confident and warm, and simultaneously the essence of her image: genteel and soft. So Harry thought.
Dar's impressive presence projected an air of mystery, perhaps reserved for someone of her own choosing—yet she was able to create an aura that mesmerized the entire room. If they didn't know any better, she could be a SensaVision fantasy; they all couldn't share the same fantasy so she had to be legit. She radiated grace, intelligence, and sensuality. While she wasn't nude, she was wearing a peach chiffon sheer that blended perfectly with her auburn hair and highlighted her peaches and cream complexion.
"How do you do it?" she asked Harry.
"Do what?"
"Come into a place filled with people and not die of fright. Didn't you find the experience the least bit frightening?"
"In case you hadn't noticed, I fainted back there so fear was definitely involved."
She smiled. "I don't know why I didn't faint." She moved in closer to him and touched his arm lightly with her fingers. "I was so scared when I came in here, but then I saw you. Well, it took courage for you to keep going. You inspired me and I wasn't afraid anymore. I just wanted to say thank you."
"You're quite welcome, although I didn't do anything."
"I guess it isn't easy being an enemy of your government and being calm about it."
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His heart began thumping so loudly he spoke to cover the sound. "An enemy of the... Do you really think one trip here makes me a traitor?" He felt oddly calm asking that very serious question.
She shook her head. "That's not for me to say. After all, I'm here, so that either makes me a traitor, too, or, I really don't mind if you are."
"Which is it?"
"That's for you to find out." There was a hint of interest - a tease in her voice?
"I didn't really come here on my own," Harry offered.
"Oh, who brought you?"
"I probably shouldn't say."
"But you wanted to come didn't you?"
"I hadn't thought about it before. My first experience was upsetting to say the least."
"Are you sure?"
"Why, yes, of course, I'm sure." Changed his mind. "No, I'm not."
"What? Not sure the experience was upsetting, or not your first experience?"
"It's the first time I can remember. But who knows? It is possible I may have been Outside before," he said tentatively. "We can't know all the Makr's machinations, can we?"
"Well, I certainly admire your honesty." Her smile was bewitching, but it was her eyes that drew him in. So much like Desiree, yet so different.
"Why me? You can easily have any man in the house. Why waste time talking to an ordinary 'Joe' like me? Since I've lived Inside my entire life, I'm easily the most boring Bio—er—person here."
"I don't agree. I'd say extraordinary 'Joe' is more like it. It's easy to admire a man who can control his Bio emotions. You interest me, Harry Bolls. Most of these Touchables came from Inside and couldn't adapt to the Outside in weeks, or even months. You did it in less than an hour."
"I think I've always wanted to be here. Just a feeling really, but my collection of historic trivia helps me put things in perspective."
"How does collecting trivia..."
"Historic trivia," he corrected her. "Our ancient history can help us understand how we Bios used to be when the world was quite different. You know, how we lived before Makr."
"Do you think you could help me understand?" She smiled a smile that could and did change everything Harry felt because he was speechless again in awe of her.
How could he be infatuated so fast and twice in one day? Although he had to admit, even the most obnoxious of these people were more appealing than Makr's selections. Where was the cool, calm Harry who addressed the entire room? Where was the guy everyone liked immediately? What was he afraid of? He wanted to go home...to get away...away from this feeling. He wanted to speak, but was terrified. He swallowed hard. He smiled to mask the obvious. Dar held his hand waiting for a response. What seemed a few minutes to Harry were mere seconds. The dark of the Shadow returned.
"Harry. Harry!" The voice was not Dar's. It is Desiree's. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you."
Harry jolted to reality. There Desiree stood and Dar was nowhere in sight.
"Hi," he said. "I've just been ah...ah...mingling. Is that what you call it?" Words like that have an illegal place in current society like "murder;" however, normal, everyday citizens rarely have a reason to use the term. "I looked for you earlier," he continued, "but you disappeared."
"Well, I...I was visiting with some friends," she answered, wondering where his previous innocence had gone. He seemed suddenly cold, and less vulnerable.
Harry, preoccupied in thought, was still thinking about Dar.
"You learn very fast."
"So I've been told," he said quietly.
Desiree was visibly upset. Harry seemed strangely indifferent. She felt a twinge of hurt in her body—around the heart—a discomforting feeling. She understood now about Harry. He couldn't help who he was. She doesn't want him to leave now. She wasn't sure if it is her duty calling or something else. She worried it was something else. This freedom to have personal conflict was one thing, but having personal conflict of this kind with Harry was definitely painful.
Music suddenly filled the room. The lights dimmed to a warm, comfortable level. A few unsteady souls fluttered nervously about the room, trying to find comfort zones near familiar bodies. Harry was amused by the voices that buzz hungrily for the event to begin and by those that buzz with trepidation. Some Touchables stood stiffly untouchable, clueless as to what was happening or about to happen. A few faces glowed among those who knew what was about to happen.
"What's going on?" Harry asked Desiree.
"A dance."
"Do you know what that is?" another rebel asked him. The man who asked stood trembling. Obviously, it was still hard for him to be standing there—so close to another unmatched Bio individual.
"Actually, yes," he said. "It's a way people use to meet and touch without sanction...er...without knowing each other very well."
"Th...th...this is mmmmy first ta...ta...time."
"Mine, too."
"But you're so ca...ca...calm?"
"Believe it or not, I was nervous and frightened at first. It's really quite wonderful, isn't it?" The man began shaking uncontrollably and retreated to a dark corner of the room. "Don't worry," Harry called loudly after him, "you'll get used to it!"
The man stared incredulously at the calm and in control Harry who just a few moments ago had been quite frantic himself.
"I've heard dancing can be very pleasant," he said to Desiree who doesn't respond but seems frozen in her spot.
"Is it like sex?" a female rebel whispered and giggled, obviously pleased to be talking with the famous Harry.
"It can be," offered Harry, the sudden expert on sex, "but usually it just helps people get closer to one another. From what I read it can be just physically fun, too."
He looked at Desiree whose mouth is open again. He pushed on her chin and smiled.
"Just remembering some ancient history," he said to her. "Better keep your mouth closed. Flies, remember? Or should I say, bees?"
That got her attention. "I've...I've never seen such...such confidence so early in a recruit." A stammer coming out of Desiree's mouth was truly unusual.
"Yes, isn't it great? I've never felt more alive or more at home. It's like I was born to it." His smile was so genuine he brought out Desiree's smile in return.
He is certainly in his element, she thought. She looked at him admiringly, amazed at his understanding of the situation. She never heard of dancing a year ago. Now, she thoroughly enjoys it, but it had taken her a while to get there.
The Touchables organized this dance as a way for the less extroverted people to meet. Harry remembered dances had once been the way most people met. Or, was it at the office where most people met their significant-others-to-be? Maybe it was both.
He recalled places called singles' bars that sometimes had dancing. These singles' bars resembled The Watering Hole, but the people who went there crowded elbow to elbow and all tried to get to know one another. Some went to "pick-up" someone to take home for sex.
That can't be right, Harry thought. Desiree picked me up, but we didn't have sex. However, most of what he read had negative connotations. For the majority of single people, these places were of mixed social value. No good for low self-esteem people, and brought out the worst character traits in others. Seems some men turned into lounge lizards and some women into bitches. Female dogs? Harry guessed it was the animal factor that was primarily responsible for singles' bars and dance clubs being banned in the first place.
That was long before the evolved Makr but assessment by the Matchmaker computer was not far off. Soon assessment and approval became necessary before anyone could legally meet a stranger.