“Our policies are working,” they would say.
“In real terms there are less homeless people on the streets now, than there was at the beginning of the millennium.”
Generally the masses had accepted the fodder issued through official channels. No-one had any reason to dispute the facts. Some pressure group individuals who did, and who asked difficult questions by openly perusing embarrassing lines of investigations, also suffered the AWOL effect,
“Absent without leave.”
Running in parallel with this, hundreds of secure homes were built to house the vast untapped resource of orphaned male children who found themselves discarded each year.
A cumulative policy decision had been taken to exclude the female of the species. As the majority of the work involved hard manual labour males were the obvious choice. It was also felt that there would be less chance of incurring pair bonding complications if women were avoided. No bastard children and the problems that would subsequently follow. Eventually it would be these selected young males who would be the replenishing source of labour and the builders of the brave new world. Following company policy, these youngsters were segregated and isolated in secure accommodation, then reared to a precise format following the strict guidelines as laid down in the I.M.P.A.C.T. nursery quality procedure manual.
The company objectives were that the boys would be kept in excellent physical condition. They would be indoctrinated to feel worthless and powerless. They would feel a sense of responsibility towards the company. It was expected that they would work long and hard in their efforts to carry out their duties and would feel subservient at all times. Because of the complex nature of the various types of building work available in the city, it was also necessary that the boys be educated to a certain standard. A New idea had been developed it was called the Eleven Plus exam and it was introduced in order to grade the abilities of the young students. After which, successful boys would then follow more challenging career paths like engineering, planning or electronics. The other young boys who failed the test were relegated in ever decreasing circles. They would follow dead-end opportunities in the various available trade works and then finally at the bottom of the pile, there was always labouring.
In the early years a cloning programme had also been tried, it was thought that there would be substantial benefits to be gained by managing individuals with common traits, herding people like sheep. However the combination of high development and running costs versus the limitless supply of available male candidates, proved to make the whole option a complete non-starter. The project was abandoned after a fifteen year trial period. On the ground, total security of the operation was assured. In the air, no-fly zones were also introduced. But with over four thousand spy satellites in orbit at any one time, the three countries made a concerted effort to solve their biggest problem, space security. At the time, acclaimed scientists from each of the relevant countries come together in an effort to find a resolution to the problem. From their meetings came a strategy to develop an invisible blanket which would shroud the various worldwide building developments.
This had not been as difficult as experts had first thought. After various discussions with top computer programmers and cutting edge personnel from the world of broadcasting. The Black Cloak project was developed. This new computerised cloning simulation programme duplicated large chunks of surrounding country side and merged it over the selected areas to be hidden, it was simple! It was so accurate, that even down to a one meter resolution no physical join could be detected. But this was no ordinary static cloning programme, because simulated vehicles and individuals moved freely across the hidden areas, giving a totally realistic effect. Whenever satellites passed overhead, the four cities (The Americans decided to build two) and their building works went about their business totally undetected. The technology which developed, and black cloak later became the forerunner of the simulation programme used by the tower block directors in their daily sampling routine. By the end of that late session all those years earlier Andy had drifted in to deep sleep, whilst Max had stared into the blackness of the northern sky. The master of all he surveyed now desperately tried to grasp the enormity of the whole situation.
CHAPTER
8
Brian flopped onto the bed and sprawled diagonally, his arms and legs extended as he exhaled deeply with force. He was trying to expel the rigours of an exhausting ten hour shift. He then sighed a deep sigh and recklessly kicked off his slip-on shoes. He was glad to be free of the daily obligations.
“Now it’s my time, time to relax,” he thought.
“Jesus! What a shift!” he said out loud. Leaning over he buzzed down to order some lunch from the kitchens twenty seven floors below.
He reflected on the management meeting which had taken place earlier that morning. It had really annoyed him the way that Max had pretended that he knew all about the directors’ visit. The way he had waffled through the meeting.
“He’s full of shit,” he thought.
“Him and his supercilious air of superiority.” He coughed!
Brian really had not wanted to tell Max about John but there was nothing he could do. The young assistant would have probably taken the matter straight to Max.
“He’s an absolute arsehole,” he thought.
“At least that’s me covered. That little bastard will probably reach the top soon enough, though I’ll never see it!”
Four months earlier Brian had been diagnosed as having lung cancer. It had been Stewart who had broken the news to him on that morning in the dispensary. He could see him standing there now, as clear as you like. There he was, in his red and yellow striped boiler suit saying,
“Sorry Brian but there’s not much I can do. That’s it, six months at the most.”
The x-rays which Stewart had taken earlier had shown large shadows in both of Brian’s lungs. But the dispensary didn’t have the necessary technology to deal with the situation. Stewart did manage to supply certain drugs, but they were more to relieve the pain, than anything else.
“It’s only a matter of time,” thought Brian.” and there’s not much of that left.”
Later, on the morning when he was told of the news, he had gone to Stewart and asked him not to disclose the information to Max. He had said that Max would probably relieve him of this duties. And that he didn’t think he could bare it, just sitting around waiting to die. Stewart had agreed for the moment but had said that Max would notice for himself soon enough.
Sitting down Brian poured himself coffee, and pushed the food around his plate, he thought thoughts of his life and what he had accomplished. He smiled to himself as he remembered his lonely childhood and those days at the home. His thoughts turned to the young Max, and the pact they had made all those years earlier. His promotion, and the eventual double-cross, which proved to be the ultimate stab in the back for him.
“Eh to brute,” he thought as he stared into the coffee.
“I’ll get you back before I go, you bastard!” he said, quietly under his breath.
To be continued…
Copyright © 2014 Frederick Zaccarini
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