2022 (8 page)

“How many people stay here?”

The man became more animated. “It was crazy
at first. There were waiting lists to get in, and the foundation
had to put in a lot of money to raise more buildings quickly. We
have about five thousand in the rooms and around two thousand in
the parking lot right now. And we’re still expanding as more people
keep coming.”

“The parking lot?”

“Yes. We’ve got small rooms, which are four
feet by ten feet for singles, and others a bit bigger for families.
Then we provide parking stalls where people can park and even sleep
in their vehicles if they want to.”

“I hadn’t thought about sleeping in cars.”
Micro-rooms, sleeping in cars? Don’t these thousands of people
find it claustrophobic? I’m glad that I am only going to be
spending a few days here.

“It’s illegal to sleep in your vehicle
throughout most of the city, so it’s pretty popular here since it
allows you to live in your car, or an RV, or even a small house on
wheels. We provide washrooms, showers, microwaves, and limited
electricity in the parking area. It’s all monitored closely. If you
book a parking space, you have to spend at least eight hours a day
in the colony. That’s to stop people from just parking here and
then going to work.”

“Is it cheap?”

“For a single room, it's three dollars a day,
parking space is two dollars, and each meal is a buck. If you can’t
afford it, go over to the office and see if they’ll arrange for you
to skip a few days. Also, if you have a drug or drinking problem,
or maybe issues with anger management, this isn’t the place for
you. We don’t offer any treatment plans. There are organizations we
can point you to.” But we’re not set up for it.

Spencer thought about what he had just been
told. “That’s so cheap.”

“We set the prices to match our operation
expenses. The foundation picks up construction costs and taxes and
the rest. But with the room fee, you have to do things too. Like a
one-hour chore each day. There’s a list of them in each building.
The other is at least one-half hour of an activity you really enjoy
doing—something that fulfills your purpose.”

“I really wasn’t expecting any of this.”

The man explained that the colony wasn’t a
place merely to eat and sleep, but required involvement to build a
sense of community by spending a small part of their day working in
discovering or fulfilling their own life purpose.

“What kind of chores, and what exactly do you
mean by purpose?”

“Many people don’t expect any of this at
first. The chores are nothing burdensome—mostly things like
cleaning and food preparation. But take them seriously, and do them
well; otherwise, you’ll be asked to leave. As far as purpose goes,
it could be as simple as playing a musical instrument, or teaching,
or studying a subject. As long as it ties together your values,
strengths, passions, and services.”

“I think I’m getting the idea,” Spencer said.
“Can’t be too much food for a buck, huh?”

“More than you think. And it’s pretty basic,
but it’s nutritious.”

“Okay, sign me up for two nights and six
meals, I guess.” He handed the man some money.

“Here’s your receipt. Keep it in case there
are any problems. Doesn’t happen often, but you never know. We
should get your identity registered, so I’ll need your
fingerprint.”

The request startled Spencer. “I don’t know
if I like that.”

“If you don’t want to give a fingerprint,
I’ll refund your money, but you really have nothing to worry about.
All that’s stored against your fingerprint is your payment, not
your name or picture.” He assured Spencer that the computer system
wasn’t connected to the Internet, and no one could access
information. It was used as an easy way to track meals and allowed
for room access.

Spencer thought for a moment then put his
hand on the scanner.

“All set,” the man said. You’re assigned to
building forty-two and your room number is on your receipt. Head
straight down the path and follow the signs. If you have any
questions, ask the building leader. They’re firm but reasonable. If
you’re sick and can’t do your chore for the day, they’ll let it
slide.”

Spencer thanked him, picked up his backpack,
and walked down the path that led to what looked like a maze of
buildings. He passed a map showing the layout, and he stopped to
find out more about the recreation centers scattered throughout the
complex. There was one on the way to his building, and he stopped
to look in. He was surprised to see it contained a gymnasium,
lecture halls, music areas, and computer rooms. Schedules were
posted for all activities in each section, and he noticed a few
that he would investigate later in the day.

Leaving the recreation center, Spencer walked
past a playground area that was full of children and their parents
and then walked through one of the two green areas that were within
the complex. The perimeter of the space had a young hedge around it
that within a few years would completely block the view of
buildings. Within the space, there was a variety of winding paths,
ponds, benches and play areas.

Without too many more detours, he found his
building and wound his way through the hallways until he found his
room. He put his hand on the scanner beside the door and heard the
lock click. The man at the gate was right—the room was small. But
it was functional, with a bed, a clothes closet, and a desk. There
was a uniquely styled sink that folded up with a toilet underneath.
He tossed his backpack on the bed beside the stack of clean sheets
and blankets and then went to find the building leader, who stood
out in his brightly colored vest in the eating area.

Spender tapped his shoulder and he looked up
from the papers he was going over. “The man at the gate told me
that I needed to report to you for chores.”

“Yes—good morning. I guess this is your first
time here. The chore list is on the computer inside the kitchen
entrance. I think we’re good for food prep for lunch, but there are
still openings for dinner. Find something that fits your schedule,
and then scan your fingerprint.”

“Sounds easy enough, thanks.” He was suddenly
curious to know more. “How long have you worked here?”

“My family has been here since the colony
first opened. I don’t really consider this work. It took a bit of
getting used to, but we’re far happier now than living in the rat
race. My wife and I no longer have to work full-time jobs just to
afford food and housing so we have much more family and social
time. I have a small part-time job in the city doing something I
really enjoy that more than pays for all of our expenses.”

“So this is not temporary for you then?”

The man laughed. “That is the impression so
many outsiders have of life here and while it is true for some of
the people staying here, there are many of us that have no plans on
leaving.”

“How many people live in this building?”

“This is a singles building, so there are
about fifty people. The family buildings have a few more, usually
around seventy-five. They are setup a bit different too. Instead of
a bunch of small rooms like this building, the family buildings
have a few large sleeping areas and we use sleeping mats instead of
beds. It’s a much better use of space since in the daytime we can
roll up the mats and have a large area to do whatever in.”

“You all sleep in the same room? I don’t know
if I could get used to that.”

“It does take a bit of getting used to, but
now I can’t imagine going back to sleeping away from my kids and
parents.”

“Your parents are here too?”

“Yes, they arrived shortly after my wife and
I did. It’s far cheaper for them to live since they are retired and
they get to spend so much more time with their grandchildren.”

Spencer tried to envision living with his
parents and just shivered. He decided to change the subject and
asked him about purpose related activities. “Where do I go for
that?”

“Our rec center—building forty-nine. You’ll
see another computer at the entrance. It has a list you can select
from, or if you have another idea, come back and let me know, and
I’ll get you entered.”

Spencer thanked him and went into the
kitchen. He found the computer and signed up for dishwashing for
two evenings. Then he went outside and found the recreation
building. The layout was the same as the one he had seen earlier.
He signed up for classes in gardening, and while doing so
determined that the computer, like the one in the kitchen, seemed
to be only connected to a local network and not the internal
company network.

On his way out of the recreation center, he
passed an open office door and saw that the room was empty except
for a desk, a book shelf, and a computer. He reached into his
backpack for the DIR device that Sue had given him. From the
hallway, he could see an open USB port on the computer and after
looking around to see if anyone was watching, quickly stepped into
the room, fumbling with the device as he hunched over to insert it
into the open slot.

Got it!
This was his last thought
before feeling a violent blow to the back of his head.

Diane felt calmer as she pulled her RV out of
the foundation complex and drove out onto the public street. She
was looking forward to the long drive ahead; it would give her time
to sort out everything that had happened earlier.

As expected, Gordon told her she had passed
the tests, and now it was time for her to decide whether or not she
wanted to join Percipience. She had asked when she would be
expected at the site if she agreed to go.

“Most people would have had a few weeks to
prepare before leaving,” Gordon told her. “In your case, you’d have
to leave right away. There’s a group of people going this afternoon
in a helicopter, and you could ride with them.”

“No, I can’t leave that quickly, and I’m
certainly not going to leave my RV here.”

“Maybe you’re not getting it. You’ll never be
using it again. This is a one-way trip.”

“I still need time to get ready. I have
people to call and business to clear up.” She knew that she had
already made up her mind to join. “How about I drive up there
myself? I could be there tomorrow, and that would give me time to
straighten out my affairs.”

He picked up the phone on his desk, waited a
few seconds, and explained the situation. He listened to the
response and then hung up, watching her as if trying to see
something.

“Well?” she said, breaking the silence.

“You must have made quite an impression on
Mario,” he said. “There are dozens of people I could bring in now
for these few open positions, and none of the candidates have yet
been allowed to drive themselves out there, but in your case, it
seems they’re making an exception. So—are you in or out?”

She absentmindedly bit her lip as she weighed
his words. She had no intention of doing this for the rest of her
life, but she wanted to find out more, and this seemed the only way
to do it. She laughed inside at the foundation’s “threat” to those
who decided to leave. She was accustomed to living by her own rules
so none of this would leave any significant impact on her. If she
drove up on her own, she would have an easy way to get out and
would have her possessions as well.

“In—if you give me directions or a GPS
coordinate, I’ll be there by tomorrow morning.”

Gordon had given her directions and printed
out a badge and paperwork. “Once you get there you’ll need to give
these papers to security. They insist that you wear this badge for
the first six months at least. After that, no more badge and no
more last name.”

“What? I don’t recall reading anything about
that.”

“I’m not sure why, but once the village is up
and running, nobody will have a last name anymore.”

“That’s kind of strange.” She thanked him and
wasted no time getting her RV out onto the highway.

********************

Mikhail was a bit leery when he found out
that Mario had allowed Diane to drive up to the village site, but
he didn’t want to alarm her in any way so he let it go.. If she
didn’t show up, he reasoned, they would find her quickly through
the locator he had put on her RV.

Later that afternoon, he headed to the
helipad and was happy to see his two passengers and Richard already
waiting to depart.

“I take it, Richard, that you’ve met
Hope?”

“We were just getting acquainted,” Richard
said. “She’s been telling me how she is going to be working on
helping Olivia set up the laboratory.”

This was the idea that Mikhail had discussed
with Hope that morning. It was a good cover idea as she could keep
a close eye on Olivia to see if she were the source of the leaked
information. If so, Hope would arrange accidents for Olivia and
Diane.

The takeoff was delayed by a few minutes as
the pilot wanted to inspect Olivia’s luggage which consisted of a
small suitcase and a sealed box with a hazardous goods sticker on
it. Olivia let him look through her suitcase but stopped him from
opening the box.

“I have to inspect everything,” the pilot
said, “I am responsible for making sure that no contraband is
brought in.”

Olivia leaned over to Mikhail and whispered,
“Virtuesh.”

Mikhail nodded and then said to the pilot,
“You can skip the box. I’ll take responsibility for it.”

The pilot just shrugged his shoulders and put
the box in the small cargo area of the helicopter. The trip to
Percipience was quiet, and after they landed, Olivia and Hope went
to the trailers to get settled while Richard and Mikhail toured the
construction site activities.

“Things are looking good, Mikhail,” Richard
said. “You’ve done well here.”