Wake Me In The Future (11 page)

Simon had been a world champion tennis player and had won everything except the Australian open. ‘That didn’t please my fellow Australians’ he said, confirming my suspicion about his nationality. ‘I joined the movement when I lost the use of my legs in a riding accident. I couldn’t bear the thought of never playing again so it was either commit suicide or take a chance on this. So I chose this as a possible way to re-capture my youth and in the meantime went on to set up a successful surveillance company. Course, its Sods law that I happen to be revived in a society where my later profession is illegal and even though I am young and healthy, I don’t seem to be very good at tennis anymore.’

‘You’ve got a long time to get better’ added Jennifer rubbing his arm in mock sympathy.

I turned to Ramoon and asked, ‘What do I need to do to become involved in the Cryogen project? Ankit may have told you that I am desperate to find out the fate of my wife,’ and in an attempt to conceal that desperation, in case it went against me, I added, ‘and I want to be involved in reviving what’s left of the human race anyway.’

For an instant I thought a shadow crossed Ramoon’s face, along with a strained smile, before he replied in a clipped tone, ‘we all consider ourselves part of the human race now Richard.’

I'd forgot that, ‘Yes, sorry Ramoon, I just need to get used to all this, what I meant to say was that I’d like to help retrieve as much as possible of what seems to be considered by..’ and I hesitated because I wanted to say Manoorans, ‘the general population, as a great treasure.’

‘We generally allow several months for Cryogens to settle into whichever society they’ve chosen before asking them to contribute,’ he stared deep into my eyes unnerving me, ‘but I can see that you’re adjusting quite quickly so I’ll put a word in for you. As long as you realise that I can’t make the final decision on this. So don’t get your hopes up just yet.’

And almost as an afterthought and with just slightly too much enthusiasm for my liking, he asked, ‘you have been told that a very high percentage of Cryogens are not able to be revived, haven’t you?’

‘Yes, Ankit has told me,’ I said, ‘but thank you Ramoon, I do appreciate any help you can give me with this,’ for some reason my dislike of this man was growing by the minute. I wanted to ask how long it would be before I got an answer but decided to wait until I was alone with Ankit and try to work through him.

All I wanted to do was talk about Helen but I was conscious that I couldn’t let any of them think I was obsessed. Overdoing it might put them off helping me and worse still, could make them think I was absolutely batty and needed some kind of treatment. I couldn’t risk that, so however much it irked me, I had to talk about something else.

I looked over to Ankit and said, ‘I had a very strange experience earlier,’ and began to recall the story of the silent people in the square.

By the time I'd finished they were all looking at me rather amused, and then Ankit placed his drink on the table between us and began to explain. ‘Sorry Richard, I didn’t think you'd risk going out on your own today, otherwise I would have warned you of the barriers you could face because your senses haven’t been fully activated.'

'I am not sure I understand Ankit, apart from not being able to hear those people talking earlier all my senses seem to be working fine,’ and I added, ‘or even better.'

'You’re right, you don’t understand.' he said, 'your new body has more capabilities than your biological one ever had, and some of those extra senses haven’t been turned on yet. Communication is going to be a little like learning to talk all over again. Can you remember when you said you were glad I was speaking English and I said I wasn't?'

I'd completely forgotten that, there'd been so much going around in my head; it was one of the things I’d meant to ask.

'Yes, I forgot to ask you about that. What exactly did you mean?'

'Well the majority of us actually speak Hindi, but you hear English, and vice versa, there is instantaneous translation.'

'But what about earlier, when I couldn’t hear anything?'

'That’s the most complex ability that you’ll have to learn to consciously control when its first turned on, but, like walking, it will become automatic. You see in this society no one, not even the authorities have the right to invade your privacy, and that includes overhearing you're conversations. We have the ability to turn on the transmission of our voices to only those we want to hear us, including individuals, groups, or if you don’t mind everyone overhearing you, a general transmission. I know it sounds complex, but it will become second nature to you.’

‘So I couldn't hear anything earlier because none of those people were transmitting on a general frequency?'

'Not exactly, it’s because your communications abilities haven’t been fully turned on, apart from allowing you access to transmissions from a few key people that you’ve already met.' He gestured to the others, 'And most of your other advanced senses haven’t been activated at all. Had they been, then what you would have heard was random conversation created by the system, aimed at your level of tolerance, but not the actual words the people were saying. It’s very advanced; it even convinces your eyes that their lips are moving in sync with the false conversation.'

My mouth was agape at what I was hearing, I slowly shook my head and said, 'I wish I could say that’s amazing Ankit, but to be honest its just one bizarre surprise after another just lately, this world's completely balmy.' and before I could contemplate just how extreme some of these things were, I said, 'When will I get all these advanced senses turned on then, and what exactly are they?'

'I am hoping that’s one of the things that your new friends are going to help you explore.’ He said, looking over at the three other Cryogens, ‘I've arranged for you to have all your senses activated.'

'Yes,’ Jennifer said moving forward, ‘we thought we'd take a trip to the library tomorrow Richard and get you
turned on,
so to speak.’

'Library!' I laughed, ‘why would you need one of those when you've got access to everything through the Information System in your own homes?'

'Its just one of the many things that are no longer necessary but have been retained to satisfy the underlying psychological need for human activity and contact; there are cinemas, clubs, sports centres and just about every social activity we used to have back in our time. You’ll come across a lot of things that you’d consider wouldn’t be needed anymore, and indeed aren't. They're just retained to maintain our culture and sense of belonging.’

The mention of most people speaking Hindi had got me thinking again about why the institute was in India.

‘There has been something that’s been nagging me,’ I said, ‘I haven’t heard any mention of other countries or cultures and I know that's probably because we're in India, but I would have thought there would be more of a mix of races after all this time…’

It was Earl, who answered me, ‘Richard, it's because the Manoorans wanted to replicate the distribution of races at the point that humanity became extinct. And approximately ninety five percent of humans were of Indian decent by the time the race was wiped out.’

My brow must have furrowed, pulling my face into a frown and reflecting my thorough confusion, I just didn’t understand; I knew India had a large population, but ninety five percent!

‘I suppose I am going to regret asking how that came about aren’t I?’ I said generally to the group.

‘Have you learned anything about India’s contribution to human society at all?’ asked Jennifer.

‘Only that they were responsible for laying the foundations of the
Open Society
principle that’s been universally adopted.’

They all looked at me as Jennifer said, ‘well that settles it then, the first thing we'll do tomorrow when we get to the library is to show you…’ and pausing, she looked accusingly at Ramoon.’

‘What?’ I asked.

And finishing her sentence she said, ‘Just how India saved the Earth from an Invasion from space.’

Chapter 14
- Why most of us are Indian

India Prime’s city library was impressive, even by the standards of th
e huge buildings that made up this amazing place
. It was monumental, a behemoth, and towered over all the other buildings that sheltered under the artificial sky. It dominated the landscape with its vast panes of gold tinted glass, which shouted its existence to the underground world whilst hiding its interior from view. As I made my way there to meet my friends, I found myself walking through deserted city streets, and the absence of crowds made me feel like I'd entered a scene from a disaster movie. There were just so few people to populate these huge cities,
I wonder why they’re still building more planets?
By the time I’d walked several blocks I'd seen only a handful of people; it was all very surreal and I only felt marginally more comfortable when I met my friends, who were waiting for me at the entrance.

As we passed into the library through a section of the tinted glass, I stopped and breathed deeply through my nose. The air itself carried a familiar odour from the past and like so many other unexpected things I’d come across in this world, it surprised me. It was the smell of new carpet and it instantly triggered the memory of the day Helen and I had shopped for the carpet for our first house. To afford the best, we had to fit it ourselves, and I recalled the smell of its newness lingered for weeks afterwards.

Sadly the familiarity of that smell was the only thing that helped relax me because nothing else in this building was as recognisable. The walls were decorated with stark blocks of primary colours and embedded in these were video screens playing clips of images as we passed by.

‘You’re not seeing the same thing that I am,’ said Simon when he noticed me looking at one of the screens. ‘These show everyone different things as we walk by them, based on what the system knows of our preferences. Until your senses have been fully activated you’ll only see random images in these types of screens. But our advanced eyesight sees what the system wants us to see,’ then jokingly he added, ‘so you can’t see the advert I’ve just been shown for
Tennis lessons for beginners
.’

Leading off from the main corridor were alcoves which themselves led to small study rooms, one of which I followed my friends into.

Simon gestured for me to sit down near the wall, at one end of what looked like a small version of the table at the Information centre and which I guessed provided an interface with the library’s information store.

‘I suppose this thing is going to merge with me is it?’

Jennifer leaned towards me, ‘absolutely, and the first thing your going to do is learn about the first invasion from space, and India’s response. Are you ready?’

‘Yes’ I said, thinking about her emphasis on the word ‘first’; obviously a reference to the appearance of the Manoorans, but before I could contemplate what, if any, other significance it could have, I’d been sucked into the familiar half sleep and dream-like state that preceded communication with the Information System.

A vision of Earth from the night side filled my mind and for all intent and purpose I felt again like I was floating in space. But this time, because of my proximity to the planet, unlike my first experience in the
Table Room
, a sudden sense of acrophobia threatened to make me sick. But the nausea suddenly passed before the spasms had chance to take hold and offer my breakfast an alternative exit from my body.

The image panned around me to reveal hundreds of moonlit metallic objects the size of apartment blocks in stationary orbit, the centre sections revolving and making them sparkle like diamonds in the sky. As I got closer I saw that they were spawning smaller vehicles from the stationary ends. These were the size of washing machines and looked like
giant sized,
futuristic
versions of the mice that we used with computers in my day.
Illuminated tubes of white and orange liquid rotated around their outer skin as they rained down on the planet beneath them.

The scene shifted in a blur and I recognised New York harbour, the famous statue broken in half like a child’s toy. I zoomed along 42
^nd
street to the sounds of screams and crashing vehicles belonging to the hoards of people trying to find escape. A deep low buzzing accompanied the glint of the small, almost half spherical like invaders, as they sped in all directions, seeking out human targets to fire their dark green energy at. Pulses of this, as small as golf balls, shot at high velocity with incredible energy in all directions at their targets, ready to eat through clothes and flesh.

People were running for cover, screaming, pleading for their lives and dying in a blaze of fire. I felt glad this experience didn’t come with the sense of smell as I looked around at the piles of smoking remains that scattered the scene. This was the systematic genocide of humanity.

A sudden shift bought me back high, once again looking down on the Earth, at the familiar shape of the Indian continent. Then I began a rapid decent, falling from space towards India, which grew bigger, and bigger. And, as I looked down, I realised that whole swathes of the continent were changing colour! First an orange shade began to cover the brown of the country, then white emerged and finally I saw specks of green! It looked like a sea of dust motes disturbed by a raging wind. But whatever it was, it had purpose, because it was dispersing equally in all directions. As I came closer the tiny specs resolved into individual entities and closer still, another shock awaited me. These were people. Flying people!

I was amazed as I saw this vast army of Indian supermen and women dressed in coveralls of orange, white and green, being moved effortlessly through the sky by the streamlined contraptions attached to their backs.
What was all this about?

I was mesmerised. My fall had stopped just above this human tide and questions began to demand answers.
Were these people escaping? Did the rest of humanity get killed leaving these as the only survivors, left to re-populate the world
? As I began to consider it to be a feasible explanation I was pulled away from the panorama and found myself once again back on 42
^nd
street.