Revolution in the Underground (29 page)

“How romantic!” Maggie interjected.  “Tell me more!”

“He was a deeply philosophical man.  I followed him as he explored various lifestyles, from stoicism to hedonism to asceticism.  Along the way we were happy, but we never came closer to understanding fundamental truths.  He came to terms with death in his old age.  I wish I could tell you that he died quietly and peacefully, but his final years were marred by great torment.  But I was with him throughout it all.  Through the pains and aches… Feeding him, clothing him, washing him…  Never letting any of it distort my memory of him…  Even as his mind deteriorated, I stood by his side.  And when his time finally came to pass, he told me to ‘never forget about us,’ and I never had.”  Luna seemed to say the last sentence with a particular heaviness of heart.

“Luna, I had no idea!” Maggie expressed, with tears in her eyes.

“After Rachel and Patrick died, I decided to follow their son, Potsu, in hopes that it might lift my sadness.  Potsu, however, soon got wrapped up with the political affairs outside of the under-Underground.  Depressed over Leonard’s death, and feeling unwanted by Potsu, I slunk off, once again, to a concealed corner and turned myself off.”

“Luna… how sad…” Maggie expressed, not exactly knowing what else to say.

“When I awoke, the government of Imperium was being established.  Fearful of what they saw, the people of the under-Undgeround expanded downward.  Digging and digging and digging—intent on isolating themselves completely from the external world.  I spent a few years helping with the digging, but eventually left to explore the rest of the Underground.  Too heart-broken by Leonard’s death, I generally avoided relationships during this time.  I would collect all the science books I could find, and after I read everything I found, I would shut myself down again, only to re-awaken some years later and do it all over again.  The world changed.  Auctoritas split off from Imperium, the Buffer Zone was created, and, eventually the under-Underground became the Abyss you see today.  It became the new normal, and slowly, overtime, it was thought to be the way that things always were.  And that, more or less takes us to when I met you, Ember and Maggie.”

So captivating was Luna’s narration that everyone had nearly forgotten that they walking along the Abyss’ walls.  No longer did Maggie fear permanent blindness, and no longer did Sven worry about falling off the cliff.

“The one question I have,” Styles said darkly, “is why you androids didn’t organize together and subjugate the humans.”

Luna was slow to respond.  “I never thought about it before.  I guess… we just never had that desire.  What would be gained?  I think that’s one difference between androids and humans…  Humans seem to believe that hierarchy is necessary—that it is possible to elevate one’s self by lowering another.  I don’t think that type of reasoning works with us—we calculate on a more absolute scale.  We just want to live peacefully.  Also, we weren’t as militaristically capable as the humans… we weren’t as organized…  We didn’t exactly have a common history like they did, and as a result I don’t think we were as united.”

“I knew that androids existed,” Sven explained, “but I never heard this story before.  All I was ever told was that they were cold, selfish, calculating machines and that there weren’t many left.”

“And what do you think now?” Luna asked.

“I think I was wrong.  I’m sorry… I’m so sorry for what my ancestors did to your kind,” Sven said mournfully.  “I don’t know what I can do to correct it… but I’m so sorry.”

“Luna?”

“Yes, Kara?”

“I’m sorry too… about the past… about how I acted… about everything.”

“It’s okay, I knew you didn’t mean it… you didn’t know… it’s okay, really.”

“Luna?”

“Yes, Kara?”

“Why are you helping us out?”

“Not all humans are bad.  Not all androids are good.  There is a greater world out there that I think we all would like to see.”  Luna paused for a long while before saying, “Come on, we still have a long way to go.”

             
“I see something,” Maggie exclaimed exuberantly, peering into the dim white haze of a distant object. “Is it safe to let go of your hand now?” she asked Luna, just then imagining the light as a glorious soldier fighting against the immortal darkness.

             
“Yes, you can let go,” Luna said, talking to everyone. 

             
“I never thought I would miss the light so much,” Maggie said, hypnotically walking towards it, breaking from the group’s otherwise linear configuration.  As they walked closer, and as the light grew brighter, Maggie became impatient.  “Come on guys, hurry up!” she shouted, beginning to sprint forward.

             
“Let me do the talking,” Styles warned, running after her.  Luna shrugged and followed too.

             
“Wait for me!” Ember shouted with Kara and Sven in tow. 

The white dot to which they ran appeared as a constricted aperture of an otherwise perfectly black tunnel.  The satisfying crunch of the caked dirt beneath their shoes was eerily foreign—like first footsteps on an alien world.  Ignorant of her own breathlessness, Maggie stammered forward, hypnotized by the gradual increasing intensity of the light.

“This is it?” Maggie asked disappointedly as she reached what appeared to be an abandoned cabin with an adorning white light, completely unaware that Ember, Sven, and Kara were far behind.  “Hey Luna?  Where exactly is everyone?”

“Inside.”

“Huh,” she mumbled, studying the black, gray and white shades of Luna’s face, disappointed by the realization that the return of light didn’t necessarily guarantee the return of color.

Luna waited for Ember and Kara before beginning her explanation.  “When I first told you about the under-Underground, you might have wondered what we did with all the dirt we dug up.”

“Uh…  No I didn’t really think about that…  What
did
you do with all that dirt?”

“Imagine the Abyss as two concentric hollow cylinders,” Luna said as Sven lumbered toward them, panting heavily.  “The walls of the inner cylinder were made from all that dirt.”

“But how—” Maggie started.

“It’s just really compacted,” Luna replied, correctly guessing her question.  “So compact in fact, that it is like rock… stable enough to support thousands of home and terraces along its lateral surface.”

“And everyone is inside?”

“For the most part.  If you were to look from an aerial point of view, the Abyss would look like a dark ring surrounding a dimly lit center.  Since the inner cylinder is slightly shorter than the outer one, it would have been difficult for you to realize this from where we entered.  The angle wasn’t right.”

“So this whole time we were circling the city and we didn’t even realize it?” Ember asked.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“How cool!” Maggie declared.

“There are very few lights along the outer ring, so I’m not surprised that you didn’t notice.  This passage here takes us through the walls of the inner cylinder.  Are you ready?”

“What are we waiting for?” Kara asked rhetorically, opening the door and stepping inside.  The passage was narrow and dimly lit, and was rank with mildew.  Kara walked slowly, intentionally letting Luna pass ahead. 

Approaching the second door, which also had a dim white light at its top, Luna turned round to face the rest of the group.  “Welcome to the Abyss,” she said, opening the door from behind.

Maggie and Ember ran up to the open door, mesmerized by the light speckled landscape before them.  “It’s magical!” Maggie exclaimed.

Kara and Sven, neither of whom had ever visited the Abyss, were equally awestruck.  “Look at all the lights,” Kara said, just then considering how paradoxically shadowy everything was.

“They look like stars,” Ember remarked.

“That’s new,” Luna observed, looking down from the door.  “This used to take me to the bottom.  I guess they must have been doing some more digging since I was last here.”

Styles looked down at the bustling market, which was about fifteen feet below the passage from which they stood.  He huffed irritably, stepping out of the door and onto one of the adjacent terraces.

“Careful,” Luna warned, helping Ember to the terrace.

“What’s the plan now?” Sven asked.

“Don’t know,” Styles admitted, “I’ll let you know when I think of something.”  He led the way across the perimeter, knocking on the door of the first residence he crossed.

“What is it?!” answered a fragile woman with thin, scraggly, long hair.  Though the light was still too dim to reveal colors in full detail, Styles perceived a sickly green hue to her otherwise ghostly pale complexion.

“Could we trouble you for some food and water?” he asked, trying hard to smile pleasantly.

The scrawny woman looked at him confusedly.  When at last the revelation came, her bony jaws moved into position to convey a mixture of self-satisfaction and surprise.  “You’re not from around here are you?”

“No Ma’am,” Sven answered cheerfully from behind.

The woman peered her head out the door and at the five figures standing to Styles’ side.  “Go away,” she hissed, her wry smile instantly turning to a threatening grimace. 

She tried to slam the door shut but Styles’ foot blocked the way.  He pushed the door open, easily overpowering her opposing force, and motioned for everyone else to follow as he stepped in.

Maggie, Ember, Sven and Kara entered hesitantly.  “I’m sorry about all this Ma’am,” Sven said, trying to appear non-threatening.  Luna, who was last to enter, closed the door after her.

“What do you want?!” the woman hissed.

“Food and water,” Styles ordered, examining the dirt walls.

“We mean you no harm,” Kara said assuredly.  “You have to understand that we’ve been travelling a long time.”

“So you thought you could just come barging into my home?!”

“The food and water,” Styles commanded insistently.

“You surface dwellers are all the same,” the woman said, cautiously moving forward to the kitchen area.  “You just take what you want.”

“Oh no, we’re not surface dwellers,” Sven said, still hoping his smile might disarm her.  “Well… I’m not.  They are,” he said, pointing at Maggie and Ember, “but we’re not.  Well… she sort of is,” he said, looking briefly at Kara, “but the rest of us aren’t.”

“Were you born here?” she asked, showing Styles to her dirt pantry and cupboard.

“Here, here?” Sven asked.  “Uh… no… not here.”

“Then you’re not from the Underground and therefore must be a surface dweller,” she said viciously, as if relating a categorical truth.

“No… Uh… This is the Abyss… and we’re from the rest of the Under— Oh… I see the confusion.”

“There is another world
above
the world above you,” Kara offered as further explanation.

“Hogwash!”

“Kara, Sven!” Styles admonished, “it’s not important!  Sit down.  Eat.  Drink.”  He handed Kara and Sven each a jug of water as they joined him around a flattened dirt mound, which was obviously designed to be a table of some kind.

“It was nice to meet you,” Maggie said to the woman as she walked by to the table.  She sat down in a chair, a smaller flat dirt mound, and stuffed her face with something starchy.

“I’m really sorry to do this to you,” Ember said once more on behalf of the group.

“If I could ask for just one more favor,” Maggie said, chewing with her mouth open.  “Could you perhaps turn on some more lights… If that’s at all possible.”

The woman bumped into Maggie and put one hand on her shoulder, whispering into her ear, “For you dear, anything.”  She lit a few candles and placed them delicately on the table.

Styles eyed her suspiciously.  “Drink up,” he instructed, sliding Maggie and Ember a jug.

“Luna, do you eat?” Ember asked curiously.

“No, don’t drink either.  Actually, it’d probably kill me if I tried.”

“This whole time and I never noticed!”

“How do you get your energy then?” Kara asked, between chugs of water.

“You know… it’s funny… I know more about how you guys work than I know how I work.”

“Are you enjoying yourselves?” the woman asked, suspiciously sweetly.

“Uh… yes… thank you,” Maggie said.

“You know…” the woman said slowly, “It really isn’t polite to… come into… other… peoples’ homes… unannounced!”  With these last words, she pulled out a dagger, thrusting it downward in a pendulum-like motion towards Maggie’s jugular.

“Watch out!” Kara cried.

Styles swiftly leapt to his feet, grabbing the woman’s wrist milliseconds before the fatal plunge.  He squeezed her wrist viciously. 

She dropped the dagger.  “Let go!” she cried, howling like a wounded animal.  He let go.  She stumbled backwards, cradling her hurt hand in her other.  She ran towards the door, stopping momentarily to hiss once more at them before leaving.

Maggie and Ember looked round with dazed expressions.  “What—” Maggie began.

“Is that your dagger?” Styles asked, pointing to the blade on the floor.

“Uhh… yes…” she said, just then starting to understand what had happened.

“Keep a better eye on it from now on,” Styles reproved.  “Finish eating and drinking,” he instructed to everyone, “we leave soon.”

Maggie wasn’t hungry anymore and neither was Ember.  She spent the next two minutes staring at her brother in silence, and he spent the same two minutes staring back at her, occasionally taking a sip from his jug.  Maggie tried to make sense of her brother’s judgmental bulging eyes but before she was able to form a definite opinion, Styles instructed everyone to leave.

“Thank you,” she said to Styles as they stepped outside.

“Down the slope,” he said, coolly ignoring her.  “We’re going to the market.”  Styles scaled the steep embankment down to the bottom, motioning for them to follow.

Ember, Maggie, and Kara, slid down hesitantly, all of them nearly falling along the way.  Certain that he lacked the dexterity to duplicate the feat, Sven sat and slipped slowly downward on his butt, using his hands to slow his descent.  Luna watched Sven wipe the gravel and dirt from his pants, and then calmly walked down a nearby ramp and joined them down below.

“What now?” Sven asked, running his fingers through his hair.

“Luna, will you need an input/output cable?” Styles asked. 

She nodded shyly.  “I should be able to do it wirelessly, but we should get one just in case.”

“You need cord?” a cagey hunchback street vendor asked, just then approaching Styles with his wheelbarrow inventory.  “We got all you need right here.  Cords.  Electronics.  Rare.  Very rare.”

“What do you have to offer in exchange,” another decrepit, decaying man, evidently the vendor’s partner, said, walking uncomfortably close to Maggie.

“I don’t think we have any money, do we?” Sven asked, looking round.

“Oh that’s okay,” he said, swiftly stroking Maggie’s cheek with his greasy index finger.  She stepped backwards and made a disgusted face.  “What do you have to trade,” he said suggestively.

“How about my shoes? Or perhaps my jacket?” Sven offered.

“We have no need for shoes or jackets,” the hunchbacked vendor said dismissively.

“Actually,” Kara said excitedly, “I have some coins in my pocket.”  She offered them to the hunchback eagerly.

“We have no need for surface dweller money.”

“I have a bracelet,” Ember said, looking down at his wrist.

“No Ember, that’s our thing.  You’re supposed to wear the second bracelet!” Maggie said, looking down at her own wrist, evidently disturbed by the thought of being figuratively connected to either of these rotting men with a matching bracelet.

“How about her?” the hunchback suggested, licking his thin lips as his partner put his hands leisurely around her hips.

“Get away from me!” Maggie cried, violently thrashing free with unnecessary force.  “I’m warning you,” she said, pulling out the dagger threateningly.

“Hey now—”

“Look, I’ve been through enough today!  Get away from me!  I mean it!”

“Come on girl, why you—”

“Give us the cable or I’ll stab him!” she screamed as she brought the knife into position.

“Woah, Maggie!” Styles exclaimed, pleasantly surprised.  “Finally taking some initiative, I like it.”

“I’ve had about enough of everything today!  I don’t need this!”

“Maggie, calm down!” Ember cried, not liking what his sister was becoming.

“No Ember… I’ve had about enough of this!” she shouted, her hand trembling.   “Just give us the cable and no one gets hurt!”  Styles applauded her gleefully with a slow clap.

“Go ahead, stab him.  I don’t care.”
              “Boss?!”

“You’ve been nothing but dead weight all these years!  I don’t care.  Stab him!  Kill him!  Do whatever you want with him!  See what I care.”