Wake Me In The Future (19 page)

‘That and their own tools finally showing them for what they were.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘The Campaign for Privacy and Respect had been fought into a corner and finally employed the very things they detested. They captured hundreds of hours of footage of countless media bosses…..’ she looked embarrassingly over at Earl, ‘…obsessing over viewing figures and profits, the only thing that mattered was money, and the greed that fuelled the desire for it had no respect for even the most basic of human need. To these people their fellow citizens were just objects to be used to make profit. And that was finally proved when it was shown that it was a group of the highest elite in global media that had instigated and funded the terrorists that had committed the murders of the celebrities. To them it was just another acceptable tool to boost their ever rising profits – and pave the way for a whole new set of ‘
cheaper’
celebrities.

The public had been duped and it was there for them all to see. It was a wakeup call that put an end to the perception that ‘
freedom of the press’
meant freedom from the law, and it instigated a charter for privacy and respect that all media companies had to abide by.’ added Simon. 'It was restricted to only applying its practices where there was corruption or where the law was being broken. The rights of the citizen finally won out over commercial interests
and the media was restricted to its rightful place in society.
'

‘It’s a shame all those celebrities had to lay down their lives before the world came to its senses though.’

‘It was only the beginning of the journey to where we are now Richard, it just came too late. You asked how we could have blindly walked into that situation,’ Jennifer went on, ‘I’ve studied the records and the lessons are inescapable. It started, like so many things, by people’s reluctance to speak up and question anything that had been promoted by the authorities or business as what the majority wanted. It didn’t matter if it was true of course; it only needed that perception to keep most dissent in check.

So people never questioned the arguments for closed circuit TV and then hidden cameras, firstly in public places and then in the workplace, and even in schoolchildren’s toilets, they just accepted the violation of the privacy of their homes, and then themselves in the form of the mind mapping technology that was eventually enforced. By allowing the authorities to take that final step into the sanctity of their minds, the people had unwittingly given up all control over everything that made them human, and any real control over themselves.

It had been a huge sociological step change, that finally pushed the world to the brink and ushered in what was called the
Great Fight Back
, but that in itself triggered the beginning of the wars that destroyed the race.’

‘This is depressing,’ said Simon, ‘we can’t do anything about it, and the Manoorans have finally realised the dreams of personal control over private information that began to take shape back then. Can’t we change the subject?’

‘Sorry,’ Jennifer said, ‘it’s just that I am interested in History and the lessons it has to teach us.’ Then with a smile she said, ‘We do celebrate the lives of those that died in that atrocity though Richard. Every 20
^th
February; we call it Celebrity Day, it’s like a big carnival or fancy dress party, and you can attend as any one of the victims.

‘Was Mac Zeffer a victim?’

‘Yes, he was’ said Jennifer, ‘why?’

‘Because I’ll be able to go as him,’ I said smiling, ‘Helen always said he reminded her of me when I was young.’

Simon got hold of my chin and turned my face from side to side to scrutinise my features then shrugged his shoulders, ‘Nah, can’t see it myself,’ he said.

Once again Earl’s serious tone bought us back to the present situation, ‘You know, I am not sure we’ve actually done what we set out to achieve by coming here. It’s certainly not done me any good. I thought we were going to cheer you up Richard but I don’t think we've been very successful at that, do you?’

Jennifer nodded in agreement, ‘I think we all need a little light relief to completely take our minds off all of this.’ And looking at the two others with a cheeky grin on her face said, ‘I think we should take Richard to the Mumbai Temple tonight.’

Before I could ask what the Mumbai Temple was, Simon explained, ‘you’ll love it Richard, its one of the best clubs in India Prime.’

‘I can’t dance.’

‘Oh, you’ve got so much to learn,’ said Jennifer, winking at me.

Chapter 20
– I Found Something

Simon and Earl were waiting for
me
outside the café bar on the corner that faced the main square.
I
pulled up
a
black plastic chair opposite them and ordered a drink from the terminal point at the centre of the table. Within seconds a trolley waiter
rolled to
my
side to deliver
it
.

It was the first alcohol
I
’d experienced with
my
new body and as
I
drank the ancient Whiskey, feeling its comforting heat travel through
me
,
I
once again marvelled at the lengths these people had gone to in order to replicate the biological experiences of the past. From the very first sip of what had once been
my
favourite drink,
I
knew that
I
was going to get drunk tonight. And
I
was actually looking forward to it.

As
we
waited for Jennifer to arrive, before
going
on to what she'd jokingly referred to as
our
'night on the town'
,
I
couldn’t help noticing how different
my
clothing was to the
other
two
men.

'I can't get used to th
ese clothes
,'
I
said, pulling at the figure hugging beige and green t-shirt. 'I'd rather choose something myself than let the system give me what it thinks is suitable. I feel like something out of Saturday Night Fever in these baggy flared trousers, I mean look how high this waistband is.’

Earl and Simon were both wearing more conventional trousers and Nehru style shirts in sombre grey and black. 'You're not doing it right Richard,' said Simon, 'next time I’ll
have to
come over to your apartment and show you how to dress.'

When Jennifer arrived she looked stunning
. She was wearing
a figure hugging
'off the shoulder'
aqua blue
dress
,
that tapered in at her knees
and was held around her waist by a
wide belt
of midnight blue silk which was also the
colour of her nails and stiletto shoes. Her short black hair was pulled back on each side by
Butterfly
combs
in
the
same
colour as her dress, and the
drop
earrings and single stone
around her neck that hung from
invisible threads
completed the look.

A drawn out – ‘
V
e
e
eer
ry ni
ii
ce’
came from Earl as he looked her
up and down admiringly, ‘you look amazing.’

She smiled, basking in the compliment, ‘and you lot brush up pretty well yourselves.'

She
ordered herself a drink
and when
we
’d
all
finished
we
walked a
cross the square
and
down the alleyway opposite
. Ten minutes later we entered
another open space where the Mumbai Temple was sited.
D
istinctive Mauryan style arches dominated the
outside of the
buildings and as
we
approached the entrance to the club Simon's cheeky grin once again made an appearance, indicating some mischief was afoot.

‘Just a word of advice Richard, you need to suspend belief until you get used to this, and under no circumstances
-
laugh….’

I
threw him a quizzical look.

‘You’ll see.’

Once through the main entrance
we
found
our
selves in a wide corridor at the end of which was the door to the club itself. No music or sounds of partying gave away its presence, which didn’t surprise
me
considering how important this society valued its privacy.
We
passed a reception area half way down the passage and joined an orderly queue moving through the entrance into the club.

‘This is the largest group of people I’ve seen since we went to the surface,’
I
said, feeling a little better about
my
attire now
that I
saw
some of the other men wearing clothing just as ridiculous as
mine
.

When
I
passed through the door
I
found
my
self facing
a
bar area
,
and the immediate transition from the almost silence of the corridor to the regular thump, thump, thump of the music from behind
me,
made
me
instinctively bring
my
hands
up
to
my
ears. The frequency of it was so low
I
could feel it vibrating up through
my
feet. A remix of
Tear it Apart
, by Whale was blasting out and
I
was amazed to hear they were playing something from
my
own era, even though it was in danger of shaking
me
to pieces.

As
I
lowered
my
hands
I
saw that the people milling around the bar
in front of me
all seemed young and
attractive
, and
I
smiled at the sight of the barmen serving the eager club goers, yet another unnecessary addition to this world.  One in particular was being
ogled
by a group of women who were leaning over the bar and
I
couldn’t help notice the shortness of their skirts and
the
skimpy bikini bottoms beneath.
I
slapped
my
self on
my
right cheek, ‘stop it’
I
said out loud
,
trying to shake the inappropriate thoughts racing through
my
mind.

Simon, who was behind
me
, noticed and said conspiratorially into
my
ear, ‘some things are a little more relaxed in these clubs, but the system will soon get
a
measure of your preferences,’ then he went on with his infectious smile, ‘I am guessing from your interest that this level won’t be blocked for you.’

I
just winced, a half smile, as Helen came to mind and
I
hoped the wave of guilt that suddenly washed over
me
wouldn’t spoil the evening.

I
needn’t have worried though, because as
I
turned around
I
found
my
self looking out over the dance floor, and at one of the most absurd sights
I
’d ever seen in
my
life.

There
must have been
over a hundred people all dancing in time with the beat and with each other. As the deep base of the music sped up
I
saw the top half of the dancer’s bodies separate from their lower bodies, and although still attached by what looked like a
thin
cable, they moved rapidly to the beat, and for a fraction of a second hovered, first over the
bottom half of the
person to their right, and then over the one on their left. Their arms waved to the beat and their hips shift
ed
in time to the rhythm. Arms became entangled, disconnected bodies morphed and shifted positions
at different speeds
, and it just became so confusing that it was difficult to see which body parts belonged to which person. The whole ensemble created a phantasmagorical scene the likes of which
I
could never have imagined in a million years.

It was so bizarre that it reminded
me
of a crowd of puppets on strings, but far more controlled. And as
I
watched,
my
chest gradually began to contract involuntary;
I
knew
I
wanted to laugh,
I
couldn’t hold it in. It was the most ridiculous and hilarious thing
I
’d seen yet.
I
knew
I
wasn’t going to be able to control the involuntary spasms that were rapidly building up inside
me
– yep;
I
was definitely going to laugh.

I
ran for the door and dashed through it,
my
friends following closely behind.
I
managed to get to the bottom of the corridor before
I
collapsed against the wall in hysterical laughter,
I
couldn’t stop the tears in
my
eyes and
I
managed to say to no-one in particular, ‘thank you. That was brilliant.’

The laughter was infectious and soon the
others
joined in, and between laughter Simon managed to say, ‘I knew you’d find it funny Richard, and you’ve been through
such
a lot just lately, I am glad it worked.’

As
I
sat there on the floor,
my
laughter subsiding,
my
forearms resting on
my
knees and
my
head bent forward, a small group of women appeared through the main entrance and walked passed
us
. One of the women gave
me a look as if she recognised me
. She was dark skinned with strikingly sharp features, tall enough that she should have been awkward with it but surprisingly carried it well. Her mid-length brown hair was pulled away from her face and
was
half held in an unravelling pony-tail. She had smouldering brown eyes, and as soon as they met
mine
I
felt an immediate rush of pressure to
my
head. The feeling of laughter left
me
immediately and was replaced by something else.
My
whole body jumped backwards as if hit by a taser and
I
fell violently against the wall behind
me
.
I
felt the features of
my
face melting as a pulse of heat pushed waves of hot vibrations over
my
skin.
The woman
was still looking back at
me
in confusion when she and her party passed through the entrance to the club, and the strange sensations
I
was feeling suddenly stopped.