TAKING THE PLUNGE (3rd Instalment)

Written by Ann Farmer

~~~   ***   ~~~

Here’s yesterday’s instalment. Today we’re introduced to a new character who tells London some secrets – read on …

~~~   ***   ~~~

Still, not his fault – and unlike the other youngish males, he looked somewhat serious and even anxious; and therefore trustworthy. No sign of Moonbeam though. He began to feel uneasy. The young downcast male, passing him again at an appropriate distance, stared at him, gave an almost imperceptible jerk of the head in the direction of the floor and moved off swiftly in the direction of his own apartment. 

London frowned. What was that supposed to mean? Was this some kind of trap? There was nothing on the floor below, only the Utility Room. He was tempted to return to his apartment – but what if this mysterious signal was about Moonbeam? What if she needed him?

He waited till the revolving camera was pointing the other way and then slipped through the door and down the stairs. Just as he reached the swing doors of the Utility Room, however, they burst open, and Moonbeam emerged. This time she really was crying. He called after her as she disappeared up the stairs – it was unwise, he knew – but she didn’t turn round.

Puzzled, disappointed and a little unnerved, he entered the Utility Room, wondering what – or who – had prompted her sudden exit, as well as the tears. There was no one there.

At least, that was what he thought at first; but once his eyes adjusted to the dim light he saw someone standing by a large pile of boxes filled with what looked like rubbish. 

The figure stepped forward – he was of indeterminate age, somewhat scruffy, dressed in baggy blue overalls; and he didn’t look a bit surprised to see the new arrival. ‘London,’ he said. ‘At last.’

He paused, uncertain. ‘Who – who are you?’   

‘The Caretaker.’ 

London couldn’t remember anyone mentioning a caretaker, but he supposed someone had to look after the building. He forced a smile. ‘You take care of things?’

‘You could say that.’

‘Been here long?’ 

‘For ever.’

‘Then you’ll know –’ London hesitated, and then for some insane reason, took the plunge. ‘You should know – what it was like – before -’

‘Before Covid?’ The Caretaker gave a hollow laugh. ‘Oh, yes, I remember – but it doesn’t go back that far.’

‘What? But I thought –’

‘Of course you did – everyone does. It seems to have gone on for years – centuries even – but that’s only what you’ve been told.’

‘You mean all those healthnsafety announcements – they’re – unnecessary?’ It was strange, but even though there were no colleague safety monitors here – an oversight to have no oversight, surely! – he still found it hard to speak in complete sentences. Habit, he supposed.

‘Unnecessary?’ The Caretaker’s narrow eyes glinted with ironic laughter. ‘Oh, no. They were necessary at first – mainly to keep the governing elites safe. All their money couldn’t save them from the new virus. But they’re still necessary – very necessary. Necessary to keep you all in a state of fear – to keep you all locked up – voluntarily, of course – to reduce the burden on the environment. And if the Covid fear fades, there’s always Climate change – mainly, changing the climate of opinion in favour of whatever they tell us to do. Their main problem is that while the anti-Covid measures saved the lives of the elites, they saved too many other lives – ‘unfit’ lives. A Malthusian plague that didn’t do what it should have done – curb the population. ’

‘Because the biggest burden on the Planet is people,’ London said, mechanically repeating the public announcement he had heard so many times before. ‘But what do they want us to do about it?’ 

‘More to the point, it’s what they don’t want you to do,’ the Caretaker grinned. ‘They want you to stop reproducing. That’s why they banned marriage between men and women – males and females to you.’

‘But where do we all come from?’ London protested. ‘I can’t remember my own progenitors -’

‘And why do you think that is?’ The Caretaker leaned forward, lowering his voice. ‘Have you never suspected? It’s because you’ve been bred in batches – you in London, and your friend – oh, pardon my use of the f-word – that’s ‘close colleague’ to you – in Oxford. Oh, yes, I know him – or rather, knew him; and his friend, aka partner, in Manchester. Bred in test-tubes and gestated in bio-pods. Brought up in nurseries and named after all the latest fads – Equality, Diversity, Sustainability, Accessibility, Inclusivity, Democracy – none of which are actively encouraged, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.’

‘No wonder,’ London muttered. ‘No wonder I can’t remember them. They never existed. Or only as anonymous donors. I thought something happened to part us when I was very young – but I never knew them at all – and they never knew each other – or me either.’ 

For several minutes he was too stunned to say any more; then, fixing his eyes on the Caretaker, he said: ‘How do you know all this?’

‘That’s easy – I know everything. And I’ve been here for ever.’

It certainly seemed to fit. ‘No wonder,’ he said, over and over, to himself. The Caretaker made a move as if to go, and London blurted out, ‘Wait! Can you tell me something – something that’s been bothering me ever since I came here, straight out of Learning. I noticed – I mean, there never seems to be – I never see anyone – over a certain age –’

‘Which you are rapidly approaching,’ the Caretaker said sardonically.

‘Well – yes, I – what happened to them?’

‘First,’ the Caretaker said, ‘we must consider the population problem –’

‘I know all about that,’ London interrupted. ‘Sir Douglas Atterbury  –’ 

‘Sir Douglas Atterbury!’ the Caretaker sneered. ‘Like the Representatives – like all that crowd – he believes in controlling the population – of other people! Why do you think the Eternal Guardians never change? They don’t disappear after about 30 years on this Earth!’

London frowned. ‘I suppose not – but how -?’

‘The rich men behind them – I should say, the even richer men behind them – made their pile long ago, by ‘saving the Planet’. Mainly by selling fear – a fear that made people buy their stuff: electric vehicles, plant-based food, renewable energy, ‘green’ alternatives to everything – all with massive subsidies from the taxpayer of course. They cut out all the competition – Cosmop Commerce and Transnat Trading? They used to be competitors, but now it’s just a facade.”

[Will the Caretaker reveal more facts to London? Find out in tomorrow’s instalment …]