Digital Venous (13 page)

Dugouts and Dreams

WHEN EVERYBODY REALLY looked at the two—Ryan and Madi—the resemblance was clear. The dates matched. It was a miracle, a first; a Napean boy reunited with his mother. What was not understood, however, was that their resemblance would become increasingly less obvious. Ryan had already begun N.E.T. His body was undergoing cellular change. His wavy hair would, in coming years, go straight and black, and his eyes had already darkened, from green to dark. He was becoming a Napean.

As Ryan went off with Ben “for a talk,” Ginny broke the news to the women about Ryan’s health. “You won’t be needing to feed him,” she said. Madi threw her head, inhaling sharply. The other two women looked at her concerned.

“So it’s true,” Madi said, disgusted. “They fuckin’ poisoned him.”

“I beg your pardon?” said Ginny.

Madi replied, “They converted him into a fu...” Madi tried to regulate her language a little.  “… They turned him into a robot.”

Ginny gave an uncomfortable laugh and, shaking her head said, “I think that if that’s the way you feel… Ryan should be staying here where he will get the support he needs. It may be that later on we can…”

Alia broke in, “She’s in shock, that’s all. He will get all the love and support that is long overdue.”

“Yes, well, it’s not that he’s hasn’t been loved. He’s a very special fellow. His father’s done a wonderful job. He loves working, and he’s very intelligent—not so very strong, though. Wonderful mind—loves talking. Has no experience of people, yet somehow managed to completely charm all the girls here.” On hearing this Madi smiled bashfully. She could never take a compliment; this praise wasn’t about her, yet somehow she was getting the credit.

It was agreed that Ryan would stay at the foster home for another few days, before embarking on a trial stay with his mum. After a week, Ben and Ginny would go to Madi, Alia, and Bes’s house, south of the Stirling gate, and bring him home. Ryan would come back for three days, at which point he could make a decision on where he wanted to live.

A spare room in the underground dugout was quickly made available to Ryan. On the first afternoon of his arrival, Ryan went for a rest. An hour later, Madi, still awestruck by all that had had happened, pinched herself to see if she was dreaming. Her son had been found? He was asleep in the spare room? She went to check on him again. His door was ajar; he was lying on his back she could see his little face. His curly hair had been cut quite short and it framed his boyish features like a fringe of leaves. She felt like Peter Pan was visiting. His father would have been so proud—if I knew who he was... she thought. Madi had never known who Ryan’s real father was. In the twenty-third century this was quite normal. In the real world people had children for many different reasons, and being in a married relationship wasn’t one of them—bringing new life into the world was magical but being human was still a challenge.

Like being snapped out of a dream, Madi saw that Ryan’s face was not a sleeping face but something else. He was asleep but not asleep, eyes quivering as if in REM sleep, yet more animated.
He’s having a fit!
she thought. Madi ran to get Alia and together they stood over him. They said his name quietly, agreeing that he was “fitting,” but then began to notice his variety of movements: his head would quiver as if he were trying to see something, and then there would be some slow nodding and even head shaking. So it was not epilepsy. These were the physical signs of someone engaged in telepathy.

Ryan had been looking to talk to his father but, not being able to make contact, had become distracted by new things that he was beginning to see. It felt like he was in a room. That is, he sensed there were walls, though he couldn’t see any. It was dark but light enough to see that the floor was shaped like a hexagon. On each side of the hexagon there was a darkened patch big enough for him to walk through, though he didn’t dare. Dad had warned him that he must only imagine what he wanted to say or what he was thinking to his dad, and that talking to other people or walking to other places was very dangerous. But now Ryan found himself standing there waiting. He was frightened, but standing there doing nothing made him feel worse, so he moved toward one side. There he heard a distinct wind sound blowing into the darkness. Then he woke up. Madi and Alia were standing by his bed, looking very serious.

“Ohhh, hi,” said Ryan, rubbing his hand through his hair.

“Sorry, but we were worried about you,” said Madi, stroking his head. “You okay?” asked Alia.

“I’m fine.”

“You didn’t look like you were asleep,” said Madi.

“No, I wasn’t. I told Ben and Ginny; it’s something Dad taught me—thinking…thinking really, really carefully…”

“Ahhh,” they said, looking at each other nodding. “And what do you do that for?” Madi asked, knowing full well what was going on.

Your Father

“YOU’RE GOING TO need some food, mate.” Madi had decided that Ryan’s Napeanism was just a fad. “Here, try this beautiful sweet corn!” she said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

“I can’t. I really don’t want to.”

“Have a drink first,” she cajoled.

Ryan swallowed some water. “Ow! It’s cold!” he said. “It’s supposed to be, dummy.”

“I’m not a dummy!”

‘I know. Sorry, darling—you’re very clever! And not only that, but in actual fact you’re a human being and human beings need to eat. If you can eat, you’ll be a lot healthier.”

“But I am healthy!”

“You’re a real person now. Napeans didn’t have food anymore so they took medicine instead. We do have food, and that makes us stronger!”

“But then I’ll die,” said Ryan indignantly. “Everyone must die, darling—”

“Dad won’t. He was born in 2130.”

“Everything comes to an end. It’s the cycle of life.”

“You don’t know. Napeans live forever,” Ryan said.

“Hey. Don’t get upset with me! Just try it.” The sweet corn was a hot and little wisps of steam disappeared into the air. “Doesn’t that look yum? Huh? Go on, try it.”

Ryan picked up the corn cob and his little teeth bit out half a dozen kernels. He chewed quickly and then swallowed. Madi smiled and said, “Well done,” rubbing his back profusely. But she celebrated too soon. Ryan’s face seemed to grow dark with fear, his hand went up to his mouth, and again he began to choke. Tears welled up in his eyes as he tried and tried again to get the food down, but it was hopeless. The yellow pulp was coughed up and into the sink.

“See?” he said, crying. “I told you I couldn’t.”

“Too fast, too fast…” said Madi. “No one can eat that fast! You need to slow down just a little!”

“I can’t!”

Alia walked in. She had heard some of what was going on. Madi was still adamant. “Okay, this time you need to chew! And chew and chew… so it just slides down.”

Alia, very quietly, said to Madi, “Why don’t you let it go until we all eat together later?

Let him build up more of an appetite. He’s all het up.” Madi was exhausted too. She nodded and said to Ryan, “Why don’t you go and play the bow and arrow game? The one you like…”

“Can you play with me?”

“Of course! I’ll come and play with you in a few minutes.” Alia and Madi discussed the Napean versus food dilemma.

Madi confirmed. “I looked it up, and there’s nothing to suggest it wouldn’t work.”

“Nothing to suggest it would either.”

“But he ate back at Ben and Ginny’s.”

“Hardly anything, though,” said Alia. “But it’s a start!”

Later Madi went in to play with Ryan. She said to him, “Soon you’ll be working with all the other children. Real kids don’t sit around playing games all day—they like to do things…” Ryan nodded. He took a few shots at the screen with the bow and arrow. Miss. Miss. Bullseye!

“Hey! Well done, hotshot!” Madi slapped him on the back. Alia came in and sat down. Ryan smiled and asked: “When I go back to Dad’s will you guys be friends with him?”

“It might be hard… you see, when you were stolen from me, he didn’t care that you were stolen— he just took you...”

Alia, who had been squirming in the background, said, “We don’t know that.” Madi continued, “You know he’s not your real dad, right?”

“Dad didn’t steal me! He didn’t know I was stolen! Dad’s a good person. He bought me up because they said I had no parents.”

“Eleven years ago he stole you from me! He kills people like us! That’s his job. Ryan, he’s a murderer…” said Madi.

“Oh, you guys. No, no, no, no…” Alia stood up and tried to calm the situation.    Madi had never had to practice patience or tolerance. She was used to testing those qualities in others. Ryan didn’t believe her. He was starting to like his new mum but thought,
If she’s going to lie about Dad just because he’s a Napean, I don’t trust her.

He had another question: “Where’s my real dad, then?” Alia’s eyes looked skywards and she sat back down.   “I never knew who he was,” Madi replied directly. “Doesn’t it take a man and a woman to make a baby?”

Madi rubbed her hand across her face. Alia wasn’t quite sure where to look. Then she raised her eyebrows at Madi as if to suggest a serious answer may be required.

“Yes, darling.” Madi took a deep breath and tried to keep control of her voice. “The fact is, there were a few men who wanted to make you…” Her flow was interrupted by a surprisingly adult gesture from the little boy—he slapped his palm upon his head in frustration, as if to say, “Why me?”

Push on
, thought Madi.
Push on
.

“… And they all tried to make you, but it was a… a mystery who was actually the winner.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve already got a dad anyway. I don’t even want another one.”

“Of course you don’t, darling but the best part of the story is that
I got you
!” Ryan was sitting on the couch staring forward. Madi had to squat down in front of him to look him in the eye. “And you’ve got me!” she said. Ryan avoided eye contact.

Finally, Madi stood up, hurt, and said churlishly:

“So don’t forget: he wasn’t your dad. He stole you…” She immediately knew it was wrong; she’d gone too far. Ryan’s face began to break up. She persisted: “He became your dad when you were a baby…”

“He is my dad and you’re not my mum!” Ryan stood up and trudged off to his room. Bes, having worked a long shift in the vines and hearing the latter part of the conversation escalating in volume, joined her two friends from the next room. Madi sat there with both hands pressed on her nose, stifling sniffles.

“What’s up here?” asked Bes.

Alia explained, “It’s difficult. Ryan still feels a strong connection with his father and Napea…”

Madi blurted out: “His father made a plea bargain to save his own skin, and that meant letting go of his own son! I wish I could tell Ryan that!”

Alia disagreed. “The guy saved Ryan’s life. You know what they do to children normally.”

Bes tried to divert the focus of the conversation: “Such hypocrites! Half of them have children, yet if they catch each other with the children, they kill the children! They’re so messed up!”

“Well,” said Alia, “the Napean, the guard who he calls his father and who taught him telepathy, also saved his life. And don’t forget that Ryan hasn’t met, let alone been cared for by, any other people. At all.”

“The father’s on a pedestal.” Madi sounded defeated.

“What do you expect?” said Alia.  “It’s his dad. The man’s obviously devoted himself to the kid. Kid worships him. I wouldn’t try to knock that over. That’ll only blow up in your face.”

“Isn’t anyone on my side here? I feel like he’s rejecting me! My own son!”

“He doesn’t know you yet! Give him a chance!” said Alia. “Encourage him to keep contacting his dad. To use his gift. That will help settle him and he’ll see we’re on his side.”

“Yeah, but we shouldn’t involve him in our problems,” said Bes, cracking open a cider and sitting down. “Let him be a child!” Bes’s view was not the fashionable one. Most real people believed childhood was overrated and unnecessary; when a child was physically old enough to work, they should be put to work. Childhood and toys were just an adult construct and not actually necessary for children at all. It was also believed, as a result of their contribution to society, that children benefitted by developing a sense of self-worth and confidence. Consequently they didn’t feel the need to destroy or reject the adult world at puberty and beyond.

“Well, I think once he gets older and finds out the truth about the Napeans he’ll want to help,” said Madi.

“You better go into him—don’t let him stew,” said Alia.

Ryan did contact his dad again a number of times, and with each contact he found his ability to see things in the Napean virtual world became enhanced. It was as if his increased distance from it forced him to bring it all into a sharper focus. The women were amazed at his power of concentration.

After three days of living with his mother and the other two women, Ryan wished he could see the other children again. Having experienced their company, the spontaneity and the fun, Ryan started to realize what he had been missing out on all this time.

Madi could sense his loneliness and realized that it was a gap she couldn’t fill. So on the third day, which happened to be the end of a three-month harvest period, she told Ryan about a game, “helix ball.” It was a game that everyone played and it was happening tomorrow. The timing couldn’t have been better.

“Tomorrow you’ll meet a lot of the kids on our street. They’ll all be playing!”

“I’ve never heard of it,” said Ryan. “What’s the game?”

“We’re competing against the other two streets. Anyone living in the streets under our transdome. So there are three teams using the one ball… come and I’ll show you.”

They went into the rec room, and Madi typed in the words “helix ball,” which appeared in large letters on the wall. The search produced vision of children chasing a black ball that both seemed to be able to float and fall. Madi paused the action and explained: “Each team has its own goal at the bottom of its street. You know how our streets are spiral-shaped, right?”

“Yeah,” said Ryan.

“Okay, so normally, the ball floats. It’s got a lightweight gas in it. So you have to catch the floating ball and run down to the bottom of the street and score a goal. If you drop the ball it will float up the spiraling street around the bend until it becomes a dead ball at the top. Get it?”

“Not really,” said Ryan

“All right, lets watch some more.” Madi turned the movie on again. There were scenes with both children and adults playing, diving and jumping at this black ball which, when fumbled, rose quickly into the air. One man jumped off one foot to grab the ball, which had nearly reached the roof of the street. He missed. The ball crawled along the top of the rocky roof up and around the bend. A crowd of people came chasing the ball from below. Meanwhile, higher up the road, slightly around the bend, two men had formed a human ladder and several women were lining up to run and spring board off the men to grab the ball. The first woman missed but the second woman was successful.

The oncoming crowd of people seemed to be a mix from the three different teams. “It looks rough!” said Ryan.

“It’s just a bit of fun,” said Madi, who then paused the vision. “Now watch this woman who has the ball. Her teammates try to protect her while her and a teammate press the twenty Earth holes on the ball. This turns the gas inside the ball into a fluid, making it really heavy—so now, if they drop the ball it will roll down toward their goal, at the bottom of their own street.”

“I don’t think I want to do it…” said Ryan.

“Well, you’ve got a place on the team, if you want it. There’s a twelve-and-under team and everyone between ten and twelve from Blackwood transdome 2 is on your side… so you’re not playing against adults. ”

“Well…”

“Don’t be scared—no one tries to hurt each other. It’s just a way for all the people down here to come out of their houses and have some fun on the street.”

“Okay. What happens if I stole the ball on someone else’s street? How do I get it back?”

“Well, a good player needs to know the tricks. Don’t forget; streets are connected about halfway down and at the bottom. If the other team has taken the ball onto their street and they’re running down with it, or the ball is rolling downwards, two players from a different team can touch the twenty holes on the ball, reversing the state of the fluid, turning it into a gas, making the ball float. If it floats to the top of that street, it becomes a dead ball and gets moved to the middle of one of the other streets. Get it?”

“Sort of.”

“Hey, if you get a touch, you’re doing really well!”

The next day, while Ryan got knocked around on the underground streets and made new friends with his unusual attitude (despite his reluctance, he proved to be a fierce if somewhat clueless competitor), Shane had been trying to contact him again.

Ryan’s safety had been assured, although his location had never been revealed, and now Shane couldn’t re-establish contact with him.

This isn’t going to work at all
, thought Shane, and he started to think about a solution.