The Awakening [Original fiction]

[fgalkin]

Chapter One

The office was located on the 78th floor of Liberty Tower, in a city called Washington' on a planet that even Jeanne knew had nothing to do with Earth. The office was preceded by a long waiting room, which looked exactly like every other office waiting room she had been to, with bare concrete walls covered with peeling paint, and uncomfortable-looking couches. The only difference was the office door. It was at least 5 centimeters thick and made of what looked like battle armor, with an eye and chip-scanner, and a DNA lock as well.

Once through the door, she immediately turned to the right, where the large holo-portraits of the Three Great Fathers hang on a wall as bare as the one she had just passed by in the reception room. Quickly snapping to attention, she saluted each of the portraits, starting with Christopher Mitchell, who had saved the Free People of Earth from the Martian nuclear holocaust and led them out of the Solar system which was no longer their own, on to their first home at Alpha Centauri; then moving on to George Alexander, who had once more saved them from the Mars Directorate and led them to Atlantis on what was then the frontier; and, of course Laurence Robinson, who had led his people here to New Earth and founded the New Terran Republic. She then turned around and began saluting the portraits of the Four Great Leaders on the opposite wall; President Teresa Garcia, Robinson's successor who began the young republic's outward drive, President Marcel Bisset, under whose leadership, the republic defeated a Colonial Authority punitive expedition, Head Coordinator Sandra Lawrence, who had remade the Republic into the Terran Free State, and, of course, Head Coordinator Arnold Van Patten, under whose inspired leadership the Free State began its ascent to its current greatness. It was only then that she turned and for the first time looked at where she was. She had already seen the walls with peeling paint, now, she also saw a desk in the far corner, exactly like every other desk in every other office of the Free State; one-third of it occupied by a massive data port terminal, and the rest cluttered with data-disks and smartsheets, a high-backed cloth-covered chair behind it, and two smaller ones in front of it. The last thing she saw was a large metal filing cabinet, presumably for documents too sensitive to entrust to computers, which occupied another corner of the small room. She did not salute the man behind the desk, but merely nodded before taking her seat in one of the chairs, for in the Terran Free State only the Three Great Fathers, the Four Great Leaders, and the Twenty-Three Great Heroes were worthy of saluting, and everyone else was equal, no matter what job they had. Even Freeman Head Planner Isaac Zaitsev of the Preservation of Liberty Sector, quite possibly the second most powerful man in the Free State.

"Even Freewoman Dana Himelright, Head Coordinator of the Terran Free State," Jeanne thought as the face of the woman sitting in chair next to her registered and she gave mental thanks to Head Coordinator Lawrence for giving her the emotion suppressant chip as part of her Beacon of Freedom. She remembered herself years ago, straight out of Juvie Camp and meeting with Freeman Assistant Deputy Head Administrator Jones of the Human Services Sector when her aptitude scores came back. She imagined what he thought of her, trembling and sweating and stuttering as she was at the sight of the man who held her fate in his hands, and the contrast of the terror she felt then and the calm she felt now made her praise her Beacon of Freedom again.

Not that Freewoman Himelright looked particularly imposing, she thought. Just like Jeanne, and Freeman Zaitsev, the Head Coordinator wore a Mk.2 civilian grey bodysuit, her head shaved, and her face expressionless, for the most important part of Head Coordinator Lawrence's reforms was to make sure that everyone had a Beacon of Freedom implanted into them when they became a Citizen. So now, over 500 years after the creation of the Free State, only a badge at the front of her bodysuit identified the leader of the largest and most powerful state in known space from any one of her followers. That, and a nametag that said " Himelright, Dana, Head Coordinator, Administrative Sector."

The Head Coordinator look at her for a moment, and then spoke. "Freewoman Senior Operative Jeanne Houston of the Preservation of Liberty Sector," she looked at her wristwatch for an instant, and Jeanne thought that whatever reason she was summoned must be extremely important. The Head Coordinator worked 13 hours a day, and if she took the time to come here in person it means that whatever happened in this room would probably affect the fate of the entire Terran Free State somehow. The thought provoked no emotion, of course.

"You have been summoned here for a mission of vital importance to the Terran Free State," Freewoman Himelright continued monotonously. "You have been chosen for this mission for the following reasons…" she paused, and Jeanne noticed that she was speaking from memory, not a smartsheet or a portable data terminal. "You are a trained Operative of the Preservation of Liberty Sector, who preserve and protect the work of the Three Great Fathers, the Four Great Leaders, the Twenty-Three Great Heroes, and our very Way of Life," Jeanne nodded in agreement before she realized what she was doing, and she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Head Planner Zaitsev has done the same. "Most notably, your accomplishments include the infiltration and neutralization of the group of traitors in the Health Sector who betrayed the founding principles of this country by deliberately sabotaging the new Guiding Light Units being installed into the Beacons of Freedom of Juveniles about to become Citizens, tracking down and liquidating one Jonas Iearnii, formerly of the Health Sector who disabled his own Beacon of Freedom and engaged in violent and uncontrollable behavior which led to the deaths of sixteen Citizens, and investigation of the incident at Plant 19483 for the possibility of sabotage, all of which demonstrate both your ability to successfully infiltrate an unfamiliar environment by impersonating a member of said environment, and your rather exceptional deductive skills. However, the most important reason for selecting you for this mission are your actions in Juvenile Camp 110852106.

Jeanne felt a familiar sting in the back of her head as her emotion suppression unit tried to deal with her surprise. She had felt the sensation ever since she had received it at age 22, and, to her knowledge, she was alone in experiencing it. At first, she had thought so much about it that the Health Sector sent a technician to check her Beacon of Freedom for malfunctions after reading her first Download as a Citizen. He had found nothing out of the ordinary and assured her that her Beacon of Freedom is operating normally and that it was a rare but known side effect of her Guardian emotional suppressor and that it would disappear as her body adapts to it, although she suspected that his response was based more on a desire to preserve her Mental Health than on any known phenomenon. The fact that she felt it now, more than 25 years later only added more credence to that theory.

Jeanne tried to think about what she did as a Juvenile that could affect her standing now, and, of course, she failed. Most people in the Terran Free State had very few memories of their lives as Infants and Juveniles. She knew that at age 10, every child was dropped to an isolated Juvenile Camp alongside several thousand other children and left to fend entirely for themselves. Their only contact with the outside world was the shuttle that arrived once a month to download the record of their thoughts from their Recorder Units and to deliver them provisions to last exactly one month, based on the number of Juveniles who had their thoughts downloaded. It is a small wonder, then, Jeanne thought, that she could not remember more than isolated fragments from her decade there. Her mind must have blocked out the worst of the experience to protect her sanity. Of course, there must have been exact records of her thoughts and experiences at the time in the archives of the Human Services Sector, but she had no desire to view them. The things she did remember made her wake up in the middle of the night, her head in pain as her Guardian chip tried to fight the terror of her nightmares. "Incidentally, she thought, "this is the reason why no one ever wants to go Outside. Everyone remembers their own time in Juvie camp and the thought that there is an entire universe out there where people have no Guardian chips to restrain them, and so are ruled by their passions and emotions, not their intellect and their devotion to their work to better all of mankind is extremely unsettling. That," she continued, "is why we are the most Free nation in all of known space. We are free not only of the tyranny of the Colonial Authority, but also of the tyranny of our own passions. We serve no one but pure Reason and the Cause of building a better world, and for that Cause, everyone is equal in their Duty, no matter what it is."

"While residing in Juvenile Camp 110852106," the Head Coordinator continued, her voice as expressionless as ever," you became the de facto leader of the camp at age 13 Earth years and 3 months. Experts from the Human Services Sector assure me that this is virtually unheard of, since that position is usually occupied by a male of near-graduation age. They also note that some of the changes you introduced to the social structure of Camp 110852106 have continued to exist for almost 17 years, which is also quite extraordinary. Actually," she said, "based on your performance in Juvenile Camp and your aptitude tests, there was significant discussion as to your fate as a Freewoman and a productive member of society. You were considered for Administrative Sector, even for the fast track to Planning and Coordination based on your extraordinary aptitude for leadership. In fact, had things turned out differently, it might be you sitting in my chair right now," it was nothing but a statement of a cold fact, for a Head Coordinator had little time for anything else.

For the second time in one day, Jeanne remembered her meeting with Assistant Deputy Head Administrator Jones, but this time her thoughts were far less benevolent. However, she mastered her anger even without help from her Guardian chip, and said, her voice as emotionless as the Head Coordinator's. "I'm not sure that my experiences in Juvie camp would be of much use since I can't remember most of them."

"Of course you can't. We made sure of that. You see, Senior Operative, when the Health Sector installed your Guardian chip and reprogrammed your Guiding Light Unit, they have also installed a memory suppressor to keep you from remembering what happened. It was entirely for your own benefit, of course. The experiences were highly traumatic, and there was a chance they would interfere with the performance of your Duty. In fact, everyone in the Terran Free State has one, and I, for one, have no desire to find out what has been suppressed. Unfortunately, we have no choice but to deactivate yours, and for that, please accept my apologies." The apology did not appear very sincere, but that was probably because the Head Coordinator's voice did not change one bit when she delivered it. "By the way," she continued, "this is why we are the most Free nation. Thanks to our Guardian chips, we are free not only of the tyranny of the Colonial Authority, but also of the tyranny of our own passions. We serve no one but pure Reason and the Cause of building a better world, and for that Cause, everyone is equal in their Duty, no matter what it is." Jeanne nodded, and Freeman Zaitsev did so a few seconds later, and for a few moments, there was complete silence in the room.

"Now, Senior Operative, based on the information you have received so far, what are your ideas as to the nature of the mission." The Head Planner spoke for the first time, and his low rumble almost startled Jeanne. But the routine was familiar to her, so she responded without hesitation.

"Well, Freeman Head Planner, it is clear that this mission will require both infiltration and some degree of investigation. I am not very sure, however, as to how my leadership skills demonstrated in Juvie Camp will be of any use. There was, perhaps, some sort of disturbance at one of the camps, one that Human Services can't deal with? I have not heard anything of the sort ever happening, but it is, I suppose, possible. Of course, I'm too old to pass off as a Juvie, but with the proper surgical alteration…"

"That is a logical conclusion, Freewoman Senior Operative, but a wrong one," Freewoman Himelright interrupted. "The true purpose of your mission is to go out and collect intelligence from the Outside."

Jeanne felt as though she had been kicked in the back of the head as the Guardian chip tried to deal with the shock, awe, and a fair dose of terror. It failed, and for the first time in a quarter of a century, Freewoman Jeanne Houston had let her emotions get the better of her. She sat there for a few moments, her eyes wide, until her glance fell on the Head Planner Zaitsev. The look in his eyes was almost…sympathetic.

"I'm afraid my reaction to this was rather to your own," he said. "Freewoman Head Coordinator, with all due respect to the Mental Health SubSector, but perhaps their latest model of Guardian chips is not as advanced as it was believed. It's inability to deal with emotions of such intensity is quite…distracting."

"It would indeed appear so, Freeman Head Planner. I will bring it up with Head Planner Simmons at the earliest possible opportunity, because I have been led to believe that the Guardian chips should have absolutely eliminated the possibility of incomplete suppression. But," she turned to Jeanne, "since my attempts to protect you from this experience have failed, I might as well get it over with quickly. Freewoman Senior Operative Houston, your mission is to gather intelligence on the goings on Outside. To ensure the success of your mission, we will have to disable your Beacon of Freedom. ." The Head Coordinator sat very patiently and waited until the expression of sheer terror and (quite a bit of pain) cleared from Jeanne's face before continuing.

"The reason for such a drastic move is the failure of previous such missions. Freeman Head Planner?" she looked at the head of the Preservation of Liberty Sector.

"Senior Operative, I'm sure you know of the fact that no Citizen of the Terran Free State has ventured outside its borders in over 300 years. However, what you don't know is that this is not entirely true." He paused for a moment, then continued. " We have been in contact with an Outsider group known as the Zerean Trade Consortium, for at least half a century, trading obsolete and second-rate equipment for information about the state of affairs in the Outside world, and examples of recent technological developments. Unfortunately, much of the information is unverifiable to us, and the equipment we get are so-called "consumer goods," which are quite popular among the decadent Outsiders, but completely worthless to us. In the past decade, the situation has grown progressively worse, and we were faced with the necessity to create our own sources of intelligence. For that purpose, we have been sending Operatives of this Sector to the Outside to verify the information that we have been getting from the Trade Consortium. Unfortunately, the results have not been…satisfactory. The Operatives that we had sent either found themselves unable to blend in with the Outsider society because their Beacons of Freedom did not allow them to engage in the random, violent, and decadent behavior of Outsiders. Even worse, others have become corrupted by things they saw, and they have abandoned their duty to Freedom, and in fact, our very way of life. Fortunately, their Guiding Light Units prevented them from actually doing any damage by activating a certain failsafe mechanism. This has either killed said Operatives, or left them permanently crippled or comatose, in which case, their partners had no choice but to eliminate them. All in all, our operations Outside have been a failure."

"Which is why we need you, Senior Operative," the Head Coordinator said. "You have demonstrated your ability not only to survive, but to excel in the sort of society that Outsiders have, and we believe that even without your Beacon of Freedom, you will not let your emotions seize control of your judgment, and that your sense of Duty to the Cause will not falter. Thus, it appears that Human Services were right to place you where you are." She glanced at her wristwatch again, then got up and walked out of the room.

Jeanne continued looking at the empty chair for a few more moments before turning to face her immediate superior. She knew that before the creation of the Terran Free State, people used to say certain words of greeting and parting. Such waste of working time was completely unthinkable nowadays, of course, but right now she really wished that the custom had continued to this day, inefficiency or not, for it would have given her a few more seconds to get her thoughts in order.

Head Planner Zaitsev looked at her, his face expressionless as always. "Freewoman Houston, I do not doubt the accuracy of the evaluation given by Freewoman Head Coordinator. However, before we proceed and I give you the specifics of the operation, there is one thing that you must do. I understand that your last Download was a mere six days ago, but unfortunately, I have no choice but to ask you to proceed to the Mental Health station on floor 31 and submit yourself to a full Download. I don't doubt your loyalty or your dedication to the Cause, but we must know your reaction before we can proceed any further. Consider this a final test of your abilities," he said, almost apologetically. Jeanne nodded, her face as expressionless as always before standing up and walking out of the room.


The elevator doors opened revealing a long brightly lit corridor with walls as bare as anywhere else in the building and a Mental Health technician in his brown bodysuit, who gestured Jeanne to follow him. The Mental Health station in Liberty Tower was used primarily for unscheduled downloads or Beacon maintenance operations, such as during interrogations, and thus was rather small compared to the much larger facilities open to the general public. Even so, it had over one hundred Chairs, most of them occupied continuously during the day and night. For a Chair to be immediately available on a moment's notice was almost unheard of, and meant that the High Planner had anticipated the situation and placed a request for one at least a week beforehand. Which, knowing Freeman Zaitsev, was nothing out of the ordinary.

After passing a dozen or so doors, the technician stopped and opened one, revealing a small room, windowless and completely bare save for a large computer terminal in one corner and the Beacon Interface Chair in the middle of the room. It was a later model, a large metal contraption over two meters tall. Thick cables ran across the bare floor to the computer terminal in the corner.

Jeanne followed the technician into the room, and sat herself in the Chair as the technician lowered the head restraint onto her. She grabbed the armrests preparing herself for what was to come as the technician drove the connector into the jack at the base of her skull and walked to the terminal and entered a combination.

At first, Jeanne felt nothing. Then, she heard a familiar buzzing as her Beacon of Freedom began to upload a complete transcript of her thoughts, complete with high-resolution images of her mental pictures and a log from her Guardian chip listing every one of the emotional outbursts it had suppressed for the past six days. Every person in the Terran Free State over the age of 9 had a Beacon of Freedom recording their thoughts for analysis by the SubSector of Mental Health, and the fact that even the most advanced Beacon of Freedom had the capacity to store about two months' worth of data, meaning that such Downloads were very common. But despite doing them regularly for as long as she could remember, Jeanne was never particularly happy about them, and especially not with the bouts of migraine that followed them. But, as a Citizen of the Terran Free State, she knew that perfect mental health was one of the cornerstones of Freedom, and only by identifying and eliminating all unhealthy thoughts could a society hope to survive in a state other than primitive barbarism, and so she had accepted it long ago as part of her Duty to the Cause.

Five minutes later, the ordeal was over. The tech raised the head restraint and Jeanne rose to her feet unsteadily, her head splitting from a massive migraine, then lost her balance and had to grab one of the chair's armrests to stop herself from falling over. "It will take at least 2 hours to analyze the relevant portions of the Download in detail. In the meantime, you are to remain within the Yellow Zone of Liberty Tower," the tech said, his voice uncaring. Jeanne nodded, and began making her way on wobbly feet out of the room towards the elevator, trying to fight off waves of pain for long enough to figure out where she was going now that the Head Planner's office and most of the Tower were off-limits to her.

In the end, she decided to spend the time in the rec area on the 15th floor. The mess area had a medicine dispenser, and she had carefully maintained a surplus of medicine points on her Free Living Account for emergencies, and so when she inserted her Ration Card into the dispenser it spit out an analgesic tablet, and soon she felt blessed relief driving the pain away. A few minutes later, she was able to stand in line for the food dispenser and within 15 minutes, she sat down to a nutritious, if not particularly delicious, meal of nutrient broth and a protein bar.

The mess hall was a large dimly lit room filled with long tables running from the food dispensers in one end of the room to a wall-sized window on the other end. Another wall was entirely covered by a holo-screen constantly showing various Public Information Sector broadcasts.

For security reasons, most of the rooms in Liberty Tower were windowless and so a window of any sort was a rare and prized luxury, especially one as large as the one in the mess hall, for it afforded not only a glimpse of daylight (the day working shifts started before sunrise and ended after sunset, so most people who worked in Liberty Tower never saw daylight for months if not years), but also a spectacular view of the central district of Washington and especially of the almost kilometer-tall Administrative Complex in the distance. It was no surprise, then, that all of the seats near the window were occupied, and there was a line of two or three people standing behind each seat, their food getting cold as they stood and looked out of the window, waiting for the person in front of them to finish eating. Seating preferences of any sort were discouraged, of course, but this was their short rest period, and even the Mental Health SubSector had more important concerns than worrying about the obviously unhealthy mental processes which drove them as long as it did not affect their efficiency at work. "That is incorrect," Jeanne automatically corrected herself. "The Health Sector has assigned this matter an extremely low priority due to the enormity of the task they face in the performance of their Duty. This problem will, of course, be corrected at the earliest possible opportunity." Jeanne herself had no particular desire to look at the daylight, especially since her job as an Operative has took her outside much more often than most, so she instead chose a seat that afforded her an unobstructed view of the holo-screen.

At the moment, the screen was showing a news broadcast consisting mostly of efficiency figures from the various Sectors here on Earth, but also from the outlying systems (although, of course, those were somewhat delayed depending on the distances involved), and of a video of the commissioning of a brand new carrier Valor In Defense of Freedom for the Angels of Freedom picket of the system. The huge torchship was completed three months before schedule and was portrayed as a brilliant success on the part of the Space Construction SubSector, and a shining example for all to follow.

Jeanne’s portable communicator beeped and opened a link to her data-port, downloading its message directly into her brain through her Beacon of Freedom, a mark of her important function in the Cause. Most citizens had a simpler, visual communicator, but as an Operative, she needed to be in touch with her superiors at all times, without attracting undue attention. She got up, and walked out of the mess hall, and even a trained Observer would not have realized anything out of the ordinary.

Jeanne took the elevator down to the underground garage, where she was directed to the large groundcar, reserved for the personal use of senior Planners of the Sector. She entered the vehicle and found herself face-to-face with Head Planner Zaitsev. “The Mental Health techs have finished analyzing your Download ahead of schedule, and we are proceeding with the next stage,” he said, as the groundcar began to move. “We are going to the Health Tower for your operation. If it is successful, you will be able to begin your briefing immediately.”

The Mental Health SubSector occupied the upper two thirds of the 600 meter-tall Health Tower. Jeanne and the Head Planner entered the building via the 51st floor entrance from the restricted motorway. They were met by an escort of several Mental Health techs who beckoned them to follow as they led the way into the bowels of the enormous building. After a journey of considerable time, they were led into a small office, which looked exactly like the one they left behind in Liberty Tower. Its occupant, Freeman Senior Medic Patrick McGarril nodded his welcome, and began to explain the procedure. Jeanne was relieved to find out that her Beacon of Freedom would not be removed entirely after all, but only heavily modified to suit the requirements of her mission. The Mental Health techs would remove the Guardian chip, and severely reprogram the Guiding Light Unit to limit its influence to suggestion of the Free and Proper way to act in a given situation, with the understanding that it may be necessary to violate these suggestions to blend in with the Outsiders. On the other hand, additional Recorder Units will be installed, increasing the total recording time of her Beacon of Freedom from two months to almost a year. Her physical condition monitor and Implant Control Unit would remain intact, insuring that she will retain the use of her combat implants. And, of course, all memory and personality suppressors would be removed.

Having finished his speech, the doctor left the room, leaving Jeanne and the Head Planner alone. As soon as the door closed, he got up and walked up to her. “This is in violation of standard procedure, but given the nature of your mission,” he began, and Jeanne’s Guardian unit suppressed another tingle of surprise. “I know that every Citizen must do his Duty to the Cause without hesitation, but still I must ask you whether you are prepared to go through with this.” Jeanne was silent for a minute or so, then nodded. “Yes,” she said.

“Good,” the Head Planner said and produced an injector from his bodysuit pocket. He pressed it against her arm, and Jeanne fought the urge to wince from the sudden stab of pain. She looked at him questioningly. “This is a remote-controlled poison-release capsule. It will remain inactive until after the operation, when it will be turned on. If the release command is recievied, it will kill you, implants or no, in just under a minute. I do not doubt your dedication to the Cause, especially after what you said just now, but you must understand, this procedure has never been done before. We do not know how you will react to it. It may be that your base instincts will take over, and something…unfortunate happens, so that we will have no choice than to kill you.” Jeanne nodded. “I understand. And Freeman Head Planner, I want you to know that if something does happen, it will not be me.”

The door opened and two Mental Health doctors appeared, silently waiting for her. She got up and started to move to the door. Freeman Zaitsev looked at her for an instant, then nodded. “I know,” he said, his face and voice as expressionless as ever, but Jeanne knew that his Guardian chip was hard at work suppressing forbidden emotion. “I know.”


Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Instant Sunrise]

Mmm.... The duality of protecting society and freedom. Smells like candy.

I like it.

[Ford Prefect]

What an interesting society. I want more. More I say!