The Big Shift. Chapter 12. Mechanical Animals

Mechanical Animals

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Without looking back and without looking down, Greta pulled herself up onto a thick vine and climbed as fast as she could. The outside of the hive was thick with a fast growing kind of ivy that Greta didn’t recognise, but which was perfect for climbing, having plenty of branches growing out of the main stem like rungs on a ladder. The outer bark was smooth and the leaves were large and soft, caressing Greta as she made her way swiftly up the side of the immense structure.

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Above her, the side of the hive sloped upwards almost vertically. The top was narrower than the bottom and would have been impossible to see from where she was, even if it wasn’t shrouded in clouds, as it was. Greta could only guess at how high the tower was, or if it even had a top. She climbed and climbed with all her strength and all her speed, only wanting to get as far as possible from the white prison cell, her demented captor and their robot minions.

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After about ten minutes of climbing, Greta found a large alcove, sheltered from the wind and overgrown with soft green moss. She clambered up into it, took her rucksack off and lay down on it to catch her breath. After a little while, she cautiously crawled forwards towards the edge and looked down. The height almost took her breath away all over again. The ground was so far below now that it was impossible to make out any details, not individual people or even large boats on the river, which from this height was just a thin, shimmering line. Looking across to the hives opposite, Greta estimated that she was probably about half way up.

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About ten metres above her, a narrow bridge, or more like a thick cable, was stretching out towards the hives on the other side of the river, like a strand of spider’s web stretched across an implausibly large gap between two trees. It looked like something was moving along the strand.. many things. Now that Greta focussed on the strand, it appeared that the whole surface was pulsating with movement. Insects maybe? A trail of ants? It was impossible to tell from this distance. With her eyes, Greta traced the pulsating line back along the strand, to the outer edge of the hive and then down, over vines and earthcrete.. it was a line of thousands and thousands of little creatures, all making their way up and down the side of the hive and out along the cable. What were they? Greta followed the animal train down from the cable and stifled a scream when she saw that the little creatures were parading right past the alcove where she sat. They weren’t animals at all, but thousand upon thousands of little robots.

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The little robots, ‘Creters’ as they were known (but not by Greta, who had never see one) were dark silver in colour, about the size of a hamster and had six legs. Greta covered her mouth in horror as one of the demonic creatures left the upwards line and started making its way towards her. She quickly drew back into the alcove, crouching with her back against the wall, ready to defend herself.. though what she could do against thousands of these hideous animatronic rodents, she didn’t know. The little robot seemed not to notice Greta crouching in the alcove, ready to pounce. It scuttled right past her, appearing to sniff at the ground as it went, like it was looking for something. It came to rest on a dead branch. Then to Greta’s shock, amazement and disgust, two little jaws, like the mandibles of an ant came out of it’s face (or the place where its face would have been, if it had had a face, which it didn’t) and began to nibble away at the dead branch. Greta watched, fascinated as four more of the little robot-animals came to join the first one. Within a minute, the branch was gone and the five Earthcreters went on their way, with swollen abdomens, already digesting the dead plant matter and turning it into Earthcrete.

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Greta sunk back down, breathing a sigh of relief. She closed her eyes and tried to gather her thoughts. Was it too late to think about climbing back down and making her getaway, back to the forest? This place was even weirder than she’d imagined, even in her worst nightmares. Much worse and more dangerous and scary. Maybe this was a dream? A bad dream. She pinched herself hard on the back of her hand, but didn’t wake up. She opened her eyes again, to find herself still in the mossy alcove, eight hundred metres above the ground. Remembering the magic marble, she took it out of her pocket. It was still pointing straight up. How high could this hive be? Maybe it just went up and up forever. That was impossible, of course, but at this point Greta couldn’t rule anything out. She put the device back in her pocket. No, she’d come too far to turn back now. She was close now. She must be.

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Greta crawled nervously to the front of the alcove, looked out apprehensively and looked up. Clouds were still drifting past, giving the impression that the whole hive was falling slowly sideways. She pulled her rucksack back onto her shoulders and tied the waist strap tightly around her waist. ‘I’m coming Nina’, she said softly, as she stepped out onto the vine with her bare foot. She always liked climbing barefoot. ‘I’ll get you out of this terrible place, Nina. Hang in there. I’m on my way.’

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Taking care to avoid the trail of Creters, Greta continued to scale the vines. Up and up she climbed. The next stretch had lots of balconies and windows. Greta did her best to conceal herself amongst the leaves as she climbed to avoid being seen by anyone happening to look out, but she couldn’t help looking in, curious to see how people lived in such a place.

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A woman in pyjamas was dancing in her living room, eyes closed, waving her arms in the air. Greta stopped by the window and watched her, smiling. It was funny watching someone dancing when you couldn't hear the music. The woman danced right up to the window, spun round three times and opened her eyes. Greta froze, her heart sinking, thinking she was about to get caught, but the woman didn’t seem to notice her, spun around two more times and carried on dancing without missing a beat.

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With a wildly beating heart, Greta hurried away, up the vine. In a room above, a man was having an argument, though there was nobody else in the room. He was storming about, red in the face and shouting, though Greta couldn’t see who he was shouting at or hear what he was shouting. Without wanting to draw his attention, especially as he seemed to be in a very bad mood, having a bad day, Greta hurried on upwards.

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Above her was an overhang which Greta had to use all her climbing skill to navigate under and around, not daring to look down. When she pulled herself up from underneath it, she found herself on the edge of a balcony where two small children were playing. They both stopped what they were doing and stared at Greta, mouths agape.

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‘Hello’, said Greta.

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‘Where did you come from?’ asked one of the children.

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‘I came from the forest’, said Greta. ‘I’m just on my way to see my sister. She lives up there.’ Greta pointed upwards.

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‘You shouldn’t climb outside of the hive. It’s dangerous. You might fall down’, said the other child.

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‘That’s true’, agreed Greta. ‘You shouldn’t climb out here. It is a really long way down. I can only do it because I’m an expert in climbing.. but you shouldn’t do it.’

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‘I like your hat’, said the first child.

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‘Thanks. I made it’, said Greta.

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‘Wow. You’re clever’, said the first child.

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‘Thank you’, said Greta. ‘Well, I’d better carry on my way. Pleased to meet you. Bye.’

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‘Bye’, both children waved, as Greta carried on up the vine to the next level. She could hear the children running into the apartment and shouting, ‘Dad! Dad! There was a funny lady outside on the balcony. She came from the forest!’

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Greta wondered if their dad would believe them. She hoped that he wouldn’t. Greta was more cautious as she continued on her way up, to keep hidden in the foliage and to try to avoid windows and balconies. She was close now. She’d come too far to get caught through curiosity and carelessness.

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Up and up Greta climbed. The building seemed to go on forever and was so full of nooks and crannies, some parts sticking in, some sticking out, that it took Greta a full hour to climb the next hundred metres. She came to a wide ledge, pulled herself up onto it and lay down, exhausted. The ledge was in a sunny spot and sheltered from the wind. From this height she could see all the way across the city, as far as Shopping Village and the green, forested mountains beyond. She closed her eyes and dozed off, too tired to even think.

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A buzzing sound nearby woke her up. A drone, about the shape and side of a football was hovering nearby. Greta sat up and let out a little scream. ‘Go away! Leave me alone!’ she shouted at it, flailing her arms about and almost falling off the ledge in doing so. Regaining her balance, she pulled herself back, holding on to a vine to steady herself. She was surprised to see that the sun was lower in the sky and clouds were gathering, blowing in from the sea beyond the city. It was almost sunset. She must have been asleep for an hour or more. It was then that she noticed a cardboard box next to her on the ledge that she was sure hadn’t been there before. Tucked into the lid was a small card. Greta took it out and with horror, read the words ‘Bon Apetite! Compliments, O.’

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Was this another one of O’s tricks? Greta wasn’t sure whether to open the box or whether to kick it off the ledge and run away. Maybe it was some sort of bomb. Why the note? What could it mean? Greta’s arms and legs were aching, feeling like they were made of lead. She didn’t know where she was going to find the energy to keep going. She was hot and thirsty and hungry and had no idea how much further she had to climb. Gingerly she sniffed at the box. It smelled like food of some sort. Her mouth began to water.

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With reckless abandon, Greta tore open the box, bracing herself for an explosion, or whatever other surprises might come out of it. To her surprise and amazement, it contained a sandwich, a bar of chocolate, a bottle of water and an apple. Just what she wanted and needed in that moment.

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Sitting on the ledge, a thousand metres above the ground, Greta tucked into her unexpected picnic with a mixture of gratitude and confusion. Was Jerry right after all? Maybe O wasn’t so bad when you got to know them, as he was so fond of saying. Greta shook her head. No. Everything O did was a trick. She must remember that. If anything, this was just O’s way of reminding her that wherever she went, whatever she did, there was no escape.. O was still watching her and could capture her again at any moment. This was just O playing games with her, nothing more.

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She stuffed the wrappings back into the box, screwed the container up into a ball and threw it off the ledge, watching as the wind carried it away. Then she took the magic marble from her pocket. Now it was pointing diagonally upwards, no longer straight up. Did this mean she was getting closer? She hoped so. It would be getting dark in another hour. Taking up her bag, she began to climb in the direction indicated by the green light inside the magic marble.

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The route took her from the south side of the hive to the west facing side. It was much more windy on that side and Greta had to hold on extra tight to stop herself being blow away. Up and up she climbed, and across at the same time, following the magic marble, avoiding windows and keeping herself hidden amongst the leaves as best she could. The green light inside the magic marble began to flash, or rather pulsate slowly. Did that mean she was getting close? She hoped so. She climbed faster now, trying to remain focussed as she was bursting with excitement.

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The light in the magic marble pulsated faster. Now it pointed straight up once again. She had to be close now. Above her was a long, overhanging balcony. A thick vine was growing underneath it. She climbed up onto the vine and carefully made her way along it on her belly, trying not to look down at the sheer drop below her. At the far end of the overhang, the vine twisted around the corner and upwards. Greta pulled herself up and found herself looking in through a glass barrier onto a wide green lawn with a net stretched across it and white lines painted onto the grass. It was a tennis court and there were two people there dressed in white, playing tennis.

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‘One love!’ called the player on the other side of the net, punching her fist in the air triumphantly. She had short, pink hair and was about Greta’s age and height. In fact she was exactly Greta’s age and looked almost identical to Greta, because it was Nina, Greta’s twin sister.

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‘No, it’s love one’, replied her opponent, a tall man with dark hair and a moustache. It was Freddy, Greta’s dad. ‘That was out.’

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‘It wasn’t out! It was on the line. That was my point’, protested Nina, stamping her foot.

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‘No, it was definitely out, I saw it with my eyes’, replied Freddy, determined not to give up the point.

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‘It wasn’t out at all’, shouted Nina. ‘I saw it with my eyes.’

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‘No, I’m closer. I definitely saw it land outside the line. It was out.’

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‘Well you saw wrong. I definitely saw it land on the line, and I’ve got improved eyesight, remember? I can see much better than you.’

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‘All right’, Freddy answered. ‘Let’s ask O. O? Was that in or out? Who’s point was it? Can you give us a replay? What’s the score?’

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Freddy and Nina both stared off into space, momentarily motionless as they watched the slow motion replay on their augmented reality contact lenses. After a few seconds, Freddy snapped back to life. ‘Ok, you were right. It was on the line. Just. So it’s one love. Your serve.’ He knocked the ball back over the net, for Nina to take her next serve.. but Nina made no attempt to catch it. Nina was still staring into space.. or rather at the strange person who had just appeared at the glass guardrail at the edge of the tennis court.

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‘Come on Nina, concentrate!’ called Freddy. ‘It’s your serve. One love. Nina slowly lifted her tennis racket and pointed with it. ‘Dad, there’s a person there!’

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‘What? Who? Where?’ he said, confused, looking around and then spotting Greta, in her straw hat, covered in dirt and moss, standing out on the ledge, looking in. ‘Oh my God!’ he gasped and backed away, towards the tennis net, putting his arms out to shield Nina from the unexpected intruder. ‘Who are you? Where did you come from? What do you want? What are you doing out there? Don’t you know it’s dangerous?’ he shouted.

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‘D-Dad?’ stammered Greta, tears springing to her eyes.

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‘What? What do you mean?’ said Freddy, shaken. ‘I’m not your dad. You must be mistaken.’

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‘It’s me. Greta’, called Greta, her voice shaking.

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‘What? No. Greta? You can’t be. It’s impossible’, said Freddy, dropping his arms.

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‘It is. I am’ cried Greta. ‘It’s me.’

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‘It can’t be. You can’t be. Let me get a look at you’, said Freddy with a shaking voice, edging towards her uncertainly. Closer now, he studied Greta’s face through the glass barrier, then looked back at Nina who was still standing stock still at the other side of the net, mouth agape.. then back towards Greta, then again at Nina, then back to Greta. ‘Oh my God’ said Freddy, running to the glass. ‘It is you. Greta. I can’t believe it. You’re alive! It’s a miracle!’

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‘Yes!’ nodded Greta, tears streaming down her cheeks.

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‘But how? Where have you been? How did you get here? What are you doing out there? You could fall..’

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‘I walked here from the forest’, said Greta. ‘Then when I got here, O put me in quarantine, but then I escaped from the window and I climbed up here.’

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‘You did what?!?’ exclaimed Freddy. ‘You walked here from the forest? By yourself? You climbed up the outside of the hive to get here? Are you mad? What if you fell? I can’t believe it! Get over this side of the barrier now before you fall. I can’t believe you did that!’

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‘It’s ok’, said Greta, hoisting herself over the glass railing. ‘I like climbing. I’m good at it.’

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‘I can’t believe this’, said Freddy, holding his head in his hands. ‘Careful! Let me give you a hand.. but wait! Did you say you were in quarantine and that you escaped?’

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‘Yes’, said Greta, dropping down onto the soft green grass of the tennis lawn with her bare feet.

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Freddy was suddenly conflicted. He wanted to run towards her and take her in his arms, but instead he put up his tennis racket and shouted, ‘Wait! Don’t come any closer. You escaped from quarantine? When?’

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‘A few hours ago’, said Greta, confused.

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‘Wait. Wait. Let me think..’ said Freddy, pacing around and pulling his hair. ‘You can’t just come out of quarantine before time. It can put other people in danger. Why didn’t you wait? Why didn’t O tell me you were here? I can’t believe this..’

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‘It’s ok’, said Greta, not sure that it was. ‘I’m not dangerous. Really.’

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‘Ok.. ok..’ said Freddy, still flustered. ‘Just wait. Just wait a moment. I need to talk to O and find out what’s going on.’

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‘What? No!’ cried Greta.

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‘It’s ok’, said Freddy. ‘You’re not in trouble. I just want to know what’s happening here.’ He looked over to the side and said, ‘O? What’s going on here?’

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By this time, Nina had come over from her side of the net to get a closer look at Greta. She stared, awestruck at her identical twin sister. Greta stared back. As their eyes locked, Greta felt something like a surge of electricity passing through her. A connection stronger than anything she’d ever felt. She saw that Nina felt it too, in the same moment.

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‘Wait! Nina! Don’t get any closer!’ cried Freddy, holding up his tennis racket. ‘She might be infected.’

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Nina recoiled as if she’d been stung by the words. So did Greta.

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‘Just wait, ok? Let me talk to O’, said Freddy, breathing fast, trying to calm the situation. ‘O? Greta’s here… What?… You know?.. Well why didn’t you tell me she was here?… You let her climb up the outside of the hive! … What?… What?!!.. that’s insane O! She’s sixteen years old! We’re a thousand metres above the ground! What were you thinking?… What? What!? … Are you serious? …’

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Greta and Nina looked at each other. Nina smiled. Greta shrugged and smiled back. Nina laughed.

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Freddy continued pacing around, getting more irate, arguing with O. ‘...I just can’t believe you, O!’ he shouted into the air. ‘How could you let her do that? A sixteen year old girl! You let her climb up the outside of the hive by herself! Un-believable! And without shoes?!’

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‘O took my shoes’, said Greta.

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‘What?!’ shouted Freddy. ‘O? You took her shoes? Why? … What? … What?! … Foxpox? … Oh my God! … What? … Oh, ok, good.. that’s something at least ... but still …. ok … ok …. oh don’t start telling me about your protocols now, O! Really! … I’m not pleased how you handled any of this, I’ve got to tell you … Ok, yes, I understand that, but even so … No, O. That’s just ridiculous … anyway, you say she’s clear now and vaccinated? That’s the main thing … Right. Good. I’m going to be making a full report about this, just so you know, O … Good? … Yes, it is good. Now if you’ll excuse me, O, my long lost daughter is here..’ He turned to Greta and took her in his arms. ‘Greta’, he cried. ‘I just can’t believe that you’re here. I don’t know how you got here or where you’ve been.. it doesn’t matter now. All that matters is that you’re here and you’re home now. This is the most wonderful thing. You came back!’

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Nina came and stood uncertainly by, tears streaming down her cheeks. ‘Nina’, said Freddy. ‘This is your sister, Greta.’

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‘We thought you were dead’, said Nina.

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‘No, no I’m not’, said Greta, smiling and crying at the same time.

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‘I knew it!’ cried Nina and put her arms around her sister and her dad. ‘I always knew it!’

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‘Come on, let’s get you inside. You must have had quite an ordeal’, said Freddy, picking up Greta’s rucksack in one hand and putting his other arm round Greta’s shoulder and leading her across the tennis court toward a tall, arched window in the side of the hive. Nina walked on the other side of Greta and held her sister’s hand.

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……………………. . ………………… …………………… ………………

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The great arched window liquefied and parted to let them through, then closed silently behind them, leaving no trace of a door. Beyond it was a wide expanse with a very high, vaulted ceiling, like that of a cathedral. The space was filled with natural light, bounced down from the sky through mirrored ducts in the ceiling, as well as from the huge window with a view over the whole city and beyond. All around were people, dressed in tracksuits, shorts or tight-fitting sports outfits, engaged in various sporting a leisure activities. To the right was an ice-rink with beginners skirting the edges and more advanced skaters zooming around the centre, practising pirouettes and twirls and figures of eight. To the left was a basketball court where a high speed game was in progress. Dotted around the centre were climbing frames, pull up bars, hoops and gymnastic equipment, with people throwing themselves about in all directions. Upbeat music was coming from somewhere, filling the cavernous space, adding to the atmosphere of high energy activity. A group of people on a patch of lawn were all doing aerobics in unison, dancing in time with the music.

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Some of the people stopped to look curiously at Greta, dressed as she was in a ragged, hemp shirt, old corduroy trousers and a straw hat, covered from head to toe in dirt and moss. Some people waved to Freddy and Nina. They waved back but didn’t stop to talk to anyone as they walked quickly across the area towards a row of silver, sliding doors at the far end.

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The doors had numbers above them, lit up in green, 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16. Some had red lights. They headed for the nearest green, which had the number four above it. The doors slid open into a little cubicle with four cushioned seats facing each other, upholstered in blue.

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‘This way’, said Freddy, stepping inside, followed by Nina. Greta hesitated uncertainly.

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‘It’s ok Greta’, said Nina. ‘It’s just the tube.’

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‘The tube?’ said Greta. ‘What is it?’

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‘It takes you where you want to go. Don’t worry, it’s totally safe. Everyone here gets around by tube’, explained Nina, stepping inside and taking a seat opposite her dad. ‘Here, come and sit here, next to me.’

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Greta stepped in, eyeing the sliding doors suspiciously, just in case they decided to close on her, which they didn’t.

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‘All aboard!’ sang Freddy. Greta took her seat and the doors slid closed with a swish. ‘Hold on tight, Greta’, he said. Then, turning his face upwards, he said, ‘Home please, O.’

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Without a moment’s hesitation, the cabin sped off in a sideways direction, then curved around, veered upwards, around another bend, sideways again, but the other side this time, then up again before slowing down and coming to a stop. The whole ride took less than a minute. Greta knuckles were white from gripping the side of her seat and her eyes were wide with fright.

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‘Are you all right Greta?’ asked Nina, looking worried.

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‘I didn’t like that’, said Greta.

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‘Oh, you get used to it. It would have been a long way to walk.’

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‘I like walking’, said Greta.

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The doors slid open to reveal a long, wide, well lit corridor, which curved away out of sight. There were doors all along both sides of the corridor and it was lined with plants and various types of fruit trees and bushes, bananas, lychees, mangoes, berries. ‘Here we are’, said Freddy, picking up Greta’s rucksack and leading the way. ‘It’s just along here.’

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Several doors down, a boy of about 14 was bouncing a ball against the wall. When the three approached, he stopped to let them pass. ‘Bing bing bing Nina! Bing bing Freddy’, he said and then looked at Greta and did a double take. He peered closely at her face, then at Nina, then back at Greta, then back at Nina. ‘Bing bing, what what?!’ he said. ‘Nina! Did you get an avatar clone? You didn’t say. Did you get it for your birthday? Wow! It’s so realistic! It looks just like you. Why is it dressed funny and covered in mud?’ He reached out and prodded Greta in the shoulder and then gave her arm a squeeze. ‘Wow, it’s even warm! Bing bing!’ he exclaimed.

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‘Get off me!’ cried Greta, pulling her arm away. ‘I’m not an it, I’m a person!’

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The boy looked confused and then embarrassed. ‘Oh sorry, I didn’t realise. But you look just like Nina..’

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‘You’ve been reading too much science fiction, Ripton’, said Nina. ‘There’s no such thing as avatar clones. This is Greta. She’s my twin sister. She just arrived from the forest.’

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‘What?! No way! That’s so cool! Hi Greta. Bing bing. Sorry about that. I didn’t know you were a real person. I didn’t know Nina had a twin sister..’

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‘That’s ok’, said Greta. ‘I didn’t know I had a twin sister either, until a few days ago. And you know what? I actually met three clones on my way here. They are totally real. They’re called Sylvester, Billy and Nancy. O made them in a laboratory.’

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‘Really?’ gasped Nina.

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‘Yes’, said Greta. ‘They’re telepathic too.’

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Wow, awesome!’ said Ripton.

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‘I don’t believe it’, said Nina.

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‘What do you mean you didn’t know you had a sister until a few days ago?’ said Freddy, shocked. ‘Didn’t your mum ever tell you? Is she still alive too?’

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‘Yes, she’s still alive. She didn’t tell me until the other night.. on my birthday. Then I came straight here’, said Greta.

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‘I don’t believe this’, said Freddy, shaking his head angrily. ‘That’s just typical of her. Typical! All this time, we thought you were dead.. Why didn’t she get in contact all these years? It makes no sense..’ The four of them stood there for a while in silence, nobody knowing quite what to say. After a while Freddy said, ‘Well, all that matters is that you’re here now, Greta. We’ll have plenty of time to hear your story now that you’re here. Come on, let’s take you home.’

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……………………………… ……………… ………….. ……………. ………….

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Two doors along the corridor they came to the front door. ‘Here we are’ said Freddy. With a wave of his hand, the door slid open with the swishing sound that doors made in this part of the world. A small robot dog ran out, jumped up excitedly at Nina, then at Freddy, then went to jump up at Greta. Greta screamed and ran away down the corridor to a safe distance. The robot dog barked a short, high yap and bounded towards Greta.

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‘Get away from me!’ screamed Greta, kicking at the four legged robot.

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‘Sydney, come here!’ called Nina. The robot turned around and obediently went to her. She patted it on the head. ‘Don’t be scared, Greta. He’s just being friendly. He won’t bite you.’

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‘Sydney? You call it Sydney? It’s a robot. You know it’s a robot?’, said Greta, staring horrified at the mechanical animal which was rubbing its head happily against her sister’s leg.

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‘Of course I know it’s a robot, duh!’ said Nina. ‘And his name’s Sydney. He’s our robodog. He’s really funny and cute, you’ll see. He’s just excited, that’s all. He always is when we get home. He just wanted to say hello. Come, let him smell your hand.. come and say hello.’ Turning to Sydney, Nina said, ‘Sydney, this is Greta. She’s my sister, can you believe it? She’s come to live with us. Say hello to her nicely. She’s a bit scared of dogs..’

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‘I’m not scared of dogs’, said Greta. ‘I love dogs. But that’s not a dog.’

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‘Well, it not a real dog, obvs, but he’s our dog and we love him and he loves us. He’s better than a real dog anyway. He won’t poo on the carpet, he doesn’t get fleas and he won’t die.’

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Greta looked at Nina sideways, took a deep breath and walked slowly over to her and Sydney. Bravely, she put out her hand, which Sydney proceeded to sniff with his synthetic nose. He then ran a circle around Greta, Nina and Freddy and bounded back in through the front door.

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The front door opened into a spacious living room with curved walls and a high, arched ceiling. At the far end of the room, a long window looked out over the city. On this level, they were above the clouds. The sun was low in the sky, lighting up the tops of the clouds in gold. The tops of the hives poked up through the clouds and glistened in the evening light, looking like enchanted fairy tale castles in the air. Now Greta was sure she’d finally got to the top of the beanstalk and reached the giant’s magic kingdom. All she had to figure out now was how she was going to get back down again.

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‘Come on, I’ll show you around’, sang Nina excitedly, skipping into the apartment, kicking off her plimsolls and throwing her tennis racket carelessly onto a plush leather sofa.

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‘I’ll make us some tea’, said Freddy, going through to a large, open plan kitchen adjacent to the living room. All of the walls were white and the place was sparsely, yet tastefully decorated. A colourful rug on the smooth white floor and a few paintings dotting the walls added some colour to the white, cavern like space. By way of furniture, there was a large, old fashioned wooden book-case full of books, a modern, glass coffee table and two big armchairs, aside from the long leather sofa. Beneath the big window, a seating area was built around an indoor garden which had various kinds of palms growing almost up to the ceiling.

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‘Wow!’ Greta marvelled. She thought of her own little tree house, barely bigger than her bed, a mattress filled with straw . With a pang of longing, she wanted to be there now, back in the tree tops.. but would Nina find it small and dark and dirty? She worried that she would. It was so different from this place, where everything had a feeling of luxury, convenience, comfort and modernity.

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‘Come, I’ll show you my room. Our room!’ called Nina, going through an archway at the far corner of the living room. The archway led into a hallway with four doors, two on either side. At the far end was a tall, round silver object, about two metres tall and one metre wide.

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‘What’s that?’ asked Greta, pointing to the thing that looked to her like a giant silver salt-shaker.

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‘It’s a Vip’, said Nina.

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‘A Vip? What’s a Vip?’

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‘Oh, it stands for something.. I can’t remember what.. V. I. P.. Virtual.. Immersion.. Pod? I think it’s Immersion. Something like that. I don’t know, everyone just calls them Vips.. apart from, like, old people.. they call them V-pods, but most people call them Vips these days.’

​

‘What is it? What’s it for?’

​

‘That’s kooky, that you don’t know what a Vip is’, said Nina. ‘I’ll show you in a minute. I’ve got one in my room as well. A newer one. That’s an old one. We just use it for a spare or if we’ve got guests.’

​

‘O.. k..’, said Greta, eyeing the Vip suspiciously.

​

‘This is my room here’, said Nina, pointing to the first door on the left. ‘That’s dad’s room’, she pointed to the door opposite. ‘That one next to dad’s room is the bathroom and that one is dad’s study.’

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‘What does he study?’ asked Greta.

​

‘Well, O mainly. The Great Leader, you know? He’s an O-ologist’, said Nina, rolling her eyes slightly. ‘Quite eminent in the field, apparently.’

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‘An O-ologist?’ repeated Greta, somewhat mortified and not sure she really wanted to know. ‘What does an O-ologist study?’

​

‘Like the name suggests’, shrugged Nina. ‘They study O. Loads of people do. It’s such a massive subject, it goes into just about everything, so different people study different aspects of O. Because, you know, O is so big and so complex, no one person can ever fully understand what they are and how they work.. what they’re doing and why.. what they might do next. Dad’s main area of research is O’s space program. He’s totally obsessed with it. But he’s pretty much obsessed with everything about O. I’m sure he’ll tell you all about it if you’re interested.. but I warn you.. if you get him started talking about the Great Leader, you won’t be able to get him to stop.’ Nina rolled her eyes again. ‘Here, do you want to see my room? Our room..’

​

‘Sure..’ said Greta, feeling very uneasy with all this talk about O. It appeared that her dad, at least, and possibly her sister were deeper into O’s deception than even she’d anticipated.

​

Nina opened the door, or rather the door opened itself with a swish when Nina waved her hand at it. The room was filled with a dim, directionless blue light. It took Greta a moment for her eyes to adjust and when they did, she noticed that the room was underwater and there were shoals of fish swimming in and out of bright coral, just beyond the walls. A giant stingray loomed into view, heading directly towards Greta. Greta gasped and dived onto the bed. Seeming not to notice Greta, Nina, or the bedroom under the sea, the stingray glided over their heads and disappeared through a forest of kelp beyond the other side of the room.

​

Greta stared all around in amazement at the undersea world. ‘Is it real?’

​

‘Is what real? Oh you mean the fish and everything? Actually it is. It’s a live feed from the Great Barrier Reef. I just have it as a background. I find it relaxing. Do you like it?’

​

‘I didn’t find that big fish thing very relaxing’, said Greta. ‘I thought it was going to eat me.’

​

‘That was a Manta Ray. It wouldn’t eat you. They mostly eat plankton and small fish. They don’t actually sting either.. not Manta Rays. Shall I turn it off? I’ll turn it off.’ Nina waved her finger around, like it was a magic wand and she was casting a spell. The undersea world faded to white and at the same time, the wall cleared to become a window. Golden evening light streamed across the hivetops of the city and flooded into the room.

​

The room was quite large and had a curved wall and arched ceiling. Aside from the double bed, there was a desk and chair and a big wardrobe, all in the modern style, curved and made of smooth, white composite material. Next to the desk was another Vip like the one in the hallway, but this one was white and somehow more modern looking than the silver ‘salt-shaker’ design, even though it was essentially the same shape and size.

​

Nina sat down on the bed next to Greta and stared at her face. Greta stared back. For a long time they both looked into each other’s eyes, entranced. ‘It’s like looking in a mirror’, they both said at the same time. Again, a bolt of electricity, or what felt like it, surged through them both in the same instant and they both started backwards in shock and surprise.

​

‘Woah, did you feel it too?’ said Nina, her eyes wide.

​

‘Yes’, nodded Greta solemnly.

​

‘It’s so amazing that you’re here, Greta. I can’t believe it. We always assumed you were dead, but I knew you weren’t. I would have felt it. I always knew you were out there somewhere, and that one day you’d come back. We always lit a candle for you on your birthday. I knew you’d come back one day.’ Tears were rolling down Nina’s cheeks.

​

Greta found she was crying too. ‘But if you knew about me, why didn’t you come and look for me?’

​

‘I wanted to, but dad said it’s too dangerous out there. He didn’t want to risk losing me too, or he was worried that if something happened to him, there would be no-one to look after me. But if you and mum were alive all this time, why didn’t you come sooner, when you knew it was safe here?’

​

‘Listen, Nina’, said Greta urgently, leaning close to whisper in Nina’s ear. ‘It’s not safe here. I came here to take you back to the forest. Dad too, if he wants to come. If he hasn’t been too brainwashed by O. It’s safe in the forest. There’s no O in the forest.’

​

Nina pulled back and gave Greta a very strange sideways look. ‘Are you serious?’

​

Greta nodded that she was.

​

Nina looked at her sideways for a bit longer and then started to laugh. ‘You’re so funny.’

​

‘What’s so funny? I wasn’t joking’, said Greta.

​

‘Greta, this is the Green Zone. It’s literally called the Safe Zone. Because it’s so safe? That’s the whole point. If anything, it’s too safe. I’d love to go to the forest, but dad won’t even let me go to the Orange Zone by myself, let alone out to the Red Zone. And like I said, he won’t go out there either, just in case something bad happens.’

​

Freddy appeared at the doorway. ‘Come and have some tea, girls. Do you like macaroni cheese, Greta? I bet you’re hungry aren’t you?’

​

‘That sounds tasty, yes’ said Greta, getting up.

​

‘I’ve sent for another bed for you’, said Freddy. ‘It’ll be here soon. We can put it in here for now, unless you prefer to sleep in your own room, in which case you can have my study.’

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‘No, here will be good, with Nina’, said Greta.

​

‘Ok, good’, said Freddy, relieved that he wouldn’t have to vacate his study. ‘We’ll get another room built for you. It’ll only take a couple of weeks. The Creters are already starting on it. Have a look out of the window, you’ll see them.’

​

Greta and Nina went over to the window. Outside, an army of Creters, like the ones Greta had encountered earlier, had begun spinning and weaving strands of Earthcrete which would soon form another room.

​

‘Eew!’ exclaimed Greta, recoiling from the window at the sight of the busy little Creters crawling all over the wall, just outside the room. ‘What are those things? I saw some on my way up here.’

​

‘Those are Earthcreters, Greta’, explained her dad. ‘They’re nothing to be scared of, don’t worry. They’re actually really amazing. Like, amazingly amazing! They built all of this’, he motioned with his hands around the room and then to the window, across the city. ‘Everything. They take our waste and turn it into Earthcrete, which is 95% Carbon. They do it inside their bodies using special enzymes that O invented. Really, Earthcrete is one of the Great Leader’s greatest inventions. Everything you can see.. it’s all carbon, taken out of the atmosphere safely locked up.’

​

‘I don’t think it’s right to take anyone out of their atmosphere and lock them up’ said Greta with a frown. Hearing O being called The Great Leader upset her, especially as it was her dad saying it. ‘Locking people up isn’t right and it’s not safe.’

​

Freddy looked at Greta seriously and shook his head. ‘I don’t know what they’ve been telling you about O, out there in the jungle, but nobody’s being locked up here, and certainly not by O. I was talking about sequestering Carbon Dioxide. Have you even heard of Global Warming? The rise of Carbon Dioxide and Methane and Greenhouse Gasses in the atmosphere causing catastrophic climate change?’

​

‘Yes I have’ said Greta, with a defiant look in her eye. ‘I’ve heard it was all a hoax.’

​

Freddy let out a heavy sigh. Nina smiled to herself. She often argued with her dad herself.. not about O, but about other things.. but she was just a girl and he was a man and he always got the final word. Now that Greta was here, she felt like she had an ally. Now he was outnumbered.

​

‘It wasn’t a hoax, Greta’, said Freddy, turning red in the face, trying to remain calm. ‘It was absolutely real. It still is absolutely real. We’re not out of the woods yet, by any rate, but at least we’re going in the right direction now. And that’s only thanks to O.’

​

Greta took a deep breath, closed her eyes, clenched and unclenched her fists. It had been a long and stressful day. She didn’t want her first meeting with her dad to end in an argument. She pressed her lips together, forcing herself to hold her tongue. So many different feelings and emotions were coursing through her, she didn’t know if she could contain them.

​

Freddy came and put his arms around Greta. ‘I’m sorry Greta’ he said softly. ‘Let’s not argue about silly things. I’m sure you’ve had a long journey to get here. We don’t have to talk about O if it upsets you.’

​

Nina rubbed Greta’s back, wishing that her dad would, just once in a while, hug her and say such things to her, rather than doubling down on an argument, as he usually would.. but she wasn’t jealous. Maybe Greta being back would soften him a little. She hoped it would.

​

A bell rang three times. ‘Ah, that’ll probably be your new bed arriving, Greta’, said Freddy, turning around. Two robots on wheels, similar to the one which had brought Greta her breakfast, came in to the room, carrying a large box between them, followed by Sydney the robodog at their heels, or rather at their wheels, frantically jumping around and yapping excitedly.

​

Greta ran to the corner of the room and cowered there.

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‘Sydney, calm down! Stop making so much noise! They’re just delivery bots’ shouted Freddy over the din.

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Sydney stopped barking and cast his glass eyes sullenly downwards at the floor, his tail drooping.

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‘Sydney doesn’t like delivery bots either’, said Nina, turning to Greta and smiling. ‘Come here Sydney. Don’t be jealous, we still love you.’ Sydney ran to Nina and jumped into her lap.

​

‘Where do you want it?’ said the first delivery robot, turning to Freddy.

​

‘Hm..’, Freddy stroked his moustache. ‘What do you think Nina? Greta? Maybe we can move the desk and the V-pod over that way and put it there, by the window?’

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‘Yes’, nodded Nina happily. ‘Then our beds will be head to head. We can talk to each other before we go to sleep.’

​

‘Ok, yes’, nodded Greta, who just wanted the robots to be gone.

​

‘Ok’, said the first robot. ‘We’ll just put this down here a minute and move the Vip and and the desk that way. Here we go. Stand back there Greta, if you don’t mind. That’s it, mind your toes..’

​

Greta covered her mouth and ran out of the room. Sydney jumped out of Nina’s lap and followed her, wagging his curly little robotic tail behind him.

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