Back outside on the canal path, it was now even darker and gloomier than before, in the tunnel where Techno Terry and his cats lived. The afternoon had turned into evening, the sky light coming down through the mirrored ducts was now a faint glimmer.
'Well, that was.. interesting', said Queenie.
'Yeah, right?' said Jerry. 'I told you Techno Terry would be able to help. He's so smart.'
'He's amazing', said Greta. 'You were right. Thank you Jerry.'
'So.. which way now?', said Jerry, rubbing his hands together, ready for the next leg of the adventure. 'What does the magic marble say?'
'It's pointing that way.. the way we just came from.. back towards the river', said Greta, starting to walk in that direction. . 'That's a relief', said Queenie. 'I don't feel like wandering down into that tunnel. This place gives me the heebie-jeebies. And Terry.. well, he's a smart guy but he's a bit.. Hey, look, the cats are following us.'
'Give them a wave', said Jerry. 'Terry's probably watching.'
'Oh yeah right', said Queenie. 'I'd better not say what I was going to say then.'
They walked on in silence, Jerry, Greta, Queenie, Captain Toast and about ten cats, back past the old red-brick factory and out to where the narrow canal joined the wide open river. Seeing the river again brought a sense of relief. Also seeing the sky, which was now a darkening blue with wisps of fading pink clouds. The main river promenade ran left and right. Left was the direction they'd come from, leading back past Sam's place and out past the city limit to Shopping Village and beyond. On the right was a footbridge over the canal, beyond which the main promanade continued, following the great river deeper into the city.
Greta looked at the magic marble. Not really magic, just technology way beyond her comprehension. 'It's pointing that way', said Greta, pointing diagonally across the river and to the right.
'We can go along the embankment and then cross over at Empire Bridge. It's about a twenty minute walk from here.. look you can just about see it over there..' said Jerry, pointing downriver to where the faint silhouette of the bridge was just visible through the twilight mist that hung over the river.
Greta didn't move. She looked left and right, out over the river and at the faces of her three companions. Jerry and Captain Toast seemed eager to go on towards Empire bridge and whatever adventures awaited on the other side. Queenie was looking rather pale and drawn, edgy and nervous, her eyes darting this way and that.
'Are you Ok, Queenie?' asked Greta.
'Yeah, yeah.. fine.. super-duper.. tip-top' said Queenie, trying to sound like she meant it.
Greta gave her a quizzical look.
'It's freaking me out a bit, being back here in the city', admitted Queenie. 'A lot of memories. And the feeling that O's watching.. it's not even a feeling.. I know O's watching.. and it makes my skin crawl.. it creeps me out. Get off me! Stop that!' She kicked a cat away which had been rubbing against her leg.
'I know how you feel', said Greta. 'I mean.. I don't really know how you feel, because I don't know half of what you've been through here.. but I mean.. I feel the same about being here too. I just want to get out of here. Really, it's all I can do to stop myself running straight out of the city and back home to the forest right now.. but I've got to go and find my sister and my dad.'
'Yes, you do', said Queenie, putting her arm through Greta's arm and starting to make strides towards Empire Bridge. 'So let's go!'
Greta held back. 'Queenie, no.' she said.
Queenie turned around. 'What no?'
'I'm going to go on from here by myself', said Greta.
Jerry, who had turned to join them, said, 'What do you mean, Greta?'
'I've put you in enough danger already and you've both helped me more than enough. I'll never forget how you've helped me. I think I can find my own way from here', said Greta.
'No way sister', said Queenie. 'All for one and one for all! We're coming with you, at least as far as the Green Zone.'
'No Queenie', said Greta. 'You've come far enough. I really don't want you to get into trouble. Now that I've got these hacked devices from Terry, it could be really bad for you to get caught with me. Please.. you go back to Shopping Village. It's a good place there. You'll be there by dark if you go quickly. I'll come and see you as soon as I get out.. hopefully by this time tomorrow and hopefully with my sister, or at least I'll manage to leave her a letter saying who I am and where to find me. I'm not planning to hang around. Not after everything I've seen and heard about O.'
'You know, O's not as bad as all that', said Jerry. 'You'll find that out if you meet them. They're not really anything to be scared of.'
Queenie shook her head and made huffing sounds.
'I'm not going to meet O' said Greta, putting on her mirrored sunglasses and pulling down the brim of her hat. 'You all get on back to Shopping Village and I'll see you very soon, ok?'
Queenie was somewhat relieved at the thought of being back in Shopping Village by dark, but at the same time torn between the wish to get back and the wish to stay to help her friend. She was also sad about saying goodbye to Greta, even though they'd only just met. Queenie hated saying goodbye, but one look at the resolve on Greta's face made it clear that there was no point in trying to persuade her to change her mind about going on alone. 'Ok Greta', said Queenie, with a tear in her eye, giving Greta a hug. 'You take care out there.. come back to us really soon, yeah? Good luck and bring back Nina, she looks groovy.'
'Are you sure you don't want us to come?' said Jerry, a bit forlorn. 'It's still early. The city really comes alive at night and I'm up for a bit of an adventure.'
'No, thank you Jerry', said Greta. 'You've helped me so much already. I've got this magic marble, so I can find my way now. I'd feel better knowing you were back with Jack and Granny Mae. They need you there.'
Jerry thought for a bit, while making strange head movements. 'Yes, I suppose they do', he said at last. 'Well, good luck Greta', he said and rather formally offered to shake her hand.
'Thank you Jerry', said Greta, shaking his hand and then giving him a hug.
After giving Captain Toast a big hug, and with one last backward look and a wave, Greta pulled her bandanna over her face, slung her travelling bag over her shoulder and headed downriver towards Empire Bridge. The ginger cat went with her, zig-zagging in front of her feet as she walked.
…............................ . . . …......................... . . . …............. . …................... . . ….. …
Greta walked purposefully along the embankment, paying little attention to the other people, out for an evening stroll along the river, or sitting in bars and cafes. Even the street performers, the juggler, the violin player and the mime artist failed to grab her attention as she marched towards Empire Bridge. In her head, Techno Terry's words 'that'll give you about twenty four hours, if you're lucky..' spinning around in her mind, reminding her that she was there on an urgent mission, and not for sightseeing.
Empire bridge arrived fairly quickly. Greta consulted the magic marble which now pointed directly across the river and slightly upwards, towards the towering hives silhouetted against the darkening sky on the other side. The bridge seemed immensely long and wide. It was an old, iron structure, spanning the great river on seven wide pillars of carved stone. A marvel of ambition as well as structural engineering from the days when human Empires spanned the globe, carving the whole world up into different coloured shapes on a map. To Greta, the bridge seemed impossible. How was it still standing? How was it that the great river didn't just wash it away? But looking around, everything seemed impossible to Greta. How could such a place as this city of human hives even exist? None of it made much sense, to Greta.
The ginger cat wouldn't set foot on the bridge. He gave Greta a look of such wisdom and sorrow that she wondered if he was trying to tell her something. 'What is it Mr. Cat?' she said, crouching down. 'Don't you want to go over the bridge? Well, I need to go that way, so..'
The cat stood up on its back legs and touched Greta's nose with his own. She thought she heard a voice saying something, but she couldn't tell what it was, or where it was coming from. 'What? Did you say something?' said Greta, startled, but then the cat turned and ran off into the shadows. 'Bye-bye Mr Cat..' said Greta. She was sad to see him go. Now, for the first time she really felt completely alone in the big city.
Twenty four hours.. if you're lucky.. again spurred Greta on.
She marched out onto the bridge allowing herself one more backward glance to see if Mr Cat had changed his mind, but he was nowhere to be seen.
The bridge felt much higher and the river seemed much wider, once you were actually on it. Greta marched along, close to the side-rail, looking down at the mighty river passing below. She'd never seen so much water. She'd never imagined there could be so much water. She was glad there was. The wind was very strong on the bridge. Greta held onto her hat, feeling invigorated by the wind and glad to see the sky again, as it opened out over the river. All over the city, lights were coming on, lighting up the hives like a magical fairyland. Greta wondered how even such a dreadful place as O's city could be somehow breathtakingly beautiful at the same time.
Up ahead, around the middle of the bridge, a shaven haired woman in a dress was standing, looking out over the guardrail, down at the river, far below. As Greta got closer, a strong whiff of musky perfume caught her nose, reminding her of someone. Where had she smelled that before? Then she saw the supermarket trolley, piled with bags and realised it was the woman they'd met earlier.
The woman didn't notice Greta approaching. She looked older without her long blond wig. Greta might not have recognised her, had it not been for her perfume and the trolley.
'Hello again' said Greta, taking the woman by surprise. She looked up, dazed. Her cheeks were streaked with mascara as she'd evidently been crying. 'Hey, what's wrong? Are you ok?' asked Greta.
'I lost my.. lost my hair!' cried the woman. 'It blew over the.. over the edge. Now it's.. now it's.. gone!' and she pointed down to river and started crying again. 'It's all gone. Everything's gone! I wish I was gone. I've had enough of this.. had enough of this.. had enough of this.. life.'
'Oh no, don't say that.. please!' Greta implored.
'Well, I just wish I was, that's all', said the woman, wiping her cheek and smearing mascara across her face. 'It's nothing but.. nothing but.. trouble.. trouble and strife. It's all just losing and losing.. and losing and losing. I mean, what's the p.. the p.. I mean, what's the p.. the point? Say, say, say.. I know you, don't I? Haven't we met before, met before?'
'Yes, we met earlier.. I was with my friends who you thought were John Lennon and Yoko something.. do you remember?'
'Oh yes, yes I remember now' said the woman, brightening up. 'You're Elvis, aren't you? Where's your blue suede shoes? Haha! Oh but wow! Just look at your shoes! They're magnificent! They're gorgeous! They're.. they're splendid! Wherever did you get them, get them?'
'My mum made them', said Greta. 'She makes shoes. We live in the forest. I'm not really Elvis, by the way. My name's Greta.'
'You're not really Elvis, you say? Well, I'd never have guessed!' and she laughed very hard and ended with a hiccup, then a sob. 'Anyway, pleased to meet you Greta, my name's Sal.. Sal.. Sally.' They shook hands.
'Pleased to meet you Sally' said Greta. 'And I'm sorry about your hair. Hey, I've got an idea.. do you want this bandanna? You can wear it as a headscarf.'
'Really? But you're wearing it. You're wearing it. It's yours.'
'No, it's not mine, I just borrowed it but I don't really need it any more.' Greta felt for the magic coin in her pocket that Techno Terry had given her. It was her only hope. She only hoped that whatever wizardry it contained was going to work and keep her hidden from O. Twenty four hours.. if you're lucky.. ran through her mind. She fought the feeling of impatience, resisting the urge to hurry. A line from a song that Queenie had been singing before came into her head. Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.. It's easy! Greta untied the bandanna from her face. 'You can have it. I want you to have it', she said. 'Here, let me put it on you nicely..' Sally bowed her head gratefully while Greta tied the bandanna over her head of short grey stubble and arranged it neatly. 'Oh that's nice', said Greta, appraising her work. 'It suits you. Makes you look like a country woman from around where I come from.'
'Oh that must be nice to live in the country', said Sally wistfully, while rearranging her headscarf into a lopsided fashion. 'Is it nice in the country? I don't know.. you hear such terrible stories these days.. gangs roaming around, roaming around terrorising people.. fires, fires, out of control, out of control.. wild animals, diseases.. wild animals, diseases..'
'No it's not like that at all', said Greta. 'At least not where I live. It's very peaceful where I live.'
'Well, that's good to know' said Sally, looking relieved. 'Best not to listen to the news, I suppose. It's only ever bad news, bad news, bad news. Only ever was. I used to dream about a cottage in the country you know. Just a little white cottage with a thatched roof and roses in the garden, roses in the garden. That was our dream, my Win.. my Win.. my Winston and me. That was what were were saving up for. We were going to get the money to move out of the city, out of the city, and get our little cottage in the country, in the country. This was going to be his one last job.. one last job, to get the rest of the money for the down.. for the down.. payment. We'd both been saving up, saving up, saving up.. for years. No more him going away for months on end after that, after that, working on the oil.. on the oil.. on the oil.. fields. But that was before everything went.. you know.. hay.. hay.. hay.. hay.. hay.. hay... wire.'
'What happened?'
'What happened?' Sally looked helplessly around, up at the hives, down to the river, up at the sky. 'What happened? What happened? Did you ever hear of something called the big.. the big.. the big.. Shift?'
'Oh that! Of course I have. I just wasn't sure that's what you meant. Where was Winston when it happened? Was he far away?'
'Oh he was so, so far away.. so, so, so, far, far, far away, away' said Sally, looking sadly out over the river. 'Far East.. or was it the far West? I can't remember now. Big holes in my memory since I went and got that cursed noo.. cursed noo.. noo, noodle put in. Maybe far North or far south.. one of the fars at any rate.. somewhere very very far away, very far away.. over the o.. over the o.. the ocean. On the other side.. of the other side.. of the other side.. of the world.'
'You got a noodle?' said Greta, horrified. 'Why?'
'Because I was stupid, stupid.. stupid, stupid.. why else?' said Sally, shaking her head, looking very cross with herself. Then her face crumpled up and she began to cry again. 'Because I missed him.. I missed him.. so much', she sobbed. 'And he was so so far far away.'
'But I don't understand', said Greta. 'How would getting a noodle help?'
'Well, it wouldn't.. ob.. ob.. obviously', said Sally surveying her shopping trolley full of bags and her forlorn, desolate condition, standing in the middle of Empire Bridge at sundown without even her hairpiece for a bit of dignity. 'I thought it would help. That's why I got it. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I should never have listened to that.. that.. O!' She drew out the word O into something like howl. After saying the cursed name, Sally spat over the side of the bridge.
'How did you think it would have helped?' asked Greta, still unable to understand what would compel anyone in their right mind to get a noodle.
'Because then we could have been.. we could have been.. together.. even though we couldn't have been.. couldn't have been.. together. Do you understand now? Do you get it? Do you understand now? Do you get it?'
'Not really, no.' Greta shook her head.
'No, I don't suppose you would.. I don't suppose you could. All the better for you, for you. You've heard of the O.. the O.. the O.. the O.. the O-zone, have you?'
'I've heard of it, yes', said Greta. 'But I've never been there or seen it.'
'Lucky, lucky you, lucky you', said Sally. 'But do you know what it is, more or less?'
'I think so', Greta nodded.
'Well, try to understand, Elvis, try to understand.. the O-Zone became our world, became our world. Since we couldn't be together in the real world, real world, at least we could be together in the O.. in the O.. in the O-zone. So that was where we'd meet. You'll probably think this is mad.. mad.. think this is mad.. but we even had a virtual.. a virtual cottage in the country, with a virtual thatched roof and virtual roses, virtual roses in the garden. It was really beautiful.. very realistic looking, very realistic looking, but it wasn't really real. Wasn't really real, really real. That was the problem, do you see now, see now? We could be together there.. but not really together. Not really.. together.. together. Only ever a picture on a screen.. on a screen or on a lens, on a lense. Words whispered, whispered through speakers.. speakers.. microphones, headphones, microphones, headphones..' Sally leaned close to Greta and whispered the last words in here ear, which gave Greta a strange tingling feeling. 'It was always.. always between us', Sally continued. 'May, may, may as well have been a solid wall. Solid wall. The closer, closer, closer we got in the O-zone, the further.. further away it would feel that we were, feel that we were.. in real life. So that's when we both decided to get, decided to get noo.. get noo.. noo.. noo.. noodles.'
'Oh no! Greta gasped. 'But why?'
'I just told you, told you why! Don't tell me you still don't understand. Do you know what a noo.. noodle is.. what a noodle is or what it does? Or at least what it's supposed to do?'
'Not really', said Greta. 'Sorry. You must think I'm very backwards and ignorant. I only just arrived in the city today. I've never been here before. Where I come from we don't have noodles or hives, or O-zones or any of those things! We don't have O at all and we don't want to have O at all! We don't need any of that. Nobody does.'
Sally took a step backwards and looked at Greta anew, as if only now seeing her for the first time. 'Oh me oh my! You're the real thing aren't you', she said in a voice full of wonder and admiration. 'If I'd had half your good sense.. half your good sense.. I wouldn't be in the state I am now, but alas, alas, here I am, I am. It is what it is what it is.'
'But what did you expect the noodle to do?' asked Greta.
'Noodle to do? Noodle to do? What did I expect the noodle to do.. noodle to do?' Sally replied, looking quizzical and slightly amused.
'Yes, what did you want the noodle to do?' said Greta again. It did sound funny.
'Noodle to do? Noodle to do?' Sally repeated again and then abruptly started laughing quite hysterically. 'Noodle to do? Noodle to do? Cock a doodle do, what's a noodle, a noodle to do!' she shrieked in between howls of laughter.
Sally's laughter was contagious and Greta had found herself laughing too. It felt good to be laughing.. after the strange, oppressive paranoia of trying to move undetected through the city. After the weirdness of Techno Terry, his strange, dark, reclusive world and his questionable ethics when it came to cats. After all the talk of O and of noodles. Greta wished that she'd never heard the word O and that she still thought of a noodle simply as some kind of pasta. Out there in the middle of Empire Bridge, standing astride the great river, laughter, for a moment carried both their cares away on the wind.
After a while, Sally laughed herself out, holding her side with one hand and gripping the handrail of the bridge with the other. 'Oh you made me laugh, Elvis! What's a noodle to do indeed! I'm glad you came along when you did, Elvis', said Sally. 'Thanks for cheering me up.'
'You cheered me up too', said Greta.
'I wasn't going to jump, you know', said Sally turning serious again.
'What do you mean?'
'Off the bridge. I wasn't going to jump off the bridge, jump off the bridge. I wouldn't do that. I'm waiting here to meet someone. My Win.. my Win.. my Winston. He's on his way, on his way. I'm meeting him.. meeting him.. here.'
'Oh that's great!' said Greta. 'So he found his way back? I'm so happy for you. That's amazing!'
'Not yet, not yet', Sally shook her head sadly, looking off into the distance, 'but he's on his way, on his way. He'll be here any day, any day.. I'm sure of it, sure of it.'
'Do you know where he is?'
Sally just shook her head and her eyes welled up with tears. 'Seven years.. seven years.. since he left me a note, left me a note that he was coming. He said to meet him on Empire Bridge, Empire Bridge at sunset.. Empire Bridge at sunset. That was what he said. That was the last I heard from him. So I come here and I wait.. and I wait.'
'I'm sorry', said Greta. They both stared out at the river, engrossed in their own thoughts. After a while, Greta said, 'You were about to tell me what happened with the noodle.'
'Oh the noodle..' said Sally, as if waking up from a dream. 'The old noo, noo, noodly noodle.. and what does it doodle..'
'Well, I don't want to intrude, I don't mean to be rude..' said Greta.
Sally burst out laughing again. 'Don't want to intrude? Don't mean to be rude?' she shrieked. 'Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes.. I'll tell you, tell you about the noo.. the noo.. the noo.. the noo, noo, noodle.. the introodle.. the roodle.. Oh, oh.. don't get me, don't get me.. started again.. started again.. don't get me started again.. Elvis..' Sally howled with laughter, clutching onto the handle of her trolley to steady herself. 'I'll tell you all about the, all about the.. doo, doo, doodley doodle.. the croodle.. no, that's not right, not right. What's it called now? What's the word? Oh no, I really forgot, really forgot what it's called now.. The voodley, voodley, voodle! Oh my mind!' Sally rapped three times on the top of her head, hard with her knuckles and then slapped her forehead twice. 'I'll tell you all about the woo, woo, woodly-woo! Oh no..! I'll tell you what the hoodly doodly.. boodly..' Sally was now laughing and crying at the same time, getting exasperated. 'My noodley noo is noodley n-nooing it again.. nooing it again.. nooing nit anen, anen, anen..' The was a note of panic in her voice.
'What's wrong?' asked Greta, now concerned.
'Swomething sw.. sw.. sweet Elvis! Have you swot swomething.. swot swomething sweet?' Sally grasped Greta's arm, her eyes wide..
'I.. I don't know what you mean', said Greta, suddenly alarmed.
'P.. p.. piece of pocolate.. pome pruit.. p piscuit.. a plice of pake..?'
'What's happened Sally? What do you need?'
'Shome sugar, Shelvis.. sugar! Need nome nugar.'
'I've got a cake in my bag!' said Greta, remembering the cake Granny Mae had given her. Sally bit her lips and nodded furiously.
As quick as she could, Greta found the cake, pulled off a big chunk and gave it to Sally who ate the whole piece in two bites. Then she stood so very still for such a long time that Greta wondered if she had turned into stone.. but then Sally took a deep breath and her face relaxed. 'It's allright', she said weakly. 'I'm allright now. B.. Better now. Sorry.. sorry about that. I didn't mean to scare you. That's delicious cake by the way. Mind if I have another little slice? I want to eat a piece slowly this time.'
'Of course you can', said Greta, breaking off another piece of the sweet, heavy fruitcake. 'Granny Mae made it. She makes really good cakes. You'd like Granny Mae if you met her. She lives in Shopping Village.'
'I like her already!' said Sally, taking a small bite of the cake and savouring it immensely. 'Her cake might've just saved my life, saved my life.'
'Are you ok? What just happened?' asked Greta.
'Let's w-walk', said Sally, taking deep breaths to steady herself. 'Need to walk to get the blood flowing. Which way shall we go? I don't care, it's all the same to me.'
'This way', said Greta. She was quietly relieved to be moving in the right direction again as even while all this had been going on.. twenty four hours.. if you're lucky.. was going round and round in her head. 'Are you feeling better now?' asked Greta, taking Sally's arm while she settled herself at the handlebar of her old supermarket shopping trolley.
'Yes, yes, my angel. Getting there at any rate. Need to keep the old brain sugars topped up. I forget to eat, silly me, then I get all excited and then.. and then..' Sally made a cross expression and slapped herself in the face. 'All I know is that if it goes below a certain level and I suddenly forget how to spea.. how to speak.. that's a bad.. a bad.. sign and I need to get something sweet down me.. sweet down me.. quick, quick, sharp, sharp.. because it just gets worse, just gets worse.. from there. Worse from there.'
'Oh that's awful. Is it diabetes?'
'I don't know if you'd call it that.. I've never heard of it, never heard of it.. but maybe.. I don't know. I don't understand very much any more. I forget quicker than I can remember. My memory is like Swiss.. like Swiss.. like Swiss.. cheese. Full of holes. It's this blinking noo.. blinking noo.. blinking noodle.. in my head.. is what it is.' Sally hit herself in the side of her head twice. 'Faulty wiring, is what what it is.. what it is. Of course O says, O says the problem's with my brain.. with my brain.. not with the noodle. O says I just need to keep my sugar.. sugar levels topped up and try not to get too emo.. too emo.. too emotional.. and try not to get too emotional. O says that they can fix it.. they can fix it.. if I'll let them. As if I would! O wants to re.. re.. re-install the whole system. Says it's got to be done, it's the only way. Only way to prevent total system failure.'
'System failure? What does that mean? Reinstall the whole system? I don't understand what you're talking about.'
'System failure is when it shuts down and you can't switch it back on again. O wants to backup my memory to the cloud, to the cloud.. reinstall the operating system of my brain.. or of the noodle.. I can't remember exactly.. noodle.. brain.. it's the same thing now anyway.. then put all my brain data back into my noodle.. in my head.. or something like that.. I'm not sure of all the.. the.. the.. technical details.'
'That doesn't make any sense at all', said Greta.
'Of course it doesn't make any sense. Nothing makes any sense. That's why I won't let O do it. Not after the first repair and the second repair and the third.. It wasn't right from the start.. right from the start. No amount of tink.. tink.. tinkering was going to fix it. I knew from the moment I got that noo.. noodle, that it was a mistake, but by then it was too late. Too late. A neu.. neu. neural noo.. neural noo.. noo.. noodle.. isn't something you can just take off if you don't like it. It's not something you can switch off either. It's always there. Always there.'
A cold chill ran through Greta as the wind swept across the bridge. 'That's dreadful!Why did you do it?' she beseeched, still unable to comprehend.
Sally turned to face Greta with a wild look on her face. She put one hand on her head to stop her new headscarf blowing away, as her old wig had done. 'Do you feel the wind?' she shouted. 'Can you feel it.. feel it on your face? Can you feel it blowing.. blowing in your hair and through your clothes? Can you feel the cold spray of the river.. can you feel it on your skin?'
'Yes', nodded Greta. 'Of course. It's really windy here. And we're right above the river.'
Sally reached out and grabbed Greta's arm. 'There!' she shouted into the wind and into Greta's face. 'Can you feel that?'
'Yes', nodded Greta, now getting scared, surprised in the strength in Sally's grip. 'You're squeezing my arm really hard.'
'And you can feel it, you say?' demanded Sally, not loosening her grip. 'And you can feel the wind too, yes? And do you feel, it's getting a bit cold now? There's a bit of a chill.. a bit of a chill in the air.. chill in the air.. now that the sun's gone down? Can you feel it, Elvis?'
'Yes, yes!' said Greta, starting to tremble. 'I can feel all of those things. Why? Why are you asking me?'
Sally loosened her grip and stroked Greta's arm gently. 'Because you asked me why.. why I got a noo.. noodle. And that's why. To feel all those things.. all those things and more.. when I was with Winston. That was the only reason. The only reason. Just to feel, to feel like I was really there.. really there.. with him.. just like it feels like I'm really here.. really here.. with you. That's how it was meant to be. That was how they said it would be. But it never is with these giz..giz.. gizmos and gadgets. I should have known better. Stupid, stupid me.' Sally hit herself in the head again.
'I don't think you're stupid', said Greta. 'And I think I understand why you got it. You did it for love. That's not stupid at all.'
'Thank you. Yes I did for love, did it for love, that's true. But I still should have known better. I was just so desperate and so alone at that time. Even though I'm much more desperate and more alone now. Much, much more. Much more. I wish I could just go back, just go back to the time when I'd meet Winston at our little cottage in the country in the O-zone.. even if it was only virtual.. even if he was really half way round the world.. it was better than nothing.. better than nothing.. which is what I ended up with. Nothing. Now I don't know where he is. Half the time I don't know where I am either.'
'I'm so sorry. What went wrong?'
'First of all I didn't like it. Didn't like it. Not at all. I didn't like the feeling.' Sally made a face as if she'd just taken a bite out of an apple only to discover half a worm. 'I just knew straight away that I didn't like it. Sometimes you think you want something so much.. but you don't really stop to think about what it would be like to actually have it. It's never quite how you'd imagined it would be. It feels real, real.. too real.. but at the same time, you know, you know, you know.. it isn't. Isn't real. But then you don't know. It messes with your head, it does.. when you don't know what's real any more, real anymore.. and what isn't.'
'Of course it does', said Greta. 'It's completely unnatural. It goes against nature.'
'Exactly!' said Sally. 'I knew you'd understand. Clever, clever, Elvis. I couldn't have put it better myself, better myself. It goes.. against.. nature. That's exactly what it is, what it is. But worse than that were the glitches, the glitches, the glitches. I wouldn't have wanted it even if it worked properly, worked properly.. but I was getting glitches, glitches, glitches.. all the time.. right from the start. That just made it worse, made it worse.'
'What are glitches?'
'Things.. little things, little things.. in the system.. going a bit wrong. Never so wrong that it would cause the whole system to crash, but still, things that would, that would.. freak, freak.. freak you out at the time. O would usually fix, fix them quite quickly, but that didn't help, didn't help, didn't help.. because there are always new ones, new ones, different ones.. so they always take you by surprise, by surprise.'
'What sort of things?' asked Greta, not sure that she really wanted to know, but feeling that it would be a good idea to better understand what she was up against, when it came to tackling O in the grotesque, dystopian, alien world it had created.
'All sorts of things, Elvis. All sorts of things. You could be there talking to someone and suddenly they'd vanish. Or they'd freeze in the middle of what they were doing and then suddenly appear somewhere else. Sometimes people's faces would go blank. Their face would go completely blank, blank, blankety blank.. suddenly they had no face.'
'Ooh, that sounds scary.'
'It's scary, because you think it's real and you don't expect it. It put me on edge, all the time. I never knew what was going to happen next. One was one time I was there talking with Winston and then instead of my voice coming out of my mouth, it was his voice and then when he answered it was in my voice. Can you imagine?'
'That's horrible. So weird.'
'There are all sorts of much more really.. spooky, spooky things that happened.. but|I don't want to scare you. There are things there in the O-zone that you couldn't imagine. Things you wouldn't want to imagine.. but once you've seen them.. well, there are a lot of things I wish I could remember, but I can't.. but then again, there are some things I've seen that I wish I forget, but I can't. It's a strange thing, the mind. The worst part for me is that I couldn't switch it off. I don't know if you can imagine what it's like if you've never been in the O-zone.. how can I describe it? The O-zone isn't just another place.. it's also right here, all around us.. you just can't see it.'
'What do you mean? Where is it?'
'Oh it's all over the place. It's everywhere. Look here, see this couple coming over the bridge? They can see it.' A couple dressed in modern clothes made of some tight fitting, bright material were walking along arm in arm. As they walked along, they were gazing all around, as if they were curious to see every detail of the old, iron bridge and of the darkening city which surrounded them. For a moment, they both stopped and appeared to be greeting and talking to someone who wasn't there, before waving goodbye and carrying on their way along the bridge. They breezed right past Greta and Sally as if they weren't there.
'What do you mean it's everywhere? All around us? How can they see it? Did they see us?'
'Maybe they did, maybe they didn't', said Sally. 'They might not even see each other. At least, not as they really are. Who knows what anyone really sees, or if any of it is real?'
'I don't really get it', said Greta. 'How do you know they can see it? How can they see it?'
'Oh I just know they can see it. They've either got noodles or they're wearing lenses. Everyone in the green zone does. You have to, otherwise you'll miss out on half of what's going on around you. They'll be seeing all sorts of things that we can't see.'
'What sort of things? Can you see it too?'
'Sort of, sort of. I can see it, but it doesn't make sense to me. It's all interference, feedback, noise. I do my best not to see it. Everything's all jumbled up, the way I see it. My brain.. or my noodle.. one or the other.. they're the same thing now anyway.. it can't compute all that information or make sense of it. It's very confusing, very confusing. I told O to switch it off, switch it off.. but O said no, O said no.. that could wipe my memory. Every treatment I've done, I lose more memories. I can't remember my childhood at all, at all. I can't remember my parents. I don't want to lose the memory of my Winston. That's all I've got now. So I just learn to live with it, like a constant noise in the background.'
'That sounds awful.'
'It's better here in the orange zone. There's less coverage down here, if you keep off the main streets. In the green zone it's everywhere, all the time, everywhere, all the time.. there's no getting away, away from it. I keep my hair short. That helps.'
'Why does keeping your hair short help?'
'The noo, noodle.. it turns your hair into aerials, hair into aerials.. hairials.. Can you imagine?'
'Like Techno Terry's cats', gasped Greta. 'Why can't O switch it off?'
'Oh, O tried all sorts of ways to get it to work properly.. but, but, but.. every time I'd lose bits of, bits of memory. And it was always the good bits. O said it was because I've got a rare kind of, a rare kind of brain, brain structure which caused the noo, noodle to.. mis, mis, mis.. misconnect... mis, mis.. misdirect.. one or the other.. or both. See, see, my brain's folded funny, folded funny.. that's what it is.. or something like that. One in a million type of neural, neural, neural.. architecture in my upper cor, upper cor, cor.. cortex. That's what O told me I've got. Very rare, very rare. As if that would make me feel better. As if that would make me feel special. It really does, does.. doesn't. Not if you're that one in a million.'
'That's awful. So what happened with Winston? Did he also get a noodle?'
'Yes, he got one too. His was fine, thank the Lord above. But it didn't help, didn't help us be together, as mine wasn't working at all. My mind couldn't do it.. couldn't put the two worlds together, two worlds together. Can you imagine living in a world where you don't know what's real and what's not? That's what it was like. All the time. Even when I was asleep I couldn't get any rest. Weird dreams I couldn't wake up from, couldn't wake up from.. so that by the time I did wake up, did wake up.. I didn't know if I was still asleep. It was like I was fighting myself and I could never win, never win.'
Greta gasped. 'Just like Sam. That's what he said happened to him.'
'I think it happened to lots of people, lots of people. You just don't hear about them, hear about them.'
'People need to hear the truth', said Greta angrily. 'People need to know about this. It's outrageous that O does experiments on people like that.'
'Oh, I don't know', shrugged Sally. 'I don't think O means any harm really. I was just unlucky, just unlucky.. that's all. Anyway, treatment after treatment and nothing helped. Then one day, after my last treatment.. it was a biggie.. total re.. total re.. re, reconfiguration.. I was out if it for.. for.. I don't know how long.. Days? Weeks? Months? I can't remember. As soon as I got back, I went back into the O-zone to see Winston.. went to our little cottage and.. and..'
'What? What happened?'
'It wasn't there, wasn't there, wasn't there any more', cried Sally. 'It was gone. Everything, rose garden and all. Just a blank white space where our little cottage had been.'
'Oh no!'
'I walked into the space and then I heard my Winston's voice. Just his voice. He said he was leaving the green zone and coming to me. Said to meet him at Empire Bridge, Empire Bridge.. at sunset. Said he'd be here soon, be here soon.. as soon as he can. Said he'd try to message you along the way, if he can, if he can. Said he loves me, always, love me, always.'
'Oh wow! So you were here waiting for him? On the bridge. That's beautiful. So romantic.'
'Seven, seven, seven years and not a peep', Sally shook her head sadly. 'Every sunset, here I am. Then when he doesn't show up, I go to that O-box on the corner and check if there are any messages. Not a word, seven years. But still I come here every sunset. What else am I supposed to do?'
'That's so sad. I hope he gets here soon', said Greta, praying for it to happen. 'What's an O-box?'
'That red box there. That's an O-box.' Sally pointed to the little cubicle on the corner, just big enough for one person, or two or three at a squeeze.
'Oh I wondered what they were, I've seen a few of them.'
'It's like a phone box from the olden days. If you're not connected and you want to contact someone, or ask O a question, you can use an O-box. I check for a message every day. But seven, seven, seven years and still not a word, a word from my Winston. Just endless spam.. endless spam.. endless spam.. in my inbox.'
'Spam in your inbox? What does that mean?'
'Never mind. It's just rubbish. It's all just rubbish.' Sally wheeled her ancient supermarket trolley sadly down the main street leading on from the bridge, along the smooth Earthcrete pavement, into the shadow of the hives. They walked on in silence for a while, then Sally said, 'Where are you going anyway? Are you on your way somewhere? Do you have a place to be? This city's no place for a young girl like you to be out on her own.'
'I'm on my way to find my sister and my dad', said Greta. 'She's my twin. We got separated when we were babies, just after the Big Shift. She stayed in the city with my dad, my mum took me to the forest and raised me there.'
'Oh my word, what a story! It's like.. it's like.. what was that story..? Oh I can't remember now. Never mind. It's fantastic. It's wonderful. I do hope you'll find them, I really do. Do you know where they are? How will you find them?' Sally was once again excited, animated and joyful, as she'd been the first time they'd met, earlier that day..
'I've got this little device my friend gave me. I call it a magic marble.' Greta showed the magic marble to Sally who's eyes lit up at the sight of it. 'It points towards where my sister is. I'm close now. Look, it's pointing right up into this hive. They must be in there.'
'Oh look at that. Isn't it clever. They've got gadgets and widgets for everything these days haven't they. I hope my Winston's got one of those, I truly do, truly do.'
'I hope so too. I really hope he gets back to you. I pray he will', said Greta, making a silent prayer for Winston's imminent and safe return.
'Thank you Elvis', said Sally. 'Your name's not really Elvis is it?'
'No, it's Greta.'
'Oh that's a nice name. Pleased to meet you. My name's Sally.'
'Yes, I know. We met on the bridge and introduced ourselves. Do you remember?'
'Did we? Oh my memory, it's like Swiss Cheese, Swiss Cheese.. you do know what that means don't you? Memory like Swiss Cheese?'
'It means it's full of holes', said Greta. She wondered now if Sally remembered anything of the conversation they'd just had.
'Oh I'm so glad you understand. It's good to be understood. Most people round here wouldn't give you the time of day, let alone stop and say hello. Everyone's in their own world these days, that's the truth of it.'
'Well, I'm very glad we met', said Greta. 'I'm glad that there are still good people like you, even in such a bad place as this.' She looked ominously up at the hive, towering above her. The hive that contained her sister and her dad. 'I need to go into the green zone now.' Greta's stomach felt like it was full of butterflies. She'd never been so scared or so nervous in her life. 'How do I get in?'
'Oh, you see there, where it's lit up in green, lit up in green? That's an entrance. You just go through there and then take the escalators or a lift up to the upper levels. The first levels are all public areas.. you know, shops, restaurants, galleries, leisure, that sort of thing.. home pods are higher up.'
'Home pods?'
'You know.. where people live?'
'Oh yes, of course', said Greta, wondering how she was going to find her way around in such a place where half of reality was invisible to her and where half of the words were in a language she didn't understand.
After a teary goodbye, Greta watched Sally push her trolley away down the main street. She waited until Sally was out of sight before approaching the entrance to the Green Zone. Greta didn't want to get Sally in trouble if she got caught with the illicit jamming device that Techno Terry had given her. She prayed that the magic coin would work and that she'd be able to pass invisibly through the green zone, even if only for long enough to find her sister.
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Alone once again, Greta faced the wide, arched entrance to the Green Zone, which was all lit up in green. The architecture was in the modern style, intricately woven spirals of Earthcrete arching up to meet in complex, fluid swirls. The street around the entrance was crowded with people, going in and out of the Green Zone. Over the entrance, was a sign which read 'Welcome to the Green Zone. In the interests of public health, safety and convenience, please observe protocols.' Two lines on the floor all along the entrance, one orange and the other one green, designated the boundary between the zones.
Greta stood at the boundary on the orange side. She pulled her hat down low, pushed her mirrored sunglasses up and looked around. Beyond the green line she could see a great wide concourse with throngs of people moving about in every direction. Up ahead, she could see escalators, like the ones in Shopping Village. Greta decided the best plan of action would be to go in, blend in with the crowd, make a beeline for the escalators and head up, towards her sister. If she got that far, she'd figure out what to do when she got there. Such forward planning had got her this far, after all.
A group of about twenty day trippers, all wearing matching red hats and clear face visors were approaching from up the street, making their way towards the entrance of the Green Zone. Greta decided she'd go in with them, hoping that O wouldn't notice her among them. As they swept past her, Greta took a very deep breath, closed her eyes and stepped over the green line.
She was fully expecting alarms to start ringing and robots to come and arrest her, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes to find she was inside the green zone. Nothing had happened. Everything was the same. The magic coin worked! Or maybe O wasn't as all seeing and all knowing as people believed and feared. Maybe O didn't even exist. Maybe O was just like the wizard of Oz.. a powerless charlatan.. a circus magician, hiding behind conjuring tricks, smoke and mirrors. Greta kept up with the group of red hatted tourists, feeling hopeful and elated as she merged into the crowd and headed for the escalators.
People who had been wearing clear, face-visors took them off, folded them up and tucked them into little shoulder bags they were carrying, each seeming to breath a sigh of relief as they did so. A woman to the right of Greta turned and stared at her, looking Greta up and down with a mixture of confusion and fear as they headed towards the escalators. Other people turned to look at Greta in the same way and they all edged away from her, as if she was carrying something contagious, or as if she might at any moment explode.
Greta decided to just act natural, keep on heading for the escalators, ignore the strange looks she was getting. It was probably because she was dressed differently, in her homespun shawl, her handmade shoes, her straw hat with the silver rim and her canvas travelling bag. Everyone else were wearing clothes made of modern nano-fibres and futuristic looking footwear. The crowd opened up around Greta as more and more people began to notice her. People edged away, some of them whispering and pointing. Greta looked around at the faces of the people all staring at her. A mother was leading two children hurriedly away, shielding them from danger with her own body, as she looked back over her shoulder at Greta apprehensively. What were they seeing?
By the time she reached the escalator, Greta had a wide circle around her, of people who didn't want to be near her, but still wanted to be near enough to see what was going to happen next. A man in shiny purple suit was just standing there near the escalator, staring at her with his mouth agape. “What?!' Greta shouted at him. 'What are you all staring at?'
'You're blank', he said, pointing at her and edging away. 'No data. Where's all your data? There's nothing there. How did you get in here? You're not supposed to be in the Green Zone. What are you doing here?'
'I don't know what you mean. I'm here to see my sister', said Greta, stepping on to the escalator and pointing vaguely ahead. 'She's upstairs.'
No-one else would go onto the escalator with Greta, so she was carried upward on the moving silver stairs all alone. People on the other side, coming down, pointed and stared. One woman pointed and shouted, 'Hey, what's that redzoner doing here? Look, she's a Red! O! A Red! O! A Red! A Redzoner in the Greenzone!' at which anyone who hadn't noticed Greta by this time turned to stare, all looking afraid. Others picked up the call to O. Greta looked round in panic. Everywhere she looked, people we saying 'O! There's a Redzoner in the Greenzone!'
Greta ran up the moving stairs. Just as she neared the top, a robot dog, a devil dog, as they were called where Greta came from, stepped into view. Greta screamed, stumbled on the end of the escalator and tumbled right over the robot dog, rolling across the smooth, white floor and landing on her back with the devil dog looking down at her. She looked up at it, petrified. What was it going to do next? Electrocute her? Kill her on the spot? Drag her off to prison? Put a noodle in her?
'Good evening', said the robot dog in a friendly, yet authoritative voice, bringing its faceless robot head close to her face. 'I apologise for the inconvenience. There is an anomoly with your identity. You appear to be an unregistered. Would you please remove your sunglasses so that I can scan your retina. It will only take a second.'
'No way!' shouted Greta, then in one swift movement rolled over, sprang to her feet and ran as fast as she could away from the devil dog, down a wide concourse lined with restaurants, cafes and shops, crowded with people.
The robot dog gave chase. It was fast. Alerted by a silent siren, a virtual warning signal it sent out into the O-zone, the crowd of people parted to let it through, while Greta went barrelling into people, bumping and pushing past them in her desperation to get away from the evil, four-legged automaton. She looked around in panic. Seeing it was closing in on her, she dived into a restaurant, which was full of people enjoying their supper. Some people screamed as she ran through the door. Some people jumped to their feet. Some dived under their tables. Greta looked around, wild eyed, searching for some way of escape. There at the back of the restaurant was a swinging door, which swung open at that very moment. A robot waiter on wheels, about the height of a small child, rolled in carrying a tray of desserts. Greta screamed, spun around, only to see the dreaded devil dog come bursting in through the entrance of the restaurant. She was cornered.. there was no way out..
Thinking quickly, Greta picked up a big bowl of steaming spaghetti from the nearest table and threw it as hard as she could at the robot dog. There were gasps and screams from some of the diners. The bowl exploded as it made impact, the spaghetti splattered across the robot's head, dangling down like straggly hair, dripping with tomato sauce. 'Take that you devil dog!' shouted Greta. 'There's some noodles for you!' A young girl sitting at a nearby table laughed at the sight of the robot dog all covered in spaghetti. It did look funny. Without stopping to admire her robot makeover, Greta spun around again to face the waiter robot, which was between her and the doors and which was now coming towards her on its little wheels, still carrying the tray of desserts. Greta ran towards the robot and as she did so, she took her travelling bag off her shoulder and swung it at the robot with all her might, knocking the little droid head over wheels and sending the tray of cream cakes flying into the air. Without breaking her stride, Greta jumped over the robot waiter and she ran through the swinging doors at the back of the restaurant..
The swinging doors led into the kitchen, a narrow, galley kitchen. The kitchen staff were all various types of robots and they all turned to look at Greta as she burst into the room. Greta screamed again. Now what? There was really no way out now..
A tall and slender robot chef was standing at cooking range with heating elements glowing red hot. It was deep frying some dumplings in a big pan full of hot oil when Greta made her entrance, causing it to turn its faceless head. All the robots also stopped what they were doing, then, as one, they all started moving towards Greta, still holding their cooking utensils.. spatulas, whisks, rolling pins, knives.. a long metal spoon in the case of the tall robot which was closest to Greta.
'Get away from me!' screamed Greta, wildly looking around in panic for any way out or anything she could use to defend herself. There was a rack of saucepans and frying pans on the wall, within arm's reach. Her eyes fixed on a big iron skillet with a long wooden handle. Wasting no time, she grabbed the heavy pan and, in one swift movement, swung it with her full force at the tall robot's head. The robot's head had a hard, carbon fibre outer shell, no thicker than an egg shell. It was useful for protecting the robot's sensitive circuitry in daily tasks around the kitchen, but was not designed to withstand being whacked with a big, iron frying pan.. and it exploded into hundreds of tiny pieces. The robot stumbled backwards, knocking over the big span of hot oil all over the cooking range and also onto the floor. Two robots were coming towards Greta, one brandishing a pair of tongs, the other holding a carving knife. The first robot slipped on the oil and then tripped over the tall robot, which was writhing helplessly on the kitchen floor. The second robot tripped on the first and they fell in a tangled heap.
While this was happening, the cooking range burst into flames. Greta stumbled backwards, back through the swinging doors and back into the restaurant. As the doors swung open, bright orange flames and black smoke followed her. She fell backwards and landed on the floor, looking desperately around. There was the robot waiter, starting to get up. There was the robot dog, all covered in spaghetti. There were all the diners at the restaurant, either staring stupefied at Greta with the burning kitchen behind her, or jumping up from their chairs, screaming and shouting and running for the exit.
At that moment, the sprinkler system sprung into action, to put out the fire. The whole restaurant and kitchen was suddenly soaked in a downpour of cold water from sprinklers all over the ceiling. With this deluge, everyone jumped up and started screaming, shouting and running about in all directions. In the ensuing chaos and pandemonium, Greta rolled under the nearest table and crawled towards the exit as fast as she could. Seeing the doorway in sight, Greta sprang to her feet and ran though it.
Outside the restaurant, all the people had retreated to a safe distance and were standing, eagerly watching and anxiously waiting to see what would happen next. It wasn't every day that something this exciting happened.. at least not in real life. Emergency response robots of all descriptions were rushing to the scene from left and right, with alarm sirens blaring and blue lights flashing. Some of them were on wheels, some of them on legs, some flying through the air. Greta froze. There was nowhere to turn, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. She was surrounded on every side.
Several small, egg-shaped drones and one larger one, about the size of a football, were hovering just above the doorway. Four robot dogs were standing facing the restaurant entrance, ready to pounce. There were some stretchers arriving along with a group of red, fire-fighting bots.
For a moment everything and everyone went quiet and nobody moved. In the sudden, unexpected silence, Greta was distracted by a buzzing in her ear, like a mosquito.. like lots of mosquitoes.. there was a swarm of little flies buzzing round her head. What? What now? What kind of flies were these? They landed on her face and neck and hands, stinging wherever they could. Greta flailed her arms around wildly, but there was nothing she could do to stop them. Blindly she ran, but within four steps her legs turned to jelly and she fell into a crumpled heap on the floor, unconscious.
Her last thought, before she blacked out, was twenty four hours, if you're lucky. She's barely made it to twenty four seconds in the Green Zone and she was already caught.
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