The Four Dans

Chloe stretched out on the upholstered platform in her quarters and relaxed after washing and dressing in the shower room, all accomplished with the help of the Robo-Wash unit. Her clean ‘uniform’ clothing hung in the adjacent closet alcove. Chloe and all children under 18 wore leggings and t-shirts in assigned colors. Chloe had been assigned the color black because she was from a top-caste family. Not that Chloe ever went anywhere. Children in Dan Nor were cloistered in their quarters from the age of ten until they were of age to reproduce. Before the age of ten they stayed in communal nurseries and attended school there.

She had to report to her Comm Unit in ten minutes to begin the school day. Chloe liked school. Not only did they read ancient literature and talk about ancient cultures, learn engineering, and survival skills, and about money, but she got to see other kids living in Dan Nor and Dan Sou. They got to use their comm units after lessons were over to play games and socialize, watch old movies and read the news of their own place and time. Chloe knew that people had not always lived in separated quarter. The leaders taught them about pre-modern times, about families who all lived together in the same dwelling, about cars and buses, about shopping malls and about the way the world was almost destroyed.

In six months, Chloe would be 18 and she would graduate from comm school and go off the whatever college she was assigned to, or if she didn’t qualify for college she would go to train for a profession. She would be assigned a personal robot to advise her and act as her servant in her new apartment outside the children’s area.

Chloe was tall for her age and thin as a reed. She had long silky black hair that she would now have to wear pinned up. She would have a wardrobe of new clothes to wear but the color black would still be dominant and would signify her level in the society. Chloe was both excited and scared because she would be matched with a boy, and they would be expected to start a family together eventually. What if she didn’t like him? What if she didn’t like being a mother? Of course, they would not have to start their family until they both finished college and were assigned work. Meanwhile they could enjoy each other’s bodies as often as they wished because additives in their food would act as contraceptives. Ancient literature held many examples of how complex male-female relationships can be. What if their years in college proved that they were not suited to each other? She would have to follow the most important rule of the four Dans: she would have to trust the algorithms.

Although it was against the rules, she had already become interested in one particular boy. He wore his hair in long braids and his skin was the color of the coffee she was now allowed to drink, coffee mixed with plenty of milk. He wore dark blue which signified high caste in Dan Sou. His name was Alexander and she often ended up on his side in the computer games they all played. He was funny and he watched out for her when the bullies showed up in the games. He had the most wonderful smile. She liked to tease him about the beads in his braids, and how big a collection of beads did he have anyway? She liked when they talked about a Shakespeare play they were required to read, or what the first ten years of their lives had been like when they often saw their parents. They both had liked their parents and had fond memories of the times they spent with them. Did they miss them?

“We’re not supposed to miss them,” Chloe would say, “we are supposed to let them go so that they will be free to benefit society without any emotional burdens.”

“I know what we’re supposed to do,” Alexander would say, “but sometimes I wonder if they miss us and would like to check in on us on occasion. I would sure like to know what they do every day.”

“Sometimes I dream about them,” Chloe admitted, “but I don’t want to have to go to a rehab session, so I try to push the memories out of my mind. There is one little thing I remember that I really miss. I once had a piece of chocolate cake. I hope when I leave this unit that it will be possible to have a piece of chocolate cake again. I don’t think I would have to go to rehab for that.”

Alexander later came to know somethings about Four Dans that Chloe obviously had not figured out. There was a secret dark web which you were invited to join if you knew certain people through gaming. At first Alexander had trouble believing what was revealed in that shielded space, but certain proofs were offered by children whose parents served in the government. These children had found it quite easy to overhear what their parents discussed in those first ten years of their lives, and they knew what awaited them in the future. The residents of the Four Dans were not being told the whole truth. Some of these children decided to make it their goal to join the government to escape the future, but others were shocked and decided to find other ways to escape. They began to wonder if the Four Dans encompassed the whole world, or if there were other spaces or societies outside their community. Rumors said that wild areas outside each Dan were still populated by humans, but they had foresworn computer technology, artificial intelligence, and robotics. How hard would it be to adjust to that?

Alexander joined a group of hackers. He learned that it was possible to choose your mate if you knew how. He also learned that it was possible to program what college you and your new partner would attend. He programmed the computer to pair him with Chloe and to send them both to New Harvard in Dan Nor. Not many graduates from Dan Sou elected to go to college in the north, but Alexander couldn’t wait to see the domes that contained the great old northern cities, museums, libraries and colleges.

After they left their comm cubicles they were free to travel to any designated dome in the Four Dans. Since they had to report to college or training in three months, they could not travel indefinitely. Gap years were a thing of the past.

“Meet me at the restaurant in the National Gallery in Washington, DC next Tuesday at 2 pm,” Alexander said in a message to Chloe on her new phone.

“See you then,” she said.

Chloe was both excited and nervous. She had already learned that they had been matched and would be staying together and studying at New Harvard in the city of Boston inside Dan Nor. She couldn’t believe her good fortune. They had already learned the address of their first apartment.

What Alexander knew but had decided to keep to himself was that when all three of their future children had turned ten and were assigned to a comm cubicle, their parents, Alexander and Chloe, would be euthanized to prevent the population from outgrowing the domes. Alexander swore he would find a way to freedom before then. Eventually he would share what he knew with Chloe, and he thought she would help him plan their escape. If only they could think of a way to take their children with them.

Alexander saw Chloe entering the little museum restaurant. He saw her look around for him and then find him. He gave her a naughty smile and beckoned her to the table. When Chloe arrived, she found that right in the middle of the table was a red rose in a vase and a whole chocolate cake. It was the first time she had felt she was home since she turned ten.