The Flood

The thing about living in see-through housing is that you can see everything.

When the flood had come, Julia and her family had sat tight in the dark centre of their Ugloo. Their ASSIST had conveyed messages from the supervising body. Julia had jumped out of her skin the first time it had spoken without being spoken to.

"Water has filled the Managed Zone. This is called a flood. It used to happen often before Managed Zones were created. Citizens should take extra care to stay away from the drone hatch and exit panels at this time."

The kids griped, wanting to leave the LiveSpace and run around on the Observation Deck. Tempers frayed. Finally, Mark and Julia had a screaming row about opening the door and checking the situation out. Mark had not so much won as just done what he wanted; she heard him gasp when he stepped onto the Observation Deck. The children followed him eagerly. Julia sulked.

Mark came back in, conciliatory.

"It's really not that bad." he said.

"There's not that much water?"

"There's...really a lot of water. But the Ugloo is strong. Everything looks fine."

He took her hand and led her onto the springy childproof floor of the Observation Deck, the outer part of the Ugloo.

Around them, there was nothing but water. The reinforced glass seemed to be doing its job, though; the inside of their home was undisturbed. Julia looked up and saw no end to the water. Things floated through it: damaged DDrones, plastic, consumer goods.

Jacob, her older son, banged on an outer panel.

"Stop it!" Julia cried.

She could picture the panel falling in and the water following it. It would be filthy.

"Keep them away from the panels." she told Mark, and went to clean the LiveSpace. The monitor by its door, which usually tracked Air Quality, now read only: 16C.

The ASSIST burst into uninvited life again. She was no longer surprised by this, but she was annoyed. As if the supervising body didn't have enough power, now they were controlling the ASSISTs.

"All members of the community are politely reminded that water is dangerous. No attempt must be made to exit the Ugloos at this time."

This was news to Julia. She had never seen water in any form but the light, warm spray of the Ugloo's shower, or in a glass.

She went out and stared at it. It was obviously dirty: it wasn't the same colour as the water they drank, and all kinds of objects floated through it. Perhaps it was beyond dirty - perhaps it was poisonous?

"Mark, do you know why water is dangerous?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Maybe it's possible to get too wet? Sometimes I feel cold if I don't wait for all the drying time in the shower. Anyway, it doesn't matter. The Ugloo is obviously keeping it out."

Julia gritted her teeth. Her husband's unstinting incuriousness was always a source of annoyance to her. She could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times she had heard him ask the ASSIST a question in the entire twelve years they'd lived together. She could swear their first ASSIST had died from lack of use. It was right there in the name, for goodness' sake: Amenable Sociable Simulated Interlocutor System and Temperator. You were supposed to talk to it, not leave it sitting there in the corner to fade away from idling. Then again, it was entirely plausible that Mark had no idea what ASSIST stood for.

She had given the new one a male voice, which was a rare enough choice that it had to be downloaded as a special package. She had named it Matthew; Mark had not noticed.

"Matthew." she said, in a voice much louder than the ASSIST required. "Why is water dangerous?"

"Human beings can drown in water." replied the ASSIST.

"Matthew, what is drowning?"

"Drowning is when water enters the lungs instead of air, causing death."

Julia shuddered; she did not know any dead people, but she knew what it meant. It could happen if things were not clean enough. If someone was dead, they would be taken away by the supervising body, or more likely, a particularly large drone.

"Matthew, is drowning what happens if you go out when AQ is less than 5?"

"No. Death caused by AQ>5 is called asphyxiation. Drowning requires water."

Well, that explained the dread that tremored in her stomach when she stared up at it.

She went back to the Observation Deck and gazed at the water. It seemed to her that it contained more and dirtier objects than before. She walked around the Observation Deck, staring intently at each panel. None of them looked different to usual. Something plastic drifted by. Where had it come from? Plastic was so rare nowadays.

The panel check became part of her routine. After she cleaned the LiveSpace at 0900, she checked the panels. After she cleaned the LiveSpace at 1400, she checked the panels. After she cleaned the LiveSpace at 2000, she checked the panels. Her younger son, Joseph, followed her.

"Uncompromised." Julia said.

"Uncompwised." said her son, furrowing his brow.

"Uncompromised."

"Uncompriwised."

"Uncompromised."

"Uncwomprisised."

Her older son rolled his eyes, a nasty habit picked up from his father.

---

Once, after many cycles of this, the whole family was woken by a crash. Julia sat bolt upright in bed.

Matthew piped up: "A temporary drone tunnel has been installed on Ugloo 31F. This will allow deliveries to recommence until such time as the Managed Zone has been drained."

Julia could see it from the Observation Deck: a white tower, jutting far above them. She went back to bed. She had seen no evidence of the water either lowering or getting cleaner; on the contrary, more things hovered in it every day.

When she awoke, Mark and the boys were already up, standing next to the most enormous delivery she had ever seen. Unlike their usual packages, it had no outer label: it was a brown box marked with their Ugloo's number and a sticker which read 'do not open until instructed'. No delivery had ever had such a sticker before.

"It'll be food." said Mark. He was uninterested. Jacob nodded.

Julia and Joseph circled the box. They pressed it, pushed it, paused to listen to it. They looked at each other.

"Matthew." said Julia. "What is in this box?"

"That information is as yet unnecessary. The supervising body will inform you when it is necessary to open this delivery."

Julia had little faith left in the supervising body. They did not seem to be doing much supervision of late. Ever since those girls had...left?...the AQ>10 before last, and now this unending flood. It was difficult to trust their mysterious instructions. She glowered at Mark, already not even looking at the box or her, and decided she would wait - for now.

---

She did not sleep for a long time. The box was hard to ignore; her sons had taken to playing peek-a-boo around it. When she closed her eyes, it still pushed into her field of vision.

She sat in the Observation Deck, near the exit panel. She watched the plastics floating by; they had multiplied again. It occurred to her that if she counted and categorised the plastics for a while, it might bring sleep. Or at least, it might be plastic that dominated her mind's eye, instead of the forbidding box.

There was a thin blue thing, almost transluscent; it was a squarish shape, but it had two holes in it. Thin; blue. Then a small, clear thing with four holes. Perhaps she should add 'holes' as a category. A much larger thing came by, which seemed to have more...aim than the others, presumably because it was larger. It was grey, easily twice as long as her, and narrowed at one end to flare out again.

Strangely, instead of going by once, it got turned around and came back. As it went by, it looked at her and she instinctively stepped back.

Wait, what?

She was more tired than she had thought.

She walked around the Ugloo, checking; she could see no more sign of the thing. She sat down again, and was surprised to find her breathing was ragged. She tried to count plastics again, but could not focus.

---

An hour later, she woke up in her chair. The thing had reappeared. It moved closer and further away; it would not stay still. Julia tried to breathe.

"Matthew." she said, struggling to formulate a question. "Photograph outer panels."

A hundred tiny images appeared on the display monitor just outside the LiveSpace.

"Matthew, remove images that contain only water."

Half the pictures disappeared. Julia sought the thing in them.

"Matthew, zoom in to 32b."

The image grew.

"Matthew, what is that?"

"Possible archive image match." the ASSIST replied. "Great white shark. Ocean predator."

"Matthew, what is a predator?"

"A predator is an animal that hunts and kills other animals."

The thing bumped into a panel.

---

Julia marched over to the box and began kicking it; it burst after four blows and she tore the cardboard off.

Inside there were four suits; they were slithery, unpleasant to the touch, and she threw them onto the floor. Underneath them were four metal bottles, which were heavier and could not be thrown; she put them carefully on the floor, but swore while she was doing it. There was a note.

It has become necessary for you to leave your Ugloo. The supervising body apologises for this inconvenience.

Kindly put on one of these suits, following the instructions provided. When all members of your family are dressed and connected to air supplies, proceed to the exit panel and open manually with the button at the bottom right. The water may enter the Ugloo quickly; grasp the outer panels to aid you in making your way out.

When you have exited the Ugloo, press the button at the waist of the suit; you will rise to the top of the water and the supervising body will assist you as soon as practicable.

Assist! How dare they. Telling her family to get out into dirty plastic, filthy water and, and predators!

"Matthew, notify the supervising body that my family and I are exiting this Ugloo right NOW."

"Permission not granted." said Matthew.

"Matthew, override generic permissions. Notify the supervising body that we are leaving within 30 minutes, and there is a predator floating around!"

"Notification sending."

---

"Julia." said a smooth voice. It sounded like she imagined the shark would: cold and grey. "You opened the box before the order was issued."

"There is a SHARK outside. Do you know what a shark is?"

"The supervising body can assure you that we were just as surprised as you to find that water animals still exist. However, this is only the second sighting of a creature potentially dangerous to humans. There is no need for panic."

"I thought there was one thing out there that wanted to eat my kids, and now you're telling me there are two, and not to panic? This is supposed to be a Managed Zone. You people are managing nothing."

The drone hatch pinged. The shark-voiced man was on her Observation Deck.

"Happily, the new drone tunnels are large enough to accommodate humans. It is not a comfortable journey, but it is quick. We can tranquilise you, if you prefer. When we reach the top, you will be...assisted."

"Get lost." said Julia, backing away. "You need to tranquilise the shark, not me."

"I see that you prefer full sedation. Permission is granted. Do not worry, your children are perfectly safe." The man had a toothy grin.

Julia ran for the LiveSpace, but the door would not open. There was a searing pain in her leg. She heard Joseph cry out, and then there was nothing but the smug face of the shark-man-shark - and then nothing at all.

---

If you have enjoyed this story, you may like my other stories set in the same world: The Solitaries and Living Things.