The New Leader

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. A small, two-pane window glowing with blue light in a dark, gray room. “Is…is this real?” said Joan. “Is that the outside?”

“Yes,” said Leader Randall. “You’re looking at the land and the sky. You should be able to see the mountains in the distance. It’s a pretty clear day.”

Joan had only seen the land and the sky in images and videos. In person it almost felt as if she were looking at the surface of a completely different planet. The Earth she knew was a massive indoor complex, an ex-military base made of several surface buildings and underground bunkers connected by tunnels. A little self-contained town made of concrete, steel, and automated systems that kept the survivors inside alive and safe from the radiation. The Final War had assured that no one would see the outside with their own eyes for a long, long time. “I didn’t think there were any windows left. I thought they’d all been sealed up. Is this what you asked me here to show me?”

“This one used to be sealed up,” he said. “It’s still the only one you can see through.”

She pushed her glasses further up onto her nose and moved closer to the glass, cautiously extending her fingers. “Is it safe in here?”

“Yes, it’s perfectly safe.”

“But…how? How does it keep the radiation out? It looks so thin, and…is this just ordinary glass?”

“Let’s leave that for now. It’s not actually why I asked you here.” He brushed his unkempt white hair away from his eyes and crossed to a small bar in the corner of the room. “I need a drink. Would you like one?”

“No, thanks. I just…sorry, this is a lot to take in.” She sat down in one of his comfy lounge chairs facing the window, her eyes still locked on the bit of sky outside. She wondered if there was a time of day you could see the actual Sun from here. She wondered what the stars and the moon looked like through the window at night, and if you could make out constellations. She’d always wanted to see constellations.

He poured his whiskey and slowly walked back to where she was sitting. “We’ve known each other for a long time, haven’t we?” he said. “I can’t even remember how long.”

“At least twenty-one years. I was still in school. Eleventh grade. My mom and I met you at a science fair. You were a judge, and you gave me my second place ribbon.”

Randall laughed as he sat down across from her. “I’d forgotten all about that. Good memory.”

“It was a huge deal, especially to my mom. You had just taken over from Leader Harland, and…well, she liked you a lot better.”

“Yes, Harland could be a bit…unpleasant.”

“He was a jerk. He tried to tell my mom the air filters weren’t letting in enough oxygen. I mean, that’s not even how they work. They can’t filter out oxygen. I mean, she was the head of the team that maintained those filters, and he didn’t even know what they did. He finally shut up when Aida told him there was nothing wrong with the filtration system, but he never apologized. He just knew he’d better not second guess Aida, because she’s supposed to be infallible.”

“You don’t think she is?”

“She’s an A.I. They’re no more infallible than people are. No offense, Aida,” she said to the walls.

A speaker somewhere responded. “None taken.” Aida was the A.I. entity who oversaw the automated operations within the complex. She was hooked into just about everything. You could turn her off, so to speak, in individual rooms for privacy, but most people didn’t bother, because she was incredibly helpful to have around. “I do the job I was made for adequately, I think. But Ms. Armand is correct—no one is infallible.”

“You do an amazing job, Aida,” said Randall. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Sorry, Joan,” he said. “If I’d known about that…incident with Harland, I would have apologized to your mom myself.”

“Thanks for saying that.”

“To be fair, most of the Leaders were a lot more personable than Harland. He’s just the only one you knew before me.”

“Yeah, mom said if he’s the worst we were going to get, then it’s not so bad. We were just lucky if none of you turned into a total dictator. I mean, the Leader is the only person who has direct access to Aida. That’s a lot of power for one person.”

“True, but Aida has safeguards in place to prevent Leaders from overstepping their authority. She might not be infallible, but she’s as close as anyone is likely to get.”

“Good to know. I hope the next Leader’s like you, though. You’re a good man.”

“I appreciate that. It means something when you say it. You don’t exactly hold back when you’re not happy about something.”

She laughed. “I guess I’ll take that as a compliment. Are you going to explain about the window? Like, why you have the only one that’s unsealed and what kind of shielding is keeping the radiation out of this room?”

“I’ll explain all of that, but first I’ve got something more important to tell you. Something…official.”

“More important than that?” Joan sat forward. “What is it?”

“I want you to replace me.”

Joan sat frozen for a moment, wondering if she’d misheard. “Sorry, what was that again? I’m pretty sure you didn’t say what I think you just said.”

“I want you to take over. I’m almost seventy, and it’s time for me to retire and appoint the next Leader.”

“That’s…I’m…amazingly honored, but…are you sure? I mean, I can’t be Leader. I’m just an operations admin. I know tech stuff.”

“That’s pretty much what a Leader is, but for everything, not just the technical side of things. Leader is like the administrator of the people. Just making sure everyone has what they need and gets along okay.”

“But I don’t know how to lead people. Is there some kind of training I’d need?”

“Joan, you’re already half doing the job now. You know just about everybody, and they all look up to you. When people have problems, they go to you. When they’re worried about something, they go to you. Hell, I come to you for advice. You always make sure things get sorted out. You’re already a leader. As far as the day-to-day duties, Aida and I could show you everything you need to know.”

This was a lot to take in, but Joan knew that Leader Randall wouldn't say something this serious unless he meant it. “If you think I’m ready for this—if you’re sure—then of course I’ll do my best.”

“I’ve never been so sure about anything. There’s no one in the whole town I can imagine doing a better job than you.”

“Thank you, I…that means a lot.”

“Now for the hard part.”

“Harder than that? Uh, oh.”

“It’s about the window.”

“Yes, please! I’m so curious. Is it some kind of electronic shielding? I didn’t know we had anything that advanced. Is it…what’s it called, a force field?”

“Nothing like that. There’s no shielding, it’s just…it’s safe.”

Joan bolted to her feet. “Is the radiation down to a safe level?”

“Yes.”

“Oh my god, that changes everything! We’re not trapped in here anymore. We can start searching for other survivors. When are you planning to tell people?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that.”

“I know. I get that we have to be cautious, but—”

“No, I mean…it’s been safe for some time.”

“I…what do you mean? How long?”

“Many decades.”

Joan didn’t quite know what to say. “I don’t understand. Why hasn’t anyone been told? Why aren’t we already going outside?”

“Because we have a better chance of survival if we stay here, and the only way to ensure that people stay here is if they think it’s too dangerous outside.”

“So you’ve…been lying to everyone. Since before I was born.”

“Not just me. Generations of Leaders before me.”

“But you seem fine with it.”

“I agree with their reasoning. And so does Aida. It was her directive in the first place.”

“Apologies, Leader Randall,” said Aida, “but that’s not entirely accurate.”

He spoke directly to Aida. “Sorry, Aida, but…what am I missing? You determined that our chances of long-term survival were better if we remained within the walls of the complex, even after the radiation died down to an livable level, correct?”

“True, but I made no directive. You know I don’t have the authority to do that. I only calculated probabilities of survival and made a recommendation based on what we knew at the time. Leader Stevens created the directive.”

“But it’s still true that we have a better chance of survival if we remain within the walls, correct?” said Randall.

“Yes, if we’re talking about survival of the limited population here, and not the proliferation of the human race. There doesn’t seem to be a system of government out there as organized as our own. Contact with other settlements could—“

“Wait,” said Joan, “there are other survivors out there?”

“Yes,” said Aida. “I’ve monitored thirty-two settlements within approximately a 1,370 mile radius. I’m not able to monitor further away than that.”

“Did you know about this?” said Joan to Randall.

“Yes.”

“But this definitely changes everything. We’re not alone. Aida, have you tried to make contact with any of them? Have any of the Leaders?”

“No. Leader Stevens decreed that it was too dangerous.”

Joan knew that Stevens was Leader long before she was born, but she couldn’t remember how long. “He was the first one that knew about them?”

“Yes, though there were fewer known settlements at the time. Only five.”

“Was he the first one who knew that the radiation was down to a survivable level?”

“Yes. He asked me to send drones to look for human activity, in case other people started to repopulate the surface.”

“If they knew we were here they could cause trouble for us,” said Randall. “Not everyone is friendly.”

“Have you bothered to try to find out?”

“In fact, I did. When I found out about…everything you just found out, I had a similar reaction. As soon as I took charge, I had Aida monitor two encampments within fifty miles of here, both of which we believe came from an underground bunker in the vicinity.”

“Fifty miles,” said Joan. “Wow, that’s close.”

“One of the encampments tried to capture our drone. The other just shot it down. I wouldn’t want to take a chance on showing up in person.”

“Maybe they have a reason to be cautious. I mean, if they don’t have the luxury of living in a place that’s as hard to get into as this one. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’d be hostile towards us. I mean, if some weird flying thing started snooping around the outside of the complex, would you trust it?”

“Maybe you’re right,” he said, “but it’s still a risk.”

“Enough of a risk to keep people in the dark and stifle any chance at living the way we’re supposed to be living—out there, under the Sun?”

“Leader Randall?” said Aida.

“Yes?”

”I want to make it clear to Ms. Armand that I never recommended deceiving the people. In fact I’ve warned every new Leader since Stevens that doing so could eventually have dire consequences on the wellbeing of our society if it were found out.”

“Yes. And that’s another reason not to tell them.”

“What?” said Joan. “No. No, that’s backwards. That’s a reason to tell them the truth. As soon as possible. Get it out in the open. The decision was made decades ago. The people responsible are long gone.”

“I’m one of the people responsible. I took over and I enforced the directive. If the truth were to suddenly get out now…I can’t imagine that going well.”

She sat down across from him. “You’re afraid.”

“Yes. I’m not going to lie, I thought about telling people the truth, but…I don’t want to be the Leader responsible for causing mass riots.”

“That won’t happen. People can handle it.”

He hunched forward in his chair. “I was looking forward to ending my term in peace. Being Leader…takes a toll.”

”Is that why you’re retiring? You don’t want to carry that weight anymore?”

“Maybe. I guess part of me just wants someone else to figure out where to go from here. Someone younger. Someone who…knows the people better. Okay, that and the fact that I’m about to turn seventy and I’m sick of touring the facilities all the time.”

“If I accept the responsibility, do you expect me to keep going with this? I mean, keep not telling people it’s safe out there?”

“I’m asking you to. We don’t know what will happen if the people suddenly find out they’ve been lied to their entire lives. And even if they don’t take it that badly, a lot of them are going to want to leave, and who knows what will happen to this place when we make contact with other settlements. What if they want what we have? What if they try to come in here and take it?”

“That’s a pretty bleak view of the human race.”

“I know, it’s just…it’s a scary thought—the end of everything we know.”

“You don’t think it’s scarier that we could end up isolated in here while the rest of the survivors rebuild out there? Because if there’s enough of the world left out there to sustain humanity, it will happen. I mean, how long do you imagine this going on? Our great grandkids pop their heads out the window one day and see a new neighborhood across the street? We should be out there helping to rebuild society. We could be in a good position to. We have a lot of technology down here. A lot of know-how.”

He didn’t answer. He looked straight ahead and took another sip of his drink.

Joan leaned forward and spoke more softly. “Never mind other settlements. Think about us. The people you look after. This is their dream. Every one of them, including me. Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of being able to leave this place and go out into the world. That was the goal since the war. Since we had to seal ourselves off just to stay alive. But just surviving isn’t enough. A big part of what keeps us going is the hope for something more.” She pointed to the window. “We can thrive out there. What’s out there is life. A future.”

He laughed. “Okay, now I know you’re a Leader. I never could have come up with a speech like that.”

She smiled. “I watch a lot of old videos.”

“So, when you’re Leader you plan to tell them about the radiation level? That it’s safe now?” he said.

“Yes, assuming you haven’t changed your mind about my appointment. They need to be able to make the choice of whether to go out or not. We need to at least have a vote, or something.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

“And…I’ve got to tell them about the lie as well—how long the Leaders have known that it’s safe.”

He sat forward and leaned his elbows on his knees, his face suddenly very serious. “No, you don’t.”

“I’m sorry. I really am, but if I’m going to be Leader, then I’m going to do what I think is—“

“I’ll tell them. About the lie, the radiation level…everything. You shouldn’t have to start off your term as Leader by breaking that kind of news to the people. Better if I tell them. Then they can hate me all they want, and you can go in with a clean slate.”

“They won’t hate you. They know you. They won’t be happy about it, but…they’ll understand.”

Randall set his empty glass on an end table and leaned back in his seat. “Aida.”

“Yes?”

“I want you to transfer control of all functions to Joan. As of now, she is the new Leader. I’ll make an official announcement tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir. Any first instructions, Ms. Armand?”

“Yes,” said Joan, standing up and walking to the window. “If this window were opened right now, what would happen?”

“The room temperature would drop by approximately two degrees Fahrenheit.”

“Anything else?”

“I assume the smell of whiskey would decrease significantly over the next few minutes.”

“Then I would like you to open it.”

“I’m unable to,” said Aida.

“There’s a latch,” said Randall. “You just—“

“Oh!” said Joan, lifting the latch and sliding the window pane up. The breeze startled her. She wasn’t used to air moving if you weren’t directly under one of the blowers. But it smelled pure and a little sweet and so much lighter than the air inside. And now she knew that it was safe.

“Okay, Aida.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s see what we can do about opening up some more windows.”