The Greenworld Part 1

CHAPTER ONE

Precept A

Keep the Precepts with diligence

***

Light pressed down on the Fields where four hundred and forty Citizens kept the Precept of Labor.

A voice in the air said “The day is now hot, too hot now to Labor. Come to the Meeting House, come undress. Lay down your tools for Precept of Rest.”

Every Citizen paused and uttered ‘we rest for the labor’, then formed twenty lines of twenty-two citizens according to the Citizen Area Letter, the CAL, tattooed on their wrists. In formation, they made their ways to ten Meeting Houses.

Citizen Z21 labored near the Inner Canal, a structure which carried water around The Center of Light and Water through the middles of the Meeting Houses. Z21 walked along the curve of the canal, then along the outer wall of a Meeting House.

Z21 ran a hand along the stone wall and watched the line of citizens forming at the entrance. Z21 paused at the corner of the Meeting House and admired the Citizens as they passed: they were all five-feet tall, they all had bronze toned skin, their hair was white and shoulder-length, and their faces were perfect reflections of each other. At the back of the necks was a small metal object called The Node.

Z21 gazed at the nodes. When they were implanted the citizens had been told the node would help with the Labor and the Rest, and that removing it without the ADM’s help would not end well. They were encouraged to forget the node, and Z21 had forgotten but was reminded of it a few days before during the Rest. A warmth of anticipation flowed in Z21’s chest at the thought of The Rest- The Rest meant The Precept of Communion.

Z21 looked beyond the line of Citizens to the Center of Light and Water.

The Center was a ten-walled, three-tiered structure with a great orb of light on the topmost tier. Designed, they were told, like pyramids of the old world with each tier a different size. Water flowed from the top and down the walls, pooling on the tiers before falling to fill ten canals which flowed to the Inner Canal.

Z21 watched the water cascade down the Center for a moment, then followed the movement of the water down the canal to the Meeting House.

At the entrance to the meeting house stood Citizen A7. A7 looked the same as the other Citizens, but wore red clothing of maintenance. A7 checked the CALs as the line of Z’s filed into the Meeting House. Z22 paused near Z21 and gestured. Z21 stepped in line and approached A7.

As A7 checked the wrist, Z21 glanced across the canal to the line of CAL P’s filing in from their labor. Z21 counted the line of P’s looking for P14. The Citizens weren’t intended to have preferred fellows for The Communion, but Z21 felt a fondness for P14 that was inexpressible. When Z21 told P14 of this obsession, P14 did not seem to understand it, and, as the days passed, P14 seemed to have forgotten about it every time Z21 mentioned it.

Z21 followed the line of Citizens through the entrance of the Meeting House, large letters were painted over the entrances which gave it the designation PZ. Z21 followed the line of Citizens to a series of beds built into the walls. Over the beds were the CALs, and each citizen went to their assigned bed. Z21 removed the gray clothing of Labor and lay the uniform, neatly folded, upon the bed.

Naked, the citizens dispersed throughout the Garden. Many of the Citizens went to the trees and plucked fruit to eat, then stood on the bridges to drop seeds in the canal. Others went to a large pool where the canals met and bathed each other in the shallow water, or shared the Communion in the sprays of a fountain set in the pool.

Z21 began searching for P14. Without the clothes of labor, P14 was easier to find in the mix of citizens; each Citizen had their CAL printed on their backs. P14 had taken some fruit and was sitting by the pool. Z21 joined P14 by the pool and they ate together.

Z21 felt anticipation as they ate, awaiting the pleasure of The Communion that they would share. P14 finished the meal first, rinsed hands in the water then slid into the shallow pool. P14 washed Z21’s feet as Z21 finished eating, then washed up the legs and to the genitals, massaging them.

Z21 watched P14 massaging the legs and genitals, admiring the face and hands. The Citizens were identical, yet P14 seemed to Z21 far more beautiful than any other. Z21 wondered if P14 noticed any difference between them all. Z21 felt warmth in the chest as P14’s face rose, and they looked into each other’s eyes.

As they Communed, they bathed and sang:

We shall wash after labor,

We labor for life,

We share life for Communion,

Communion is Rest,

We shall Rest for the labor,

We labor to live,

We labor to live, and this is life.

We labor to live, and this is life.

CHAPTER TWO

Precept B

Speak only the precepts

***

As the Citizens of Labor washed, forty-four Citizens of Maintenance labored along the CAL beds. There were four Citizens of Maintenance for each Meeting House, two for each group of twenty-two.

The red-clad Citizens walked along the Cells pushing carts of fresh gray clothes. As they went, they gathered the dusty, gray clothes of labor and replaced them with clean clothes. There was a blue light beside each bed which the Forty-Four pressed when the Labor at the Cell was complete, turning the light green.

When the Forty-Four were finished changing the clothes and all lights were green the voice in the air began to speak.

“The day is grown late: too late for Communion, too late for Washing. Come to the Beds, come and rest. Come to the beds, come to sleep.”

The Citizens ambled to their Cells. Drying themselves with soft blankets from the Forty-Four and rinsing their hands in the Pool of Washing of any leftover fruit. They went to their prescribed beds and lay naked in their beds to sleep and rest for the Labor.

As the citizens lay down, the Forty-Four examined each Citizen to ensure their health, and to ensure the CAL matched the Cell. With each Citizen, they spoke:

“Rest for the labor. We labor to live,”

“and this is living.” each Citizen replied.

The Forty-Four pressed the green light again as each citizen lay to sleep, changing the light to white.

Citizen A7 labored down the beds of Z12-Z22. Starting with the wrists, A7 checked the CAL and the limbs, then opened each eye and shone a small light into them. A7 opened each mouth and checked the teeth, the tongue, the cheeks. A7 ran a hand behind the head and felt the base of the skull to ensure the node was in place, then moved down their bodies to the feet.

“Keep well the Precept of Sleep,” A7 said to each citizen.

“We sleep for the Rest,” came the response from each of the citizens, “We sleep for the Rest, we Rest for the Labor. We labor to live and this is life.”

Citizen Z21 sat on the edge of the bed.

“Keep well the Precept of Rest” said A7, checking Z21’s wrist and CAL.

“We sleep for the Rest,” said Z21 as A7 checked the eyes.

“We sleep for the Rest” said A7 checking the mouth.

“We rest for the Labor,” said Z21 as A7 touched the node on the back of the head. A7 paused briefly, noting the node was coming loose, then continued the examination down the body.

“We labor to live,” said A7, pressing the light twice. The light flickered yellow then shifted to white.

“We labor to live and is this life,” said Z21, laying down.

A7 continued the Labor to Z22 then went back down the line of CALs to the entrance. From there, A7 made the way to the Center of Light and Water in order to complete the Labor of Maintenance.

CHAPTER THREE

Precept G

The Precepts are delight and Council

***

A7 and the rest of the forty-four citizens of maintenance dwelt in the lowest tier of the Center, and they entered and exited for the labor by two large doors set between the cascades of water. One door on the East, one on the West.

A7 entered from the Eastern door, along with the other Citizens of CAL A2-A21. From the West, entered calls O2-O21. In the center of the space was a large column, with a set of dual stairs spiraling upwards. Arranged around the stairs, were large machines, where the Citizens would wash the clothing, and set into the walls were the beds where the Citizens would Rest. Near the staircase, were four beds for A1, O1, A22, and O22- The Four who acted as supervisors.

As the Citizens entered The Four stood near the doors, checked the CALs and nodes, and asked each citizen in turn: “How was the labor?”

“We labor for life,” responded each, “and life is this: The Citizens are well.” Then they took the stacks of dirty labor clothes and placed them in the machines.

As A7 approached, A1 took the arm to see the wrist, and asked “How was the labor?”

“We labor for life,” said A7, “and a life needs council: from Area PZ, block A7, Citizen Z21. The node is loose.”

“You’ve labored well,” Said A1, “now rest from the labor.”

“We rest for the labor,” responded A7 moving to the machines, “and this is life.” They all murmured.

When finished with the washing, the Citizens of Maintenance moved to their own beds and removed their red clothes. The Four took carts down the rows of cells and replaced the dirty clothes with fresh ones, then placed these in the machines for washing. They then ascended the stairs, A1 and A22 on one set, O1 and O22 on the other.

The Four worked their way up the Center, pausing on each passing floor to tend various machines which used the cascading waters to power the City. As they progressed they checked cables that wound up the walls and stairs. They labored up the Center and ended their labors in the top-most tier just below the light.

Set along the walls of the room were panels and dials that regulated the light and the power. On each of the ten walls were massive screens which showed images of the Fields, the Meeting Houses, and the Center. Beside each screen were forty-four lights representing each of the four-hundred and forty Citizens of Labor. The light labeled Z21 blinked rhythmically from white to yellow.

In the room a Citizen walked from screen to screen. Cables trailed from the ceiling to a kind of crown on the Citizen’s head. Small wires ran around the crown like thorns and pierced the forehead, and two wires trailed down the back of the head to a node in the base of the skull.

The Four emerged near the center of the room, on either side of a central column.

“Our labor is complete.” Said A1, “The Center is seamless and operational. Only one Citizen needs maintenance, from Area PZ, block A7, Citizen Z21.”

The wire-crowned Citizen continued along the screens, watching the quiet forms of citizens in their cells. The Citizen placed a hand on the screen, as though to comfort a restless laborer. On the wrist was the CAL: ADM.

“The Precept of Sleep begins,” said ADM. “O1, bring Z21 here for maintenance, that the broken Citizen may sleep and forget.”

“We sleep to forget,” said the Four in unison, “we forget for the labor. We labor to live and this is life.”

The four dispersed, and the ADM closed his eyes and spoke:

“Sleep now from Labor,” said ADM, his voice emanating from speakers out into the city, “Sleep now and rest. Rest for the labor, we labor to live-” ADM paused and heard a chorus of voices respond: “and this is life”.

A warmth of satisfaction filled his chest, and the ADM turned to a screen to watch the Four. O1 strode out of the Center while the other three went to bed. It had been some time since the ADM got to fix a citizen, but each repair offered insight into the functioning of the City.

ADM went to a screen label PZ and touched it. The image changed from the meeting house entrance to the row of CAL bed . ADM touched the flickering button and the image changed to show the CAL bed Z21. It was empty.

CHAPTER FOUR

Precept D

We live the precepts

***

Z21 lay in the bed as A7 left. The node was hard on the back of the neck. It was a device that Z21 had forgotten about again until A7 touched it during the blessing of Sleep.

The nodes were there to aid with Rest because of the light that always shone, and they monitored the Citizens to ensure they rested well and didn’t overexert during Labor. It had been implanted when the first moved to the city, then they were told not to remove the node, and not think about it. Z21 had not. Z21 sat up and drew the legs over the edge of the cell. Z21 looked to the entrance of the meeting house where the light of the Center shone.

They had come to the City as refugees from a breaking world. The caldera had been shaking, wars were engulfing the world, yet The City of Light and Water offered a refuge for four-hundred and eighty-four qualified citizens. They were not told how they were selected. No-one asked.

Z21 felt a slight warmth on the back of the neck, and a faint hum. The node was inducing sleep in the Citizens. Z21 felt the node, it was loose on the back of the neck. Z21 wondered if the loose node was the reason for the obsession with P14. Z21 thought the ADM might need to tighten it. The node helped ease the anxiety of living in the City.

Motion caught Z21’s eye: A gray figure in the entrance, backlit by the light, then gone. Perhaps nothing, a glitch from the loose node. But, curious, Z21 slid from the bed and walked towards the entrance.

ADM’s voice spoke “Sleep now from labor. Sleep now and rest. Rest for the labor, we labor to live-”

“and this is life.” Said the citizens as sleep fell upon them.

The figure had gone, or it was not there to begin with. Z21 felt the node again. It was getting looser. Z21 could feel small wires leading into the neck. The node aided the labor and rest. Z21’s fingers lingered on the node.

The ADM was the only one that should remove the nodes. The ADM could fix it and Z21 could go to sleep. The sleep for the rest, the rest for the labor.

Z21 stood in the entrance and gazed at the Center. The Automated Directive Machine, the ADM, dwelled in the top most tier. It was designed by the Founder to guide the operations of the City and preserve them until the outside world became habitable.

It had been some years since they arrived, but Z21 could not remember how long had passed.

These thoughts had not occurred in sometime.

The node was hot and hummed. The water in the canal chattered as it passed beneath a bridge that connected the two entrances.

A red shape emerged from the center, and Z21 felt the muscles in the stomach tighten.

The Forty-Four ensured the Sleep, the Rest, the Labor. Z21 should go to the Center, to the ADM, fix the node, and return to sleep. Z21 felt a desire to sleep, but Z21 wondered if there was more to living, something they’d forgotten, and followed an urge to avoid the Citizen of Maintenance.

Z21 walked out of the meeting house and along the glass wall to the corner. As Z21 turned towards the central canal, there was a gray shape in the corner of the eye that passed behind the meeting house. Perhaps the node was affecting the vision.

Z21 kept walking. If the Citizen of Maintenance caught up, Z21 could explain that the node was broken; that the precepts state Light is beneficial and so Z21 left the bed to get some Light. Crossing the bridge over the central canal, Z21 noticed a heightened sensation in the chest. The lungs seemed to catch more air and the heart seemed to beat faster.

Z21 walked faster. It had been some time since Z21 had been to the outer fields. It seemed that they gone there often when they first arrived in the City to sit by the Towers and look out to the wastelands beyond the city. When the Turmoils occurred, they stopped going to the Outer Fields; no one wanted to be reminded that they were alone in the world.

****

ADM watched Z21 on a screen and checked his connection with the citizen. He could not sense the thoughts, which meant the node was severely loose.

It had been some time since a node became loose, even longer since a Citizen did not report their own loose node. ADM watched as Z21 made the way to the Outer Fields, curious what the citizen would do.

It was always interesting to see, and the variations in performance could mean modifications to the City.

ADM turned his attention to O1, who stood confusedly beside bed Z21.

“Z21 is passing the Meeting House and going to the Outer Fields.” Said ADM, “Follow the canal to the outer fields and bring Z21 back to the center for safety and rest.”

O1 glanced to the bed, then turned to the entrance and made the way towards the outer canal.

Beyond such trivial data little the citizens did mattered; in the end he would see Z21 and the citizen would be returned to the proper order.

CHAPTER FIVE

Precept H

We Observe only the precepts

***

Z21 walked along the canal towards an object called the Tower of Cleansing. Z21 thought of the first days: when they had come into the City. It was a time of turmoil, though the Citizens had not spoken of those days in some time.

“It was a time better forgotten.” They had, after these things, decided to focus on the Labor, and it was in the wake of the Turmoil that they chose to speak only the precepts, and think only of the labor at hand. They were there to live, and they labored to live.

The first Labor had been the construction of the City. The Founder had built The Center of Light and Water- a generator that would power the City. The City was a place where they could live in unity. It was a place they could experience peace in the wake of wars, feasts in the time of famine. The Citizens had built the canals, the meeting houses, and the gardens.

Z21 had labored on the canals, laying stones and guiding the Water to the Towers of Cleansing. These towers were, in the first days, guides to the City limits. Z21 had spent many of the first evenings sitting on the tower, watching the sky change colors, though it had not changed in many years.

Z21 came to a large stone structure and paused. The tower stood eleven feet tall and eleven feet across. It was built of 11 rows of stone blocks and carved along the top were the letters PZ. The canal lead to an opening at the base of the tower where the water flowed through the tower and below the city where it was cleansed.

Z21 stopped in front of the structure. There was a sensation of weight in the chest, and the eyes gathered moisture. Z21 shook the head. There had been language for these sensations, things like ‘regret’ and ‘sorrow’- though the citizens had agreed such words were unnecessary in living.

Z21 walked along the tower and to the back of it. The fields seemed to go on, but Z21 stopped and reached out. Z21 touched the wall of the City, which projected fields and the sky which stretched far overhead.

When they had moved to the City, The Founder shared his dream of a City of Peace- a walled garden with no night, no war, no moisture in the eyes. They had built the City and the Towers, channeling water from the Center to the Towers which then guided the water back to the Center. The Towers generated a shield which protected the City, the Light fueled the city, the City fueled the Citizens. The Founder had called it a closed system, a bio-dome: A Green World.

CHAPTER SIX

Precept V

We connect to the precepts always

***

O1 saw the lone figure of Z21 standing at the edge of the City; the bronze of the unclothed body in relief against the pale blue of the projected sky.

“Z21,” said O1 as the distance closed, “are you well? The time is for rest- why wander?”

Z21 spoke without looking at O1, “When will we leave this place?” Z21 touched the shield and tried to remember the days before.

“We labor here and live,” said O1, “why leave? Come, the node is loose and you forget the precepts. Come back to the center and let us fix the node that you may sleep.” O1 touched Z21’s arm, but Z21 turned away and walked to the front of the tower. Z21 placed a hand on the node and felt it while looking at the water flowing into the canal.

“Do you remember the beginning of all this?” Z21 asked, “when you sleep, do you dream of the future we sought here?”

“We sleep to forget,” said O1, “not to dream. We forget for the labor, we labor to live and this is life.”

Z21 felt a heat in the chest, “If this is living what are we living for?” The sharpness in the voice surprised them both.

“We share life for communion,” said O1, “The node is loose. Remember: the precepts connect us to the labor and life.”

“The node?” Said Z21 the heat in the chest spread to the head, “Take it!” Z21 pulled the node from the neck and threw it at O1. Z21 felt a pain in the head, then the world went black.

O1 stepped forward as Z21 collapsed but was unable to catch the Citizen before the body fell into the canal. The water swept Z21 into the tower of cleansing, leaving O1 with a hand outstretched. O1 stared at the water pouring into the tower, then gazed down at the node. O1 stood dumbly for a moment before stooping to pick it up. O1 spoke to the air.

“ADM. Z21 fell into the canal… What do I do?”

“It cannot be undone,” said the voice of ADM, “the water will run its work. You’ve labored well, O1. This is a poor moment, but it will pass. Come back to The Center. Come back to rest, to sleep. Sleep to forget, forget to rest, rest to labor- “

“We labor to live and this is living.” finished O1 in relief, “We labor to live and this is living.” O1 turned from the tower and walked back towards the center, wires from the node dangling from the hand, “Yes, we labor to live and this is living.”

***

ADM watched O1 on the screen and felt O1’s thoughts of fear and confusion as Z21 fell into the canal. In the old world, there was room for such negative feelings, but not here. ADM spoke to sooth O1’s unease, “sleep to forget, forget to rest, rest to labor-”

ADM felt the comfort in O1’s mind as it remembered the precepts. As the ADM spoke, he moved to a section of the panel where a model of the Tower of Cleansing was inlaid in the counter. ADM pressed the top of the model tower, a light blinked white for a moment, then faded, and ADM wondered if he’d meet Z21 as a living citizen or a dead one.