Chronicle of Nautilus

Chapter 25: The Survivor

A small boy entered a large hall. His tangled hair and dirty clothes distinguished him from crowd. He walked timidly inspecting adults standing by different reception tables.

Each table had a box floating above it. The closest to him was titled ‘Property requests’ a young lady was sitting, tapping buttons on a computer, waiting for a man in suit to fill out a paper. A few steps further an older woman was taking blood samples and making weird tests for people standing in line, over this table floated a box with words ‘Improvement requests’. Next table was a bit longer; it was crowded many arguing people and was titled – ‘Complaints regarding government officials’.

 All tables were placed in a ‘U’ line. There were many human shaped information holograms and consoles in the middle of the room. Some people were talking with the programs others were using computers. Everyone was going about their business.

The boy moved slowly from one table to another, trying to figure out with whom he should start a conversation.  After he had left the hospital he attempted to find the cause of death of his best friend and understand who had injured him, but no one in the hospital or security HQ had told him a thing. Either the adults did not know the answers themselves or the incident was so ‘serious’ that a ‘child’ was not competent enough to handle the truth.  All adults in the orphanage were oblivious to his curiosity and attempt to find the truth. Had he real parents, those would get all the answers easily for sure.  He hoped this place would give him the answers. After all it was called ‘The House of Law and Justice’ for a reason.  Wasn’t it?

As he walked the hall one of the holograms had noticed him.

 A transparent man in a blue uniform with an emblem of a hawk on the left side of his chest said, “Child, please approach me.”

The boy did as he was instructed to.

“Identify yourself, child. What’s your name?”

“Tim Tumar.” The boy replied in the same cold tone as the hologram had spoken to him.

 “State the reasons of your visit.”

“Information on a fatal incident.”

“Wait.” The hologram disappeared for a few seconds and was projected again. “Approach the table number 14, child.”

Tim turned around, searching for the table number 14, it was not in sight. He needed to take a long walk to get there.  After he got to the table 14, he noticed that he was not the first in line.

There stood a large receptionist with a warm smile and a black suit.  A blond charismatic man was having a light conversation with him. The large clerk gave him a data holocron and mumbled something with words ‘…ask for it…”. The blond man nodded, put the holocron in his pocket and went away.

Tim walked to the table; its top was a bit higher than him. He decided to take a step back to have the conversation with no obstruction. He looked up. The box above had words “Information of higher clearance.”

“Sir, the hologram instructed me to come here.” Tim said optimistically.

“Yes, please tell me the details of the accident you mentioned.”

The boy told the story from his point of view and said, “This is everything I know. All I want are the details why my friend is dead and I have this on my chest.” He pushed his blouse down by the neck and showed a part of the scar on his chest.

The clerk started to scroll through data on a holographic screen. He spoke, “Information in most of the databases inside the city has clearance levels from one to eight, from a small child like you to the first citizen.  People who come to me are given instructions on how to get to the information which is restricted to them. I am allowed to evaluate the request and increase the clearance level of a person for a short period of time if needed be.

“There is some data about the incident on the hospital’s records and complete information is stored in the security HQ’s database. I could print you the record of hospitals data if you were an adult, or if you had brought one with you. But trust me, when I say that those will be only the crisps of the whole thing, the security HQ is the place you should go to if you want all the details. To get the details from there you will need to write an official letter of inquiry for the high officials. Your inquiry will be reviewed and if they find you eligible for the information, you will get access under strict terms of secrecy.”

“Really?” Tim replied, staring surprised at the man. “Why can’t you just tell me everything in a few words and save me all the trouble?”

“I can’t. I would violate the protocol and lose my job, or even get punished. There is a—“

“I don’t care about your protocols,” the boy interrupted him. He found it difficult to hide his emotions. “Why does it have to be so complicated? Just give me something. What had attacked us out there? Was it a human or what?”

“I know as much as you do, I’m afraid I will not be able to help. If you were adult I could provide you with the hospital’s data.”

“Why do you even stand here? Isn’t this place all about helping people? Don’t people come to this place to get help, be heard and get their problems solved?”

“They do, we treat everyone fairly and as you may see everyone is satisfied with our job. Only you, little sir, are asking me for something impossible and can’t accept it. Please, give me a document proving your adulthood or proceed to the exit.”

“Damn you old people and your stupid system. I just need only a bit of information. I am not an adult, how could I have the stupid document proving my adulthood?”

“Sir, only those that have come of age have access to the records you are asking for.” The administrator replied in a cold ruthless voice.

Tim lifted his hand, put it close to the ear and moved it down, making a sign that insulted clerk’s intelligence. He walked out of the building. Thinking of what should he do now, he refused to live with no questions answered. He bumped into someone. The person said something but Tim did not hear a word. He quickly left the building, thinking...

******

After he was left out of the hospital, Timmy was given a month of free time to recover before returning to work. He had hard time finding out ways to spend it. He had attempted to play video games, but they kept his attention only for a very short time. He visited a few museums and entertainment places he had never been to. He went to a few clubs and tried out different activities, the ones with sports were the most fun for him. When doing any of the sports he could easily forget his life, immerse into a different world, where rules made total sense for him. He loved the western martial arts sports club the most, after a few visits he decided that it would be fun to go there regularly.

Back in the orphanage he had spent a small portion of the time to catch up on the studies he was slacking due to work and his laziness.

******

The day Tim visited the government‘s building, he wrote a letter to the first citizen, asking clearance on the information as instructed by the clerk. To his surprise the reply came, it took only a week.

Tim Tumar,

We are sorry for the delayed reply. Come to the security HQ on January 25, 10am. You have a meeting set up with the first citizen for 30 minutes.

Sincerely,

Officer of public relations, J.H.

 

Tomorrow he would meet the most important man on the ship, Timmy felt anxious. He went to the clothes shop and bought fitting clothing for the meeting from the money he had earned while working at the vents. He folded his clothes and went to sleep. Perhaps there were some decent adults on the ship after all.