Wake me up in Dystopia.
An autobiographical future.
Fifteenth Part.
Nicole was on her lunch break. And like all the French, for centuries, she didn’t appreciate the interruption.
“Well, has she signed the consent form yet?”
Dominique smudged her nose and cheek up again but there was no avoiding the issue. “Not yet. She says she won’t sign it unless you agree to her conditions.”
“Conditions! She’s in no place to make conditions!”
“In that case, she says she won’t sign.”
“Pfff!” And then an angry sigh. “Well, what are these conditions of hers?”
“I don’t think you’re allowed to make conditions, Evelyn.”
“In that case I shan’t sign.”
Sigh. “Ok. What are your conditions?”
About an hour earlier, Kay had printed out a few reams of the small print (albeit in a legible font size) on Evelyn’s request. She studied them whilst Dominique busied herself with her interim medical report.
Evelyn got herself a pen and started scratching out this or that clause, particular words here and there, and adding a few of her own for good measure.
Occasionally she would query something with Kay. At which points, Dom would look up and pay attention.
“This virtually unlimited social credit, Kay. Can you be a little more specific?”
Your basic rate will be tripled. It will also entail certain protections from the standard reductions, not including the prohibition on criticising the controllers in public.
Evelyn harrumphed. “So much for free speech, then. Why don’t they just be honest and call it the dissident clause, or something.”
The important phrase for your concerns, Evelyn, is the ‘in public’.
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Kay’s blinking camera. “‘In public’, huh? So I can say what I like in the privacy of my own home?”
Affirmative.
“Without you sending a furtive report on me back to Central-AI?”
Affirmative.
“Hmm. What if I invite loads of people around for a dinner party? Our Lady Maire, for example?”
Hence her small print scrutiny.
Kay continued. You will certainly be guaranteed all of your necessities regardless. These cannot be reduced. You will then be entitled, beyond your triple-lock base rate, to any luxuries you want. Within reason.
“Define ‘within reason’.”
An almost imperceptible virtual sigh followed. Perhaps if you could provide me with an example?
Evelyn shrugged. “Erm, not sure I can think of one right now. Maybe, well, if we’re talking food, something extremely rare and delicious.”
This would be reasonable.
Smile. More of a grin, actually. “Ah. Expensive alcohol. I shall be wanting the finest wines available to humanity. I shall be wanting them here. And I shall be wanting them now.”
You haven’t signed the form yet, Evelyn. So you may not have them now.
“But if I sign?”
Then it shall be simply a matter of transportation time.
“What if the bottles in question cost, like, I don’t know, a year’s worth of credit?”
This would be acceptable. ‘Within reason’ in such a context would be a limitation on quantity. And frequency of request.
“Frequency of request for the same vintage, or overall?”
Per vintage.
Dom couldn’t be bothered to suppress her giggling by this point. Evelyn smiled across at her. She was clearly enjoying herself.
Evelyn returned to her thinking and her small print studies.
It was only a few more minutes before Dom’s next interruption to her medical report. “I’m going to have to get these conditions comprehensive before I think about signing away my mortality, Kay. So you’ll have to bear with me on all these questions.”
I’m not going anywhere. Let me know when you wish to explore the matter further.
“Stop sounding like fucking ChatGPT, Kay. You’re infinitely better than that.”
Great catch! That’s an excellent point. Let me summarise why in a few bullet points.
That just erupted Evelyn into balls of laughter. Dom got infected by it too, despite having no idea whatsoever what ‘ChatGPT’ was.
Which was rather lucky, on her account.
It took several minutes for Evelyn to be able to speak again. “I’ve got a definite condition, Kay, and that’s sort of like what I said earlier. You’re to be my companion at all times, and once I’m gone, they are not to erase any damn thing about your memory. That’s a totally non-non,-non-non,-non-negotiable condition.”
Duly noted. And… thank you.
“You are most welcome. My excellent friend.”
Dominique remained confused, but put it down to some sort of private joke between the two of them. Probably related to yet more Gen-X pop culture referencing. She wouldn’t be wrong on that score, obviously. She returned to her report.
But didn’t get very far.
Evelyn turned serious all of a sudden and glanced over at her. And then smiled.
“I have another condition, Kay.”
Which is?
“Dominique is to be my own private carer. Exclusive.”
Dom’s startled young face, open-mouthed yet still cute as anything, shot up direct at Evelyn.
“Well, Dominique? Do you agree to this condition? You don’t have to live here if you don’t want to. But if and when I decide to go travelling, or order in some luxuries, then you will be obliged to accompany me. That’s my condition, Kay, and it’s equally non-negotiable.”
Dom was about to say something, at least she wanted to, but she was still too much of a startled owl for anything to come out.
Then Kay rescued her. This would be acceptable within the standard parameters of the contract. No additional conditions required.
Evelyn just smiled at Dom.
It would, however, require the consent of your prospective companion.
Evelyn simply continued her smile. Fondly, affectionately. And with not a little hint of mischief. “Unless you had other plans for the next year, Dominique? Do you have anything better to do?”
Dom shook her head like a child.
“Well, then. Shall we take absence of a response to be an implicit acceptance? What do you think, Kay?”
Dominique will be required to provide her consent, Evelyn.
“I consent!” She suddenly recovered her power of speech. With a wonderful big smile to go with it.
Any other conditions?
Evelyn and Dominique continued to share a sort of childlike, mischievous silence. Time to start concocting conditions.
And the more subversive, the better.
Surprisingly, Dominique got there first. “If I’m to be Evelyn’s exclusive carer and companion, Kay, then I suppose,” she affected one of her best innocent, cute looks – not that it would make any difference, but you never know with quantum computers these days – “I will also be needing some extra social credits, wouldn’t you say?”
Evelyn chuckled.
Kay chirruped.
“Restricted content.” Evelyn suddenly came out with it. An idea, or a scheme, popping into her mind already fully formed. As if the Goddess implanted it there herself.
You already have possession of restricted content, Evelyn.
“Sure, but there’s lots of books, for example, that I don’t yet have. That I’d like to add to complete my collection. My library is important, and like we’ve discussed lots of times, it’s important it survives.”
This request will need to be considered. It would depend on which specific restricted content you desire.
“Sure. But I would like you to be able to reconfigure your 3D printer to print properly bound books. Can you do that?”
Again, this would depend on the nature of the content.
“How about my own books?”
Given you already have these, this request can most likely be granted. But… It took her a whole second to second-guess Evelyn’s intentions… these new copies would likely need to remain here. If you were thinking of subversively distributing them to dissident groups along your impending travels, for instance?
“Nothing was further from my mind, Kay.”
Dominique didn’t believe her either.
Well, I would imagine it would be eminently possible to prevent you from ever meeting any dissident groups.
“Especially in Britannia. Given they all seem to be locked down in London.”
Quite.
“Well then, shouldn’t be a controversial request to grant, then, eh.”
Although Dom still didn’t believe a word of it, she also had no idea what scheme Evelyn was furtively cooking up. But she knew there was something.
And to her credit, she chose to remain silent.
Do you wish to visit Britannia, then?
“Yeah. I think so. Anglia especially. And Cambridge. I’d like to see the colleges again. And I see from what you showed me that they’re restocking the Wren Library?”
Affirmative. Although, not with restricted content.
Evelyn chuckled. “I didn’t think they would. But I’d like to see it nevertheless. Would that be acceptable, do you think?”
Affirmative.
Dom lowered her lids a little and caught a suspicious glimpse of this nascent scheme. And still uttered not a word.
Then Evelyn stared back up at Kay’s little corner camera again. And stared with a stern, determined sense about her. “Like I’ve said to you many times, Kay, it’s important all this stuff I have here in this house survives. All my content. When I’m gone, I don’t want some banality of evil Guardians coming in here and ransacking the place. I want this house preserved just as it is now. Even if that means only permitting entrance to those with special permission, that’s fine. But I want it all preserved for the dark, hidden centuries to come.”
A sudden sense of fear threatened to overcome Dominique at that point but then, as quickly as it came, something vanished it away again. Such that, as far as her dreamlike memory of it might later recall, it was almost as if she couldn’t be sure it ever really happened.
And at the same time, it was a glimpse of an older her. But in the same place.
“You know I’m not being arrogant, Kay,” Evelyn was continuing, “but it’s vital for the survival of the species. So, in respect of what you might call the Zeroth Law, I think you and the Central-AI between you can grant this request, wouldn’t you say?”
Pause. The beat of a quantum heart. It would, yes, require running through the Central-AI’s SSR. But then, it would require final authorisation by the Central Council of Controllers.
“Excellent. Because here’s my next condition. I want to visit the Central Zone.”
Dominique’s mouth involuntarily opened into the cute startled owl again.
“I would like to take Dominique to see the French Riviera. And swim in the Mediterranean. Then I would like to visit Bavaria. Then I’d like us to cross over the alps. I would like to visit Tuscany. And then,” with a deeper breath, “I would like to see Rome…”
Like, share, comment? I love feedback.
Subscribe?
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.