The Hidden City Read online

  “And there, at the end of that console, you can see three pads that are slightly bigger than the human body, and that is the only way one could get on a Cube, in case we need to repair something on board. Feel free to walk around and enjoy the experience, but make sure not to touch anything, this is very sensitive equipment we’re talking about.”

  Margaret was amazed. Her feeling of living in a fantasy dream world has subsided for a while, now having direct contact with the technology behind it. The City was built indeed as a way to escape the technology, a community built around peace and love, but rather curiously, everything was sustained by this advanced technology, that resided in this very room. She wondered through the consoles, looking amazed at every button and piece of technology. Prival told her that there were countless programs working at the present moment, all making sure that their safe haven was hidden and protected at all times. Her emerald amulet was giving her strange jolts as she approached a corner of the room. She looked at Prival and touched her amulet, with a strange face.

  “Ah, I forget to tell you about this. Your amulet may make you feel a bit weird while here, in this room, because of that,” Prival said and showed her a huge emerald cut in a complex geometrical three-dimensional shape. “This big emerald is the heart of our community’s emerald system and it connects to all the emeralds in our City, on the exact radius where our defense perimeter is active. The perimeter, or the “active shield” of the City as we call it, acts also as antennae for this emerald and connects it to all the others, on a specially tuned frequency, which I’m not going to divulge, as it is our best-kept secret, and we’re forbidden to do this, by the Creators. And because we have a whole network of active Cubes that use the same emerald-based technology, the Machine makes also possible the interaction between the Cubes and the ones who wear an amulet, in space. The distance that our Cubes are covering is so vast, that one cannot picture it, even if I was to tell you the actual area, which is also, a piece of secret information,” he said and displayed a wide smile.

  Margaret was looking dazzled at Prival.

  “This big emerald can communicate in space too?” asked Margaret.

  “Yes, my dear. To give you an example, so you can understand better,” he added, “if you are near a planet and you wear your emerald necklace, and there’s a Cube at least 5 million miles away, it can detect your signature, and you can interact with it, mentally, or through pure intention, if your intention is strong. So your amulet can interact with a Cube, that is also connected through this big emerald to all of us. That’s how sensitive and powerful our technology can be,” said Prival.

  He paused and allowed a bit of time so that Margaret can assimilate the new pieces of information that he shared with her.

  “So what do you say? Have I made your day more interesting?” he asked, smiling.

  Margaret was indeed overwhelmed and intrigued. She had never seen such complex technology before.

  “As for the rooms below, I don’t have enough clearance to bring anyone there. It is only I and a few Elders that get to enter there, and besides us, no one is allowed to visit them.”

  He paused and straightened his cane.

  “I heard a lot lately about your dedication at the Financial Council and I wanted to show you all these so you can have a greater motivation to get involved in our City. Soon, perhaps you would want to move to another job, and take more responsibilities, that is if you need to feel more connected to that which happens in our city, every day,” Prival said, with a kind face.

  “Yes...yes, you did, Prival. These are all amazing facts and I didn’t know that the technology behind our City was of this magnitude. I haven’t seen such technology since … since we left our ship, and that can’t even match it,” she said, almost silently.

  “Well, there it is. Now you know I have not lied to you, and now you know you can count on your own power to help establish new rules and new ideas in our City, so we can be better at what we do,” Prival said. “That being said, I think you can take your day off today since I’ve heard you celebrate one month of working at the Financial Council. I’ll make sure Jillian knows about your free day, today,” he said and invited her out of the room.

  “Y...yes, you’re right, it is … ” Margaret said, still mesmerized by the impressive technology that was around her.

  Prival actioned the door again with his amulet and waited until Margaret stepped out of the room. After a few moments, the door silently closed and sealed.

  “Well, it’s settled. I hope we will meet soon at one of the Order’s meetings. Have a great day, Margaret!”

  He saluted her and went straight ahead on the corridor, walking slowly with his tall cane in his hand. Maggie went back through the corridor they arrived towards the front door and when she reached it, she pushed it slowly. Her dragon was waiting in front of the building. The market began to fill with people and mobile shops, as you could see people in violet robes everywhere, arranging their products, and welcoming early customers.

  She buckled her dragon and she took it right up in the sky. She chose to fly for a little while up above the Main Market and the houses that bordered it, as the visit she paid with Prival in the Machine Room, created a sudden shift in the way she saw things. She needed to feel the crispness of the cold wind blowing against her face, so she can feel the reality of the moment more intensely. This visit was something unexpected that invigorated her somehow and made her feel again she was actually living a normal life, in a Universe where technology still existed, and powered the needs of the people. She started flying slowly towards their home, thinking if Philip was already awake.

  In the garden, Philip was already up, reading a book on one of the long chairs. He saw Margaret when she was approaching with her dragon, in the air.

  “Hey, Maggie,” he waved. “You’re back so early. How did work go?”

  “Well, it was good. They gave me a day off, so I can celebrate one month of working there, at home with you,” she said with a smile, unsaddling her dragon.

  “Ah, excellent. I was planning to go for a picnic, but now that you are here, I am going to arrange a full basket of sandwiches, and we will go in half an hour, ok? A free day must be used fully, especially on a beautiful day like this.”

  The fact that Prival showed her the Machine Room today, made her feel eerie in a way, bringing back the images when she used to roam the universe far and wide, in her own private ship, with Philip. That feeling of doing anything, of being in control of her life, and going anywhere she wanted started to grow in her lately. She started to feel that her fairy-tale world, where everything was perfect, on a planet somewhere far far away, at the End of the Galaxy, was not what she previously thought: everything that made her dream and live in this utopic peacefulness was now revealing itself to be the result of applying very advanced technology. She was not sure if she should share her experience with Philip, at least not today. She needed time to process both the importance of what she saw and also the importance of Prival’s choice that was to bring her to see all these things that were usually off-limits to regular citizens. Margaret was beginning to see through the details of her days that beyond this peaceful and beautiful oasis, that the City was, there was a lot more than meets the eye.

  Chapter 15 – Theories over a romantic dinner

  For the past few weeks, Maggie’s duties were increasing, and her performance was praised more and more at the Financial Council. She had been recently promoted, and she was now in charge of all the bakeries in the Eastern and the Western part of the City, including coordinating two rather big flour mills. She loved her new shiny silver badge and Philip made sure he was the first to express his appreciation for her hard work that she put in lately, by buying her a beautiful necklace made out of rose translucent bead stones, that was said to infuse the one who wears it with peace and gratitude.

  One of these days, when she came from work she looked a bit tired and pensive. She was putting in quite a lo
t of work lately, sometimes even burning the midnight oil. There were 49 bakeries that she needed to take care of, and the amount of work was quite impressive, or some might even say overwhelming, on some of the days. Because she used to sit around her office the whole day, she got very close to a young lady whose name was Miriam, that appreciated her a lot. Miriam was in charge of the book shops in the Eastern area of the city, and she was working in the office next door to Margaret. She came in the City from a distant planet in the Xyris Sector, where her job had been keeping track of books in a rather large local library. During the time that they spent together, discussing new ideas or even diving into philosophical discussions, the two found that they had a lot of things in common, while staying in late many hours at the Financial Council, after everybody left.

  That day, Philip was at home, as usual, sprinkling the garden’s flowers and taking care of the new shrubs that he planted. He liked to enjoy the silence and peacefulness of the City by doing nothing the whole day, and since he recently joined the Order’s meetings, at Margaret’s request, he found meditation as something really pleasant, that he was practicing lately almost every day.

  “Hey, Maggie! I just came back from the main square. I bought you something!”

  “Hey, stranger. I’m glad you are home. Sorry, I stayed rather late today, had to help Miriam a bit with her statistics … she seems to get lost in the calculus sometimes … ”

  “Ah, you and Miriam are starting to get very close, as it seems you are mentioning her name quite often, lately. Frankly,” he added, “I’m quite worried that she is going to steal you from me, one day,” he said, as Margaret was descending from her dragon.

  Margaret smiled and got down from her saddle, and let her dragon fly in the large vineyard garden, in the back of their house.

  “Well, as a matter of fact, we are becoming quite close friends. She’s very helpful and kind when I need a bit of help with my stuff, and I thought I’d return the same favor. We like each other and it seems that we complete each other very nicely. I think there’s nothing wrong with that, is it? Not to mention the philosophical discussions that keep us hours and hours into the night, at the workplace.”

  Philip smiled.

  “It’s good to have there someone you can trust, Maggie. Do you want some dinner? Perhaps some wine that could spark a little bit our … own philosophical discussions, as well?” Philip said, with an inviting face.

  “Sure. I’ll take a shower and I’ll be right with you. This promises to be an interesting dinner. What are we having tonight?”

  Philip looked at her with a mysterious face.

  “It’s a surprise. I’ll prepare something special, including some of that fresh vegetables and spices that I got today from the market.”

  “Ok, I’m counting on you, Phil. I won’t be too long.” Margaret went into the guest room to put her bag as Philip started washing some of the vegetables. She entered the bathroom, turned on the shower, and took her robe and her clothes off. Her face looked tired in the mirror, and she began to realize how many hours she put in lately, not to mention the nights she spent at her workplace. Her slim and delicate body was more beautiful than ever, and her black hair was falling gently on her sides.

  As she was taking off her amulet, she thought to herself, looking into the mirror.

  “I should talk to Philip about what troubles me. I look tired and I work too much, and all this to make these thoughts go away. I don’t think I could hold them deep down inside me for much longer.”

  Usually, having thoughts would not bother her, but here, in the City, where everything was based on pure love, and where everyone was enjoying everything and acting out of their hearts all the time, even the most insignificant recurrent thought was most disturbing, especially if it kept appearing every day.

  She entered into the shower, and let the warm water run all over her body. The running water gave her the strength and the relaxation that she needed so much the whole day. Her muscles relaxed gradually, making her stop thinking for a while about the conversation she had with Miriam, last night.

  “They want us to know that we are special, they make us feel like we are, when in fact, the underlying truth is that we are not. We are merely galactic citizens that do our day-to-day jobs, being the best we can, and working here at the Financial Council, baking a cake, or selling a book, is no different than running a ship, working in a shipyard, or supervising a security team,” were the words that still ran into her mind, that Miriam told her, a few days ago. Miriam was just expressing her momentary truth at the time but her words hit Margaret in a peculiar way: it reminded her about her real and simple life, in the Universe that she came from. Her words had such power over her somehow that Margaret’s been having a lot of doubts ever since, making her even sloppy with her tasks at work lately, and sometimes, rather pensive at home.

  She turned the cold water more, and let it pour over her face for a few more minutes. She felt invigorated by it and she felt like all her worries about being blunt to Philip went away. She felt again every inch and pore of her body fresh again, and she stopped the running water. Getting out of the shower, she dried her hair with a fluffy white towel, and put on some fresh and beautiful new clothes, that Phil liked a lot, that she just bought a few days ago from the main City Market.

  Philip was waiting for her at the table with his secret dinner: pasta with meat, white wine, few green plants with spices, and two tall white candles.

  “You got this from the dispenser, right?” said Margaret, looking at the tablecloth. “It’s really pretty. You did a great job decorating the interior of the house lately, Phil. Next thing we know, you’ll start painting the house and maybe brewing some local wine out of that really neat vineyard, that we have in the back of our house. This way, the road to becoming a seller in the big market of the City is only a step away,” she said, smiling at Philip, trying to get cozy at the table.

  “I’ve been thinking about that lately, Maggie, but I don’t know how much we are going to be here, in this vacation home, until we move somewhere else,” said Philip, tasting a bit of his wine.

  “That’s true, you are right. So, what are we having for dinner tonight? Umm, it looks really good. I guess it’s pasta with meat and … tomato sauce, and some really interesting looking green vegetables. I’m really hungry, so I think I will just indulge in this sweet dinner right now,” she said, tasting a bit of her dish.

  “Go on, indulge. I prepared it with much love. And if you want more, just let me know,” said Philip, and bowed gracefully to Margaret.

  They ate in silence. The two white candles that Philip lit were creating the atmosphere of a classy restaurant, where two lovers were eating their dinner, occasionally exchanging small talk, as an excuse to be together, in a cozy spot, away from the busyness of the city.

  From time to time, Margaret was raising her glance to catch Philip’s, only to indulge in the next moment, in the delicious meal that they had.

  “Here’s to us,” Margaret said, and clinked glasses.

  Philip drank a bit of the wine and then put the glass down on the table, looking at Margaret. He paused for a while, looking straight into her eyes.

  “You look beautiful tonight, Margaret,” he said. “I didn’t have the chance to tell you this lately. I hope you had a great day at work today. And you must know by now that here, my greatest happiness is to see you happy.”

  “Thank you, Phil,” Margaret replied with an enigmatic smile. “To be honest with you, I had a great day. But lately, I just keep having these recurrent thoughts somehow, about so many things...” Margaret said, looking down, at the checkerboard tablecloth, with her white wine glass in her right hand.

  Philip looked at her with a slightly surprised face.

  “What ... kind of thoughts? I thought you were happy at your workplace, here, us … ”

  Margaret paused for a moment and then said.

  “It’s not that, Phil. It’s just that..”


  Philip didn’t know where she was going. For him, the experience of the past month was great, as he enjoyed the City in all the instances that he could.

  “Go on, tell me. I’m here for any theory or even philosophical discussion you might need to have,” he said, looking at her, indulging in her eyes.

  Margaret paused eating, looked at him with a rather serious face, and put her fork aside.

  “Well, one of the main things that the Elders told us, and that convinced me in a rather big way is that we were … unique. They told us we hold something special, something that is not to be found in maybe … thousands of other people. And this is true in a way because when I roam the city, I see people that are full of kindness, peacefulness, love, and wisdom, people that look and feel special. But I think that the mere thought that “we’re unique”, the way everybody thinks so, combined with the power of the amulets may generate in itself this uniqueness. Miriam has a theory that they make us feel unique so that we act accordingly, even if we’re not. Other than that...”

  “Other than that…?” Philip asked, not knowing where Margaret was going with her idea.

  “Other than that, we’re not any special than the mere person that walks in a store and buys a bottle of milk. We’re only told that we are so. This is seen from the perspective of the reality that we come from. And somehow, this happens to be Miriam’s version as well, even though she comes from a far and distant planet, that has no connection to Earth in any way.”

  Margaret made a slight pause, and then quickly added.