7b

By: Nathaniel Kissingford

Inspired by the work of Greg Costikyan, Dan Gelber, and Eric Goldberg

“Good morning residents of ReM-rce, Sector 5e, Beta Complex. Today is Wednesday
07:15 am, 2307. Please take your happy pill now, and begin the standard hygiene routine.
Remember to report to your Yellow officer by 07:45.”
21-Cr8 groaned as he was greeted by Friend Computer’s cool voice. He had heard this
announcement every day for as long as he could remember. Out of habit, he reached for his
container of water and the pill he knew would be next to it. Swallowing it without a second
thought, he opened his eyes and stretched, as the cool artificial contentment from the happy pill
flooded his veins.
“Remember, today is your day, together we can make the world a better place!” Friend
Computer chirped.
As a Red ranked Maintenance Technician, today would be another long day of
transporting parts and machinery to his superiors and maybe getting to fix a minor item. But as
the drug worked its way through his system, he knew today would be fun and exciting. Reaching
for the water, he poured his breakfast, a yellow synthetic powder, into the container and drank as
he found his way to the hygiene pod.
After a brief shower, 21-Cr8 slipped into his red plastic jumpsuit. He made his way
through the white hallways of Beta Complex, to sector 34rw where his Yellow Officer would
give him his orders for the day. As he walked into the room, he was greeted by the familiar sight
of mechanical parts neatly stacked on the walls. Directing his attention to the desk in the middle
of the room, he saluted to the Yellow officer lounging behind it.
“Ah, the techy has arrived, excellent.” the officer pronounced, “Today, you will start by
taking this box to sector 7b, room 28.” the officer said as he checked his list and handed 21-Cr8 a
small but heavy cardboard box. After 21-Cr8 nodded his understanding, the officer flicked his
hand in a dismissive motion.
 Bowing his head, 21-Cr8 walked briskly back with his burden toward 7b. As he walked,
he realized that this was his first time in 7b. Mostly, he worked in a relatively small number of
rooms so it was rare for him to be sent to a new one.
Excited by the prospective change of scenery, he picked up his pace, watching the room
numbers go by.
Soon enough, he found sector 7b, a long, white hallway lined with doors. He walked
down the hallway, until, perplexed, he came to room 27, the last door before the back wall of
sector 7b. Suddenly, seemingly from nowhere, he heard a distressed voice say, “Oh, there you
are.”
Looking around for the voice, he saw a hand reach out of the back wall, grab him by his
collar and lift him through the wall.
In shock, 21-Cr8 didn’t know what to look at first. The woman standing before him, the
fake wall, flickering back into place, or the chaotic room he had just entered. It was full of tools
and machinery with what looked like a giant laser was sitting on a table.
“Let's see if the Westminster unit did their job” the strange woman muttered, taking the
box and opening it. “Ahh,” she smiled as she saw the contents.
Utterly overwhelmed by the situation, 21-Cr8 almost didn’t notice the women's blue
jumpsuit. Blue! Reds like him were never permitted to interact with an officer of such a high
rank.
Noticing him seemingly for the first time, the woman said, “And how to deal with you.
We can’t have you running around the Complex telling everyone you meet of this encounter
could we?”
Frantically, 21-Cr8 said, “Please, I won’t talk!”
“Of course,” remarked the woman, ignoring him completely, “I could use some help
installing the battery, are you up for the job?”
21-Cr8 nodded his head vigorously.
“Good.” stated the woman matter-of-factly, I’ll inform you as we work.”
She took out of the box a large disk that he assumed was the battery. Placing it into the
laser-like device, she set to work installing it, as 21-Cr8 timidly assisted.
 “I’m sure you are wondering what the hell is going on,” she said kindly.
21-Cr8 cringed in anticipation of the electricity that would disintegrate the woman
followed by Friend Computer's pleasant: “you have died” that would surely be caused by the
woman’s offending terminology.
But no such thing happened. Noticing his confusion, the woman laughed.
“Friend Computer’s influence only stretches so far. You can hide from it if you know
how.”
Hiding from Friend Computer? That was certainly treason.
“Anyway,” she went on as if nothing had happened, “I am a member of the Crimson
Syndicate, a secret society dedicated to overthrowing the Benevolent Regime and making our
home once again on the surface of Earth. My operation today is to find the Original Lift that
took us down to this cursed place in the first place, take it to the surface, and become the first
human to leave Beta Complex and live on the surface. I have reason to believe that the Original
Lift is behind this wall.
In a panic, 21-Cr8 stuttered, “I…I have to report back to my sector…” turning to leave,
he was stopped dead by the woman's suddenly cold, lethal voice.
“If you leave this room, I will set off the laser and dash towards freedom. The second
Friend Computer senses that something is wrong, it will review the surveillance footage from the
hallway, and, seeing that you were the last person in it, will promptly execute you. On the other
hand, you could come with me, and have a chance at freedom. Your choice.”
Freedom.
Freedom.
Freedom
The happy pill within 21-Cr8 was failing. Somehow the woman had plucked a chord
inside of him and he knew, for the first time in his life, what it meant to be human. As a swarm
of new emotions, instincts, and thoughts washed over him, he realized that the world held much
more than the white walls of Beta complex. He collapsed to the floor as tears, a sensation new to
him, slid down his cheeks. After a moment of introspection, 21-Cr8 looked up.
“What do I need to do.” It came out more as a statement than a question.
 The woman smiled, “I am glad you are so enthusiastic. All our lives, we have been taught
to not look beyond Beta Complex. To think that this is all that there is. The truth is different. We
are currently 8.7 Kilometers below the surface of the planet we used to call Earth. We, humans,
lived on the surface of the Earth. For a while, we lived in harmony with nature until slowly, we
realized that we were destroying it, cutting down forests, destroying ecosystems, and the peoples
of the world agreed to launch a campaign to save the Earth. For years, we restored the lost beauty
and life to the world, while developing new technologies. That is, until World War Five. The
Middle Eastern country of Al-Qatill developed in secret the most powerful nuclear bombs in the
world. They were named W-Tr5 Missiles.
The British government knew that something was going on, so they built Beta Complex.
It was modeled and named after a similar project done by the American government during the
Cold War.” At this point, she stopped. “What has this world come to? I am giving a history
lesson about Earth to someone who lives on it and yet knows almost nothing about it! Anyway,
Al-Qatill launched its W-Tr5 missiles at random, aiming to cause pandemonium. Allied countries
turned on one another, destroying entire peoples, cities, oceans, and rainforests as each country
launched their own weapons at each other. The only known survivors of this, as far as I know,
are the portion of the population of London that successfully made it to Beta Complex. For a
while, Beta Complex was led justly by the British Government. At some point, the Benevolent
Regime took the government, forcing us to forget our cultures, families, and passions and
become living robots by way of the Happy Pills we are required to consume. The Regime keeps
us here on the pretense that the outside world is not safe due to radioactive waves, but the bombs
were detonated so long ago, that there is no way that their effects are still that powerful. The
Regime only cares about one thing: power and it will do anything to keep it.” the woman
declared bitterly.
Although he didn’t understand most of what the blue officer had said, deep in his bones,
his soul sung out that this was right. It was almost as if his soul had been trying to tell him this
for his whole life, but had never gotten the chance.
Suddenly filled with rage at the Benevolent Regime, he asked, “So the rest of the world is
on the other side of that wall, and they have been keeping us from it our whole lives?”
 “And that is why we are going to blow a hole in that wall and find the Lift,” she
confirmed.
They finished installing the battery in silence.
“Are you ready to fire this thing up?” she asked, a smile on her face in spite of the sweat
on her brow.
“Ready.” He confirmed.
“The second the hole is made, we must run through the opening as fast as humanly
possible and then find the Original Lift, got it?
Nodding, 21-Cr8 readied himself to sprint into the unknown.
The woman pulled a lever and a bolt of pure light shot out from the laser, disintegrating
the wall.
21-Cr8 ran like - and from - hell.