Cau'ther

Sci-fi with a unique spiritual twist

A pale sun crept through the narrow windows of a sparse cubical. A siren howled in the street indicating the start of another workday. A voice crackled from a speaker box screwed to the wall.

"Good morning comrades and welcome to another splendid day in the Fortunate Zone. Nourishment will be supplied in sector G-3 this morning after you've undergone a thorough decontamination sequence. Have a glorious and productive day."

The box snapped off, lively generic music filtered into the room from the hallway.

"Decontamination... Hah! Third time this week...You hear me? Fortunate ones we are! The Fortunate Zone!"

"EM2, you have the strangest way of greeting the day."

"You mindless drip. Have you heard none of what I've told you since we've been housed together?"

To look at the two men would be to look in a mirror. Blazing red hair, bulging eyes that wandered off in two directions, and ears that protruded significantly. A genetic engineers bad joke, twin Howdy Doodys with the mis-fitted bodies of weightlifters. But they weren't twins at all. In this facility alone worked more than 20,000 of these creations. Brothers by design, the only difference between them, the skew numbers and bar coding tattooed to their foreheads.

"You don't remember what the gray haired man said in his moment of delirium do you?"

"I remember his nonsense...You'll be terminated... do you hear me?"

"What would you care anyway? You care for nothing except your nutrition bars and stimulator sessions."

"That's not true."

"Then name one thing, just one single thing that has importance to you."

"Well... it's of great importance to me... What I mean to say is... Now give me a moment... Yes, of course... Radiation storms... That's important to me, not getting burned up in a storm... There, you see!"

"You really are pathetic UB17."

EM2 stood with a look of disgust against a cool gray wall of the cubical.

"Alright then. What about you? What is it that has such great significance in your life?"

"My family."

UB17 bent over the slab he slept on, adjusting a sheet that resembled wrinkled aluminum foil.

"Ohhh. I see... Your family. Considering you were grown like fungus in a laboratory that makes perfect sense. You've gone mad with the words of that old fool. Come on now, we'll have to hurry if we're going to get a decon shower and still have time for breakfast."

EM2 walked the 5 paces to the narrow slice of light that shone in their room. UB17 pulled a fresh orange jump suit from a tall metal cabinet.

"I have a family. Grant you I've never met them, but I believe it and that's all that matters to me."

"EM2, we must leave for work."

"I'm not going in today. I need rest. My body is weak. I'm taking a relaxation day and will call in shortly."

"Don't be like this EM2, we have a job to do."

"What do you think is outside the fortunate zone UB17?"

"Certainly not your family, and most likely the end of your existence. Now come on before we're late!"

UB17 stood impatiently by the polymer door that led to the hallway, his finger bent by the green button that opened it.

"Do you recall the word the gray haired traveler used to describe his labors? Archeologist. Do you know what that means?"

"It means someone who digs up bones, fossils, relics." Responded UB17, who squirmed about, wearing an uneasy expression.

"He told me outside the zone a person could dig up their family, make sense of all this.