The Eden Effect (18 page)

‘Whatever is nearest that you can reach, Bill,' he told the bartender. He did not care. He was not drinking for pleasure, he was drinking to get drunk.

‘A bit early in the morning for you Arthur, isn't?' said Bill who nevertheless reached for the nearest bottle which happen to be a Johnny Walker Red and poured a generous measure. Arthur downed it two quick gulps.

‘This must be serious, Arthur. You realise you just drank Red. Things must be bad.'

‘Red, Black, Blue, I don't care Bill. Just pour me another Scotch. No better still, leave the bottle, I'll pour it myself.'

Half an hour later, Arthur had a vague impression of Bill being on the phone and fifteen minutes after that, he could feel someone grabbing him under the arms and helping him out the door. It was Martin, cursing at him as he helped him to the mini, where Natalie was at the wheel. Martin folded Arthur into the back seat and five minutes later was helping him into the house and into bed. He left him there fully clothed, shoes on. Arthur obligingly passed out.

He woke up to see Martin and Natalie standing at the foot of his bed.

‘You're alive,' Martin said. ‘I was about to pound on your chest and Natalie was going to give you mouth to mouth.'

‘No I wasn't,' Natalie said. ‘Have you smelt his breath? It smells of whisky. And cheap whisky at that.'

‘What time is?' Arthur asked, feebly.

‘6pm Arthur,' Martin replied.

The headache he had that morning was nothing compared to the headache he had now. He tried to reach for the Panadol, but Natalie got there first and handed him four tablets. She gave him a glass of water and he took the pills and lay back down on the bed. He then realised he was fully dressed, shoes and all. He also realised that he needed to go to the toilet, badly. He hauled himself out of bed and with a little help from Martin, headed off to the bathroom from where he emerged fifteen minutes later, looking a little more alive. He was heading back to bed, but was stopped by Martin.

‘No you don't, Arthur. Strip off, have a shower and change. Natalie and I will be having dinner. You can join us when you are ready. Or not. Either way, we need to talk. Enough already. And all over a woman who you've known for how long, two days?'

Half an hour later, showered and with fresh clothes on, Arthur joined Martin and Natalie at the dining table. They'd finish eating, but food was the furthest thing from Arthur's mind.

‘Before you say anything else, let me say, you were right, Martin. I don't know what I was thinking. Sorry for acting like such a dick.'

‘Thinking with your dick would be more accurate, Arthur.' That was Natalie.

‘Thanks for that Natalie. But you're right, although not completely. It was my heart also, not just my dick. That's been the problem. You have to understand, it's been a long time since,' a pause, ‘a long time since a woman like Tracey has shown any interest in me. Not just a woman like Tracey, any woman. I guess I made more of it than it was. I guess things have changed a bit since I was last dating. Anyway, I've grown up. It's amazing what enough cheap Scotch will do. It's all over. The old Arthur is back.'

‘I think I preferred the new Arthur,' Natalie said and then the subject was closed.

The psychologists were back in town. The office and interview rooms were being dusted off, the three secretaries were in position, and everything was getting ready for the second survey. It didn't feel like it to anyone, but it had been just over eleven months since the first one was done. Where had the time gone?

Robert Mackie made an appearance. Not that he was needed, but he was still getting paid one million dollars per week and came out of a sense of duty and guilt.

Professor Fiona Malcolm spent two days in Eden. She met with the fifteen psychologists for a pep talk and a short refresher. She was also on the payroll, but for a small fraction of what Robert was getting. She was a firm believer in the project and had the hope and expectation that it would result in a major publication for her, something that she valued much more than the money.

Unbeknown to the people of Eden, what had now become known as The Eden Effect had resulted in communities all over the world choosing to introduce the same or similar restrictions on their news services. At the last count there had been thirty three, admittedly all small towns, Eden's size or a little larger, but it was happening on every continent.

This was also unknown to Arthur, as Tracey had chosen to communicate directly with Martin. Tracy had made The Eden Effect her mission. She had in fact coined the phrase. Her motivation was in part a genuine interest in the project and her belief that Martin had really been onto something. But a large part was the fame and success that it had brought her personally. She was flying high. She had even flown to New Zealand where she did a live broadcast from Waipoo, the first town outside Eden to become involved. Her profile at the station had risen, as had her salary, and her photo now hung in the TV station foyer along with the other celebrities. In the media she was considered to be the expert on The Eden Effect and had even been interviewed about it in the Herald Sun and in two popular woman's magazines.

She was in contact with Martin on a weekly basis, and on one occasion even snuck into Eden to meet with him. Martin had kept Natalie up to date with developments but no one else. He felt guilty about not telling Arthur, but feared that any many mention of Tracey to Arthur would open old wounds. Arthur had returned to his old self and Martin did not want to do anything to jeopardise that. Martin was sure that Arthur would be just as excited as he was about the developments, but it would have to wait. The Eden Effect. The thing even had a name and all thanks to Tracey. Martin even considered sending Tracey a cheque in gratitude for what she had done, but Natalie was against it. Ethically, it would put Tracey in a difficult position and would lead to questions about her objectivities. So he didn't.

The second survey went without a hitch. The psychologists packed up and left having collated their results and transmitted them. The participation rate was only slightly lower than in the first survey. Some of the older residents had become too ill or too frail to attend, a few, just a handful could not be bothered. The offices were vacated and locked. The three secretaries returned to their normal lives and was all over.

The twelve months were up. A full page notice appeared in the Eden Star on a Tuesday. The notice thanked the people of Eden and informed them that the project was over. The media restrictions would be lifted, the Internet filters removed, and everything would return to exactly how it had been twelve months before. The implementation date was to be one week from the date of the notice and as before, the notice was signed ‘The Eden Foundation: Moving Forward.'

That afternoon Martin and Arthur were at home. Natalie was in her studio, a rare visit.

‘It's all over, Martin,' Arthur said. ‘We now have to wait for results of the two surveys. Professor Malcolm said it would take at least a month to analyse the results. She wants them verified by an independent assessor before announcing. Nothing more we can do.'

‘There is something I should tell you, Arthur. But first let me explain. I've known about this for a while. This information came from Tracey and I have not told you before because there was no way of telling you without Tracey's name coming up and I thought that would upset you.'

Arthur said nothing.

Martin continued. ‘As of last week there were thirty three towns, all small towns but all over the world that have done what we did. And what we did has a name, Arthur. It's called The Eden Effect. That's what Tracey started calling it and the name stuck. You probably don't want to hear this, but Tracey has been at the forefront of this thing. She has been amazing.'

Martin stopped. He was a little apprehensive about Arthur's reaction.

‘Thirty three. That's pretty impressive. You really have started something, Martin, haven't you? Bloody hell. Thirty three. That's amazing. Good for Tracey. I'm sure it has done her career no harm at all. The Eden Effect. I like that.'

Martin was relieved. Perhaps Arthur was over Tracey, the mention of her did not seem to faze him.

Arthur continued. ‘That is all very well, Martin, but unless the survey is objectively proved, the so called Eden Effect, then it's all been for nothing. How long do you think those thirty three towns would continue if the results were negative?'

‘I agree, Arthur. As you've said, we just have to wait. But it's exciting never the less.'

‘Martin, are you there?' Natalie's voice rang out from somewhere to the back of the house.

‘I'm here Natalie, what's up?'

‘Telephone for you. It's Mayor Gibson.'

‘Thanks, Natalie. I'll get it.'

Martin picked up the phone and Arthur could hear him say, ‘hello Alan, it's Martin. How are you?' Then a pause. ‘Sure, I'll be there, four o'clock. Yes, I'll ask Arthur to come too.' Martin hung up the phone.

‘Come where, Martin?' Arthur asked. What did the Mayor want?'

‘He wants to meet with us. He has something important to tell us about the project. Sounded a bit mysterious. I guess we will find out in hour.'

At precisely four o'clock, Martin and Arthur presented themselves to Mayor Gibson's P.A. She said, ‘go right in,' which they did.

The Mayor was sitting behind his desk, he motioned towards the two visitor chairs and then they sat down.

‘Hi Alan,' said Martin.

‘Good afternoon, Mayor,' said Arthur.

‘I'll get straight to the point.' Mayor Gibson had no time for small talk.

‘Saw the notice in The Star this morning.'

‘People should be pleased,' said Martin. ‘It's all over. Everyone can go back to normal. Free to read, hear and watch whatever they want.'

‘That's just I wanted to talk you about,' said the Mayor. ‘For the last month the Council has been receiving emails, letters, and telephone calls. You've got no idea how many. All the messages, without exception, are the same. People don't want the restrictions to come off. Everyone seems happy with the way things are. People are concerned that if things go back to how they were before, they would be tempted to watch stories that have managed very well without for twelve months. They prefer not to have access to them. What do you make of that?'

Arthur was the first to reply. ‘Legally and contractually we have to stop. We are committed to it. What people do is for them to decide. But I have to say, this is unexpected.'

Martin added, ‘As far as I know, Arthur is right, Alan. Maybe we've done some good after all. We're still waiting for the survey results.'

‘I'm not interested in your survey, Martin. What do I tell people?'

‘Tell them, just as the notice says, as of one week from today everything goes back to how it was. Tell them there is no way around that. And tell them that they are free to choose what they want to read and watch after that. It will be their choice, not ours,' Martin replied.

‘Fair enough, I'll get the word out. You know, I was sceptical about all this. I, we, the Council had our arms twisted to agree to your ‘experiment'. But it looks Martin as if you really did have something there. I congratulate you. I know you have to wait for the survey results. I get that. But survey results or not, something good has happened here, Martin, there's no denying it.'

Martin and Arthur left. They were smiling and as they exited the Council Chambers they high-fived each other.

The Eden Effect kept on spreading. It was not clear how this was happening but it was happening. More and more small towns and communities joined in. In self-contained towns like Eden it was possible to arrange it on a town wide basis, just as Eden had done. In bigger towns and in the big cities this was not possible. But there, individuals were taking matters into their own hands. They were voting with their feet. Less and less news was being watched on Free to Air TV. Hardest hit were the pay TV providers who all had three or four 24-hour news channels. In thousands of households those channels had stopped being watched at all.