Unison (The Spheral) (42 page)

Everyone laughed and Lidian barreled over to our table and flipped it on its side. Everyone was too stunned to react as Lidian was not known for outward displays of aggression.

“You all mock me because you’re miserable,” he said. “You’re too scared to recognize it because you’d then have to admit you’ve crailered yourselves into bondage!” Lidian stormed out of the satiation center.

While everyone continued to laugh, Lidian’s words extracted me from the room. Compared to him, everyone else seemed unreal and robotic. My detachment lasted until I took some tranquilizers that returned me to the Unitian view of reality. It took Wade’s death, in my current incarnation, to decipher why Lidian’s words haunted me that day. I had a new respect for him because he was never fooled.

“I told the server she had beautiful eyes,” Lidian said to the crowd gathered around us. He put his hands on his hips and spoke in a high-pitched voice. “’Then why are you staring at my chest?’ she asked me. I told her that her bosom brought out the beauty of her eyes.”

“Her eyes must’ve been big!” One of the men shouted.

“They were,” Lidian said. “Even her modest uniform couldn’t hide them.”

“I’ll never forget Michelle’s mesmerizing mammaries either.” I handed Lidian a shot of whisky. “I got an even closer look at them when I took her back to my loft.”

Lidian raised his glass towards the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, the Casanova of this new age. There probably isn’t an adult female in Unity whose braids he hasn’t unraveled.” He drank his shot.

The men in the room roared and whistled, and the oldest in the crowd yelled out, “Ladies of New Athenia, beware!”

Everyone laughed out again as Lidian placed his arm around me. “If this man couldn’t resist, then you can imagine what it must be like to be right in front of a pair of very large breasts that could fit a whole—”

“Amphitheater!” someone shouted out.

“And not an overstatement!” I called out. “Which is why Lidian never stood a chance. With such poor visibility of his surroundings, he had no hope for escape.” I laughed.

“A normal person would’ve stopped and retreated, but Unity never brought out the normal in me,” Lidian said. “My overactive sweat glands were a constant reminder that I was the resident freak. I could’ve filled a wine barrel with the amount of sweat I poured out of my body that night.”

Lidian held out his glass to the barkeep, who filled it.

“Things got worse after
Michelle
thanked me for my compliment. She smiled at me, and I got nervous and told her she also looked beautiful in her breasts. I meant to say…dress.” Lidian drank his shot and laughed to himself. “I stuttered on the word, ‘breast’ a few times. Wish I had a recording to play it back for all of you. Michelle had great rhythm. Her slap landed on my face on the upbeat of three. Bre-bre-breast—slap.” Lidian faked a slap on my face, and I almost fell off my barstool. “If she didn’t strike me, I’d still be locked in three-quarter time—unable to see beyond her expressions of female uniqueness.”

“I wouldn’t have minded!” the old man shouted.

“What brought on the rain of spaghetti?” I asked.

“That happened right after I told her she could learn a lesson from her breasts and soften up.”

We all exploded into laughter, but Lidian stopped and appeared as I did whenever a painful memory of Unity entered my mind.

I raised my glass towards Lidian. “Whatever happened to you between Unity and now…keep it.”

On our way to the crail stop, Lidian and I sang our own version of the Unitian Hymn.

“Unity, oh Unity. We’re slocked up in Unity,” Lidian sang.

“And we’ll fight till there’s nothing left of Unity!” I sang.

“To hell we’ll cast the Overseer and purple sleeves of Unity!”

“Then we’ll finally be free of Unity!” I laughed. “It’s liberating to act like drunken heathens in public.”

“They’d throw us into reintegration if we were in Unity.”

“We’d then be reassigned to cleaning septic tanks for daring to mock the hymn.” I sat on the bench. “We both sensed something was wrong.”

“We did.” Lidian sat beside me.

“Why us?”

“Why the slock not?”

“Don’t you ever wonder why so many Unitians never question the Sacred Oath?” I asked.

“Slock the Unitians and everything else that stands for that dome prison. If we figured things out, there’s no reason why they can’t. If they choose to be enslaved, who are we to tell them otherwise?”

“I’d hope someone would want to help me if I were in their situation.”

“Who helped you?” Lidian asked.

The image of Wade lying dead at the bottom of the ridge came to me. If it wasn’t for him, I’d still be living in Unity. I didn’t speak his name aloud because then I’d have to admit it took his death to expose the Unitian lies.

“The truth is, they don’t want to be helped,” Lidian said. “They like their little dome world, with their little dome assignments, and little dome satiation centers. Their rules and regulations allow them to believe they’re above everyone else. Makes no difference it’s all based on a lie. As long as they get all their privileges, the deception is disregarded. I’ve wasted the first half of my life trying to please the purples sleeves so I could be accepted. I never was, and it used to bother me. In the end, my pathetic need for approval freed me. If I were content, I’d probably still be in Unity, living the lie with them—flaunting my rank to convince the lower colors how privileged I am, so I could convince myself of my own happiness through their worship.”

I laughed to myself. “You first have to admit you’re suffering to know you’re trapped in Unity.”

“Why is that so amusing?”

“As you said, most Unitians are convinced they’re happy, and happy people never leave the dome. Want to know why?”

“Why?” Lidian asked.

I paused until I saw some anticipation in Lidian’s expression. “Because they’re already happy! There’s no reason to leave!”

We exploded in laughter, and people gawked at us as they passed by. A couple cautiously approached to wait for a crail, and the woman whispered into her mate’s ear.

I winked at Lidian and then looked at the couple. “Are you happy?”

“Yes.” The woman smiled at her mate who took a little too long to respond. “Aren’t you going to answer?” she asked.

“Of course, I’m happy,” the man replied.

“I could tell. You looked really happy staring at every female in the billiard room.”

Lidian and I erupted into laughter again. The woman stormed off, and the man followed after her.

“They don’t look too happy now,” Lidian said.

“They probably never were. When I lived in Unity, I thought I was happy, but I was in denial.”

“Denial of what?”

“The truth.”

“Do you regret leaving?” Lidian asked.

“Slock no! I’m happy for real now.”

“Too bad we don’t have any wine to share a toast.”

“Think we had enough for the night.”

“Think Holly will agree with you.” Lidian burped loudly. “When I stagger into our flat, she’s going to think you’re a bad influence.”

“Better not tell her you were with me. It took years for her to forgive me for the beating I gave you.”

Lidian stared at me aghast. “You never lifted a hand towards me…even in Unity.”

“I can clearly remember throwing a punch at you.”

“Think I’d remember that.” Lidian laughed. “Maybe you
wanted
to hit me. I wasn’t easy to like back then.”

“I wasn’t either.”

“You had lots of friends.”

“It might’ve seemed that way, but I only called one of them a friend.” A crail stopped in front of us. “Go on ahead,” I said. “I’m in the mood for a walk.”

“Backgammon tomorrow?” Lidian asked.

“Same time, same table in the park. Invite Casanova along to play the winner.”

“I would…” Lidian sat in the crail and peeked his head out. “Except he died during the
not-so-forgotten
times.” He laughed as the doors shut.

During my walk, I thought about my memory of Lidian. It seemed so real, but it was perhaps nothing more than a drunken moment of confusion—not hard to believe considering I had plenty of those with Wade. I recalled a fight we had gotten into over a girl in our biology class. Fists were thrown, blood was shed, and an evening of berry ales and vows never to fight over a girl followed. I convinced myself that was the memory I recalled, and my self-deception continued.

I showed up at the park the next day for some reflective time at the duck pond. Gadfly introduced himself to me again. After I gave him some bread, he spent most of the morning chasing a female duck and terrorizing the competition. During his impassioned courtship, a song came to me. I turned on the recorder of my holologue and sang the melody. When I got towards the middle of the chorus, Tyrus showed up. Forgetting I wasn’t in Unity, I stood and bowed. “Did you just arrive, Master Tyrus?”

“Don’t call me that. I never want to hear ‘master’ in front of my name again.” He sat on the bench. “Heard you playing the other night. You improved, and I didn’t think it was possible for you to get any better.” He removed a piece of stale bread from a bag.

Tyrus’s familiarity with me made me suspicious. “How did you find out about New Athenia?” I asked.

Tyrus stared oddly at me. “Hasn’t your memory returned yet?”

“I wasn’t aware I lost it.”

“Talk about a reversal of roles.” Tyrus winced and grabbed his forehead as though he were in pain. “I can’t wait for you to remember. We need you to start up the transports again.”

“Again? I never transported any—” I pointed my finger at Tyrus. “I get what this is about. Kai sent you. He wants me back, so he can get more commendations from my hard work.”

“Kai didn’t send me. I defected as well.” Tyrus tossed some bread at a group of pigeons. “How familiar are you with the old tunnel?”

“Had to go through it to get here.”

“Then you should have no problem going back through it again to return to the cabin.

“What’s my incentive?” I crossed my arms.

“To lead Unitians to their freedom.”

I laughed. “You expect me to give up the life I’ve made for myself to help Unitians make a life for themselves?” I shook my head. “That doesn’t sound very enticing to me at all.”

“This is something you’ll want to do.”

“Can’t think of any reason why I’d want to live like a hermit.”

Tyrus tossed some bread at the pigeons. “I like pigeons.”

“I prefer ducks.” I threw the last of my bread into the pond.

Tyrus pointed towards my feathered companion. “Is that the infamous Gadfly you told me about?”

“I…never told you about Gadfly.”

Gadfly chased a female duck after she rebuffed him by pecking his head.

“How about that.” Tyrus laughed. “He really does have a strong will.” Tyrus faced me and peered directly into my eyes. “Now that I have your attention—the woman who conducted the transports was betrayed by you and is now dead. You must take her place.”

“What woman?”

“The old lady in the cabin—the one you reported to Unity.”

“I didn’t know they’d kill her.” I got up and paced. “I didn’t know Wade was suicidal. I didn’t know the scourge was a lie. I didn’t know the Overseer is an ordinary man—albeit a psychotic one, if he really believes he channels the Prime Wisdom. It seems I didn’t know much at all.”

“As hard as this is for you to comprehend, right now I know you better than you know yourself. You want to help. You
need
to help.”

I stopped pacing and looked down at Tyrus. “We haven’t spoken since I ran into you at the Crystal Tower.”

Tyrus narrowed his eyes. “We never met at the Crystal Tower.”

I sat on the bench and clutched my forehead. “Maybe I’m the psychotic one.”

“Your memory must be returning. Although I’m not familiar with the timeline you’re—”

“Do you have any idea how crazy this sounds?”

“I do, but it’s happening.”

I shook my head. “What you’re saying is impossible.”

“In our last lifetime, on the eve of my death, you told me you wouldn’t give up until you stopped yourself from inventing Harmony.”