Parallel Worlds- Equilibrium in Threat by A I Zlato

Author:A I Zlato
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9782491193010
Publisher: I Really Love SciFi
Published: 2019-12-20T22:00:00+00:00

The means are often as important as the end. Otherwise, why climb on foot to the top of the hill when one could use the rail?

Lessons from Chaacetime

CHAPTER 34

SPACE H. (1ST CIRCLE)

The atmosphere in the city was electric. Children who had been, in the words relayed by several newspapers, “removed for their own safety” were contacting their parents during the few supervised permissions granted them. Most of them wept. They wanted to go home, and did not understand why they could not. The teachers did their best, telling them stories at night, taking them in their arms, sharing soothing words... but those gestures did not replace the absence of their parents, siblings and school buddies. Their parents, despite the close protection provided by two guards, felt the gaze of others in the city, and it was heavy, full of hostility. The city made them responsible for the problem, because the rumor that posited that religious beliefs were the origin of the Problem had grown further. These parents went to work with their heads down, moving quickly, and returned home in the evening in the same way. Worried about their children and deprived of them, they had to bear, in addition to their own guilt, the collective animosity.

Life seemed irrelevant. Each day that passed without new cases of suicide was a relief for everyone, but added extra pressure on parents whose children had been removed. Discussions on the street, in shops and in bars became more and more aggressive in relation to Chrijulam. It had only taken a nosy journalist to dig up the common denominator among all these families. The sect then had been the subject of multiple reports — each more excessive than the previous — casting negative light on the religious movement. People did not understand that one could adhere to these concepts, so violence was latent. Any person belonging to the sect or suspected of being part of it could be lynched in public at any moment. Friends of at-risk parents, who did not benefit from protection, shaved walls and were as discreet as possible.

Baley also felt it in people’s eyes when she left her apartment. She had imagined that people would be grateful to her for her action, but what she saw in looks, and the conversations she came across, showed her very mixed feelings. Of course, people were relieved to see suicides stop, but they were also afraid of the power she had; she could snatch children from their parents on grounds of city safety. One person holding such power over people’s lives — it was scary. Some even wondered if other children were not going to be ‘separated’ as a precautionary measure. Baley did not understand any of these reactions, and felt resentment, even anger, thereabout. How could one be wary of her after she had saved these children? She was proud of what she had done; proud of her skills, which allowed her to discover the common denominator; proud of her courage and determination when it came to the decision and the implementation of the plan.

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