Karim took a seat in the canteen, setting his lunch tray on the table. The food was beige. He pushed it round the plastic tray with the fork, then ate it slowly.
Ella was sitting opposite him. He looked at her, at her eyes and hair, the curve of her jaw. Maybe one day they would be chosen to procreate, he thought. He hoped.
鈥淚t is sunny today,鈥� he said to her.
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鈥淵es,鈥� she replied, glancing out through the window over her shoulder, at the sunbeams on the concrete walls.
鈥淎fter the rain, it is always sunny,鈥� he said.
鈥淣o,鈥� she replied, 鈥渁fter the rain, it is sometimes 蝉耻苍苍测.鈥�
Karim inhaled sharply, his eyes flicking away from her glare and back to his lunch tray. How could he have been so stupid as to say an unproven statement out loud?
The crackled voice came over the tannoy.
GOOD AFTERNOON CITIZENS OF MIDWISE, it said. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK THIS MORNING. THIS AFTERNOON, WE WILL BE THINKING AGAIN ABOUT WHAT MAKES US THANKFUL. WE ARE THANKFUL FOR THE ROOM WE ARE SITTING IN, WE ARE THANKFUL FOR THE FOOD THAT WE ARE EATING, WE ARE THANKFUL FOR THE AIR THAT WE BREATHE, AND WE ARE THANKFUL FOR THE COMPANY OF EACH OTHER. BUT ABOVE ALL, WE ARE THANKFUL FOR THE MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTIES, AND FOR TODAY鈥橲 NUMBER, TWENTY-SEVEN, THE CUBE OF THREE.
Ella looked at Karim. 鈥淲e are always thankful for the same things,鈥� she said.
Before Karim could answer, Ella had stood up and left with her plastic tray.
*
Karim spent the afternoon in the control room, inputting the truth value of statements into the supercomputer. The supercomputer in turn fed the truth values into the intelligent assistant Cavi who was built into the interface of their living quarters. Karim had been working on programming Cavi for two years now, alongside seven other citizens of Midwise. They worked in silence, leafing through old encyclopaedias and textbooks, searching for the correct answers for the statements that had been submitted by other citizens over the last week.
Who founded the Complex? Justin Trevanopolis. What are the primary colours? Red, blue and yellow. Why is it so quiet? It is quiet when there is a lack of sound. Why are we here?
Karim paused, flicking through the textbook in front of him. There wasn鈥檛 an answer for that question, nor was there an answer for the questions 鈥淲hy do we exist鈥� or 鈥淲hat is our purpose鈥�. He shut the book and typed 鈥渦nknown鈥�. The statements could be assigned a truth value of true or false, or yes or no. They couldn鈥檛 be uncertain.
*
Later, after another meal of beige food eaten with a plastic fork from a plastic tray, Karim showered and changed in his room.
鈥淐avi?鈥� he asked.
The blue lights around the edge of the room flashed. 鈥淗ello, Karim,鈥� it said softly.
鈥淲hat are the primary colours?鈥�
鈥淭he primary colours are red, blue and yellow,鈥� Cavi replied.
鈥淲hy is it so quiet?鈥�
鈥淚t is quiet because there is a lack of sound, Karim.鈥�
鈥淎nd why are we here?鈥� Karim asked.
鈥淎n interesting question,鈥� said Cavi. 鈥淚 do not understand.鈥�
鈥淲hy do I exist?鈥� said Karim.
Cavi paused, the blue lights flashing, then it spoke: 鈥淯nknown.鈥�
Karim sighed and went to bed, silence all around.
*
The next morning at breakfast, Ella sat opposite Karim again.
鈥淕ood morning,鈥� he said.
鈥淲hether or not a morning is 鈥榞ood鈥� is entirely subjective,鈥� she said.
GOOD MORNING CITIZENS OF MIDWISE, crackled the tannoy. YESTERDAY, WE TOOK A MOMENT TO THINK ABOUT WHAT MADE US THANKFUL. TODAY WE WILL CONCENTRATE ON BEING HONEST AND ON BEING TRUE. BECAUSE CITIZENS THAT ARE HONEST WILL BE HAPPY, AND CITIZENS WHO ARE HAPPY WILL BE KIND. AND KINDER CITIZENS WILL HAVE A BETTER TOMORROW.
Karim lowered his eyes back to his beige food, but not before catching the phantom of a smile on Ella鈥檚 lips.
*
Karim had been in the control room for almost an hour by the time he noticed the package. It was small and brown and his name was written on it in black marker pen. He glanced around at his co-workers, but they all remained silent, inputting strings of text into the computer, turning the pages of textbooks.
Karim stood. 鈥淚鈥檓 not feeling well, I鈥檒l be back shortly,鈥� he said to no one in particular.
In the break room, Karim opened the package carefully. Inside, nestled among plastic bubbles and ripped-up papers was a small box connected to a pair of headphones. As Karim picked it up it flashed blue, like Cavi.
Karim gasped, and turned it over in his hand. It lit up again, with blue text. Tchaikovsky鈥檚 Symphony No. 5 it said, then went blank. Karim didn鈥檛 understand it, and because he didn鈥檛 understand he almost hid it away, out of sight. But something made him place the headphones over his ears and listen.
Immediately he removed the headphones, hid the device in his pocket and ran back to his room.
*
That afternoon, Karim listened to the files three times through. They were incredible, the sounds and shapes and colours, the rising crescendos and the hope. He looked out of the window of his high-rise room at the skyline of Midwise, at the grey buildings and the tiny people in their white clothes pacing about, and felt sadder than he ever had before. He looked beyond the walls of Midwise, to the forest, and further, to the hills. For the first time, he wanted to go there, he wanted to leave.
鈥淐avi,鈥� he said, 鈥渨hat is this in my hand?鈥�
The blue lights flashed around the edge of the room. 鈥淒escribe what you see.鈥�
鈥淚t isn鈥檛 something I can see,鈥� said Karim. 鈥淚t is something that I can hear.鈥�
鈥淲e hear sounds,鈥� said Cavi.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 hear anything,鈥� muttered Karim, frustrated.
*
Karim had been so engrossed in the files that he had forgotten about lunch. At dinner, in the canteen, he sat opposite Ella.
鈥淒id you like it?鈥� she asked.
Karim dropped his voice to a whisper. 鈥淵ou left it,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat is it?鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 called music,鈥� she said, softly.
鈥淲here is it from?鈥� asked Karim.
鈥淚 found it, in the archives,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 thought you would like it.鈥�
鈥淚 do like it,鈥� said Karim. 鈥淏ut Ella, it鈥檚 dangerous. We can鈥檛 be found with it.鈥�
鈥淥K,鈥� said Ella, 鈥渋f you ever need anything hidden, ask me. Just so long as you never want to see it again.鈥�
Karim paused. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 the problem,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 lose it. I can鈥檛.鈥�
*
鈥淐avi,鈥� said Karim, 鈥渨hat is music?鈥�
鈥淢usic is sound organised in time,鈥� said Cavi, flashing blue, stark against the white.
鈥淲hy have I not heard music before?鈥�
鈥淢usic is not useful,鈥� said Cavi. 鈥淢usic is not true or untrue. Music is unproven.鈥�
*
The next day, Karim sat opposite Ella again, beige food on a plastic tray.
鈥淚 have an idea,鈥� he said, then he dropped his voice to a whisper.
CITIZENS OF MIDWISE, said the tannoy. WE ARE THANKFUL FOR ANOTHER DAY TOGETHER IN OUR HOME. YESTERDAY WE THOUGHT ABOUT BEING HONEST AND TRUE. TODAY WE ARE THINKING ABOUT HOW WE CAN BE PRODUCTIVE. HOW WE CAN WORK TOGETHER TO IMPROVE OUR FUTURE 鈥�
The voice was cut off, and replaced with the rising crescendo of Tchaikovsky鈥檚 Symphony No. 5. Karim returned to his seat opposite Ella, the control panel behind him. All around them was confusion, shouting, crying, laughing, as Karim and Ella walked out of the canteen and through the gates of Midwise unnoticed.
