"No Name" Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Montgomery woke late in the morning. As he left the hut, that he had found was build with the intent of housing visitors to the village, he found the whole village recovering from the late night of celebrating. He found himself near Luna’s hut. She was sitting outside preparing to cook her breakfast and invited him over to eat. Montgomery watched and learn as she built a fire. He remembered his father build a fire in a similar way. She instructed him in how to mix the egg and flour and water to make a batter and then how to cook it with oil in an old pan.
“Why don’t you have a husband?” Montgomery asked as they sat back to eat. The question had come to him the night before. She was no more than five years younger than him and all of the other women in the village seemed to be married. Even some that seemed to be almost twelve year younger than him and little past child hood were married. He thought the question was a legitimate one but from the look on her face he instantly regretted asking it. “I’m sorry, I’m out of my place.”
“No, no, you should ask. I’m just not use to the question because every body in the village already knows.” She took a deep breath and a bite of the cake she had made and a drink of water. “I was married. My husband died two winters ago. He got sick and never recovered. I was with child but in my grief I passed the child.” Montgomery’s heart sank with pain and regret for bringing up such memories.
“I’m sorry for you pain.” He said quietly. Luna seemed on the edge of tears but breathed in deeply and regained her composure.
“I’m glad you asked me rather than somebody else.” She said in solid voice that seemed to have the whole of her resolve behind it. They finished their cakes in silence. “Would you mind if I ask you a question?” Luna asked after a time. Montgomery shook his head and indicated for her to ask. “Do you remember why you had a chip implanted in you?” The question had occurred to Montgomery before.
“I don’t remember the events but I remember being afraid. Afraid to have the chip implanted and what it would do to me. And afraid of what would happen to me if I did not have it implanted.”
“We have a history of the time when people got the chips implanted I was wondering if you would like to see it.” Montgomery nodded. They cleaned the pan and doused the fire to embers so it could be rekindled. They walked together to the far end of the village where the three communal buildings sat under the thick canopy of a very old group of trees. Montgomery had learned that the building on the left was a temple for the holy man who lived in another village over the pass. The one in the middle was for meetings to discuses village matters. The last building was the largest and was a house of records. The walls inside were lined in books and three rows of shelves ran down the middle of the single room. At the far end was a table and a few chairs. Luna went to the middle shelf and pulled a large book from it and opened it to on the table. They sat together hunched over the book as Luna searched threw the book for the spot she wanted.
“The world was divided into many countries in the past.” Luna said in introduction to the story she was about to unfold. Montgomery nodded remembering being taught about the many counties as a child. “One country began to change. It was a small country but its leaders were set on world unity. The country began to be called the New World Order.” A number of memories flashed in Montgomery’s head. Some of then were from childhood where he had heard the name with fear and to his surprise some of the memories were from the random offices in which he had worked. “The countries around the New World Order began to take a liking to the ideas that it had come to be known for. So the New World Order began to grow. At first it was simply other nations joining of their freewill but as the New World Order became larger and more powerful they began to take over other countries by force. They had followers in every country and used them to over through the old governments and replace it with their own. Many times they would take over a country under the disguise of aid. They would move into a country to ‘stabilize’ its government. In reality they were simple putting people in power who would be subservient to them. After the New World Order grew large enough they did not even bother with these lies they simple went in and took over. When the majority of the world was under this one nation everybody thought there would be peace.
“They were wrong. The New World Order made a mistake by forcing people to adhere to their rules and laws. Many of these laws were in conflict with people religions. For this fact alone there was unrest in the New World Order. The leaders of the government were afraid that this unrest would bring them to harm over a long period of time. The leaders passed a law that banned religion. It was a mistake.
“The majority of the people were in agreement with the leaders but the minority that was not became violent and lashed out at the government. The government responded with violence. Those who were suspected of being part of the religious extreme were removed from their homes and imprisoned or killed on the spot. The people began to live in fear. Fear of saying the wrong thing. Fear of doing the wrong thing. They were afraid that they would disappear like so many had. It was this fear that lead to the introduction of the chip. It was said that it would simple monitor a persons actions so that if anything happened they could prove they were not part of the religious extreme. The chips became a thing of pride for people who were loyal to the government. If you had a chip you were on the right side. A few years after the chip was introduced a large part of the world population had them. It was then that their true intent began to be reviled. The government started implementing the other aspects of the chip that nobody knew about. They became a means of control. The few that did not have the chip already were forced to have one implanted. A few of us managed to escape that fate by fleeing into the wilderness. The rest of the world became nothing more than a means for the leadership to benefit. The chips shutdown emotion and stifle memories. They are the perfect control. There is no way to escape them and no means to shut them off without killing the person. Well that is what we thought until we found you.”
Montgomery sat for a while contemplating what Luna had just said. Their fear had lead them to slavery. He knew that she was not lying; he could now remember the truth and the events that lead to his own chip. He was disgusted with himself for having let them put such a vile thing in his head. His parents had waited as long as they could. They had opposed the chips but could see no way out. He remembered discussing with them the possibility of going into hiding in the wilderness. In the end they had seen that if they did not get the chips implanted they would be forced. They had decided as a family to get chip rather then die. As Montgomery thought about it he wished they had fought.
“I need to go for a walk.” He said and Luna understood that he needed to be alone. She sat there as he left and walked aimlessly threw the forest.
Montgomery woke late in the morning. As he left the hut, that he had found was build with the intent of housing visitors to the village, he found the whole village recovering from the late night of celebrating. He found himself near Luna’s hut. She was sitting outside preparing to cook her breakfast and invited him over to eat. Montgomery watched and learn as she built a fire. He remembered his father build a fire in a similar way. She instructed him in how to mix the egg and flour and water to make a batter and then how to cook it with oil in an old pan.
“Why don’t you have a husband?” Montgomery asked as they sat back to eat. The question had come to him the night before. She was no more than five years younger than him and all of the other women in the village seemed to be married. Even some that seemed to be almost twelve year younger than him and little past child hood were married. He thought the question was a legitimate one but from the look on her face he instantly regretted asking it. “I’m sorry, I’m out of my place.”
“No, no, you should ask. I’m just not use to the question because every body in the village already knows.” She took a deep breath and a bite of the cake she had made and a drink of water. “I was married. My husband died two winters ago. He got sick and never recovered. I was with child but in my grief I passed the child.” Montgomery’s heart sank with pain and regret for bringing up such memories.
“I’m sorry for you pain.” He said quietly. Luna seemed on the edge of tears but breathed in deeply and regained her composure.
“I’m glad you asked me rather than somebody else.” She said in solid voice that seemed to have the whole of her resolve behind it. They finished their cakes in silence. “Would you mind if I ask you a question?” Luna asked after a time. Montgomery shook his head and indicated for her to ask. “Do you remember why you had a chip implanted in you?” The question had occurred to Montgomery before.
“I don’t remember the events but I remember being afraid. Afraid to have the chip implanted and what it would do to me. And afraid of what would happen to me if I did not have it implanted.”
“We have a history of the time when people got the chips implanted I was wondering if you would like to see it.” Montgomery nodded. They cleaned the pan and doused the fire to embers so it could be rekindled. They walked together to the far end of the village where the three communal buildings sat under the thick canopy of a very old group of trees. Montgomery had learned that the building on the left was a temple for the holy man who lived in another village over the pass. The one in the middle was for meetings to discuses village matters. The last building was the largest and was a house of records. The walls inside were lined in books and three rows of shelves ran down the middle of the single room. At the far end was a table and a few chairs. Luna went to the middle shelf and pulled a large book from it and opened it to on the table. They sat together hunched over the book as Luna searched threw the book for the spot she wanted.
“The world was divided into many countries in the past.” Luna said in introduction to the story she was about to unfold. Montgomery nodded remembering being taught about the many counties as a child. “One country began to change. It was a small country but its leaders were set on world unity. The country began to be called the New World Order.” A number of memories flashed in Montgomery’s head. Some of then were from childhood where he had heard the name with fear and to his surprise some of the memories were from the random offices in which he had worked. “The countries around the New World Order began to take a liking to the ideas that it had come to be known for. So the New World Order began to grow. At first it was simply other nations joining of their freewill but as the New World Order became larger and more powerful they began to take over other countries by force. They had followers in every country and used them to over through the old governments and replace it with their own. Many times they would take over a country under the disguise of aid. They would move into a country to ‘stabilize’ its government. In reality they were simple putting people in power who would be subservient to them. After the New World Order grew large enough they did not even bother with these lies they simple went in and took over. When the majority of the world was under this one nation everybody thought there would be peace.
“They were wrong. The New World Order made a mistake by forcing people to adhere to their rules and laws. Many of these laws were in conflict with people religions. For this fact alone there was unrest in the New World Order. The leaders of the government were afraid that this unrest would bring them to harm over a long period of time. The leaders passed a law that banned religion. It was a mistake.
“The majority of the people were in agreement with the leaders but the minority that was not became violent and lashed out at the government. The government responded with violence. Those who were suspected of being part of the religious extreme were removed from their homes and imprisoned or killed on the spot. The people began to live in fear. Fear of saying the wrong thing. Fear of doing the wrong thing. They were afraid that they would disappear like so many had. It was this fear that lead to the introduction of the chip. It was said that it would simple monitor a persons actions so that if anything happened they could prove they were not part of the religious extreme. The chips became a thing of pride for people who were loyal to the government. If you had a chip you were on the right side. A few years after the chip was introduced a large part of the world population had them. It was then that their true intent began to be reviled. The government started implementing the other aspects of the chip that nobody knew about. They became a means of control. The few that did not have the chip already were forced to have one implanted. A few of us managed to escape that fate by fleeing into the wilderness. The rest of the world became nothing more than a means for the leadership to benefit. The chips shutdown emotion and stifle memories. They are the perfect control. There is no way to escape them and no means to shut them off without killing the person. Well that is what we thought until we found you.”
Montgomery sat for a while contemplating what Luna had just said. Their fear had lead them to slavery. He knew that she was not lying; he could now remember the truth and the events that lead to his own chip. He was disgusted with himself for having let them put such a vile thing in his head. His parents had waited as long as they could. They had opposed the chips but could see no way out. He remembered discussing with them the possibility of going into hiding in the wilderness. In the end they had seen that if they did not get the chips implanted they would be forced. They had decided as a family to get chip rather then die. As Montgomery thought about it he wished they had fought.
“I need to go for a walk.” He said and Luna understood that he needed to be alone. She sat there as he left and walked aimlessly threw the forest.
posted by The Golden Retirver at 11:19
3 Comments:
I often find myself in this situation where I had an idea and was very enthusiastic about it. I wrote from my heart but after a time the heart grew tired of it and the words lost the aw and fizzled out. The eloquent way of putting them together and the inspiration to paint with words dies altogether and the sentence structure takes on that of a list of events will little or no emotion. My mind still wants to get the point across however there is not emotion to drive the point deep into the soul of the reader. In the case of this story the emotional energy to drive that point deeper and deeper died soon after the first chapter and sadly the point was not ready to be driven home until the third. I had originally hoped this story would go on to explore the depth of the human emotional structure but with my heart focused elsewhere now that will be difficult. I hope that in time I can expand on the chapters of this story that I have already written and those that are still to be written but for now I will take a break from this story.
Deja Vu kinda did that to me. I have trouble staying excited and motivated with a single idea. In one of the books I've been reading, it talked about how people have this energy for a specific project that builds up and then wanes. I'm not touching any fiction until that energy is back. I'm mildly curious to see if the energy stays when I edit old stuff as opposed to publishing new. Anyway, I still love your story.
hi there Golden and Sean and all.
I think it is chilling to consider how close we are to being computers.
I read somewhere once when I was surfing how ofcourse when humans feel a certain way then this is always coupled with certain measurable designated brain wave and a computer can be programmed to pick up on the brain wave and respond accordingly.ofcourse the computer isn't feeling but how alienated are we from our feelings which you would have to consider.
dna has so much to do with how we think and feel and what about hereditary memory? well it looks like the computer is mapping dna accurately lately so the computer may be able to control this also.
anyway I don't think that science can ever forget that we are creating intelligence and not life in terms of a computer.
anyway I meant to comment on another post.if you can't figure out which one never mind ha ha.
nice writing.
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