00054

No. 248 exercised on his downtime after another day of pushing himself to dig his quota of power fuel ore. He did pushups. "Two thousand... two thousand and one... two thousand and two..." He did his work-out in a little corner of the recreation cave. Grunting, he tried to get three thousand in as short a time as possible while he acted as if he paid attention to the Peptalker spinning stories of how wonderful was their Governor. The rest of the miners loved to hear the Peptalker go on and on, never mind that it was always the same thing over and over. And many others also exercised, to keep in shape for the job.

248 paused halfway back down on a pushup, catching sight of No. 317 out of the corner of his eye. "Hello, 317. Good to see you again. How's everything?”

No. 317 came over and joined him. “Hi, 248. Not so great, as you might expect. At least I have gotten so used to that clanging that they call inspirational digging music, that I hardly notice it."

No. 248 chuckled. "Yep, over time, ya don't even know it is there, until they stop the music while they do maintenance or repairs on the system."

317 said, "I've been trying to connect with you for a few days, but you always have downtime when I am working.” 317 told how he had slipped out of his own recreation cave where his work team for the day had gone to spend their downtime together. 317 had left them specifically to seek out 248. True, the rules never said that rectime had to be spent with one's own work detail for the day, but often the guards or No. 25 encouraged it, and frowned on those miners who did not stay with their group. Such as No. 317, at this very moment.

248 hopped up on his feet. “Three thousand!” He shook 317's hand. "So, you have been trying to catch me, eh? Well, you finally got ahold of me now, when neither of us are working or sleeping. What's on your mind, No. 317?"

317 frowned and shrugged. "That's the problem. I can't say. I don't exactly know what's on my mind."

248 tilted his head, trying to understand. "Okay. Maybe you can be a bit more clear about the matter?"

Sitting on the stone bench at the wall, reflecting on what he had just said, 317 also laughed. "Yeah, I guess I didn't make much sense. It's like this, 248-" He told his fellow miner how he had awoken from a strange dream several days back, and the name Nina had been on his lips. Not only that, he also, after the dream, found himself wondering who was George. 317 related that, despite the fact he had forgotten the dream, it proved extremely upsetting to him, and then the miner doctor gave him a pill marked "Wipe-Out Enhancer", but he later spit out the pill, because he had only pretended to take it.

"Agh! Those pills!" 248 made a bitter face while sitting next to 317. "I heard stories about those pills from the chit-chat of the human guards. Mostly, it sounds like the pills are meat-tenderizers. After you take one, more often than not, the cure kills you, and your body is tossed to the Eaters. Miners don't die easy, but those pills somehow stop your brain from working. Huh, when I first got here, I was given one, also. But, like you, I didn't trust it. Management doesn't like to give the pills if they don't need to, because too many miners are lost as a result. It's not very cost-effective."

"It sure doesn't sound it."

"So, who's Nina?" 248 asked.

“I am curious about who she is, too. I remember when I first woke up as a miner, we were told we would now be useful citizens. I want to know what kind of life I lived before I became a miner. It seems, if the name on the pill box is any indication- Wipe-Out Enhancers- that something was done to us, to our minds. Our minds have been wiped of our identities. Wipe-Out Enhancers. Why? Who was I? Did they ask me if I wanted to lose my identity? If so, why would I want to forget this Nina?... Do you ever want to know who you were?"

"Yes, I do. Most miners, however, don't care who they were. They are too busy enjoying who they are now, loving and serving the Governor. Not me, 317."

"Do you get unsettling dreams like that?”

“Sometimes. I sometimes even remember them when I wake up. And I want to know what they mean!" He kept his voice almost to a whisper. He preferred the other miners in the room heard nothing of this conversation. But since the others kept cheering so loudly as the Peptalker encouraged them to think beautiful thoughts of increased ore production and the Governor, it seemed doubtful 248 and 317 could be overheard.

"Oh? What happens in the dreams that you can remember?”

248 thought a moment, trying to recall one as an example. "I'm standing in a crowded, small room. Not like the kind of rooms we have here at the mines, full of dust and pebbles and rocks. This room must be in a house the humans live in. Probably we lived in those kinds of rooms at one time. I don't know for sure, everything is a blur in my mind about houses and stuff. There's lots of people sitting there in the rooms, listening to what I am saying. I'm standing before them as I tell them about- Humph, that's a mystery. I wish I knew what I told them. I am sure my message is important. And the people are humans, not miners like you and I..." No. 248 dropped his voice even lower. "I think I am telling them about Jesus."

"Oh? I remember things about Jesus, too," No. 317 confided. "But nobody hear seems to mention that name, so I keep it to myself. Sometimes, I even talk to Him silently."

"I suggest you still keep Jesus to yourself. When I first woke up in the wake-up room, my mind was fuzzy. But yet, I remembered some things about Jesus. I mentioned it to another miner- he also seemed unable to love this Gov. Bright as much as the others do. He liked hearing the story about Jesus so much, he went all about the mines, telling the story. On the very first day, he was sent to the doc, who gave him one of those Wipe-Out Enhancer pills they gave you and me. Only, this miner wasn't as smart as we were. He took it. Well, the loose-lipped guard who took him to the doc told the guy's Team Leader how the poor miner fell down dead almost as soon as he took the pill. His body was tossed to the Eaters. So, I keep quiet about Jesus. I don't want anymore miners becoming Eater food because of me. Still, I have dreams of me telling humans about Jesus sometimes.”

“In your dream, are you... a human?"

"A good question," said 248. "I don't know."

"I know we are miners now. Were we miners always? I had asked what we were before we were transformed into, um, “useful miners,” as it was explained to me when I woke up. The only answer I get, though, is before we woke up, we were trash. Just trash."

Both reflected on that thought. No. 317 spoke some more. "You know- I shouldn't say this, but, how I hate it here! No. 248, did you ever want to leave this place, the mines? I do. But... I don't think we are allowed to leave!"

248 stood. "Let's go take a walk."

"Okay."

No. 248 took No. 317 down some tunnels, talking as they walked. He kept to seldom used tunnels, away from any on-duty workers.

If they passed any nosey patrolling robot guards, 248 made sure the topic they discussed dwelt upon ore production, until the robot passed far out of range. As they strolled down some passages, he told 317 a few of his other dreams, mostly similar, but sometimes involving eating tiny crackers and drinking from tiny glasses. Or sticking somebody under water.

When they were in a deserted spot, No. 248 asked, "So, 317, what makes you think we are prisoners?"

"We must be. There are so many guards around us much of the time. They even patrol the cafeteria and the barracks. Robot and human guards. Supposedly to help us, to guide us in our service for the Governor. So we know what to do. And the whole mining mountain is surrounded by a moat full of Eaters. To keep people out, or to keep us in? But nobody questions it, nobody cares. They are so happy in this life."

"Sad, isn't it? And why would we need a Warden? They say we have him here to oversee the rest of the guards who are looking out for our welfare. Everyone believes it, and thinks things are just great here. Ignorance is bliss, I seem to recall was the saying."

"Pathetic. Say, where are we going, 248? Surely not sight-seeing.”

“Ha ha, why, yes, 317. Look at this lovely scenery inside this tunnel. Seriously, I want to show you something interesting, 317.”

"Yes, No. 317... That’s me. I am No. 317. A number. But I- I think my name used to be George. I think this George who I wonder about, about who he is- I think it's me. I dreamt of my former name. George."

248 smiled. "Could be. I wish I knew my name, if I ever had one before. I bet I did. Anyway, we're almost there, No. 317, er, I mean, George. But I don't think you should use your name when you among the other miners. You know how they are, all by-the-book, which, apparently, says we all use only numbers, and not any names."

"It seems strange to be called George, but yet natural. I like it." 317, or George, peered about his surroundings. "Hey, aren't we in an unsafe, restricted area? You can't miss all the yellow and orange warning signs painted all over the walls."

248 nodded. "Yep, it's restricted. Unsafe. Let's follow the warning signs down this tunnel.”

317 hesitated. "That sign says there is a danger of possible cave-ins! You know, those signs are there for our own good!"

"I know. C'mon." 248 led the way into the dark, abandoned shaft, following the sets of rails for the mining carts that must have been used in this tunnel at one time. Since no one mined here anymore, the lights strung along the ceiling no longer worked. Things became hard to see in the gloom.

317 shrugged and stayed with 248. The tunnel couldn't be any more dangerous than the jobs his supervisors gave him on a regular basis. He followed 248 to the end of the tunnel, where a pile of rubble, full of rocks and more rocks from an old cave-in, blocked the rest of the way. With only a faint light coming from the lighted tunnel in the distance, where the warnings were posted, from which this tunnel branched, George could hardly see a thing. "You wanted to show me this?"

"Patience, George, patience." 248 scaled the mound of rubble to the top of the heap, which came up the the very roof of the tunnel itself. He yanked away some rocks. "You can see, these stones aren't very big or heavy. I can move them by myself. Of course maybe I wouldn't be able to, were I not a miner."

"So what if the rocks are not very heavy. Is that something special?"

"Maybe. I don't think this tunnel is abandoned. The rubble from the cave-in looks too phoney, like it is camouflage. It doesn’t look like any cave-in I’ve ever seen. Without any light, I can still see that much. I'm not blind. Heck, any miner alone can easily clear out this whole rubble pile and make a path through it in no time at all. The debris pile doesn't extend very far back down the other side of this tunnel, either. It's only about two or three or four rocks thick. What kind of a cave-in is that? A high heap up to the ceiling, but the pile is not scattered very far, and instead it all lies in one place?"

"Hmm. Why is that?"

248 smiled again. Twice in one day. It rarely happened for him since finding himself in the life of a miner. "Climb up the heap here beside me and peek through the opening where I pulled out some rocks."

317 scampered up the pile to a position next to his friend. He took a look. "It's too dark to see anything, but it seems like there's nothing on the other side; however, as you described it, the pile of rubble does seem like it's not much of a pile, just a phoney facade."

"Reach in, to your right against the tunnel wall," 248 instructed. "Do you feel that switch? Flick it."

317 obeyed, and he saw, along the tunnel that ran past the fake cave-in, all the lights turned on, all along that tunnel, all the way to- where? Where did it lead? But the lights of this same tunnel on their side of the cave-in remained off, unlit.

“How odd. Why would those lights go on, but not those behind us? Is that tunnel still being used, as you suggest, 248? But why the secrecy? It seems there's something down the tunnel we aren't supposed to see. What's down there, 248?"

(c) drk 2012