บท 820: Shadow of Fear (932)
The orphans were playing in the street below and Enid smiled to see their carefree antics. One of the older girls caught her eye through the window and waved cheerfully, flashing a broad grin when Enid waved back. It soothed her old heart, watching the young ones play. Goodness knows she wouldn't be around much longer, but little moments like this were a reminder of why she worked so hard. Everything they did in Renewal was to provide a better future for the displaced people who had made a home here, and none had suffered more than the orphans.
She frowned. If only she could protect them from the shadow that now lay over the town. She'd seen it, that hesitation in the evenings when the tradesfolk where contemplating working for a few more hours. Or the wavering hint of fear in the eye of the farmer as they counted the hours of rest they'd had the previous night. So many had disappeared, vanished from their offices, fields or, somehow, even from the street in broad daylight!
She'd been talking with Mr Hollin the smith about the lacking supply of raw iron as they walked toward his shop, only to find the man had been abducted right next to her mid-sentence! The fact she hadn't heard or seen a thing only made the effect all the more chilling. She'd even taken several more steps, wondering why the usually talkative man would cut off so suddenly.
"They are causing havoc," she growled to herself.
"Who is?"
Enid jumped then realised her assistant had entered the room as she brooded on the emergence of these 'Sleep Police'. Her surprise only added to her growing resentment. They had her jumping at shadows!
"The sleep enforcers, whatever you want to call them," she grumbled. "People are scared of their own shadows, they record their hours of rest daily to ensure they remain above the threshold. It's a reign of terror is what it is!"
She slapped the desk in front of her for emphasis.
Jonathan watched her antics with an air of resigned amusement. It was far from the first time he'd heard this rant from the mayor and wouldn't be the last.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you yourself were amongst the first to enjoy their hospitality?"
"Of course not," Enid snapped, "this is about the wellbeing of the people."
In truth, she'd felt more than a little embarrassed at being abducted from her home when trying to get some extra paperwork done. She'd been operating on five hours of sleep a night for weeks up to that point. If they were going to grab anyone, it was almost certainly going to be her. A warning would have been nice though! She doubted that Anthony had to put up with this sort of treatment within the Colony.
Her assistant sighed and began to roll out the same arguments he'd employed the previous day.
"It's hard to describe what's taking place as 'an attack on the wellbeing of the people' when they are literally being forced to sleep. Productivity is up. People report being happier and more content. Crime is down, which I didn't think would ever happen, given how low it was to start with. The number of couples falling pregnant has risen. Even the orphans are performing better in school. I have to say, the Great One was clearly onto something when they decreed people sleep more. The effect it's had on the place is incredible."
Despite the litany of benefits that people had been experiencing, Enid's scowl only grew deeper.
"But the abductions are causing people to be afraid. How secure can someone really feel when they are terrified of vanishing from their own home!"
Jonathan strolled over to her desk and dumped another handful of papers in front of her.
"Yes. People are scared of being abducted," he agreed, "but it's not nearly as bad as you say. You make it sound like they're getting murdered, when in fact they are getting a good night's rest, a cup of tea, a massage and a haircut. If it weren't for the disorienting experience of being nabbed, people would probably be lining up for the service. The teddies of the Great One are also proving to be exceedingly popular."
He flicked his eyes to the bookshelf in the corner where a plush and fuzzy ant with a fierce look on its face stood pride of place in the centre of the shelf.
The Mayor shuffled in her seat defensively.
"It's fluffy," she said.
"Of course."
"But that's beside the point!"
"I'm not convinced that it is," finally cracking, Jonathan placed his hands on his hips and levelled a weary glare at his stubborn boss. "The only question that really matters is this, do you want to live with the support of the Colony, or not?"
"With," Enid replied immediately. "We wouldn't enjoy anything like the prosperity we have today without them. Forget that, we wouldn't even be alive."
"Right. Then you have to be prepared to adopt some of their values. This sort of stuff happens amongst the ants all the time and they seem to operate just fine. In fact, they probably push the boundaries harder than we do, which is likely why the Great One insisted on this rule in the first place. It was only a matter of time until they applied this rule to us as well. In their mind, they're helping us. And they are!"
Taken aback by her usually mild mannered assistant's direct speech, Enid finally slumped in defeat, a pose she was little accustomed to.
"I just wish they would have consulted us. At least given us a warning. There are so many things I have to deal with and then I had a hundred missing person reports show up in a week, after I got abducted myself!"
"I think it just goes to show that they really do think of us as part of them. This is something that they live by, and therefore so should we."
"I have to admit, that worries me slightly," Enid admitted slowly, "do we really know what it means to be part of a monster society? Are we really ready for everything that they will decide is good for us? They have been so, so good to us this far, and I trust them, but I worry about the future and what might happen after I'm gone. This time it was something small, sleeping requirements, but what about next time?"
Now finally the true concerns of the Mayor were brought to light. Her assistant shouldn't have been surprised that she was worried about what would happen in her absence. She always worried about that.
"It's too late now to worry about integrating with the Colony," he reminded her gently, "we are a part of them now. We just have to ride it out as best we can."
Enid sighed and looked out the window at the young orphans playing so happily in the street. At least they were free from such concerns, and the fear of vanishing overnight. As long as they were content and growing strong, then everything else was fine.
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