Abandoned World: The Awakening

— What is there to hide… We only speculate and share them in whispers… Carefully so that no one hears… That the Council of Elders is just a fictitious body of talkers. That all they do is talk, but they don't decide anything… It just looks like that. Like an adult toy. That they come out and explain things to everyone. And nobody knows if it's true or not. They don't know, they just explain it to keep their heads clear. And so they don't think something's wrong. So they explain… And there's someone else above them. Maybe there's another counselor. Maybe a cunning man. Who knows the truth but won't tell anyone. And he doesn't tell the elders, so that they don't know and don't tell everything… Because they are good at talking… Peyton can explain anything. That's why a lot of people love him and don't want to argue. Because he's beautiful. He explains it so beautifully and so well that you want to believe him. Even though everyone realizes it's nonsense or fiction. But you still want to believe him. You know what I mean, Charlie? You want to believe that things are better than they really are. That's the best way to live… That's the biggest fear of all… The most terrible fear of all….

— The most important one? What's that? Are people afraid of death?

— No, Charlie… Everyone's afraid we're lost… The big question is where we are. And

everyone explains to us that we're on Earth. Where we were. We were born here, grew up here, and then fell asleep in cryo-chambers to wake up when the Earth blooms again But only so many things

don't match that nobody believes that this is the Earth Even among our own people. Even those

who speak in whispers don't believe it's Earth. They don't believe themselves. Because it doesn't look like it Nothing looks like Earth at all. Unless the sun is the same size as it should be. That's in

the movies. What in different calculations… That's the only thing that matches….

Heddock listened to all these revelations and realized that he was beginning to seize up somewhere inside. The whole picture of the world, which he had created, maintained and protected all this time, was literally a colossus on clay feet. And only he and his security service did not know about the existence of earthen, not iron legs in reality, only looking for those who had not handed in another flash drive to the administration or who had said something inappropriate in front of everyone.

Haddock had never learned so much about himself, his system, his real state, from anyone.

It was as if Delaney had revealed to him the secrets he had feared all along. And the fear was not that anyone would find out, or even that anyone would think differently than he should. It was that everyone would be on one side, and he and his supervisors and controllers on the other. And that's exactly what happened — there were two worlds. His fictitious superficial one, by which everyone pretended to live. And the real inner one, by which everyone really lived. The only difference was that until that moment he had not known about the existence of the second world, while others knew….

— So you don't think we're on Earth, Delaney?

— I don't know what to think anymore… There is no normal version. From what I've heard, the normal one is that this isn't a solar system, but a similar one. And that we're from some expedition that settled here, expecting that when the time comes, conditions will be similar to Earth's. And that we could live normally. But something was miscalculated, and we woke up before time… It seems to be a viable theory too, but what doesn't add up is that there are no records of it… I mean, if it were true, we would have kept records so that when we woke up, we would know what was going on. But there are no records… There are none… Or the elders are hiding them, but nobody wants to believe that… I don't want to think that people are so cruel that they would hide something in such conditions….

Heddock stared at her, and the farther he stared, the more he thought he was ready to strangle her to shut her up. Strangle her, and then make sure she was dead. And then go and strangle someone else and someone else. And organize a gallows, like they used to do, somewhere near the canteen or in the lecture hall where he told everyone about the past and the future. And hang a few people there publicly with the accusation that they are shamelessly stirring up panic and destroying the foundations of our society by telling everyone about such things that one could not even think of. And let someone think to share with each other thoughts and ideas that they are not on Earth, and everything is not ruled by the Council of Elders. Let them try, and they'll be on the gallows in no time….