The island 2289 (3

“So we have the information for which we came for. We know the first and the second plan and until we have a third one then we’ll meet again outside of the centre’s reach and we’ll see what can be done. Today we can close the whole thing and return to our positions. We’ve completed today’s task.”

Everyone slowly got up from the table and started to look around the house so that nothing would escape them. Since nothing aroused suspicion they slowly walked away. In front of the entrance they sat on the snow scooters and nothing was seen after them except snow drifting on both sides. In Henrik’s room there was silence and almost darkness. An electric sound was starting to be heard on the floor. The small robot that was stamped in the woman’s rage was brought back to life. He started to move up and down the floor. He didn’t have a collective order since the other robots were taken along with the information and strange people. Nobody realised the gravity of the situation that occurred by forgetting to take that small electronic creation and explain the reasons. But despite the doubts of these people about the government of the centre and this system that controls and rules over the whole planet, not even an ant moving in the cellars of old building escapes it. There was chaos and the movement of people in the dome-like centre, just like every day. The screen showed another documentary about drinking water, since over a hundred years ago it was contaminated and couldn’t be drunk. Some group of scientists then created a system to clean any water pollution and they changed it to drinkable water. This “government” often boasts with these successes and appropriates them. They like to present everything that benefited the society and brought the world out of disaster, as their own successes. “We did ..”

Thea was walking in an annoyed fashion amongst the strange people in the whole centre. Since it was coming up to the time of walks around the island she looked around to see if she couldn’t find the eternally lost Henrik. After a short while the main entrance door opened and people scrambled out to the air. It was a nice day and it wasn’t snowing right now, but everything was frozen and there was a bitter cold. The wind was whizzing from all sides, but these people were glad to see even this hostile world.

“I’m very sickened and concerned,” said Thea and closed her eyes in face of the wind. It was difficult to talk when your own words were carried away by this wind into a snowy distance. Henrik laughed and turned towards the wind.

“And I’ll tell you why! Every morning I ask this small nonsense on the wall what’s going to happen. When will I return home and what’s the whole point of this. I’m sick of it. If I answer the wall their questions concerning my dreams then everything is okay. Their questions have no end. Imaginesome person, I don’t even know which room he was from, lied… those with the blue bodysuits came into his room. After a while they all came out and he was be with them. In this style they proceeded to the direction of the main entrance. I never saw him again and nobody knows where he is. Nobody ever saw him again. It’s not worth to resist the mirror, if there’s a different colour then it’s a bad sign.”

Thea was holding her head and had a hopeless expression on her face.

“I can’t stand it any longer. I’ll go crazy. Maybe it would be better if they took me from this weird place to wherever, it’s better than to stay here for maybe even ten years. This isn’t life.”

They met again in the evening and watched the newcomers. Amongst them were also younger people, maybe even high schoolers. One doesn’t know who came or went. What the movement in K 1000 is, is stated on the digital number plate above the main entrance. The blue letters state the number of people. Currently there’s 597 people. If anyone wouldn’t return from the walk then there’s no chance of escape. There number of people who didn’t return would be immediately stated on the board. The employees would immediately look for them on snow scooters. There’s nowhere to flee. Around the island there’s only icy water which couldn’t be resisted even with the bodysuit. It would be a certain death. In the distance a silver boat can be seen. It released a flare on the shore. Every day is the same. Everything is the same. The bodysuits, snow, walks… Those who control this system managed to do one thing. To stop time. They stopped time on this island. It’s not know with what intention. Today a person is 20 years old and tomorrow he’ll be 50. In the meantime he won’t even notice when it happened. Because time has stopped here. Henrik sat in the middle of the room and looked disinterestedly into the crowd. He could even see old people. What if any of them came here young and turned old here. This idea scares him to death. Not everyone knows Eureka, but he decided that he would address an older man. He noticed one frightened old man in the crowd walking towards the screen. He stepped to him and asked directly: “How long have you been here?”

The old man looked at him in surprise and answered in broken Eureka: “Well, how long…we were camping in New Zealand when the silver flat ship came to the shore. Then those in black suits came towards us. I don’t know what happened next. I woke up in the morning and I’m here.”

Henrik crumbled the white paper with interest, the same one which Thea often wrote words on when she taught Eureka to someone.

“How old were you on that camping trip?”

The old man considered things and said: “Well, I don't know that. I don't have a calendar here, I don’t count the days…but we were on a school trip.”

After these words Henrik turned his eyes and realised the disaster that probably awaited him, as he looked at this old man. In the distance he saw Thea looking at new Eureka pupils. He ran to her and grabbed her by the hand.

“Sit down and look inconspicuously, so that the workers won’t notice you. So I know how it is. We’re here for life. There’s no permit to leave nor is there any freedom. And those that aren’t here have died. They died or have been eliminated, when they resisted the centre. And then others arrive. An illusion of how they’ll let us home and we’ll live just like before, it’s only really an illusion. Something to trick you with, and at the same time everyone here knows that a return doesn’t exist. This is our last station.”

With these words, both of them started losing life in their eyes.

“What are we going to do?! What is there to do anyway?!” Thea had to swallow a lot of curse words in order not to be noticed. This could have disastrous consequences for her and Henrik.

“So far I don’t know, I’ve had enough of everything. If it doesn’t matter whether the questions I ask the mirror, are those that it doesn’t want to hear, then there’s nothing to lose. If I have to die in a time vacuum then it doesn’t matter. They have erased us from the existence of time. We don’t even exist. Nobody is looking for us and maybe they think that we’re already dead. Maybe they’re looking for us and have reported us as missing without a chance. We’re actually in a different time dimension. There where no one has access only those that get an entry ticket for free. For life. We’re just a thought and only those who have this gift will connect with us.”

Before the evening Henrik sat in his room and silently gazed at the touch hand. He was thinking about the questions. When he gave up he placed the palm of his hand on this mirror and stated the request for a connection with the centre. After a few seconds the touch hand began to shine and Henrik started to ask: “Why am I here? What do you want from me? When will I return home? What’s the meaning of all of this? How long have I already been here?” There was no answer.

As always. Henrik desperately wiped his face but he still didn’t want to give up. “Are you even humans? Who’s on the other side of this system? Are you a single person or are there more of you? What do you actually want with this centre? Why are you so afraid of us?”

There was a deafening silence, but the touch hand still shone which meant that the connection was still active.

“If I’m to stay here for life then come here and kill me! It’ll be much better and I’ll save you expenses for my life in this weird centre! I hate it here and I don’t want to be here a day longer!”

After a while there was a small beep from the wall. Henrik looked at the wall and the touch hand began to change colours like a chameleon. All of a sudden a woman’s voice said: Place your hand and wait a minute. The identification process will proceed.

Surprised, Henrik placed his hand on the touch hand and waited. The touch hand constantly changed colours and made strange electronic sounds.

After a while … “It’s not possible to answer your questions since we’re under the control of the centre. This call is coded and will last only five minutes. The centre won’t have it recorded. After our conversation the record will be erased. So, you may ask. Please.” At that moment Henrik wasn’t able to lay out the questions in his head that he’d ask the “stranger”.

“How long have I been here? Why am I here? When will I be able to return home?”

There was a fizzle and the female voice spoke: “You’ve been here for exactly seven months. You’re here because the higher government of the centre came to the conclusion that we have to monitor you. People like you present for this society, or to be more precise, for this government a possible threat. The threat of looking where the government doesn’t want you to. That’s why you’re here under control and that’s why every morning you answer questions. It’s not to isolate you forever but to get your ability under control and be able to review it. If you answered incorrectly then we’d immediately know that you’re hiding something. The touch hand- which is also a lie detector-would instantly state this. Our role would be then to erase from your memory that which you hid from us. It’s been happening all the time ever since you’ve been in this centre. The touch hand simultaneously transfers controlled impulses through the palm of your hand into your neuro system and thanks to this we’re able to modify your memories, knowledge and feelings. People like you were once spread across the planet and nobody knew about them. Everything started to gradually fall into the scheme, when the government realised that it might be dangerous for them and they began to focus more on this “problem”. This whole process lasted over 164 years. Today the centre- the government- has control over your dreams. Because it’s impossible to hide something. It’s crucial for the government to know that in your dreams you didn’t get into forbidden places or if you didn’t meet people like you. It would mean that you could immaterially exchange information and control the environment or what’s worse, reveal secret plans. This is what the centre sees as a threat. All over the world we’re monitoring these kind of people and it’s essential to get them under control. Henrik just stared at the small miracle on the wall. He wasn’t able to do anything but after a while he returned his thoughts to himself.

“How would this be possible? Why do you think that we’re such a threat? And anyway how did you find out about me?” The female voice continued with the information that these were the last two minutes.

“Quite easily, in your neighbourhood you mentioned some of your dreams and some of them confirmed our fears. Therefore the centre issued an order to relocate you to Barent’s Island and to monitor you. It’s very simple. If we built a building that doesn’t have any windows or doors it would be a monolithic building without the option of getting inside. How would you get in?! You wouldn’t. Physically it’s impossible. How is it possible otherwise?! In your case astrally. Through your astral “body” you would easily get into this building. You would go through the wall and there you are. If we were hiding something secret there then you’d find it. And therefore we constantly have to monitor you so that such things wouldn’t happen. But it also has another side, if we needed your help to find something that we were unable to find you could help us. It would be possible also with the cooperation of other people across the planet! I hope that it’s clear to you why you’re here. We’re in control of all things physical. We live in an age after catastrophes and wars. We had to make the world better and that’s possible only when there is total control. Control over the whole system. Nowadays it’s like that. And the last thing that we have to achieve is to gain control over the immaterial world. The one that we can’t see and that presents a possible risk. We’re currently maybe half-way in the process. We estimate that to gain total control over the whole thing, approximately 15 years are needed. That’s the ratio. These people, just like you, we’ll have to put them into one big community. It’s possible that we’ll select one big space, maybe an island, where they’ll be able to live freely, but they’ll be under control. They’ll live like normal people and will help the centre to perfect its “governing”.

Henrik angrily waited for the female voice to finish. Now he changed his tone and barked at this small mirror.

“But every day at my house I answered your questions truthfully! It’s absolutely not necessary to hold me here and waste time! I want to go home, let me go! I’ll have to cooperate anyway, since nobody has any other option, they just have to cooperate!”

The touch hand made no sound anymore. Henrik didn’t receive any more answers. But this mysterious voice at least clarified the whole situation to him. He left his room and scrambled through the noisy crowd. Thea sat across the screen and wrote some words on a paper in a sad way and translated them into Eureka. “I can’t stand it anymore. I’ll go crazy here,” she said with her head bent over the paper.

“Every day is the same and I don’t know how long I’ve been here anymore. There aren’t even clocks here, nobody to counsel over the term “time”. Do these people even know where they came from and how long they’ve been here?! The same thoughts every day, the same questions and the same answers. The same walk on the island and the same neverending cold and snow falling from all directions. Everything is white, icy and mute. Because that’s the goal, intention of how to erase us from the world. We’re in a time slope, that’s been systematically created by this centre. We’ve actually disappeared. Nobody knows where we are and they can do whatever they want with us. We have no chance of getting out of here and these options have long been eliminated by the centre. They predicted the intentions of people’s escape and it’s impossible to do on this island. It’s an icy hell on earth. This is the way to bend time. It’s possible to manipulate it and to erase it. One can play with time however one wants. You only need to think of a strategy and the game begins. I even think that this way and principle can change even the past and programme the future many years in advance.”

When Henrik finished talking the door opened and other “envoys” from outside entered. Their uncomprehending faces revealed uncertainty and helplessness.

“Look at them, they don’t even know that they’ve left the world. They think that they’re in a camp or on some secret trip. I remember the first day when I was naïve and excited from a new change in my life. But it looks like you said, that this change is forever. At least I’ll find new people to teach Eureka to, that’s the only thing maintaining my sanity. Oh how I want to be home. In my house, to go for a walk in the local park and to the shops. Imagine how many new things there must be on the shelves ever since we’ve been in the stronghold of ice and snow. This cursed dome is creeping me out. It’s actually a terrifying place and I’d like to know how all of this got into this icy hell. Not even a person could build this in this cold. Where did it all come from?”

Thea got up from the chair and exasperated, she joined the crowd of new people. She asked the newcomers about eureka but they didn’t react, just stared around the hall like in a kindergarten. If only they knew that the moment they crossed this threshold of time they were forever lost. In Henrik’s house the door opened and the woman in a red bodysuit switched on a small device which made electronic sounds. The small robot that was stamped on, came to her feet. The woman picked it up and placed it on the table. She switched it on the transmission regime. The small screen showed words, sentences… that made no sense. After finishing the check-up, she switched the device off and placed the small robot into her handbag. She sat and thought. Then she took a blank piece of paper out of the drawer and began to write down numbers that also didn’t make any sense. Then she moved to the window and watched the snow fall on this town from all sides. Not even the snow scooter which she came on could be seen. It’s covered with snow, just like everything else. Henrik and Thea returned from the walk and went to their rooms. Today they really weren’t in the mood to watch the endless documentaries and aimless walks in the centre. Henrik sat in the middle of his room in the adjustable armchair and stared at the Touch Hand with hatred. Suddenly there was a shrieking noise. A metal shrieking which couldn’t be previously heard. The door to Henrik’s room opened and a woman in a red bodysuit entered. Her entry was followed by men in black suits. As always, they just silently gazed in front of themselves. Henrik stared, uncomprehending. “Who are you?” he asked and incredulously looked at the woman with fear about his own safety.

“I don’t have a name. We don’t have names. We’re the third plan. We won’t wait any longer, till they’ll really erase you. We have our plan, which, if they find out, will erase us as well. FOREVER. But we’ll continue further and you’ll help us with it.”

“Me?!” Henrik wondered and he withdrew a little to himself.

“Yes you, since you have the gift that be a threat but that can also save… look into the hall and come out of your room.” Henrik walked out of his room and everyone followed him. The hall with the big screen was empty. There wasn’t a single soul around.

“What’s the meaning of this?! Where is everyone? I never saw this happen, people stumbled over each other every day and the noise... has everyone then gone out for a walk?! That can’t be, since we’ve been on a walk during the day.”

The woman stood close to the screen and explained to Henrik how it all works.

“Everyone is here. They didn’t go anywhere, we just bended time. Now we’re in an interface of time and have only a few minutes to disappear. In this centre K1000 time’s on a halt. Exactly like you described to your acquaintance Thea. It’s based precisely on this principle. But we don’t have the power to control or make, or change. I just calculated a code that you helped me generate. In your dreams you often saw numbers that you afterwards wrote down. All the time you thought about what they could mean. You helped bend time in this space and thus we created a gap and got here without anyone seeing us. We don’t have a lot of time. It’s as if you bent a thin branch. It’ll bend back to its former position. If that happens and we’re still here, then we’ll stay here forever as well. We’ll never be able to leave. And we can’t risk that since we’ve established a great plan. So you see that if you helped us with this thing then you have a great power. You don’t even realise it. You can shift great things and it will be very useful for us. For the final goal.”

Henrik was still looking around the hall and suddenly he felt numb.

“I know, you’re looking for Thea and you also got used to this infinite system. But now it’s high time and we have to get to the coast.”

“Let’s go!” shouted Henrik.

“I won’t wait a minute longer, no matter what happens.” They all moved swiftly to the main gate which was open and snow, accompanied with icy wind was rushing through it. The dreadful metal screeching began and flashes of purple-blue colour began to form.

“Run! Run towards the water, so that we escape the time loop! Water is resistant to it! Jump into the water!” yelled the woman in the red bodysuit and all of them were knee-high in the water. There was the unbearable sound of screeching and the whole island was covered with lightning bolts of different colours. Suddenly there was a bright explosion of white light. A blinding light against which everyone hid their faces so as not to lose their sight. The terrible noise shook the whole island. Everything returned to its original form. The gigantic dome with a lighthouse on top of it and snow rushing from all sides. There was complete silence.

“What’s going to happen now? We’re knee high in icy water, at least it’s good that these bodysuits are made for this. But look at the men in the suits, they’ll soon collapse of cold. They won’t last long.”

While Henrik was asking the woman questions, she just silently looked at the dark water and then pointed her finger at the moon. Henrik looked incomprehensively at the moon and nervously kicked his legs in the water. In the reflection of the moon on the night surface a silver ship appeared and it was heading to the shore. It was a ship without a crew or a captain. It had been programed for this journey. This type of ship functions through a means of a magnetic system, just like all other transport in this age. They move entirely without a sound. The ship slowly paused at the shore and they all had to walk even deeper into this icy water that generated horror by its noise and darkness. At the side of the boat a trap door opened. They all climbed up and got on the board of this wonder that bore a silver colour. The door closed and the temperature on the board adjusted. In the middle of the board there were sofas and a screen with different information and some kind of a map. The men were drying themselves from the water and the woman sat in front of the screen. She began to recite some numbers and names. When she finished she turned to Henrik and said: “We can’t stay in Norway and we can never return back here. They would erase us. Now we’ll head for the opposite side of the globe. But you have to take into account that my third plan can work but it also doesn’t have to. It’s a risk we had to take. Either way, you wouldn’t stand a chance to survive if you had stayed in the K 1000 centre. You’d stay there till you died and nobody would know that you were there. Those that enter never do a step back. It’s impossible. You don’t have anything to lose. If it works out, that which we’re trying to change…”

“You’ll never manage to change it.” said Henrik.

“You won't change this world and system, you may find gaps, but it'll all go back to the old routine anyway. The system was being created for so long, that all possibilities and risks have been eliminated in it. Everything is assumed. It’s above us and we don’t have a chance to change it because we don’t know its structure. It’s as if you’d want to change the Earth’s orbit or rearrange the planets in our system. The only thing we can do with it, is to play a game. A game that the system is long prepared for. And if it likes this game then it’ll give us time to think that we have managed to overcome its mind. It’ll even let us get to the other side of the globe and I guarantee you that everything will begin once again. I’ve waited for a long time to see if you’d appear. And you came. Now we can perfect the system so that nobody can escape it.”

They all looked at Henrik with frozen looks on their faces.

“I’m the patch that should make the system absolutely perfect. Gentlemen, you did some good work! We didn’t have to come and look for you. You came of your own accord. We’ve been watching you for a very long time and finally we’ve thought of a plan to attract you. You really are brave and therefore the centre will include you into other cracks so that you can help bring this system to perfection, so that it’s impenetrable. Forever! Your knowledge and abilities are likewise priceless and thanks to them the circle will begin to close. 41 This was our plan, to catch all dare-devils and heroes on our side, which we are managing to do. You no longer have a choice. The only choice is to work for us. For the centre. For the government of the world. For the system that’s unconquerable. And the biggest heroes in it will get the most roles. Welcome!”

The ship distanced itself from the shores of Norway and disappeared in the ocean. In the K 1000 centre a documentary was playing. The subtitles indicated the year 2289.