The escorting of new arrivals from the Neon Colony
corridor to the central government building was clearly an event of
some note. Moments after the guard had ascertained that Lisa and
Gerald were not, as suspected, errant Neon citizens who had wandered
off, a large contingent of extremely heavily armored people had
arrived. They were obviously police, and prepared for a much
worse threat than Lisa or Gerald could possibly present. With little
fanfare, Lisa and Gerald had been surrounded by officers who
immediately began herding them toward the center of the colony.
Perhaps the most unnerving thing was that their escort
never said anything to them during the entire event. Lisa could
barely see the surrounding colony, as their escort was almost
uniformly taller than either she or Gerald. She heard muted voices,
likely those of people on the streets that they passed, but she
couldn't really make out a conversation. The only real certainty
about their little group was that everyone was entirely too tense for
their health. The officers were carrying what appeared to be a
modified version of the standard police stunrod, and they carried them
warily, as though they expected their visitors to become unruly at any
moment. Lisa found herself wondering exactly what had conditioned the
colony to treat newcomers in this manner. Whatever it was, she was
sure she wouldn't like it.
"Gentleman Gelas is approaching!" the officer in the
lead shouted, without turning toward the rest of the group. Everyone
stopped suddenly, and the escorts made some sort of salutation
gesture.
"Captain Zeal, what's going on here? Has there been
another disturbance?" an unfamiliar voice requested from ahead.
"No sir, there have been no demonstrations today, nor are
there any in planning that I am aware of." the policeman replied in
clipped formal tones. "However, we have come across two visitors from
afar. This is the reason for your summons - forgive my rather abrupt
notice."
"Visitors? My God, this is even worse than the
demonstrations. To the side, let me have a look at them!"
The guards in front of Lisa and Gerald shuffled to the
side rather quickly, allowing Lisa to see the person who was
apparently in charge. He seemed an elder man, obviously harried by
this unexpected intrusion into his daily routine.
He regarded the two momentarily, then nodded. "Hello, I'm
Gentleman Gelas, and I'd like to welcome you to Neon Colony. I take
it that, from the direction you're approaching, you're natives of
Helium next door."
"Yes sir." Lisa said tentatively, hoping that she was
sounding respectful enough. The last thing they needed right now was
to offend the very people who they were supposed to live with for the
rest of their lives.
If Gelas was offended, he didn't seem it. "I apologize
for the armed escort, but it's necessary with the recent upsurge in
demonstrations. We wouldn't want new visitors to be injured."
Something of Lisa's alarm must have registered with the
Gentleman. "Oh, don't let me give you the wrong impression of our
colony - there's very little chance that you'll be hurt. We just
don't want to take any chances. Life's different here in Neon..." his
expression turned dour for a moment. "But not to worry - you'll be
given all the details you need." He smiled again as he started walking
in the direction they had been going. The police captain motioned
everyone to follow, and soon the entire procession was moving through
the colony once again.
At least the chair was comfortable, Lisa found herself
thinking. The room in which she now found herself was dimly lit (much
like the rest of Neon colony seemed, she reflected) and slightly
smaller than she might like. After they had arrived at what she
assumed was the central government building, she and Gerald had been
separated almost immediately. Gentleman Gelas had only stayed
momentarily, mostly to tell them not to panic. So Lisa decided that
this was routine, and that no harm was going to befall her. At least,
she hoped that all was routine, and that she wasn't in danger.
The only thing that had happened thus far was her
internment in this particular room. There were two chairs, and a
screen on the far wall. She certainly hoped that this wasn't going to
be her permanent room - for one thing, it lacked a bed.
She sighed to herself. Did she really want a permanent
place in this colony anyway? It had seemed such a simple thing when
Gerald had suggested it years back - visit the other colonies, get out
of their daily rut, see new things. She didn't know it was going to
change her life. And she wasn't sure she at all cared for Neon
colony. She was willing to wait, though. No sense adding another
rash decision to the ones she had already committed.
There was a small chiming noise, remarkably similar to the
one Alice used to notify people she was listening. Lisa instantly
looked to her personal communicator, but it remained silent. "What
the?"
The chiming noise sounded again as she got up, searching
for the source. It hadn't come from the communicator - was there a
terminal with a connection to the ship's computer in the room? Had
Alice been wrong about the colonists? No, if there was a terminal
hookup here, Alice would know about it.
The door to the room opened then, and a man Lisa didn't
recognize stepped in. "My apologies, miss, but you didn't answer the
chime. I was wondering if you were okay?"
Lisa nearly laughed out loud, but managed to restrain
herself. It wasn't so much that she'd mistaken the door chime for the
computer chime, it was that the door chime was the same chime as the
door chime from Helium Colony! There was only a slight difference
between someone at the door and the computer listening, and usually
she picked up on the difference. She supposed that she was hoping for
Alice to still come in and guide her.
"No sir, I was just... lost in thought. It's quite a
change from my home."
The man smiled. "Ah, such thoughts are understandable.
But where are my manners? I'm Reverend Sevens."
"I'm Lisa Neff." Lisa extended her hand to the other, who
shook it heartily and then gestured toward the seats.
"Have a seat, please. There's much we have to discuss.
Your colleague is likely having this same talk with my colleague, so
when you next see him, you'll have the same information. First off,
I'm a member of the colony Guidanceship, and it's my job to oversee
matters of faith and doctrine. I'm here to help show you what Neon
Colony is all about."
Lisa found her way back to the seat she had been occupying
before, and Reverend Sevens sat across from her, leaning forward to talk
to her. He was young, it seemed to Lisa, at least for someone
enrolled in what apparently was a priesthood.
Sevens paused for a moment, and then continued. "Our last
contact with the people of your colony is documented in our records,
and occurred about a hundred years ago. If you wish, you can meet the
descendants of these people, to get an idea as to how they adapted.
Some of our information about your home may be out of date, and I'll
ask that you correct me if there is anything I say that's
changed."
Lisa nodded, and the reverend continued. "From what I
know of your colony, a great deal of technology is used. From such
minor things as the personal communicator you wear, to communications
with the ship's computer which misguidedly ferries us to our
destination. That is not the way here in Neon colony. We use
technology as well, but it is technology that we have developed
ourselves, without the aid of the ship's computer. Every
technological creation we plan to implement is thoroughly debated by
the Guidanceship which I serve. Anything that might prove disruptive
to our stability, we do not allow pursued. It is a philosophy that
has served us well."
"Your personal communicator, you can keep, but it will be
quite useless here - transmissions, we've discovered, will not breach
the seal that ordinarily prevents people from crossing over. I would
advise you not to wear it in public, as it will mark you as an
outsider. The sooner you can wean yourself from its presence, the
better you will be able to adapt to our society."
Sevens paused momentarily, sitting back in the chair.
"Now, I'm sure there's a lot you'd like to know about the colony.
Please, feel free to ask anything."
Lisa considered for a moment. She wasn't sure she'd like
this - her goal was entertaining, but she was hoping to use a bit of
her Expert Computing as well. At the very least, she'd find out one
thing. "Your philosophy sounds very interesting to me. Still, I'd be
curious to know its source - I was lead to understand that there was a
breakdown in society after the captain ordered separation for the
colonies. Was the result your Guidanceship?"
The reverend smiled and seemed slightly amused by this.
"A great many people from your colony have this impression, which is
not exactly true. The Guidanceship was the only group to survive the
collapse of society after the Great Disaster, true, but we originated
long before that. We were a minute sect on Earth, but we believe
firmly that the Interdiction had been placed on our solar system for a
reason, by some higher power. As you likely know, the mission of this
ship was to subvert this Interdiction, and to visit a neighboring
star. Our group on Earth predicted dire consequences for any who
dared to flout the barrier that had been placed for our own
protection. Priests of the Guidanceship had been placed aboard this
vessel, in the hopes of warning the crew, but to no avail. Society,
as you put it, broke down almost immediately after the Interdiction.
The reason for this is simple:"
"The Great Disaster that had been prophesied had come to
pass"
[Neon] Part I -
Contents - [Neon] Part III
Geocities