Story of a Sovran State
By Wendel Schwab
The rising sun slid over the green hills and trees. Two hunched figures slowly shuffled toward the golden sunlight. It was a relief for them to feel the warm rays on their skin, especially after spending a cold night walking through the mountain pass.
The couple was old, the man's head was nearly bald, his liver spotted hand grasped his cane, and prevented him from crashing to the ground. The woman's hair was white as snow, and the thick glasses perched on her wrinkled nose barely helped correct her failing eyesight.
"These mountains are beautiful..." the old woman said wistfully. Her name was Mabi, she and her husband, Gil, were currently fleeing for their lives.
"They sure are," replied Gil. "I'm surprised that Empyrean hasn't blasted away the mountains, paved over the grass and shrubs, built huge factories, cut down all the trees to fuel those factories, and turned day into night with all the smoke they would pump into the air."
Gil was seventy-five, he had lived through the Second Depression and the rise of the Sovran State of Empyrean. Mabi was seventy, she could still remember celebrating a holiday called "Christmas" as a child. She and Gil had been married when she was twenty, Gil had just finished his military service in the Sovran Army. She remembered how strong and confident he looked, nothing like the shy, thin older boy she had known in school. Because he was so far ahead of her Mabi had never been in a class with Gil; but she did remember seeing him as she left history class. She couldn't remember what she had ever learned in history, but she did remember thinking that Gil was cute.
The Sovran State of Empyrean had an excellent education system: no one remembered what nation Empyrean had been before the proclamation of the Sovran State. Gil and Mabi had been born before it's existence, but they had gone to high school under the State's oppressive heel. Maybe it was old age, Gil sometimes thought the State had always been there. Always watching. In control of every citizens' life. Demanding the deaths of the handicapped and the infirm, the old and the weak.
"We've been happy, haven't we Mabi?" Gil asked, as he looked into her eyes. "Even though the State has always been watching, we've also always had each other."
Mabi smiled at him. Even after all these years, Mabi's smile made Gil's heart skip. "Of course we've been happy!" Mabi said in a mirthful reproach. "When I was a little girl, I used to dream of the man I would marry. Of course that was before the State assigned you your life partner." Mabi often cherished the memories of what life was like before the State was involved in every aspect of it. "And I used to dream that you were the one for me!"
Gil looked surprised. "Really? I always thought you couldn't stand me! When we were assigned to be together, I thought it would be hell!"
The couple lapsed into silence, each thinking their own thoughts. "I had a crush on you, ever since school." Mabi almost whispered.
Gil still looked shocked. "But when we were first assigned, you told me you hated me and you were going to kill yourself!"
Mabi looked down. She was ashamed of the way she had acted all those years ago. She looked up suddenly, anger and defiance in her eyes. "I was-" She stopped her hostile interjection. "I was rebelling. I couldn't stand the State telling us how to live our lives. I began to love you from the very beginning." She said much more softly while staring deeply into Gil's eyes.
They walked further, enjoying the light breeze, the smell of grass and flowers, fresh clean rain that had fallen in the night; the bright greens, whites, browns of the grass, trees, and mountains; the vivid pinks, reds and whites of plants and flowers that didn't exist in their former home.
After a short silence Gil spoke softly. "You know, our children have never seen fresh, bright flowers," his heart ached at the sad thought. "We never gave them a chance. They were born into the State, and it seems they'll die in the State."
Mabi looked toward Gil, distress filled her eyes. "How could we give them a chance? Would they even want to see the flowers?" She asked thoughtfully. "They have jobs now, our oldest even works for the State! They would turn us in if they knew where we are."
"Is this what our descendants are destined for?" Gil asked, his eyes betrayed his despair. "Will our children and their children and their children be controlled by the State? Will they never see flowers or trees? Will they never know what clean, unpolluted rain is like? Will they never know what it's like to be able to say what you want? Think what you want? Believe what you want?" His whole face was now twisted in emotional pain and grief for what his family was doomed to become.
"Maybe... Maybe not!" Mabi replied, her eyes began to light up a little. "Gil, we're escaping! The State has been around so long, we barely remember what it was like without it. But, we're escaping!" Her face lit up with undying hope, with dreams of freedom for her children and their descendants. She took Gil by the arm. "If we, two old folks, one nearly blind and one nearly lame, can escape the State, then why can't our kids?"
Slowly Gil began to smile as he thought of their escape. He tucked his cane under his arm, his feet seemed lighter than they had in years. Of course! If they could escape an all-powerful and pervasive State, then anyone could! The ache in his heart was replaced with strong excitement and hope. He looked at Mabi, he loved her so much. They had been put together by the State, not because they had loved each other, but because the State felt they should be together. But they had fallen in love. The power of the State was useless when they had their love and freedom. Freedom! The realization that he had found freedom, that he had broken the State's power over him made his heart swell with hope, and love for Mabi, his best friend, soul-mate, and the love of his life.
Gil looked into Mabi's smiling eyes, they were brown and clear. The milky white of her cataracts seemed to have disappeared. Her cheeks were smooth and a little rosy. She smiled at him, her teeth were white instead of their former yellow. The bright sun made her hair look soft and warm. Gil looked ahead, they were leaving the pass, it was only a short while and they would leave the Sovran State forever! Gil squeezed Mabi's warm hand and turned to look at her, she seemed to have fallen completely still and silent...
"Mabi?" Gil asked. He was staring into her lifeless eyes. They were a sickly yellow, her pupils looked like they had rolled up into her skull. While a moment ago her white hair was illuminated and bright in the rising sun, it now looked grey and dull under glaring, unnatural, light. Her cheeks were pale and sallow even though they had looked rosy and healthy in the brisk mountain air.
Gil heard a voice: "Experiment 054, Subject 243 is a success." Men in white coats were standing around him taking readings on complicated machinery. His heart felt heavy, like a dead, useless weight in his chest.
"Mabi?" He asked again, his voice weak and strained, as he looked back at his beloved wife.
The men moved away from him and surrounded his Mabi. After adjusting instruments and machines one of them announced: "Experiment 248, Subject 078 is a failure. I want a dissection, I want to see what went wrong. Hurry up! The subject is nearly dead!" The other men wheeled his wife from the room.
"Wait..." Gil said, trying to get someones' attention. "Wait, how did you get us? We had escaped!" Gil managed to recover some of his voice.
"Oh, no," the man in white said, almost apologetically. "That was an illusion, it was all in your mind. Thanks to you, Subject 243, we have perfected the 'induced mental illusion' technique. Your contribution is a step toward enabling the State to have absolute control over everyones' lives. I doubt my own mind will even be free within a few years." He turned to someone Gil could not see. "You two, bring Subject 243 to the incinerators, we've finished gathering all the test data."
The man in white stood studying the results of his latest successful experiment. He allowed himself to enjoy his own thoughts and feelings, safe in the confines of his own mind. He knew they wouldn't be safe for much longer, soon no one could be sure of what was real, and what the State made your mind believe was real. He felt forlorn and despondent at the thought that soon even his mind would be under the State's control. Still, he felt a rush of excitement at the success of his experiment. His own father, now far older and weaker than he had remembered, had not even recognised him. The experiment they had performed on his mother had failed, but it was only a matter of time. It seemed ironic that the State had created the love his second experiment had failed to destroy. It was only a matter of time though. Even the most powerful of emotions would soon be no match for the Sovran State of Empyrean.
