A New No.2 - Chapter 14

 

Chapter 14

Appreciation Day

 

    And so the great day was almost upon the good citizens and the community at large. There should have been an air of excitement pervading the atmosphere of the Village, but instead.
    “I ask you this, Appreciation Day, what’s it in aid of?” a young radical asked.
    “To show our appreciation of Number Two” a good citizen replied.
    “Well I ask you this citizen, what has Number Two ever done for you?”

    “Well there was the village regatta” No.97 said.
    “Yes that’s right” 209 agreed “and don’t forget the horticultural show.”
    “Well that’s right” 38 said in agreement “life here isn’t so bad, it could be worse.”
    “Worse! How worse could it be? We’re told how to live our lives, interrogated, tortured, mind altering drugs are used on us. We’re experimented upon, locked in our cells at night, and at the same time sedated to keep us quiet, and we are kept under surveillance morning noon and night, and Number Two is behind it all!”
    “Well I’ve not had any of those things done to me” No.112 said.
    “Well perhaps you’re one of those people who came here of your own volition” the radical accused “life here can be very pleasant if you give in and give them what they want. Then in return they give you certain privileges; you’re allowed to enjoy a day at the beach.”
    “Not to mention in the library” said a citizen
    “I’m going to a music concert this afternoon” announced another.
    “And there’s the cinema, art seminars” said No.112.
    “And for those who are of a sporting nature there’s the gymnasium, croquet on the Village green, clock golf, the golf course” No.42 added to the list of activities.
    “The welfare system” said another.
    “The amateur dramatics society!”
    “Brass band concerts” 32 added.
    “Painting competitions!”
    “Arts and crafts exhibitions.”
    “Alright, alright” the young radical said “spend the rest of your lives here if that’s what you want.”
    “What else is there?” 112 asked.
    “Escape!” the young radical said.
    “Don’t be daft, no-one has ever escaped.”
    “That’s what they want you to think, it’s another way in which they control and manipulate you. They want you to think there’s no escape.”

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    “There’s always the Guardian!” No.38 suggested.
    “Or guardians” 112 said looking at the two burly men walking towards the gathered citizens.
    As the two men in red jerseys drew nearer the small crowd broke

up, each person walking away.
    “Number Forty-seven you are to come with us” No.256 said.
    No.47 protested “What for, you’ve got nothing on me!”
    No.261 took a small device from his pocket and pressed a button, the recorder began to play back 47’s own words “I ask you this, Appreciation Day, what’s it in aid of? Well I ask you this citizen, what has Number Two ever done for you? Worse! How worse could it be? We’re told how to live our lives, interrogated, tortured, mind altering drugs are used on us. Were experimented upon, locked in our cells at night, and sedated to keep us quiet, and we are kept under surveillance morning noon and night, and Number Two is behind it all!”
    No.47 was taken away by the two guardians in order to receive the best possible therapy treatment the doctors in the hospital could provide. Such treatment included electrical massage of the brain, the use of mind altering drugs, reconditioning of the mind, and aversion therapy. Suffice to say No.47 was no longer the young radical he once was. All outward appearances gave the impression that he was now fully integrated into Village life.
    
    The workshop had been a hive of activity as carpenters busied themselves sawing wood, banging nails and pasting onto placards, large and small, the poster image of No.2.

    “I recall how we made loads of these placards before” No.195 complained “why can’t we use those?”
    “That’s right” No.55 said “they were for the local election.”
    “Because they were chucked away after the election” the foreman said “besides we could hardly use the vote for Number Six could we.”
    The placards were made for a number of citizens to carry during the Appreciation Day ceremony.

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    “I bet this Appreciation Day malarkey turns out to be a damp squib!” No.39 said sawing a piece of 4 by 2.
    “How do you make that out?” 195 asked.
    “I remember last year’s event” 39 said.

    “So do I” 84 said “we stood under the balcony of the Gloriette listening to an old man who banged on about all the achievements he had done for the community!”
    “That was the old Number Two, he retired” 195 said.
    “Yes, then we got a new Number Two, and I remember how he couldn’t get through his speech fast enough!” 4 said.
    “I expect he was eager to get on with the job” the foreman said “I wish the same could be said of you lot, so less chit-chat, and more woodworking, and make sure you paste those posters on nice and smooth, that means no creases!”

   “Good afternoon everyone, good afternoon” the cheery female announcer began “Just to remind you good people everywhere that tomorrow is the big day, Appreciation Day. Remember folks there will be a speech by Number Two himself, as well as the unveiling of the magnificent Appreciation Day monument, don’t miss it. Come one come all, be seeing you.”
    The citizens sitting at tables on the lawn of the Old People’s Home carried on drinking their tea, or coffee and remained unstirred. Citizens sitting at tables on a lawn next the bandstand all sat looking unimpressed, unmoved by the announcement while others looked completely bored with the whole thing already. The good people of this community seemed to lack the vibrant enthusiasm as once they had for such public events. Its seemed that hardly anyone listened to the announcement, an uninterested look was etched on all their faces, perhaps because they had not only seen it all before, but had been put through it all before. And now they had to go through it all again, and for what, a better life, a better Village, more Village?

    The pair of steel doors opened and No.21 walked smartly down the ramp into No.2’s office. He was dressed in black suit, overcoat, Top Hat, and dark glasses as in his capacity of a Top Hat administrative official.
    “Are you ready sir, it’s almost time” 21 said in official tones.
    “You are going to be there?”
    “Yes sir. I shall be officiating in my official capacity.”
    “What precisely does that mean?”
    “As an administrator I shall be standing behind you on the balcony trying to look interested” 21 explained.
    “Are the people in good heart?”
    No.21 remained silent.
    “I asked if the people are in good heart.”
    “I’m sure they will be captivated in the moment” 21 said.
    “Meaning?”

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    “It’s only to be expected, the people have been here before. You yourself once took part in a local election, you yourself were elected as a new Number Two. The people went through that election supporting you because they believed you would bring change. But nothing

changed, not for the citizens, because what did you do?”
    No.2 recalled “I tried to organise a mass breakout.”
    “And there you have it, you put self before the people, had you played the game….”
    “I was gullible, I allowed myself to get involved, I should have known better.”
    “And the next day we ended up with an interim Number Two who was hard as nails. I hate to imagine where they got her from!” No.21 said thinking back.
    “And I have been refreshing my memory, by reviewing some tapes of last years Appreciation Day, and the three days leading up to it” 2 said.
    “Then this is the time, the moment in which you can a difference” 21 told him.
    “What by telling the people what they want to hear!” he said pressing a button on the control panel of the desk.
   A face appeared on the wall screen, No.2 stood looking at himself. 
   “The community can rest assured that their interests are very much my own and that anything I can do to maintain the security of the citizens will be my primary objective...... be seeing you.”

    He pressed another button.
    “There are those who come in here and deny we can provide every conceivable civilized amenity within our boundaries. You can enjoy yourselves and you will. You can take partake of the most hazardous sports and you will, the price is cheap, all you have to do is give us information.   You are then eligible for promotion to other and perhaps more attractive spheres where do you desire to go, what has been your dream? I can supply it, winter spring, summer or fall they can all be yours at any time. Apply to me and it will be easier and better.”

    “Six six six six six six six six six six six six six six.”

    And a third button.

    “Place your trust in the old regime their policies defined the future certain, the old regime forever and the old Number Two forever. Confession by coercion is that what you want? Vote for him and you have it, or stand firm upon this electoral platform and speak a word without fear the word is…..freedom. They say six of one and half a dozen of the other, not here, it’s Six for Two and Two for nothing and Six for free for all for free for all vote, vote.”
    No.2 turned off the screen.
    “I remember, I was there” 21 said “if elected you offered to take care of the citizens, you offered the people a choice, as well as less work and more play!”
    “What game are we playing now?” 2 demanded to know.

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    “You have progressed; it’s you the people will be showing their appreciation for” 21 assured his superior “If you want to make a better Village, a moral Village, then its actions not words which are required.”

   No.2 picked up a sheet of paper from his desk, he tore it up.

    The pair of steel doors opened and the butler entered the chamber in his capacity of the Keeper of the Great Seal of Office as he carried a crimson cushion, upon which it sat. Standing before No.2 No.21 took the Great Seal of office and placed it about the Chief Administrator’s neck and shoulders. Making sure it was hanging correctly and announcing it was time, the people will be waiting.
    No.2 looked down at it then at his assistant “Shouldn’t I receive that after my speech?”
    “I thought the Great Seal is the Appreciation Day ceremony.”

    “The ceremony is for the people, and in your case it’s quite superfluous. Seeing as you have no successor, being our permanent Number Two, there’s no-one to pass the Great Seal onto.”
    “I could choose the moment to resign” No.2 told him.
    “Creating chaos and confusion, that’s the old Number Six’s way of thinking” 21 told him.
    The three of them made to leave the domed chamber, the butler leading the way through the open steel doors. No.21 paused, thought for a moment.
    “You go ahead I won’t be a moment.”
    Picking up the red telephone pressing the square chrome button “I realize this is not the correct protocol sir……..yes sir but I think Number Two is about to put a spanner in the works……yes of course I will sir.”

     Replacing the telephone back on the desk he saw the torn pieces of paper of No,2’s speech. Picking them up he put them in his pocket and hurried outside to find the butler and No.2 standing on the balcony looking down on the people parading through the Village carrying placards of No.2, Chairman, and Chief Administrator as the brass band played.

    “This is the moment ladies and gentlemen, the great moment when we can all show our appreciation of our Number Two. Today we salute our leader” a Top  Hat official said into a microphone.

    The Appreciation Day monument had been placed below the balcony of the Gloriette, covered by a red silk sheet.
    “We should go sir” 21 suggested.
    So the three of them, the butler leading, descended the steps down to the road where a taxi waited at the bottom of the steps.
    “I think we’ll walk” No.2 said “it’s not far.”
    The taxi driver shrugged her shoulders as the three men walked off along the road. Although people paraded carrying the 2 placards there was no cheering from the citizens, their faces wore blank expressions. No.2 followed the butler, and No.21 followed behind No.2 to the Gloriette. Standing on the balcony were five Top Hat administrative

officials, two standing either side of the doorway, and one just
standing about. No.2 and his assistant stepped up onto the balcony, and the butler taking his place standing by the side of the

Appreciation Day monument below the balcony. The brass band continued to play as the citizens gathered in the piazza below the balcony. No.2 stood by the railing and the crowd burst into life cheering him, and naturally enough he raised his right hand and waved joyfully at the now smiling faces in the crowd as they waved their placards.

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    No.21 approached one of the two officiating officials “Get these pasted together” he said taking the pieces of torn paper out of his pocket.
    The official looked at 21 “Where am I going to get any glue? I don’t carry it around in my pocket.”
    “Just get it done, and be quick about it” 21 ordered.
    Taking the torn pieces of paper the Top Hat left the balcony and No.21 took his place.

    No.245, a senior administrative official stepped forward before the microphone “Fellow citizens…no dear friends for that is what you are each and everyone of you.”
   No.2 looked at the official making the usual address because although he heard the words spoken, not one word was uttered from the mouth of this man!
    The disembodied voice continued with the speech and N.245 continued to mime the words “We are gathered here on this happy occasion, our annual appreciation day, to pay homage and to show our gratitude to our glorious leaders.”
    There was a sudden fanfare.
    The crowed cheered and applauded, waved their placards in appreciation as No.245 gestured to No.2 to approach the microphone. At that moment the Top Hat official returned and unseen passed No.21 the now pieces of paper pasted together onto a piece of pasteboard. Standing before the microphone No.2 acknowledged the cheering citizens with a wave of a hand, the gold Great Seal of Office glinting in the sunshine as he prepared himself to make his speech. At that moment No.21 slipped the pasteboard onto the grey podium, No.2 saw it and looked at his assistant. There was a pause, the people waited expectantly. No.2 placed a hand on either side of the podium as though to lean upon it, and looked down at the words he had written.
    There was a fanfare.
    “Good people of this community” No.2 began.
    The crowd cheered.
    No.2 glanced at his assistant “Initially it was my intention to tender my resignation at this point.”
    This brought about foreboding murmurings amongst the citizens.
    “However” again he glanced at his assistant “It gives me enormous pleasure to stand here before you today, to see so many familiar faces amongst you on this most auspicious occasion. It is my intention to

bring about reform to our community, to make a better, a moral

Village, to find a better way for all.”

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   The citizens cheered, applauded, and waved their placards frantically.
    “And so it is with great pride that I dedicate this magnificent monument which represents our appreciation of this great community.”
    The citizens applauded and cheered the words of No.2, their leader, but he turned away from the microphone and glared in anger at his assistant, for the words heard were not his own, the microphone had been turned off!
   The butler pulled on a cord and the silk sheet fell away revealing the appreciation monument. Etched in the stone was the face of No.2, beneath which was the word.

                                          ASSIMILLATE. 

   Again the people cheered and applauded at the unveiling, while on the balcony it was smiles and congratulations all round as the crowd in the Piazza began to disperse. No.2 stood scowling at his assistant who merely smiled back in return.
    “I thought the day went off rather well” No.21 said
    “What by putting words in my mouth!”
    “You were given the opportunity to say the things which you thought needed to be said” his assistant told him taking the pasteboard and tearing it up.
   Overhead the Alouette helicopter circled over the Village before landing on the lawn by the sea wall, while two workmen in dove grey overalls came along with a set of trolley wheels to take away the appreciation monument. No.2 and his assistant returned to the Green Dome and life in the Village went on.
   

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