A New No.2 - Chapter 6

 

Chapter 6

The Regatta 

    Some days it was……….
    “What’s the matter with him?” No.2 asked, looking at the patient lying on the bed “he appears to be in some discomfort.”
    “He’s in a state of fugue, he’s had a change of consciousness” the doctor began to explain “he is suffering from amnesia, induced of course using drugs and hypnotism.”
    “Why would you do that?
    “It’s an on-going operation” the doctor explained “we have removed all unpleasant memories of the Village, and soon we’ll be able to be put him back into circulation.”
    “He will be able to leave the Village?” No.2 asked.
    “Of course, in order for him to accumulate information and bring it back to the Village for extraction” the doctor said.

    Other days it was………….    “Good morning, good morning and what a lovely day it is. The spell of fine weather is due to last at least another month” the cheery female voice announced “Before the programme of early morning music I have an announcement to make. Your local council, and remember it is your local council is to organize a Village regatta, if you wish to take part you must register your boat within the next two weeks. The regatta is to take place just five weeks from now.”

    In the office of the Green Dome both No.2 and No.21 listened to the announcement made over Village radio.
    “It might be a good idea for you to show your face at the Village regatta.” 21 suggested.

    No.2 looked at his assistant “Why should I want to do a thing like that?”
    “Well you are hardly a man of the people” No.21 began “what I mean is you haven’t shown yourself in public since your appointment.”
    “Why was I not informed about this regatta, am I not the Chief administrator?”
    “It was a committee decision I believe.”

    “Why was I not invited to sit on such a committee?” No.2 said sternly.
    “You are a busy man Number Two, you cannot be expected to oversee everything, that’s why I’m here to assist you sir” No.21 said smiling.
    “And you think I should attend this Village regatta?”
    “I think it would be good to show the citizens that you are a man of the people, if you wish to make the Village a better place.”

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    “I expect security measures will be stepped up, during the regatta?”
    “Not really sir” No.21 replied “I don’t think such steps will be necessary.”
    No.2 was surprised about that “You don’t?”
    “No sir.”

    A smile crossed No.2’s lips as an idea came to him “It can’t do any harm my showing my face, I might even enter the regatta myself.”
    “I didn’t know you had a boat sir?”
    “I don’t, but I expect a resourceful chap like you could get me one!” 2 suggested
    “Nothing easier sir” No.2 replied “if you’re sure.”
    “Do I detect a tone of surprise in your voice Twenty-one?”
    “Oh no sir, it’s just that I had no idea you were interested in sailing pond yachts!”
    “Pond yachts!” No.2 said, unable to disguise the sound of disappointment in his voice.
    “Yes sir, they’ll be sailed on the free sea in the Piazza” who couldn’t help but detect that disappointment in his superior’s voice.

    When No.36 heard this morning’s announcement about the forthcoming regatta he was sat at a table on the patio of the café enjoying morning coffee. The announcement puzzled him, and turned to two chaps sat at another table, who had ‘Village Yachting Club’ on their light blue jerseys.

    “You look like two likely chaps to tell me about this regatta” No.36 said.

    No.213 and No.267 looked at each other “What do you want to know?”

    “You’re allowed boats?”

    “Why yes” 213 said.

    “Otherwise it wouldn’t be much of a regatta would it!” 267 said.

    “And you’re members of the Village yachting club?”

    “He’s sharp” 213 said.

    “You're thinking of joining the club?” 267 asked.

    “I might, if there’s a yacht I can borrow” No.36 said eagerly.

    “Haven’t you a yacht of your own?”

    “No, I didn’t know we were allowed them. That’s why I want to borrow one.”

    “Well I don’t know” 213 said rubbing his chin “the committee likes members to own their own yachts.”

    “That’s right” 267 said “particular about that the committee is, beside members don’t like to lend their yachts to people, not even to a fellow member of the club.”

    No.36 stood up and joined the two men at their table and drew near to them, so as not to be overheard.

    “Tell me, if you all have yachts, why don’t any of you try and escape? If I had a boat I wouldn’t hang about for longer than it took me to set sail!”

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    Number’s 267 and 213 looked puzzled at each other.

    “If I had a yacht” No.36 told them “I could take part in the regatta, and when it was in full swing I could slip quietly away and make for the open sea.”

    No.267 and 213 shook their heads.

    “Well at least take me to your boathouse” No.36 pleaded.

    The penny dropped and No.267 and 213 realized 36’s mistake!

    “Well I suppose we could take you to the yachting club” 213 finally said.

    “Yachting club, well that’s more like it” said No.36 eagerly “say when shall it be?”

    It was then that they were joined by two more men sporting Village Yachting Club jerseys, they each carried something which made No.36’s heart sink.

    “Wh…..what are those?” No.36 asked in sudden realization of his mistake.

    “Pond yachts” No.59 said enthusiastically

    “Mine is called Northern Star” No.104 said.

    “And mine’s Southern Star” 59 said “Mine has the blue and white paint, and Northern Star has the green and white paint.”

    “You mean……you mean your yachting club sails pond yachts?”

    “That’s right” 267 said “we’ll be sailing our pond yachts in the Free Sea in the Piazza for the village regatta. It should prove very spectacular.”

    No.36 made his excuses and left the group with No.267 shouting after him about going to the yachting club.

    In the control room the supervisor-No.56, a bald-headed man wearing a dark green polo neck jersey and single breasted dark blue blazer stood with his assistant No.42 looking at No.36 pictured on the wall screen.

    “He looks disappointed” said the supervisor.

    “He has every right to be” 42 agreed.

    “As if we would permit the ownership of any kind of boat to ordinary citizens” said the supervisor.

    “Indeed to any citizen” No.42 said still watching the wall screen as No.9 made his way towards the Piazza.

    It was the blue and white striped awning of a kiosk that caught his attention, where a variety of pond yachts were for sale. No.9 paused and looked at the tidy vessels. Then No.66 the ex-Admiral caught his eye, he was sat on a bench with a fellow boating enthusiast, both wore white Naval caps.

    “Hello Admiral” No.36 said approaching the bench “not sailing today?”

    The ex-Admiral looked up, he held a small control box in his hands, a small aerial protruded from the box.

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   “Well yes and no” he said “allow me to introduce you to my first officer Number One.”

   The first officer also held a control box and was concentrating very hard as he pressed a number of buttons. No.36 stood looking at the two men, then turned and looked towards the Free Sea, there was a yacht towards the farther end of the pool. Suddenly there was a minor explosion, a spout of water, the yacht keeled over and began to sink. He saw a man step into the water in order to retrieve the stricken yacht and began to study it. The ex-Admiral and his No.1 looked at each other, a final press on the two control boxes and two miniature submarines broke through the surface of the water and made their way to the side of the pool.

    “You, you pair did this” the owner of the stricken yacht shouted “you sank my yacht!”

    No.36 stood watching as the ex-Admiral and his first officer retrieved the two submarines from the Free Sea and made off with them in somewhat of a hurry, with the owner of the yacht shouting and shaking his fist.

    “So that’s where they sail their pond yachts” No.2 said looking at the wall screen.

    “That’ right sir, curious though that they should sink Eighty-one’s yacht like that” the supervisor said.

    “Curious indeed” said No.21 “that they should actually have working models of two submarines in the first place. I wonder how they came by them?”

    No.2 picked up the yellow ‘L’ shaped telephone “Control room.”
    The yellow ‘L’ shaped telephone in the control room began to bleep.
    “Supervisor……”
    “I want you to put a watch on the ex-Admiral and his first officer.”
    “Yes Number 2.”
    “I want to know where they go, and who they meet.”
    “Yes Number 2.”
    No.2 replaced the telephone on his desk, No.21 smiled quietly to himself.
    “What’s the matter with you?”
    “You’re smiling, that generally means something.”
    “I was just admiring how easily you have come to fit into your new role that’s all sir.”
   “Really?”
   “Yes sir, you’ve reached the point where you make instant decisions like that last one, and without even thinking about it!”

    Every day the wind was blowing, or there was a slight breeze, there would be members of the Village Yachting Club sailing their pond yachts in the Free Sea. No.9 had to admit it looked quite impressive. No.81 had purchased a new pond yacht called Northern Star, a white hulled yacht with green trim, from the kiosk. This was to replace the one that was sunk by the rogue submarine. He immediately carried the yacht over to the Free Sea, set her sails and jib and put her in the water. There was a gentle breeze which made it perfect for sailing. There were yachts of all kinds and sizes, and everyone was honing their sailing skills, getting the most out of their vessels. The promenaders were most interested in the activity, and many stopped to watch and admire the yachts. Then the ex-Admiral and his Flag officer appeared carrying a large ship, it was a model of a pocket battleship about three feet in length. The members of the yachting club all turned and stared.

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    “That’s enough Admiral” No.199, secretary of the yachting club, said “this is a yachting club, that hardly constitutes a yacht.”

    “Tell me why a pocket battleship cannot take part in the regatta?”

    “It’s motorised and operated by remote control, just like that blasted submarine of yours which sank my yacht. How did you do that by the way?” 81 said lifting the Northern Star out of the water.

    There was a bit of an argument before the ex-Admiral and his first officer withdrew, carrying the battleship.

    “Where do you think the ex-Admiral is getting these superb models, they are complete in every detail” No. 2 asked watching the wall screen.

    No.21 stood in No.2’s office also watching the screen “I could find out for you sir, I’ll make the Admiral talk!”

    “No! We don’t want any strong arm stuff. The supervisor is watching the old sea dog, he’ll give himself away sooner or later.”

    “Are you going to attend the regatta sir?”

    “Of course, in order to show my face at the very least.”

   The day of the regatta arrived, and there was an air of excitement as spectators started to gather in the Piazza.  The brass band played “Sailing By” as the entrants in the regatta began to assemble by the Free Sea with their various pond yachts. No.220 was favoured by many to win this year’s regatta with his yacht the Amis Reunis. No.2, accompanied by his assistant No.21 left the Green Dome and made their way towards the Piazza.

    “This should make for a pleasant change Twenty-one” No.2 said as they walked across the lawn “a quiet afternoon off duty away from the office.”
    “We are never off duty sir” No.21 reminded his superior.
    “We can pretend to be off duty, and who knows I may even buy you an ice cream!”

     “Of course you realize you will have trophies to present to the winner of each class” 21 said as they mounted the steps leading up onto the Piazza.
     No.2 didn’t, but he wasn’t going to let that spoil his afternoon!

     It was a very pleasant day, blue sky, sunshine; a grand day for the regatta, there was a gentle breeze creating perfect sailing conditions.

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No.2 was determined to enjoy himself being out of the out of the office for a couple of hours or so, even to the point of admiring the pond yachts, and as he and No.21 mingled amongst the gathered spectators. To his surprise No.2 was greeted warmly by most citizens, but some were a little wary of the Chairman of the Village, perhaps they recalled who No.2 once was, a prisoner much like themselves. But now being elevated to such a lofty position they were unsure of the inmate who had been placed in charge of the asylum!

    No.2 treated himself and No.21 to an ice cream, raspberry being the flavour of the day.

    “Do you think you should say a few words sir? 21 suggested enjoying his ice cream cone.
    “Whatever for?”
    “I thought to open the proceedings, to make it official so to speak.
    “The regatta seems to have been well organized…do you know I never realized there was a yachting club in the Village” 2 said looking at a number of light blue jerseys worn by the yachtsmen.
    “I believe permission for the club to be formed was given some months ago” 21 said.

    “The event seems to be well organized, people are enjoying themselves, why spoil a good thing?” No.2 said looking about him.
    “As you say sir.”

    No.36 was also at the regatta; he had bought himself an ice cream and was sat on a bench watching the proceedings. The competitors were making their preparations to their pond yachts, setting sails, adjusting the jib and rigging. The course was an easy one, yachts were set on a course from the far end of the Free Sea towards the fountain, round the fountain, and back again, each race was run in pairs. The first race would be between Northern Star with white hull with green trim and Southern Star with white hull and blue trim. The second race was to be between Endeavour I and Pride of The Pond, and the third race between Endeavour II and The Surprise. Each competitor is armed with a pole and is able to walk long either side of the Free Sea in order to nudge their yacht into an opposite tack before collision with the edge. The Pond yachts having been put into different classes according to size. There has been one disqualification, the ex-Admirals battleship, however it was agreed that at some point between races a demonstration of the battleship could take place in order to entertain the spectators. To this the ex-Admiral reluctantly agreed.

   The first race was about to get underway, much to the delight of the spectators. No.80 set the rigging of Northern Star and No.59 did likewise with Southern Star, and with both yachts in the water the race was under way. Both yachts looked good as they were carried along by a gentle breeze. Northern Star headed towards the edge of the Free Sea but No.80 eased her away with the tip of his pole, while Southern Star took an early lead along the pool towards the fountain, but instead of heading towards the side the yacht headed straight for it, making No.59 hold out his pole and ease Southern Star onto a tack which was to take the yacht round the fountain, but found difficulty in this. This gave Northern Star time to catch her sister yacht and swept passed as No.59 tried to regain the yacht’s course. With a prod from No.80’s pole Southern Star made it cleanly round the fountain and on a return course to finish the race. But No.59 had managed to get Northern Star back on an even course, rounded the fountain and began to catch Southern Star, however with a gentle prod from the pole managed to stop her from crashing into the wall Southern Star crossed the line to win.

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    In the next race Endeavour II beat the Amis Reunis. The races continued and the spectators watched with enjoyment the Pride of the Pond beat Endeavour I and Endeavour II in both her races. Southern Star went on to race Endeavour II however both yachts failed to finish. There was a collision; Endeavour II’s bow sprite became entangled in Southern Star’s rigging. Try as much as they may the two pole men could not separate the two yachts, and in the end had to wade into the Free Sea to retrieve them. The regatta continued through the afternoon and once the final race had been run it was announced that the most outstanding yacht in any class was the Pride of the Pond. And it was No.2’s duty and pleasure to award the Regatta silver cup to No.36 much to the applause of the crowd, along with prizes for different yacht classes.

    “Good afternoon citizens” the cheery female voice said over the public address system “what an exciting regatta we have all enjoyed. However the thrills are not over yet. To close the regatta there is to be a sea battle re-enactment between a pocket battleship and two D class destroyers.”

    The spectators watched eagerly as the ex-Admiral put the pocket battleship into the water at one end of the Free Sea. His first officer at other end put the two D class destroyers into the water. All three ships were motorized models and complete in every detail, there was even smoke coming out of the smoke stacks, and controlled from two control boxes. The pocket battleship set off, as did the two destroyers from around the fountain. Suddenly the destroyers parted and sailed towards the battleship from two angles, this action would effectively split the fire power of the battleship. The two forward turrets of the battleship turned, fixing her guns on one of the destroyers and opened fire, one shell went over the destroyer while another fell short, but a third found the range and a hit was scored on the destroyer who opened fire in return but falling short of its mark. Both the ex-Admiral and his first officer worked feverishly at their control panels, especially the first officer, as he had two ships to control. The second destroyer moved in on the battleship opening fire with her forward guns, then turning fired a broadside, as did the battleship scoring several hits on the destroyer. While the first destroyer fired two torpedoes at the pocket battleship, which took evasive action turning hard to starboard. Two of the torpedoes passed the ship, but the destroyer fired another two torpedoes at the battleship and the second destroyer continued her engagement. The battleship turned, but it was too late, the first torpedo struck amidships, the second hit the rudder and steering gear disabling the ship which began to list heavily to port. The two badly damaged destroyers moved in for the kill, but the ex-Admiral put up his hands indicating defeat and the battle was won.

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    Returning to his office No.2 telephoned the department of visual records requesting to review the film of the regatta. He ran the film on to the start of the sea battle and watched the battle play out on the wall screen. Picking up the telephone he called the supervisor in the control room.

    “What did you make of the regatta?” No.2 asked.

    “I think it went rather well” the supervisor said “everyone appeared to enjoy themselves.”

    “And what did you make of the spectacular finale?”

    “You mean the sea battle.”

    “Yes.”

    “It was rather spectacular” the supervisor agreed.

    “Did you have the ex-Admiral and his first officer followed?”

    “They went into the woods” the supervisor confirmed.
    “Why should they do that?”
    “They must have gone to see the Professor in the laboratory.”
    “The laboratory in the woods?”
    “Yes.”
    “And the professor?”

    “He’s been living in the laboratory for some time now, he’s generally left him to his own resources.”
    The pair of steel doors opened and No.21 entered the office.”
    “The Professor” No.2 said.
    “What about him?” 21 asked, approaching the desk.
    “You know about him?”
    “Yes. He’s generally left to his own devices because he has been of use to us from time to time.”

    “What business might the ex-Admiral and his first officer have with the Professor?”
    “I really don’t know sir, none I should have thought.

    “Very well supervisor, keep a sharp look out” 2 said and replaced the telephone back on his desk, he turned his attention back to his assistant.

    “What about those ships, I mean they look miniatures of the real thing. The destroyers were even armed with torpedoes. Would the ex…I mean Number Sixty-six and Number Fifty-nine have the capability to construct such craft?”
    “I shouldn’t have thought so” 21 began “sailing plastic boats is about their mark, constructing the pocket battleship and two destroyers are well beyond their capabilities I would have thought. And besides where would they get the materials to construct such crafts?”

    “Yes, that’s what worries me.”

    No.2 leaned forward and pressing a number of buttons on the control panel of his desk changed the picture on the wall screen, then panning surveillance cameras he was able to pick up the intended targets. The ex-Admiral and the first officer were carrying the three model ships between them along a path in the woods. This had been picked up on the wall screen in the control room.

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    At a fork in the path the Ex-Admiral and his first officer went to the right. A little further on there was a rock formation, the path lead up an incline to a steel door set in recess in the rock face. The steel door slid open and the two men went inside, the door closed behind them.

    No.2 produced a file from a shelf of his desk and began to thumb through it “The Professor has been ordering a good deal of materials over the past few months, metals, wiring, electric motors.”

    “Apparently he’s very mechanically minded. He helped with the reduction in size of the Village’s electronic system, apparently we have him to thank for the Beam” No.2 observed from the file.

    “May I suggest the ex-Admiral and his first officer have gone there in order to have the three crafts repaired by the Professor?”

    “You may 21, you may indeed. Helping someone out with their hobby is one thing, but I want to know what the Professor has been working on all this time in that laboratory of his.”

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The Prisoner- A New No.2 Chapter 5

                                                                 Chapter 5 

The Kaleidoscope Man 

    No.2 was in his quarters in the Town Hall, a single room which was an exact replica of his own study in what had been in his once cottage of ‘6 Private.’ He had showered and shaved in a room along the corridor, then dressed in grey flannel trousers, grey roll neck jersey and single breasted blazer and left his room. He walked along to the end of the corridor. Behind a large bust set upon a plinth he disappeared through a secret door, and down an old wooden ladder which took him into the tunnels beneath the Village. Eventually he arrived at a black global chair set on a plinth at the end of a corridor. Stepping up onto the plinth he settled himself in the chair which then rose up through a hole in the floor into his office, and behind his desk. He picked up the red ‘L’ shaped telephone.
    “Since when did it become the rule that I am to be the permanent Number Two, what happened to the policy of using interim Number Two’s……what do you mean they are no longer required?.........do I get to go on leave?........what do you mean you don’t trust me to come back……….”

    Now under no illusion that as No.2 Chairman of the Village, as well as the Chief Administrator he is now a permanent No.2. He placed the telephone back onto the desk. The pair of steel doors opened and No.21 entered the domed office and approached the desk.
    “Good morning sir” 21 said in cheery voice.
    “What have you to be so cheerful about?”
    The steel doors slid open and the butler pushed the breakfast trolley down the ramp, approaching the desk he reached out to press a button on the control panel.
    “Beat you!” No.2 said having pressed the required button himself.

    The butler looked up at his master who stood looking down at him, then proceeded to set out the breakfast on the small table which had risen up through a hole in the floor.
    “You see!”
    “See what sir?”
    “I cannot even have my breakfast in peace and quiet!”
    “I fail to see sir.”
    “Well you’re here with that clipboard under your arm; it means I am forced to suffer a working breakfast!”
    Having laid out the breakfast the butler bowed and pushed the trolley out of the chamber.
    “Now I either stand at that table to eat my breakfast, or I sit with it on my lap!”

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    “You seem to be rather disgruntled this morning.”

    “In my position you would feel the same!”
    “How do you mean sir?”
    “Before I was raised up to my current lofty opposition, when I was a prisoner, I enjoyed the privilege of my own cottage. Study, kitchen, bedroom, and shower room. Now I have but own room, my study in which I am forced to sleep on a recliner at night! The bathroom and toilet are in a room along a corridor. What’s more I’m forced to climb down an old rickety ladder at the end of a dusty, cobwebbed passageway. Then I have to walk to work in a series of tunnels. I don’t even get the privilege of walking through the Village to work, or even to be driven to the Green Dome in a taxi which befits a man in my position!”
    “In other words, sir, you are dissatisfied!”
    “Too right, I would have been better off as I once was!”
    “I see sir, I’m not sure if there’s anything we can do about that.”

    “I could resign!”
    No.21 nodded towards the red ‘L’ shaped telephone “Have you had a word with…..”
    “We had a word this morning.”
    “Look sir, I’ll leave you to have your breakfast before it gets cold. We can go through these reports later” 21 said waving his clipboard.
    “Thank you Twenty-one.”
    “I’ll be seeing you later on sir.”
    The pair of steel doors closed leaving No.2 to enjoy his breakfast as best he could.

    No.102 was considered to be something of an eccentric by his fellow citizens. A silver haired gentleman now in his early sixties, he had once been a chemist of some renown. In having developed a compound capable of altering the psyche, personality, or “self” of a person, it was no wonder then that he should one day wake up in the Village. In his time he had been allowed certain privileges which allowed him to conduct his experiments in quiet solitude. In more recent years he had been retired into the peaceful atmosphere of the Old People’s Home, a place he detested. What had he to do with dribbling old codgers in their dotage who do nothing but sit about and do nothing all day, who are reliant upon others to do it for them, or are almost lost in mind to themselves and to others. Not No.102, he was still alert in mind, and reasonably fit in body. He had taken to hogging one of the bathrooms, sometimes for hours on end, much to the annoyance of both staff and inmates of the Old People’s Home. It would perhaps have been better had he the solitude of his own cottage, but that privilege had been taken away from him on the day of his assigned retirement since his usefulness had given out.
    Gaining the required chemicals had proved to be most difficult, laboratories either occupied during the day, or locked when they were not.

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However having gained the required compounds, which separately are innocent enough, but when mixed together produce a certain effect, he locked himself in the bathroom and mixed the three compounds together in the bath having filled it with water.

    No.97, a little old lady stood knocking on the bathroom door asking No.102 to come out, as she wished to use the bathroom herself. But no reply came from within. The matron of the Old People’s Home who also demanded No.102 open the door as other people wished to use it. Response came there none. She attempted to use her pass key, but there was already a key in the other side of the keyhole!
    “I’ll send for a guardian” she said through the door.

    Two burly set men, one in a black and red striped jersey, the other sporting a full beard arrived at the Old People’s Home in a white Mini-Moke.

    “Right what’s the trouble matron?” Number 256 asked.
    “One of our residents has locked himself in the bathroom” she complained.
    “What about it?” No.167 said.
    “Well he simply refuses to come out.”
    “We’ll get him out!” 256 assured her.

    Matron led the two guardians
    No.256 grabbed the knob of the door and agitated it “Come on out of there” he shouted through the door, to little response.
    “Better put your shoulder to the door and force it open” 167 suggested.
    “Stand back matron” 256 said and put his shoulder to the door.
    The door didn’t give way at first, but then at a second attempt No.256 fell into the bathroom to find no-one in it!

    The pair of steel doors opened and No.21 entered the chamber accompanied by the guardians No.256 and 167. No.2 was flicking switches on the control panel and watching scenes of the village on the large wall screen.
    “What’s this, a deputation?” No.2 asked.
    “We have a problem” No.21 told him.

    “Well what is it?”
    “The Observers are already making sweeps of the Village, but so far there’s no sign of him” 21 reported.
    “No sign of whom?” 2 asked.
    “Number One-hundred and two.”
    “And he is……”
    “A resident at the Old People’s Home, apparently he locked himself in the bathroom.”
    “What’s this to do with us, it’s a domestic matter, the guardians should be capable of sorting that out” 2 suggested.
    “They were sir.”
    “The matron of the Old People’s Home called us sir, I and Number

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One six seven here attended. Unable to gain a response from the elderly gentleman in the bathroom, who had possibly had an accident I broke the door down” 256 said.
    No.2 looked at each man in turn “And?”
    “He wasn’t there!”
    “What do you mean he wasn’t there?”
    “The bathroom door had been locked from the inside.”
    “How do you know that?” 2 asked.
    “The key was still in the lock sir” 167 added.
    “Then the answer is an obvious one, one zero two was baiting you, he climbed out of the bathroom window” 2 suggested.
    “The window was snubbed sir; he didn’t get out that way” 21 said.

    It followed that in a body they went to visit the scene. A janitor was fixing the door when they arrived on the scene, and an inspection was made of the bathroom. They key was still in the lock on the inside of the door, the window still snubbed. No.2 ran a hand along the inside of the bath.
    “The bath is wet” No.2 observed.
    “Baths generally are” 21 replied.
    “This One hundred and two took a bath” No.2 said.
    “Nothing unusual in that” the matron said.
    “Yes, but why take a bath just before you disappear?”
    “And how did he do it?” 21 asked “there’s only two ways in and out, both secured on the inside.”
    No.2 vaguely heard what No.21 had said; he was holding up his left hand and studying it intently. The back of the hand was normal enough, but the palm appeared to show an illusory effect, in that it seemed to….but surely it was a trick of the light.
    “I think” No.2 said “I think our friend Number one zero two was in this bathroom up to the moment Number two five six broke the door down.”

    “I’m sorry sir?” 21 said not quite understanding.
    “You don’t see?” No.2 said holding up the palm of his hand “its simple, we’re looking for a chameleon!”
    No.2 placed the back of his hand against the bathroom wall, taking on both the colour and texture of the tiled wall; the assembled throng were astonished to see the hand melt into the background in such a way.
    There were three pharmaceutical jars standing on the floor.
    “Have those taken to the laboratory for analysis” No.2 said, “they may furnish us with a clue.”

    Instead of returning to his office No.2 and No.21 made their way to the control room. The pair of steel doors opened and the supervisor, a bald-headed bespectacled No.28 looked up to see No.2 and his assistant standing on the gantry looking down at him. They descended down the steel steps.
    “Supervisor” No.2 began “I have a special assignment for both youand your Observers. We have a resident of the Old People’s Home on the loose.”

 35

    “I don’t quite understand sir” the supervisor said.
    “Number One-zero-two, he has the ability to blend into the background and disappear, rather he can take on the background which surrounds him thus rendering him invisible.”
   At hearing this, the Observers sitting at their monitors, turned to each other in bemusement. No.2 laid the back of his hand upon the steel frame of the see-saw device, to all intents and purposes the hand disappeared, yet it was still there!
    The supervisor had a question, it was an obvious one “If he can do that, how will we be able to find him?”
   “Its merely camouflage, try infra-red, search for an unexpected or unusual heat source, only find him” was No.2’s order.

    Eventually returning to his office No.2 used the wall screen to make a search of the Village himself. No.21 stood reading through No.102’s file.
    “What do you think is behind his motivation, to escape perhaps?”
    “And then what? The bath was wet, which reminds me…….” he picked up the yellow ‘L’ shaped telephone “Laboratory.”
    “Laboratory” No.253 said.
    “I want to see you in my office right away.”
    “Yes sir.”
    “You were saying Twenty-one.”
    No.21 closed the file “I was just wondering about One-hundred and two’s motivation behind such an action.”
    “The bath was wet, there were no clothes in the bathroom, what does that lead you to suppose?”
    21 thought for a moment “That whatever solution he mixed in the bath, not only did he soak the exposed parts of his body, head, and hands, he also soaked his clothes in the solution he wouldn’t want to go about naked.”
    “Well done Twenty-one, you would make an excellent police inspector.”
    The pair of steel doors opened and a man in a white coat entered the chamber, he paused at the top of the ramp, the steel doors closing behind him.
    “You wanted to see me sir” No.253 said somewhat timidly.
    “Come here man” No.2 said “I won’t bite.”
    “One cannot be sure of that” the laboratory technician muttered as he walked down the ramp and approached the desk, recalling the last time he had been summoned to see No.2.
    “Have you had time to analyse what was in those three jars we sent to you?”
    “They are completely clean, inside and out” 253 said.
    “There was not enough residue of either powder of liquid in any of the three jars?"

36

    “No sir.”
    “He washed them clean” 21 said.
    “A remarkable observation” No.2 said “what about the bath?”
    “I checked the bath sir as requested by Number 21, but it was damp.”
    “Even around the plughole?
   “Yes sir.”
    “What about the outlet pipe?”
    “I didn’t think about that” 253 said “is there anything else sir?”
    “Yes, what can you do about this?” 2 asked showing 253 the palm of his left hand “watch, just watch.”
    The laboratory technician watched as No.2 laid the back of his hand down upon the desk, it turned grey taking on the colour and texture of the top of the desk. He studied the palm closely, he had seen nothing like it before, and it was with a look of astonishment that he looked up at No.2’s face.
    “Perhaps you can tell me what my future holds!”

    In the control room the supervisor was overseeing the Observers who were carrying out an intricate search of the Village, yard by yard, cottage by cottage, along paths, lanes and streets. In and out of the Pink Pavilion, the bandstand, up and down the bell tower, even in the grotto. Looking for anything out of the ordinary, an unusual heat source where there should be none, a slight shift in background or anomaly.
    The supervisor turned from the wall screen to face the backs of the Observers “Has anyone seen anything, speak up, lets here about it.”
    An Observer turned round in his chair and looked at the others “No-one has seen anything sir, it’s a wonder!”
    The two men on either end of the steel see-saw device glanced up from their monitors shaking their heads.
    “It’s a wonder you have not seen anything two nine zero, as being one of our best Observers. 
    The Village was normal, quiet and undisturbed, the citizens going about their daily lives, shopping at the General Store, having afternoon tea or coffee at the café. Promenading in the Piazza, or enjoying an afternoon at the beach, or playing croquet on the Village green.
   So the search continued and was widened to encompass both the beach and the woods.

   Meanwhile No.2 had been taken to the laboratory for examination and it was agreed that the answer might be found in “light refraction.” A search of the chemical store found a deficiency in three chemical compounds which when mixed in certain amounts and a vessel immersed in the solution had an effect of changing the way light was refracted and took on the appearance of its background.

37

   No.2 had been sat at a work bench for several minutes; his left hand immersed in a solution “How much longer is this likely to take?”

    “It might not take” No.253 said “we may have to try a number of varying solutions before we can reverse the effect.”
   In the background a number of laboratory technicians were either blending and mixing solutions, or consulting technical, and chemical science books in search of a solution!
    “I think I may have found it!” 243 suddenly announced.

    Outside in the Village one citizen, a grizzled old man, No.90 dressed in a grubby piped blazer sat on a bench by some bushes. He sat there minding his own business, watching Village life go by you could say. He was happy in himself, and no-one bothered him these days, and yet what was that……? He caught movement in the bushes out of the corner of his eye. He thought it must have been the breeze, but there was no breeze the air was quite undisturbed, but not so the bushes it seems!

    “What is it, what’s there?” the old man said moving away to the other end of the bench.
    There seemed to him a strange effect before his eyes something like a kaleidoscope of moving colour.
    “What is it, what are you?” the old man asked.
    “Don’t get excited” a voice said.
    “You’d get excited if you were looking at what I’m looking at!” 90 said.
     He suddenly felt a hand upon his shoulder and he was forced to sit down again.
   “What is it, what do you want with me, why can’t I see you properly?”
    “Because I’m camouflaged, I blend in with the background” the voice told him.
    “Why, why should you want to do that?”
    “I thought I could escape this hellish place” the voice said.
    “And can’t you?”
    “Do you think I’d be wasting my time sitting on a bench talking to an old man if I could?” the voice snapped at him.
    “Alright, it’s not my fault! Anyway what do you want with me?”
    “You live in the Old People’s Home, I’ve seen you there.”
    “You live in the Old People’s….. I know your voice, you’re the chap who locks himself in the bathroom for hours on end!”
    “They’ll be looking for me by now.”
    “Who will?”
    “The Observers you fool!” he snapped back.
    “But you’re camouflaged, they can’t see you.”
    “I am able to blend in with the background, but they could see the

effect you’re seeing when I move.”
    “What do you want with me then?”

38

    “I want you to go to the Old People’s Home, go into my room and get two books off the table there. I had to leave quickly and without them” No.102 explained.
    “What’s in those books then?” 90 asked.
    “They hold the secret!”

    “What have you there?” No.253 asked crossing the laboratory.
    “Two guardians searched the Old people’s Home, and found these two books in room one zero two” 243 explained “he’s missing from the senior citizens roll call. I think they may contain the answer, there’s a formula written here.”

    “Where are you? Move and I’ll be able to see you” 90 said.
    “I’m here” 102 said “where are the books?”
    “They’re gone.”
    “Gone, what do you mean gone?”
    “Gone as in not there, it seems two guardians searched your room in the Old People’s Home earlier and took two books away with them” 90 explained.
    “Damn and blast!”
    “What are you going to do now?”
    “Try and get them back of course!”
    “I thought you said you were going to escape.”
    “I was a fool, I can hide, but can’t get so far even like this.”
    “You could creep up on the mechanics working on a boat, they wouldn’t see you coming, and even if they did it would be too late, you could overpower them, and set sail for the wide horizon.”
    “The tide’s out you fool!” he snapped angrily.
    “Then take a taxi” was another suggestion.
    “And go where?”
    “What does it matter as long as its not here?” 90 said excitedly “you could take me with you.”
   “Why should I tie myself to a stupid old man like you?”
    “Don’t be like that.”
    “I must get those books!”
    “You can get into the laboratory easy enough using your camouflage technique, and I’ll be waiting with a taxi.”
    “No offence but can you actually drive?”

   The formula was written out on a blackboard, it looked complicated, but basically it amounted to the use of three compounds, each mixed in solution to exact proportions.

    “The question is” 253 asked staring at the blackboard “is it possible to reverse the process?”
   Outside two snowdrops, guards dressed in grey overalls, white helmet, gloves, boots, and carrying a white truncheon, patrolled the corridor as well as standing guard at the door to the laboratory.

Having gained entry to the building No.102 slowly made his away along a number of corridors before he stood with his back to a wall watching the two security guards standing outside the door to the laboratory.

39

   One of the guards stood thinking about nothing really, it was a boring assignment and he stood looking at the wall on the opposite side of the corridor. Then something caught his eye.

    “What’s that?” No.187 asked.
    “What’s what?” asked his colleague.
    “Look at the wall, it doesn’t look quite right.”
    “Seems alright to me” 196 said.
    A man wearing a white coat came walking along the corridor carrying two large glass jars.

    The two guards challenged the man.
    “These three compounds have been requested” he said.
    “Alright, all clear” said one of the guards who opened the door to the laboratory.
    It was curious just for a moment one of the guards thought he saw something, but surely not.
    In the laboratory No.253 and 243 were busy mixing different solutions in order to reverse the effect that had altered the appearance of the palm of No.2’s left hand.
    “I trust you know what you’re doing” No.2 said.
    “What one man can discover another can uncover” 243 said.
    “Just don’t take all day about it!” No.2 ordered.
    On other side of the laboratory No.102 stood watching, he saw his formula written on the blackboard, then he saw the two books.
    “What was that?” one of the technicians asked.
    “What was what?” another asked.
    “I thought I saw…..”
    At that moment the two books lifted up off the table, there was a strange optical effect, it was movement like that of a kaleidoscope a mixture of movement and colour.
   “There, what’s that?” a technician shouted.
    Everyone in the laboratory turned to look at what No.89 was pointing at.
    “Call security” No.2 ordered.
    The laboratory door was flung open; the two security guards standing outside were taken by surprise as something brushed passed them.
    No.2 took his hand out of the solution; the kaleidoscope effect seemed to be diminishing as the colour of the palm of his hand begun to return to normal.
    “It’s working!” No.253 said in surprise “I…..I mean it’s working.”
    No.2 gave orders for both ends of the corridor to be sealed “That’s Number One-zero-two who has taken the books, I want him caught!”
    Two more security guards appeared at both ends of the corridor.

No.102 stopped clutching the two books, he looked both ways along the corridor, there was no going back as technicians joined in the search. He saw the mesh cover of the air vent. He pulled it open and began to crawl inside, when he felt hands grip his legs pulling him back!

40

    Two security guards held down the figure.
    “Now what have we here?” No.2 asked.
    No.102 struggled and as he struggled the effect was strange to look upon. There was a suggestion of a face which appeared to come out of the floor; he dropped his books which instantly returned back to their original brown covers. No.253 stooped down and picked them up.
    “What shall we do with him sir?”
    The security guards picked the figure of 102 off the floor. No.2 laid hands on the figure, he felt the texture of cloth, and ripped open a jersey to reveal not bare flesh, but the same kaleidoscope effect.
   “Give him a bath!” No.2 said “then have him made ready and presented for questioning.”

    The old man, No.90, had been standing watching the taxi rank for a good twenty minutes before he plucked up the courage to go over to one of the taxis. He climbed in behind the wheel.
    “How difficult can it be?” he asked himself.
   He turned the ignition key, the engine started, pressed down on the clutch peddle, engaged, what he thought was first gear. Releasing the handbrake he pressed down on the accelerator and depressed the clutch. The white Mini-Moke shot backwards crashing into the front of the Mini-Moke behind!

   “Oh dear, I knew it was going to be difficult” he muttered to himself.
    Two taxi drivers appeared on the scene soon after the accident, examining the damage and asking what the old man thought he was up to. Then two guardians arrived demanding to know what the old man’s game was.
    “I was going to drive the kaleidoscope man to the nearest town” the old man said.
    “The kaleidoscope man….what’s he talking about?”
    A small crowd had gathered to see what all the commotion was about.

    “The old man’s drunk!”
    “Arrest him for drunk driving!” another voice shouted.

    “How did he get drunk in the first place?” a man asked.
    “Not how” said another “where?!”

41

The Prisoner - A New No.2 - Chapter 4

 

Chapter 4

A Change of Mind

    The light turquoise coloured Allouete helicopter cleared the hills and flew over the estuary on its approach to the Village, and made to land on the lawn by the sea wall. In an ambulance, a white mini-Moke towing a Red Cross trailer, two medical orderlies sat waiting. The helicopter slowed and landed on the triangular lawn by the sea wall, the orderlies waited with a stretcher as the rotor blades slowed and stopped. The pilot opened the Perspex cabin door; the body of an unconscious man was lifted out and placed on the stretcher and carried over to the ambulance, and placed in the Red Cross trailer. The ambulance was driven back up the slope and up the hill into the Village.
    A sign had just been arranged outside ‘9 Private’ close to the Bell Tower. The ambulance was driven into the cobbled square; the man was carried on the stretcher into ‘9 Private’ and put to bed. This action had been closely watched by the supervisor-No.28, a bald-headed man who picked up the yellow ‘L’ shaped telephone.
   In his office No.2 sat in the black global chair, he too had observed the arrival of the helicopter on the large wall screen. The ‘Grey ‘L’ shaped telephone began to bleep.
    “Number Two here.”
    “The prisoner has been placed in his cottage” the supervisor reported.
    “Yes I saw the helicopter arrive.”
   The pair of steel doors slid open and No.21 walked smartly down the ramp and approached the desk.

    “I thought you should know.”
    “Yes thank you” No.2 said looking up at his assistant.
    The file he held he handed to No.2 who having put down the telephone opened the black file and looked at the photograph of a man in his late thirties.
    “A new arrival” No.21 said.
    No.2 leaned forward and pressed a button on the control panel, pictured on the wall screen was a man lying on a bed, he began to stir, eventually he sat up and looked about him. To all intents and purposes he was home, and grateful for being so, it had been a difficult assignment to say the least. But how did he get here? The last he remembered was…….. No.2 and No.21 watched as the man rose from the bed running his fingers through his hair and crossing the room to the window. The view outside came as a shock, it was part of the accepted norm, where there should have been houses on the other side of the Chelsea mews were bushes, a lawn, a river, and beyond hills! He spun round as the telephone began to bleep. He crossed the room and picked up the receiver.

24

    No.2 watched the man pictured on the wall screen “Good morning, I hope there have been no ill effects from the journey?”
    “What do you care……..I know your voice!” the man said.

    “I’d be surprised if you didn’t. Join me for breakfast, Number Two the Green Dome” and he hung up and put the phone down on his desk.
    “Do you want me to stay sir?”
    “No, I think it will be more effective if I meet him alone, if I need you I’ll call” 2 said watching the man take his first tentative steps out into the Village.
    No.21 took his leave, the steels doors opening to reveal the diminutive butler standing at the top of the ramp.
    “We have a visitor this morning breakfast for one” No.2 said watching the man walk round the base of the Bell Tower “a bowl of cornflakes, toast, marmalade, and coffee” he read from the file.
    The butler bowed, turned, the steel doors closing behind him.

    There was a gardener busy trimming a box hedge.
    “Where am I?” the man asked.
    The gardener stopped what he was doing and stood looking at the man in the grey suit “In the Village.”
    “The Village!”
    “Yes.”
    “Is there somewhere called the Green Dome?”
    “I’ll say there is. Through that gate, across the square, over the road, up the steps you can’t miss it” the gardener told him and stood watching the man go on his way.
    On the balcony of the Green Dome the man stood looking out at the view, how had he come to be here? Who brought him here and why? He turned and walked through one of the arches and faced a white door. To the right was a wrought iron bell pull, he pulled it and some where a bell tolled. The door opened and he stepped inside the foyer. A diminutive butler appeared, bowed and showed him through the pair of French doors, up a small ramp to a pair of large steel doors which opened at their approach. The man stood there looking into the purple walled, domed chamber, then walked slowly down the slope the pair of steel doors closing behind him. He approached the desk and looked at the man sat in the chair behind it.
    “You, you of all people, I’d never have believed it!”
    “I’d hardly have given it credence myself, yet here I am” No.2 said.
    “You’ve gone over!”
    “They were looking for a good man…..”
    “It looks like they found him!”
    “I’m not the first……how is the Colonel?”
    “I’ve not forgotten you know!”
    “Neither have I.”

25

    The pair of steel doors opened and the butler pushed a breakfast trolley down the ramp. Approaching the desk he pressed a button on the control panel, a round panel in the floor slid away and a small round topped table appeared up through a hole, and upon which the butler set out the prisoner’s breakfast.
    “That will be all” No.2 said.
    The butler bowed and pushed his trolley up the ramp and out through the open steel doors.
    “The prisoner ate a hearty breakfast!”
    “A bowl of cornflakes and toast…hardly. So you see yourself as a prisoner?”
    “And you are the warder. Sits well with you does it?”
    “Circumstances alter cases.”
    “You’ve certainly done well for yourself!”
    “If you’re looking for a favour I’m fresh out.”
    “Not even for old time’s sake?”
    No.2 shook his head.
    “I’ll talk eventually, you know that.”
    “And until then?”
    “I’ll tell you nothing.”
    “So why the need to prolong things, why put yourself through such an ordeal, why not get it over and done with?”
    “And if I did would you let me go then?”
    “I might.”
    “Number One might have something to say about that.”
    “You leave Number One to me, it’s me you have to worry about. Don’t you want your breakfast?”
    The prisoner stood resolute “I have not forgotten what happened in Prague.”
    “You will no doubt be heartened to know that neither have I, it was unavoidable.”
    “Was it? You came out of it well enough, and Elsa?”
    “They let her go.”
    “After they tortured her for three days!”
    “Everyone talks on the third day.”
    “She didn’t, she didn’t but then she didn’t have to, but you did, and forty good agents went to the wall. No I have not forgotten.”
    “You knew?”
    “Perhaps you would be good enough to pour me some coffee” No.2 asked.
    The prisoner looked at the man sat in the chair and poured out a single cup of coffee.
    “Two sugars, no milk.”
    The prisoner approached the desk holding out a Crown Derby cup and saucer.
    “Won’t you join me?” No.2 asked taking the offered cup and saucer.

26

    The prisoner poured out a second cup of coffee from the silver coffee pot, black, no sugar, and stood watching No.2.

    “Be seeing you” No.2 said taking a sip of the hot coffee.
    The prisoner lifted his own cup to his lips and drank.
    It took a few moments to take effect, but there he lay upon the floor. The coffee spilt, the cup and saucer smashed. No.2 picked up the yellow ‘L’ shaped telephone.
    “He’s all yours doctor” was all he said.

    The Prisoner woke up strapped in a chair. A tall lean man in a white coat was attending to some instruments set out on a small medical trolley.
    The prisoner struggled against his leather restraints, the doctor turned to face the subject.
    “Ah how is it with you laddie?”
    The prisoner stopped struggling against his bonds “Where am I, in your private torture chamber?”
    “You’re in the hospital, you couldn’t be in a better place laddie.”
    “You’re bedside manner leaves much to be desired!”
    “It’s good to maintain a sense of humour at times like this.”

    “Is that what you prescribe doctor?
     The doctor turned back to the trolley and picked up a hypodermic syringe, then turning back to the subject rolled up the left sleeve of his shirt and administered the orangey brown coloured drug.

    “You’ll have to tell them you know.”
    “They won’t believe me if I did.”
    “I believed you.”
    “Yes but even you took some convincing.”
    “He sitteth between the cherubims, psalm ninety-nine.”
    “What are you doing?”
    “The isle’s may be glad thereof, psalm ninety-seven.”
    “Have you found religion?”
    “As the rivers in the south, psalm one hundred and twenty-six.”
    “Oh I get it, you’re trying to block me out, you won’t be able to keep that up for long!”
    “There once was an old man from Khartoum….”

    “And what did he do?”
    “I….mustn’t…..tell you.”
    “Why ever not, I like rhymes, anecdotes, that kind of thing.”
    “If I tell you it will all come flooding out.”
    “Well laddie you could do no better than unburden yourself” the doctor said ready with the first syringe.
    “What and make a prison for myself!”

    How many days had it been, perhaps a week, a month, it was difficult to tell, but they didn’t seem to want to know anything about him. He felt sure they knew everything already that they were simply going through the motions. He had been here before, but that was after he had “gone over,” and it had been easy for him to talk, to give up everything he knew. But they were very different days, days of ideology and belief in something worthwhile. And where had that got him, a medal yes, notoriety yes, money yes, women yes, and a small flat in Moscow. Strange how they have been able to replicate that living room of my flat, right down to the smallest detail. True they had gone to a great deal of trouble to make him feel at home, but really this room, this small cottage was nothing more than a cell in a small Italianate Village somewhere….somewhere.

 27

    No.9 found himself getting into a routine, and it was part of his routine to attend the regular brass band concert.
    “May I join you?”
    “I don’t see anyone stopping you” he said.
    “You’re settling in?” No.2 asked.
    “What do you care?”
    “I’m doing my best, but I’ve not been in the job for more than five minutes.”
    “You’ve taken to it like a duck to water if I may say.”
    “You may, you may indeed. I’m trying to make a better Village, I want people to be happy.”
    “Are you?”
    “Am I what?”
    “Happy?”
    “You haven’t attempted to escape yet.”
    “No.”
    “Why not?”
    “What and give you the pleasure of having me brought back. Besides I’m not like you, I can’t fly a helicopter, I can swim, but not so far, that’s rough water out there.”
    “You could head for the hills” No.2 suggested.
    “Would there be much point?”
    “So instead you settle in to our way of life here.”
    “Perhaps I’m putting you to sleep.”
    “Me perhaps, but not the Observers, they do see and hear everything you know.”
    “Including us sat here talking” I said.
    “Yes.”
    “Is there anywhere where we could talk properly?” he suggested.
    “The only place would be in the woods, they can see you but they can’t hear you.”
    The band finished their set, then began to play a military march.

    “There’s no getting away from it, the Village is regimented, it might not look like it, but everyone wears a uniform. This place might look like a holiday resort, but dress it up as much as you like, its still a prison!”
    “You might not believe me, but I was once a prisoner within its boundaries.”

28

    “YOU?”
    “I resigned my job, was about to leave for a better life, I woke up here. In my time here I have resisted, revolted, refused to wear, observe, and respond to a number. Fought against them, overcome coercion, and I’ve destroyed resistance.”
    “But you haven’t managed to escape….in all that time.”
    “One time I thought I had escaped, I actually escaped but came back.”
    “Came back?”
    “It’s a long story.”
    “So what is it you want from me?”
    “I want you with a whole mind, body and soul!”
    “Wh….what?”

    No.2 was seated in his office enjoying his elevenses when the grey ‘L’ shaped telephone began to bleep, at the same time the pair of steel doors opened and the lean figure of No.21 walked down the ramp and approached the desk. No.2 leaned forward and picked up the telephone.
    “Yes doctor.”
    “The two subjects are ready for the operation”
    “Thank you doctor, how is our friend Number Nine?”
    “He resisted the amnesia process to begin with, but now that all memories of the Village have been wiped from his mind he is remarkably calm all things considered.”
    “He’ll co-operate?”
    “We have made considerable strides in this technique since the experiment in which you were once involved. Not only can we change the minds of two people, but we can now implant, or programme into the mind of our choosing, certain memories, and such information from the donor subject. This helps the subject fit in with his new surroundings. Although I understand the subject will be returned into an environment he is all too familiar with, albeit in changed circumstances.”
    “Very good doctor, keep me informed.”
    “You will witness first hand the operation for yourself?” the doctor asked.
    “From a distance I think” No.2 replied and put the phone down.
    “I thought you wanted to make a better Village” No.21 said “and yet here you are involving yourself in experimentation!”
    “There is a point.”
    “And Number Nine?”

    “He’s the perfect subject being aware of their internal intelligence network. He already knows names, if not all the faces, of certain important key central personnel.”

    “You’re sending Nine back there on assignment, in order to infiltrate a security network for what, personal gain?”
    “Would you care for tea Number Twenty-one?”

 29

    The Seltzman machine was prepared. In the laboratory a number of technicians and doctors busied themselves in readiness for the forthcoming process. The programming of a computer was being completed, electronic controls checked and tested sending two arcs of electricity to electrodes positioned in the headrests of a pair of operating tables positioned within a tubular steel framework. Two subjects, No.9 and the Russian Colonel and defector Protrukov were placed on the operating tables; both had been heavily sedated for their own safety. Each wore dark goggles and a head set by which they were linked to the machine by electrodes, and other attachments ran from various parts of the body to the computer. The doctor and other technicians donned thick dark goggles to protect their eyes from the bright arcs of electricity. The doctor began to operate the machine, flicking switches in a certain order, turning knobs, watching dials. The computer began to whirr into operation, memory banks turned, and the laboratory filled with bright lights as the arcs of electricity became more and more intense, there was a humming sound which became louder and louder until there was a loud crack and a final flash of what looked like lightening. On a monitor screen scenes from the Russian’s memory were being played out, but in reverse, as his mind was taken back, back to a certain time in Protrukov’s life, from that point it would begin for No.9 in a small house on Shabolovka Street.......

    The pair of steel doors opened and No.2 entered his office. Sat in his chair was No.21, who jumped up the moment he heard the doors slide open.
    “Sitting in my chair” No.2 said crossing the floor.
    “Sorry sir.”
    “No, no you’re welcome to it. What have you there?”
    “Number .Nine’s file.”
    “What for?”
    “I was just thumbing through it before sending it for filing.”
    “Oh.”
    “It doesn’t say anything about Number Nine being able to speak Russian.”
    “No! Well I expect he picked up a few useful phrases while he was living there” No.2 replied settling himself in his chair.
    No.21 turned and was about to take his leave through the opening steel doors.
    “How is or friend Protrukov?”

  21 turned “Getting used to his new body, why?”
    “Well I was thinking….seeing as we’ve sent Number Nine the one way, we might as well send Protrukov the other.”

30

    21 thought for a moment, then approached the desk “You have a devious mind sir; I do believe you’re beginning to grow into your new position.”
    “Will he co-operate?”
    “There are ways, one obstacle has already been overcome.”
    “Seeing as how the Seltzman process is only a mind transference, Number Nine as Protrukov he retains his own mind, yet has the voice of Number Nine. By the way sir, where had you been this morning?”
    “Old habits die hard Twenty-one, an early morning walk around the Village.”
    “You climbed the Bell Tower.”
    “You were watching?”
    “No, the Observers, it was they who reported your activity to the supervisor, he reported it to me that’s all.”
    “Well, as I said old habits………”
    “Yes sir, as you say old habits.”

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