Welcome to Utopia Part Two: Future Shock (Patreon)

Welcome to Utopia, home of Force Majeure …
- Utopia City advertising slogan

… you have been warned.
- a shadowy guy on a rooftop

Chapter 15
New Arrivals

Utopia City, Kansas
Sunday, October 6, 2013
6:32 PM Central Daylight Time

"Attention, all passengers. Attention, all passengers. This train has now arrived in Utopia City. Please leave the car. Do not forget your luggage. Utopia Maglev Lines takes no responsibility for luggage left on the train. We hope you have enjoyed your trip. Attention, all passengers …”

Jericho barely heard the announcement as he stared out the window, trying to take in the differences between the central hub of the maglev system and the Savannah station. In a phrase, there was no comparison. Whereas Savannah had only a single-level platform, here he was looking out at a secondary platform which would allow them to walk directly out of the upper level without needing to take the stairs. He’d previously thought the Savannah station to be impressive, with its logo-embossed concrete platform and automatic MagCard ticketing, but this blew all that out of the metaphorical water. Arched ceilings, more kiosks with touch-screen access, and what appeared to be automated luggage carts trundling across the gorgeously tiled floor under their own power; all competed for his attention. Absently, he noted that the latter were following people who were waiting to get on the train, but that aspect barely even registered with him.

“Hey, cuz.” Luke’s voice caught his attention, and he looked around. The yellow lights were flashing again, and all the digital signs read ‘ARRIVAL’; in addition, the announcement was repeating for the third time. “We’re gittin’ off here, if ya forgot.” The last of the other passengers were just filing out through the doors, while Luke and Bobbi got their luggage down from the overhead bins. “Or was you fixin’ to stay on the train an’ head on back to Savannah?”

“Oh, right. Yeah.” Jericho grinned sheepishly at Bobbi. “Coming in, I felt like a hick from the sticks, looking up at all them big ol’ buildings.” In his defense, some of the buildings had been seriously tall. He stood up and worked his way out into the aisle. “Savannah just plain doesn’t have anything like this.”

She chuckled, dropping her suitcase to the floor and expertly extending the handle. “Trust me, we’ve had the maglev for a few years in Indianapolis, but our station still isn’t nearly as big as this one.” She looked around at the otherwise empty carriage. “I think we’re it. Maybe we should get off before they decide to charge us for the return trip.”

“Yeah, let’s do that thing,” said Luke; with his backpack still in his hand, he moved past the other two and led the way out through the exit doors onto the platform. Bobbi followed along, towing her wheeled suitcase, while Jericho slung his overnight bag over his shoulder and brought up the rear.

Once they were off the train, he could see that the station was even more impressive than he’d previously thought, with huge skylights letting diffuse sunlight through to light up the concourse. This set off the brilliantly colored tiled mosaic beneath their feet, making him feel as though he was standing in the middle of an art display.

About thirty feet in front of them, past the crowd of people waiting to get on the train and on the other side of a wrought-metal barrier, there was another passenger car, also presumably letting off passengers. Beyond that one, Jericho thought he could see yet another.

“Please stand away from the edge of the platform.” By now, Jericho was certain they used the same synthesized voice for all their announcements. “This passenger car is being taken out of service for maintenance purposes. The next passenger car is due to arrive in thirty seconds.”

Somewhat familiar with this dance by now, Jericho turned to look at the maglev car, noting that the doors were now firmly shut. It began to move, though not with the startling rapidity the one back in Savannah had exhibited. Sliding soundlessly along the track, it vanished into another part of the station.

“Maintenance?” asked Luke. “Didn’t hardly look used, even.”

“I think it’s more a matter of making sure nothing gets close to failing,” Jericho said. “I looked it up. Every time a car with a certain number of hours comes through a major hub like this one, it goes through maintenance. And if the computer I suspect they got running the show is powerful enough, they’d be able to ensure that every single one gets routed through a main hub before its hours are up.”

“Makes sense,” Bobbi agreed. “Luke and I do the same with our bikes. Still, that’s a lot of maintenance work. I hope whoever’s in charge of it doesn’t slack off.” She knelt beside her bag and unzipped the main compartment, then pulled out a small handbag. Slinging the strap over her shoulder, she closed her suitcase again and stood up.

“Please stand away from the edge of the platform. The next passenger car is due to arrive in fifteen seconds.”

UML, Jericho decided, had all their ducks in a row. When it was possible to predict the arrival of a carriage down to the second, that showed a serious amount of organization and forethought. Even as he formed the thought, a new maglev car slid equally soundlessly into view. Bingo.

As the doors opened and people started crowding on board, Bobbi turned away from the train. “This way, I think.” She pointed off to the left at a row of the same airlock-style scanners that he’d seen in Savannah, through which the last of the passengers from their carriage were moving. Like the previous ones, each had a UML card-reader next to it. Swipe on in Savannah, swipe off here. Unlike the Savannah station, this platform sported eight scan-locks, each with a digital sign above it. Half of these signs read ‘DEPARTURES’ and the other half ‘ARRIVALS’; he guessed that his MagCard would only work on the ‘Arrivals’ side of things.

Bobbi pulled her MagCard from her handbag and stepped forward, heading for one of the ‘Arrivals’ scan-locks. “Let’s get down to ground level. We should be able to hail a cab from there.” That sounded almost disappointingly mundane, but Jericho firmly reminded himself that not everything about Utopia City was going to be weirdly futuristic. Pulling out his own MagCard, he swiped it over the sensor on the scan-lock he’d chosen, which opened for him with an agreeable beep and a swish of rubber on aluminum. Luke followed him in, while Bobbi took the next one over. The far doors opened the instant the near ones had closed behind him, which made sense; they were getting off the train, after all, not on. As they left the scan-lock, Luke shrugged his backpack into place.

Beyond the scan-locks, there were more kiosks as well as an almost bewildering array of stairs, escalators, and even an elevator. Jericho was interested to note that the stairs and escalators led upward as well as down, as he’d thought the skylight indicated that they were on the top level of the building. This puzzle was resolved with a quick glance at the signage, which indicated that they were indeed on Level Three. Going down would get them to Level Two or Level One, while going up would take them to what was marked as a monorail station.

“Wait, they’ve got a monorail?” That was Luke, apparently reading along with him.

Jericho rolled his eyes and pointed back at the maglev. “We literally just came in on the biggest monorail in the country. Pretty sure whatever they’ve got here isn’t going to stack up to that.” He turned to Bobbi. “Are we taking the monorail?”

“Nah,” she said. “Probably won’t let us off exactly where we need to go. Like I said, we’ll get down to ground level, work out where we’re going, then decide on how to hail a cab to get there.” She headed for the escalators and Jericho followed her lead, while Luke picked the stairs. The overall drop to Level Two was only about nine or ten feet, less than he’d expected. If he’d been in costume, he would’ve considered using his slow-fall to glide down without touching a step. As it was, he leaned against the rail and looked around with interest.

“The hell’s this?” Luke, jogging down the steps, had caught up with them. “Cuz, you too good for stairs now?”

Jericho flipped him off, then looked around at Level Two as they descended into it. There were more people here. Some, trailed by the automated carts, were moving toward the second stage of down-escalators and stairs, separated from the first stage by about thirty feet. Others were taking stairs and escalators upward, presumably bound for the monorail station. Off to the left, through the glass sliding doors of another row of scan-locks, he could see the replacement maglev car, and the passengers who were even now boarding it. Flanking the scan-locks were the ubiquitous ticket kiosks.

Softly lit ceiling panels here and there glowed with brilliant colors, arranged into oddly familiar patterns. He puzzled over it for a moment, then figured out that some of the tiled areas from above were acting as secondary skylights to illuminate this level as well. Looking around, he realized that Bobbi and Luke were moving on toward the next set of escalators, so he hurried to catch up. More specifically, Bobbi had chosen the escalators while Luke headed once more for the stairs. Jericho stuck close to Bobbi, stepping on behind her. This one dropped much farther than the previous one, going down at least thirty feet.

“Friggin’ escalators again,” jibed Luke as he jogged downward to keep pace with Jericho and Bobbi. “Never knew you was this lazy, cuz.”

“Hey, if it’s here, I’ll make use of it,” Jericho shot back defensively. “Just because you were nine before you ever saw an escalator …”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Weren’t my fault. That was all up to Great-grandpappy Frank gittin’ pissy with my daddy for gittin’ hitched with Mama, way back when.”

“Whoa, wait a second.” Bobbi half-turned toward them and made a ‘time-out’ gesture. “If you’re going to talk family history, I’m going to need the Cliff notes.”

Jericho cleared his throat. “Okay, stop me if this gets boring. Just after the Second World War, our great-granddaddy Frank started a news distribution service. He did pretty good at it.” He shrugged. “Our family’s pretty well-off, for the most part. He only died about twenty years ago, but up until then he basically had total control of the company. When my daddy and Uncle Leroy—Luke’s daddy—turned twenty-one, they were gonna get shares in the company. Not enough to control anything, but enough to get dividends from.”

“Wait a minute.” With a frown, Bobbi tilted her head. “Where are your grandparents in all this? Your father’s folks, I mean.”

“Yeah, that’s part of it,” Jericho acknowledged. “They’ve both passed. Papaw Joe got Mamaw Penny pregnant with twins just before he got killed in Vietnam. Great-granddaddy Frank and Great-gran’maw Kate took her in and helped raise ’em. Mamaw Penny and Great-gran’maw Kate died in a car accident back in the nineties. But anyway, my daddy got born two minutes before Uncle Leroy, so he was the oldest and got all the attention. So, Uncle Leroy kinda acted out a bit. Got expelled from the private school great-granddaddy sent him to, so he ended up in public schooling. Found a girl he liked and fooled around with her a bit too much, and got her pregnant during spring break. So, they took a bus trip across to Vegas and got married in one of those instant wedding chapels.” He shrugged. “Guess it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“But why go all the way to Vegas?” Bobbi frowned, looking confused. “Why not just hit up a civil registry in Savannah, or wherever?”

“Because not a one of ’em woulda let a white boy git hitched to a black girl,” Luke stated bluntly. “They woulda flat-out refused, an’ the ones in Savannah woulda been on th’ phone ta great-grandpappy in about thirty seconds. Followed up by Mama bein’ arrested on whatever charges he could make up. Pa was right smart about that, anyways. He made sure Mama weren’t anywhere great-grandpappy could find her an’ remove th’ problem. When Pa told him Mama was knocked up and he wasn’t gonna walk away from her, great-grandpappy had him beat up an’ kicked out. Cut ’em off cold. They hadda move halfway across th’ state just so’s Pa could git hisself a job without bein’ fired th’ day after as a favor to great-grandpappy.”

“But that’s not fair!” protested Bobbi. “You don’t cut people off in that situation. You help them out.” She looked from Luke to Jericho and back again in silent appeal.

Luke gave her a level stare in return. “You know that, an’ I know that. But that right there was Georgia back then for ya. Great-grandpappy, jes’ like every other rich white asshole, didn’t want his grandkid marryin’ no black girl. Lot of folks still think that way, even now.”

From the look on Bobbi’s face, Jericho suspected that Bobbi was starting to realize how he’d felt when she filled him and Luke in on how the newspapers shaped the narrative according to their political views. “My God,” she said, shaking her head. “And here I thought the year was twenty thirteen, not nineteen thirteen. Or eighteen thirteen.”

That got her a derisive snort from Luke. “Racist assholes never go away. They jes’ learn ta hide better. So anyway, he tol’ everyone else not to he’p us out. My li’l sis Serena come along when I was about four. We done it tough for a few years after that ’til Uncle Beau, that’s Jericho’s daddy, inherited the business. He’d grown up with great-grandpappy pourin’ shit in his ears, but then he went off ta learn business stuff at some fancy college in New York.”

“That’s where he met Mama,” Jericho supplied. “She was studying law. He always told me that meeting her was about the best thing that ever happened to him. Between her and the friends he made there, he got his eyes opened. Over the next few years, he slipped money under the table to Uncle Leroy and his family whenever he could. The moment the controlling interest in the company was signed over to him, he invited them to move back to Savannah. That’s when Luke and I met for the first time.”

“Gave us the chance ta git back on our feet, sho’nuff.” Luke gestured with his hands in lieu of shrugging. “I mean, we ain’t rich, but we’re doin’ jes’ fine anyways.”

Bobbi shook her head again. “I thought I’d heard everything. That’s just crazy.”

“Not arguing,” Jericho said. “But that’s the way it was.”

“He was a different kinda man from a different kinda time,” Luke supplied.

Jericho snorted. “What Luke’s trying to be polite about is that Great-granddaddy Frank was a goddamn racist and a bigot and a few other words I’m not about to say in front of a lady. Anyway, that’s the lowdown on our family history.” He stepped off the escalator behind Bobbi and looked around.

The ground floor of the station was even more impressive than the upper levels. While it lacked the elaborate skylights, there were even more kiosks, as well as shops and cafés scattered here and there. The entire building looked remarkably open plan, with no sign of any way to close it for the night. Then again, does it even close?

“So, uh, is it just me, or does this whole place seem totally automated?” said Bobbi in what Jericho suspected was an attempt to change the subject to something less awkward. “I mean, have you guys even seen someone wearing UML colors yet? Because I haven’t.”

“Huh,” Luke said, looking around. “Now that ya mention it, it is kinda spooky.”

“Yeah,” Jericho agreed. “Even the folks running the shops have their own work uniforms. I guess they really are that good, here.”

“Which raises the problem of where we’d get information from.” Bobbi looked around, her forehead creasing in a frown.

The voice came from behind them. “Need a hand?”

 Chapter 16