Outside the Oasis: Part 1

Taylor had come through the fan on her own, however, Claire’s nerves nearly got the best of her before she finally made the jump. Making quick work of the second vent cover, Taylor created an opening for the three of them to access the entire greenhouse building. Beyond the vent was a table that they used to lower themselves to the floor silently. The three of them stayed still, gauging the room to see if anyone was with them, and after a long silence, they assured themselves that they were alone.

Mason stood up and surveyed the room, impressed with everything that he saw. Soft green and orange lights illuminated the room just enough so that they could see. Rows of white tables extended from wall to wall and allowed walkways between them so that each plant could be tended to. Green leaves, flowers, and fruit erupted from tubs of dirt built into each table.

Small rails traversed across the ceiling, heading in every direction imaginable, and occasionally a machine would zip along the rail, stop abruptly above a plant, and lower itself to mist water on various greenery. The spider-like robots would then climb back up to the rails and dart away. Some of the machines that used the rails had claws and scissors, while some had needles and gauges. Even though there were no humans in the building, the room was still hard at work.

Taylor stood next to Mason, her head snapping towards every little noise that she heard. Her eyes were wide as she took in her surroundings; She had never seen anything like this in her entire life. She watched as tens of machines zippered and whirled around plants, snipping and spraying with precision and purpose. Her eyes tracked robots as they descended from the rails, performed their duties, and disappeared.

Claire unzipped her bag and began removing pieces of a disassembled machine from her bag. First, she assembled a tripod then she placed a bulky device on top. “We need to set this up in the middle of the room,” Claire whispered to the others.

Mason nodded and picked up the device. While the three of them were fairly certain they were alone, they still hunched over when they walked and kept a low profile. Extending the legs and placing the machine down, Mason turned to Claire and nodded. She immediately took out her laptop and connected a long black cord from her computer to the device.

Lights began to blink in various places on the device and the machine came to life. It stiffened its joints and adopted a more proper stance, compared to the limp travel mode it had been in. The machine was mostly made of exposed wires and internal mechanisms, however, there were a couple of yellow accent pieces that were designed to protect the more sensitive bits, like the sensor housing and motherboard.

Claire smiled as it came to life, and she imagined that the machine was happy to be of service. Artificial Intelligence was common in a lot of machines in the city, however, she knew this machine had no AI function. Still, she like to believe that all machines were alive in a way. With the tap of a couple of keys on her keyboard, the machine whirred to life and began pointing in various directions while quietly beeping. Claire looked at her friends with a relieved expression, “We did it. We made it into the building and now we are getting our scans. The progress bar says it will take five minutes to complete.”

Mason grinned victoriously, “Sounds good to me!”

Taylor felt differently, “Do we have five minutes? What if someone shows up?”

“It’s the dead of night! No one’s going to show up,” Mason reassured.

Taylor had no choice but to trust them. They knew the city much better than she did, and she didn’t mind burning five minutes in this greenhouse. She looked around the room and took in her surroundings from a different angle. In various corners of the room, there were taller plants that clung to lattices and supporting structures. She approached one of the green pillars and took a closer look. Round, bright red tomatoes peeked out between the leaves. The tomato was the size of a softball and Taylor could almost see her reflection in its smooth skin.

Mason walked up behind her and began to inspect the plant beside her, “When is the last time you ate a tomato?”

Taylor sifted through her memory and sighed, “I don’t think I could tell you. It’s been so long since I’ve seen this much fresh food.”

“What is it really like out there?” Mason’s carefree attitude withered away. His voice sounded worried, maybe a little frightened.

The memories of living outside of the walls were all too prevalent in her mind. Those thoughts kept her up at night. She was afraid to go to sleep, just in case she woke up back in her old town and this whole experience was a dream. “I can’t speak for everywhere, but I can say that where I’m from, the sun doesn’t shine. Not like it does here.”

“Really?” Mason didn’t turn to her and kept looking at the plant in front of them, “How come?”

Taylor continued, “All of the smoke, exhaust, and pollution that comes from the mines gets trapped in the valley. The air gets so gross sometimes that when you step out of your house, it feels like your nose is in the tailpipe of a car. There’s no water because it’s being used by mining companies or fulfillment warehouses. If you want to drink water, you drank it from a plastic bottle. In most cases, showers and running water were a benefit that was provided by your employer. Whenever I went to work with my father I could use the facility to take a shower.”

Taylor didn’t want to scare him, but he also needed to know what it was like out there. Most of her memories of home were in the mines. She remembered the air filtration devices she would need to wear to protect her from the toxic chemicals both inside the mine and out. Standing in line to take a shower, and if you didn’t bathe yourself within five minutes, people would start knocking on your door. She remembered choking down cheese crackers when all she wanted was water. Those memories she kept close to her because they reminded her of what life was actually like. Not fruit trees lining public walkways. Not lounging in the grass on the top of a luxurious tower with nowhere to be.

The stories that Taylor retold shook Mason to his core. He would have never imagined that life could be that cutthroat and dreary. He never had put thought towards it, but he assumed that everywhere else in the world was like his home. Mason had never gone hungry once, but Taylor knew what it was like to worry about her next meal. He had assumed that this road trip would be a walk in the park; Mason even thought they might see some scenic views or tourist stops. Now Mason knew that wasn’t the case, and he felt stupid for even being excited. He wanted his car so badly, but he was beginning to wonder if he was going to put his friends in danger by convincing them to go with him.

Mason finally looked up and made eye contact with Taylor. She couldn’t figure out his emotions, because his eyes swam in almost all of them. He opened his mouth and began to say something, but stopped himself. After rethinking his words he finally spoke, “I’m glad you are here. No one should have to live life like that, and I hope you never go back there.”

Taylor didn’t know what to say. Those words were the most genuine she had ever heard him say.

“Three minutes remaining,” Claire interrupted as she walked up to Taylor and Mason, “Those tomatoes look so tasty.”

Taylor nodded and smiled, her eyes still watching Mason. Outside of her father and mother, no one had ever been so quick to care for her as Claire and Mason had been.

“So, once you get your car,” Claire began asking Mason, “where are you going to drive to first?”

Mason perked up and puffed his chest out, returning to his goofball persona, “Well, since most of the roads here are underground, it doesn’t really matter where I drive to first. However, there’s this stretch of road that’s uncovered. It runs by Euphoria Reservoir and it is the most beautiful stretch of asphalt in the city. I’m thinking I want to go there. Roll the windows down and just drive.” Mason became lost in his thoughts with a smile plastered on his face.

“I call shotgun,” Taylor commented, feeding into Mason’s fantasy.

“You guys will ride with me?” Mason asked with a hopeful tone.

“Of course!” Claire pushed Mason’s shoulder, “I’m not going to trespass and lie to my parents just to never take a ride in it. You’re going to be our driver from now on.”

“I’m ok with that,” Mason shrugged as he smiled from ear to ear.

“Any time Taylor and I want to have a picnic by the river or a day at the mall, you are driving us there. And you’ll have to wait in the car-” Claire’s happy attitude trailed off as she noticed something behind Mason.

“What’s up?” Mason said as he turned around.

“That hall light is on, and I don’t remember if it was on when we first came in,” Claire continued to look through one of the windows that revealed the hallway just outside of the room. Her brow furled as she continued to study the hallway for movement. Shadows appeared down the hall and began moving toward their location.

“We are alone, right?” Taylor asked, fearing the worst.

“Not anymore,” Claire panicked as she pulled Mason and Taylor to the floor.

They began to scurry across the floor like uncoordinated mice, keeping their heads below the table tops. The scanner was in the middle of the room, and at this pace, it would take at least a minute to get there.

“What do we do?” Mason hissed to Claire.

Claire glanced at her watch and slid her finger across the screen to pull up the scanner’s interface, “We still have a minute and a half before the scan is complete.”

“If we stop the scan now, we aren’t going to get another chance to complete it,” Mason whispered as they continued to crawl carefully.

“If we get caught, we aren’t going to get another chance either,” Claire hissed.

Mason couldn’t disagree with that, “You and Taylor grab the stuff and head for the vent. I’ll get to the scanner. The second it’s finished, shoot me a text and I’ll pack it up.”

Claire thought about the plan for a moment, then reluctantly agreed, “Be quick, but be careful. It’s a delicate piece of technology.”

Mason nodded and broke away from the group. He could see the 3D scanner, but it was still a couple of table lengths away. The machine rotated and tilted like a lazy gyroscope. The door to the greenhouse room slid open and made Mason’s hair stand on end. A conversation drifted into the room, followed by three sets of footsteps.

“Thank you for meeting with us this late, I just need one final inspection before the papers can be submitted,” the voice was eager and nervous.

A firm voice responded, “It’s no big deal, but don’t get used to doing inspections this late at night.”

“Again, I apologize,” the same nervous voice quickly interjected.

The firm voice began speaking again, “This is room three, feel free to look around.”

Mason couldn’t resist the urge to peek his head over the table. Silently, he observed the strangers for a brief moment before sinking his head below the table again.

The firm voice belonged to a larger man wearing a greenhouse uniform. He looked as though he was a worker, but the fact he was here late made Mason believe he was a manager. His rubber boots squeaked as he walked, and his tone sounded like he wished he were at home.

The nervous voice wore a wrinkly suit and tie. His body quaked and he nervously scribbled his stylus on a tablet, frequently apologizing to himself for his own typos. There was no sort of logo or emblem on the man’s suit, but Mason never questioned the authority of a stylus and tablet.

There was a third man, however, that hadn’t spoken yet. He silently scanned the room with his hands clasped behind his back. His face was motionless like a statue and his posture was rigid. He wore the same type of suit as the nervous man, however, his suit was neatly pressed and his shoes shined even in the low light of the room.

The 3D scanner was just a couple of paces away from Mason, and he could see that it was still actively scanning. Mason continued to press forward, praying that the three workers wouldn’t hear the quiet servos of the scanner.

“Tell me,” the third voice finally spoke. His tone was dark and grim, “How much food do we still import from outside of the city walls?”

The worker scratched his head and hummed to himself, “I think we are still importing salt and other minerals. We produce a lot of our food inside the walls, but we are still relying on the imports of prescriptions and other pharmaceutical drugs.”

The third man grunted, “It’s in our best interest to fix that. Times are only getting worse, and it won’t be long before we won’t have access to those imports.”

A nervous chuckle interrupted the grim man’s response, “I’m sorry for my partner’s pessimistic outlook. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

“I hate to say it, but I’m just as pessimistic about the future. Talk of war is only getting worse and worse. I won’t let my kids watch the news anymore.”

Mason’s phone buzzed quietly, and when he looked at the screen he saw Claire’s message. The scanner was done. Silently adjusting the tripod that the scanner was on, Mason began packing away the machine back into the bag it had come out of. The individuals continued to talk amongst themselves, and as much as Mason wanted to listen, he knew he had a job to do. The backpack that Claire used to carry the device had foam inserts that outlined the place for each component. First, it was the scanner, then each leg of the tripod, and finally the piece that joined the legs to the device.

Mason tipped the bag up and began to zip it closed. It felt like an eternity as he slowly moved the zipper along the track to avoid making a sound. The zipper glided at first but quickly snagged against itself. Mason cursed to himself as he desperately tried to dislodge fabric from the zipper’s path, and as he tugged on the zipper’s handle it came free with a loud snap.

“What was that?” The grim man asked in an instant.

“Probably one of the machines malfunctioning. Let’s have a look,” the worker sighed as he began to walk towards the noise, his boots squeaking against the floor.

“I’m sorry, but can we watch you fix it?” the nervous man’s voice quivered as he followed the worker, “I’ve always wanted to see the inner workings of one of these robots.”

“By all means, I’m not the one that pays you,” the worker waved his hand for the two to follow him.

The three men began closing on Mason’s position quickly. Mason looked around desperately for any sort of exit, but nothing was close enough. He began clearing one of the shelves of bagged soil below the planter table he was next to. After he cleared enough of an area to slide his body in, he stashed the backpack in an empty pot and disappeared into the shelf.

His view was obstructed, but Mason could see the three men arrive where he was just sitting only moments before. The worker scratched his head in confusion and pressed a button on his watch to activate its flashlight feature.

He scanned his surroundings before grunting, “I’ll find it in the morning.”

“Oh,” the nervous man sighed in disappointment, “Perhaps I’ll get another chance in the future.”

The grim man spoke up once more, “We should go. We have to get this paperwork indexed before tomorrow morning.”

Three pairs of footsteps began walking back through the maze of planting tables, and Mason didn’t dare move until he heard the door close behind them. Carefully crawling out of the shelf, he put all of the bags back into their position and quickly walked back to the vent that Claire, Taylor, and he had used to enter the room. Mason met his friends at the large fan, and their faces looked as though they didn’t expect to see him again.

“You’re alive!” Claire said with surprise.

“You thought they were going to kill me?” Mason asked as he began moving their bags carefully through the fan.

“I don’t really know what I was expecting, but I thought they were going to find you in an instant,” Claire said as she hugged Mason.

“Quick thinking,” Taylor added with a proud smile.

The three of them worked their way through the fan and quickly put the greenhouse behind them as they headed home. They walked in silence, partly because they were still in shock, partly because exhaustion had crept up on them.

“So now what?” Taylor asked.

“Now we get scans of ourselves,” Claire said as she patted her bag, “And then I get to work. In a couple of days, we embark on one of the most stressful road trips of my life.”