All The World We Cannot See

Dear Granma,

I am writing this note from my Bubble in the Incarceration Habitat. I have committed the most heinous of crimes: Newborn Endangerment. To that they have added Torture and Treachery against the State and a trial date will be set.

But I cannot wait for the trial. They don’t know about the Hideout. Yet. It will take them a week or so but that will be all you need. That is why I cannot wait.

I did what I had to and I have no regrets. I would do it again. They know this and cannot allow any more people to find out than already do. So a trial will not be allowed  and if it is it will be a sham. An open trial could lead to a rebellion on a scale we have not seen since your days.

Despite detailed planning, something went wrong with my Bubble. My womb got stressed and I went into labor while riding a public bus on the way to work. State Agents rushed me to Healers Habitat and my baby was born there and not in the Hideout as I had planned.

My baby is a boy, Granma.

I did the unthinkable.

I snatched my boy from the doctor, slapped his bottom and cleared his nose and lungs. He let out a scream.

At first they were in shock. The doctor recovered first and set emergency procedures in motion. Sirens went off. I was put on life support and charged with Newborn Endangerment. Baby was moved to Infant Nebulizer.

But what can they do? He is breathing air already. The computer will have no checklist to handle the situation. They will let him be while they figure it out.

They won’t drown him. At least not yet.

I want my baby to have the life I have heard in your stories from 100 years ago. I want my boy to breathe fresh air, eat ripe fruit, make friends, make love and yes if it must be so, make enemies.

I want him to see everything not just what shows on the Bubble Visor.

I suppose they will close his air passageways. I don’t know. I am hoping you get this in time. As a notarized Breath Elder you have some rights we do not. You are allowed to see more.

The State must control us – else the deviants will destroy society as we know it. I know that. I know that State Scientists are working to create the perfect Global Habitat.

But I don’t want to create this New World.  I think the scientists have gone too far; we are ruled by paranoia and the confines of our Habitat get tighter everyday. We choose not to see the world to avoid danger and have adapted our bodies so.

My son will stop this madness.

I ask you one favor Granma. Take Baby to the Hideout. He will survive on his own there. You can leave him there and no one will know. He will come out himself when he is ready.

Tomorrow I will ask for a visit with you and give you this letter. Then I will unplug myself to create a distraction.

Hideout details are in the enclosed map.

Note: This post was inspired by The City and the City by China Miéville.

I was intrigued by his world in which our habits of “unseeing” allow us to ignore that which does not directly affect us. But he posits no explanation, scientific or otherwise; Rather he presents it as a thriller in police procedures.

I have tried to imagine how his world might come about. The title is a nod to a favorite book.