Ben had made himself a big meal with all the care package items. He had an idea. Once he’d eaten he took a nap on the couch. It lasted longer than expected. He slept from eight in the evening till eight in the morning. Twelve hours of rest and he still felt like his body had run a gauntlet.
Ben made the next preparations. He was under siege and he needed to clear his name. A plan was imperative and Ben had one. His anger had boiled over into action. He prepared a backpack of supplies from the care package sent from SS9. Ben inspected each item as he packed it, checking it for openings and broken seals.
“Not gonna poison me,” he muttered. He slid his laptop in and swung the backpack around his shoulder. Ben picked his phone up and considered taking it or leaving it. Benjamin was positive his phone had been compromised and it is what’s being used to spy on him. “Better leave it behind.” he placed the phone gently on the coffee table. He looked around his living room and huffed. It was a disaster what with all the upended furniture and broken things.
Ben was determined to connect with someone who wasn’t standoffish or weird. He had realised everyone had an odd way of speaking and would disengage. At first, he thought Pete had a point, but it didn’t make sense. He had friends, sure, they all drifted away but that was because Ben hadn’t made any effort with them. He let them go; he didn’t scare them away.
He decided his first port of call would be a neighbour. He had a good relationship with Ste but he was gone now. Ben thought perhaps he could have done something to help him when he saw him moving out of his home.
The house across the road seemed to have people coming in and out a lot, so he stared there. The doorbell buzzed and Ben waited patiently. No answer. He buzzed again, nothing. Ben tried looking in through the windows, but the net curtains blocked his view.
It took at least thirty houses before someone finally answered. It was a bungalow on the next street over. A man in his dressing gown and scruffy hair opened up. “Yes?”
Ben was suddenly overcome with shyness, he hadn’t rehearsed what he’d say if someone opened the door to him. “Hi…” he tried to look past the man but he leaned over to block his view.
“I’m at work, pal, what do you want?”
Ben cleared his throat. “Do you know where all our neighbours are?”
“What?”
“All our neighbours, where are they all?”
“I dunno, pal, probably at work or something, I don’t talk to ‘em.”
Ben scratched his chin, “Can I borrow your internet?”
“You what?” He narrowed his eyes and tightened his gown rope.
“I lost my internet connection, I need to log into work to let them know I am waiting for a repair.”
The man eyed Ben up and down a few times. “Which house are you from?”
Number fifty-two on Victoria Street.”
“That’s over on the other street, no one answered until me?”
“Yep…am Ben by the way.”
“Greg.” Greg sighed and waved him in. “Come on then, make it quick.”
Ben nodded. A random act of kindness was enough to flush his spirits with a momentary warmth. He walked into the house, it reminded him much of his own; cluttered and scattered with letters. The TV was on and running news about a war that had broken out in some far-flung place.
“Do you want to watch TV or check your computer?”
“Oh.” Ben jumped, realising he’d been caught gawking. “Sorry, just, the war thing.”
“Yeah, a real tragedy I’m sure. You can use that coffee table there. I’ll get you the WiFi password.”
Ben peeled away a shirt from the backrest of the chair and set it down on the floor before sitting. He took out his computer and opened it up on his lap.
Greg returned with a little piece of card. “It’s on here.” he reached over to hand it to him.
“Thanks.” Ben took the card. “What do you think of those support sectors?”
“Support what?”
Ben stopped himself from asking Greg if he’d been living under a rock. “Eh, we have a support sector in the local, just down the road, SS9 it’s called.”
Greg folded his arms. “What is it?”
“It’s like a place where people who don’t work go.”
“Oh yeah, the dosser house?” Greg chuckled nervously.
Ben tapped in the WiFi password. “Well, my neighbour ended up there and a friend.”
“Yeah?”
“Lost their job. I’ll probably lose mine now.”
Greg shrugged. “It’s getting tough, everyone in my place is working like a machine, I’m struggling to keep up.”
Ben looked up from his laptop screen. “Can I ask what you work as?”
“Yeah, I do data entry, simple stuff.”
“Does it feel like everyone is cheating, like their numbers are just impossible?”
Greg frowned and then looked away. “Who the fuck are you, mate?”
“N-no one.”
“Well, you’re asking me a load of dodgy questions. You seem to know about my work.” Greg moved around in front of Ben.
Ben raised his hands. “I don’t know anything about your work, all I know is what has happened to me, and it sounds like what’s happening to you.”
Greg sneered.
“Listen, I got smashed at work, everyone is working super fast like they never take a break. I got my bonus pulled. I’ve had my life turned upside down and these Support Sector people screwing with me.”
“I’ll be fine, just cos you can’t do your job.”
Ben pointed at all the letters on the table, “keeping up with your bills are you?”
Greg lunged forward and ripped the laptop from Ben’s lap. “Get the fuck out.”
Ben stood quickly. “Calm down, I’ll go.”
“Now!”
Ben took his laptop back and shuffled out. As he approached the open front door he turned back to Greg and said; “I think they’ll try to do to you what they did to me. I can show you…”
“Piss off you weirdo!” Greg slammed the door in Ben''s face.
Ben didn’t feel upset. He felt relieved. Greg seemed to be the most real person he’d spoken to in forever. He looked down at the card in his hand, the one with Greg’s wifi password details on it. He slumped down on the doorstep, quickly logged in, saved the details and posted the card back through the letter box.
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Contact made. Ben thought. He went back home. Meeting Greg and learning of his situation sparked a keen desire to make contact again, but he knew the man wouldn’t accept him or his stories until things turned.
“Am I going mad?” Ben looked at his backpack of supplies. “What was I going to do? Sleep under a bridge with a bag full of crisps?” He rubbed his forehead. “No, I’m not mad.”
His phone rang. He ignored it. Ben figured it would be work calling to find out why he hadn’t logged in. He wasn’t going to give Pete the satisfaction of listening to him provide an excuse.
Ben scrawled his email and a note on a piece of paper. He kept it short and sweet: When things get bad, email me. Ben ran back to Greg’s house and pushed the note along with the SS9 brochure through the letter box.
Accessing his emails would be a chore, but he now had Greg’s WiFi which he could use if he was close by, until Greg catches on and then changes the password.
Without a car, Ben would have to boot it. He walked in the direction of the SS9 facility. He wanted to find that little blue cabin again and speak to Dave. He thought Dave might be just like him. Perhaps he’d been removed and replaced.
The walk would be at least an hour. Ben didn’t mind, it gave him a chance to stretch his legs. He needed to work on his fitness levels too. Most of the high street shops were husks, remnants were left inside the bare buildings like all SALE signs and a few unopened letters. “This town is sinking.”
A small coffee shop invited him in. Perhaps it would have WiFi, he could check his email to see if Greg had mailed him. He pushed the glass door open and the little bell rang above his head. There were only three rickety wooden tables and a drinks cooler in the corner. The desk was wooden too and a small lady stood behind it. “Hi,” Ben said.
“Good morning.” She nodded.
“Do you have WiFi?”
“Nah, sorry. They battered us with the license fee.”
“License fee?”
“Yep. All businesses providing WiFi need to pay for a broadcast license. It wasn’t worth it for the amount of people using it. Would you like a coffee?”
Ben shook his head, “No, I’ll have a cold drink.” He lifted a pop out of the fridge and paid. “Say, what do you think of that Support Sector down the road.”
The small, mousey lady blinked a few times. “Well, it’s not been much good for business.”
Ben looked over his shoulder onto the main road, a car hadn’t been by since he’d entered. “You know anything about it?”
She shrugged. “My sister lives there, she had some issues. Seems to have gotten her back on her feet.”
“Oh, you keep in contact?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” She narrowed her eyes.
Ben wouldn’t normally speak to anyone apart from a good morning, now he was asking personal questions to strangers like a detective. “Does your sister seem odd now?”
The woman looked slightly uncomfortable. “Eh, why do you ask, do you know her or something?”
Ben shook his head. “No, I just had a friend move in there and ever since he’s just not been the same.”
The lady thought a moment. “Well, she only ever speaks to me on video calls now. I tried meeting her at the facility and ended up having a conversation with her in that little blue cabin.”
“Don’t you think it’s a bit weird?”
“We are all busy and life is tough love.” She shrugged.
Ben took a big gulp of his drink. “Do you know why she went in there anyway?”
“Listen, I don’t know you and I’m not here to talk about my family, sorry.”
Ben nodded and looked around. “It’s just weird, though, right?”
She backed away from the counter. “Yeah, and so is this conversation. If you don’t mind.” She nodded to the door and raised her eyebrows.
Ben took the hint. He didn’t want randoms calling the police on him, he hadn’t had much luck with them in recent days. The commanding orange building soon came into view. It felt bigger than when he last visited a few days ago. Was it two days ago? Ben thought, losing track of time and days.
He trotted up to the gates and hit the buzzer.
“SS9 how can I help?”
“Is that you Claudia?”
“I am Claudia, how can I help?”
“I’d like to speak to someone within your facility.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No, but he lives there and doesn’t know I am here to visit.”
There was a ten-second pause. “What is the person''s name?”
“Steven Trotter.”
Another pause. “Steven is currently engaged.”
“I can wait.”
The pauses grew longer each time. “Steven will speak to you remotely. Please visit the cabin.”
Ben was apprehensive about going back into the small blue cabin. It’s where he met Dave and all this madness began. He had to speak to someone who was on the “inside”. Wayne had offered no details.
The blue cabin stood short and stocky, its red door welcoming him into its belly. He sat at the desk and the monitor hummed then flashed. There he was. Ste. He was dressed in a simple red tracksuit and his ginger hair bounced as he sat down. “Ste!”
“Hello, Ben, great to see you!”
Ben smirked, “Ok, mate, no need to lie,” he winked.
“I don’t lie, Ben.”
“I was kidding, mate. Look, what’s happening inside there?”
“What do you mean, Ben?”
“Inside SS9, what’s going on?”
Ste shrugged. “Well, I am enjoying myself so far.”
“What’s it like?”
“It’s fantastic. Before coming here I was under a world of stress. My finances were a disaster and I lost my job due to cutbacks.”
Ben narrowed his eyes. He’d never experienced Ste talking about his personal life so freely before. He was used to Ste’s stoic one-liners. “Right.”
“Why are you visiting me?”
“I wanted to check how my old neighbour was, we didn’t get much of a chance to say goodbye.”
Ste nodded. “Understandable. As I said, I am doing fantastic. It’s great to have meaningful work to do for sure.”
“Meaningful work? Wouldn’t that be more in line with the things you were doing on your house?”
Ste cocked his head. “I don’t need a house, too much stress. SS9 provides me with excellent ac-acco-accommodation.”
“You ok?”
“Looks like a connection issue.” Said Ste.
“Why don’t you come out, we can pop to the pub or something.”
“I’m much too busy, I have a date later.”
“Like, with a woman?”
“Yes with a woman.” Ste offered up the sourest of smiles.
“Surely you can come out for five minutes.”
“Why are you so intent on having me come out, Ben?”
“Are you allowed to leave, Ste?”
“What?”
Ben leaned forward and spoke in a hushed voice, “Just blink fast or something if they don’t let you out.”
Ste shook his head, “You’re making me feel uncomfortable here, Ben.”
“I am? You’re the one who won’t come out. Seems a bit fishy right?”
“A bit fishy that I am busy?”
“Everything. You loved that house, you worked on it all your life, right?”
“When I had a life, Ben. After the divorce, it was all for nothing. Now I am back to the way I used to be. Happy.”
“Happy in a prison?”
“It’s not a prison, Ben.”
“Then prove it, come out.”
Ste shook his head. The screen went black. Then a new face appeared. One Ben did not recognise. “Hello, Benjamin.”
Ben recognised that grey voice though. “Andrew?”
“In the flesh…so to speak.” He had thin wiry lips that resisted any kind of smile. His hair was jet back and slicked, while his eyes were as cold and grey as his voice.
“I was speaking to, Ste.”
“He pushed the disconnected button and reported the conversation as distressing, it’s why I am here.”
“Seriously?”
“As serious as can be. It’s a breach of the communication act to cause distress over the phone or video calls you know?”
“Oh, so I will be arrested for asking questions?”
“That isn’t our goal here at SS9, Mr Yeoman.”
“What is your goal?”
“Did you not read your brochure?”
“Looked like a load of nonsense to me.”
“Are you enjoying the care packages?”
Ben shook his head, “You’re dodging the questions, Andrew.”
“Ah. What we do here is provide a place for those who have become lost in the world. We are an excellent scheme and our success has prompted the construction of many facilities.”
“How many?” Ben met Andrew''s sharp gaze with his.
“Currently, two thousand four hundred.”
Ben’s heart sank, “This is madness, how can that be needed? It’s more than prisons! It’s bonkers!”
Andrew was motionless and bar his lips when he spoke. “Ben, we cannot keep supplying you with care packages and free internet hours while you’re outside of the facility. Why don’t you come and join us?”
“Join you lot? In your prison? You spy on me!”
“We simply keep an eye out for you. We are here to help.”
“I don’t want your help.”
“It’s a choice you’ll regret. I’ll always be here, waiting until the day you change your mind.”
Ben opened his mouth to respond but the screen went black. He stood up quickly and walked around to the screen to fumble with the buttons. “Come back!” he banged on the monitor screen, “Come back!”