Underground Cities: Bunkers Surrounded by Matooke/Matooke Colony
Underground Cities: Bunkers Surrounded by Matooke/Matooke Colony
SUSAN AS A TEACHER
“…Once upon a time, our ancestors were divided along the lines of gender, colour, tribe, religion, country, sexuality. But that was the old world, before humans were driven from the surface in a cause to save mother earth. Now we live in underground cities. So what do we learn from the mistakes of our ancestors,” Teacher Susan asked her students.
A number of hands shot up in the air.
“Kato,” she nodded at the skinny boy at the back of the class.
“We learn not to be jackasses,” he said, smiling and causing the rest of the class to roar in laughter.
“Not false but please refrain from using such language in my class,” Teacher Susan said, her face unsmiling as she looked sternly at Kato.
“Janet, what do you say?” Teacher Susan asked the lovely chubby face in the middle row directly opposite herself.
“Well, we learn not to take anything for granted,” said Janet.
“Yes, true, that is very good. Lugendo, and you. Any comment you might like to add!” Susan asked her nephew.
“Ahhh…no, not really,” he said, staring at her momentarily and then at the floor.
Occasionally, Susan tried to get the boy out of his comfort zone but he was painfully shy. He reminded her of herself when she was his age — a loner, never really voiced much but always held an opinion.
“Okay, that will be all for today. But please don’t forget to hand in your essays tomorrow.” Susan ended her class. She picked up her backpack and walked out, leaving the teenagers whispering among themselves.
SUSAN OUT OF CLASS
“Teacher Susan,” a voice called her as she stepped into the hallway. She looked back to see Kevin, one of her best students, standing before her.
“Yes, Kevin. How can I help you?”
“So I am writing an article for The Matooke Republic Review, I was wondering if I can interview you for some content on my piece.”
“Yes, of course, come to my office first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you,” the boy bellowed, clasping his hands together.
Susan chuckled and as she made her way across the hall she wondered what this so-called interview for the school newspaper was all about….
As an Underground Cities historian, she was always happy when her students came to her with questions because the more curious students got, the better it was for all humanity. Susan believed that curious minds solved problems. And she was hoping that before she’s dead one special mind would solve their universal problem.
As her eyes lingered on nothing in particular she hoped that one day she would get to see beyond the plantain. Actually, it was more of a prayer, a deep yearning for what her ancestors had taken for granted. What now lay above but was a death sentence.
SUSAN AT HOME
“Susan dear,” her mother cried from the kitchen, “I need a grandchild from you.”
Susan sighed and entered her bedroom.
Children were always a cause for argument in Susan’s household. And since her twin sister and their partner and kid had moved to another station, her mother was terribly lonely at home as Susan mostly kept to herself/was never much of a talker, and was always busy.
Every day her mother nagged her about a baby, hoping that one day Susan would cave in and have at least one of her frozen eggs fertilized. Unlike her twin sister, Susan had no intention or interest in raising a child (even though her mother was more than willing to take on the responsibility) only for them to grow up and live in a cage all their lives, below ground. Susan’s mother desperately loved children, and she hated that Bunker Law could only let her have two.
“I’m not giving you any grandchildren so you can make their lives as miserable as you make mine. Besides, I refuse to bring children into this bunker life,” Susan said to herself.
Susan had a hole in her heart, a hole that would only be filled by things that existed seventeen centuries before. Things that she had read and devoured in books all her life. Things she taught to her students every day. Things she could never see, touch, or feel. Because her world was a controlled mess to prevent the extinction of mankind.
Often she pondered about reincarnation and perhaps an old version of herself had lived through the glory days of humanity. Perhaps this version had made love under the sun. Perhaps this version liked to run in the evenings as the sun set. Perhaps this version liked to swim in the ocean or lake or river or ponds. These images of another life felt so real and most days Susan just wanted to lie in her bed and dream them up. They gave her hope.
Susan closed her bedroom door and then sprawled on her matooke fibre carpet. She took in its earthy scent and closed her eyes, conjuring up images of the savannah and night sky above ground. Things she had never seen with her naked eyes.
“Dinner is on the table,” her mother called…Susan opened her eyes.
AT THE DINNER TABLE
“Why do you always insist on wearing your uniform before dinner?”
“Cause I head out for surface work right after…I’m so over this conversation ma.”
Susan rolled her eyes, taking her seat opposite her mother at their kitchen table. She didn’t understand why her uniform bothered her mother (a black body jumpsuit lined with dried zero-dust matooke leaves from her shoulders to her ankles). I guess it was all because she had volunteered to do surface work even though as a full-time history teacher she was not required to.
Susan’s mother had never been above ground. And she was more than content to live all the days of her life without doing so. At least that’s the ideology she had stood by since Susan had known her.
For Susan, it was the total opposite. Susan desired to roam freely above ground like humans from before the Great Switch. Before plants and animals developed a humanlike consciousness, except it was several times superior to humanity’s perception. Working for the matooke was Susan’s only chance to roam the surface until someone figured out a way to reconcile the plant and animal populations with humans.
Humans…oh how everything hates us now.
Presently, plants and animals rule the world. In Susan’s part of the world matooke are our above-ground/surface masters.
If one paid attention to the news from human colonies in different underground cities all over the world, they would conclude that matooke are pretty good to their human population. In the Matooke Colony, humans must take care of the matooke (weeding and pruning and sometimes planting new gardens)….
In return, the matooke plants provide humans with matooke for food. The same cannot be said about underground cities: bunkers surrounded by apples. Apple trees do not like humans very much. They forbid humans from eating fresh apples. All apples are processed. It is taboo to eat fresh apples in the Apple Colony. It is as much a crime and sin as stepping above ground without official permission.
Or even underground cities: bunkers surrounded by barley. Here, humans are not allowed to harvest barley…ever. Sure, they could steal, but fatal consequences often befall those who are caught. The most famous, death by drowning in alcohol, or a public stabbing to death carried out by barley controlled robots.
Now that plants and animals possess a superior consciousness, they are the masters of all intelligence on earth. Absolutely nothing compares. Neither humans nor anything created by humans comes close.
