Fiction, The Tube 
No Comments The Tube – Part Seventeen
The first hint of the reason for Shane’s incarceration begin to show themselves in today’s instalment of The Tube!
THE TUBE
Concept by Michael Winters and Shane W Smith
Written by Shane W Smith
They went for a walk, Shane a pace behind and to the right of the OmniTech executive. He saw no evidence of armed guards around, but reason made him doubt that Clarissa was entirely without protection. Indeed, not fifty metres from the apartment door, she turned her head slightly to address him.
“If you’re thinking of making a move, I would recommend against it,” she said coolly.
She offered no further words, nor any physical betrayal of any particular disquiet on her behalf, but Shane got the message. This was not his moment.
“Where’s my family?” he asked.
“You still remember them,” she said, her words surprised but her tone not. “Your family is fine. They are safe. And as long as you fulfil your obligation to OmniTech, they will remain so.”
The hard words were not entirely unexpected, but he flinched anyway. “And if I don’t fulfil my… obligations?”
She didn’t answer right away. She allowed the silence to stretch for a few seconds, allowing all of his worst fears to creep into his mind and fill him with an incredibly potent sense of dread and terror.
Then she changed the topic. “How are you feeling today?” she asked.
“What is this place?” he asked, deciding on the spot not to answer any more of her questions for the moment.
Ahead of them an automatic door slid open silently, and the sounds of the city found their way in. Before them, a concrete walkway linked two massive buildings. The walkway was uncovered, a design choice that afforded travelers a generous view over the metropolis around them.
Shane took one, two steps out, and looked around, somewhat awestruck despite the gravity of his situation. He had spent an incalculable number of hours staring out the window of his apartment, but to be here, amongst the ordered bustle, was something else entirely. If such an industrial conurbation, and one that had clearly been designed for function rather than aesthetic form, could be said to possess qualities of beauty, this was it.
“This,” Clarissa said from behind him, “is The Tube. Your home.”
He felt in her voice an attempt to bait him, to goad a response out of him, so he said nothing; realising she would get no reaction, she continued:
“The Tube is self-contained, an experiment in urban self-sufficiency and sustainability overseen by OmniTech. Weather manipulation technology ensures the city gets all the water it needs; a combination of rooftop gardens and synthesized food products ensure sufficient nutrition for all; and all energy needs are met, and then some, by a single large generator… a design that you are no doubt familiar with.
For a second, Shane forgot his predicament, his woes. “My generator… powers this entire city?”
“It is a variant of your design, but yes.” Clarissa crossed the walkway, prompting Shane to follow, looking around in stunned amazement. “Now, The Tube has been closed off from the outside, in order to protect the integrity of the experiment, but all the residents of The Tube are volunteers, and are under contract with OmniTech.”
“Volunt…!” The word caught in his throat, and he let out a noise that was part indignant squawk and part disbelieving laugh.
“I am aware of your particular circumstances,” Clarissa said, her voice as hard as iron, “but I have seen the contract you signed, agreeing to be here and to undertake experimentation on our behalf. Whether you currently recall it or not, you volunteered.”
Caution fled him. “And how many of the other people in this giant prison volunteered in the same manner?”
She stopped walking and turned to face him. She looked like she was about to enter into the argument with him, and he got the immediate impression that she herself had been a willing and happy volunteer for The Tube, and she was proud of whatever role she played in its current level of success. But instead of saying anything, she brushed past him, her calm composure cracked. “You clearly aren’t yet ready to get to work for us,” she said. “I’ll walk you back to your apartment.”
They walked back in silence, and when he returned to his room, he discovered that the phone he’d hidden in the en suite was gone.
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