Omega (22) "Of course, it is. No doubt about it! But, Beta, what have you been doing in Lambdeth? Have you been here long?" "Only a couple of days. Just long enough to see that Bacon, my brother, was happy in his digs and that he could find his way about. I've met some of the other students on his course, visited the cathedral, looked at the university, and just got to know the city." "So what do you think of my home town?" "I like it," Beta enthused thoughtfully. "I don't know that I'd want to live here permanently, mind, but it's what Bacon wants and I'd love to visit him here again. Even if he is argumentative!" She smiled to remind me of his conversation on the train to Gotesdene. "Argumentative?" wondered Anna, leaning forward. "Oh, he just thinks everything modern is good and everything traditional is bad. That's why he's come here. To get away from a traditional way of life." "Tradition! You can't get away from it here any more than you can in the Country. Or for that matter in the City. It's everywhere. The cathedral's tradition. The university's tradition. I imagine what your brother wants is a place where there's a modern world as well as the traditional, but even the modern world has a history. It didn't spring from thin air, you know!" "I'm not sure I'm that keen on the modern world, really. It's very exciting, though. I like all the shops and the enormous concrete and steel buildings. But the roads are terribly congested and the air's so filthy. I just long for fresh air on my skin again." "Where are you going now?" I asked. "I was thinking of going home. That's why I'm at the station. But I'm not really in such a big hurry to return to the Village. Being so far away is such a treat. I'd love to see more of the world." "Go to the City then. See what the real modern world is like." "I'd like to, Anna, but I'm frightened of going by myself. I'm sure people will take advantage of the fact that I'm a Country girl. Even here I feel really out of place. People ogle me and treat me as if I were stupid. It must be worse in the City." "Oh! There's flipping everyone in the City! No one would look at you twice, not with the range of species, nationalities and cultures crammed into the place. I'd give it a try if I were you." Beta stared at the waiting trains. "It is very tempting! I just don't know, though." "Well, don't take too long to make your mind up. Look! I'll settle the bill and be off now. I'm meeting some friends of mine. I don't know what we'll do, but I'm sure it'll be fun." "Surely I should pay," I protested. "Don't be silly! If you're going to the City you'll need all the flipping money you have. No, you two stay here and finish the wine. There's still a glass or two left!" Anna attracted the bull's attention with the flash of a plastic card embellished by the holographic image of her face dancing on the surface. He compared the holograph with the real thing, and then slid the card through a reading device he carried in his hand which flashed up the digits £79 19/9d: a sum of money considerably greater than I'd anticipated. Anna's face showed no expression, though Beta's flashed with alarm. Anna stood up, kissed me tenderly on the cheeks and then hurried out into the station foyer and off into the distance. Beta sidled round to the other side of the table. "Seventy Nine Pounds Nineteen Shillings and Nine pence!" she gasped. "More than Seventy Five Guineas! A meal and a bottle of wine would cost less than a groat in the Village. If there were any restaurants there, of course." She smiled back at me. "But it's wonderful to see a friendly face again! I was terribly afraid of being all alone in this place. It's so frightening and intimidating!" Beta poured wine into an empty glass and sipped it while staring thoughtfully at the station. "If there are all sorts in the City, what sorts could there be that aren't in this place. I just didn't believe there was such variety on even the whole planet. What do you think?" "I haven't ventured out of the railway station yet," I admitted. "You haven't? You can't have been here very long! You ought to at least see the cathedral if you ever get the chance. It's absolutely colossal! It's quite the biggest thing I've ever seen! The church in the Village could fit inside and there'd be loads of space above and around it. And such a lot of people there. You wouldn't believe there were so many religious types about. Some wore brightly coloured clothes, shaking bowls of incense and chanting. Some were bowing right down to the ground, covering their clothes with dirt, and wailing. Some just sat around trembling and shaking as if in some kind of a fit. There were a few visitors like me, really not at all bothered to pray or chant or anything like that, admiring the icons, the tombstones and all the little chapels dedicated to different Saints. There are shops and stalls where you can buy rosaries, beads, postcards, books and fluffy toys. There are several model sets of the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and a vicious looking snake wrapped round an apple tree. There are fluffy models of asses and a scale model of the golden calf. Are there cathedrals or churches like that in the Suburbs?" "Nothing like that at all. Most of the churches are neglected and in danger of falling down. Religion isn't that popular in the Suburbs, although a few sects ring the doorbell to ask for contributions." "Religion's still very important in the Village. We often receive itinerant preachers and all the villagers come out to hear them preach. With only one television in the whole Village, it's quite a treat. The preachers can be quite fanatic, talking about hell and damnation, fire and brimstone, but none as fanatic as a really horrid group of pilgrims I met in the cathedral. I hope I never meet them again!" "What was so bad about them?" Beta frowned as she recalled the encounter. "They were so abusive. It was by this chapel dedicated to Saint Rénè Descartes. I hadn't even known the philosopher had been sanctified and to be honest I don't believe he was that famous for leading a religious life. But there it was: in a dark corner of the cathedral just by this painting of the Lord Krishna on a white cow (and I've no idea what that was doing there!) And in the chapel were nearly a dozen men in dark cloaks with hoods that completely covered their faces. It looked rather spooky so I just stood there and stared as they bowed and prayed silently in front of this very plain altar decorated only by a gruesome image of Christ on the Cross. "One of them noticed me, and he and three of his companions approached me. They weren't at all polite. They told me I should be thoroughly ashamed of myself in shaming consecrated ground by dressing so immodestly. Indeed wearing nothing at all. They told me I was a shameless harlot and a whore who should shave off my hair, which they said was nothing better than blasphemous vanity, and cover every inch of my shameless flesh. Well, I know that in Lambdeth there aren't many people who dress like me, but in the Village nobody wears clothes. It's just not thought necessary. Nobody had ever accused me of being a prostitute before and no one in Lambdeth has been nearly as rude. In fact, nakedness and long hair were only two things I was meant to be ashamed of. I was sinning by even being out in public, as these fanatics believe that all women should be locked out of sight for good, so as not to tempt Good Christians away from the light. Have you ever heard such nonsense?" "I've heard opinions like that. Anna had stones thrown at her by people like that." "Had she? How horrid! But I'm sure these fanatics would have done the same to me if they'd been allowed. And anyway I was far from the only naked person in the cathedral. This pilgrim told me that even the smallest display of flesh was considered sinful as it promoted lust and pride. That's probably why they wear such clothes. He also said that even modestly dressed women were an abomination. Honestly! If I'm an abomination, what on earth isn't!" Beta looked at her half-empty glass with concern. She brushed a lock of green hair off her face. "He told me that my shamelessness had already condemned me to an eternity in hell and that my soul could never be saved: however many prayers and confessions I made; however penitent I was; however many pilgrimages and fasts I undertook. He said that I would face an eternity in which my eyes would be carved out of my face, mushed to a pulp and then reinserted. That I would be frozen to temperatures marginally above absolute zero and that my limbs would congeal in the intense cold. I would then be roasted, causing my hair to blaze, my skin to blister and peel off, and my pubic hairs to flame in perpetual agony. My body would be hung, drawn and quartered; and then reassembled to begin again. Knives and spears would be thrust through every orifice of my body transporting me to agony as my internal organs emerged at the end of these instruments. I would be raped, ravaged, eaten and tortured forever and ever. I would be hung by my extremities from great heights and then dropped at great velocity. Have you ever heard such an obscene list of punishments?" "How did you get away?" "I was terrified. I was just rooted to the spot and couldn't move, as these pilgrims went on and on: tormenting me by recounting all the horrid things that would happen. How I would be sawn in half by blunt saws. How I would be forced to eat my own entrails. But a priest, a bull with a tall hat and golden gown, told them to leave me alone or be expelled from the cathedral. He was very stern. How can people be so beastly! I reckon that if they had their way they wouldn't wait until I was condemned to hell, but would start subjecting me to all those horrid tortures in this life. I didn't believe Christians were supposed to feel so much hatred." Beta was clearly distressed by the incident. She cupped her hands round her now empty glass and stared into it. A lock of hair gradually released itself from behind her ear and flopped down over her face, but she made no effort to replace it. She looked up with wide blue eyes. "But the rest of the cathedral was lovely. You really ought to visit it." "I'd like to, but at the moment I'm undecided whether to stay in Lambdeth or to follow Anna's advice and go to the City." "Oh yes! I remember now. You're on a quest for the Truth, aren't you? All I can say is that I didn't see any sign of it. If there's anywhere in Lambdeth you'd expect to find the Truth it'd be the cathedral. And I didn't see it there. Anna's probably quite right. The City's a much more likely place to find the Truth. Anyway, how is your quest? Have you got a better idea of what it is and where it might be?" "Not really. I've been given a lot of advice, but it's all been contradictory. In fact, some people have said the Truth doesn't exist. And others have said that the Truth might exist but that I couldn't possibly find it." Beta smiled sympathetically, looking directly into my eyes. "I'm sure your quest is a good thing. It sounds so good and noble. I'm sure there can't be a better one. Don't be disheartened! It's exactly the sort of thing I'd like to do." "Is it?" Beta frowned in self-reflection. "Well, yes it is!" she answered positively. "Yes, I think it may well be. And now I'm here, so far from the Village and not really expected back at any particular time, it seems especially tempting. The Truth! What quest could be better than that? And even if I weren't to find it, there wouldn't be any harm in having tried." She smiled at me thoughtfully. "Perhaps I ought to go with you to the City and look with you there. What do you think?" This proposal was totally unexpected. "It sounds a very good idea," I spluttered in reply. "Very good. I'm sure two people would have twice as much chance of success as one." "Although if there's no chance of finding the Truth at all then we'd still not find it," remarked Beta with a grin. "Yes, now I think of it: a search like that would be very exciting. We could meet some really interesting people. Heroes striving out to do battle against evil and in pursuit of good. Across dry, dusty plains. Over windswept barren hills. Through thick dense jungle. Along the crowded, busy streets of the City. I can see myself peering out to the horizon, scanning in all directions to see if the Truth is in the East or the West, the North or the South. We could meet knights errant, lost princesses, buried treasure, and who knows what else! It sounds very exciting!" Beta's wide-open eyes sparkled with the illumination of her imagination. "It hasn't been nearly as exhilarating as that," I remarked, ruefully recalling an uncomfortable night's sleep in the open air. "But I have seen some interesting places I'd probably never have visited otherwise." "Well, that sounds exciting enough. There's so much more in this country than a life in the Village would suggest. Or even one spent in the Suburbs, I imagine. Are they really as tidy and well-organised as they say, with litter-bins on alternate lamp-posts and trees lining all the roads? Do all the houses have lawns, garages and security lights?" "Yes, it's true." "It sounds so tranquil and restful. And not a trace of poverty!" She slid out of her seat and stood up beside me, watched by the indolent gaze of the waiter. "Come on, then! Let's head for the City before it gets any darker. With any luck we might find the Truth before night falls." I swiftly swallowed the rest of my wine and followed Beta out of Uncle Joe's, across the station foyer to the ticket kiosks signposted in several languages and went to one of the clear glass cubicles advertised by the word City. Another glass cubicle proclaimed the word Suburbs and I felt some trepidation in not buying a ticket to take me back to the comfort and security of home. Some of the other ticket kiosks were somewhat more shabby and were for an itinerary of destinations in the Country that I'd never heard of. A few people were ahead of us in the queue, but we patiently waited our turn, while Beta excitedly speculated about what the City had to offer. The ticket attendant, a cobra with a peaked hat, was surprised that neither Beta nor I had any credit cards, but he accepted a cheque which he slid it into a machine and asked me to sign a sheet of clear plastic card on the counter. As I wrote, my signature was embossed onto the cheque and the figure of £111 1/2d was inserted. "Surely it's not that far to the City!" Beta gasped. "Special evening one-way concessions," the attendant hissed amiably. "Two for the price of one. Enjoy your visit to the City!" The train we boarded was a very large fast train that purred gently as we entered. The doors opened automatically as it sensed our approach and a small platform extended out and down to assist our entry. An illuminated floor-plan greeted us to show us which seats were currently unoccupied, with a little sign that read: 'To reserve your seat, please leave something behind so the seat can sense your continued presence'. We sat facing each other on two very comfortable seats and gazed at the hubbub of activity on the platform as trolley-loads of mail were loaded onto the train by busy little robots assisted by porters who were dashing up and down with hand-held computers. The train's engine abruptly changed its note and an announcement, first in English and then in several other languages, informed us that the train was now about to leave. There then emitted a warning siren, a thud as doors were secured and the train eased out of the station with barely any more noise than when it was stationery. We couldn't see more than the lights from office-windows and lamp-posts as the train sped on, but we could sense that it was getting progressively faster. The landmarks we passed - small railway stations, automatic signal boxes, overhead cables, weather indicators - sped by in progressively less time. It was too dark to enjoy very much scenery, so we chatted together. It was less than an hour later when the train drew into the City. It smoothly decelerated from its earlier rapidity and we were at last able to distinguish the lights that sped by.
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