Free 2022 by Ken Kroes

stood
out in his brightly colored vest in the eating area.
    Spender tapped his shoulder and he looked up
from the papers he was going over. “The man at the gate told me
that I needed to report to you for chores.”
    “Yes—good morning. I guess this is your first
time here. The chore list is on the computer inside the kitchen
entrance. I think we’re good for food prep for lunch, but there are
still openings for dinner. Find something that fits your schedule,
and then scan your fingerprint.”
    “Sounds easy enough, thanks.” He was suddenly
curious to know more. “How long have you worked here?”
    “My family has been here since the colony
first opened. I don’t really consider this work. It took a bit of
getting used to, but we’re far happier now than living in the rat
race. My wife and I no longer have to work full-time jobs just to
afford food and housing so we have much more family and social
time. I have a small part-time job in the city doing something I
really enjoy that more than pays for all of our expenses.”
    “So this is not temporary for you then?”
    The man laughed. “That is the impression so
many outsiders have of life here and while it is true for some of
the people staying here, there are many of us that have no plans on
leaving.”
    “How many people live in this building?”
    “This is a singles building, so there are
about fifty people. The family buildings have a few more, usually
around seventy-five. They are setup a bit different too. Instead of
a bunch of small rooms like this building, the family buildings
have a few large sleeping areas and we use sleeping mats instead of
beds. It’s a much better use of space since in the daytime we can
roll up the mats and have a large area to do whatever in.”
    “You all sleep in the same room? I don’t know
if I could get used to that.”
    “It does take a bit of getting used to, but
now I can’t imagine going back to sleeping away from my kids and
parents.”
    “Your parents are here too?”
    “Yes, they arrived shortly after my wife and
I did. It’s far cheaper for them to live since they are retired and
they get to spend so much more time with their grandchildren.”
    Spencer tried to envision living with his
parents and just shivered. He decided to change the subject and
asked him about purpose related activities. “Where do I go for
that?”
    “Our rec center—building forty-nine. You’ll
see another computer at the entrance. It has a list you can select
from, or if you have another idea, come back and let me know, and
I’ll get you entered.”
    Spencer thanked him and went into the
kitchen. He found the computer and signed up for dishwashing for
two evenings. Then he went outside and found the recreation
building. The layout was the same as the one he had seen earlier.
He signed up for classes in gardening, and while doing so
determined that the computer, like the one in the kitchen, seemed
to be only connected to a local network and not the internal
company network.
    On his way out of the recreation center, he
passed an open office door and saw that the room was empty except
for a desk, a book shelf, and a computer. He reached into his
backpack for the DIR device that Sue had given him. From the
hallway, he could see an open USB port on the computer and after
looking around to see if anyone was watching, quickly stepped into
the room, fumbling with the device as he hunched over to insert it
into the open slot.
    Got it! This was his last thought
before feeling a violent blow to the back of his head.

Chapter 8 - Start of Percipience

    Diane felt calmer as she pulled her RV out of
the foundation complex and drove out onto the public street. She
was looking forward to the long drive ahead; it would give her time
to sort out everything that had happened earlier.
    As expected, Gordon told her she had passed
the tests, and now it was time for her to decide whether or not she
wanted to join Percipience. She had asked when she