Flash Fiction Friday
The Cost of Coffee, Part 12
Prompts from
Write about a ship in a storm
churning stillness
“Please, no”
A character who doesn’t believe in mermaids
"The two most important things that humans need are religion and story?" Pinta shook her head in confusion.
"Well," her father said, "Our bodies need water, nutrition, and movement to be healthy. Our minds need to be challenged, which is why our culture here values education and interesting work. But if I have learned one thing since arriving here, it's that there is something more to living than nutrition and occupation."
"Now you're starting to sound a little crazy. Is that what Mother heard you muttering about when you were ill after the fires? And why now? How is everything connected?" Pinta couldn't decide whether she was worried about her father's mental state or curious about this "something more." She had often wondered lately why they were here on Mars in the first place. If all the other life on Earth died off with the planet, what purpose did their survival serve? Biology consisted of life cycles: inception, birth, production, and death. What made humans so different?
Father watched Pinta process the information. She was smart, but young. Religion, art, philosophy, and story disconnected from history had no place in the Bio. Music served a purpose: it increased productivity and aided in rest. Games also played a strategic role in keeping minds alert, thus ensuring the smooth operation of the Bio and everything in it. Small luxuries like coffee helped motivation. His painting in this area had started as his little rebellion against the mind-numbing practicality of life here. His little mermaid on the door was a nod to imagination, not a conviction that such a thing existed. He had other little details, too. Old gamers might have called them "Easter eggs," although he didn't quite understand the connection between hidden things and a religious holiday. Naimeh may figure that out one day.
"Father," Pinta finally spoke up, "Why did you bring me down here? You could have just told me that you have back up seeds and a plan to restore the coffee plants." She sat still, but her mind was churning with these new ideas and she really wanted an answer she could cling to while she sorted through them.
"Pinta, I brought you here because the main computer is blocked from knowing this place, so I can speak openly. I know you noticed the camera in my room faces the landscape; the computer thinks it tracks my daily comings and goings. I may be mostly a farmer and coffee roaster, but I have other skills."
That made Pinta laugh. "Like painting masterpieces that make me dizzy like a ship in a storm?"
"Exactly like." Father grinned for a moment before giving Pinta the answer she wanted. "The fires and denials are part of something larger going on. I've suspected for some time that convictions about a participatory economy require a common assent to certain values. However, without some kind of moral authority behind them, what would keep people from using the system to enrich themselves?"
"Why? What would anyone gain by having more than they need?"
"Power, Pinta. It's the one thing that humans have always craved. Power to control others, power to hoard riches, and power to make the self the highest and most admired. In short, the power to be worshipped."
Pinta pondered this idea. "So, what you're saying is that the fires and the AI denying them are connected somehow to people here defaulting on their commitment to collaboration and cooperation? Who are they? Not Mother, please, no."
Father's thick eyebrows furrowed. "A month ago I would not have thought your mother would be involved. Her commitment to humanitarianism and equity is unparalleled. However, the last couple of weeks have me worried. She has become distant. Naimeh noticed it first. For all her naivete, Naimeh is an observer and dreamer. In some cultures she may have been called a prophet. Remember what she wrote about your terrible poem?" He handed Pinta the paper, where Pinta saw the words: "Life is not measured by how much you own." Father continued,
"Naimeh talked to me about things she saw in the garment sector that mirrored what I saw in other places. Small groups, insignificant numbers, really, seem to be pursuing self-promotion in opposition to the Bio charter. Naimeh had a dream that puzzled her, and then the fires set her on edge. Then you had the experience with Arturo. I needed you to understand that not everything is as it seems. But we have been away long enough."
Pinta started to respond, but Father held up his hand. "Just watch and wait. Store up your observations for now. Perhaps next time, a story."
They walked together, back through the room that seemed locked in a glacier, through the door with the fishtail lady, into the messy office, and back to the coffee sector. Pinta was quiet the entire walk back. Finally she asked, "Father, how did Naimeh get my poem?" He looked directly into his daughter's eyes.
"Ask her."
Just when I think the story is ready to end,
throws out crazy prompts about mermaids and oceans. There is an ending coming, if the prompts allow!!
I'm sure it is difficult to talk to kids about deeper concepts. You do the best you can and point the way and hope that in time, they start to see more than what's right in front of them. Awesome post, Stephanie.