“Exactly in the place… like two nipples! Babe, you… with those wonderful, enormous breasts and such nipples, you symbolize the essence… Earth… fertility… buxomness… nipples, milk… motherhood, birth… new life, new…”
“…generations of Consumers,” the old Mr. Kaella completed his sentence.
“Why do you sit so humbly? Why do you clench your knees when in all your shows you cross your legs? I can always see your thighs… and now you won’t let me. Why do you have those fishnet stockings, if you won’t let me…”
Prince stopped. He quickly glanced at Babe’s bare arms beneath the short sleeves of the jacket. He had not paid attention previously because it had been so common. But now he thoroughly studied two dragons tattooed on her upper arms. Then he looked again at her fishnet stockings. Then at the two flowers tattooed on her forearms. Then again at her fishnet stockings. “But…”, Prince couldn’t believe it. “But, Babe… you… the stockings… Those aren’t real stockings! You’ve tattooed them! Bravo, Babe, bravo! What an idea! What a change! What a business move! That’s the type of woman I need! Who will fight with me side by side!”
“What a fight it was,” Prince thought. Not a fight but a true war for the prevention of permanent tattoos. Even the law prohibiting them did not help. How many people did they have to arrest and publicly remove, skin, peel their permanent tattoos off. There could be no compromise. No one could be permitted to permanently usurp the most commercial space in existence, the human skin. But it was worth it. It instilled fear. Even today, not even Non-Consumers dared have permanent tattoos.
“And you, Babe, have now shown how women and girls can tattoo stockings, instead of putting them on. Two entire legs, what a huge percentage of the skin’s surface! What profit there is to be made there!”
Chapter 34
The first time that mom tried to take Henry out of Liv’s hands was at the end of the season when they bought him. Liv was a bit over three years old at the time, so she didn’t remember that. When she grew up her parents told her how she cried, held Henry to her chest and hid beneath the dining room table.
That was the first time her dad allowed her to keep anything from last season in the house and not hand it over to the Inspectorate to be destroyed. Her mom told her that because of Henry the house became a place of tension and fear of a sudden Inspectorate search. Because they would surely find him and arrest dad.
A sigh of relief came when quite unexpectedly a law was passed according to which children could keep one favorite toy from any season, up to the age of five.
That is why on her fifth birthday mom tried to take Henry from her hands for a second time. Liv didn’t remember that either. But her mom and dad later told her that she never cried as much as she did on her fifth birthday. And that is why dad, whose favorite girl was more important than anything, again allowed Henry to remain in the house.
But Liv remembered very well when she herself, when she was in her sophomore year in high school, without holding back the tears, handed Henry to dad. She remembered how dad stood there completely still and was quiet. And mom told him:
“Take it if Liv is giving it to you. You’re not going to sacrifice everything for it, are you? If they find it you’ll never have the opportunity to save other children’s Henrys. Liv is grown up. Take that penguin.”
That was the only time that Liv saw her father cry. He said
“I can’t. Henry is… the beginning. Henry helped me understand. I’ve come this far because of Henry.”
Chapter 35
“You see for yourself, Miss Babe, it will not be difficult for me to tell our dear viewers my memories, because for some time now… You know, when a man gets to my age and is preparing for the departure, then…”
“Don’t talk like that, Mr. Kaella, please. We common people don’t want to even think about that. You are not at all aware how much the Consumers respect you, but also how much they love you, Mr. Kaella,” Babe was so moved and passed her index finger beneath her eye, alluding to a tear.
“Yes, yes, I’m aware of that. And I am very happy… and grateful to the people,” Kaella looked at the camera. “If I didn’t love our people as much as they love me, everything that I have done and created in my life… would not have been possible.”
“And you have done the most, created the most, Mr. Kaella.”
“Behind everything stands the invincible, unbreakable, carved-in-stone, love for each and every person, every Consumer.”
“You have done… not only done… but continue to… even now, at every moment you are doing… something that is the most grandiose, most magnificent in the history of the world, Mr. Kaella. You and your honorable ancestors… and of course, your son, Mr. Prince.”
“Yes. Thank you for these words, Miss Babe. I wanted to say that in front of our audience, I would just like to repeat what I have already determined, in summarizing my life… what I have realized.”
“Go ahead, Mr. Kaella.”
“You see… I would like to mention my ancestors…”
“Of course,” Babe encouraged Mr. Kaella.
“My grandfather discovered cosmic energy at a time when fossil fuels were disappearing, during the period of bloody wars where people were destroying each others’ few alternative sources of energy. And he created a system of accumulating cosmic energy in space, delivering it through energy beams to cosmic power plants on Earth and transforming cosmic energy into electrical energy. And he offers this pure energy to all mankind, without any concern for the differences between them. And of course people accepted this. That is how our company, the Kaella Cosmic Energy Corporation, grew and developed. And my father continued down the same path, building a state. This process was not easy. At the time not all groups of people wanted to join the integrated human community. But gradually, weakened by previous wars, storms, droughts, floods, landslides, earthquakes, pandemics… without water, without food… without energy, these people toppled their dictators on their own, and joined. My father dedicated his life to creating the State of Earth… and that is why I am so moved, Miss Babe, because a beautiful intelligent young person such as yourself, is paying respect to my father, our family, our State, with her entire appearance, her entire being.”
“Not only me, Mr. Kaella, not only me. Today I am just a representative of the Consumers. I symbolize the respect and love of all the people.”
“Thank you… truly… thank you very much,” Mr. Kaella’s eyes were full of tears.
“Excellent moment of sentimentality,” thought Babe and looked at the camera.
“And now dear viewers, let us take a look at the messages from our dearest friends, the generous sponsors of the interview with the two greatest men of the present.”
Chapter 36
In the dense darkness Pascal sat on the bed and lowered his feet to the floor. “My telephone’s gone!” he thought as he searched his jacket pockets. “Of course it’s gone. Why am I surprised? Who in their right mind would leave their captive with a telephone? Something soft beneath my feet.” Pascal slid his shoes along the floor. “Carpet.. I’ll get up.” He rose suddenly, staggered and sat back down on the bed. “This drug of Raul’s is still… Slowly… It was too quickly…”