Gray Matters by William Hjortsberg

PLEASE RESUME COMMUNICATOR CONTACT WITH CENTER CONTROL.
    No. We can talk like this. I have no interest in letting you get inside my mind again.
    AS YOU WISH. WE UNDERSTAND YOUR OBVIOUS AGITATION. .
    Do you?
    OF COURSE. RIGHT NOW YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. YOUR ACTIONS ARE CONFUSED BECAUSE OF YOUR DISORIENTATION. MOST OF ALL, YOU ARE UPSET BY THE PRESENCE OF THE TROPIQUES. IS THAT NOT SO?
    You seem to know all about it.
    YOUR RAGE AND CONFUSION ARE THE PRODUCTS OF IGNORANCE. ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU ARE, YOU WILL NO LONGER BE AFRAID.
    Tell me where I am then.
    LEVEL X OF THE DEPOSITORY SYSTEM, THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF ALL RESIDENTS. ONCE HAVING REACHED 360 DEGREES OF UNDERSTANDING, WHAT THE ANCIENTS CALLED ENLIGHTENMENT, A CEREBROMORPH IS DECANTED AND TRANSFERRED TO A HUMAN BODY. CENTER CONTROL MAINTAINS COMPLETE BREEDING AND HATCHERY INSTALLATIONS. AT THIS MOMENT, OBU ITUBI, YOU ARE INSIDE THE SUSPENDED ANIMATION FACILITY FOR THE TROPIQUE CLASS OF HUMANOID. THESE BODIES ARE SPECIMENS DEVELOPED SPECIALLY FOR CRANIAL TRANSFER. THEIR BRAINS ARE ONLY VESTIGAL EXTENSIONS OF THE SPINAL CORD. THOUGHT, MEMORY AND CONSCIOUSNESS ARE UNKNOWN TO THESE TROPIQUES UNTIL A LEVEL X RESIDENT HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED.
    And what happens then? Where does a resident go in his new body?
    BACK INTO THE WORLD, WHERE HE IS FREE TO LIVE AMONG HIS FELLOW ENLIGHTENED ONES, OR IN SOLITUDE, AS HE DESIRES, UNTIL A NATURAL DEATH OVERTAKES HIM AND HE BECOMES UNITED WITH ALL.
    Guided, of course, by the rules of the System and supervised by Center Control.
    CENTER CONTROL HAS NO AUTHORITY OVER LIBERATED RESIDENTS. THE FUNTION OF CENTER CONTROL IS TO GUIDE RESIDENTS TO ENLIGHTENMENT .
    What sort of world is left? An extension of the Depository?
    THE WORLD IS GREEN AND BEAUTIFUL STILL, OBU ITUBI, AND IT LIES JUST OUTSIDE THESE WALLS. ALL DEPOSITORIES ARE HOUSED UNDERGROUND. ONCE A RESIDENT HAS REACHED LEVEL X HE WILL NEVER SEE A DEPOSITORY AGAIN. HIS FREEDOM WILL BE COMPLETE.
    I want to be free.
    AND SO YOU SHALL BE, OBU ITUBI .
    Level I is a long way from Level X. I can’t wait that long.
    THERE ARE ALWAYS EXCEPTIONS TO THE SYSTEM. YOUR AUDITOR REPORTS THAT YOUR CREATIVE NATURE MAKES DEPOSITORY LIFE A LIABILITY FOR YOU. CENTER CONTROL DESIRES ONLY A RESIDENT’S SAFETY AND SPIRITUAL WELFARE. CONTENTMENT IS ESSENTIAL BEFORE PROGRESS CAN BE MADE. YOUR ESCAPE HAS VERYU MUCH IMPRESSED CENTER CONTROL, OBU ITUBI. IT WAS ASSUMED THAT A RESIDENT WOULD NEVER WISH TO ESCAPE. IN THE FACE OF YOUR ACTION, THE AUDITING COMMISSION HAS RECOMMENDED TRANSFERRAL TO A HUMAN BODY.
    Do you mean to set me free?
    THE WORLD AWAITS YOU .
    And will you give me a new body?
    YOU CAN HAVE THE ONE THE AMCO-PAK HOLDS IF YOU SO DESIRE .
    What must I do?
    THE PROCEDURE IS QUITE SIMPLE. THE FIRST STEP IS TO RECONNECT YOUR COMMUNICATOR HOOKUP AND RESUME CONTACT WITH CENTER CONTROL … .
    “Golly, that’s good!”
    Vera smiles at the sight of Skeets grinning like a mooncalf, rivulets of coconut water streaming down his chin and chest. When offered the heavy green-husked fruit, she shakes her head, saying she doesn’t care to drink.
    Vera is puzzled, hearing that strange word again. Golly? Was this an English word? Before today, she had never heard such a word and already Skeets has used it three times.
    Vera shades her eyes against the sun and studies the boy sitting crosslegged beside her in the sand. She decides he doesn’t look any younger, but still there’s something a trifle unsettling about the childish sound of this peculiar word. The knowledge that Skeets is voyaging backward into memory troubles her. A younger sister died of consumption during the Second World War. Vera shared her bedroom for the final months, aware constantly of the brightening eyes and pallid skin, the bloodless lips, all the cosmetic subtleties preceding death. She watches Skeets with the same caution, studying him for symptoms of change.
    Impulsively, as if to deny her forebodings, she kisses his kneecap,