Impossible Dreamers

Chapter 31 (degtwi-ept): Barty learning

Liana was in one of the Barty buildings. It was not a place to meet people, or a place to enjoy yourself, or a place to eat, or a place to learn. Still less a place to do any combination of these. Like all the Bartyronian buildings that had been constructed so quickly in Seren-ila – the Grabble Lands – it was just a big box to store people in. Or worse. At least, in Seren-ila, things in boxes were arranged with care, to make sure they looked appealing, and didn't get broken. The Bartys just packed people into boxes to get as many in as possible, not caring how it looked, or how people felt.

This was Liana's new home. Or at least, she lived here. Unlike Seren-ilian buildings, it had different levels. Upstairs, on the 'third floor' was the sleeping room. This was the 'ground floor', and it was a sort of learning place.

A Barty learning place. Not a learning place like the House of the Green Jewel, with its shelves full of books, each with different coloured spines, and its soft, comfortable chairs in which a few people would sit facing one another and talk about any idea that came into their head. This was a factory of learning. Like the factory in which she worked every day, now. At least this was a break from that endlessly moving line of discs. Silmoa wasn't here. Liana really wanted to speak to Silmoa.

A Barty woman was speaking to the Grabbler girls sitting in straight lines in front of her. Liana was mek – she must say 'three' now – rows back. The tidy, short-haired woman was tall and unsmiling, wearing a long, white coat. A straight line of buttons down the front. She pushed her hands into two big pockets. She spoke as though the people in front of her were very small children. Except you would show some friendliness to small children.

'In this session,' she said, 'you will learn about Barty life. You will learn how lucky you are to have the Magnificent Tyro as your leader. You will learn how clever and kind Tyro is. This will prepare you for the work you will soon be doing. Now, put the helmet on your head.'

What helmet? There was just a big grey box on the table in front of her, with a wire attached to it, the other end of which went into the floor by the table leg. It was the same for other girls in the room. Liana looked at them. Like her, they were confused. The Barty woman sighed, and looked at the rows of Grabblers with irritation. Then she picked up the box on the table in front of a girl in the front row, and pushed it down over the girl's head. The girl cried out in surprise, but then was silent.

'The rest of you,' the woman said, harshly, 'put on your helmets. Now!'

Liana put the box over her head. Suddenly she was cut off from everyone else. At first it was dark, but then lights appeared, and she was in another world, but not a better world. It was a Barty world, but even more Bartyronian.

Her eyes adjusted to the light. Words and pictures appeared in front of and around her.

The words were in Bartyronian script. Although the Bartyronian spoken language could be understood in Seren-ila, the writing was quite, quite different. Liana had always been a good writer, in the flowing Seren script. The Barty script was made up of straight lines like walls between the words and letters. They had already had a few lessons in Barty writing, though the teacher seemed to think it was a waste of time teaching them anything. Bartys always treated them as stupid.

'An Introduction to Barty Life for Grabblers' said the silver words floating in front of her. She moved her head to the left and the right, but the words followed her eyes, insisting on capturing her attention. Then the words flashed mek times, and started to disappear. They didn't just fade away, they disappeared bit by bit, from the bottom upwards. Liana thought of Ralkino disappearing in just the same way, and suddenly a tear came to her eye. And then another tear to the other eye. Trentaya.