Season 02 - Episode 09

‘starving and stuck’

“Ok, everyone,” says Ny. “Let's settle down and make a start shall we?”

The familiar faces of his neighbours look worried as they all take up their now habitual positions in his room. Several nervous conversations are taking place but gradually they all fade to leave an anxious silence.

“Thank you for coming today,” says Ny quietly. “I know it's quite a risk for some of you given the current circumstances...”

“You mean the war?!” asks Ol from over by the door, his voice trembling.

“Well... yes,” says Ny, licking his lips. “I suppose that is what you'd call it.”

“It's what they're calling it!” snaps Ol. “GovCo and The Disciples, meanwhile here we are, trapped in the middle, pushing our luck! This is madness, we can't resist them both! We need to pick a side, get them to help us!”

The room half fills with grumbles and angry glances, all aimed at Ol.

“Well, now,” says Ny reasonably. “Neither side seems to care about us particularly and both seem quite ready to lump us all in with their opponents. Even if we did pick a side, I don't think either would help us, certainly not for as long as the war goes on.”

“I thought we were here to talk about the food,” says Es coldly.

“Yes,” says Ny, relieved. “Quite right. As you all know, GovCo currently considers this sector cult occupied territory and so have cut off all meal deliveries. The Disciples seem to be taking care of themselves through raiding but aren't inclined to share which leaves us...”

“Starving and stuck!” says someone from over by Ny's bed.

“Exactly,” says Ny. “Now a few of us think we can trick the system in to restarting deliveries from a mechanical point of view. The problem is that GovCo track all deliveries. As soon as they see we've restarted them, they'll just stop them again.”

“What's he saying?” snaps Clo, the elderly woman sitting in Ny's armchair.

“We need to work out how to stop GovCo tracking the food,” someone nearby explains.

“Oh,” says Clo. “Just change the route IDs on the local server cards.”

The whole room falls silent and still until, with great effort, Clo looks round at everyone.

“What?” she says.

“Do you know how to do that?” asks Ny, restraining his excitement.

“I should think so,” says Clo. “Who do you think installed those systems in the first place? Course I couldn't do it myself, not now, not with my eyes.”

“But you could talk someone else though it?” asks Ny.

“Oh yes,” says Clo, settling back into the chair. “Easily.”

“Well then,” says Ny, looking round the mostly happy faces. “It sounds like we have a plan.”

“But what if GovCo notice extra food is missing?” whines Ol. “Or if The Disciples realise we have food we're not sharing? We'll get in trouble.”

“GovCo must be turning meal deliveries on and off all over The Levels,” says Ny. “As long as the tracking system doesn't tip them off we'll just have to hope they miss it amid all the chaos. As for The Disciples...”

“As for The Disciples,” Es interjects, glaring at Ol. “We'll just have to hide it from them like we do everything else. The alternative is to starve. Do you have a better suggestion or are you just here to complain?”

Everyone in the room joins Es in staring at Ol. His face flushes from terror stricken grey to deeply shamed red. He swallows, fumbles behind his back for the door handle, finds it, then turns and leaves without another word.

“We need to do something about him,” says Es seriously.

Murmured agreement swells around her.

“Oh, he's ok,” says Ny. “He's every right to be frightened, I know I am. He'll come around, just give him time. Now, first things first, who wants to help me get these panels off?”

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