Thirty four, 16 June
I hold you prisoner
Dronikus, a novel set on a burning planet called Earth.
We need a messiah
‘What was it like seeing her again?’ Enrike asked. They were seated at a glass-covered table in comfortable swivelling chairs in Enrike’s private study, where some months prior Zola had vomited on Meriti, just after he was brought to Shangdu.
Zola stared into the middle distance, not answering the question, his face tense.
After a long silence, Enrike stood and looked down at Zola. ‘Look, let’s just start over, huh?’
‘Yes, let’s do that.’ Zola’s voice was quiet, his tone bitter. ‘I am your brother. I was born in this house, like you. You saw fit to send me to exile and on my return engineer the murder of Toto, Agung, and my lover. Then you kidnap me and you hold me prisoner.’
Enrike cut across him. ‘You are right, I do hold you prisoner; that’s what I’m here to talk about. The fact is, whether you like it or not, as a Pandoke, you are not a free man and never will be. And, to explain, Zola, seeing as you seem incapable of hearing me, here in the most simple of terms are the conditions under which, at this point, you are a prisoner. Are you listening now, Zola?’
Zola made a small movement of his head, enough to be interpreted as a sign of consent.
‘As you heard me explain in my talk – and no doubt supported by our sister Leilu – we are on the cusp of revolutionising the world, developing technology that will change the planet and its inhabitants. That’s quite a big claim, I’m aware, but it is true. The deal is this: if you agree to join us and work with us on these exciting projects, you will find your freedom. If not, you will continue to be held – here in Shangdu or elsewhere, in these or perhaps in much less salubrious conditions – against your will. Is that simple enough?’
Zola did not move, his face still tense. ‘What would make me agree?’
‘Firstly, if you agree your life will change, the problems of the past will be swept away, you will be able to lead a productive life again, you will take your rightful place in Pandoke.’
‘And sort out your issues with Nur?’
Enrike stood and began pacing the room. ‘Yes. That will be one of the more beneficial outcomes, I don’t deny that. She’s a drug-addled slut and she’s very dangerous to us all. I see that you have been wandering about Shangdu with her, despite explicit instructions that she stay away from you. I thought you hated each other.’
‘What’s it to you?’
‘She is a threat to our security. And a liar – not something I have to remind you of. I urge you to stay away from her.’ He paced, his face expressionless as always. Then he turned and approached Zola. ‘But if you think that neutralising the threat of Nur is what this is all about, you are mistaken. You’ve been away for a long time. Now you’re back. Open your eyes and look about you. Look at the world. Look at yourself. What do you see?’
Zola remained silent.
‘I know that you might believe that those RePo rebels and their mobs of unwashed youth have a brilliant vision for the future – a perfect picture in which Pandoke and others like us and the government itself, indeed all governments, will be swept aside, ushering in a new era of participatory democracy and a redistribution of wealth, in which all our environmental problems fade away. I wonder though, if you have learnt your lesson or whether you still think that it is worth putting your life on the line again for that flimsy, infantile dream.
‘I’ll repeat it, in case you are under some misapprehension about what the future holds for you. You can refuse to cooperate and remain a prisoner or you can join us – your brothers and your sister – and rise to the very top of human excellence and achievement. This is the choice, the only choice, you have. As you know, I’m a man of my word and I give you my word.’
Zola turned his head towards Enrike for the first time. Enrike’s eye held steady. They looked at each other for a while. ‘Is Pandoke alone in developing this system?’ asked Zola.
‘We are not the only ones going down this road, but we are ahead,’ said Enrike, ‘because of Leilu.’ Zola seemed not to register the mention of their sister’s name. He merely asked another question.
‘What about proof of concept? Have you experimented? Surely not. I mean, how can you experiment? We’re talking live, conscious beings here.’
‘We are experimenting, but in very, very controlled conditions,’ Enrike said, calmly fielding the question.
‘Really? Legally?’
‘We have achieved some remarkable results.’
‘And it is “the blessed” who will…?’ Zola asked.
‘Yes. The children of the mothers, the families, and even the governments that are in a position to… to have the operations performed on the embryo.’
‘You mean: “in a position to pay for it”?’
‘Yes, of course. The whole project has an economic component to it. It has to. It has been a major investment on our part and our partners in government. The procedures will become a product on the market, offering the possibility of survival for one’s children and their children. But it goes without saying that it is expensive. Costs might come down…’
Zola broke in, his voice calm. ‘And the others? Those that cannot afford “the procedure”?’
‘Well, who knows? They will possibly be able to survive as well, but, as I say, in reduced numbers. The fact is that human numbers are now well beyond the carrying capacity of the planet, which is diminishing by the day.’
‘This is all quite astounding,’ said Zola.
‘It is, isn’t it?’ said Enrike, not quite grasping Zola’s meaning. ‘There are questions and issues. Of course there are. But Zola leave those aside for now, please. Let’s just stay focussed on the possibilities.’
He sat down and pivoted his chair so that he faced Zola.
‘You asked earlier what would make you consider joining us. Well, the second reason is that we – Leilu, Meriti, and I – want you to join us, to come back to the family, to fulfil your destiny within the Pandoke family and the company, to help me – us – transform the human race.’
Zola saw in his brother’s eyes what he had seen during his presentation: Enrike was a transformed man – no longer just a self-aggrandising misanthrope, but now a zealot, a madman.
‘It’s deeper, further than I have allowed myself to say in public. We are laying the foundations for an entirely new civilisation. You Zola, you get that! You feel the deep inner workings of the world and its beings. You, like me, are not cynical and powerless. You believe in human salvation and in a long-term future for our planet. That makes you one of the few people I can trust. Surprising, I know, but true.’
A long silence followed, Enrike staring at Zola, waiting for some sort of response. Zola was confused, caught off guard.
‘Yeah, but what would you want me to do?’ he managed to say.
‘This is the third reason. We – Leilu and I, Pandoke, the whole world – need someone who can evoke the coming of a new dawn, someone who can part the waters and lead the people to a promised land. You.’
Zola laughed, ‘you can’t be serious?’
Enrike answered by continuing to stare at his brother in silence.
‘What about Meriti?’
‘He is merely a politician. He has no greatness about him. He has no sense of the universe as a purposeful, living, morphing being.’ His face wore the expression of a true believer – a tightening of the jaw, lips slightly apart, the faintest touches of a smile, and piercing, redolent eyes. ‘We don’t just need a marketing man – or a priest for that matter.’ He raised his hands, palms upward. ‘No, Zola. We need someone who “the blessed” will love, and believe, and follow.’ He paused. ‘We need a messiah.’
Dronikus is a novel published in 2023, now being serialised here on Substack. You can read a chapter every week for free.
Liking what you’re reading? Don’t want to wait to see what happens next? You can read the full book now by purchasing a digital or print copy of Dronikus from:
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