Cycle of Time

2.4

It was like any other street block. Cars on the street glided by without much hassle. There was no traffic. That horrible urban phenomenon was a thing of the past. A complex system of computers synchronized the movement of every vehicle. The precise timing of this system meant people could travel at a constant speed. If you chose to walk, then you could do as you please as long as you kept to the walk ways. Synchronizing people was a much harder thing to do and there was the usual chaos on the walkways.

This time in the evening was probably the best time to be out. The sun was still out but the high rise buildings cut out its glare, so there was shade in most places. There was a blowing that made its way around the city blocks that made things even cooler. It seemed to follow the vehicles as it had no other place to get through. But the wind was not ready to be controlled by system, it blew as it wished, disturbing the trees that neatly lined the streets.

However, the trees did not seem happy; being in the midst of its concrete counterparts. There was no life literally. The trees had no ants, no birds, no squirrels and the normal rabble that made trees their home. The trees didn't seem to have any sign of life. They did not seem to have any resistance. They just passively swayed to the gusts of wind.

The waves of development and redevelopment had spared little. But there were a few remnants left behind from the past. The lamp post was one such survivor. It was tucked in between a new lighting system and as such was innocuous and appeared to be a part of it. The two things that distinguished it was its black colour and its small sign board announcing that it was put up in 1948.

Uben had passed this way many times previously. But it was only this time that he had noticed it. Maybe it was because this time he was looking for it. Maybe because he was looking for something he noticed that many people around the lamp post were carrying unusually big bags. That was an unusual thing, everybody travelled light these days. The consumer generation had reached a zenith. Everything you needed could be got from anywhere. Most were biodegradable and easily disposed thereafter. So what was with the bags? As Uben kept wondering about these the lights got switched-on automatically as dusk moved in.

The old light on the lamp post flickered for a few minutes but then started to produce a small but consistent light. It stayed that way for about five minutes then flickered off. It was at that moment that the small crowd began to move.All the people seemed to be moving in one direction. The garage door of the building just next to it opened and the small crowd with bags slowly disappeared inside.

Uben who was hanging about near the lamp post trying to figure out the address suddenly found himself a part of a queue that had formed to enter the garage. This happened so naturally that nobody even seemed to notice.

He was desperately trying to see as far ahead as possible, while also trying hard not to seem to be doing so. Now that he was in the queue he was a little worried although he made sure he didn't show it. Thoughts of a secret club with passwords and rituals began to haunt his mind. Although a situation of this sort was not unusual for him, the way he was swept away into the garage had given him little time to prepare his mind. In this distracted mind frame Uben realized that he hadn't read the entire website. Was there a password or anything else he needed to know? The next moment he was quickly trying to read up on his device.

There did not appear to be anything that might be a password on the website. Uben thought that the best alibi would be to pretend to be a computer buff who was interested in books, who had accidently stumbled on the site. But he had learnt through years of doing this kind of work that an alibi was rarely needed. All you needed to do was pretend to be part of the crowd.

As he pondered he realised that for once he had failed to be observant. As he pulled his head up from the device, he realized that there was a whole crowd of people huddled around staring at him! Recovering quickly from his revere, he realised that it was him using a device that had drawn attention to him. He had inadvertently failed to be a part of the crowd!

"I was just looking at the books for today on the site, that I wanted to get today". He was grasping at a straw. But there appeared to be no takers for his bluff. It was staring down contest, but there were many of them and only one of him. Nobody spoke, until an elderly man, broke the silence.

"Look we are not even in and you can't keep to the code. Maybe you should just go home" he said. This was not a bad option and Uben was not averse to taking this way out. But just when he had made up his mind someone came rushing out from the inside of the garage and was approaching the little crowd that had formed around.

"It's okay, he's with me "a female voice said. It was the lady at the bench Uben had met the other day.

She quickly grabbed him by the hand and without a word took him inside. She got him seated on a desk, so she must be an organiser there Uben found himself saying.

"I thought you would be coming. But not this quickly "she smiled to Uben's surprise.

"Okay rule number one is you can't bring any devices in here" She put out her hand.

Uben slowly took out his device from his pocket and handed it over almost automatically.

"Rule number two is you need to bring in at least one book when you come for these meeting. Have you got a book?" before Uben could verbalise that he did not, she handed over a book, already having noticed that he carried no books".

"Okay then, the other thing is that since you don't know the way things are done here, I suggest you follow me and do as I do". Looking around Uben could see that people were starting to sit around in a circle. There were about 30 people of various ages and genders. The lady gestured for Uben to follow her and proceeded to join the circle. Uben sat next to her.