FUTURE CITY: VISIONS AND BEYOND

FUTURE CITY SERIES: PART 6

NAVIGATING THROUGH THE FUTURE CITY

INTO THE FLOATING FUTURE

BY

SREETAMA BHATTACHARYA

“So, let the game begin”, smiled Mrs. McDonnell though sternly as ever. Larry, John and Stephanie looked at each other. This was not what they had expected a few minutes back when they had been huddled into the teacher’s chamber. Anxious as ever; that they must have been caught breaking school rule for the n^th time; they were even more worried to see the Minister for Magic himself seated there. But once McDonnell had started talking, all their worries had been converted into a mild surprise. It was, after all, just a game proposal. Worried over the virtually non-existent interaction between the magic and non-magic world, the two ministers from the two worlds had decided to organise a game to foster understanding and communication.

“All you have to do is spend a day in the non-magic world and experience their present form of city life. You have to look for the victory cup which has been hidden somewhere in their city and finding that will win you 500 points in the house competition. So whoever wins this game, pretty much wins the house cup in effect. You will be given clues at every stage, which will lead you to the next level. The cup will await you at the end of the journey. 

Remember, all houses will have 3 members looking for the cup through different routes and different clues. Whoever reaches it first, wins it for their house”, saying this, McDonnell turned to Larry and added with a slight tilt of her head, “And this time, we will make sure the cup is not enchanted, I promise.” Larry nodded.

“Well, I can’t see why this should be any difficult”, shrugged John.

The Minister for Magic stood up and coughed lightly. “Umm, actually, magic is strictly not allowed. As they say, you have to close your eyes to live the life of a blind. For good measure, you will deposit your wands to your house masters before leaving the school. The muggles are still wary of sudden display of magic, you see. Please remember, things are much different there than they were long back. You have spent years in the magical world; so you might be in for surprise once you reach there.”

The next day, the three of them found themselves stranded in a boat, no wand at hand, in the midst of a never-ending body of water. Larry couldn’t understand what he was supposed to make of whatever he was seeing. “My God, whatever happened here? I don’t understand! No land, no house, no road…”

Promptly Stephanie came up with the right explanation. “It’s a phenomenon called Global Warming. The humans have used fossil fuels at such an alarming rate in the past few years, that the level of certain harmful gases in the atmosphere have increased manifold. These have resulted in raising the temperature of the earth as a whole. It has been termed the Greenhouse effect. As temperatures rose, the glaciers and ice covers around the world started melting and caused this massive inundation on a global scale.” Then, looking at Larry and John’s uncomprehending faces, she added, “I’m not making it up, you know. It’s all there in ‘The Floating World: How They Exist’. I went through it during the holidays for light reading.”

“Then how come we don’t experience the heat in our world?” asked a bewildered John. “Because”, said Stephanie, “we live in a magical world where temperature can be artificially controlled. Seriously, do you ever think?”

The last question went ignored.

Finally Larry said, “Well, I feel we should now see what we have to do. We have a map of the city, and a riddle pointing to some place within that region. The three of them peered into the map.

“But that’s a very small area,” commented John gleefully. Stephanie looked up irritably, “But the map doesn’t have a scale to it, don’t you see?” Larry nodded, finally realizing the implications. “So we don’t know exactly how large an area this signifies. Anyways, let’s see what the first clue says.” And once again, they peered over the second piece of paper that had been handed over to them.

“More eyes than one, but no ear,

I’ve got skin, but no hair;

Brown on the outside and whitish inside,

Hidden from the sky, find where I reside.”

“Ok. Eyes, ears, skin and hair are all parts of living bodies, we all know,” Stephanie was running her fingers through her large mane of bushy brown hair, “but I can’t think of any such being with eyes but no ear. And why should it be hidden from the sky?”

Larry had a point here. “Couldn’t that simply mean that it is something that is found underground? And would it be wise to leave out inanimate objects completely?”

“Oh blimey, wait!” John chimed in, “What are those outgrowths on a potato called? Aren’t they eyes?” Suddenly Stephanie looked at John like she could kiss him! “Of course that’s what it is! A potato! What was I thinking? Now all we need to do is to find out where they are grown!”

So they pressed onto the button that had been shown to them for starting the engine of the speed boat. The propeller behind them burst into life and they sped in the direction of the city entrance.

What they saw was unseen before to them. The whole city was practically afloat on water. It was nothing but a massive array of houseboats of varying shapes and sizes floating at close distance over the stretch of water as far as the eye could see. This was the settlement area that the map described. 

The whole area had a much planned look about it. A geographer would perhaps call it a checker board or grid pattern of settlement with houses neatly divided into blocks by the network of lanes and by-lanes running either parallel or perpendicular to one another. They could identify the highway in the middle, designated for transportation alone. It was a vast breadth of water cordoned off by some kind of metallic rods which were rooted in the land far below. 

They could see people go about their business using all sorts of odd-looking vehicles which carried them to and fro on the water. However, they were surprised to see no smoke being emitted from the propellers as they moved hither and thither.

The map clearly showed the route they had to take to reach the point in the map designated as Potato farm. However, it was indeed a long route to take, and was at the very other end. Seeing an elderly man approach their way, Larry called out to him.

“Excuse us Sir, we need to reach the potato farm of this city as fast as possible. Is there any short cut to reach there?

The man replied earnestly in a squeaky voice that reminded them of Professor Witflick from school. “I understand what you mean Sir, but I’m afraid the answer would have to be 'No'.

I have seen the world change from what it used to be through the days when people started doubting the sustainability of life on the Earth itself. What you see today is the outcome of few scientific miracles and brilliant ideas which helped us fight back the curse placed by our ancestry on us. The city was planned in a grid form such that all waterways would amount to the same distance, wherever you go. But all that is besides the point. You see, the settlement area is strictly meant for residence and only communication amongst the houseboats. You cannot by-pass it to go somewhere else.”

The three of them thanked him and continued on their route along the main waterway. “God, I wish we could just apparate!” John cursed under the breath, only to meet a reproachful glance from Stephanie.

They kept looking around as they passed through the city. There were a few big raised platforms on the way, where numerous people were seen waiting patiently in queue for their carrier boats to arrive. These were the main stations or nodes as the people preferred to call them. 

The big and bulky speedboats were stopping only in front of these nodes while other small boats and mini-tubes were carrying people over small distances, from one stationary boat to another, where highway did not exist. These were comparatively slower and were obviously substitutes for cabs and auto-rickshaws. 

As they kept tallying the map with what they saw around them, they could make out a certain feature in the planning of the city. The markets, industries, educational institutes and government offices were all housed on a few enormous ships which were placed a little ahead of the settlement area. In between all these floating centres, wherever some land was standing above the level of water, it was used for purely agricultural purposes. The islands had each been earmarked for specific crops.

Finally, after about an hour of setting sail, the three of them reached their destination. They could see farming work going on at full swing on the island. There were few people, and the work seemed to be mostly running on giant machines. They anchored their boat at the dock on the island and started climbing up.

“Dad would have been fascinated by the machines they use to do all their chores without magic!” exclaimed John. They all knew how fond John’s dad was of muggle engineering.

Larry asked, “Should we go to the head farmer of the land and ask him if he knows anything that could help us?” “Yes, let’s do that.” Stephanie concurred, “Besides I would also like to ask him something.”

They asked the first farmer they met for the head farmer and he personally took them to him. He could be told apart from the rest by his specially designed hat which was larger than his subordinates. He greeted the three of them with a warm smile.

“Oh I’ve been waiting for you people since morning! It’s a delight to meet you. You can call me "Agriculteur Josh”; Larry, John and Stephanie acknowledged his greetings with smiles and introduced themselves.

Stephanie replied. “Please Sir, the pleasure is all ours. It’s really amusing how you people have refused to get daunted by nature’s wrath and used your ingenuity to combat all odds. What we use is sheer magic, but your way of life is even more special. I have this one question though. What is the chief source of energy driving all the machines in your city? I can see that you have obviously figured out some non-polluting source that doesn’t affect the atmosphere anymore.”

Josh smiled. “You have an extremely observant pair of eyes and an intelligent mind, I must say. What you see before you is the boon of the forces of nature.

A few years ago, when we were faced with devastating floods and our very existence was a big question; a few scientists came together and started looking frantically for some solution to the energy problem. And succeed they did.

They devised an incredible way of harnessing the solar power on a large scale along with the tidal and wind energies. So instead of going on blaming the past generations for their inconsiderate and selfish way of life, we took it upon ourselves to do our best with whatever was at hand. And that is how this city came about.

All major machines function using solar power and the smaller ones run on the other sources. This is the same for our entire country. While on the one hand, Mother Nature has piqued us against problems, she has also provided us with solutions.”

Larry had another question in mind. “Are all the above-water land surfaces now farmlands? Isn’t there any private ownership?”

“Most lands are. But there are also a few designated as airports which aid in long distance tours, say from one country to another. We don’t have one in our city though. And as for private ownership, the government has decreed against any private ownership of land. Whatever land surface is left has to be used for community welfare.”

The three of them finally got the whole picture. Now they had to get on with the task at hand. They asked for any clue leading to their next level. They were handed over a second piece of parchment. It said:

“Weight in my belly, Metal on my back,

Nails in my ribs, Feet I do lack.”

“Well for you help, I am allowed to tell you, that you need to look for a factory.”

Thanking Josh, they turned around. The scene they beheld was ecstatic. Before them stretched miles and miles of blue water, merging on with the horizon far away. The whole area was dotted with numerous boats and ships while a few islands raised their wary heads above the water.

Suddenly something struck Stephanie. “Ships! The whole city is based on ships. It does carry weight in its belly. And isn’t it made up of metals and nails?” She turned towards her friends with a pleased look on her face.

It was John’s turn to be impressed. “Seriously Stephanie, with you on our side, nobody could beat us, ever.” Stephanie blushed a deep red and said, “I still haven’t figured out how you came up with the potato answer!”

John had been trying to avoid that very question. But he also knew that once it had come to Stephanie’s mind, there was no escape. “Umm, actually, while the two of you were discussing the riddle, I was thinking of my mom’s homemade mashed potatoes…”

The three burst out laughing as they raced downhill towards the boat. Once on it, they again started it and sped off in the direction of the ship-building ship. They were there in no time.

Before them, was a giant ship with numerous big and small water vessels tethered to it. When they reached it, a few people helped them up on the deck. They seemed like they were expecting them, just like the farmer. The Captain came out and greeted them cheerily.

“Welcome! Welcome! How do you like our world dear ones?”

“It’s incredible Captain! We’re kinda glad we got this opportunity to visit your world.” John answered on behalf of all of them. “Is this how every factory runs?”

“Sure it is. Every industry is stationed on a particular ship where all the manufacturing work goes on. We have highly specialised divisions for each part of the manufacturing process with separate machines and labourers designated for them. All the work goes on inside the ship, below the main deck. Ultimately the products are kept near the factory itself till they are dispatched to the retailers of the market.”

“And where are these markets?”

“There are basically a few ships set aside for sale and purchase activities alone. You can call them huge department stores where you get whatever under the sun you may require. There are usually 2 to 3 such market vessels in every city, generally placed near the settlement area in a planned manner so that no part of the population goes un-served.”

Again they nodded. These muggles were really well organised. After musing over these ideas, Larry remembered why they were there in the first place.

“Captain, we were lead to this ship by a clue and we assume we would get the clue to the next level from you. Could you please help?”

“Why not? My task was to welcome you on-board, clarify any doubts you might be having and then hand you over your clue. Now that I’m done with the first two, I’d have to carry out the last task. Here you go.”

Once again, as expected, they were handed over another piece of paper. But as they looked into it, they were surprised to see no riddle like the previous ones but just a few symbols scribbled in some unknown language:

“καλωσορίζω όλους”

John and Larry looked at Stephanie with anticipation. After all, Ancient Runes had been her specialization in school. But she looked blank. Well read as she was, this was some script she had never seen before. It had to be some very old muggle script. They looked up expectantly at the Captain. But he only looked as puzzled as they were. Seeing no way out, they decided to go into the settlement locality and ask for help. Bidding the captain and his crew adieu, they once again got into the boat and accelerated in the direction of the houseboats.

Once there, they tried to locate someone who could have information about old languages. They saw an assortment of medium sized vessels near each other, with children squatting on the deck and listening with rapt attention to some older looking men. This had to be the school area their map showed. They went near one such boat and after apologizing profusely for the interruption, asked if he knew someone well versed in ancient languages. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem to mind at all. It was as if they were expected wherever they went. He promptly gave them the address of the only man in the city old enough to have studied such language. So once again, they took their leave and left in search for the man. Finally when they reached the houseboat, they were surprised to see the very first man they had met in the city, opening the door.

“Ah! So we meet again!” he said in his squeaky voice. He ushered them into his house. The whole sitting room was furnished with numerous electronic gadgets and appliances. He walked up to a coffee vending machine and commanded,“Four cups of coffee.” Immediately the machine came to life. A lever started picking up cups from an attached stack and filling them up with the drink one by one. He served them with some delicious cookies, cakes and chips.

“But that’s magic!” exclaimed John.

“That’s technology”, winked the old man.

“So every machine in this room runs on voice command?” asked a bemused Larry.

“You could say so. Actually, our life is controlled by machines only these days. Every work from cleaning to working and every form of entertainment from television to social networking is mechanized. Even operating the machine has been made as effortless as possible.”

“And all of these run on solar power?”

“Yes they do. We have special storage mechanisms for the energy that may be used whenever necessary.”

“What did you mean by ‘social networking is mechanized’?”

“I meant that nowadays people hardly interact face-to-face. All sorts of audio-visual communications take place via gadgets. That is something I miss about the old world when people used to meet their friends and relatives off and on and have fun together. It was all real, not virtual. But anyways, I guess most would consider it a very small price to pay for all the comfort we get these days…”

The three of them looked at each other. Meeting up and having fun was at least still in vogue in their world. However, they didn’t have much time to ponder. The sun was already about to set. They had no clue about how far the other teams had progressed. Stephanie quickly brought out the paper and showed it to the man. He smiled when he saw it. “Oh I’m seeing these letters after such a long time… It is an ancient language called Greek. We were taught this in school. But somehow the language lost its way with the Anglicisation of the new world. The letters you see say “kalo̱sorízo̱ ólous”, which roughly translates as “all are welcome”. Now, I have to give you your last clue. It is an anagram that you have to solve: 

 Net Veg Norm. The answer will lead you to your victory cup.

Thanking him once again, they came out of his house and sat inside their boat, deep in thought. Larry was thinking aloud, “It won’t be easy to solve this. Let us try another way. We have already covered their agriculture, industry and household. If they are trying to give us a taste of all aspects of their life; market, government and school are all that are left.” The answer dawned upon them in an instant. Government. It had to be. An anagram! They consulted the map and sped off. Soon they were floating in front of three massive ships with signboards reading ‘Executive’, ‘Legislature’ and ‘Judiciary’. Numerous activities were going on board. Stephanie decided that they would go meet the Prime Minister directly. “He is the Head. He would have information about our game. Remember what we were told? The two Ministers have arranged for this. So this had to be the logical conclusion.”

“You’re the Boss, Grainger”, said John. “When have we ever paid attention?”

Once they asked for the Minister, they were ceremoniously led into the inner sanctum sanctorum of the chief executive. Once again, they were surprised. The Minister for Magic was sitting with the Muggle Minister, as if only waiting for them to turn up. The cup glimmered on the desk in front of them. That was all they had in view. Gleefully, the three of them rushed to the desk.

The scintillating shimmer on the cup was enough to wake Scarlett up from her deep slumber. The sun was shining brightly through the window and the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which she was reading for the umpteenth time, lay open beside her on the bed.

Author’s Bio- Note:

Sreetama Bhattacharya is currently pursuing Masters in Geography from Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi.