【明報專訊】Balloon Boy and Shelley, who want to discover the secret behind the townsfolk's sleepiness, see a huge factory at the city centre. Shelley is small enough to fly into it through its gate to see what is happening there. Balloon Boy, floating over the factory, sees people rushing to it from all directions. The factory is like the body of a big spider whose slim, crooked legs are the streams of people.
Shelley is amazed by the factory's sheer size. It has several floors. On the lowest people are busily working. There are a food production line, a clothes production line and a toy production line. Everyone is involved in some kind of production. Supervisors urge them to do their jobs well. Surprisingly, none is grumbling (抱怨、發牢騷). In fact, none opens his or her mouth. They all work emotionlessly like machines. A worker gets hurt while he is working. He is immediately expelled (驅逐) from the factory, though his injury looks pretty bad. There is no freedom, nor hope, on this floor.
Shelley wants to find out where the goods they produce go. She flies one floor up, and another group of production lines meet her eye. Goods produced on the first floor are consumed (消耗) by those on the second. They wear the fine shoes the first-floor workers make. More surprisingly, these workers are integrated (合併) with the machines and are part of them. They have their meals at their stations. They sleep where they work. It seems they remain in the factory for their entire lives. However, the goods they produce are the best one has ever seen in the world. They include delicate tableware, elegant clothes, exquisite (精緻的) foods and wines and finely painted and crafted board games. None seems to use any such items on this floor.
Shelley also finds workers may get promoted from the first floor to the second. Promoted workers will never get out. "Who is in charge of this place?" Shelley wonders. When she flies over the wine production line, a feather of hers drops into a bottle of wine that is about to be packed. Suddenly the alarm goes off, and a spotlight is directed at the worker who is about to pack it.
Voice: (from the speaker) What have you done to the wine?
Worker: Nothing at all.
Voice: You've polluted the wine.
You'll be punished.
The worker looks dumbstruck (驚呆), not knowing what to do. When a mechanical arm puts something into his head, he screams with fear.
Worker: No! No! Don't put the silicon chip back into my head. I don't want to know what is real and what is not! Let me think all is just a dream!
His resistance proves futile (無用的). The mechanical hand carries him to an endless corridor, where it disappears.
Shelley is horrified. She learns operations have been done on townsfolk and they need the silicon chips to know what is real. The factory owner keeps everyone's chip. Hence, they can't tell if they are dreaming. They can just work half-consciously.
Shelley: They must be saved!
The City (2 of 4)
Text: Ashley Ley
Illustration: Iris Tsoi
