Maintenance Window

Corina has been laying in bed awake, staring at the tiny picture frame for more than an hour. She should be sleeping. Tomorrow is a big day. But she can’t stop thinking about the meaning of what she’s holding in her hands. Callie would tell her that she’s a hopeless romantic. That’s what she always tells her, and frankly sometimes it bothers her a little. Wanting a spark, or at least some connection doesn’t make her a romantic. Yes, she knows that the purpose of Maintenance Window is the survival of their tribe, but you can have both survival and a connection. That’s not hopeless, is it? But Corina knows not to make a fuss. There’s no point in arguing with Callie: she will never win the argument. If they lived Above like the ancient ones, Callie could have been a lawyer. Corina tells her that, but Callie hasn’t read the books, so she doesn’t know what it means and when Corina tries to explain, it all sounds too foreign to her friend. For Corina, that’s hard to fathom. Why wouldn’t you want to know what the past was like, when people lived Above? Callie is a practical one, maybe a little too practical in Corina’s mind; she claims that reading the books only creates longing for what they can not have so she hasn’t even bothered to learn how to read - and won’t admit she enjoys being read to. Instead she plans for the future, while Corina thirsts to understand the past, to give some meaning to her existence. They complement each other like that, and maybe that’s why they have always been such good friends.

Celia does not like it either, Corina’s obsession with that heart shaped locket. Obsession is what she calls it, probably in order to cast a shadow over what she thinks are Corina’s intentions when the Maintenance Window finally arrives. Celia is afraid that Corina will end up like Aunt Carlota. Corina can’t blame her. No mother wants her only daughter to end up childless and alone. Aunt Carlota wasn’t technically alone, she had her sister and her niece, but everybody knows that the Structure discourages childlessness, which meant that her Portions shrunk. Even if Celia had continued sharing some of her Portions with her sister, being an Aunt and never a Mother eventually brought her down.

Motherhood is everything when you live Below. After all, you’re contributing to the tribe’s survival. And if you happen to be one of the lucky Mothers of Multiples, then you’re treated like one of those queens that the books talk about. “The C Tribe Queen”. That is a concept that Callie does understand. She has high hopes for the Maintenance Window. Twins. Maybe even triplets. Callie’s mother was a twin, so she knows that the probabilities are high. That was one book she was keenly interested in, the medical book, but only the parts about genetics. Callie must have asked Corina to read her the part about fraternal twins maybe four dozen times. Maybe as many times as Corina has stared at the locket with the picture of the man since she found it, shortly after Aunt Carlota died.

Corina found the locket among her late aunt’s personal possessions, before her mother sorted what they would keep and what would be given to the Structure to distribute among the members of the Tribe. She doesn’t think Celia would have let her keep it if she hadn’t found it first. Celia barely talks about it and what it meant to her sister. Love is not something to be dwelled on. At least not romantic love. Of course one ought to love their children, and raise them as best as possible, and teach them to fulfill their Roles faithfully, for the sake of the survival of the Tribe. But romantic love could lead to childlessness, and we know how that ends.

But every now and then Celia will rant about it some, and Corina listens attentively, careful to not appear too interested lest her mother thinks that it’s not the lesson but the romance that holds her interest. Tonight she did, before she went to sleep. Celia blames the man in the picture for Aunt Carlota’s childlessness, maybe even her death. Aunt Carlota could have gone Above during the second Maintenance Window of her reproductive years, but she chose not to. Celia says that the love for the man in the picture made Carlota reject the idea of anyone else. As if love were more important than survival. It evidently was not for the man in the picture, as there is at least one child bearing his face in Tribe C, who knows how many more in the other Tribes.

But that concept alone is intriguing to Corina: developing a connection with another human being that is stronger than survival. She hasn’t felt anything remotely close to it for anyone yet, except for Callie, but that doesn’t count because she’s her best friend. They are not supposed to pursue connections nor exchange Vials within the tribe anyways. The Structure forbids it. Callie said she heard from her mother that it’s because it happened a very long time ago, and people started to develop all sorts of illnesses and deformities. The Tribes almost went extinct. That’s when going Above for Maintenance Window started. That’s also when the Structure’s power became absolute. So Callie makes a point to think of all of the male tribe members as her brothers. For Callie, survival comes first. Corina does not try to think of them like that, but she has not felt a connection to anyone yet. And even if she had, the Structure has eyes everywhere.

Regardless, Corina thinks that there is someone out there that she will be able to establish a connection with, maybe even grow to love in the short span of three months. Or at least there will be, tomorrow, when they go out for Maintenance Window. She knows that she will love her child no matter who the father is, but she would much rather him be someone she can connect with. Survival is important, but unlike Callie, for her it’s not all there is. The possibility of experiencing love finally soothes Corina to sleep, even in the midst of the whirring and thumping she can hear coming from Above, the sound of thousands of Jiquis marching into the Plant for Maintenance Window.

The next day, waking time is exciting for everyone Below. All the Youths are wearing their best outfits. Corina’s pants have six pockets, a couple of them reinforced for the Vial she will bring home. The locket in another. The clothes they wear today are not only practical, but also attractive and with a little bit of color, unlike their working ones which are just the color of sand, like everything Below. After all, this is the beginning of their time Above, because the Jiquis have gone into the Plant for Maintenance and won’t be back for another ninety days, a pattern that repeats itself every twenty-one years.

This is not only the time to collect useful things to bring Below for the tribe’s survival for the next twenty-one years, but it is also the time for the most important survival activity: trying to find a mate. Among the other tribes, of course. There is so much to try to keep straight. Find specific tools, or bring those that might be useful. But nothing with a chip. And stay away from anything with a camera, even if it doesn’t talk or move. Collect specific foods that can be grown underground. Find a mate, but make sure it’s not someone from your father’s Tribe. And most importantly, give your mate a Vial if you’re male, or get one from a mate if you’re female.

Celia kisses Corina’s cheek, whispers a choked up “be wise” in her daughter’s ear, and lets her go before Corina notices her mother’s eyes welling up. Corina walks towards the front of the group, hand in hand with Callie, but she knows they’ll soon separate, for they will likely be looking for different things.

Callie will be looking for a male from one of the other Tribes -not the M Tribe because that’s where her father is from- who looks as determined and practical as she is. Probably also the child of someone high up on the Structure. Corina on the other hand isn’t even sure of what she’s looking for. She thinks she’ll know him when she sees him. In the meantime, she focuses on gathering roots. Even in that they are almost polar opposites. While Callie will probably aim to find the most nutrient dense and spoil resistant foods, Corina treasures rare finds like ginger or horseradish, something that adds spice, not just nourishment.

Food Above is not a problem. The Jiquis don’t eat, so there is plenty for the Youths to satisfy their hunger and collect for underground growth. For days they gather what they can, steering away from high technology centers. At night they find safe places to spend the night. Some buildings are still mostly intact. The integrity of a building often correlates with its safety, which is good for the Youths. The buildings that had “smart” features are where it all started, and were mostly torn down when the Jiquis took over. A mostly intact building is probably centuries older, but chances are no smart features will be found in them, and they’ll be safe to spend the night in.

Several weeks in, Corina is surprised to find Callie back with her. She shows Corina some of her most interesting finds. Among seeds and trinkets, Callie’s best finds are a picture making machine and a book. Callie reassures her that the picture making machine has no chip, it just spits out paper with images of what she sees through its eye hole. The book surprises Corina the most because Callie doesn’t read. But the drawings give its content away. It’s another medical book, but this one is about cloning. It appears that the Ancient ones had found a way to make humans without needing components from another human of the opposite sex. Callie asks Corina to read it out loud, and Corina happily obliges. Reading to Callie has always been one of her favorite things.

For a while they go on like this. They forage together during the day, and huddle back together into one of the old buildings at night, awake dreaming of a forever life Above. Corina has almost forgotten that they're still supposed to secure a Vial. When she reminds Callie of this, it’s as if the topic is of no interest to her. What happened to future Ms. Mother of Multiples, wonders Corina. And what happened to her own quest for love and a connection, she wonders as well. Somehow all these days Above with Callie have made her forget what she was supposed to be pursuing.

A few nights before the return Below, in the midst of their musing about a future that might or might not be, Callie suddenly grows quiet, sits up and takes something out of her pocket. It’s a Vial. And another one. Callie has secured two Vials, and offers her one. Forget the locket, she pleads, forget finding a connection with a stranger from another tribe.This, what we have, is what you’ve been longing for all along.

Corina reaches into the pocket where she’s kept the locket all this time, opens it, removes the picture and studies it. She looks at Callie holding her breath, arm still extended, Vial in hand, a love offering. It’s always been her. Corina tosses the picture, closes the locket, places it around Callie's neck, and takes the Vial. She takes Callie’s hand. Show me how to use that picture making machine, Corina asks. This locket is going to need a new picture.