The Farming Valley

The buzz of the engineers collaborating creates a blissful symphony in the control room. A wide wall screen reads: Plexi-house A-203, with an inner temperature displays in the upper right corner reading 29 degrees Celsius. Smaller screens surround the main one, showing other plexi-houses, each growing different fruits or vegetables. Deleyza focuses on the main screen. Knowing the outside temperature is pushing over 40 degrees, she quickly calculates the optimal temperature for the plexi-house, and orders her team to lower the temperature. They send a message to the house team and wait for a report on the conditions. Lettuce, their sector’s main produce.

Deleyza stands from her desk and meanders through the terminals, yearning to hear the progress of her workforce. Her work outfit of a white sleeveless blouse and black slacks complement the umber-color of her skin. Each wide-eyed engineer looks in her direction to smile, either content with their productivity or the outfit she put together from the exchange center. Still got it! Pride. Not only in her career as the supervisor, but also her choice to find her personalized fashion through recycled clothing.

She pauses, staring at a monitor focused on the outside of A-210. “What’s that? Zoom in on A-210’s cargo entrance?”

The camera reveals a black object lying on the road. She puts on her headset. “Misato? What is that on the ground?”

A woman with beige skin looks towards the ground, then at the camera and shrugs.

“Have someone bring it to my office.”

Misato nods.

“Thanks,” Delayza returns to check on her crew.

“Great work, team!” She beams at a sea of diverse multi-racial smiles. The success of their division provides 90% of the food resource for the state. Community leaders have presented them with the best crop yield award every year since Deleyza’s entry five years ago at 27.

She loves her Farming Valley community. A community protected by the Wall, A barrier from the dangerous outside world. In the community, everyone discovers their role through education and their passions. External and internal bartering eliminates greed. Externally, the community trades food for textiles, medical supplies, and other goods with similar communities. Internally, people barter for goods and services. Scientists focus on quality of life while artisans craft clothes, art, and cuisines. Literature and theater reign with their monopoly on entertainment. The community restricts technology for work and academics only, making human connection the heart for a thriving utopia.

As the day winds and her team departs home to their families, Deleyza looks forward to dinner with a group of friends followed by a stage performance from a rotating theater troupe. One night only in the farming district. Excitement bounces in each of her steps as she enters her office. The strange object from A-210 rests atop her desk. She picks up the lightweight object, surprised to find it fits perfectly in her palm. A quizzical expression drops over her face as she examines the mysterious thing. Hard plastic wraps around the object, but glass covers one side. There are two buttons protruding, one on each side. Deleyza refrains from the urge to press any of the buttons, fearing what may occur if she did.

A loud buzz and vibration from her hand startles her. She places it back on the desk, rushes to close the door and turn down the shades. What the hell? Her heart races as she returns her gaze to the vibrating object. It drops into silence. She should call security. A foreign object in her office. She moves toward the office phone, stopped by the returning buzz. She gravitates to the object, stretches out her arm to flip it over. The glass screen is lit up with the image of a bearded, smiling white man. The name Michael appears along the top as the device vibrates. Suddenly, it darkens. The vibration stops. She stares with a twisted expression. What is this thing? It buzzes again. She drops it on the desk with a loud clunk. It dances on the desktop. The white smiling man’s image returns to the screen. She notices the words: slide to answer. Her hand shakes as she uses her finger and slides it across the screen’s bottom. The still image dissipates; the white face replaces it. It’s him!

“Hello? Brian?” A minute voice emits from the device as he speaks.

“Hello?” Deleyza answers, keeping the device on the desk.

The man’s face jumps on the screen. “Oh, sorry, is this Brian’s cell?”

“Cell?”

“Yeah, cellphone?” Deleyza’s stomach twists hearing cellphone.

“Maybe?” Deleyza says with a hard swallow.

“That idiot. I know he hates it, but I keep telling him to stop losing it. Tell me where you’re at so we can get it.”

“Sacramento Farming Valley,” Deleyza responds. “Where are you?”

“Did you say, Farming Valley?” Michael replies, squinting his eyes.

“Yes.”

“Oh shit.” The screen goes blank. Deleyza’s expression does too.

“Hello?” No responses. She repeats her question several times. Where did he go?

She lifts the phone and presses the side buttons. The screen lights up. The date and time displays on the screen. A cellphone? The word strikes a chord of fear in her. She glances at the door before going to her computer. With sweaty palms, she opens up her browser. The reliable web search database offers historical results with a summary mentioning the elimination of cellphone in human history. She clicks on a site and learns how cellphones brought the downfall of human civilization. The spread of disinformation and misinformation were the catalyst to the War of 2053. Once the war ended, nations around the world abolished the use of cellphones and social media. She stared at the phone in her hand. How is it abolished if I’m holding one in my hand? What is the net hiding?

A knock at her office door commands her attention. “Security.”

Shit! She hides the phone in a drawer before answering. “Coming,” she closes the web browser and walks over to the door. An Asian man wearing a white security shirt and black cargo pants stands in front of her. His nameplate reads Nguyen.

“Sorry to bother you, Ms, are you the only occupant in the room?” His tone stern.

“Yes.” She takes the second to analyze what Nguyen seeks. “Why? What’s happening?”

“We received an alert coming from this office.”

“An alert? What kind of alert?”

Nguyen narrows his eyes. “Confidential. Allow me to come in. I am required to investigate.”

Deleyza always complied. Her compliance with authority supported her through her academics and granted her the position as supervisor. However, a heavy feeling of distrust wells up within her stomach. Must be careful.

She slides her foot to the base of the door, securing it. “May I have a moment?” Nguyen stares at her. Weighted silence builds with each passing second. Deleyza’s mind races. “It will only be a minute, I promise. Women stuff.”

Nguyen holds his stoic stance. “Fine. Sixty seconds.”

Deleyza closes the door with care and rushes to the desk. She opens the drawer and places the cellphone in her slacks’s pocket. She squats to the floor to unplug the computer. After a deep inhale, she returns to the office door and opens it. Nguyen tapping his foot. He walks in and scans the room, studying every corner, before wandering towards the desk. “How long have you been in your office?”

“I came back about a minute or two before you knocked. I had routine check ups on some of the farming houses.” She says, keeping her voice steady, concealing her thumping heart.

“So you didn’t use your computer, or any electronics?”

“No, it’s broken. It doesn’t even turn on. See for yourself,” Deleyza inches towards the doorway, anticipating the right moment.

Nguyen’s intent stare grips Deleyza before he casts his gaze upon the computer. The second he tries the counsel, Deleyza darts out the door. She sprints to the stairwell. Skipping steps as she descends to the bottom floor and exits. The night sky offers her solace for a few seconds, but the building alarm shatters it. Shit! She uses the night to conceal her escape. The need for a place to hide rules out going home. Only one place to go. And she hopes her high school friend is there.

The sun creeps up from the horizon. Her water bottle reaches empty. Deleyza wishes the night didn’t hide the field of plexi-houses so she could revel in her accomplished crops. But the hidden secret in her pocket ushers a more important mission. Crossing the fields and navigating through a dense forest, she finally arrives at her destination. A cave with a woman of the same age with long black hair, a black jacket, and khaki cargo pants stands at the entrance.

“Deleyza. Long time no see,” a voice she has not heard from for a decade greets. Deleyza recognizes the voice.

“Jayxiah. How did you know I was here?”

“Our cameras. We set up them up throughout the woods. We tracked you coming.”

“You still believe there’s a different life beyond the Wall?” Deleyza holds up the cellphone.

Jayxiah gawks. “Is that what I think it is?”

Deleyza nods.

“How did you get it? Are you sure it’s a cellphone?”

Delayza explains how she found it, the bizarre conversation with Michael, and her internet search. Her role as a supervisor granted her access to a database denied to college students and the public.

“I knew it! They’re hiding something beyond the Wall,” Jayxiah exclaims, snapping her fingers.

Jayxiah is one of a few conspiracists who believes the Farming Valley’s leaders are hiding a life beyond the wall. She dropped out of post-secondary to investigate and urged Deleyza to join her, sharing about the community forming beyond the fields in the woods. Deleyza scoffed at the idea. Until now.

“Yeah, and I need you to hack into it,” Deleyza says. Climbing up into the entrance.

“Deleyza, before you do this, you need to know,” Jayxiah says.

“What?”

“You can’t return home. Ever.”

Deleyza laughs. “What are you talking about?”

“They don’t want people to know. The Valley’s leaders have worked tirelessly to suppress information. You’re lucky you found the phone and had access to cellphone history.

“I tried returning after I left, but I was captured and beaten. They were more interested in finding the resistance than they were about me returning to my role. I would have been content as a seamstress, or even a farmer, but after I escaped the second time, I realized my role was gone forever.”

Deleyza’s stomach drops. “How did you escape?”

“I’ll show you.”

Jayxiah leads her deeper into the twilight zone of the cave. She glances over her shoulder before pulling on a stalagmite. A door opens and light floods around them. They enter the small elevator. Deleyza feels it descending. The silence between the two of them allow Deleyza’s mind to wander. Where is she going to sleep? Food? Her career? Was learning the truth worth it?

The elevator doors open and a squad of people stand on guard, ready to tackle any threat coming from the doors. “They saved me,” Jayxiah points. “At ease, everyone. She’s not a threat. She has it.”

As if on cue, Deleyza composes herself and holds the phone out. “We need to hack into this thing.”

Hours past. Deleyza and Jayxiah catch up. Deleyza shares her success with the plexi-house farming. Jayxiah shares her progress with the group known as Truth Finders, determine to uncover evidence of life beyond the Wall. There are roads leading to the wall, but they’re patrolled by guards to secure them.

“Many people lost their lives following shipments to the wall. Clearly, they want to protect whatever lies beyond it. The ten-mile distance from the community to the Wall is intentional. It hides their horrible acts.”

“They who?” Deleyza presses.

“We don’t know. The drivers wear different clothing and speak with a different accent. They keep their faces hidden. At all times. One day, I watched them on the road. One of them had their mask off. Their skin tone, pale like the moon.”

“Pale like the moon…” Deleyza repeats. “I saw one of them. Off the phone, asking for Brian.”

“We got it!” A voice calls out, summoning everyone to a large room with a mounted wall monitor. Several people sit at desks, hidden by more flat screens, while some stand. “We aren’t able to connect to the satellite, but we can see what’s on the cellphone. Definitely one of the toughest hacks we ever had to do. Whoever this belonged to, they sure took a lot of videos and pictures.”

Everyone throws their attention to the screen to witness the contents. A collection of the owner’s white face floods the photo album, packed with photos and video clips. As they scroll through the album, every person shown has white skin, completely void of people of color. Some photos display fancy sports cars, a full spectrum of colors. Women walk around in extremely revealing clothing, nothing ever brought in for trading. Food crafted with artistic intention, not only for flavor. Every photo garnishes gawks. A view of a world opposite of the lifestyle they call home.

“Is this the world beyond the Wall?” Deleyza say.

“It’s gotta be,” Jayxiah says.

Deleyza ponders every image flashing on the large monitor. An exquisite world built for those who pay for it with credits. Where people take photo and videos to do what? If cellphones were never abolished, then…the thoughts swirl around in her head. One conclusion strikes her.

“It still exists,” she bursts outloud.

Jayxiah jumps. “What are you talking about? “

“Social Media.” The room quiets at the mentioning of two worlds extinct from modern vocabulary for years. Deleyza, feeling the audience’s gaze, stands on a desk to project her voice. “After the Civil War of 2053, we were told the world changed. It did, but it must have split into different lifestyles. One where cellphones show a lavishing lifestyle through social media. The other where people live like we do: in a farming community, bartering concealing the truth. There could be more. Maybe we are not as free as we believe we are. What if we are slaves to these pale-skinned people in these videos? Providing food for them or more. We need to learn more about them. About the world beyond the wall. The world where buildings scrape the sky.”

“Deleyza, what are you saying?” Jayxiah says.

“We must break through the wall. Confirm and expose the truth to everyone here.”

The cave erupts in agreement. Tonight they rest. Deleyza bids farewell to the theater, farming, family and friend because tomorrow she joins the resistance as they seek the truth.