The Compass

The Compass is the last human city left in the universe; it's also my home. Built in a circle around the base of a mesa or table mountain. Houses and living quarters spread out from the bottom for about a mile and are surrounded entirely by clear blue waters, known as Circle Lake. And from the far shores of the lake, converted farmland stretches to a defensive wall that marks the outer boundary of the city. Beyond that, dust flats stretch to the horizon.

When the Compass was founded, bridges were built over the lake on opposite sides of the city. The city was much smaller then, and people called it Mesa because of the mountain. But over time, six more bridges were added at equal distances like the points of a compass, and the new name was born. As the city grew and the wall went up, gates were added to the eight points. I work shifts as a gate lookout on the southwestern point.

The walk home at the end of my day is always long and tiring. I like to spend it thinking about the sofa in my living room where I can sit for the evening and get slowly drunk on lousy moonshine. Over the year's they've refined the distillation process. It was no longer the sort of rocket fuel that could turn you blind like it was in the early days. It was more subtle now, with less burning and fewer blackouts. They still had the gall to call it whiskey or bourbon, depending on which poison you preferred. But it was still a poor knockoff. They produced it simply to get you drunk. Giving it a name from back home was to feed the city's rampant appetite for nostalgia.

Dusk was falling as I walked up the single flight of stairs to my home. I live on the top floor of a small two-storey building on the outer edge of the residential area, near the shores of Circle Lake. Once upon a time, people would have called it a studio apartment or flat. But no one in The Compass uses those names anymore. They're loaded words that conjure images of smart, trendy rooms that young professionals rent at an exorbitant monthly cost. But they belong to a different time and a different world. In The Compass, our homes are allocated based on our needs, we don't pay rent, and each city block is a community that all residents contribute to.

I shut the front door behind me and staggered forward, chucking my jacket on the bed. The room was slightly more rectangular than square, and most people would say it was cramped. My bed was in the far-left corner, with a half partition wall separating it from the dining table. The kitchen units and stove formed an L-shape in the far-right corner, which my sofa backed on to. The sofa faced the main living area, and a large sliding glass window on the same wall as the front door led to a small terrace at the front of the building. Sometimes I'd sit out there at night, but it was suntrap and too hot to enjoy during the day.

I moved to the kitchen area and opened the cupboard where I kept the pasta, but the sight of moonshine on the counter caught my eye. The thought of it made me salivate, and the growling demands from my stomach gave way to my desire to drink. I put the pasta back and reached for the bottle. As I twisted the cap off, I heard a soft knocking at my front door.

"Hi, Donovan. I'm really sorry, I have a huge favour to ask", said my sister Sadie.

She stood in the doorway with her hand wrapped gently around the mitt of her young son Oscar. I knew instantly what she was going to ask.

"Could you watch Oscar for me please? I have to work, and my babysitter fell through at the last minute".

"Do you want him to stay the whole night? Does he need feeding?"

"No, it's alright, I'll pick him up at ten, and he's had dinner already".

"Ok yeah, it's fine. Just go do what you need to do, and I'll keep an eye on him here."

"Thanks, Donovan; I really appreciate it."

"No problem - Come on, champ, let's get you inside."

Oscar ran past me into the living room and dived onto the sofa. Sadie smiled and thanked me again quietly before heading off to work.

I walked back to the kitchen, giving a longing glance to the moonshine but turned to face the stove instead, and opened the pasta. Oscar hummed on the sofa in his own little world.

"I know your mum said you've had dinner, but are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?

"Yes, please", said Oscar, nodding.

I dropped some extra pasta into the pan and got two bowls out of the cupboard. Ten minutes later, we sat down to eat at the small wooden table in the kitchen area. I usually slumped on the sofa to eat my food but thought it best to set an example for the kid.

        "What did you learn in school today?" I asked.

"Not much"

"Hmmm, not much? That must have been interesting."

"Yep"

"Is that all you're gonna tell me? You didn't learn anything new at all?"

"No"

"Man, you are a tough interview," I said, smiling at the kid.

Oscar let out a small laugh. "We talked about the old world a bit. You know before we came here."

        "See, I knew there must have been something. What was the most interesting bit?"

        "My teacher said that there were lots of cities like The Compass, but they were bigger, with lots more people, and that the people didn't help each other like we do, that they were selfish and did things for themselves."

        "That's true - I guess. I don't remember that well. I was probably about your age when I lived on Earth".

"You don't remember?"

"Well, I remember some things. I remember what it was like going to school. I didn't like it. We had to write a lot of homework, and there were tests."

"We have tests!" cried Oscar.

"Yeah, I know, but it was different. Everything seemed so important."

"Our tests aren't important?"

"Yes, they are, and you have to study for them. It's was just different, that's all."

        "I don't understand".

"Sorry, champ - it's hard to explain."

We sat in silence for a minute as the young boy chewed his pasta one piece at a time.

        "Uncle Donovan, our teacher, said that when the aliens came, they only wanted some people to join them, and everyone else they sent away. We were the ones they sent away."

        "That's right. One day the Triaka just showed up and changed everything."

"But why? Why did they come?"

"Well, the Triaka Federation was made up of lots of alien species, and they just wanted to add us to the collection. Our technology wasn't as good as theirs, but it was getting better. One day we could have been a threat to them, so it was better to make us join them before we got to that point. They didn't come to fight us; they just wanted us to do as they said."

        "Why did people agree and let them send us away?"

         "Well, they had this relic."

"A relic?"

"Yeah, it was an ancient old rock, covered in all these crazy Triakan markings. They said it was important to their people and a symbol of the federation. Anyway, when they brought it Earth, it connected itself to the minds of everyone on the planet. I'm not sure if it was psychic or technological, but it showed everyone a vision of what it would be like in their federation, and everyone loved it. They brainwashed everyone."

"Brainwashed?" asked Oscar.

"Yeah, it means that when people don't want to do something, you make them think that they do want to. "

"So the relic changed them?"

"That's right. The vision made them believe it was a good idea".

"So why didn't you get brainwashed?"

"I was one of the odd ones out. There weren't many of us. A tiny percentage of people from all over the world didn't get the vision. A genetic variation maybe, but our minds couldn't connect, so they couldn't brainwash us. That's why they rounded us up and shipped us out here. To keep us out of the way."

"But what about the other humans? The one's that joined the federation; didn't they want us to stay? Couldn't they have asked the Triaka to let us stay on Earth?"

"Yeah, they could have asked to let us stay, but they didn't want us either. Once they saw the vision, we weren't welcome anymore. I guess they thought we might fight them or try to stop it".

"Would we have fought them?"

"Yeah, I mean, I was too little back then, but people would have."

"But what about your family? What about your Mum and Dad?"

I paused for a minute. It had been a long time since I thought about them, and it was upsetting that I couldn't remember their faces. When we settled in The Compass, I'd grown up in an adoptive family. Sadie wasn't my biological sister, and Oscar wasn't my biological nephew, but they were the only family I knew, and I loved them. I felt a pang of sorrow for my old parents. But I swallowed, and I pushed the feelings back down.

        "My parents got brainwashed as well, so I lost them."

        "I'm sorry, Uncle Donovan."

"It's ok, kid, it's not your fault. It wasn't their fault either. They didn't choose to abandon me. It was the brainwashing."

        "What if the Triaka come back for us? What if they try to brainwash us again? I don't want to leave here."

        "Woah, Oscar, there's no need to worry about that. They're not coming back."

        "How do you know?"

        "Because the whole point of sending us away was they didn't want us around. They're not interested in us. They sent us here so the other humans would think we're safe. Then they can just forget about us and get on doing whatever it is they do".

        "So they've just forgotten about us?"

        "Afraid so, kiddo. But it's ok. We don't need them anymore. We've got our own thing going now. And in a lot of ways, it's better here in The Compass".

        "It is?" asked Oscar.

        "Yeah, way better. Do you remember all those selfish people you heard about in class?

        "Yeah"

        "Well, we're not like them. We look out for each other, help each other out. Everything we do, all the jobs that we do, it's to protect and provide for each other."

        "But they had lots of cool things back on Earth", said Oscar.

        "Like what?"

        "They had cars, television and computers."

"Did you learn about that in school?"

"Yep"

"See, that's another thing you learned. We did have all those things back on Earth, but I like this place better. Cars polluted the environment. Here I just walk everywhere. Even to work, which is long and tiring, but keeps me healthy. I have my thoughts to myself. I can dream and think and makes plans. But when people had television and computers, they stopped thinking for themselves. Maybe that's why they got brainwashed."

"Really?" said Oscar, with a shocked look on his face.

"Maybe – I don't know, actually. But it wasn't good for them. Living in the Compass, though, we're free from all of that. We got to start over and do things better this time."

Oscar smiled at me. The little guy with a messy mop of brown hair and his mother's eyes had a grin that told me he was ok. It was difficult to tell kids about the relocation from Earth. It had been traumatic for everyone and was painful to retell. But it had to be told. The story defined our new society, and future generations would have to know it if the Triaka ever came back. Of course, I'd told Oscar they wouldn't, but I didn't know that for sure. It was a fear all adults held and one he would learn in time – but just not yet.

We finished our food, and I moved to the kitchen to put the dishes in the sink. The distant noise of music and laughter floated in from outside. A party was starting up down by the lake, and young voices carried in the warm evening air. Oscar moved to the window to get a better look and peered out when I sat down on the sofa.

"Can we go down there, Uncle Donovan? - Please?"

I checked my watch. We had some time before Sadie returned. Some fresh air would probably do us some good, and it was a lovely evening.

        We made our way down to the lake, and even though it was night-time, the sky was clear, and natural starlight made it easy to find our way. From a distance, we watched the revellers. A handful of them jumped in and out of the water's edge, while others sat in a circle drinking moonshine. Someone else had a guitar, and we could hear them strumming while others sang along.

I could see a mix of people from my block and the adjacent one, which meant it was an unofficial gathering rather than one organised by the community. People of all ages danced around a small fire like ancient humans had once done, happy to be outside. The Circle Lake always attracted people to it, no matter what time of day. The water was blue and beautifully clear, with a peacefulness that gave the lake a spiritual feeling. People had come to rely on it.

        "Uncle Donovan, thanks for letting bringing me down here. Mum would have said it was too late, but I love being near the water."

"No problem. It is nice being down here".

Oscar smiled in agreement.

"What was Earth like? Did they have lakes too?"

        "Yeah, they did, and rivers and oceans too," I said.

        "The oceans were polluted, though, right? That's what they said in school."

"Yeah, they were. They were so beautiful, but we did our best to ruin them."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I guess we were pretty stupid."

"And selfish," said Oscar.

"Yep. And lazy. It was just easier to dump our waste in the ocean and forget about it rather than find ways to deal with it or stop making so much of it in the first place."

We looked towards the lake's far shore; the stars reflected in the stillness of the water. It was hard to tell if Earth was up in the sky or down there in the water. Smoke wafted up towards us, and laughter carried across from the party. A couple spotted us and waved, beckoning us to join them. I waved back but made no attempt to stand.

"I'm glad we don't live on Earth anymore. I think it's better here. People are nicer." said Oscar.

"I think we just took things for granted back on Earth. Sometimes people don't realise what they have until it's gone." I replied.

        We sat in silence and enjoyed the warm air for a bit longer. Eventually, when Oscar looked tired, I scooped him up and carried him back home. He was asleep in my arms before we got through the front door. So, I laid him down on the bed and placed a blanket over him until his mum came to collect him.

        I sat down on the sofa, but this time my own tiredness sunk in and was too overpowering to contemplate the moonshine. Slowly I drifted into sleep, thinking about my conversations with Oscar. Despite everything that happened to us, we are resilient; we'd survived and made our new home. And the kid was right, it was a better home, and we were better people.