Irene by Humayun Ahmed
Translated by Rupa Khandakar

CHAPTER 2
More Strangers!

The train was really fast, running almost at a 100 km per hour. Irene was sitting next to a window that prevented ultraviolet rays from coming into the train. Everything outside was pitch black.

‘Is this your first time on a train?’ Orochi Leone asked.
‘Yes. I am resident of City-01. We are not so lucky enough to have the luxury of train rides.’
‘O yeah, that’s right. So, how do you feel?’
‘It’s okay.’
‘You won’t see anything through the window. Tonight it’s new-moon. Although, even if there were a moon out in the sky, you wouldn’t be able to see anything interesting, because we are going through a ruined, desolated city. It’s not very pretty to look at. Thank God, it’s night time, right?
‘Could you please stop taking? I don’t want to hear anything from you, right now.’
‘Shall I bring some food?’
‘No, thank you.’
‘You should eat something.’
‘I am not hungry.’
‘Well, I am hungry. I am going to the food carriage. If you change your mind, you know where to find me. Just follow the corridor; the last carriage has the food. They have robot attendants who can prepare a meal for you.’
Irene didn’t even bother to look at him when he left. There was a screen in front of Irene. It was broadcasting a program about the Great Devastation. Irene used to love this kind of program, but now she just wanted to shut it down. But, she didn’t know how to shut down the screen. So, she was stuck with.

She knew everything about the Great Devastation though. She had read it in her history classes. The guy on the screen was explaining everything as if it had just happened in front his very eyes.

‘Dear Friends, those of you who are currently traveling on this lightning speed train, I should remind you that, 400 years ago, this very place, which you are traveling through right now, was the heart of a glorious civilization. Back then, this place was called Asia Minor.

‘But, about 400 years ago from now, around the year 2097, a Great Disaster struck the earth. It was the start of a series of devastating nuclear explosions and the end of human civilization. Before the Great Devastation, everyone had speculated that something like this would happen sooner or later. But, no one could have ever imagined the way it actually happened. No dear friends, if you are thinking it was a nuclear war, it wasn’t.
For an unknown reason, all the stored nuclear bombs around the world started to detonate one after another, destroying the million-year-old human civilization under just eleven minutes. We call it the Great Devastation.

‘After the Great Devastation, no sunlight could enter the earth’s atmosphere for over a hundred years. We call it the Dark Ages. A great number of plants and animals that depended on plants died during that time. We know very little of this time period. We just know that a small number resilient people survived through this time. They gave rebirth to human civilization, creating the three-layered social structure: City-01, City-02, City-03, which has ensured the survival of the human race.

‘Now, as for the causes of the Great Devastation, there are many theories, and none of them have been proven. Some say the explosions happened due to cosmic radiation; some say …….. ‘

The screen suddenly went black. And, Orochi Leone was on it with his smiling face.
‘Irene! Are you there?’
‘Yes!’
‘I don’t like eating alone. Why don’t you come and join me?’
‘I told you I am not hungry.’
‘You don’t have to eat. Just sit with me. I have something important to tell you.’
‘I am all ears.’
‘I want to tell you in person, you know, face to face. It has something to do with where you are heading.’
‘I have asked you many times before, and you refused every time. Why now?’
‘Well, back then it wasn’t a good time. Everything has an opportune moment. Please don’t make me wait, dear.’

The guy who was talking about the Great Devastation came back to the screen. He was drawing something on a board and using his monotonic voice to explain something, ‘The cosmic ray comes to the world through the Ozone layer. Ozone, or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula O3. As the figure on my left shows, each ozone molecule has three oxygen atoms joined together…..’

Irene was already tired of the program, so she got up and headed to the food carriage. The attendant robot standing at the corridor saw her and said, ‘Hello Irene, how can I help you?’

Irene wasn’t surprised to hear the attendant robot at all, because she had seen the robot assisting other passengers on the train. ‘I am just going to get some food,’ said Irene.
‘May I escort you?’
‘There’s no need for that.’
‘Have you been enjoying your train journey so far?’
‘No, I haven’t.’
‘I am sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do to make it more enjoyable for you?’
‘No,’ Irene said and started walking again.
The robot was walking right behind her. Irene was feeling a tad bit uncomfortable. She was not used to hearing robots talk like humans.
‘Irene, are you from City-01?
‘Yes, I am.’
‘Congratulations. You have become a resident of City-02 at a very young age.’
‘Thank you. But, why are you following me?’
‘I just want to say something to you. I believe it would make you happy.’
‘What is it?’
‘You are very pretty, Irene.’
‘Thank you,’ Irene said in a calm voice.
‘I have written a poem for you. I would really appreciate if you accept it.’
‘Umm… okay…let me see.’
The robot handed a piece of paper to Irene and got back to the corridor. The robot even seemed like it was a bit embarrassed after handing over the poem. Irene looked down at the piece of paper:

(this is the original version)
I don’t know if my heart desires love or not.
But, I have tried my best to separate lust from guilt.
And, have tried to love you always.

(this is just from the web)
Our love is old and sure, not new and frantic.
You know I’m yours and I know you are mine.
And saying that has made me feel romantic.
My dearest love, my darling valentine.

Irene smiled. She was suddenly feeling good. She even felt a bit hungry.
May be I could eat something, thought Irene.

Irene was eating silently. Orochi Leone had a mischievous smile on his face. He had a strong drink in his hand. The drink was specially made to make you relax.
‘Irene, dear?’
‘Yes.’
‘How is the food?’
‘Okay.’
‘You look a bit happier now. Did something happen?’
‘Nothing happened.’
‘Everything happens for a reason, Irene. I think that attendant robot has something to do with it. His job is to make the passengers feel comfortable, and it uses different methods for different people. What was it for you—a song or a poem?’

Irene didn’t answer him. ‘You wanted to say something important about my destination?’
‘Finish your food, first.’
‘I want to hear now.’
‘We are going to the Forbidden City.’
After hearing the words ‘Forbidden City’, Irene felt a bolt of lightning had just passed through her. She thought she had heard it wrong. She was staring at Orochi Leone, dumbfounded.
‘Yes, you are going to the Forbidden City. I will go with you until we reach City-03; after that, a self-driven plane would take you to the Forbidden City; and even though I would love to see the Forbidden City, I can’t go with you because I do not have a permit to enter it. Can you understand how lucky you are, Irene?’
‘No, I…I don’t understand.’
‘In the last two hundred years, only 12 people were lucky enough to enter the Forbidden City.’
‘And none of them came back; so I don’t know if I am lucky or doomed.’
‘Think about it: the people who survived the Great Devastation, the people who gave rebirth to human civilization, would be in front of your very eyes. Who knows, you might even be able to speak to some of them. Isn’t that lucky enough?’
‘Why me?’
‘That, I don’t know. They must have a reason. The people who live in the Forbidden City know about each and every single human being living on this planet. They must have seen something in you.’
‘Trust me, I am not special.’ Irene said, taking her eyes off Orochi Leone’s.

‘Anyway, do you want a drink?’
‘No, I am fine.’
‘I can feed you more information to make you feel more confident.’
‘Sure, if you can manage.’
‘You are not the only one going to the Forbidden City this time. There is one more, and that person is one this very train right now. Interested?’
‘Yes, yes, of course.’
‘Compartment no: 6. You can go by yourself.’
‘Aren’t you going to introduce us?’
‘No! Help yourself out, dear.’
Irene stood up to leave. ‘I think I deserve a little thank you?’ Orochi Leone said, smiling that mischievous smile again.
Irene looked back and said, ‘Thank you, Mr. Orochi Leone, Sir.’
‘I can give you one more piece of information that would really make you happy.’
Irene came back and sat down again.
‘Your parents are doing fine. They have been accepted to enter City-02. If you don’t believe me, you can call them. Use the train’s phone line,’ Orochi Leone said, intentionally sipping his drink in between each sentence.
Irene was staring right at him but couldn’t say anything. Orochi Leone took his eyes off his drink and said, ‘Are you happy, dear?’
‘Yes, yes, I am. Why didn’t you tell me this before?’
‘I wanted you to get really scared and confused at first. I wanted you to suffer.’
‘For what?’
‘I had my reasons: you got worried for you and your parents at first and that made you sad, but now you are not worried anymore, resulting in the happiness which you are feeling right now. You might even be feeling a bit of gratitude toward me, making you vulnerable to the request I am about to make you.’
‘Request?’
‘Irene, I want to know what’s inside the Forbidden City. If there’s any way you can contact me from there, I want you to do it.’
‘Why do you want to know?’
‘Curiosity! Nothing but pure curiosity. Let’s go and talk to your parents.’

The phone line was surprisingly clear. Irene was able to get hold of her dad. He was calm and happy this time.
‘Irene, you won’t believe what has happened–you just won’t, dear. Your mom and I both got accepted to enter City-02. We have received all the paper works,’ Irene’s dad said, his voice sparkling with happiness.
‘Very nice, dad. I am….’ Irene couldn’t finish her sentence.
‘Your mom couldn’t believe it. She has been crying ever since they gave us the acceptance letter.’
‘Yeah, that’s typical of mom.’
‘We are throwing a party tomorrow. Everyone’s coming. They gave us 50 points to celebrate.’
‘O Wow.’
‘We are decorating the house tonight. We won’t sleep.’
‘Don’t you want to know how I am doing or where I am going?’ Irene finally said, her voice sounded sad.
‘O yes, they told us everything?’
‘What did they say?’
‘You have been selected for a very special project, because you are so special, my little darling. They said after the project, they will bring you right back to us. You can live with us just like before.’
Irene sighed. ‘Dad, I will talk to you later, okay?’
‘Wait, wait, here, talk to your mom for a bit.’
‘No, not now. Let her cry now. Please take care of yourselves. Good night.’
Irene hung up the phone. She wanted to get angry at her dad but she couldn’t. It is a big deal to get promoted from City-01 to City-02.
Every citizen has to go through three layers of citizenship throughout his of her life. If you are in City-01, you have to work from eight to five every day; you are allowed a forty minute lunch break. Food is rationed out as per each citizen’s need. Every weekend all the citizens of City-01 are required to get their ration for the whole week. There are no other places to get food.
Everyone eats like misers in City-01, saving every bits and pieces whenever possible, wasting nothing.

And then, there are tons of rules to abide by. If you break even the simplest one, you get a red mark on your citizenship card. If you get 15 red marks, you will never be allowed to enter City-02. Everyone tries their best to keep their cards clean, but it’s really difficult. If you are lucky enough to keep your card mark free until the age of thirty, you are allowed to enter city-02.

City-02 has no rationing system for food. You can eat as much as you want, even waste a bit if you don’t’ like the food. There are also markets where you can buy food. Work is only six hours a day. No hard fast rules to abide by. If you commit a serious crime, they would just charge you for it.

The citizens of City-02 get one month of vacation time per year. During that time, they are given a travel pass, which allows them to travel anywhere for free. And, they also have plenty of festivals throughout the year. Everyone leads a relaxed life, ration, no tension, no worries. The citizens of City-02 eventually forget what sadness or worry used to feel like. They only dream of getting their acceptance letters to enter City-03.

If you can stay in City-02 for twenty years, you are qualified to apply for the citizenship of City-03. But, not everyone can go. There’s a yearly lottery, which decides who gets to go and who stays back for another year. They day of the lottery is the most exciting day of the year. The family that gets selected becomes the center of attention. People party around them all night after the winning announcement. Some people whose names didn’t come up feel a bit sad but they join in the party eventually. They restore their hopes for next year.

Nobody really knows about the systems or rules of City-03. People only know that City-03 is like heaven: no work, no rules, only boundless freedom. Everyone hopes to see City-03 at least once in their lifetime before dying.

Irene was standing in front of compartment no: 6. There was a calling bell, but Irene decided to knock.
‘Who is it?’ said someone with a childish voice.
‘My name is Irene. May I speak to you?’
‘Sorry I can’t, now. It’s bedtime.’
‘Could you please open the door. It’s urgent.’
A very skinny guy with thick glasses opened the door and said in an annoyed voice, ‘What the f*** do you want?’
Without answering, Irene shoved him to the side and got inside the compartment. The skinny guy was looking at her face with a strange fascination.

The train picked up its speed again. A mild whistling sound of the wind was coming from somewhere. It felt like the train would crash anytime.
‘May I sit?’ Irene asked.