The Neo Creadds Are Born (Ch.14d) : Jairis

Ch.14d: Jairis

Jairis looked through the window at the dusk. He had been sitting here wondering what he ought to do. He knew where duty lay, but it would be difficult, that way lay danger and probably failure. He could not imagine that the establishment, whoever ‘they’ were would give up power easily, accepting their lower profit margins and restraining their greed so that their fellow human beings might have a better chance at fulfilling life. Part of him, perhaps the greater part wanted to return to the peace and quiet and the comfort of the familiar university life. He could resume his lecture circuit, continuing to influence the generations, but without risking his own neck in any way. There he could live happily, without complication or uncertainty, ignoring the world, immersing himself in the books he loved. He hoped thus to uncover the truths about the world and its economy. But few would ever read or hear his words that way, only a few students, and what would they count in this huge world of many millions. They might like his ideas, even be influenced by them, but they would soon be forced to forget them, by the all controlling world of work, which they would soon enter. He was preaching there to some who might be both young and idealistic, but not to those who held real power and influence. It would be many years before any of them had any real influence on the world, and then it would only be in individual offices and Business Houses, or at very best, as advisors to government ministers, who only wanted to hear what was already considered common rationality.

     Back there it had seemed the most worthwhile thing he could do, but he was no longer sure of that. He knew there were more important things to be done, which he could have a hand in. They had already come a long way. They now had groups of like minded people all over the world, not just in this City, not just in this Empire, or even this continent. They were in contact with people in poor      (southern continent) and in vast        (eastern continent.) Their movement now had a name “Neo Creadd”, which they all agreed now was appropriate, although the name had been initially gifted by their critics. Janus might have dreamed up the name, but he never made any attempt to use that name for the movement until others had taken it up. The journalists had fixed on that, attempting to dismiss the movement as ancient and irrational, hankering after an imagined second ‘golden age’ which never really existed. Well Janus and the group had proved them wrong on that one. The public interest aroused by a few headlines on Vidnet, about a group of cranks seeking an age of ancient perfection had just backfired on the people who wished to dismiss them. Their chastisement served only to create public interest in them, and in the ancient movement. Many other journalists and Vidnet explorers referred back to Janus’ book on the ancient Creadds, and surprisingly large numbers of people became aware of the ancient history as a result. To many the Creadds represented a dream which they had not thought could be real, as they looked out from the grey prison cell of modern life.

      Jairis was proud of what they had achieved so far. It had surpassed his wildest dreams. Janus had provided the drive to ignite the groups, and their publicity campaigns had spread like wildfire. Jairis knew that his part in it had be no means been small. But he feared the counter attack. Their peaceful revolution was making an impact. The ‘establishment’ had never expected it to be taken seriously, but now it had become a real threat to them. They had begun to fight back. The counter revolution was in progress, and , as all counter revolutions in history been, they could be severe, even bloody. The powered could fight like animals when they felt threatened. Many a movement of social reform had been squashed at birth. Many a movement had even achieved power, only to have it overturned in the cruellest way. The fight back had begun.

     He knew his duty was to the movement, to practically reform society. But his fear of the future still argued with his duty and sought to send him back to the quiet life. Did he have any right not to try and do something. Was he as important to the movement as some of them said. Vera said he was crucial to it; without him they might never have come so far. But then, Vera was his girlfriend, and she adored him, comparatively new to the warmth and lusts of relationships, as she had been when he met her. She idolised him too much. It was not healthy.

      Even Janus said he was essential, but then Janus needed support. He did not want to carry this unsought leadership alone. He wanted to spread leadership collectively, and Jairis was a convenient partner, along with some of the others. He could see that Janus had tried to appeal to his vanity, but no doubt some of it was true.

       Could it be right to sit back and just allow things to take their course. If their revolution of the system failed and he knew he had done nothing, how would he feel later. If the establishment won the day he might never know whether his own input could have made a difference. He might be ashamed forever of failing to stand up with the others when he was needed, even if he was the only survivor. And if they did succeed and society began the slow path back to a more natural human state, he might always be ashamed of not being there to play his part when the others stayed true.