Interrogation Room, United Nations Detention Unit, The Hague
Ellen drummed her fingers on the table but looked up when her newest interviewee was brought in. This man was in his fifties, balding and with spectacles over his green eyes. He wore the same prison jumpsuit as O'Brien but his appearance wasn't the only difference from the older man. He seemed a bit more resigned than his former Inner Party comrade. O'Brien, despite his seeming emotionlessness, appeared entirely in control of his outward appearance. He let her know nothing he didn't want her to.
This man's body language was much more unconsciously expressive.
"Patrick Danforth," she said.
"Yes," he replied dryly. He took a set opposite her and took a drink of water from the cup in front of him.
"Crisp," he said. "Bit of a biting chill, actually."
"I thought the Inner Party resigned themselves to having blander lives than other ruling classes," Ellen replied. "That's what O'Brien tells me." Patrick gave a smile that looked like the corners of his mouth were being pulled apart by fish hooks.
"We allowed ourselves some extravagance. Not much though."
"So I've heard."
"I assume this part of the conversation won't appear in the released version of the interview."
"Not unless you want it to."
"Do what you like. It makes no difference."
"Thank you. Now, I'm hoping you'd help me understand how the Inner Party viewed the proles." Patrick raised an eyebrow.
"A simple question. What does a farmer think of the oxen that plow his fields?"
"A tool," Ellen replied.
"Precisely. A means of attaining what one desires. A means of producing what one consumes."
"And when they can't work anymore you consume them?"
"In a metaphorical sense only, I promise you. An Inner Party member who partook in cannibalism would have been removed immediately."
"So the Proles were just animals to you?"
"Yes. We looked at them the same way a farmer looks at their chickens or pigs. We were only concerned with them producing enough to ensure our own needs were provided for."
"They're branching out into new things now," Ellen said. "Have been since the liberation." Patrick grew terse.
"You didn't do it."
"Didn't what?"
"You didn't liberate the Proles, we did."
Ellen put her head in her right hand.
"Care to explain?" Patrick sighed.
"You disappoint me. You understand how we saw them but you fail to understand the damage you inflicted. The Proles were content while we were in power. Do you know why?"
"Humor me."
We expected nothing of them one wouldn't expect of a farm animal. So long as quotas were met, we were happy to live simple, docile lives. They worked, they relaxed, they bred. That was all we expected of them and they were content. There was no need to burden their feeble minds with complicated ideas or notions that weren't immediately relevant to their everyday lives. We handled those matters so they wouldn't have to worry themselves with anything beyond their basic needs. We made them an Eden and were content to let them live in it."
Patrick gave her a humorless smile.
"And NATO was the snake that tempted Adam and Eve with the apple. By removing us, you removed the walls that kept unwanted complications out of their lives. You cursed them with ambition, discontent. They couldn't be satisfied anymore with what we allowed them. You believe us to be cruel but you set their paradise ablaze. Before the 'liberation' they want for nothing. Now they look to the rest of the world and become so horrendously demanding."
"They were given the choice to determine their own future, how their lived their lives." Patrick put his face in his hands.
"You still fail to understand."
"What am I missing?" He grit hs teeth.
"That what you see as a blessing was in fact a curse!" he said irritably. "They had the bliss only those who were certain of how their lives would unfold could ever experience! We freed them from uncertainty, from fear that their choices could lead to a negative outcome! We gave them a life where they felt secure in the knowledge that every day, every week, every year would be exactly like the last! They had nothing to fear!" He was panting but soon collected himself.
"But you robbed them of their bliss. No matter what happens now, you've let uncertainty back into their lives."
"I take it you regret nothing about how you treated them?"
"Of course. In fact, I feel somewhat fortunate."
"And why is that?"
"I don't have to clean up the mess the 'liberation' made."