The halls in the community unit of VerVista were all green. Some were a vibrant, alive green that conjured images of Celtic meadows and, for some reason, sheep. Others were the dark, pulsing green of a tropical rain-forest, or the cold, militant green of conifers. One subsection was done entirely in psycadelic day-glow greens that only madmen and children could stand.
This section was the pale limp green of overweight daughters who's color-blind mothers wanted them to look respectable, but could not force them. It was only slightly less alive than the vile green of moldy milk, and only slightly more sterile than the jaundiced yellow of a three day old bruise on a two dollar whore.
Jacob would have described it as the color of the outside of a boiled chicken egg's yolk, if Jacob had ever seen a chicken egg, or knew they could be boiled. The Doors spaced evenly along the hall were all an even lighter green, to make the stains of who knows how many years of life without cleaning obvious. The door latches were all well worn, and in some cases the original touch pads had been replaced by hand-soldered in switches, buttons, or whatever could be found to allow the flow of electricity. This was without a doubt the oldest place Jacob had ever been, and he didn't like it.
Fortunately, the hallway was already beginning to widen in preparation to disgorge Jacob onto a major walkway and take him away from the green hell. As Jacob walked toward his escape from VerVista, he looked at the strange sculpture which greeted all who entered. Had Jacob understood English, or been able to read, the odd carvings would have spelled out:
Fortunately, Jacob wouldn't have understood what cable was, even if he had been able to read the sign. Actually, he would have known what cable was, but would have wondered what tradesmen would be lured into living in such a sick green hell just to save the cost of wire. Jacob never had to ask himself such questions, though, since he could not read the sign.
Jacob stood at the entrance to VerVista, wondering which direction would make him happy. He hadn't been happy since mother died and he had been taken from his home, The Terraces. His mother had been a real mover and shaker in the community, and had always received the nicest gifts from her business partners. She had once told Jacob that he was a gift from one of her partners, but he hadn't understood what she meant. They had lived comfortably. Every morning Jacob would rise from bed, get dressed, and begin his school work. Towards noon mother would get up and go into the back room to work for the day, every once in a while coming out of her office to make sure that Jacob was OK, or to get herself a drink or take a shower. When Jacob finished his school work, he was allowed to leave the apartment and play, as long as he came home by half-light.
Jacob had been happy, and everything had been good, until one afternoon when mother had gone into her office, and three hours later a tall man in a dark green uniform had walked out to take Jacob away. Instead of going out the front door, the man took Jacob through mother's office, which Jacob had never seen. He was quite surprised that instead of the expected desk and chairs, mother just had a second bedroom. He was even more surprised when the man in the green uniform led him through a second door and onto a public walkway. From then on, Jacob's life had been dominated by green.
It started when the tall green man led Jacob into an elevator, punched a sequence into the level selector pad, and stood silently while the floor tried to run away from them. Actually, he didn't stay silent the whole time. At one point, he looked at Jacob, and asked the boy if he was hungry or tired or anything else that was simple to solve and would ease his conscience. Jacob just stared at the man, and the rest of the trip passed in silence. When at last the floor decided it had nowhere else to run to, and stopped, the door opened into a large room, and Jacob was taken to a window in one wall through which peered another green clad man. This man was fatter, shorter, and noisier than the first. The two men in green talked for less than a minute, and then the tall man pointed Jacob to a chair and told him to sit. The room was white, but the chair was dark green, and the tall man walked out the door.
Jacob didn't quite understand why he was supposed to sit in the green chair in the white room while the man in the window picked his teeth and looked at dirty pictures he had found in one of the evidence boxes in the back. The man had been so impressed with the pictures he found, that he had taken the whole box and replaced it with an oversized green sweater that he had found the night before while he searched for his abandoned lover in the morgue. The sweater hadn't fit him, but it did bring him pleasure by filling the place where the pictures had been. Jacob of course didn't know they were dirty pictures, being on the wrong side of both the window and puberty, but he did know that the man was happy. Jacob wasn't. Jacob was sitting. Jacob sat in his green chair watching the man watching his pictures and picking his teeth and Jacob could think of nothing to explain this turn of events. Of course, since Jacob had been only six at the time, his lack of an immediate grasp of the situation was understandable. After a short eternity in the white hell of the room with fat men and green chairs, another person dressed all in green walked into the room. The woman's face had reminded Jacob of a kicking ball, but her brisk and surly attitude was in no way fun. Jacob was taken away. He was taken to a family which had called VerVista home for longer than they could recall.
But now that was over. As Jacob looked at the pedway, he realized this was not just going to be another thirty-six hour walk-about. Jacob had no intention of being caught and given back to his "family". Jacob stepped onto the walkway.
Jacob had known that problem his entire life.
His eyes scanned the image, looking for some clue as to where he should go. Each geometrically aligned corridor seeming to lead nowhere. Jacob studied the pattern for minutes before he realized that there was one thing out of place. One elevator, marked 'TIS, Auth Only, Passport req.'
Jacob stared at the inscription, trying to force his brain to comprehend the message it contained. The strange thing about that elevator was that it seemed to lead outside. Jacob was having a hard time imagining what could possibly be above the mass of structural elements which climbed as far as he had ever imagined being. He traced the path from his current location to the elevator with his eyes, and stepped onto the conveyor.