Insolvent

By Mark Le Lerre

Insolvent is a story that follows two scientists who try to make the world a better place with what seems a miraculous invention. Unfortunately the world is too fragile and the economic system starts to disintegrate as people realize that they can finally be free. Afterwards a group of survivors create a utopian society in southern England but t

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark Le Lerre
• Release date: Mar 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9781917129503

Book preview

Insolvent

Fragile World

by Mark Le Lerre

Copyright © 2024 Mark Le Lerre

ISBN: 978-1-917129-50-3

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored, in any form or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 1

Hampshire

The storm battered the glass balcony doors relentlessly with godlike ferocity. Helens eased her naked body out from the pink silk sheets and crossed the room to inspect the insolent storm. As if on cue a clap of thunder roared. The richborn lady sighed. Oh well she was up now so she might as well get ready. She walked over towards a kind of clinical device. The rejuvenation unit wasn’t exactly homely but none of her apartment exactly worked aesthetically. The huge bed that she’d just left was by far the biggest piece of furniture, the reason for this was betrayed by two bulges under the pink silk. This bed was designed for multiple occupants and sex. Sleep was clearly its secondary purpose.

Can we pleasure you my lady?

The childlike voice exuded innocence and in fact that was an accurate assumption although the voices owner was actually well into her forties. The girl who’d disturbed the privileged richborn was a plaything and in turn had been genetically locked at the age of fourteen. That way she’d always be attractive to her clients. Helens just ignored the girl and went straight to the rejuvenator, she pressed the green button and stepped into the device. It resembles an old fashioned phone box from The Before in shape but in clinical white plastic and without a door. She stood stock still as a light beam on each side seemed to scan her. As the beams passed, her body stiffened as if being prodded into tension. Her buttocks firmed up under the beams as did her breasts as the machine did it’s work. An altogether younger Helens eventually stepped out of the machine.

Twenty-four was awake again which was a curse. He’d come to appreciate those little premonitions of what lay ultimately in his future, in sleep. It was indeed a mercy when twenty-four’s mind was allowed to fly away from his physical confines. He made the functional single bed and winced at the sensation of damp infused in the single pillow. He’d been crying in his sleep again, an occurrence that seemed to happen nightly. Twenty-four allowed himself a few moments to regain his composure as he looked around the clinical, bleak cell. The bed was pretty much everything and he’d got into the habit of sleeping in sporadic spells, if for no other reason then just to at least allow his mind to escape the physical confines. Of course that’s what inevitably caused the tears but that couldn’t be helped. Twenty-four hoped that eventually his recycling would just be like a never-ending sleep with dreams of his impossible future. The future that twenty-four dreamed of always included his daughter playing with his grandson. He had only the imagination of the child though as the boy wasn’t born into this cruel world yet. Twenty-four felt the icy tendrils of depression attacking his soul at the thought of never seeing his grandson. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind as he prepared for his daily exercises. The therapist had been very clear on that. Don’t dwell on what might have been. He’d said, along with the suggestion that twenty-four should be proud of making the ultimate sacrifice for society. As he started his sit ups twenty-four felt a sense of that pride. His melancholy would wait for the next little taste of death with its dreams of a stolen future.

Dani farted, it was a roaring loud release that threatened to shake the very foundations of the earth. She couldn’ stop the emission anymore than one can stop the ebb and flow of the tide. Dani’s face creased up in the anticipation of the inevitable punishment.

Air freshener deployment. Fifteen credits debited from your account Dani.

Dani mouthed the words ‘fuck off’ up towards a round globe hanging from the ceiling. It was mounted on a bracket that allowed it to spin around. It gave the impression of an eye the gaze of which followed Dani around her compact living accommodation. Only this eye was black with a red tint giving it a sinister appearance. Nobody ever knew how they worked but any infringement was immediately penalised by this mechanical sentinel that never rested. As if in defiance to Dani’s retort the sentinel announced.

You’re welcome Dani.

Dani walked towards her hygiene area and ignored her annoying flatmate. She knew she’d lose but not yet.

You are welcome Dani.

Dani swished the curtain aside revealing her meagre shower, sink and toilet. The section was plastic coated and the floor angled towards a drain in the corner. Functional in every aspect. The sentinel was, Dani knew, about to tell that she was indeed welcome for a third time and that would get her another ten credits fine for unsocial behaviour. She interjected now with the required reply.

Thank you Mother.

THE BEFORE

Now my darlings I’m told that you refused make up.

His condescending tone was offset miraculously by his kind demeanour. Gavin had the unenviable job of being a studio motherer. It was a role that suited his camp character well and Gavin was good at it. As the chaos of the studio raged around them Gavin was an oasis of calm. He’d been described before as a beautiful tropical island in the middle of a tempestuous storm. The two young ladies who were the focus of Gavin’s attention today were physicists and they were brilliant. So brilliant in fact that they were about to break the world. Elizabeth spoke before her colleague could upset the lovely Gavin, which would have been a tragic injustice.

Gav sweetie, we’d just like a cup of tea. We’re not used to mornings darling.

Gavin looked perplexed at the pristine scientist in her pinstriped suit. She could easily be wrongly assumed to be an economist from the city. The professional motherer just gave a loving smile as he accepted the request.

Two sugars in both please.

The words betrayed Elizabeth’s privileged background as they resembled more an order than a request. The pretty young physicist had once been expected to marry well. She’d seemed destined to lead a life of mundanity, as probably the trophy wife of some CEO who would be more interested in golf than her. But fate had intervened when she’d met Bethany. It was in fact Bethany who’d rather abruptly turned away the make up girl. Bethany couldn’t be anymore different to Elizabeth if she tried. She was a lapsed Jew and the best description for her would be plain. Her dowdy clothes had plunged Gavin into a pit of despair on first sight. In a studio full of bright colours and bespoke designer brands, Bethany stood out like a sore thumb. Unlike Elizabeth, Bethany was totally unprepared for this. She’d been bought up in a council estate. Her family had escaped the evils of Nazism by fleeing to England and had in fact abandoned a small fortune in the process. The Nazis had indeed hated the Jews but loved their money.

Her science teacher had discovered in her an inquisitive and brilliant mind that had an aptitude for the complexities of the world of physics. Eventually having acquired a scholarship to Cambridge university she’d somehow found herself drawn to the confident and beautiful Elizabeth. The result from this collision of minds was an exciting albeit unappreciated by their peers work on molecular manipulation. That very work had now bought them the chaotic world of daytime television. Gavin came back with the teas and the announcement that they were to be on air in ten minutes.

CRUNCH

The silence that filled the studio wasn’t the normal one that knew its place. This particular silence was a rebellious and monstrous lack of any noise known professionally as dead air. This ‘dead air’ phenomenon was a cardinal sin in media and if television had a list of commandments, thou shalt not covet dead air, would be number one. The apple seemed to be mesmerising everyone in the studio. Of course that was okay for everyone except the people who were the focus of the cameras. Peter who was normally the picture of professionalism just stared in awe at…… THE APPLE. Eventually after an age he remembered his role in this show and Peter, the anchorman for ‘Wake up Britain’ the go to viewing for people all over the country as they went about their pre work routines, snapped into action.

Davina, what does it taste like?

All eyes turned towards the beautiful co presenter as she was elegantly holding the already bitten apple. She looked at the machine that had just seemingly created the fruit out of thin air. It resembled a kind of a microwave. Davina then looked straight into the camera that was amazingly able to capture her stunning eyes. In true Davina style she said.

It tastes like……. An apple.

The stunningly beautiful face of the celebrity was radiating a rare look of confusion. The lady who’d once been voted as Britain’s prettiest face on television was experiencing the strange sensation of being lost for words. Her pristine co presenter rubbed his beard that was almost sculpted in it’s perfection. He’d been advised against the gesture but still felt it gave him an intelligent look. He turned away from Davina and the apple and squaring up to the scientists, Peter said.

Well ladies, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it. So please tell us how it’s done?

This was Elizabeth’s cue. They’d both been through this and it made sense. Elizabeth had a far better camera presence and after her expensive schooling she was far more qualified. She bravely took on the gargantuan task of explaining the biggest scientific breakthrough in the history of mankind to the general public, the ignorant public.

Well Peter it’s quite simple really. Consider that everything, even our air is made up of molecules. So our machine just tells the molecules to rearrange themselves.

Davina found her voice again and snapping to attention she said.

Like Lego.

The comparison was unusually grasped by Elizabeth who always found this kind of oversimplification awkward.

Yes Davina. Definitely. Just like Lego. So that machine is full of trillions of Lego bricks just floating around…….

Davina was bloated with her intellectual prowess now and wasn’t about to let this continue without another valuable interjection.

So you tell the bricks to make an apple.

Elizabeth was beaten by Beth in the race to correct her.

No that’s wrong. We actually tell the molecu……. Err Lego bricks that they are an apple.

There was a pause as the studio adjusted to a new participant in this conversation. Elizabeth flashed her brightest most photogenic smile then said.

Yes my colleague is right. It’s different. But that’s not a big point.

Peter who wanted to get the subject back onto a suitable level for his eight AM audience, touched onto a subject that he knew his people loved. Money.

Well ladies, leaving the technical details out of it. You’re definitely both going to be very rich.

Both interviewee’s smarted at this angle of conversation. Like true scientists they were in fact so engulfed in the technical details that the possible remunerative aspects had gone totally under their radar. Bethany once again took up the mantle.

No absolutely no. We’re doing this for the betterment of humanity. We understand that there’s a manufacturing cost involved but that can be made nominal by mass production. We absolutely don’t want any profiteering from this.

In the studio you could have heard a pin drop. Amongst the varying professionals who were solely focused on furthering their careers based on money, the astonishment was almost palpable. These people worked in a massively competitive environment and lived in London, known as one of the economic capitals of the world. Most of them would have sold their souls to be sat where these two scientists were. Peter who lived in a beautiful apartment in Chelsea yet still envied those above him on the ladder tried to talk sense into them.

Just think of all the good you could do with the money. You could find charities that help the third world.

He felt that he’d saved the conversational direction from that terrible force of evil in this world, socialism. He immediately jumped on a welcome chance to plug his own little way of offsetting his guilt at being rich in a predominantly poor world.

You could fund projects by my own chosen charity who help vaccinate African babies. The regular viewers will remember the special that me and Davina filmed in Uganda. We were both very touched by the plight of those poor people.

Both Peter and Davina seemed to be competing for the prize for most empathetic smile. But Davina eventually broke the heartwarming scene of millionaires caring about poor people. She announced.

You could pay for those vaccines with the profits from this wonderful machine. Think about the babies.

Her well rehearsed sad face was grating on Bethany’s very soul. To the youngest member of the Clapham Communist party this was insane. She barely controlled her frustration as she reasoned.

But if they get our machines then they can produce their own vaccines.

At this moment two things struck Peter. Firstly he considered the impact that this invention would have on his opportunity to win the public’s love. He remembered the cameras in Uganda filming his latest selfless act of philanthropy. He also remembered the luxury hotel that the charity had put everyone up in, including the charity’s own executives. Then the second thing that dawned on Peter was the fact that the charity CEO, himself a highly paid man with huge sums of disposable income had enlightened him. The charming man had not been satisfied with the exorbitant salary that the charity paid him. He’d also been given an incentive to use the expensive vaccines created by a massive international drug company by the way of stock shares in that company. The drug company’s people had suggested that they’d give a similar reward to any celebrity’s he could get on board. Peter now saw the country house he’d been looking towards buying with his little windfall slipping away. That night over a delicious meal in the five star Ugandan hotel it had all been so simple. But now.

Davina realized he was struggling and quickly started to wrap up this segment that had started off so promisingly and gone so horribly bad.

Well doctors we obviously wish you both well with this project.

Her thin veneer of professionalism was barely covering her disdain for the lack of vision in these two. She continued.

Of course as ambassadors for several charities both me and Peter hope that you realise how much good you could do with the potential money that this could generate.

Bethany was seething but suddenly she was off camera and the interview was over. In that cold manner of media the studio was already getting ready to move on. Davina was gleaming into the camera as she elegantly exited the world of molecular physics and into more familiar territory.

Now it’s time for a short commercial break. But then we’ve got probably the cutest guest today.

The presenter experienced a pang of relief as she felt that she was on much more sensible ground at last.

Yes you’ve guessed it folks. We’ve got the winner of this year’s ‘Britain’s Amazing’ talent show. Bongo and his owner Julie are on next.

The tension of live filming immediately eased and everything changed with military precision. As Gavin ushered the fuming scientists away, stage hands cleared their machine away. Make up artists descended onto Davina and Peter like a formula one pit crew. As they stomped off with Gavin, Bethany looked across at the border collie dog panting under the lights. She smiled and whispered the words.

Good luck boy. I think you’re more on their level.

COMMUTE

Dani left her flat in a despondent mood, the storm that was violently hurling water in sheets against the walkway didn’t help either. Although the walkway was completely enclosed she could still see the sheets of rain through the windows and of course hear the drumbeat as nature took out it’s anger. Dani always felt a strange hollow emotion when it rained although she’d never understood why. Dani’s world was totally sheltered from the climate meaning no one ever got cold, no one ever got hot and no one ever got rained on. Everyone in Hampshire enjoyed a constant twenty four degree’s centigrade and deep down inside everyone wondered what it was like to stand in the Outside on a rainy day. But Dani had never understood her hollow feeling, it reminded her of the time that the pleasure dome had been shut away from her. It had been her much longed for day off after a normal twelve day rotation at work. That thirteenth day was desperately needed. After a long rotation at whatever essential job demanded their toil anyone would be exhausted. Anyways the thirteenth day is kind of sacred in Hampshire. Mother herself proclaimed that hard work must be followed by reward. So when her precious day of leisure with her girlfriend was stolen away from her, well Dani had felt this strange emotion best described as hollow. Dani’s girlfriend had been upbeat as she always was but that was her nature and of course her role in Hampshire’s society demanded a certain positivity. The role of being a plaything was very much sought after in Hampshire but few were privileged enough to be put forward. Dani’s girlfriend Bitsey was indeed lucky and to add to her good fortune she’d never grow old. Playthings when selected were genetically locked at the age of fourteen years which created a certain amount of jealousy from others in Hampshire. Dani often wondered though why her beloved Bitsey often cried at night. She thought Dani didn’t know but in the small bed in her small accommodation the sensation of Bitsey’s sobbing always woke Dani.

Dani stood at the hub of the accommodation block and shrugged off her sensation of grim emptiness. It just didn’t make any sense anyway. She instead focused her attention on the tubes that went down into the building’s underground station. She pressed a green button and the door rotated open to reveal a space about five feet in circumference. Above and below were holes that Dani knew ran the full distance to either the top floor or underground. Just space between her and her destination that she knew to be fourteen levels below. The tube flashed green and Dani stepped into the open space in front of her.

Helens also felt a negative emotion but unlike Dani, Helens fully understood her feelings. The richborn lady had showered and was in the process of choosing her outfit. She stood totally naked in front of a dressing table and huffed in disgust as the small holograms of herself in various outfits appeared one after the other. All the outfits were colourful and bold in design. One was lime green and was plastic in texture, the image of Helens smiled at the prospect of getting chosen but she didn’t like the hat that was in the shape of a leaf. The hologram seemed to sulk as Helens swiped it right towards a floating red X and rejection. Eventually an image of herself in an outfit comprising of purple lingerie underneath a white lace minidress just about sufficed causing Helens to push it towards the green button. The victorious hologram was elated by the acceptance and before fading away it even managed a little victory dance. Helens just sighed at the monotony of everything before walking past the bed with it’s soundless lumps under the sheets. She looked to see if they had gone to sleep but no, she could tell by their anxious breathing that they were awake. She’d mark them up for having the sense to stay quiet though. Helens wasn’t a morning person and wanted to just get on with the chores of her daily routine. A spray of