Ntshona by Matthew A Robinson

began Cat after listening to what Lon, Eve and Tan had to say, “basically there was another disappearance, which was in reality a mass abduction, you two survived, and now whoever did it wants you dead, right?”
    Lon and Eve couldn’t believe how casually this woman was taking in the information.
    “That’s it, basically,” said Eve.
    “Okay, it makes sense,” said Cat.
    By this point everyone had had their orders of apple pie served, along with ice cream and ice-cold granadilla juice.
    Lon took a large swig of the drink and looked out towards the horizon made up of various shades of blue. “What now then?”
    “What do you mean, ‘what now’?” asked Cat, still tranquil.
    “Well, how do we get our friends back?” he said.
    “There are still some things we need to figure out before we can do anything,” stated Tan.
    “Like what?” asked Lon.
    “Like, who did it, for one thing,” Tan said.
    “But it must have been the government,” said Eve, irritated, “all the evidence we have points to them”.
    Cat quietly breathed in deeply, and as she released the air from her lungs she sat back in her chair and also looked out towards the horizon. “Okay. It’s true that our government is pretty much an evil institution. However, there are more things to be aware of in this country. Many people here don’t realise, or don’t care to realise, that millions of us are oppressed not only by the government, but by the social class system. One of the results of this is that we don’t know nearly as much as we think we do, about the world, about our country, in fact even this city. For example, did you know that somewhere in the old city centre there’s a large, dark hole between buildings that descends for hundreds of metres into ‘nothing’? Have you heard of it?”
    Lon furrowed his brow, “Yeah, I think I heard an urban legend about that once”.
    “Have you ever wondered what’s down there?” asked Cat.
    “Well, no, it’s an urban legend,” he said.
    She made direct eye contact with him for the first time, “There are many secrets in this city”.
    “Not only that,” added Tan, “but we’re not as technologically advanced as those higher up would have you believe”.
    “What do you mean?” asked Eve, slightly irritated, “we’re at the cutting edge of science. Even our Science Centre is the largest building in the world!”
    “Yeah, Eve’s a scientists, she works there, she has insight,” said Lon.
    “Look, I’m not saying that we’re in the Stone Age,” said Cat, “It’s true that a lot of our medical science is pioneering. Nevertheless, generally, our technology is pretty basic compared to other developed countries”.
    “How?” asked Lon.
    “Put it this way,” continued Cat, “the only thing that has drastically improved in this country is architecture. Most other things have barely changed in almost two-hundred years”.
    “I’m not sure I believe you,” said Eve.
    “Are you two so indoctrinated that you believe nothing other than what the state tells you?” Cat asked, finally fracturing her placid temper.
    Tan said, “We do have some amazing architecture which is among the world’s most impressive, but the fact is there are arcological wonders larger than the Science Centre in countries like Japan, Russia, Brazil-”
    “Tell me what you think of humans living on the Moon?” interrupted Cat.
    “American propaganda,” Lon instantly replied.
    Cat sighed. “Okay, let’s bring it closer to home. Do you know that we’re on a mountain?”
    “What?”
    Lon and Eve looked at each other confusedly.
    “We’re on a mountain,” Cat repeated.
    Lon glanced at Tan, who nodded. They then surveyed their environment for obvious large deviations in ground level, yet everything was relatively flat.
    “Think about it,” insisted Cat, “we can build streets and towers and skyscrapers hundreds of metres high. So don’t you think it would be easy to cover a mountain? I did