On the Backs of Giants

The Courtyard

“Welcome! Welcome! I’m so glad you could make it. Did you have an enjoyable trip? I hope the drivers did not bore you with their babble. They are forever going on about butterflies and horses and hospital beds. Most recently they have taken to horror stories about the Edge. Can you imagine? Really not my thing. Please, allow me to get the door.” The man’s smile was exquisitely transparent. The kind of thing that you see in a used car lot the day before Jim Pattison lets the lowest seller go.

“I see your sideways glance - don’t let the garb mislead: I may look casual, but I’ve been running the Skye Building my whole life. It’s been the most successful building in the City for just under a quarter century.” Nostalgia. Quaint. “You know, back then when it started, it was only one floor, and the foundations were terrible. Contractors got it all wrong. Now look at it. The clouds themselves only mark the mid-way point. Breathtaking, no?”

The courtyard’s long and perfectly manicured stone walkway led to the doors of the massive building. An ideal example of a post-modern picture, the tower twisted and turned, the form at once obvious and yet elusive, intimate and familiar and simply impersonal. It disappeared beyond the floating white boundaries which lazily patrolled the skyline.

“I must say, we are most welcome to have your interest. I am, as I mentioned, the Manager, and I’ve been instructed to show you around; give you a complete tour, if you’d like. I must confess, we’ve not received such direct orders from my Employer like this in quite some time. It’s quite unprecedented. And quite exciting.

“This way, then.” With a sweeping gesture, the Manager moved down the deceptively comfortable walkway. “Made with only the best of intentions, of course!” He stopped a moment, hiding a breath of hesitation.

“Welcome to the Skye.”


The Basement

“We start in the basement. A somewhat inauspicious beginning, but I assure you the only way to truly understand our natural success.” A pride on his tongue lit the grungy room as he held the door open at the bottom of the stairs.

“Mind the mess, my Employer has decided to do a bit of remodelling. A new design he is convinced will improve the place. Nothing’s wrong with the previous foundations, I assure you, but progress is progress, he says. You’d think he’d learn from his past attempts, but who am I to say, right?”

Explain.

“Oh, I’ve said too much already, to be honest. Not exactly my place you understand. The building’s fine and sturdy, no damage beyond normal wear and tear. But a couple of times in the past...” and here his words were whispers, “there were a couple of incidents with my Employer’s remodelling plans. A lot of mess and bitterness. Best to let sleeping dogs lie, as they say.”

The subject was changed like lovers’ whims.

“The magnificence of the Skye Building foundations is that each one of these giant supports is individually capable of holding up the entire building. You know the old saying: if they’re working together, then they’re not working! Well, we live by that here. Each foundation is built to keep to itself. As a result, the cement lasts unchanged for an entire lifetime.

“Where the engineers could not help the supports from crossing, they used the state-of-the-art Discretion technology. Fantastic, that. It ensures that even though the cement may mix, one support will never attempt to check or balance the other. We’ve found that if they do, they have a much greater risk of crumbling.”

Silence reigned. Voices would surely echo here, and then they would be judged.

“Best be off. No questions about this, of course. I’ll take you back upstairs to the main floor now.”


Ground Floor

“As you saw on the way in, the main floor is the central hub for all the resources, needs, and wants of the building. But I pray,” and here he did, “that you do not think of it as a bureaucracy. This is not a location of pencil pushers and line ups. This is what sustains the building in all its magnificence.

“It was the building site’s location, on soil and dirt, which made it such a success. Where other buildings imported their needs, we appropriated them. After much toil, restrictions and proper harnessing of the earth, we were able to ensure that it would never be used for anything other than our purposes again. Smartest move we ever made, if you ask me.”

The floor was well populated and well lit. Everything could be seen under the fake light of the overhead lamps, which dangled from the roof every 7 meters. The floor felt like a flea and farmer’s market in a warehouse. The line ups were obvious.

“Of course, administration takes place elsewhere.” A sense of familiarity in his tone. “One doesn’t enter the building without already having its place and function. Everything is handled well before tenancy or business is granted. Another of our advantages – nothing here is clogged with reflection or reorganization. I assure it.” For three words, the Manager was serious: a glance into the salesman’s soul.

Many stairwells. One set of elevators.

“But let’s continue, shall we? The best has yet to come, and I don’t want to bore you any further with this. I’m sure you see it in the media all the time. What are they calling it now? Sustainability? Globalism? Back in my day it was Environmentalism. Incredible how the media uses our success.”

Ding. The doors opened. That smile again. “After you.”


The Elevator

It was empty. Despite the crowded stairwells outside, not a single person came off the elevator when it opened. Not a single person joined them.

The hint of music well muffled.

No buttons.

“Nothing to worry about. Another one of the Skye’s particularly enchanting facilities. The elevator will take people wherever they want to go. Because, obviously, where one is taken is where one wants to be.”

The doors closed quietly.

No buttons.

The elevator moved.


Floor A

“Here we are.”

The doors opened to reveal a vast expanse.

The room was empty and removed; cold on the skin. And yet, it was somehow alive. The room, empty, smiled. It did not invite, but it respected. All the world could be housed here, and it would find pleasant sanctuary. It would be welcomed with those appropriately frigid arms, happily.

The floor was soft. The strange plush carpeting could be felt between your toes.

But this room was something else too... Lonely. That was it: it was lonely! Woe was this place, for it would have all the world but could still not touch a soul. This place and everything in it was safely removed from itself. Safely removed from ever knowing anything, holding any responsibilities for any feelings or thoughts or happenstance. Safely away. Safe.

Ding.

The elevator was closing. The Manager was still inside. But how did it get so far? It was now in the distance, though only a couple of steps away. The distance stretched unimaginably: suddenly an impossible length to cross. And the floor sucked in the futile efforts – a thirsty sand-dune.

It was too late. Two steps too late. The doors closed.

Things were not so bad here. It was quiet, but full of promise. The building faded away, and a new and separate life offered itself. No more needless worries or responsibilities. No more effort. No more attachment. This place felt safe – an arm’s reach away from the world.

...

No.

No, this was not right. The world was not supposed to be this cold. This was artifice.

Stairs, over there. An eternity of effort for only a hope. But better a warm hope and sore feet, than an icy blanket and false slumber.

With a thought, the stairs were there. With an effort, the room was gone.


The Lane

A long way down or a short way up. The stairs were a perfect spiral, made of marble, and the door one floor above was ajar. The climb took very little effort.

And through the door, was a hall. The hall stretched long and wide, and was made of museum stone. Carved pillars decorated at every appropriate interval. The roof was a mirror, and the place smelled of yesterday.

At every pace was a person. Upon silent inspection, they stood or sat in statuesque poses, making wax envious. But with the echo of steps, they became alive. The sounds were like coins to street performers – each of their movements brought certain life. Their bodies told tales and weaved promises and each was in its own way different and delightful.

A glance to the material heavens showed a different story. There, in the reflection, their figures were paralyzed. No motion above as below. Each of their images were frozen in various poses. Some were crying, others angry. Others still, seemed to be mocking onlookers in mid-laughter. The most disturbing were those images that were reaching down towards the floor: yearning.

Hurriedly now, to the end of the hall. A parade of celebration echoed behind. Swiftly, swiftly, the elevator awaited. The choice was made.

Ding.


The Penultimate

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

The elevator’s climb ended to reveal a fully furnished suite and a smiling Manager. Anger. But his tone brought strange solace.

“Welcome, welcome! I’m so glad you could make it! Did you have an enjoyable trip? I knew that the Below-Limit was no place for you. I knew it the moment I laid eyes on you. That *must* have been what my Employer was thinking, too, when he invited you. To think, he and I to be of one mind – it’s unprecedented! But enough of my babble. Come over here, never mind the leather couches and nice carpeting, all imports I might add, the view is the best part!”

The gigantic bay windows revealed the cloud-line outside was a mere meter above the room. A breathtaking view and a hundred floors of fall.

“All the City at your fingertips. See? Look over there, you can even see the very beginning of the Horizon.”

Golden.

“They say you can touch the clouds from this floor. It’s a pass-time of the residents here. They grab hold of the window with one hand here, and their friends hold their feet. Then they lean out the window and stretch out as far as they can. They scoop up a handful, over-season it with dreams, and gorge on it with their pals. Incredible.”

Dangerous.

“Oh yes. But they’ve got to get their kicks somehow. The place can turn into a bore otherwise. This floor is where our most esteemed clients remain who do not dare brave the threshold. They band together, actually. Often the residents here are like a family to one another. As a result, this floor is our most requested room for rent. It’s furnished with the latest habits, has suicide proof glass, and an incredible view of where renters could be if they were less fortunate. Unfortunately, it’s also where we receive the most bounced cheques from.”

Deadbeats.

“Empty rooms need renters.” And empty buildings need better managers.

“Come. I have a special treat for you. Normally, the elevator will not take us any higher. Clients have to take the stairs. But today is an exception!”

How hurriedly the scampering, like a child to candy.

“No need to hesitate! We can go back if you like.

“Ha! That’s the spirit. I thought so.”


The Threshold

“I must insist that as we travel passed these remaining floors, you stay in the elevator. The threshold through the clouds is a dangerous place. Many of our less fortunate cases live here, with reduced rent and cramped spacing. My Employer has never quite been interested in dealing with the needy, but the Skye Building must be diligent to its duty to all the City. Our success beyond the clouds is contingent on it. That’s why he pays me.”

The clamour on the other side of the doors could be heard. Each floor a new melody of noise. The elevator did not stop.

“I’m happy with the compromise that we’ve made.”


Paradise

“This is it!”

Success wafted through the open elevator doors. Heaven housing only the best of Hell.

“What do you think? Isn’t it fantastic? We had Capitalism come in and consult with us for the framework. The furnishings were bought from Achievement and Spirit did all the design. My Employer made sure that Soul was the primary tenant. The very top floor of our building, this is what is all about.

“What’s that? My Employer? No, he couldn’t make it, I’m afraid. Though I’m sure he sends his regards – else you wouldn’t be here! Please, sit down, enjoy his bounty. On the table is everything you could want; rabbit’s feet and unicorn meat, whatever your pleasure to eat.”

To eat would seem a blasphemy when the plates were set with Love. A house saved only for the worthy.

“It’s true, the meals are here every day, but few are able to make it.” Sorrow, from the same place as the smile. “I think we’ve only ever had a handful of people, over the years, and no one has ever been able to stay. It’s a pity. Here is the only place worth being. Oh well. No accounting for people, hmm?”

His breath fouled the area.

“Fresh air? A strange request. Forgive my rudeness, but there is no finer air than in this room. It takes the Freedom from outside winds and filters it with Security. There has been no better system built.

“But, your wish is my command. To the roof, then?”


The Limit

“Above the clouds, the sun never stops shining.”

The City could not buy a finer pleasure.

“You know, there was a time when the Skye Building was a target of terrorism. It’s an interesting story. The head of this terrorist organization had created biological soldiers. Gigantic half-human, half-birds. They had wings the size of regular people. They attacked from above when we started building above the clouds. They had always been around, we knew, but never in such force. Daily they assaulted us and our building crews. Perhaps you heard about it?”

The roof lost its beauty to the shadows in his speech.

“I felt quite bad for my Employer, who lost a lot of money over the issue. He wasted a lot of time and effort trying to reason with them. Can you imagine? Reasoning with those half-breeds? Finally, I convinced him that diplomacy was worthless. They would not listen to rhetoric or truth. If we were to move upward, it would have to be war.

“We disposed of them, of course. Efficiently. Fought them on this very rooftop. Their righteousness was equalled only by their single-minded ignorance, and their tactics proved it.”

Rage.

“No need for anger. I assure you we did everything we could. And now, we live in harmony with the rest of the surroundings.”

The sky was bare.

Silence.

“Listen. I know why you’re here. I don’t know how you managed to win his interest, but despite what he might think or do or say, you are not welcome here. Do you understand? You never have been, and you never will be.”

No reply was earned.

“Goodbye. Enjoy your stay.”

The door locked behind him.