Speech Day

The Dome on Speech Day

Sam Cauldhame was very old, shockingly old to those who hadn't seen him for a while. Parents, teachers and students all shuffled uncomfortably as they saw him led in, a fat, froggy figure in a tight yellow jersey and grey slacks. He seemed to have trouble breathing, mopping his red, bald head with a dirty handkerchief as the audience settled.

Sam lived in the village, alone, in his underground home, but every few years he tried to visit the school which had made such an impact on his life. Each time it brought back long-buried memories, of course; some painful, some sweet. But then, as he might have said himself, that's probably what everyone thinks about their schooldays, isn't it?

Sam made a speech to the students which was brief but illuminating, telling them about all the changes on Earth he'd seen during his lifetime and how they should be aware of the good things and the bad things regarding how humans were affecting the Earth.

Mrs Mallowan thanked him, made a short speech of her own, and the presentations and prize-giving began.

The show went on under the great, false-blue sky of the Dome, which as usual put everyone in a wonderful mood. Outside, nature was almost dead, at least on the surface of the Earth, although nobody wanted to think about that now, and even less actually do anything about it. There were many references to the old world in the presentations and some students even gave first-person testimonies of voluntary work they'd done on the Plastic Islands but most of the shows and speeches were skits and parodies of teachers - raising huge laughs.

Finally it was the turn of Mr Banks' class and a buzz of anticipation lit up the audience: the tech classes usually produced the most exciting displays and this year was no exception. Birds materialised and darted about the Dome's airspace. Anti-gravity dances were put on and great acts of mind-power were demonstrated to gasps and oohs and ahhs.

"We have decided this year to show how the past is connected to the future," Pan began, when it was his team's turn, inviting Mr Banks up onto the stage with he and Vesta, who was looking particularly pristine, pink and smiley that morning.

Mr Banks walked up the steps with a slightly bemused look on his face, everyone applauding. He stood behind Pan, next to Vesta, in his usual brown clothes, arms folded, bearded face looking down at his own shoes, eye shooting in and out of its socket.

Vesta laughed. "Relax, sir. It's not that bad!"

"I thought you'd changed your theme," Mr Banks' whispered. "And left me alone!"

"Our challenge was to try to show how we are all connected, to show how we all must remember we are connected, all of us who have life," Pan went on, his voice shaky. He'd never had so many people looking at him at once and even though he'd thought he'd be able to handle it, nerves were getting to him. "Our subject was our teacher, Mr Banks."

As the audience politely applauded, Sparta, Athena and Tressell wheeled in a human-sized mystery covered with a green sheet, directing it right to the middle of the Dome where an empty aisle led to the stage. Under the cloth, Adele was bursting with emotion, dying to throw it off and scream out. She could sense Banks was there, in the room.

The night before had been torture.

Pan and the others had explained to her that she'd have to remain in Mr Banks' house, pretending to not hear or understand anything. It had been the hardest thing she'd ever done, especially when Mr Banks had come down to the basement room last thing at night and kissed her forehead. Adele had realised then that he must have done the same thing every single night since he'd found her and bought her there.

Only Sparta and Athena had been able to restart Adele, Pan had explained to her. Dewey Brothers technology was so secretive, old and guarded that there was no way of Mr Banks being able to work the codes. But Sparta was a Dewey Brothers machine and Athena was a tech wizard who'd specialised in the early DB robots, so Sparta and Athena had managed to get Adele working again.

Tressell had kept everyone diverted, leading Chor-Zor and Pull-Mun on a wild goose chase after they'd almost busted everyone by turning up at Mr Banks' house. Clintona, meanwhile, had covered for her sister all day while Vesta - well, Vesta had a little surprise in store.

"All of us - Mod, cyborg, full-human, third-gen clone, robot or normal - affect what happens on this planet and in this world. Everything on the planet, to some degree or other, has feeling and is connected to us. Life is about feelings and it's ironic that these days, when we are more connected to each other than ever, that we often forget that other people's emotions are important to us, to all of us."

Under the green cover in the centre of the Dome, Adele was now sure her Menzies was close. She'd loved him from the first day she'd met him. And he'd looked after her. He'd tracked her down and found her – online, for sale in a junk shop, Pan had told her. Yes, he'd looked after her, Adele thought, even when she hadn't been able to look after herself. He'd loved her even though he'd not known if he'd ever speak to her again. If she could've cried, she would have.

"Our teacher, Mr Banks, was in love once," Vesta said, stepping forwards. This shocked everyone, including Mr Banks. In the centre of the hall, Pan's team began wheeling the green-covered figure forwards towards the stage. "Along time ago, he was engaged to be married to a woman. She was called Adele."

Banks' face changed. He opened his arms and raised a finger. "Now wait a minute, wait a minute. What's all this?"

Vesta went on: "One day, when they were engaged to be married, Mr Banks and Adele were tricked into taking part in a terrible experiment for a tech company which wanted to use their human brains as building blocks for the company's latest cyborgs and machines."

Vesta had everyone's attention. Everyone knew she was talking about Dewey Brothers.

"Mr Banks managed to escape with damage to his eye but his fiancé Adele was turned into one of their machines which, as we now all now, would never work and became not only illegal but obsolete. Soon she was discarded. Left to rust and rot. Thrown away."

Everyone was moved, even old Cauldhame, whose red eyes were watery.

"But not by our Mr Banks," Vesta announced, raising a finger. "Mr Banks never forgot her. He tracked Adele down and brought her back to his home here at the school, living with her, although she was dormant. And he continued to love her."

"The droid from the basement," Chor-Zor whispered to Pull-Mun. They were standing at the back of the Dome, behind the rest of the school.

Mr Banks looked at Pan: "What's going on here, Zweig?"

Pan, taking over, said: "This morning we'd like to reunite Mr Banks and Adele, who, thanks to his teaching and our tech knowledge here at St Francis', we've been able to make operational again." Pan turned his eyes on the audience. "Let none of you doubt the power of the past to inform the present - and let none of you forget that by studying the past we can change the future!"

"Sir," said Vesta. In her hand was a ticket for Mr Banks and Adele to go to Ceres, to the super-resort she herself had planned to go to that summer. This was her present to the couple: the most precious thing she owned. "It's our pleasure to reunite you with Adele."

On the floor Tressell whipped away the green cloth. "Ta-taaaa!" he shouted, whirling like a dancer.

Up on the stage, Mr Banks only saw Adele. Everyone else disappeared.

Adele watched him coming down the steps and a great smile lit up her shiny face. Finally she could be with him again.

As Sam Cauldhame and Mrs Mallowan stood with the rest of the audience, smiling and applauding, Adele said, in a voice Mr Banks hadn't heard for what seemed like a hundred years:

"Hello again, you."