Level 7

Even so, they may regard themselves as very privileged at the present moment, for the mass of the population has shelters closer to the surface. Moreover, half the population still has no shelters at all! Construction is going on very fast, but even so it will be at least six months before there is room for everyone. Whether the war holds off that long is anybody’s guess.

The shelters on Level 1 vary in size: some of them are designed to hold a million people, some as few as 10,000. One reason for this is the variation in density of population from one part of the country to another. Also, it has been necessary to exploit all existing underground space; which means that whereas one place may have big ready-made shelters in its underground transport system, another place may have to start from nothing and build smaller shelters where it can. Hundreds have already been built up and down the country, and every day more are being finished.

But there is no point in talking about Level 1 at length, and that goes for Level 2 as well. Unless the war is a very limited one, they do not stand a chance.

MAY 25

P is rather worried about me. She thinks my preoccupation with the other levels is not good for me. I am enjoying this hobby too much, she says, and it may end in mental depression—the sort I have had before. (By now she knows a little more about me, because she is my wife—if I may call her that—or because she is a psychologist. Or maybe because she is both.) 88

She thinks my keen interest in other levels is a symptom of emotional instability. Today she was going on about different levels of consciousness, symbolism and what not. I really do not care. If something wants to take hold of my mind, I let it.

In any case, the ‘Know Other Levels’ series ended today with a talk about the preparations on the surface—Level O, the speaker called it, and I suppose the term was convenient for his purpose, though of course the surface is not a real level at all.

Up there they have been getting everything organised for a general descent, which must take place quickly but smoothly and without fuss at a moment’s notice. As the operation involves—in principle, at least—the entire population, its efficiency is of primary importance.

The speaker said that many people have already been issued with identity badges bearing their names, levels and shelter numbers, which they wear pinned to their chests. The rest are anxiously awaiting their badges.

“There is some ill-feeling among people who assume that segregation into different levels means social discrimination,” said the speaker, “but it stays within reasonable bounds.” Apparently people have a vague idea that Level 5 is better than Level 4, Level 4 better than Level 3, and so on; but they do not know exactly what the difference is. Most of them imagine it is a matter of convenience and luxury, not of safety. Up there the information we have been given in our daily talks is top secret.

Most of the hostility—and it is mixed with anxiety—comes from people who do not yet possess an identity badge and shelter number, which will act as a sort of passport to the underground. The hostility is directed, naturally enough, at those who have already been given their badges. This is tending to split the nation into two opposed groups—a new kind of division between the haves and the have-nots. However, the dangers of this ill-feeling are being mitigated by the fact that more and more people are receiving their badges (“and the right to be buried alive”, I thought of adding). The moment they get them, they become the strongest supporters of the system.

It is only among the prospective inhabitants of Level 1 that this last trouble has arisen. All the people destined for the other levels have already got their passports. There are a few grumblers among the cranks and peace-mongers of Level 2, admittedly, but not many. The receipt of Level 2 badges has made even the most fervent critics a great deal less eloquent.

MAY 26

I miss the ‘Know Other Levels’ talks. No new talks programme has been announced so far. Probably because there is nothing to talk about. Now that we know Level 7 thoroughly and have a fair working knowledge of the other levels, what else can they find to discuss? Even with the diversity of seven levels, the amount of variety underground is very limited. It must be, just as the caves are.

I have been listening to music today. By now the tunes have become rather familiar.

It is an odd sensation, knowing so much about other levels, while the people up there know so little about the kind of life—if you can call this life—which is waiting for them. I feel like an omniscient being, severed from contact with other human beings, but knowing all about what is going to happen to them.