Ancil“This is Mas camp. It is the largest database of Trinidad and Tobago history in the world,” the Midnight Robber said. “Everything you need to know about the country is right here. Everything. And this is precisely why it is not a public database. The government don’t want the people of the Twin Republic to have access to their past because it will make them look bad. They simply tell them what happened and expect them to believe it. The greatest threat to any civilization is ignorance. An ignorant civilization is a weak civilization.” The Midnight Robber threw his glasses on and then started shuffling through some books. “The government wants the people of the Twin Republic to believe that the reason for the huge fall in population was because of the floods. That’s a lie.” He pulled out a huge book that was so heavy that he could have barely hold it. He dropped it on the table and opened it to a page. “On January the 25th 2120, the government released a new type of Carnival experience to the country – Symbiotic Carnival costumes which was part of the ACT Programme. ACT stands for Advanced Carnival Technology. The technology basically fuses the human genotype to a suit that has its own DNA. So when fused, the person shows all the physical, emotional, mental and social characteristics of the Carnival character. The person literally becomes the character and embodies the very nature of it. It was one of the biggest innovations for Carnival ever in recorded history. It allowed the people to transition from just playing Mas to actually living it. On February the third 2120 the government had a test run of the new costumes in a nightclub with over 4000 test subjects. The 4000 test subjects however were a bit too……How to put it? Aggressive. They escaped the nightclub and ventured into the streets where they caused complete carnage. Thousands of people died that night. But the government refused to take blame for it. They blamed the deaths on freak floods, they stopped funding the ACT Programme and killed of all the test subjects. The government also hunted down thousands of people who knew anything about the programme and locked them all away in a small underground jail right here in Tobago. They locked them up instead of killing them in the case their knowledge became useful again. They were too smart to kill. The government was able to keep the entire thing a complete secret because if the people found out, their political careers would have been in jeopardy. It’s amazing that people would believe anything that they see in the newspapers.” The Midnight Robber continued flipping through pages and stopped on a page then continued, “On January the 15th 2132, a French billionaire named Alfonso Antoine funded the continuation of the ACT Programme and built the research facility around the jail that housed the people who the government arrested for knowing too much. He released the people who were in the jail but they were not free. He used them as his subjects to continue the research and development of the programme. He called the area Mas Camp and kept it out of the government’s radar for years. This is where we are right now.”
“So everything that we’re learning in school is a lie then?” I asked.
“Not everything. The country did flood out by natural causes. There was only so much an unprepared government could have done when the ice caps melted. But only a handful of people died by the floods. The floods had little or no impact on the drop in population. That was a lie. The floods weren’t flash floods so it wasn’t anything that a couple of boats couldn’t handle. The government needed to blame something for the sudden vanishing of people. Families started to question the government and the best thing to blame at the time was the floods and hurricanes. It’s a whole conspiracy. The government fed the people so much lies that they actually started to believe it. So who’s really the bad guys here? This is exactly the reason why the Midnight Robber and everybody here in Mas Camp hate the government. We consider ourselves anti government.”
“But if it’s the government you hate, why kill the people?” I asked.
“Kill?! We never killed anybody. The Midnight Robber only killed one person and that was the Prime Minister. Who fooled you?” The Midnight Robber said.
“So what about the people in Arima, Valencia, and Sangre Grande?” Megan asked.
“You think that they’re dead? The Midnight Robber is a justice warrior and never kills unjustly,” The Midnight Robber said. “They’re not dead….”
Suddenly the whiplash sound of a whip interrupted the conversation and a female voice started. “Who are these properly dressed mongrels dancing around like if they is pot hound?” The voice spoke very proper. The way in which she spoke had a bit of a Shakespeare flow to it.
“This is the Pierrot,” the Midnight Robber said. “The Pierrot Grenade.”
“This is what they call me,” said Pierrot. “But you need not say it. Can’t they see. I am a scholar and I know plenty so when I start talking everybody be sweaty. For I am the Pierrot Grenade.” The Pierrot Grenade was dressed in long strips of colored cloth that covered her from her neck to her toes like a long cloak. Her face was painted in white and she wore a colored head tie on her head. She had a short whip in her hand that looked like a magic wand. “A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.” The Pierrot Grenade said out of nowhere.
“Ummm.. Okay,” I said.
“What happened to mommy?” Megan asked the Midnight Robber after totally ignoring the Pierrot Grenade.
“She……” The Midnight Robber started but before he could have finished the Pierrot Grenade whipped Megan on her butt.
“But what the ass?!” Megan shouted as she held her butt in pain.
“Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven,” the Pierrot Grenade said moving about her hands like if she was directing an orchestra.
“You didn’t have to hit me you know,” Megan said.
The Pierrot Grenade whipped her on her butt again and said. “The empty vessel makes the loudest sound.”
“Could you stop hitting me?” Megan shouted
“What you want Pierrot?” The Midnight Robber asked.
