"Congratulations. You made it past the selection stage for the Forward Future Commune! Please respond to this email quickly so we can introduce you to our way of life and our community. We look forward to having you with us!"
James smiled as he read the email. He quickly typed out a response, setting up his tour for Friday afternoon, just three days away. He felt genuine joy for the first time in a few years.
As with everyone, the last few years for James were tumultuous. The fabric of society seemed to be tearing before everyone's eyes, and not enough people seemed to care. Too many people want to keep the status quo, rather than help each other and make things better for the people around them and the future. He was done. His mental health was on the verge of shattering, until he found out about the Forward Future Commune.
The Forward Future Commune seemed to hold the same ideals of community, acceptance, and understanding that James came to conceptualize over the last few years. He began corresponding with the social media manager, who directed him to apply for an opening when their next batch of cabins were built. After three interviews with the selection panel, as well as a background check and a clean bill of health, he eagerly awaited the reply.
The commune was in the mountains on the other side of the state, about a 6 hour drive. James left at about 8 for his 3 o'clock meetup time, taking into account coffee and pee breaks. He had a suitcase and a backpack, enough of his stuff for the first week, before he would go back and get the rest of his stuff and clean his apartment for good.
James pulled into the gas station at 2:58, just in time. He jogged into the convenience store and right to the bathroom, barely getting his fly open before his bladder released. When he walked back outside he saw a truck with two people leaning against the hood next to his car. He recognized one of them as Ricky, one of the people that was interviewing him over video chat. The other person slapped his arm when they saw James approach.
"James! Nice to see you again. I thought you were running a little behind, but I guess I picked the right car to park next to."
James reached out to shake Ricky's hand. "Nah. I just really had to pee." James took a deep breath in. "It's been too long since I've been in the mountains. I almost forgot how nice it smells out here."
"It really is the loveliest part of the state, and it helps us with our purpose. And this here with me is Lambda. They're one of our farmers who had an afternoon free to help escort you in."
Lambda reached out their hand and said, "It's nice to meet you James."
"You too." James was bubbling with excitement to begin the next chapter of his life.
"Well," Ricky started, "We should get going so we can get you settled before dinner."
The three of them piled into their cars and started snaking into the mountains. It was no wonder they wanted to meet at the gas station; with all the twists and turns it was easy to get lost. 20 miles and almost an hour later, they pulled onto a dirt road. After a brief wall of trees, they came to a gate. Ricky leaned out and swiped a card against a panel while Lambda got out of the cab. Ricky pulled through as the gate went up, and Lambda held up their hand to James to have him stop. The gate came back down rather quickly and Lambda swiped their own card and had James pull forward as she slipped through too.
Ricky was still driving, so James unlocked his passenger door for Lambda and they got in. James got his first good look at Lambda. They were wearing simple work boots and looser jeans, both of which had the obvious wear and tear that he imagined farming would give. They had on a red flannel and a beanie on, both of which were well-represented in the Pacific Northwest.
James started driving through the open field that began after the gate. "So, what's it like here?" James asked Lambda. "Like, Really? You know, like when you get a new job and it seems great for a few weeks, but then the cracks start to appear. So what are the cracks here?"
"It seems too much like a paradise, right?"
"Yeah, it really does. I'm skeptical, but I also haven't gotten any bad vibes either."
Lambda chuckled. "That's fair. The world is shit, and people are shitty too. We have our problems. The work is tough, and we have to work really hard to make sure we both keep up on our chores, while also not overdoing other projects. We have disagreements. We are not a monoculture, but we do have the same baseline goals, so we work it out."
"And what are those goals?"
"The same as you, otherwise you wouldn't have been invited."
James gave a quick little glare before rounding a corner and seeing a few greenhouses. "Look, for all I know I could be the unsuspecting chump that is willingly giving himself over to a cult to be sacrificed on the equinox, or some shit like that."
Lambda nodded in James' peripherals. "Yeah, I get it. But it is a two-way street too. You can be an FBI agent working towards some COINTELPRO bullshit, or one of the right-wingers who hates anyone that isn't like them. Or you can just be a creep who wants to take advantage of a group who is welcoming. We have had to kick people out before, you know.
"There's a lot of trust that goes into this place. You have to trust the people already here just as much as we have to trust you. We've refined our selection process as much as we could, but the best way to earn each other's trust is to just be ourselves." James rounded another corner and smiled as the rest of the buildings came into view. He pulled under a pavilion next to Ricky. "Trust me, you'll like it here."
Lambda winked as they turned to get out of the car. James turned off the engine and stretched, happy to be here at last. He noticed a few people doing chores around the buildings, the sound of hammers pounding in the distance, and solar panels on every roof.
Someone approached the cars from one building that was a bit bigger than the others. "Hey, I'm Gregor."
"Ah yes," James said. "The leader of this place."
"Not leader. Founder. And part of the welcoming committee. Come on into our community building and we'll go over the rules."
Gregor led James into the building he came out of earlier. The inside was like a clubhouse at a fancy apartment complex. There were a few computers set up for use by anyone, as well as a large projector with video game consoles. Two people looked up from playing Mario Kart.
"Lucia, Chance, this is James, the new member of our community."
"Hey," said Lucia, trying to focus on the road.
"What's up?" Chance boomed.
"Hello," James squeaked, starting to feel overwhelmed.
Gregor brought them around the corner, where there was a drink station set up, complete with teas and coffees. "This is our community center. We obviously care a lot about our members getting the downtime they need to be sane. Everyone is welcome here, obviously. Feel free to snag a drink if you want." James found a cup and filled it with some iced tea from the fridge.
"Around the corner here are a couple bathrooms. You never want to run back to your cabin in the middle of a game session or a movie or anything."
"Question," James said. "So, how preachy are you about consumerism here? I mean, you have all those TVs and consoles, I assume you have streaming services and all that stuff."
"Good question. The short answer is we're not preachy. Long answer: We all know that there's no ethical consumption under capitalism, but if we were to cut off all the media, all the fandoms, all the books, all the music, etcetera, then we would be depressed husks that are just crowding around the fire singing crappy hymns every night. It's a paradox, and we're aware of that."
"That's fair. I appreciate your honesty. I agree, we shouldn't automatically revert back to the 1800s. We should be working to help those around us not be swept away while making progress."
"That's a good mentality to have. I think you'll do just fine here. Here's my office." Gregor opened a door to a relatively small room.
Inside was a simple desk with a computer, printer, a couple pieces of stationary, a chair on each side, and a bookshelf that had, noticeably, mostly sci-fi and fantasy books. It was obvious to James that Gregor hated paperwork and only did it out of necessity.
"Well," Gregor began as he sat down, "We don't exactly like to tell people how to live their lives, as you can tell. We keep the rules simple, just enough to keep this place running and keeping each other safe.
"The first rule is that we all work. We work towards self-sustainability. We work to lift each other up. We do not overwork ourselves. We input what we can based on what our capabilities are. We all tire out from time to time, and there is no punishment because of that. Instead, someone else will step in to help out. Now, you said you were a line cook before?"
"Yeah. I did a range of restaurants, from fast food to steakhouses."
"60, 70 hour weeks?"
"Of course. It sucks, but I put up with it because I love cooking."
"Yeah that sucks. It's a tactic to break down workers so they don't have the energy to organize. They wear you down. They pay you just enough to get by, but rarely enough to save up or move up a station." Gregor took a sip from his water bottle. "Here we do three days on your main job, one day learning another job, three days off. We have weekly meetings to map out the needs of our community and go from there. Are you still wanting to stick with cooking?"
"Uh, yeah. I think that would be best. I don't know if I have any other skills that would be useful here."
"We can move you around for your fourth day and see what works. Now, the second rule is pretty simple: Don't be a dick. We're open to all genders and sexual orientations, monogamous, polyamorous, asexual, whatever. We're open to all races, nationalities, and cultures. We believe that expanding our world views are best for everyone, so we can connect to others better and be more empathetic to struggles in other parts of the world. We have no tolerance for racism, sexism, or bigotry of any kind. But, you also would not have made it this far if we caught any on our checks."
"How is religion viewed here?" James asked out of curiosity. "I don't have any affiliation myself, but with the history of organized religion, how do you deal with it here?"
"A great question. While most of us are atheist, unaffiliated as you put it, we do have a few people with various beliefs. Our only rule is to not push it on others. We encourage others to talk about their belief systems, but you won't be seeing any services here.
"Our third rule is more conceptual, but it is probably the most important rule. We have to have top-notch security culture."
"Security culture?"
