My foot tapped nervously on the linoleum floor, a skittish rhythm that earned me a few annoyed looks. Trying to distract myself, I observed my surroundings.

I was in a large, open-aired room with elegant, marble pillars supporting the ends. Morning sunlight flooded the space, a bright daze illuminating everyone in a golden glow; a light, gorgeous scene that could not have contrasted more to the mood of the room. Sparsely furnished, the seating available was uncomfortably filled with two dozen others. Two dozen others who were in the same situation as me.

A room full of mixed emotions. I could easily pick out the ones who wanted to be here and those that were forced. The ones who were trying to look strong. The ones who put on a face of mild interest in an attempt to look indifferent by the situation.

My eyes continued to dart around and I noticed the sleek gray walls that flaunted a reflective finish, of which I could see my jittery form continue to fidget.

I forced myself to still and listen to the dull murmur of the surrounding conversations.

“Sweetie, you’re gonna be fine…” came a reassuring voice.

“We’re going to be home before you know it,” soothed another.

“Don’t say your goodbyes now,” one voice scolded. “You have time.”

“Think of your family,” hushed another.

“I don’t know if I can go through with it,” came another voice that sounded on the verge of tears.

Suddenly, a heavy metal door at the opposite end of the room whipped open. Everyone snapped their heads to the Official that entered the room.

Dressed in neatly pressed slacks and a black blazer, the Official narrowed her eyes at the variety of people before her. Silence dropped over the room as if someone had dialed the room’s noise allowance meter to zero.

Surveying the room carefully, she raised an eyebrow.

“I need ten. Come quickly,” the woman clipped, a look of total neutrality now slid over her face.

I could immediately tell which were the most eager to get this over with as they were the ones to scurry quickly over to the Official. Forming a crooked line, the ten was quickly established and the Official stepped back to take them all in.

A cruel smirk twisted her mouth as she said, “My, you all must be very eager to please this great state of Adernis. Thank you for upholding this great duty; the state thanks you.” She reached for the door handle and with a swift rehearsed turn, directed the ten back through the metal door. It closed with a dull ring.

A moment passed before the room buzzed again with quiet conversation.

I sighed. How awful this whole thing was. It was the year 2303 and we were still doing this. The experimentation on our people. The torture of not knowing what was happening behind closed doors. And then never remembering what truly happened on account of the Mind Wipes.

I sat uneasily as I considered going home and coming back a different day; I wasn’t feeling well all of a sudden.

As I was about to stand and walk out, a boy who looked to be about my age, sixteen, suddenly plopped himself into the seat beside me.

Bright-eyed and bubbly, he introduced himself. “Hi, I’m Cason! This is my first time at one of these things- what’s your name?” He lowered his voice, his bouncing-off-the-walls attitude dialed down a notch. “Is that okay to ask you that? I don’t really know the whole etiquette of these things. Like, what exactly happens? Oh, and do you mind if I sit here with you?”
I blinked. Wow. People were looking now at this strange teen who seemed enthusiastic to be here.

“Um. Yeah. Sure, you can sit here.” I replied, awkwardly shifting down to put some space between us. “I’m Leira.”

“Cool,” Cason exclaimed, practically jumping in his seat. “Isn’t this exciting? To be here and support Adernis like this?”

Who was this kid? Why did he sound like he was reciting the yearly reminders the head of the Adernis sent out?

Uneasily I replied, “Sure. I suppose. I know that our being here helps our state gather information on how to further ourselves as a race. So, yeah, I guess I am excited to be here in that sense.”

Cason’s eyes lit up. “I know! I’m actually kind of nervous. That’s silly, right? Nothing bad happens.”

I was already nodding. That was one thing we were always assured of, Nothing ever happens to cause our people harm. Only data and research occurs here, and that’s to determine the next step in the betterment of us as a race.

“Nothing bad happens here,” I echoed. “Just some data collection and observations so they can predict how we as a people can advance and evolve.” Now who sounded like those yearly reminders from Adernis?

“Right, right, right,” he rattled off, grinning. “How could I forget? They analyze our needs as a people and calculate how that plays in with our ‘dwindling resources.’”

“Yep. Our dwindling resources being our shortage of land for sustainable housing and crops.”

He nodded, animated. “So, have you done this before? Anything I should know before heading in?”

“Well, I’ve come every time they’ve sent me the notice over the Comet, so, like, six times. But they erase the memories of the experience afterward so that way it's less of an intrusion in our lives if we can’t remember it.” I narrowed my eyes. “Wait, how old are you?”

“Fifteen,” he replied cheerfully.

“I’m sixteen and this is my seventh time… Why haven’t you ever been called before? Everyone’s supposed to have been called upon for this equally.”

“I don’t know,” he replied, suddenly defensive. “I just came because I just got my first notice yesterday over the Comet.”

Strange.

I shook my head. “Whatever.”

He dropped the defensive tone and suddenly beamed again. “So, like, what do I expect?”

“Well,” I trailed off, thinking of a way to sum up the experience. “It usually starts off with a debriefing. You know- a little talk about what kind of experiment or study you were best suited for. After that, they prep you for it. And it happens. They do their thing and then they perform a Mind Wipe so that way we’re completely comfortable and unbothered to return to our everyday lives.”

A beam of light hit the corner of my eye and I turned to see the metal door open again. This time, a middle-aged man stepped out and said, “I need fifteen of you, please.”

I figured this was my chance at escaping this strained conversation and I did all but leap to my feet.

“Well, it was nice to meet you, Cason,” I said shortly and began to walk toward the Official. I knew it was rude to leave him like that, but in that moment I didn’t care. I wasn’t feeling well to begin with; I just wanted to get this all over with.

“I’ll see you later then, Leira,” I heard as I stood in line behind an elderly woman to be counted off as one of the fifteen.

Well, here we go, I thought, as the man whisked us through the doors into a room I’d been in six times before.

                                           #

“For those of you who are new, here’s an itinerary for today.” The man passed out a small flier, keeping his words terse. We were in a small room with drab walls, and a low ceiling; similar to the pictures in textbooks of what were called ‘hospital waiting rooms’.

The man continued, his tone flat, “This group has been chosen for experiment 849. If you look over the sheet, it will explain the procedures.” He gestured to a plump, beady-eyed man. “Official Boyet will be taking it from here.”

I skimmed the sheet, my eyes glazing over at all the scientific jargon. They did this every time; claiming to thoroughly explain the procedures while not doing so at all.

Maybe it was for the best- this way we didn't have to concern ourselves with matters we weren’t even going to remember.

After a moment, Official Boyet cleared his throat, “If you are all finished reading the sheet, I can take those from you.” He collected them and a group of Secondaries appeared. Methodically, each Secondary paired themselves with a person and lead them down the hall that they had just come out of.

A tall, lean woman sidled up next to me and authoritatively said, “This way, ma'am.” She lead me out the door and down a narrow hallway. Stopping outside of a brightly lit room with the door ajar, she gestured for me to enter.

I walked in, dreading the experiment to come. At least this room was nicer than the one I was in last time. I think.

The memories were dull and had faded. But the walls in this room were a soft beige and while it was small, the space didn’t make me feel like I was suffocating. I sat on a small cushioned chair.

“Official Sadere will be in shortly.”

I nodded absentmindedly and the woman left, closing the door.

Even though I had been in this situation six times before, I was always left with some unease. The fact that they could be doing anything in these rooms and I wouldn’t have any recollection of it… I shuddered. Also, I was still bothered by the whole interaction with Cason. Why was this his first call to be here? We were the same age.

It was implied by the head of the Adernis, the Enobar, that most people of the same age were Cometed for experimentation the same number of times. But at the same time, the whole ordeal carries this dread that it makes sense for people to not share their experience. Plus, the whole thing was kind of a haze after the Mind Wipes anyway.

But I was still left wondering. Why had I been called on for experimentation this many times? Especially for someone my age? Was I the only one who’d been called on this often?

Suddenly, the door swung open.

Official Sadere.

It was the woman who had taken the first ten people from before. She held out a small device with a short stubby antenna and shook it playfully.

“Hello, Leira Tesalle. Stand please.” I stood and she waved the Chrom behind my right ear and then behind my left knee cap where my I.D. chips were located. A chipper beep sounded from the device and she stowed it away, satisfied.

“We’re going to get this started quickly and then send you on your merry way.”

I nodded and she directed me to a different chair that sat in the corner opposite of the door. As I sat, she clicked a button and the chair sprung to life.

The wooden armrests were replaced by polished metal slats, so cold that my arms prickled. A motorized footrest kicked into gear underneath my feet and started raising them so that my legs stuck out at a ninety-degree angle. With a bang, the back of the once feeble, ordinary chair gave out and I fell back onto a firm cushion. I felt a slight tremor beneath me and then I sunk lower into the material; the padding had adjusted to my form.

I managed to choke out in my surprise, “Really, no warning? Was that necessary?”

The Official smirked. “Sweetie, you won’t even remember this by tomorrow.”

While it was true, I was stunned by her crudity. With the promise of a Mind Wipe, again, I couldn’t help but wonder: how did the Officials truly treat us when they knew we wouldn’t remember anything?

The Official clapped her hands and the wall adjacent to the door was suddenly transparent. She bared her teeth in a wolfish grin.

“Let’s begin.” She walked to the room behind the now-transparent wall and focused on what I assumed to be a panel in front of her. Fiddling with the buttons, she snapped her head to me.

Waiting.

Right on cue, I felt a hot pinch on the back of my neck. I winced and attempted to rub it but at that moment, metal cuffs circled my wrists, holding them in place to the table I was laid on. The Official bent down to a black microphone and said, “MWS injected, now preparing the CPS formula.”

I could now see that there were three hip-height cylinders mounted on the wall in the room the Official occupied. One tube began to fill with a velvety black solution that I couldn’t help but shudder at.

The two other tubes began to fill. One with a frothy purple solution and the second with a clear solution that moved thickly into the cylinder.

Moving quickly, the Official turned to hook three clear hoses from the cylinders and onto some contraption near the control panel. She flipped a switch and I could see the solutions from each cylinder flow through their respective tubes. Filtering through several pumps and vials, the end result was collected in a thin glass beaker the length of my hand. The solution looked sinister as it sloshed; the color was unnatural- too dark and rich.

Examining the beaker with furrowed brows, the Official brought it up to her face and took a deep whiff. She pondered for a moment before eventually setting the glass beaker into a small divot in the control panel. Looking pleased, she smiled as she hit a button.

I felt a hot pinch sting my neck again. I grimaced and tried to relax my neck and I was surprised when it refused to.

All of the muscles had tensed involuntarily. Slowly, the tension spiderwebbed through my shoulders, then to my torso, and then my legs. I was rendered completely frozen- all of my muscles were engaged and strained. While I was merely uncomfortable for the first few moments, the sensation turned to pain within the following seconds.

It was the most unnerving feeling. To be forced to tense your body beyond its limits; it was completely unnatural. To be so completely at the hands of another. Suddenly thrown into a panic, I told myself that everything would be fine, everything would be fine. The Enobar could not hurt me, would not hurt me. I wouldn’t even remember this once it was over. I could stand a few more seconds of this strain. Right?

Wrong.

The tension only climbed from there. Within seconds, my face had screwed itself into one of agony and I screamed. Until my voice box abruptly cut out. I couldn’t breathe; my lungs felt like they were made of iron. My vision grew hazy and I could see flickering gray spots behind my eyelids. I was faintly aware of the fact that I was convulsing.  

This is how I’m going to die, I had time to think in my anguish, before my eyes rolled up into my head and everything ceased to be.

                                               #

“What’s this one’s count now?”

“Seven, Official Yios.”

“My, this is the highest resistance to CPS I’ve ever seen in all my years here.”

“I know, Official.”

“What’s the time span? Between doses?”

“It’s been consistently…” Through the fog of unconsciousness, I heard the distinct noise of the shuffling of paper. “ … every eight months, Official. But her brain scans show that she’s becoming more vigilant. ”

“We’re going to need to up the frequency of the doses even more.” A sigh. “Keep me updated on her reaction, monitor her vitals.”

“Yes, Official.”

The voices continued but they sounded farther and farther away until I couldn’t hear them anymore.

What had they been talking about? I hadn’t comprehended a single thing they said. Disoriented, my brain struggled to make sense of the murky soup that was my memory and cognizance.

Ugh.

Plus, my head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton.

I opened my eyes to find myself lying on a modest cot in the center of a brightly lit white room. Several tubes were attached to my arms, their corresponding machines beeping steadily.

Everything ached. My bones felt like they had splintered inside my body and I felt exhausted. I looked down at my form expecting to see some evidence of injury or something to validate my pain- but there was nothing.

Nothing looked to be out of the ordinary- except that I was still cuffed and this time, my ankles were bound.

I groaned and managed to croak, “Hello?”

I waited for a reply.

Two minutes passed. Then five.

“I’m awake…?”

“Yes, yes, yes, I see that you are.” A woman suddenly burst through the door, startling me. Bustling about to check the various machines I was hooked up to, she made little notations in her chart, muttering as she did so.

“Can’t believe they have me... beneath me…they better not have… sick of this…” The woman huffed as I stared dazedly at her rushing about.

After reading a small machine and grunting about something that was, “Not my problem,” she stalked out of the room, making sure to slam the door behind her.

Still in a stupor, I tried to remember how I’d gotten here.

I’d been in a… waiting room. Yes, there was lots of sun, it was very bright- and there were Officials- wait, no.

Just one. A woman.

Yes, there was a female Official. And I was in a dark room. I couldn’t remember the Official’s name… Wait, something with an S.

Sat. Sat-here. Sathere.

I racked my brain.

Sadere!

Suddenly, all of the memories came back- the cylinders, the substances inside of them, the chair, the dark room, the panel, the needles in my neck. The excruciating tension. I flinched at the flood of memories. Now, I knew why they were supposed to be wiped…

But wait. Why did I still remember it? Had I gotten a defective Mind Wipe? And why was I still sitting here? In cuffs? Like some common criminal. And why had there been any pain at all? We were constantly reassured that we were never to be harmed, to be in pain. That this was all supposed to be research on how to further advance humanity from this standstill!

As I began to question more and more of what had just happened, my confusion rapidly morphed into anger.

The door swung open. Completely riled up now, I turned to face the visitor, prepared to give them a piece of my mind. Who were they to come in and hurt me so? What right did they have? They were completely out of line to do what they did!  

“How da-” I began, shaking in my indignation.

“Control yourself, Tesalle.” Official Sadere interrupted placidly, her expression of utter boredom and disinterest further infuriating me.

“I won’t unless you explain to me what you just did to me,” I growled. In my frustration, I struggled to find the right words. “Justify yourself! Justify what you did in there!”

The Official rolled her eyes. “You’ll wish I hadn’t told you. So I’m not going to do that.” She walked to a table in the corner of the room and picked up a syringe.

I was already shaking my head. “Nope, you don’t have my consent- you can’t inject me with something I can’t identify.”

“Well, you signed your consent when you were still of sound mind back in the waiting room. And as for this syringe here, I’ll identify it for you; it’s the second part of the dosage of MWS.”

“Well, I’m revoking consent now,” I replied through gritted teeth. “And what the hell is MWS?”

“Mind Wipe Serum,” she replied cheerily, making her way back to my side. “It was given to you while you were in the chair. Remember? The first little poke in the neck?”

“Yes, I remember that very well,” I snarled.

“Well,” she continued sweetly, “that was the opener for a set of two doses. This syringe holds the second dose which finalizes a set window in which all memories between the two injections can be manipulated into something a little more pleasant.”

I struggled to wrap my mind around the concept. It made sense. I shook my head, trying to remember the sources of my fury.

“Explain to me what exactly happened. The other injection. The one- the one that froze me. What happened- what did you to me there?” My voice was shaky and I couldn’t tell if it was from the anger, fear, or both.

“You’re not going to like it,” she said in a sing-song voice. “Plus, it’s not like you’re gonna remember my explanation.”

“Exactly,” I insisted. “Just tell me. Please.” I didn’t know why, but all at once, my anger had suddenly dissipated. It had been replaced with my desperation to know why that whole thing had just occurred. I just needed for all of this to make sense. For all of this to have some good trusty reason that could condone what had just happened.

The Official bit her lip. “No. I cannot. The Enobar forbids it.”

“Forget the Enobar- I, a private citizen of this state, am demanding you tell me. And I can still revoke consent. And I will, until you tell me what I need to know.”

The Official cocked her head, amused. “Say I do tell you. What good will it do you?”

“I would be rest assured to the pure intentions of the Enobar,” I shot back firmly. “Plus, what’s the harm- I won’t remember. Just tell me the truth.”

The Official’s lips twitched like she was trying not to smile. “Fine, Tesalle.”

I blinked, surprised. I couldn’t believe that had worked.

She cleared her throat. “To begin, it is common knowledge that resources on this planet are running low. There is less habitable room. Over the past hundred years, fifty-eight percent of our land mass has been swallowed by our oceans. This gives rise to the problem of uncomfortable living. Millions are stranded to live on a space that was meant only for hundreds.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I know. The 2240’s was the last of comfortable living. And since then it’s only gotten worse. At least for the common people.” My face soured at the last part.

“Yes,” The Official agreed. “But we, the Enobar, came up with a solution.”

My ears perked up. I couldn’t have heard that correctly. “What?”

“It’s actually the true reasoning for why we hold these ‘experiments.’” Her hands rose to air quote the word.

She continued, “See, the real problem with our planet at the moment is overpopulation. And once the Enobar came to that conclusion, we identified a solution to end the suffering.” She tapped her neck. “You know that second little prick you felt during your time in the chair?”

I nodded. “The injection of that vial you smelled.” My face darkened. “The painful one that froze me.”

“Very good! Yes, that. That’s called CPS, or Complacent Peoples Serum. In all of our ‘experiments’, we inject the people with it. Can you guess as to what its effects are?”

My mouth grew dry and I stayed silent. I was alarmed by where this conversation was heading.

“It makes all recipients a little less aware of the world,” The Official said, answering her own question. “They’re a little more carefree, they have a little more fun in their life. And it’s gonna make their end so much easier.”

“End?” I repeated, dumbfounded.

“Yes, end. See, we’ve decided that only a select few can really benefit from the resources that are left on this planet. And for it to sustain us, well… we must weed the others out. The others being the common folk, of course.” She explained, smiling.

“You’re speaking of… genocide,” I said numbly.

“In a way, I suppose so. But think about it. It’s for the good of everybody. The CPS injections make everyone a little more trusting and easy going. And when we do go about exterminating the seventy percent of the population- the common folk- it will be done humanely, and at that point they will mostly be so out of it, that it’ll be like. Like…” She paused to think.

“Like falling asleep.” She finished, her face one of pride. “Now there. There’s your explanation. Are you happy to know what you know now?” The Official sneered and I sat, stunned silent.

I could feel my heart drop to my knees. How could this have been happening underneath the state’s noses? How were we so oblivious? To think that this had been going on for so long…

Pathetically, I tried, “This doesn’t have to happen. Adernis doesn’t have to end this way! There are other ways- sustainable housing out on the ocean- finding alternative resources. Maybe you could-” My voice rose to hysteria as I continued to babble and I knew I wasn’t making any sense. I just needed to prolong the moment. I was still in shock at the whole explanation. This whole time- these experiments were to make it easier to kill us.

We’d participated in the means to our own ends.

She laughed. “Don’t you see? This is the only way to keep Adernis alive. At our current rate, the entire world will just peter out pitifully within the next decade. Isn’t it better for some of us to survive and live long, happy lives compared to the shoddy short ones we’d live as a whole?” She glanced at her watch, a sickening smile twisting her lips. “Oh, and I think it’s time for you to receive your second injection soon.”

Frantic, I screamed and writhed in my restraints, “You can’t get away with this- you won’t!”  

How could this be happening? My entire world to be completely and utterly decimated. For what? The sake of the upper classes? The Officials, the Enobar? How was this fair?

I let out an unholy screech and flailed; my helplessness in the entire situation feeding my despair. A part of me was still refusing to believe that this perverse plot had been brewing this entire time. I was in disbelief. My brain was only thinking in fragments. When had this all begun? I couldn’t- wouldn’t comprehend this horrific scheme.

I was shaking and rocking back and forth, the restraints cutting into my skin. The tubes attached to my arms swung wildly and their respective monitors skipped, the beeping erratic and shrill.

In the end, I stopped thrashing, stopped moving completely. I could feel the shock setting in, the feeling of being so totally devoid of emotion.

This was actually happening. And I couldn’t do a thing about it.

Official Sadere cleared her throat and smiled. She drew her brows together as if trying for a look of sympathy, but it was only boastful as I could see the malice and the triumphant gleam in her eyes. She gently uncapped the second dosage of MWS and made to move closer to me.

Softly, she murmured, “Stay still now. This won’t hurt a bit.”

                                             #

As Leira Tesalle walked out of Enobar Complex Number Eight that eventful day, the Officials all had a good chuckle.

For this had been Leira’s seventh visit.

The seventh time she’d questioned why they did this to her.

The seventh time she’d received an explanation.

The seventh time she’d proclaimed that they couldn’t get away with this.

The seventh time her Mind Wipe proved effective.

                                          #