Circuits and Synapses

by Harper Doyle

  “What the hell happened here?” Jack demanded with the tone in his voice conveying the irritation that was shown in his appearance. The guards stood there ground but were afraid to speak. Jack was slowly losing his temper and Daniel was forced to beat the answers out of them, one by one until there were adequate answers.

  “The little girl attempted to escape by pretending to be hurt; we went in to bring her to you when she pushed out between us into the hall. She was quite fast and since this was a second time offense we were permitted to use force, especially since she is far from the first stages. On command we shot her and pulled her back to the cell. She bled out before your return, sir.” The guard admitted and stood back in line with the rest of his comrades.

  “Well, that was unfortunate, we lost a potential ‘bot, but we still have the most valuable of the three here. And a word of advice concerning this one, try not to shoot her. We only have to wait two years before the first incision, one of the shortest waits of the experiment. If you have the chance, avoid confrontation with her. This is one of personal interests and you had better not screw with me. Got that? Good, pass the message to the rest of your people and get out of my sight!” Jack was fuming since he had lost one of his projects and had to report it to the man in charge, not a fun task in the least. “Shit,” he said and closed the door behind him as he headed for the main offices, aboveground.

  Nadia awoke to the smell of dried blood and a headache to rival all others. She grabbed her head while it reeled from the memories of the previous hours and the repercussions of the numerous drugs in her system. When Nadia finally opened her eyes she wished she hadn’t. The pool of blood was still on the floor. The guards at the barred door were having a conversation about what they should have for lunch. The thought that these men could have such a conversation while the floor around her was covered in her baby sister’s blood caused rage to build up within her and she flung herself at the door. Though the drugs had worn off the repercussions of taking so many, and the dozens of open puncture wounds throbbing with pain lessened her attack. The guards were taken aback by the thud of a body against the iron bars but laughed at her.

  “Look at her, man. She is just a tiny girl, sad because her little sister was killed. Wawawa. HAahahaha…” The man on the left laughed and the man next to him joined in. Nadia was furious but lacked the energy to throw herself at the barred door again. She withdrew to the back of the cell, where the blood had not reached and held herself while looking at the wall. She should have been contemplating a plan of escape but all Nadia’s thoughts were consumed with sadness and a feeling of emptiness. Thoughts whirled in her head of Dmitri and how he fared, if he was alive, would she every see the only member of her family left alive again. Nadia felt her throat tighten and the tears forming but she would not allow them to fall.

  On that day, at that hour she made a pact with herself to never show anyone, save for Dmitri, emotions again. No tears, no smiles, no nothing. It was hard, crying could have made her feel better, to let out the pent up emotions of the many losses she had suffered in such a short time. But, what would that accomplish? Surely that would not bring her any closer to finding Dmitri or getting out of this prison. Only in private would she let them out, because they could not be bottled up forever, that would result in unnecessary extra tension and that too would only hinder her progress.

  So the plan was for Nadia to be turned into a cyborg, a living machine. Well, that was not going to happen. Nadia’s goal was to escape before that happened, to be rid of this place before they could turn her into a droid, a mindless servant, or whatever they did to people. While deep in her thoughts the door beyond the barred cell opened to reveal a person whom Nadia had never seen before, it was a women, that much she was sure. The woman was probably in her fifties, same as Jack, but somehow she had a harsher look to her. Her mouth was hard, as though smiles were never a thought, and her eyes looked dead, devoid of emotion or worse, ethics.

  “Open the cell.” Her voice was strong, demanding, and utterly frightening. The guards hastened to obey, obviously not wanting to upset her in any way. This did not bode well for Nadia and she prepared herself for the worst possible outcome. The woman stepped into the cell with a regal air, if not a cold one, and stopped a few feet away from Nadia.

  “Get up, child.” The voice did not lessen and Nadia was eager to obey, not wanting punishment or worse. The woman looked her over, poking and prodding Nadia as well as staring at her with icy blue eyes. Her hair was pinned up in a perfect bun, not a hair out of place, much like her personality and appearance. After a few minutes of inspection she withdrew from the cell and whispered a few commands to the guards before turning back to Nadia.

  “I am departing now, be aware that I shall return in exactly one hour to retrieve you, child. For further occasions I shall disclose a name, this name is what you shall refer to me as. This name is Elizabeth, do not forget it.” With that Elizabeth turned and left, the guards closing the door behind her. Nadia had not spoken a word during the entire time of Elizabeth's stay. Once gone Nadia let out a sigh that had been pent up in her unknowingly for the whole time.

  The hour passed with little difference then before she had come, but once it had been exactly sixty minutes from her departure, Elizabeth reappeared in the room, this time with handcuffs. The guards once again opened the door to the cell and Elizabeth entered.

  “Hold out your hands, ‘tis time for a transport. You are being moved to the community housing, that is after you are cleaned and clothed properly. Once there you will be assigned a bunk mate and bed as well as given a meal.” Elizabeth opened the hand cuffs and was preparing to put them on Nadia when she spoke once more. “It would be wise to follow along with me and to cause no ruckus; I assure you that you will not be harmed. So do as I say and let us be on our way.” Nadia was tired from resisting and held her hands out, the promise of a painless journey seemed enough. The thought of being clean and fed also helped the matter. Elizabeth placed the cuffs on Nadia and held the chain, appearing to an unknown bystander as a leash, while Nadia played the part of the dog.

  Nadia and Elizabeth left the confines of the cell, then exited the room altogether. For the first time since arriving at the prison Nadia was walking down the hall, though unsure of where she was going, anywhere was better than the cell. The first stop was a showering room, filled with nozzle heads that sprayed water. Elizabeth called for the workers and handed over the leash to them. It was their responsibility to clean and clothe Nadia; she was not allowed to be left alone at any point during the cleaning. The workers were kind enough to Nadia; they cleaned her from top to bottom using real soap and were gentle to her bruises and cuts. The cleaning itself took less than ten minutes, seeing as there were others waiting to be cleaned as well.

  The next step was to be clothed. The garments they brought over were of neutral colors, browns and tans mostly. The bottoms were a pair of dark brown pants or what looked like pants. They were unlike any pants that Nadia had ever seen, but they were comfortable, so that was nice. The top was a short sleeved shirt, the color of caramel, and had a sack like feeling, giving her body no shape whatsoever. Everything was zippers, easy on, easy off. A belt was provided, a nice light brown color, in case it should be needed to keep the pants up, for whatever reason. The final piece that was given to Nadia was a pair of brown shoes; slip on, for convenience of course.

  As a final part of the cleaning and clothing was a haircut. Nadia’s long brown hair was cut from her mid-back to just below her ears, so that it was easier, or so she was told. In a way losing her hair was like losing the last part of who she was. Now, it seemed as though who she used to be was no more. It seemed like she was no longer the same person, and in some respects that was true, but, that final act of change was hard. Now Nadia had to face the uncertain new future that lay ahead of her.

  Elizabeth reappeared to ta
ke back the leash once the grooming had been completed. The older woman had a brisk walk and it was hard for Nadia to keep up with her. The journey through the building led Nadia through what looked like a hospital, seeing white beds with white sheets surrounded by staff dressed in white. She couldn’t make out the people in the beds, due to the brisk pace set by Elizabeth. After leaving the hospital, they entered a hallway, quite a long hallway that led to a pair of double doors. Elizabeth stopped at the doors and drew out a card, which she slid through the reader and placed back into her pocket. The doors whizzed open and Elizabeth tugged Nadia through.

  Once inside Nadia was greeted by the smells of food and the hustle of dozens of people, all kids like her. Nearly all of them were wearing the same or similar outfit as Nadia as well as having the same haircut. The sudden shock of seeing new people sent Nadia into a sort of state of shock, but she was jerked out of it by the pull of the leash. Elizabeth approached a fence that separated her from the rest of them. A man was waiting at the gate for Elizabeth and once there he opened the door for the two of them to enter.

  “Welcome Elizabeth, I see you brought us a newbie. How old is this one?” The man was smiling at Nadia and Elizabeth seemed a bit preoccupied, but still answered the man.

  “Yes, she is new, brought in just a few days ago, with a brother. He was placed on the fast track. To answer your question she is 14. Can you direct me to the Warden?” The man nodded and started to walk away. Elizabeth, with Nadia in tow followed. While they walked some of the kids around Nadia started to stare at her. Apparently new people were a rarity and were given a good stare down by all present. The warden was a man in his late thirties, early forties and reminded Nadia of Daniel, the man that accompanied Jack. Somehow he had a more approachable feel, and gave off a warmer aura. Elizabeth came to a halt just short of a foot from the man and cleared her throat before saying anything.

  “Warden, I have a newbie for you. She has been cleaned and clothed, all that remains for you to do is to pair her with a bunk mate and instruct her to the rules and routines of this place. I will take my leave now and place her care in your hands. Before I depart I wish to give you a word of advice. This one is of a personal interest to Jack and requests a less dangerous way of dealing with her. Jack will be in to check on her in a few days and in two weeks she is scheduled for her first exam. Now I must leave. Good day.” Elizabeth placed the leash in the warden’s hands and turned about face and walked briskly away. The warden gave Nadia a looking over and used the key in his pocket to unlock the handcuffs.

  “Well, hello there and welcome to the girls community housing development. I am the warden and I run things here, whatever I say goes, got that?” Though the warden paused he did not expect an answer and then continued talking.

  “The way things are run here are simple, you get a bunk mate, meals are served in the morning at 8, lunch is varied and dinner is 6. If you miss a meal, that’s too bad and hopefully you don’t forget next time. The day is pretty rigidly planned, leaving little time for any sort of alone time. But should you find the time you are allowed to do most anything you want. The schedules are staggered so as to avoid crowding and tension. In your group you start the day with schooling, starting around nine. Usually that lasts for about four hours.

  “At about one, when you finish the school session you are given one hour for lunch. After that you have a three hour training session, mostly marital arts and hand to hand combat. Once that is finished there is a daily check-in, with your group. A group is a set of five to ten girls that have their procedures done around the same time; there is a matching set of males that also have their procedures done at the same time. The check-ins last for about half an hour, usually just to keep up on your health.

  “Dinner is served at six, I already mentioned that. Violence is not permitted and lights are out by 9 o’clock pm. Books are provided should you like to read. There are occasionally some events that are mandatory, but that comes later. Well, that’s all I have to tell ya, time to meet your bunk mate.” The warden walked off and Nadia felt compelled to follow him. This man was different than all the other people she had met thus far and he spoke so nicely that she couldn’t help but follow. He came to a bunk bed with a girl in the bottom bunk. She appeared to be sleeping, but once the warden arrived she popped up and smiled up at him.

  “Hello Rebecca, how are you this fine day? I have brought you your bunk mate, her name is Nadia. Nadia this is Rebecca, I hope you guys can get along. All right I have to go now, but I will check on you guys in a little bit. Bye.” And with that the warden left, leaving Nadia with yet another stranger. The girl came up to Nadia and looked at her, her eyes were a wondrous color green and they went stunningly with her flaming red hair. She wasn’t very tall, maybe four foot seven, but that could have been due to her age.

  “How old are you?” She questioned, staring so intently that her gaze seemed to go right through Nadia.

  “Fourteen, you?”

  “Lucky, I am only twelve, I don’t like being so tiny, I want to grow up already and get out of this place. You know that once you are twenty they are done fixing you and you can leave this place. It sounds like a far ways away, but I know that someday I will be older and able to leave.” Rebecca seemed to be so full of life; it must have been different how she arrived. Nadia wondered what stories or lies she had been told to make her believe that it was no big deal, just getting to a certain age and being let go. Nadia was sure that when the people were ready to ‘go’ they were not really free.

  “So, what’s your favorite color?” Rebecca’s beaming face seemed to lighten Nadia’s mood.

  “Purple.”

  “Well, mine is pink, and I love ponies too. Pretty pink ponies are the best. Hey, are you hungry? It’s almost dinner time, and tonight is mac and cheese. It’s really good, trust me.” Rebecca smiled and grabbed Nadia’s hand, pulling her to the lunch line and grabbing two trays and handing one to Nadia. “It’s real easy, all you do it put your tray in front of the lunch lady and she puts it on your tray. At the end are glasses of water.” Nadia mimicked Rebecca and got the macaroni and cheese as well as the fruit cocktail, finishing it off with a glass of water. After filling the trays with food Rebecca drew Nadia to a table with a few other girls and sat down. Nadia followed and sat next to Rebecca.

  “Hey, everyone this is Nadia, she’s new.” Everyone at the table said hello and smiled, some light conversation was started and Nadia eased in a bit. Nadia guessed that the time was a little after six, due to the fact that they were eating dinner. Being in this new environment made Nadia angry and concerned, the way they acted here it was as if this was their home. That somehow they were not being kept against their will, and none of what was happening made any sense to Nadia. How could they act as if nothing had happened, as if her family wasn’t taken away from her so brutally? Lingering rage bubbled its way close to the surface, but Nadia’s promise to herself made her cool her head and let the rage simmer down till the calm state enveloped her one more.

  “So, Nadia, right? Where are you from anyway? Myself personally am from the wonderful state of Kansas.” One of the girls near Nadia was trying to start some small talk, and if only to keep her mind off of things Nadia responded.

  “I am from Chicago. I think it’s a pretty good place to live, kind of dirty though.”

  “Oh, so…what group are you in? Most of us here are from group five, we are a big group, eleven girls.”

  “I don’t know. All I know is that I start the day with schooling, then training, then check-ins. I don’t understand how things work here, and honestly I don’t want to find out.” A sort of flash of anger reared its ugly head and a few of the girls seemed to be put off by it. Most of the conversation died off and nearly all the girls avoided eye contact. All except Rebecca, who, having one heck of a head on her shoulders, cleared her throat and loo
ked at Nadia.

  “Sounds to me like you are in group seven, with me; our group is a bit on the tiny side, with only five girls. I can introduce you guys later if you’d like?” Nadia took a silent deep breath and physically tried to lighten up, before looking back at Rebecca.

  “Sure, that sounds like a good idea. By the way, do you have anything after this?” Rebecca shook her head and smiled.

  “Nope, though most of the girls her do. I find that playing here in the corner is more fun, plus I am not very good at sports. I think I was meant to be the type of girl that sits behind a computer all day thinking.” A little giggle escaped Rebecca’s lips and she turned to the other girls at the table. “Nearly all of them are in the soccer program, bunch a weirdoes. You would want to run around like a crazy fool for hours on end? Not me that’s for sure. Nadia, you and I can sit and talk in the corner after dinner, since you haven’t seen the list of optional sessions. Maybe there I can answer a few of your questions and you can settle into your new life here.” Rebecca was definitely talking with a hidden meaning and Nadia could tell from the look in her eyes, how it had flickered with some sort of emotion, that there was something that Nadia needed to know.

  The dinner ended a short while after that and Rebecca pulled Nadia away to the corner, smiling and full of cheer. The moment that they were safe from sight the cheery act dropped and Rebecca stared at Nadia was a very intent glare. Nadia felt chills go down her spine, somehow seeing the façade dissolve like that right in front of her made her realize the lies and deception encased in all aspects of this place. Rebecca leaned towards Nadia and made as if to say something, but hesitated for a moment.