The Amplified

by Lauren M. Flauding

  I eat the Regular capsule first, and confirm my suspicion that these are the ones I've eaten my whole life. Next I try the Satisfy, and immediately I feel full and content, like I'm back at home listening to my mother's stories. The Protein capsule is salty and chalky, I can't imagine how Adrian could have enjoyed them, and the Pacify makes me feel calm and a little bit sleepy. Energy and Stamina taste and feel about the same, except that Energy is a little more intense. I'm glad I ate those after Pacify. Finally, I pop the Pleasure capsule in my mouth and am immediately overcome with a sickly sweet flavor. I don't know how anyone could find these addictive.

  "You okay, Mari?" I glance up from my empty bowl and see Joby looking at me with a puzzled expression. My dislike for the Pleasure capsule must show on my face.

  "That's the worst thing I've ever tasted," I say, nearly gagging on my still-sweet tongue. "Is there any Hydration in here?"

  Liam laughs and points to the corner opposite the capsule dispensers. As I start walking toward the Hydration capsules, Liam calls out:

  "Don't worry, Mari! They require a very sophisticated palate!"

  _________

  "Because your orientation was cut short due to circumstances beyond our control, I'm going to review some items that you may have missed," Talina informs us as she pulls a file up on the screens. I notice that several people steal a glance at me, knowing in part I'm the reason we have to review this boring information, but at least not all of them are looking at me with animosity this time.

  There's a lazy, complacent feeling prevailing now that we've all filled ourselves with nutrition. I feel air coming from somewhere, even though I can't locate any windows or vents in the large, enclosed lecture room. It looks a lot like the operation room in the Implantation Building, gray and clean, but with higher ceilings. There are just enough chairs for all the trainees, probably another tactic to keep everyone feeling equal. I watch Talina organizing some files on the screen. It really must be a task keeping the attention of about 150 teenagers who have just been given immense abilities.

  "First," Talina says loudly, causing more than a few drowsy heads to jerk upwards, "when commanding your Amplifier, you must start with your name. This is to protect yourself and others from sarcastic or flippant comments." I smile as I imagine people being forced to act on their offhand remarks. There would likely be far too much jumping off cliffs or eating worms.

  "Second," Talina continues, "as some of you may have learned last night, you cannot use your Amplifier to enhance your anatomy." Talina looks pointedly at a group of boys in front of her who are ducking their heads and reddening. I hear a few snickers from around the room, but personally, I'm a little disappointed. Oh well, I think, I guess I'll always be flat-chested.

  "Third," Talina snaps, regaining everyone's attention, "when you command yourself, you must be specific. You can't merely tell yourself to exercise, fight, or win. You must specify which maneuvers, how many, and how long. You have to put forth at least a little effort, the Amplifier is not going to do everything for you. On that note, the Amplifier will only perform actions that you have previously experienced, seen, or heard. It cannot fabricate behavior that is not already stored in your memory, although it can piece together new sequences of stored information if you direct it to do so." Talina pauses and looks out at us, presumably to see if anyone has any questions. There are none. Even if I did have a question, the intimidating look on Talina's face would discourage me from asking it.

  "Lastly, we will go over the situations that cause your Amplifiers to shut off." Talena turns and opens a file on the screen. "Number one: when you are asleep." An old video starts to play. "This is why."

  The video shows a man sleeping in a sparse room with a large window. He tosses back and forth in his bed, muttering incomprehensible words. Suddenly he sits up, alert, though his eyes are glazed over. "Andrew," he yells, "collect the samples." He busies himself by looking in an imaginary microscope and picking out invisible items from his bed sheets. I hear a few stifled giggles across the room.

  "Andrew, punch him in the stomach." The man stares at a point on the wall for a moment, then jumps out of his bed, rushes forward, and slams his fist in a low uppercut into the wall. Most of us are full out laughing now, watching as he struggles to get his fist out of the hole he just created in the wall. He frees his hand and stares at the wall blankly, then turns abruptly.

  "Andrew, run to headquarters." He launches into a full sprint toward the window. Our laughter ceases as he smashes through the glass and trips over the low sill. We hear a sickening thump and the video goes blank.

  "He fell four stories," Talina comments to the still silent room. Nobody asks what became of Andrew because nobody wants to know.

  "Next," Talina plows on, "loss of voice will render your Amplifiers useless." A picture of a hysterical-looking woman with a large metal contraption wrapped around her mouth appears on the screen.

  "This is a muzzle," Talina explains. "They are very heavy, nearly impossible to remove, and extremely effective. They are also the best resource the Dissenters currently have against us."

  Her last comment confuses me. I can't imagine the Dissenters being in possession of such sleek and useful equipment. At least not the idiotic, dopey-looking people I've been taught were Dissenters, the ones who oppose Amplification because they aren't fit to be Amplified. Maybe they've become more sophisticated over the last few years. Or maybe the Community has been showing us false images to dumb down our perceptions of the real threat. The more I learn about our system, the more the latter seems likely.

  A boy in the back of the room asks a question.

  "How do you remove the muzzle?"

  "With an Override, which we will talk about more extensively in a few minutes," Talina responds. "The last thing that will shut down your Amplifier is Intoxication. I've asked Jaren to help me demonstrate this principle. Jaren?"

  I watch the tall, rude, blonde guy that Alia's been fawning over stand and walk to the front. He gives a quick wink to Alia, and I feel her squirm with delight next to me. My stomach churns.

  "Please take this Intoxication capsule," Talina says simply, handing the multicolored pill to Jaren. He hardly looks at it before popping it in his mouth. After a few seconds his eyes widen and he smiles a little.

  "What is this?" He asks with obvious interest.

  "That is unimportant," Talina snaps. "Now give yourself a command."

  "Okay," Jaren answers cockily. He cracks his neck and assumes a wide stance. "Jaren, do a 5-second hand stand." Nothing happens. He looks sideways at Talina, who shrugs. He tries again, this time speaking a little more clearly.

  "Jaren, do a 5-second handstand." Again, nothing happens. Frustrated, he tries a different command. "Jaren, jump up and touch the ceiling." This time he jumps with his arms outstretched, but his reach falls a few feet short of the ceiling. Clearly, he attempted the maneuver on his own. He stares angrily at Talina.

  "This is ridiculous!" He spits out. "I don't even feel intoxicated at all!"

  "That is the point," Talina counters. "It doesn't matter if you've had one or one hundred, once the Amplifier registers that you have Intoxication in your system, it will not perform. This is also why Intoxication is strictly forbidden during Training." Jaren pouts and jams his fists in his pockets.

  "How long will this last?" He grumbles.

  "About four hours, when the toxins are completely flushed from your system." Jaren opens his mouth to complain, but Talina cuts him off. "You can speed up the process with one of these," she adds, handing him a Digest capsule. "Thank you for your help."

  Jaren takes the capsule begrudgingly and slumps back to his seat. "Looks like your boyfriend doesn't do too well with performance issues," I whisper to Alia.

  "Shut up, Mari!" She hisses back, but I can see she's fighting back a smile.

  "Finally, we will discuss the Override," Talina announces, turning back to the screen. "Generally, your Amplifiers will only be overr
idden during battle, although there are other special circumstances where the Override might be appropriate, such as removing a muzzle." Now the screen shows a video of thousands of soldiers in a forested area. It soon becomes clear that they are participating in some kind of simulated battle, but it's hard to tell exactly what is going on in all of the chaos. Some soldiers are engaged in hand to hand combat, others are using stunt weapons, while still others are running in every direction or scaling trees.

  "The leaders of the Community decided that it would be far less stressful in battle if all soldiers were directed by a third party, thus saving huge amounts of time that otherwise would have been spent learning and practicing formations, tactics, and strategies," Talena rehearses. Suddenly, the soldiers in the video become rigid and fall into perfect formations. They act in unison, each division performing their tactics with an almost eerie, robotic precision. In the simulation, one unit climbs the trees and then parachutes down, shooting fake guns at all the others on their way to the ground. Another unit appears to dig an underground tunnel to the other side of the forest, emerging from behind and overtaking another group of soldiers.

  "Overall," Talina says turning off the video, "battles have become much more effective with the Override. Questions?"

  A skinny girl in the front raises her hand timidly.

  "What does the Override feel like?" She squeaks.

  Talina smiles. "I'm glad you asked." She walks back to the control panel and pushes another button. I jump as the room fills with the sound of blaring horns playing intermittently over a heavy beat. We all look around at each other for a few moments, confused and unsure. Then all at once, I hear Talina's voice in my head.

  "Stand up."

  There are loud scrapes as everyone stands and pushes back their chair at once.

  "Walk to the front, starting on the left foot, in three-seconds. Three, two, one."

  My feet move of their own volition. It's the most absurd and unsettling feeling I've ever experienced. I try once or twice not to walk forward, but I am unable to resist. I see now that Talina is speaking into a small microphone that is attached to a conspicuous silver box at her feet.

  We converge in the open area at the front of the room, evenly spaced about a foot away from each other.

  "Stop."

  Talina's voice rings in my head for a moment during the instant of relative silence, and then commands come into my head so quickly, I can barely understand them.

  "Turn, right kick, squat down, jump up..."

  My body responds faster than my mind can process the commands, and it's making me dizzy. So I stop focusing on Talina's words and try to observe everyone else. We're all dancing. Some look more natural than others, but everyone performs the same moves to the music.

  I spot Tristan's sour face a few feet away from me, and I hear him complaining loudly, "This is the dumbest thing I've ever done!" Apparently, Talina heard his comment as well because suddenly everyone else stands still while Tristan twirls wildly like a drunk ballerina.

  I laugh, but soon my body is obeying commands again, executing dance moves I've never seen before in my life. The room starts to spin as the music and movements get faster. Just as I'm starting to lose my breath, the music ends and my head clears. I look around and see that we're all lying on our sides with one fist in the air. There is a mixture of laughter, cursing and clapping as people come out of the Override. I feel energized - I've never danced with a group like that before.

  "That is what it feels like to be overridden," Talina shouts over the noise. "But I can't promise there will always be music." There are a few chuckles as everyone gets to their feet and returns to their chairs. Alia finds me and starts going off about the music, but I'm lost in my own thoughts. That was probably the most fun I've had in a long time. So why do I feel so disturbed?

  Chapter 10

  I am being strangled.

  I gasp as I wake up from my nightmare, but when I open my eyes, I see that the dream is real. Tristan is on top of me. I can't breathe, I can't scream, I can't call for help.

  "This is awesome! I'm so glad I found you!"

  Now I'm confused. As I more fully gain consciousness, I see Tristan's face, but it's softer, and it's surrounded by long, white-blonde hair.

  "I had to ask about a dozen people which dorm you were in, and most of them weren't very helpful, but I just had to meet you!"

  I sit up. No one is pinning me down. A girl who looks like Tristan is hovering over me. Her mouth looks like it's stained with green Energy capsules. My shock subsides and I can finally get some words out.

  "Who are you?"

  "Oh! I'm sorry! This must be really weird for you, being woken up by a total stranger! I'm Cassidy Prewitt! I'm Tristan's sister!"

  "Twin?" I ask groggily.

  "Yes! How did you know?"

  I stare at this overactive girl for a few moments, and then around at the other girls in my dorm. Alia is stifling a giggle, but the other four just eye Cassidy wearily. It's still pretty dark outside, I'm guessing we were all woken up by my surprise visitor.

  "Anyway," Cassidy continues, not at all put off by my less than friendly demeanor, "I just want to thank you for saving my brother's life. What you did was spectacular! I wish I had the guts to do something like that."

  "Well, I'm glad that somebody's happy about it." I reply, trying to summon a smile.

  Cassidy beams. "I know he can be a little crazy sometimes, but I'm just so glad he's still alive!" She starts to tear up. I panic. This girl is over the top when she's happy, I'm not eager too see what she's like when she's distressed.

  "Well, Cassidy, it was really nice to meet you, but I think I'm going to try to sleep a little bit longer before practical training today," I hint.

  "Oh, for sure," Cassidy says cheerily, her tears vanishing, "I should get some sleep too, I've been awake all night!" I watch her take a couple yellow Pacify capsules before she waves goodbye and closes the door.

  I fall back on my pillow, smiling. I think Tristan's sister might be his one redeeming quality. I listen as the other girls resume the slow, steady breathing of sleep, but I can't settle down. I toss and turn for a few minutes and consider commanding myself to fall asleep like Joby did, but for some reason I can't bring myself to do it.

  Finally I give up and slip out of bed. The clock on the wall across the room tells me it's almost 5:00. I figure I'll just arrive early to the Coliseum. Really early.

  It is strangely quiet outside. I can only just barely hear the whir of the massive turbines that keep the barge aloft. After taking a quick shower I make my way to the Coliseum. Being the largest building on the ship, it's pretty easy to find. The massive doors are unlocked, which seems a little odd to me, but I guess they can't have too much trouble with people who have been conditioned to behave. Unless, of course, you're someone like Miles Paxton.

  The first thing I notice is the ceiling. It is composed completely of thousands of large, long shards of glass hanging vertically like stalactites. They look so precarious, like they could drop at any moment, and I hesitate to move forward. I take a few moments to observe the expanse of this enclosure which houses a field, a boxing ring, a pool, a weight lifting area, a hover chamber, firing and archery ranges, an urban obstacle course, and likely countless other features I can't see from where I'm standing. Mounted on the wall to the left of me are hundreds of various weapons, ranging from rifles to crossbows to axes. I walk by and marvel at the variety and complexity of these instruments, but also wonder at the endless creativity of those seeking to inflict harm and death. I know these weapons are a great source of defense, but must there be so many ways to hurt someone?

  I turn and see what looks like a jungle in the far corner of the Coliseum and cross to see exactly what it is. The floors are springy and I can't resist leaping from one foot to the other, gaining buoyancy with every step. I'm so focused on leaping that once I reach the room I almost run into some low-hanging vines. I realize now that wha
t I thought was a jungle is a series of loosely looped cables and bent poles. I hear a faint buzzing sound. On a hunch, I pull out a few strands of my hair and drop them on the nearest cable. They burn up on contact. I'll be interested to know what purpose this area serves in our training.

  I carefully back away from the electrocution cables and look for something else to explore. I would love to try out some acrobatics in the hover chamber, but there are cameras everywhere, and I really don't want to draw attention to myself. Instead, I settle for a little experimentation. I scoop up a handful of water from the pool, noticing as I carry it that what I spill evaporates immediately when it hits the floor. When I reach the hover room, I only have a little water left, but it's enough that several droplets form and float through the air as I stick my hand through the doorway.

  I watch the droplets go off in different directions, no order, no purpose, just drifting whichever way they're carried. It's beautiful, but for some reason it makes me uneasy. I'm considering going back to handle some of the weapons when I hear a loud crash behind me. I spin around and see a young boy staring out at me from behind a bench press.

  I saw a rabbit once. It was years ago when I was walking home from school. That was the first and only time I've ever seen an animal. I remember it froze when it saw me, it's glassy eyes large with fear.

  This boy reminds me of that rabbit.

  He is almost in full view, and doesn't make a move to hide, but it looks like he's trying to cower behind the bench. There are a few weights scattered at his feet, which must have been the cause of the noise. He has curly black hair and an upturned nose. He can't be more than nine years old.

  I walk slowly toward him, not sure what exactly I'm going to do when or if I reach him. His eyes grow wide, but he still doesn't move. I'm about 20 feet away from him. A door opens.

  "Hey Mari! You trying to show us all up again by being early?" Liam's jovial face appears in the entryway. He's followed by a boy and a girl, who, judging by their size, look like they're also from his compound. They walk forward, oblivious of the young intruder across from me, probably because the curly haired boy is obscured from their view by several hanging heavy bags.