Boosters removed, experiment nears end
we sat in the park at least an
other hour, trying to figure things
out. The kids who had come to the
park after us were still playing.
The woman I thought had been
their mother left by herself, look
ing again at the kids as she passed
them.
It would be dark soon and we
hadn’t gotten anywhere. The three
of us had not been experiencing
the little mental intrusions we had
gotten used to.
Mary and Karen had had nearly
identical “dreams” about a person
doing some sort of brain surgery
on them or something.
We figured that 2IC, the com
pany we went back to visit, had
somehow removed the boosters
they had earlier implanted. That’s
why we hadn’t been able to make
a mental link a couple of hours
prior.
But what about me? I hadn’t had
a dream like theirs or any kind of
blackout. We didn’t even know
whether I still could make the mental
r— --5—
link, since there was no one else
that I could try with.
• * ♦ * *
“But why would they fix you
guys up and not me?”
Karen looked at me. “Were you
around other people or something
so they never had a chance?”
I didn’t have to think about the
answer. “No, I was alone almost
the entire time. All they had to do
was come a nd take it away, just like
they put it in.”
“What if you tried reaching out
to see if anyone else is left?” Mary
asked. “There were ten of us in all.”
“We talked about that earlier,” I
said. “That could clue them to where
I am. Too dangerous.”
Mary shook her head. “1 don’t
think so. They found us. Twice, in
fact. And what could we do about
it? If they want you, Drake, they’re
going to get you."
Then it was Karen’s turn. “I still
don’t get why they didn’t do any
thing to you guys when you went
straight to the company headquar
_-g 1 J.---J
ters.”
None of us could give an an
swer. We leaned back a bit, looked
at each other and fell silent. xMy
gaze drifted toward the three kids,
who had shifted to playing some
mutant form of tag. One of them
ran straight for us and veered off at
the last minute.
• • ♦ • »
1 looked up when I heard a
familiar voice call my name.
I hadn’t seen him outside of his
office for years. "Hey, Dad. What
brings you out?”
He stood for a moment before
joining us on the grass. Introduc
tions were made allaround, but he
seemed a little detached as we did
so.
“Did you want to talk to me
alone?”
He faintly smiled and said, “No,
that’s quite all right. You should all
hear this.”
Karen, Mary and I exchanged
glances and those two remained
silent.
“I’ll get right to the point. I was
part of 2IC’s project. I chose you
and your two friends here. I chose
all the subjects for that phase of the
study. You have to believe that I
didn’t want to hurt you. I wanted
someone I could see the whole
time.”
“What about Mary and Karen?
Why were any of the rest of us
chosen?”
“Psych profiles mostly. Those
specs came in from someone else.
But it was me on the computer.”
"Now wait. You work for LLT
and 2IC?”
"Yes.”
“And they both know that?”
“Ah, yes. It’s the same company,
actually. Or two different parts of
it.”
We all exchanged glances again.
I was starting to wonder whether
my father had been implanted with
something himself.
“Why didn’t you tell me — any
of us— earlier?”
“I couldn’t. This is the first chance
I’ve had There are other phases of
the study. Much more is involved,
especially since matters did not
unfold as anticipated.”
“We heard a little about that."
“Then you probably know that
the ten subjects were not supposed
to be able to contact each other.
And that certain follow-up proce
dures will need to be performed.”
“So I’ll be heading back to the
office with you?"
“You and I will be the last two to
have the boosters removed, Drake.”
Peterson is a senior psychology and
philosophy major and a Daily Nebras
kan reporter and columnist. This is the
twelfth and possibly final story in a se
ries.
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