How to Disappear Completely
Explanation.
Mrotek and Durden sit together and eat. Beckett joins them, slipping into the conversation about the supposed "outside world". The sky's especially red today. Like it is every day.
"You look a little envious, Rory." Chislett nods towards Beckett. "Do you miss him?" Three days without a conversation with Beckett, and I'm fine with that. If he refuses to speak to me, then I will do the same to him.
"Yes, and the guards looked nervous today. Was today inspection day for them?" Durden slices her chicken uneasily, while Durden and Beckett are half finished with their plates. "And does Big Brother come out to inspect them himself?"
"No; he has no time for that." Mrotek takes a swig of water. "Beckett, Carden, Siska, and Rory made sure all of them were doing their job. And that each guard was each guard." There have been times where men steal a guards' clothes in order to escape. However, Beckett is thorough. "Torturing them into loving Big Brother is the worst part, to be honest."
"Agreed. Hurting those poor souls is not something I love doing." Beckett swishes the white wine around in his glass. "Their pitiful pleas break my heart; they really do." Beckett never collapses to emotions during torture. Usually, the grin on his face seems genuine. A sadistic liar. Maybe this is all an act.
"Mrotek, Beckett, I don't understand the reason why Big Brother exists. Does it just like to torture all of us? To hurt us?"
"Big Brother exists to control the world. And it has succeeded. However, we belong as ourselves, not as...wind-up toys, or generic soldiers." Beckett wipes his mouth with a gray napkin. "The world needs to be freed of this...overbearing, plain, dead society."
"In the immortal words of Big Brother: War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength," Mrotek repeats, stabbing his carrots. "How many of these test tube men die in battle against each other every day?"
"All for the government's entertainment. They're trained military dogs fighting each other. Battle 'till the death. I've been told they even drag in lions and other exotic animals if some still live."
Durden bites her lip. "What...what do they fight with?"
"Their bare hands. Occasionally knives, switchblades. Nothing fancy. The government doesn't provide guns anymore. They die too quickly that way. It's like the Roman Colosseum, minus the cheering crowds. Big Brother's the king."
"But if they provide weapons, won't they..." Durden presses the peas down with her fork, turning them into mush. "Won't they attempt suicide?"
"They only work when in the field for battle. They lie, telling each soldier, that if he survives the battle, he will be freed." Mrotek shakes his head. "But in reality, we know how everything really turns out. Death is better than working in a factory every day, waking up to exercise, eating nutritious gray paste." The men are finished, and stand up to put their plates in a bin, which are sent down to a workhouse. More test tube women working for the sake of Big Brother.
"Sending our dishes down there...doesn't that mean we promote this sort of test tube labor?" I was a test tube child. I can't bear to have others like myself washing my dishes. "This is wrong."
"If we don't, Big Brother would wonder what we're doing with the plates. Plotting against him maybe. We don't want him to believe there's anything wrong." Carden watches the fork, knife, and plate disappear down the dark hole. "Besides, it's not my problem. If we kept these things, it would mean we have to wash them."
"Besides, we're eating things made by test tube women." Chislett holds up his slice of steak. "Rory, we can't fix any wrong doings at the moment. We're planning to free the whole world; isn't that good enough?"
I drop my silverware and plate down the tube. "I don't know."
"Rory, things happen for a reason." Carden pats my back. "I'm going back into the laboratory to tamper with some new material Big Brother sent me; they've made lots of ugly mistakes. These scientists are absolute abominations." He trudges off as Chislett stops me. I raise my eyebrows.
"There's some new reading material on Big Brother's mechanics. Apparently, a few things have changed. Saporta fixed some things...seems as though more complex things have been added. It's harder for us to hack and dismantle now."
How inconvenient.
"Siska, are you taking Colligan and Crawford to the exercise room?" Siska nods, leaning against the door frame. "Tell them they need to study their math," I say, following Chislett to the library. "Because without it, we may lose."
"You look a little envious, Rory." Chislett nods towards Beckett. "Do you miss him?" Three days without a conversation with Beckett, and I'm fine with that. If he refuses to speak to me, then I will do the same to him.
"Yes, and the guards looked nervous today. Was today inspection day for them?" Durden slices her chicken uneasily, while Durden and Beckett are half finished with their plates. "And does Big Brother come out to inspect them himself?"
"No; he has no time for that." Mrotek takes a swig of water. "Beckett, Carden, Siska, and Rory made sure all of them were doing their job. And that each guard was each guard." There have been times where men steal a guards' clothes in order to escape. However, Beckett is thorough. "Torturing them into loving Big Brother is the worst part, to be honest."
"Agreed. Hurting those poor souls is not something I love doing." Beckett swishes the white wine around in his glass. "Their pitiful pleas break my heart; they really do." Beckett never collapses to emotions during torture. Usually, the grin on his face seems genuine. A sadistic liar. Maybe this is all an act.
"Mrotek, Beckett, I don't understand the reason why Big Brother exists. Does it just like to torture all of us? To hurt us?"
"Big Brother exists to control the world. And it has succeeded. However, we belong as ourselves, not as...wind-up toys, or generic soldiers." Beckett wipes his mouth with a gray napkin. "The world needs to be freed of this...overbearing, plain, dead society."
"In the immortal words of Big Brother: War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength," Mrotek repeats, stabbing his carrots. "How many of these test tube men die in battle against each other every day?"
"All for the government's entertainment. They're trained military dogs fighting each other. Battle 'till the death. I've been told they even drag in lions and other exotic animals if some still live."
Durden bites her lip. "What...what do they fight with?"
"Their bare hands. Occasionally knives, switchblades. Nothing fancy. The government doesn't provide guns anymore. They die too quickly that way. It's like the Roman Colosseum, minus the cheering crowds. Big Brother's the king."
"But if they provide weapons, won't they..." Durden presses the peas down with her fork, turning them into mush. "Won't they attempt suicide?"
"They only work when in the field for battle. They lie, telling each soldier, that if he survives the battle, he will be freed." Mrotek shakes his head. "But in reality, we know how everything really turns out. Death is better than working in a factory every day, waking up to exercise, eating nutritious gray paste." The men are finished, and stand up to put their plates in a bin, which are sent down to a workhouse. More test tube women working for the sake of Big Brother.
"Sending our dishes down there...doesn't that mean we promote this sort of test tube labor?" I was a test tube child. I can't bear to have others like myself washing my dishes. "This is wrong."
"If we don't, Big Brother would wonder what we're doing with the plates. Plotting against him maybe. We don't want him to believe there's anything wrong." Carden watches the fork, knife, and plate disappear down the dark hole. "Besides, it's not my problem. If we kept these things, it would mean we have to wash them."
"Besides, we're eating things made by test tube women." Chislett holds up his slice of steak. "Rory, we can't fix any wrong doings at the moment. We're planning to free the whole world; isn't that good enough?"
I drop my silverware and plate down the tube. "I don't know."
"Rory, things happen for a reason." Carden pats my back. "I'm going back into the laboratory to tamper with some new material Big Brother sent me; they've made lots of ugly mistakes. These scientists are absolute abominations." He trudges off as Chislett stops me. I raise my eyebrows.
"There's some new reading material on Big Brother's mechanics. Apparently, a few things have changed. Saporta fixed some things...seems as though more complex things have been added. It's harder for us to hack and dismantle now."
How inconvenient.
"Siska, are you taking Colligan and Crawford to the exercise room?" Siska nods, leaning against the door frame. "Tell them they need to study their math," I say, following Chislett to the library. "Because without it, we may lose."