The World of Absence

“New! Buy now! New torso implants guaranteed to get you noticed! Need to get that promotion? What better way than showing the best you you can be. What about fixing that failing relationship? They won’t be able to resist you with these new one of a kind body. Comes in both male and female parts.”

I cringe as I turn off the television. It’s no surprise this propaganda is being shoved down our throats. It always is when a new product comes out, and every time there’s but one person behind it, our beloved president. She decides short hair becomes the new phase? Ads everywhere, every character in every show cuts their hair. Then two months later, long hair will be the thing and funnily enough, extensions become the number one sold product. But not for me. I’m what they call a natural born. Never had surgery in my life despite having the finances for it, never want to either. It causes me some shit at school, but I don’t care. I’d rather be flawed than a clone.

My family understands, well my mum does anyway. Dad and Lacie are always making comments, asking why I can’t be normal. Ironic right, they’re the ones filled with fake implants that make them “better” and yet I’m the one who’s not normal.

As I put down the remote, mum and Lacy walk in. Lacy looks nearly unidentifiable as she stares at me. Her dimples have been removed, her hair dyed a dark brunette from her previous blonde and her eyes now hazel rather than blue. She doesn’t say a word, instead heading straight to the television, turning it back on.

“New! Buy now! New torso…”

I groan at the ad. Out of all the things the government have ever pushed, there’s no question about which is the most annoying.

“Mum! I know what I want for my birthday.”

I can’t help but stare in shock. It isn’t abnormal for Lacy to want the newest and “best” implants, but these damn torso implants have no actual appeal to them. Sure, some people may like that body type better, but just as many don’t. It is literally just something you get just to have. I try to keep my mouth shut, but silence has never been my strong suit.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“Just because you’re not normal.”

Her typical response. It’s sad how unnatural borns can’t even seem bring themselves to create a proper argument for something that seems to mean so much to them.

“Do you even know what those things are filled with?”

“Does it matter?”

I roll my eyes and walk away. I knew there was no point arguing with her. She was brainwashed like the rest of them. It’s going to take a miracle for them to see the light.
The weeks continue to go past and life went on as usual. Winter started to set in and as per usual, people started taking days off due to sickness. Guess those implants haven’t caught up with actually fighting off illnesses yet despite what they advertise. But something is unusual. More people than ever seem to be off with minor symptoms like coughs and some people were even dying. Sure, the odd death from colds isn’t too strange, especially in newborn babies, but the deaths aren’t coming from infants at all. In fact, most of the stories I’ve heard are about seemingly healthy adults catching something.

At first I did what I could to ignore it. I’d turn off television programs, avoid conversations about it and more, but eventually I could feel my curiosity get the best of me. Lacy has currently been stuck in bed for weeks with that damn cough going around and it’s getting under my skin. I know I have to do something, but I can’t think of what. I start rewatching news stories, doing what I can to make a link to make some kind of basis but with each story, my anger just grew and grew. The only apparent link between the victims is they have those stupid torso implants. I knew something was wrong with those stupid things, but I was too lazy to check what, until now that is. I begin to search the net to find anything I can about the contents of them, which surprisingly isn’t too hard. Shows where the smallest amount of effort can get you if you can be bothered. As I look through the list, certain ingredients start popping out. Tar. They’re using ingredients identical to the tar used in cigarettes to fill the damn implants. It makes so much sense now. The coughing is coming from the implants tearing and giving them cancer. I dash down the hall to Lacy’s room to see her coughing over a bucket.

“What do you want?”

“We have to go. You have to get those torso implants out.”

“What are you on about? I just got them in.”

I ignore the question, instead dragging her outside the house. She starts screaming, causing the street to look and eventually follow us. As we reach the president’s office, laughter comes from inside.

“So they think it’s just the cold weather?”

“Yes. The media is all over it making sure they don’t even consider anything else.”

Silence falls among those who have followed me. Then, in a minute of rage, I am knocked to the ground and the door before me is burst open. The world stops. Before us stands our president, but something is wrong. The voice coming from her mouth is not consistent with all those ads she voiced. The natural born beside her begins to stutter.

“I…It’s not what you think.”

There it is. The voice from the ads. The people don’t think twice. They move, almost simultaneously, towards the two women. Two of the stronger men grab them, ringing them around the neck, holding them for all to see. The people start chanting words of hate and blame.

“We’re sorry, we didn’t mean to do this.”

Tears start falling from her face, causing the crowd to become silent until the other female opened her mouth.

“And even if we did, it’s your own fault for not checking the ingredients yourself.”

With that, I watch, paralysed as the two men squeeze, draining any form of life from the two women. The crowd cheers as the bodies fall to the ground before walking away. But I don’t. I sit there consumed in my thoughts. She may have done wrong by us, but the woman is right. Technology has advanced so much and has done so much good that nobody even bothers checking for the bad anymore. But there is bad, and it leads to the question, were we really living in the dark ages or has technology corrupted us, using its influence to create a dystopian world we may never escape from?