“Today my name is Seth!”
“I’m curious. Why do you change your name every day?”
“I’m constantly reinventing myself every time I wake up. People change on a gradual basis without their ever knowing it.”
“Yes, but people generally have different preferences or opinions. Every one of your alternate personae all have the same personality!”
“All people seem alike to me.”
The Girl put on a mock disappointed expression. “Even me??”
The Patient gave a delayed reaction before responding, “You’re not like most people.”
“Well, that’s good to know. Most people wouldn’t come bearing gifts.” She reached inside the large package she’d been lugging around, and brought out the latest Scientist’s offering, a mesh fisherman’s net, with dense crisscross wiring.
She hooked a section of the hollow checkered patterned sheet from a hook on the ceiling that was meant for hanging plants, and since there was nothing to hold it down on the floor, wedged a desk leg underneath. The instant it was set up, the Patient uttered a shriek of joy, then reached up, hooked his hands into the mesh frame and rested his whole body against it. Within seconds, a wave of calm greater than wearing the headphones fell upon the Patient’s face, and a slight rumbling sound could be heard emanating from his body that she soon realized was snoring.
The Girl was amazed. She’d never seen anyone sleep standing up in such an uncomfortable position.
Once the Patient calmed down, she decided to bring up the subject of the outside world to better prepare him for the possibility of escape.
“Would you like to get out of this room?”
“Nah.”
“Why not? There’s plenty of interesting things out there.”
“Don’t wanna.”
“Aren’t you at all interested?”
“I’m comfortable here.”
“Where do you think everything you get comes from?”
“Don’t care.”
The Girl grew frustrated at this Patient’s passive resistance at being caged within the confines of this dull room where nothing ever changed. “How can you be satisfied with this unstimulating existence?!”
“It’s consistent.”
Actually, the word he used was ‘Same’, just punched up to sound fancier and make more sense. She wasn’t getting anywhere this way. It was time to go for the last resort. “If... if you saw someone who looked like you, would you go with them?”
“There’s no one who looks like me.”
“But if someone was sending gifts through me, and you could get it right from the source, would you go with them?”
There was a long uncomfortable silence as the Patient went through whatever thought processes in his mind. She could practically hear him think before he finally came up with the answer. “...maybe.”
A slight confirmation. That was better than nothing. Whether he was debating over familiarity with the Girl or a complete stranger was immaterial as long as he was happy. As long as she planted the seed of rebellion within, there was the chance he might go along.
The business with the Patient taken care of, it was time to implement the next stage of the plan. She ventured into the cell-splicing area, dutifully taking down notes of the continued impotent experiments continuing on late into the day, and the Technician was venting in frustration with repeated failures piling up until the allotted time for the experimental clinical trials ran out.
Right on schedule, at the crucial moment, a messenger came in saying, “Here’s the latest list of restrictions from Upper Management.”
“Not again!” the Technician complained. “I was just about to start the last batch! With my luck, it’ll be forbidden by tomorrow!”
“If you want, I could do it for you.”
“No. Upper Management put those limits there for a reason. I have to follow procedure.”
“Look, you’ve been doing this for how long now? Wouldn’t it be better to break convention before the restrictions take place?”
“I can’t allow my job to go into jeopardy. Even if it worked, I’d be punished for allowing you to operate without my supervision.
“I’ll just say I was bored, and did it behind your back to liven things up.”
“They have records of these things everywhere. You’re taking records right now.”
“There’s a way for me to continue experimenting without actually exceeding overtime. Since I’m still logged in for doing activity elsewhere, I wouldn’t be held liable for taking part of an unofficial operation in a place where I’m not supposed to be.”
The Technician considered this. “What do you know about implementing cells?”
“I’ve seen you do it plenty of times. It doesn’t seem that difficult. No one would ever have to know.”
“...alright, but if anything happens, I’m taking credit for it.” And the Technician left, clocking out just before the deadline.
The lights were starting to go out, but the procedure was absurdly simple. Taking two disparate cells, piecing them together, then incubating them overnight. It was finished just under the time limit before she would’ve been locked out. Only, instead of mixing the forbidden combination that was provided earlier, she used the Scientist’s formula that would ‘give them an earful’. She was worried there’d be loads of complicated code she’d have to memorize, but the formula called for excess collagen and fat. It might not give the desired result, but it would serve as a natural distraction. And besides, she was curious as to what would happen.
As she was leaving, she was suddenly stopped by one of the Mothers. “Excuse me, can I talk to you?”
For a brief moment, the Girl was elated. Someone was actually talking to her outside of the work environment! Preferably about something not baby-related. And the Superior Mother, no less! Then she suddenly felt guilty. Did this woman catch on to what she was doing? She hoped it didn’t show on her face. “What is it?”
“I’ve noticed some odd things in the Patient’s room. Do you know anything about that?”
She hesitated. Had she moved too fast too soon? She should’ve made greater effort to hide the new stuff. Granted, the netting was too large and noticeable. The smaller stuff was easy in comparison. She hadn’t been caught in a long time, and her actions had made her arrogant.
“I might’ve brought in outside stuff to make it easier to deal with the Patient.”
“That’s what I thought. I was hoping you could walk me through some of the items. What’s with the straws?”
This was easy enough. “The Patient kept dribbling food all over his meals, and it irritated me so much that I brought my personal collection to help deal with it. Now, he still spews liquid, but it’s more controllable now. Also, he seems to enjoy it.”
“Can you tell me about this crisscross pattern?”
“I noticed that the Patient was hiding under the bed all the time. On the rare occasions he was out, I had the chance to look underneath, and found the wires had all been pulled out. It seemed healthier for him to do it out in the open.”
“Okay, now, can you explain these headphones?”
Uh-oh, this was going to be problematic. Unlike the previous objects, those couldn’t be easily explained away. She’d have to improvise. “I was listening to music, and the Patient seemed curious about what was on my head. Out of obligation, I allowed him to wear mine. For some reason, he only listens to white noise.”
“Funny. I’ve never seen you wearing headphones before.”
“That’s how good I was at hiding it.”
“I see. That’s all I need to know.”
“That’s it? “You don’t want to know more?”
“No need. I’m going to confiscate them anyways.”
“Please don’t!” she cried, surprised at the intensity of her outburst. “If you could see for yourself, you’d see how helpful they are in making the Patient more docile. If these objects are taken away, he’ll regress back to his default state.”
“The Patient is more manageable when kept calm.”
“I’m glad you agree - ”
“He may keep the straw.”
“No, that’s not what - ”
“Once the other objects’re gone, he’ll quickly revert back to his old self.”
“If those things are taken away, he’ll become distressed, not appeased.”
“He’ll feel some temporary discomfort, but he’ll remember what it was like before. If the Patient wants something, he should ask for them first.”
How could she possibly explain? The Patient was helpless to make his demands known, since he was overdaunted by outside stimuli. It was only by having these objects in his vicinity that he was able to express any amount of assertiveness for himself. And how could she explain how she found out about these discoveries in the first place? The Scientist’s instinct about these tools were always on the mark.
“It’s dangerous to grow too attached to these Subjects,” the Superior Mother warned. “It’s not proper to have external influences that could alter the outcome of the experiment. I’m going to have to confiscate the netting and headphones. They’re potential choking hazards.”
Choking hazards? The straw? Maybe. The netting? Debatable. The headphones? You’d have to really work hard to jam them down your throat. “Can I at least have my headphones back if I promise not to share them with the Patient again?”
The Superior Mother eyed the Girl warily. Then after much introspection, decided to relent, and handed them over under the assumption that she wouldn’t abuse this act of forgiveness. “You shouldn’t be listening to music at work, anyways.”
“I won’t.”
For the rest of the workday, the Girl covertly wore the headphones to show near witnesses that she was goofing off in her spare time. This was tricky to do, making it seem obvious while also making it seem like these were things she’d had all along. This was also an opportunity to listen to the Scientist’s recordings added in her bulk package she’d been meaning to get around to. And what she heard troubled her greatly.
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