The Choice Part 1

A Story by kidop10

2200, humanity has been relying on two formulas each increasing intelligence or strength. The catch is that you can only take one and the side effects are severe. Jim Smith has to make a choice soon.

“MR. WALLECE!!! Would you kindly wake up and tell the rest of the class what did Dr. Johnson invent in 2150 and how has it affected our lives today?” Mr. Washington roared across the dead silent history class.

“Oh, um, Dr. Johnson he, uh, invented the, uh, physical and mental enhancers that, um, we use after high school to get jobs?” came the confused answer.

Mr. Washington was one of those history teachers that looked like he had actually lived through everything he was teaching and there was a rumor going around that his family had evolved from birds because he looked as close to a hawk as a human can look. He sighed and replied, “It’s been fifty years since those two formulas were first invented and I can see why we need them. Yes, he did invent enhancements but, they do more then just help us get jobs. Each enhances either physical abilities or mental abilities but they severally reduce the opposite capability. In short, you must choose brains or brawn. At the end of the semester you seniors will have to make a choice on which enhancement to take. For some of you, like Mr. Wallece here with his vast athletic prowess, the Choice is obvious but for others, like Mr. Smith here who has top grades in both physical and intellectual classes, the Choice will require much thought and soul searching.” Mr. Washington would have continued but at that moment Jim’s hand shot up, “Yes, Mr. Smith?”

The only thing average about Jim Smith was his name, He was 6 feet 3 inches tall, had bleached blond hair, and vibrant emerald green eyes. He had an I.Q. higher than Einstein and Steven Hawking combined and was a natural at any sport or physical challenge. “I was just wondering, do we have to make a choice?”

After a moment of consideration, Mr. Washington replied, “Well, I suppose we can’t force you to choose but, there have been no records of anyone not taking an enhancement. Furthermore, it is not possible to survive the current world relying only on natural talents because every one will either be smarter or stronger than you.” At that moment the bell sounded. “There is the sound that marks the end of mental stimulation for the day and marks the beginning of your physical education. Remember, your choice will affect the rest of your life and your essay on political figures of the 2000s to the 2020s is due tomorrow!” Mr. Washington called out as the class shuffled out of the door. Jim knew for a fact that his brother declined the Choice when he graduated and several weeks later he suddenly disappeared saying only that he would wander until he would find his place in the world. Jim couldn’t believe this because his brother repeatedly said that he had no interest in traveling. Something was wrong with this picture and Jim was going to find out what it was.

Jim had a very unique social life, everybody liked him but no one wanted to hang out with him. Everyone liked him because he was thoughtful and an all around good guy but, no one wanted to be his friend because he was gifted in every sense of the word. The smart kids were put off by his strength and the strong kids didn’t like how he was so smart.

Several months passed and it was time for graduation. The ceremony was full of long flowery speeches from administrators that nobody knew existed or what they did. Jim had graduated at the top of the class in intellectual studies and physical abilities. That meant that he had to give two speeches right after each other. One of them was stressing the importance of intelligence in modern society and the other was stressing the importance of strength in modern society. After the ceremony the seniors went to their first period class and were given a single piece of paper with two choices on it. The students then checked mental or physical enhancement and turned the paper into their teachers who then directed them to a room depending on their choice. Eventually Jim was the only one left who hadn’t made a choice. All he wrote on his paper was one word NEITHER. After everyone else left the teacher came to Jim’s desk to see what the problem was. “Is there something wrong Jim?”

“No, I just didn’t want to create a scene and get the other students involved with my choice”, Jim responded.

“How could your choice create a”, at that moment the teacher noticed Jim’s paper and immediately understood, “could you excuse me for a second I have to make a call?” In a matter of minutes all of Jim’s teachers and the principal were circled around Jim’s desk.

The interrogation started of with one question from the principal, “Why? Why do you want to throw away your future? You could easily rise to the top of anything you tried, so why throw that away?”

Jim thought for a moment and carefully replied, “I don’t want to lose a part of who I am and I needed all of you together so I could ask you about my brother. I know for a fact that he rejected the Choice and then he disappeared. Why is there no record of him in the school database and do you know why he vanished?”

The mood in the room turned from concerned the ice cold hatred with Jim’s question. For several minuets nobody moved, until Mr. Washington broke the silence. “We can answer half of your question in return for your promise not to tell anyone.”

“Alright, I promise” was Jim’s solemn oath.

Mr. Washington studied him for a moment. Then said, “Its quite simple really, the government gives us different benefits based on how the students decided to enhance and a student who does not want to enhance is a big negative for that school. We simply delete all school records of that student so no one can prove that they came from our school.”

“So you just abandon them and destroy all of the work that they have done for their entire lives just so you don’t receive less money?”

“Yes we do. Now, are you going to make the Choice or not?” The principal asked coldly.

“No I will not” was the defiant answer.

“Then I will have to ask you to leave as strangers are not allowed on campus.”

Over the next several weeks Jim noticed that someone seemed to be following him. Jim decided to act like he hadn’t noticed them while trying to set up a trap so he could find out who they are and what they want. He enjoyed this chess game over several weeks but couldn’t seem to pin his shadow down. After a month of this Jim got frustrated and decided to directly confront his stalker and the moment he turned into an alley so he could avoid a public incident, he felt a prick on the back of his neck. The world started to fade to black and Jim’s last thought before he blacked out was checkmate.