The Facility

Emma knows what is to come at the facility; death. But is she really prepared for what or, more importantly, who she will face there?

Emma woke up to the sweet smell of honey bread and maple butter. This was it, she was finally 18 and only months away from her Leaving of Home ceremony. She knew that her mother had woken up to the earliest rays of sunshine in order to make her a wonderful birthday breakfast so she got up and walked into her bathroom to get ready for her day. After a quick shower, she got dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

“Goodmorning father. Goodmorning mother.” she smiled at her parents as she approached them at the table. Quickly, her smile diminished as she took in the solemn faces of her family. Her mother’s eyes were red and puffy, as if she’d been crying. Her younger brother abruptly got up from the table and walked out of the room.

“Emma,” Her father’s voice came out as a dull whisper, barely audible if it weren't for the absolute silence that had fallen over the room. “This came for you today.” He held out the single envelope, embossed with the golden feline stamp of the government. Emma took the envelope with shaking hands, fear having been struck in her heart when she realised what day it was. It was wednesday. It was choosing day.

“May… Maybe it’s about my up coming Leaving of Home day?” She stuttered out, wringing her sweaty hands. But she knew. Everyone knew. This letter did not hold congratulations of her 18th year. Nor did it hold any information on the upcoming ceremony. Emma peeled off the wax seal, opening the envelope.

“Read it Emma.” Her father commanded. “You know the rules.”Emma cleared her throat, ready to begin.

“Wait!” Her mother cried out. “I can’t. I can’t be here when she reads that.” Tears streamed down her mother’s face as she pushed her chair out from the table.

“No Meredith you know the rules as well.” Her father grabbed hold of her mother's arm, signaling for her to stay seated.

“Emma Night. Age 18.” Emma began by reading the first few lines of the letter. “You have been selected by random draw out of a pool of other people your age. You are required to participate in project 2 at the facility. You are to come to the facility at noon tomorrow.  You are to bring none of your possessions with you. You must come alone, say your goodbyes to family and friends prior to your intake date. You are of age, you have completed your schooling. You know the rules, follow them or there will be consequences.”

“I am excused now.” Emma’s mother said softly as she stood up and walked to her bedroom, locking the door behind her.

“Em. It’s okay you're strong, you can do this.” Emma’s father stood up and walked over to her, wrapping her in his arms before they both sank to the floor. “Come on Em, you’re stronger than this.” He rocked her back and forth, letting her cry on his shoulder.

“Oh, but father. You can not say these things. You know the rules. No encouragement. Do not give someone hope if they are being sent to their death.” Emma scolded him, having dried her tears. Tears were seen as weakness. And weakness lead to death. “They will kill you father. They will kill you if they find out. You have broken the rules, father.”

“It was only for a moment, my dear. No one will know.” Her father assures her. “I think it’s time that you find your brother. He was truly frightened when the letter came for you. You must show him your strength and let him know that you will come home.”

Emma turned from the kitchen and started up the stairs to her brother’s room. Stopping on the first step, she turned and told her father, “But I will not come back, and filling him with false hope is against the rules father, you know that.” She turned and continued up the stairs.

“Jason.” She knocks lightly on his door. “Please, Jason. Open the door, I need to speak with you.” She is concerned for her brother, worried about him and his mental state of mind. Her brother was always a troubled child. He takes everything to heart, the doctors they had taken him to would always tell them that he was far too sensitive.  Emma remembered one telling them that they should simply take him for termination, that it would save the family name. He has far too many emotions left in him. If he is to ever be a productive citizen, we must remove the emotion. They never took him to another doctor again. Choosing instead to pull him from schooling and place him into the lower workforce. If he can keep his internship, he sould soon be able to go out on his own and become a bricklayer. It was a simple enough job. Manual labor was always reserved for the drop outs.

“Emma. Go away.” Jason answered from the other side of the door.”I don’t want to talk to you anymore.” He sniffled. Emma knew he was crying. This was not good. If someone found out about him and his “Condition”, he would be whisked away and eliminated.

“Jason, please listen to me.  It’s very important. Mom told me about the meds, Jason.” Emma whispered this last part, as if saying it softer could make it false.

Jason didn’t respond, instead he just clicked the lock on his door and opened. Emma walked in and sat down on her brother’s bed. Jason hesitated, then joined her, sitting down beside her.

“It’s gonna be okay. I promise.” Emma leaned over against her brother’s shoulder, letting a single tear slip free. “But, no matter what happens, you have to promise me that you are going to stop taking those stupid meds. If someone found out, they’d eliminate you for sure. You have to fit in. You have to be stronger than any of this.”

“But you will be eliminated, Emma.” Jason tells her “Do you not understand this? You are never going to come back! I'll never see you again!”

“Yes, Jason. That is all true.” Emma seemed far to calm for someone about to be marched to her death.

“And you’re okay with this!” Jason exclaimed. “Please tell me that you are not okay with this.” He implored.

“Yes Jason. These are the things that we are taught in schooling. You would understand had you been able to stay in your classes. All the children like us, in our families class and the two below, are taught that when we are called to the Facility, we will die. It is the way things work in our lives. Being born into an inferior class, we possess none of the special gifts that the facility are looking for. We will never survive the facility, it is not what we are born to do. We are born to help strengthen the power of our country, and to do the work that would waste the talent of all the elite citizens.” Emma finishes her short lecture and Jason just stares at her, mouth agape.

“How are people okay with this?” He whispers to himself.

“No rhetorical questions, Jason. You know the rules. They invoke too many individuals thoughts and creativity.” Emma leaves her brother’s room, knowing that tomorrow will be the last day that she ever sees him. All she hopes for is that he can appear normal to the outside world, that he can live on and never have to be called to the Facility for many, many years.

Emma spent the rest of that day locked away in her room, writing letters to her friends and family. SHe wrote letters for special birthdays that still had years to come, letters that could be opened during times of sorrow or times of joy, most importantly, she wrote a letter to her older sister. Her sister had been removed from the household on emma’s 8th birthday. Apparently, Katie had expressed certain “qualities” that did not match their father or their mother. Those children are taken to the community housing and raised by volunteers, they are not given the rights or respects of their family’s status. Exactly 10 years ago, Emma had seen her sister for the last time.

That night, Emma did not come down for dinner, neither did Jason. Emma’s parents sat in silence, grieving the loss of their middle child, knowing her fate was sealed.

“Emma.” Her father’s voice broke through into her sleepy mind.”Emma, it is time, my dear. You must get ready. You leave in an hour.” He walked out of her room, giving her a minute to gather herself and get dressed.

Once she was dressed and ready to leave, she headed downstairs to say her goodbyes to her family. She knew that she should be crying, but all she felt was the numbness that had been spreading through her mind.

“I love you, little brother.” She whispered in her brother's ear before she left. SHe knew it was dangerous for her family, the expression of love was a highly punishable crime. SHe didn’t care about her safety, though, and she knew that her brother will always keep those words to himself.

Emma walked out the front door and onto the awaiting transport vehicle. The bus was already filled close to capacity, being that she lived so close to the FAcility, it made sense that she would be picked up last. Emma took her seat at the front of the bus, noting the name badge sitting on it. Emma Night was spelled across it with a picture of her from her graduating ceremony only weeks earlier. Emma sat and kept her head down, not making eye contact with anyone. Nine of these people will be with me, fighting to survive. I must appear weak and feeble minded if I am to survive. Emma thought as they pulled up to the Facility’s front door.

The bus doors opened and a man in a lab coat walked onto the front of the bus. “Welcome everyone, and thank you for your cooperation. You are doing a great favor to your country, participating in our experimental work here at the Facility.”

“He says that like we had the choice to come. Hmph, scumbag.” The woman next to her says.Emma doesn’t respond, she doesn’t even look up. But she doesn’t have to in order to understand some of this woman’s past. The way she talks, so informal and juvenile, hints to an upbringing in community housing. She was a Noname.

“Now, if you’d all follow me, I’ll help sort you into each of your designated projects.” The lab coat man tells them as he walks off the bus. Emma is the first one off, walking to the sorting area with everyone else in tow.

A man comes over the loudspeaker, calling all those who need to report to project 1. Emma drowns him out, focusing instead on the back of the young woman in front of her. She has long, platinum blonde hair, much like Emma’s. Emma can’t figure out why she seems so familiar to her, but when she goes to walk in front of the woman, she hears her name called.

“Emma Night. 18 years of age. Project 2.” Emma walks into the the middle line, awaiting the man to finish calling everyone so that she can continue on into her project. She was ready to get this over with.

“Emma?” A soft voice says, grabbing hold of Emma’s hand. “Is that really you?”

Emma turns and inhales sharply. Those eyes. Emma thinks. Those bright blue eyes. Those are what got you in trouble.

“You can’t be here Emma! You aren’t supposed to be here! You are one of the elites, and a child at that! They would never send an elite so young and still at home.Why are you here?” Katie seemed furious.

“Katie?” Emma looked long and hard into her older sister's eyes, the only thing proving that they had different fathers.

“Why are you here?” Katie asked again.

“Jason, they pulled him from schooling. He’s going to be a bricklayer, so they took away our family’s elite status.” Emma told her.

‘Everyone,” A man’s voice interrupts and all conversation stops. “It is time to prepare you for the study. I will be handling group 2 this week. So, if you would, please follow me.” He walks off and their line starts moving into the main building. Emma holds her breath as they navigate the twisting hallways, anxiety gripping her as she reads each of the signs on the hallways they pass.

War simulations, Dissection, Fire proof testing area,  Emma read some off the titles to herself, hopping that they wouldn’t stop there. The line of people stops as their guide pauses to open a set of locked doors. Above the door hangs a sign reading: “Laboratory 285, main focus mind control and telekinesis.”

“Oh God, Emma.” Katie whispers. “They’re going to mess with our brains.”

The scientist finally gets the doors open when he scans his wrist under a small semi-circular disc that appeared from the wall. Doctor Allen Emma read the name on the scientist's name tag as she walked by him.They all walk into the room and you could almost feel the sense of dread hanging in the air. That sanitized hospital smell assaults their noses as they take in the scene around them. There are ten metal tables lined up within the room; one for each of them.

“If you would please take a seat on the table designated with your name.” Doctor Allen instructed them. “Now, I will be coming around to give you each an injection of our newest prototype of nero expanding nanobots. These will hopefully be able to allow you to complete minimal tasks using only your minds.Those of you who can easily access total control with these nanobots will be allowed to fight for their freedom.” He walks to each of them and places a needled syringe right behind their ears, injecting them with the nanobots.

“In just a few moments you will each be brought into separate rooms. We will begin our first round of testing from there.” He walks out as ten armed guards walk into the room, roughly grabbing each of the subjects and taking down separate hallways. Emma begins to panic when she sees that her older sister is being lead in the opposite direction.

No! I just got her back, I don’t want this to be the last time I see her. Emma thinks as tears begin to well in the corner of her eyes. She could not cry, she knew this. It was weak, and it showed too much emotion for people to accept. She just had to hope that her sister would make it through to the last round of testing, where all of the remaining subjects would be collected together and forced to fight for their freedom.

“Welcome Emma.” A female voice calls over an intercom from the room that the guard just dumped her in. “In a moment, we are going to show Alex a picture card. He is in the room directly across where you are right now. You are to enter his mind and tell us what picture we just showed him. You have 30 seconds to correctly answer each card. If you get 1 out of the 10 cards wrong, you will be deemed a failure and terminated. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Emma spoke weakly, fear filling her. How on earth am I supposed to even do that? I can’t just enter someone's mind and see what they’re seeing. Can I?

“Alright, Emma. WHen the clock in front of you begins counting down, you can try to retrieve the image that has been shown to Alex.”

Emma was about to ask a question when the clock suddenly starts counting down. Alright Em, you can do this. Don’t freak out, just concentrate. This is your life, Emma, and if you fail you are never going to see anyone ever again. Her internal pep talk must have helped because when she simply thought of the name Alex, an image of a circle appeared in her mind.

“Circle.” Emma called out to the empty room and the clock stopped.

“Correct.”

The test went on like this for several hours, switching turns between Alex and Emma. Then, when it was Alex’s turn to see the card, Emma saw the clock stop. They didn’t give her another card. She was confused. Was the test over? She just sat there, waiting for her next card. It took her several minutes to realise what this meant.

He failed. Emma took a deep breath. She thought that she would be upset, losing her partner. BUt she wasn’t. She was just glad that it wasn’t her. Besides, it was one less person to deal with in the end. Emma stopped herself. What on earth am I doing? That’s not the person I am. I'm not cold and callused. What is this stupid nanobot doing to me? That’s when she realised, they must be designed to also eradicate any rouge emotions that one may have. She was much like her brother, but she didn’t let her parents know that. She would have been taken for elimination a long time ago if they knew. She was not a son, she would not carry the family name. Therefore, her survival is not as important to them as her brother’s is.

The next set of tests formulated to test for telekinetic abilities. All they had to do was move the simple, everyday objects set out on a table with their minds. This is where most people failed. It was not completely in the nanobots to unlock these abilities. The mind must be open to expansion in order to develop such skills. Emma aced them all. She moved empty cans at first, just a few feet. Then  she was throwing bricks across the room. And finally, flipping full sized cars onto their side.

This was the finale simple task. Only four people remain. It was time for a battle. Emma was blindfolded as she was taken to an empty room. At the same time, the other three were brought in as well. Their blindfolds remain in place. Emma was about to call for her sister, but she knew better. They were not supposed to know the names of the other living subjects, it was all part of the testing.

“Now, only one of you has shown us unimaginable results. We are not going to tell you which one of you it is, but we already know who the winner of this test will be. They will be of great use to us.” The same female voice from earlier speaks to the otherwise silent room. “Now, you all have been able to control many things with your mind, that’s how you are still alive. But, this next test will really challenge your skills. You are to enter the minds of each of the other people in this room, and strangle them, without moving from your spot. If you move, you will be terminated. If you refuse to try, you will also be terminated. You may now begin.” The voice cuts off and no one moves.

Suddenly, Emma hears gasping and then a loud thunk, as someone hits the floor. Within seconds, she hears another loud thunk. It’s just me and whoever else is left.

“Emma.” she hears the words spoken softly in her mind. “I’m sorry, but it's time for you to leave.”

“No!” Emma spoke aloud. “We can stop this, we’re both powerful. We can end this and get out, right now.”

‘You see, Emma. The one difference between us is that you refuse to actually use your powers against another human being. You’ve failed.”Suddenly Emma’s airway is constricted. As the world faded to black, the last thing Emma saw pop up in her mind was an image of her older sister on the day she was taken from her. That was the last time she saw her older sister. The woman she met today was merely a shell of her sister, an emotionless robot controlled by the government.

Reviews

[PandaPeaceful]

This was absolutely amazing! Apart from some run on sentences and grammar mistakes, this story was creative and enjoyable. The characters possess their own ways of dealing with situations and you were able to show us that greatly. Fantastic message I must say as well.
Amazing job! I truly, loved it.

P.S- I bet her brother is going to end up killing Katie.

[potato]

Thank you so much! Im glad that you enjoyed it.

[potato]

constructive critique is greatly appreciated! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed