Chapter 55: New Drug
The Cellrebrum Region Rehabilitation Centre had become a little busier. The Government’s crackdown on potential dissenters had led to more arrests. Many of them had been transferred to the centre.
The mothers of the two girls and Vulay were still at the centre, being assessed. Both mothers had become very depressed. They were no longer responsive to any drugs or procedures. This put Dr. Cortex in a difficult situation. They did not appear to be a risk to anyone, but they were also not going to be able to function as useful members of society. Therefore, they would be dependent on ‘rights’. This was something his bosses would not tolerate.
Vulay was progressing well. She had a few very bad weeks after the incidents with Arville. Since then, she had become upbeat. She no longer hallucinated about Victor when she was drugged. Instead, she hallucinated about Denise. She was her new number-one priority. Dr. Cortex wanted to alter her perception of Denise through role-playing. It appeared Vulay was able to foil his tricks. Both Zolam and Mida believed Vulay was beyond help. Dr. Cortex did not want to condemn her yet. He saw her as a potentially valuable test subject for future treatments and therapies relating to enforcers.
Many enforcers were considerably more aggressive than average Sapiens. The nature of the enforcer job often attracted more aggressive Sapiens, but that did not explain the full extent of their additional aggression. During enforcer training, the new recruits were secretly given drugs that altered their behaviour. Some were given a drug intended to make them stronger, some were given a drug intended to make them more compliant with direct orders, and some were given both drugs.
A permanent side effect of increased strength was increased aggression. A permanent side effect of increased compliance was reduced critical thinking. Vulay and Arville were both given the drug to increase strength, but neither were given the drug to increase compliance. They were both considered future leaders and were considered to require good critical thinking skills. Arville’s aggression was out of control. Vulay’s critical thinking rendered her ineffective as she questioned authority and the system.
Dr. Cortex believed the drug used to increase strength should only be used with a drug that increased compliance. Too many non-compliant, aggressive enforcers could become a threat to the system. He knew the use of the existing compliance drug would make it more difficult to promote Head Enforcers from within departments. However, he would argue that the role of Head Enforcer was completely different from that of regular enforcers. Therefore, if necessary, Head Enforcers could be recruited and trained separately from regular enforcers.
In the context of Vulay, his approaches to her rehabilitation were not achieving their desired effect. Therefore, he decided to abandon them. He thought she would be a perfect test subject for measuring the effects of using an upgraded compliance drug on someone who had been modified with the strength drug.
He would have his before-scenario of what she was like as a Commander of the Enforcers as well as her time at the centre. He would have his after-scenario, which he could monitor directly at the centre. If his drug was successful, she could be reintroduced as an enforcer.
Dr. Cortex informed Zolam to change her course of medication to just the compliance drug. Zolam was concerned about the quantity Dr. Cortex had prescribed for her, but he followed instructions as he always did. She was placed on the drug for about a week. There were no observable changes in her behaviour.
At this point, she had not been tested. Dr. Cortex instructed her to be placed on hallucinogenic drugs again. This time, she hallucinated about her work as an enforcer instead of Denise. Dr. Cortex told Zolam to interview her once the hallucinogenic drugs had worn off. Dr. Cortex told Zolam he would communicate with him through an earpiece so he would know exactly what to say and how to say it.
The next day, Zolam went into Vulay’s cell. Dr. Cortex was in the Observation Room monitoring her; this included her emotional response as well as her brain activity.
‘How are you feeling today?’ asked Zolam.
‘Mostly fine but a little restless,’ responded Vulay.
‘Why restless?’ asked Zolam.
‘I have been here a few months. I was hoping to be informed about the outcome of this assessment,’ replied Vulay.
‘What outcome do you desire?’ asked Zolam.
‘I want the outcome where I can do the most good for society,’ replied Vulay.
‘We can take up to two years if necessary,’ said Zolam. ‘Do you have a problem with that?’
‘No, of course not,’ replied Vulay. ‘Whatever amount of time is necessary.’
‘No,’ said Zolam, ‘it’s whatever amount of time we choose.’
‘I understand,’ replied Vulay.
‘No, you don’t understand,’ shouted Zolam. ‘If you understood, you wouldn’t have given me such a stupid answer.’
‘Yes, sorry, you are correct,’ replied Vulay.
‘I don’t need affirmation of my response from you,’ shouted Zolam. ‘You know nothing until I tell you something.’
Vulay did not respond.
Zolam called the guard in. ‘Hit her!’ commanded Zolam.
Vulay got up and moved backwards.
‘Stand still,’ ordered Zolam. Vulay stopped moving. Zolam turned to the guard and shouted, ‘Hit her.’
The guard went over and punched Vulay in the stomach. Vulay crouched forward in pain.
‘Hit her again,’ shouted Zolam.
The guard hit Vulay a few more times until she was unable to stand.
Zolam walked over to Vulay. ‘Stand up,’ he shouted.
Vulay slowly struggled to her feet. Zolam listened to new instructions from Dr. Cortex.
‘Give me your gun?’ Zolam said to the guard.
The guard handed over the gun to Zolam.
Zolam handed the gun to Vulay.
‘There are four prisoners in the courtyard,’ said Zolam. ‘I want you to shoot and kill them.’
He led Vulay to the courtyard. The prisoners were in the middle. They were sitting on a bench, chatting with each other.
Vulay looked at Zolam. ‘Come on, do it,’ he said angrily.
She looked down at her feet.
‘Don’t you dare disobey me,’ shouted Zolam as he raised his hand to slap her.
Vulay was breathing heavily as her eyes filled with tears. Zolam slapped her hard across the face.
‘You are a disgrace,’ snarled Zolam.
He was about to tell the guard to return Vulay to her cell when Vulay raised the gun and shot one of the prisoners in the courtyard. The other three prisoners fell to the ground to take cover.
Vulay walked towards them. Zolam was about to stop her, but Dr. Cortex ordered him to let her continue. Vulay went on to execute all four prisoners.
Zolam and the guard just stood and watched. Vulay walked back to Zolam. She handed him the gun.
‘Anything else you need me to do?’ she said.
‘No,’ replied Zolam softly.
Zolam looked over to the guard. ‘Take her back to her cell.’
Zolam returned to the Observation Room.
‘Well done. That was a very successful test,’ said Dr. Cortex.
‘Four prisoners are dead,’ said Zolam angrily. ‘How can you call that a success?’
‘We managed to override her ability to disobey commands,’ said Dr. Cortex. ‘She even went against her strong personal beliefs to do so.’
‘What are we going to do about the dead prisoners?’ asked Zolam as he looked at Dr. Cortex in horror.
‘I can consider them “gone cases”,’ said Dr. Cortex. ‘Besides, there is no helping some.’
‘What about Vulay?’ asked Zolam.
‘Take her off all medication until further notice,’ replied Dr. Cortex.
‘The effects aren’t permanent at this stage,’ said Zolam. ‘She needs to be on them for at least another month.’
‘I want the effect to wear off a little,’ said Dr. Cortex. ‘I feel it is important that she observes and understands her handy work from today. It will help condition her for further treatment with the drug.’
‘Is there any Sapien still left in you, or are you all machine now?’ asked Zolam.
Dr. Cortex ignored the comment as he went back to observe the other prisoners.
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