by Tony Ortiz
Yea, absolutely. I'll be out of here soon too. I'll be seeing you buddy, thanks again.
With that, he was gone and I walked over to the desk. I took a deep breath and said aloud: “Let's try this again,” as I looked up and into the mirror. This time it worked. I was back at baseline. It felt different though. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, or find the words to describe it, but I knew something was off. It just felt like a clunky skip.
As a precaution I barricaded the door before I left and paid for an extended stay to give myself a bit of a buffer. Tomorrow was checkout and I decided to wait until then to go back and rejoin the team. Although I wanted to act aloof, I knew I had been gone for a noticeable amount of time. When I left, we weren't all in the friendliest of moods and it didn't escape me that my absence must've raised a red flag or two. I went in expecting the worst.
But it wasn't that at all. At least not initially. Laura was the first person I saw. Boy was she a sight for sore eyes.
Heya slick, she said as she walked by me with a purpose.
Hey Laura, how are you?
She didn't answer. I don't think she heard me. I'm not even sure if I actually said the words out loud or just thought them in my head. I kept walking towards my room and saw Charlie.
Yo-yo, where've you been Hec?
Hey Charlie, what's up? Nowhere really, I just had to take care of a few things. Why? What's up?
Just asking bro, haven't seen you in a few days. No worries you're not on trial here, he responded. I do have to catch you up on a few things though. See that dude over there with Laura?
I was so in my own head that I hadn't noticed a couple of the new faces walking around. There was a guy and a girl at the trainee stations, and the guy that Charlie was referencing was at Laura’s station.
Yea, who is that?
That's her new man, responded Charlie with an ominous tone.
My heart sank to the soles of my feet so I could stomp on it myself, for being such an idiot and letting her slip away while I focused my one-track mind on other shit. Time seemed to slow down while I looked over and watched them interacting. I even got a cold sweat going. I responded with what must've been a facial expression of confusion and angst
What? Since when?
Charlie burst out laughing.
I'm fucking with you man. You should see your face.
You're a dick bro. I don't care anyways, I said as I looked around and tried playing it off. Who are these people though?
Yea right, I'm sure you don't care. They're just trainees man. A new wave that Miguel found and is going to focus strictly on counter-surveillance related projects or something like that. He does have eyes for your girl though. Just saying.
From here it seems like she has eyes for him too.
I don't know about all that, but yea, just wanted to catch you up. You gonna start doing some work or what man? I'm swamped and I don't think romeo over there has what it takes to carry his weight, although he really seems to think he does.
Whatever, I don't really give a shit anymore man. I'll catch up with you later.
Yo, what's up with you? Charlie said.
I didn't respond. I walked away and to my room.
I pretty much kept to myself for a while. I wanted to look into the actual Trancetol trial and see just how orchestrated it really was. I read up more on the pre-trial studies and tapped into their back office camera feed at the time, and listened in on them organizing it.
Prescribing low-dose medication is a step in the right direction, Dr. Feinstein said to his colleagues. But make no mistake that all it is is a step. Manipulating time and world events, is unnatural. Its ungodly and down right dangerous. We need to approach this issue with an intent of extinction. Anything short of eradication at the root will allow this disease to run rampant and the world as we know it will be unrecognizable. What I can say with absolute certainty is that once that genie is out of the bottle, there's no putting it back in. I implore you to vote for a complete solution. Allowing the disease to flourish, for the sake of testing and experimentation, will yield results that pale in comparison to the down side of it all.
That was apparently his last stitch effort before the Trancetol funders and board. They however, had more of a long-term financial incentive in mind. His measure was voted down by a slim margin of three extra votes going the other way. I then came to find that the study wasn't as random a sampling as we had all thought. They sat us down in a specific order during orientation and then filed us into the next room one by one. They targeted those of us that somehow indicated or tried covering up mental illness indicators in our initial Trancetol entrance surveys.
From that point forth, it's been a personal vendetta of Dr. Feinstein's to implement ways of trying to abolish Skipping. From declaring someone insane so that they can be remanded to an asylum, to over prescribing Trancetol as an anti-anxiety maintenance medication. And he wasn't without his supporters. I came to find that the subcultural view on skipping was just as divided as it was in that Board meeting. There was a legion of Feinsteinites, some more radical than others, that believed the old way of the world, was pure and right. Skipping, to them, was an unnatural disease. A cancer requiring a cure before all of mankind became infected.
This became a scenario where the symptoms of the issue became more ingrained than the root cause and they firmly established prominence of their own accord. It's why the drug was approved so quickly, why it's patent was purposely short lived. The motive was never profit. It was ideological proliferation.
The bureaucratic arm of this corruption lied within a few key members of the FDA. They forewent policy and fast-tracked whatever medications they were influenced to, citing the latest loophole they preemptively put in place. It was very orchestrated and some of their members had been officially nominated, financially backed and strategically placed there for years. Decades of nepotism in some cases. This level of systemic corruption was far larger of an undertaking to correct than I originally thought. I can see why the team had to take an L on this one.
That Trancetol mission was a mind-fuck. Even though I kept working on day-to-day stuff as well as continuing to plug away at the list of impenetrable's on my down time, it stayed in the back of my mind even more than Laura did.
The next few impenetrable missions were similar in scope to the first successful one. They were other occurrences of regional level education corruption that seemed to trickle up before they came tumbling down to stifle the future of the children they were supposed to educate and protect.
There was a case in particular where a corrupted candidate drowned out the noble one in advertising dollars, public sentiment and even debates. I cut off his proverbial and literal mics. He was the type of self serving scumbag that was rotten to the core but touted himself as the people's candidate. He passed himself off as an independently wealthy entrepreneur that highlighted he fact that he donated books and equipment to the public schools in the district he was running in. Yet all the while these things were actually being supplied by the private school interests that were backing him and angling to take over that region. He was just their puppet.
I made an anonymous tip to the local paper that included recorded conversations and enough evidence for any Journalist worth their salt, to connect the dots. The story was corroborated and published just in time for the city-wide syndicated news. Even a couple national outlets picked it up. The once town hero, turned corrupt local politician was even trending online.
I was on a roll but I had an ominous feeling about the whole thing, like it was just a matter of time before someone caught on to my solo-skips. I just figured it would be either Jake or Miguel.
We need to talk.
I'm a little busy Laura, maybe later, I responded.
Now, she said sternly. Or are you too busy skipping back and changing shit in my sector with zero regard for anyone else?
She started walking and I followed. We went to the back patio.
We can’t just start taking on projects randomly just because we can. It may not seem like it but there’s a structure to what we do.
A structure? What structure? There were missions listed as impenetrable’s and now they're not. So you’re welcome.
Oh really impressive Mr. Hot shot. Randomness breeds chaos. We have rules in place for a reason Hector. It’s like our constitution. You can’t just disregard them because you feel like showing off. It’s not all about you, and nobody’s impressed.
I’m not showing off. I’m trying to help. Look, them being missions in the first place just means that at some point, everyone thought they were a good idea to get behind. Were they really impenetrable? - Obviously not. Am I some sort of skipping savant? - Of course not. So what we should be asking is who changed their mind and why they thought it was a bad idea to continue to move forward with these missions.
If I had known of a way to solve these cases, I would have. We’re not all perfect. Listen, you can decorate your personal vendettas however you want. The fact is that you’ve been challenging Jake & Miguel since you got here and it's not cool. This is a team, we do things together. We agree upon projects together. We don’t make unilateral decisions just because we wake up one day and feel like it. That’s not how things are supposed to work Hector.
Oh no? Do you tell Miguel the same things? When he unilaterally decides who goes and who stays? Or how about when he chooses to move forward with certain projects and categorizes others as impenetrable's? - Which clearly aren’t by the way. Is it so far fetched to consider, not accuse, but consider that his style of decision making can be a sign of corruption? He lumps those impenetrable's in there because he knows everyone is too busy with their day-to-day to bother looking. So you know what? I un-busied my day-to-day and gave myself the ability to see. Open your eyes, look around and try it some time.
You're such a jerk. Don't forget that he brought you in. What he does is different than what we do. A different set of responsibilities that all our goals are trying to be brought to fruition under. Why would he purposely avoid missions? That makes no sense.
Exactly, it doesn’t make sense but that’s what’s happening. Now you’re asking the right question. - Why? I do appreciate the opportunity to be here but if something is off, it's off. And just because I appreciate him bringing me in doesn't mean I'm blindly beholden to him. America facilitated bringing over slaves. Should they have been thankful too?
First off, don't patronize me. Secondly, that's a very dramatic example. The way I see it, he’s just steering the ship. But we each have an independent role that influences the course of it.
Yea keep telling yourself that until you convince yourself, I responded as she sighed and rolled her eyes. Ok, let me ask this; what do you and everyone else think when looking at that impenetrable list? - ‘Great, one less thing to work on.’ You're sharp, Laura. How do you not see that’s by design? It’s not a coincidence.
What makes you such an expert all of a sudden? The rest of us have been here for years.
I’m no expert Laura, but being that I haven’t been here as long makes me more objective. I’m not entrenched in it the way the rest of you are.
Oh, so now we’re not capable of thinking for ourselves and being objective?
I’m not saying that. I’m just pointing out that I'm more apt to noticing things because I go into situations assuming that the consensus is wrong. I can’t help it. That’s how I’m wired. I look for holes in things. Flaws. Fuckery, and I’m seeing a bunch of it.
You can’t just come in here and disrupt our world like that Hector. That’s not cool. Making accusations, discounting our sacrifices and speaking of things you know nothing about.
Nothing about? I left my family, my friends, my world just like everyone else in this place did. And I think my Audit Assessment scores show I know quite a bit about what I’m talking about.
She got up like she was about to leave the room.
Laura wait. Why do you think he has you guys segmented and compartmentalized? Sending him your recommendations separately and confidentially? All the while you guys think he’s implementing scenarios from other team members, but that's not the case. It’s all him. All I'm asking is why, because I know when somethings not right and that’s the reason I’m even mentioning it to you. I’m getting the same uneasy feeling I had when deciding to leave home. Look, maybe I'm completely wrong and I'll happily concede that possibility, but please check this out for yourself and just let me know what you see.
She started walking toward the door. She stopped, turned back with a look of reproach and said:
You don’t even realize that you’re letting your talent and abilities cloud and corrupt your judgment. Maybe you made the wrong decision with leaving home.
CHAPTER TEN
Thereafter things changed. I’m not sure if Laura told them or if they caught-on themselves but both Jake and Miguel found out about my solo skips and put me on probation. They called me over to the meeting room.
Have a seat Hector, Miguel said.
We know you've made some changes in the education sector, without following proper protocol, Jake continued as I sat there expressionless, but listening.
We went over this when you and Charlie had your little adventure, said Miguel.
Our little adventure saved lives, I responded. I thought we were all about the net positive. Here's what I see; dead people bad. People kept alive, good. Period.
You know what saves more lives? Structure, consistency and resolve. I won't allow you to sabotage the integrity of this team. It's not in anyone's best interest to forgo long term returns for short term gains, Miguel said.
He’s right Hector. We’ve seen this play out plenty of times in the past. People carrying on the way you do come and go in this group. We don't want you to become one of them.
Your intentions seem to be in the right place, Miguel said. Your approach just isn't lining up with ours. You can do a lot of good here, together with the team. But not with this lone-wolf bullshit. And I'm sure you can think of better ways to impress her.
Her? Who?
Miguel, Jake said in an attempt to cut him off.
C’mon, you expect us to believe that all your solo skips and changes happened in the education sector as a coincidence?
What are you talking about? I responded.
Alright guys look, Jake interrupted. We’re going past the point of this conversation. Hector, this was the second time that something like this has happened with you. Our normal protocol at this point is probation. Normally it's 2-3 weeks of no skipping or monitoring. The others will chip in on your sector(s) when they can but you should expect a back-log when you return.
Ok, so is it two or three weeks? I asked.
Well, we know your intentions to be in the right place and that this whole setup takes some getting used to, Jake said. We like you here and all things considered you do great work. So the minimum is what we —
Four weeks, Miguel interrupted. But you can still sleep, eat and live here free of charge.
Jake looked at him in a way that indicated to me that that's not the length of time they agreed on. But he didn't say anything.
Fine with me. Are we done?
Yea Hector, we’re done. Responded Miguel.
I bee-lined it to my room. Ruminating over that conversation, probation and Trancetol which was still lingering on my mind too. I wondered; why did they only know about, or mention the education related impenetrable’s?
Hey Hector, listen. Laura stopped me while on my way to my room. I'm sorry about overreacting a bit back there. But you promised me. You said you wouldn't skip back alone anymore. I take giving your word very seriously.
