Cruel and Unusual (Somewhere In-Between)

by C. E. Wilson

  She trekked over to the door as the boat’s loud horn sounded. “That asshole calls me like a dog sometimes,” she moaned.

  “So you should go, so he doesn’t think anything’s up,” I said.

  She nodded. “Oh! And one more thing,” she said. “That thing we talked about last month? The spy drone?”

  I nodded even though I had almost forgotten about that since Verity’s arrival.

  “The drone is still missing,” she said quietly. “They think it’s still in Alaska. All my husband will tell me is that it is compact and capable of fully autonomous operation without human intervention. No details beyond that.”

  “You make it sound like it’s intelligent.”

  “It sounds like it is. Moves on its own, makes its own decisions, thinks like a person. If you see a small helicopter that wants to argue philosophy with you, you’ll have found our drone.” She laughed out loud at that, but the statement made me uneasy.

  “A robot?” I asked. “That thinks like a person?”

  “Sounds like a full-blown AI to me. Please keep your eyes open for anything like it. For all I know, there could be more than one. It seems they’re using this area as a test bed for lots of experiments: Project Isolation, Project Truthseeker – that’s the spy program, I think – other Projects so secret my husband doesn’t have a high enough clearance to know their names. They’re busy, this new elect. It wouldn’t shock me if this place was only here to be a distraction.” Her voice dropped as the boat horn sounded again. “Goddammit!” she cried. “I’ve got to go, Mr. Davenport. Remember what I said. Keep your eyes peeled. I assume you remember how to signal me. I will come when I can.” She saluted me awkwardly before she shut the door and headed back to the boat.

  I scratched my head. Something was putting itself together up in my brain. Loads of experimental projects in this same area. A compact spy drone with AI was missing. A drone that thought like a human. Hadn’t Verity referred to herself as an experiment? Did I have a damaged spy for the new elect hiding in my kitchen cabinet?

  I blinked. It couldn’t be anything else. I stood and shuffled over to the window and waited until the boat was completely out of sight before I turned around and walked stiffly back to the cabinet and flung it open. I didn’t waste time, quickly moving the mugs aside to find Verity’s face. Her eyes widened when she noticed my pained expression.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered. “I heard the whole thing—”

  “You can come out now,” I said gruffly, stepping back so she had some room.

  “Malcolm,” she said, worry written all over her face. She quickly scrambled out of the cabinet and delicately landed on the counter. Her eyes looked sad. “Malcolm, I heard the whole thing. Oh my God. Please tell me you’re okay.”

  “I’m okay, but I need to talk to you,” I said. I beckoned her to follow me to the table, and I took a seat so I could rest my back. It didn’t work. “Verity,” I said in a careful voice. “What do you know about Project TruthSeeker?” She tried to keep her face vacant, but I saw a glimmer in her eyes. I saw a shift in her posture. I knew it. I leaned forward as she came closer to me, not giving a damn about her personal space.

  “Tell me everything you about know about Project TruthSeeker or get the hell out.”

  “I don’t know everything—”

  “Then tell me what you do know, Verity. Tell me before I hand you over to Janet. I’m not the biggest fan of the new elect and I don’t care much for spies either.”

  “I don’t support them!” she wailed. “Let me explain.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Go ahead.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Listen, Malcolm, you have to believe me. I don’t work for the new elect. I barely even understand what that is,” Verity said.

  I could hear the pleading in her voice, but I still couldn’t be sure if I could trust her words. Spies have extensive training in human manipulation.

  “If you don’t remember everything, then how am I supposed to trust your words?” I said in a low voice, wincing from the pain shooting up my thighs and back. I didn’t want to seem so menacing, but the idea that I was falling for a mobile spy experiment for the new elect made me feel queasy.

  “I remember what was told to me.” Verity took a seat on the table. My eyes never left hers, and I was trying to get a read on her. I needed to know if I could believe her. “I told you already that I can’t trust my memories, but I do know what others told me at the facility.”

  “What’s the facility?”

  She inhaled and exhaled loudly. “From what I understand, it was a joint project between the new elect and the Russian government.”

  “But they hate each other! How can they be working together?”

  “Malcolm, I am telling you what I know.”

  “Sorry, go on. What happens there?”

  “All sorts of things, from what I’ve heard,” she said, careful to remind me that what she knew was nothing more than hearsay. “I was told it was a detainment building, a research facility, a work camp…I’ve heard it all, actually.” Her eyes met mine as doubt crept into her voice. If she was faking it, she was the most convincing actress I’d ever seen.

  “Go on,” I said, finally calming my voice. “What was your role in Project TruthSeeker?”

  As Verity thought this over, she rubbed the back of her neck. “I hardly remember my previous life, Malcolm, but I was told that before I was taken, I was vacationing in Eastern Europe. No one told me my exact whereabouts or who I might have been with—maybe because no one knew—but I know I was taken and brought to the facility.”

  “Taken?” My eyes widened. “What do you mean taken? Like kidnapped?”

  “Something like that. I told you. I don’t know all the details. Really, I probably shouldn’t know anything. That’s probably how they would have preferred it.”

  “So how do you know?”

  “Not everyone at the facility was a monster,” Verity said. “There were those who felt bad for us test subjects, and others…they were simply undercover to try and figure out what the new elect were up to. But they were deeply undercover, from what I was told. They couldn’t reveal anything to us, and they certainly couldn’t go around taking notes and telling people. Everyone there, stolen ones, workers, advisors, we were all supervised around the clock. Everything was under complete lockdown. I myself barely saw anyone when I was there.”

  “You said you were taken,” I muttered. “Who…”

  “The new elect. From what I was told, they’re the ones who organize the kidnappings with other countries. Countries they trust.”

  “The new elect doesn’t like any other countries, much less trust them.”

  “So they want the public to believe,” Verity explained. “They have connections all over the world. The men who take us, they may technically be from another country, but I can assure you they cash a paycheck from the new elect.” She shook her head. “I remember one bragging that it worked out perfectly, you know? Our country thinks that others are trying to take what’s theirs. It was a huge act to build the patriotism in our country. The big bad thieves from other countries are kidnapping our women.” She lowered her head. “And I’m sure you know why they didn’t really search for us. The thirty-six-hour rule.”

  I arched my brow.

  “It takes about that long to smuggle people out of populated areas and into the slave routes.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “And they…this is what happened to you?”

  She nodded again. “Yeah. Anything that had proven my identity has been destroyed, and all I had left were vague memories of the life I’d had. You know the best part? My family probably supports the new elect now—after all, they give speech after speech denouncing foreign governments for allowing kidnappings while they themselves are stealing their children.”

  “It’s our own fucking country that’s organizing it!” I growled angrily. I tried to remain calm. “So how does that c
onnect you to Project TruthSeeker? Is it what Janet said? Are you really a spy drone?”

  She shrugged lightly. “I guess that’s what they’re calling me. When I woke up, I remember seeing white lights…” She closed her eyes for a moment, as though trying to remember. “And a ceiling that felt too high above me. It was instinct or something, I guess. They’re still having a hard time removing instincts. They can try to trick us and convince and brainwash us that we were always small like a doll, but something in our brains always reminds us that we shouldn’t be a foot tall.”

  “So why the pink hair? Isn’t that a little much?”

  “We were originally designed to be dolls,” Verity said. “They would send us as gifts for the daughters of those who had parents in high places, and from there we could observe, retain information, and report back to the facility with our findings. Apparently, it was discovered as an easy way to get information. No one worried about a toy belonging to a child. They could look for memory cards or recording devices, but they simply weren’t there. We were only dolls in their eyes, and that’s exactly how the new elect wanted us to see ourselves.”

  I was stunned to hear that. I couldn’t imagine starting a vacation and then being kidnapped. And then to wake up and realize you’re only a fraction of the person you once were? I’d go insane! I didn’t know how Verity was able to remain so calm. Speaking of which… “So Verity, that’s not actually your real name, is it?”

  She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Malcolm. It’s not. I don’t even know my real name. It was never told to me, and I don’t even know what I actually looked like. Some of the girls in my series had some vague ideas—”

  “Series?”

  “Yes. The Verity series. That’s what we were—TruthSeekers, as the new elect called us. I was one of the older models, but they kept me around for reasons I didn’t understand at the time. I was very lucky. If you were found to be faulty…” She pinched her eyes shut again.

  I leaned closer to her, and my face softened. “What the hell happened if you were found to be faulty?”

  Her shoulders trembled as she took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “They either destroyed us or broke our minds down until we were like children, then auctioned us off. Little, innocent, naïve living dolls, available to the highest bidder.”

  My mind reeled at the idea of something so terrible befalling on Verity. To go from being a person to being…nothing. A doll. A toy. A piece of amusement for a child – or a pervert like Flynn. “Did they even put you back in your original body if that happened? So you had a chance to escape?”

  “Are you kidding?” She snorted. “Malcolm, I was told that my body was burned the moment they transferred my mind into this vessel. My body’s gone and I’m never going to get it back. And even if I were able to escape, where would I go? My parents wouldn’t recognize me as I am now, and I don’t have the slightest memory of who they were. The new elect had everything figured out. We were alone. We couldn’t trust anyone. We were given bits and tidbits of ourselves to build trust with those at the facility, but it was all a game. We weren’t people anymore. We were TruthSeekers.”

  She didn’t actually work for the new elect. Though so much of her story was terrible, I felt relieved knowing she hadn’t chosen this life. It also deflated me. Her body was gone. She couldn’t leave the vessel they had put her in. She didn’t know where she could go or whom she could trust, yet here she stayed with me—even when I yelled at her and doubted her. Even when she found out I was a murderer. Even when I let Flynn hurt her right in front of my face. She’d remained. She’d stayed with me.

  I cleared my throat. “So you said that the people there gave you bits and pieces of your memories.” When she nodded, I continued. “And that you also had people who were watching out for you.”

  “The older versions of the Verity series, yes. Like I said, they weren’t all monsters. Most of us didn’t want to lose what little we had. There was no word of what happened to Verity Two and Verity Three. They were suddenly… gone. Same with Verity Twelve. Gone. They’re probably in some rich brat’s toy chest. Hopefully. I was so sure it would happen to me.” Her face softened. “It would have if not for Jason.”

  I arched a brow. “Jason?”

  She glanced up at me as though she had forgotten I was there for a moment. “Yes. Jason. Mr. Jason Willard,” she said. “He was one of the older people working at the facility. He was brought in to help…calm us down…is the best way to word it. He was in his early fifties, and he was kind, but never so much that anyone noticed. He worked with Verity Four and me the most. At night he would come back and tell us what he knew. He would try to figure out who we were and how to make sure we passed any tests the scientists threw at us. Sometimes, I’d like to think he was the reason I was able to live. The same goes for Verity Four.”

  At least there was one person Verity seemed to tolerate. Honestly, I wanted to find the facility and set it on fire, burning inside everything and anyone who was part of it. It seemed like a proportional response to what they were doing. “And is he the one…did he help you escape?”

  “Y-yes. And to be honest? It had nothing to do with us.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “Jason came to us, Verity Four and me, I mean, after he had gone to a doctor’s appointment.” She shook her head. “The news wasn’t good.”

  “What happened?”

  “I guess the doctors in Siberia aren’t always as reliable as the ones closer to civilization, or maybe that’s racism talking, I don’t know. The point was that he had been diagnosed with cancer. He maybe had a year to live, and it was said that it was going to be painful. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want to spend the rest of what little life he had at the facility consoling doomed test subjects. He decided that he was going to take a stand and do what he could to help Verity Four and me. It was a risk, and he knew that he if were caught, he’d probably be arrested and sent to prison, but he said he’d rather die doing something right than live and suffer doing something wrong.”

  At least some good people still remained in the world.

  “He said it would take time, but if we could excel at what the doctors and scientists asked of us for three weeks, he could have us out of there in a month. Four and I wondered what the hell he could do to help us escape. If we couldn’t leave our rooms without permission, how was he going to get us out of there?” She smiled to herself. “He managed somehow. As soon as he told us to start being patient, things changed. Suddenly, a chance existed where we could be sent out on an assignment. We were going to leave! We didn’t even know what the world was like anymore, but it had to be better than the cages they kept us in! Four and I made plans about what we would do if we escaped. We wanted to go someplace warm and uninhabited. We didn’t want to be around giants anymore. They were like us, but we were no longer like them. The very thing that we were now terrified us. We feared that all giants would be like the ones at the facility. We looked forward to isolation.”

  That explained the looks Verity had given to me when she first arrived. She really was frightened. Not only did no one at the facility see her as a person, but she didn’t see herself as one either. That bothered me. She was still a person, wasn’t she? Just in a smaller body. She had a brain, didn’t she? A soul? I wasn’t sure, but what I did know was that Verity didn’t want anything to do with our kind anymore because of what they had done to her.

  “So why aren’t you with Verity Four now?” I asked.

  “She…we were separated,” Verity explained. “Jason warned us that there was a chance it could happen, but we didn’t want to believe it. Verity Four and I had been together since they paired up Verity Five and Verity Ten, some of the top performers in our series. We weren’t terrible, but we certainly weren’t the weakest. I really thought we could stay together, but it wasn’t possible. Jason had us split up over these islands and head in opposite directions. We were supposed to meet with people he trusted who could
smuggle us away from here. I obviously missed my rendezvous, I wonder how Verity Four did. I don’t even know if she’s alive.” She suddenly pounded down on the little table. “I don’t even know if I’m alive.”

  “You’re alive,” I said quickly. “Don’t think for a second that you’re not. You’re alive, Verity.”

  “How can you know that?” she asked, wiping her nose.

  “I…I don’t know,” I admitted carefully. “It’s a feeling.” My anger had completely drained. I sympathized with her. Everything she had known had been taken away from her. And to think she had once been traveling in Eastern Europe. She probably had a pretty decent life before it had been stolen away from her. Janet’s words rang in my ears, though. “So you heard what one of my wardens said, didn’t you? The facility knows you’ve escaped. They probably know about Four as well.”

  “And Jason.”

  “Yes, and Jason,” I agreed. “So what would happen if we gave you to someone who didn’t work for the new elect? Someone who could help you?”

  “No one can help me, Malcolm,” Verity said simply.

  “Yes, they can. Janet said—”

  “I heard what that woman said,” she answered crisply. “She doesn’t want to help me. She wants to use me for her own purposes. Probably to get her husband a promotion.”

  “Janet isn’t like that at all. I know her pretty well.”

  “Do you think I want to be poked and prodded by another scientist?” she asked sharply. “I mean, what do you think is going to happen if you hand me over to that woman? That she’ll take me off into the sunset and everything will be okay? She’ll either return me to the new elect or hand me over to some resistance group. Malcolm, with the way I am now, it doesn’t matter whose side I go to, my life will be in danger. Your warden may not even see me as a real person.”

  “I could explain it to her.”

  “She wouldn’t understand,” Verity said. “She’d see me as nothing more than a means to an end. I don’t want that.”