by Jamie Davis
The last five days had showed how much the fears of her parents’ reaction to her implant were on target. It was as if Cass had been under house arrest. She spent most of her time alone in her room. She wasn’t talking to Elena at all anymore, and neither of her parents said anything to her other than to let her know when her meals were ready.
Cass couldn’t even try to use the chip Cadence had made for her so she could reach out and contact Shelby. Elena must have told her parents about it under further questioning, because her father came up that first night and demanded it from her before she could activate the update it contained. That was the final blow that made her realize how isolated she was from everything and everyone she’d ever cared about.
This was her first time out of the house since revealing her implants to her parents. It took her father this long to arrange an appointment after getting answers to his detailed questions about her accident a few months before and the subsequent medical treatment.
Doctor Sanders turned to Cass’s father. He hadn’t addressed Cass at all other than what was necessary to position her for the exam. “The work here is actually quite excellent, James. I wouldn’t have expected that from a doctor in the islands.”
“So, it’s not some kind of botched procedure?” Cass’s father asked. “That gives us a better chance of reversing it, right?”
“It’s not botched at all. On the contrary, everything appears to be well managed. There’s almost no scarring visible anywhere around the implant itself. They must’ve had excellent facilities and resources, given the location.”
Doctor Sanders moved around to stand in front of Cass and addressed her directly. “Do you have any residual pain around the surgical site or headaches or anything else unusual?”
Cass shook her head. “No.”
She kept her eyes focused directly ahead, staring at the wall. She answered in a monotone, trying not to display any emotion at all in the face of the humiliating and invasive physical exam that the doctor had performed. Cass’s father and mother had insisted the Doctor assure them there were no other hidden implants they couldn’t see. The whole process had been horrible.
Now they got to the real reason why her parents had brought her here. They wanted to find out when they could remove the implants in their daughter’s head. Cass already knew the answer to that question. She’d told them numerous times, though they never believed her and had stopped listening to her.
Cass’s father gestured to his daughter. “So, Doc, what’s your opinion? When can you get that thing out of my little girl’s head?”
“It’s not something I want to rush into. Don’t get me wrong, James. I can do the procedure you’re requesting. I completely understand the urgent need to get it done. However, I want you and Faye to understand that I believe there will be a significant loss of function once it’s removed.”
Cass turned from staring at the wall. She directed her glare at her parents and the doctor. “Some limitation of function? I’ll be damned near comatose or dead if this thing is taken out of me, not to mention blind in one eye and deaf on one side.”
Her father shot her a stern look. “Cass, you speak to the doctor with respect. He’s doing this as a favor to me without telling anyone else about it. If this kind of thing gets out, you’ll be out on your ass. I’m trying to save your life here.”
“No, Dad, you’re not. You’re trying to save your reputation. You’re more worried that you, Mom, and Elena will get kicked out with me.”
Her father started to say something in response then closed his mouth and turned back to Doctor Sanders. “So, you can remove it?”
“Oh, most certainly. The trick will be removing it while maintaining as much function as possible. I’m sorry for the lack of certainty about the final outcome. We can take anything out, it’s a problem of replacing the functionality that was removed to install it. They excised a significant portion of your daughter’s brain to make room for the implant.”
Her mother started sobbing as she muttered, “Butchers.”
Cass bit back a response. She’d explained all this to her father and mother already. She’d even given them permission to contact the hospital in the Caribbean via a signed release letter so they could see the full extent of her injuries. They all knew as well as she did that the part of her brain that was removed was damaged beyond any normal surgical repair.
Her dad shook his head and sighed. “All right, I guess that’s it. Thanks, Doc. When can we set up the procedure?”
Cass turned to face the three of them, her mouth hanging open, unable to speak. They’d heard everything she’d heard and their only conclusion was to try and kill her? She had no more words for any of them. Cass could only sit and listen as the doctor answered her father.
“That’s going to be an issue, James. It’ll probably be three to five days, maybe even a week.”
Her dad frowned. “Why so long?”
“Because I need to assemble a reliable team to assist me. This is going to be a little tricky and delicate. Most hospitals do this with advanced robotics. Obviously, we aren’t going to do that here, so I’m going to need extra pairs of hands. It’s not going to be cheap, either. If it were just me, I’d do it for the cost of a normal out-patient procedure. The others I hire will require enough money to keep them quiet about what we’ve done.”
Her dad paused in thought, then said, “All right, go ahead and do what you need to do. She’s not going anywhere. We’ll be ready whenever you tell us to come.”
Cass’s father looked at her and pointed to the doctor. “Say thank you, Cassie. He’s doing us a favor.”
Cass glared at her father. “No. He’s not doing me any favors. He’s violating his oath to do no harm and he knows it. That’s why he has to pay off his surgical team to keep them quiet.”
She hopped off the exam table and walked towards the door. “May I leave now?”
Her father pointed to her face. “First, cover that thing up.”
Cass smirked at the hypocrisy of it all and pulled out the skin patch from its case in her pocket, placing it back on her face so it covered the implant again.
“Now can I go?”
“Wait, your mother and I are coming with you,” Her dad said.
“Still afraid I’m going to run away and embarrass you?”
“Cass, you don’t know what you’re thinking right now. It’s the machine making all the decisions for you.”
“That’s ridiculous, Dad. I’m not even hooked into the Mantle right now. How is the machine making any decisions for me if that’s the case? I’m able to make my own decisions and I don’t want you removing this implant from my head.”
Her dad shook his head. “You’re delirious. Let’s get you home and back to your room so you can rest.” He reached out and grabbed her by the upper arm to bring her along with him.
Cass twisted her shoulder away, pulling her arm out of his grasp. “I can walk fine on my own without you dragging me home like I need to be on some kind of leash.”
Cass marched out of the doctor’s office. She’d never been so angry in her life. She couldn’t believe her father and mother were actually considering going through with this procedure. At best it was going to leave her a drooling vegetable. They didn’t even care as long as it kept the family’s reputation whole.
Followed by her parents, Cass walked to the car and climbed in the back. They all drove back across the enclave to the residential part of the community. The enclave’s small medical center was well-equipped, but it wasn’t a full-service hospital by any stretch of the imagination. The thought of getting brain surgery there frightened Cass more than she could bear.
Once home, they all got out of the car in the driveway. Cass’s father pointed to the car parked on the street in front of their house. “Someone’s here. I wonder who it could be.”
Cass shrugged. “Who cares? Maybe it’s one of Elena’s new boyfriends. She probably took advantage of us being away to get s
ome on the side.”
“That’s enough of that, Cassidy,” Her dad snapped. “Go up to your room. I’ll have your mother call you when it’s dinner time. Until then, you can sit up there and think about how you’ve shamed this family.”
Cass spun around and held her head up as she marched into the house. She wasn’t going to let them know how much all of this beat down her spirit.
Cass started towards the stairs, her intent to go up to her bedroom without talking to anyone. Her plans fell through when she bumped into Simon Cantwell standing in the hallway talking to her sister.
The Sapiens First leader smiled down at her. “Well, hello, Cassidy. You’re just the person I wanted to talk to. Your sister here was explaining to me a little bit about your current problem. It’s funny because that is also why I came back.”
Cass’s father came into the house and walked into the hallway. “Simon, what are you doing here?”
“I came back to see your elder daughter. She has some information I think I need for my investigation.”
Her dad seemed confused. “What sort of information. How could she know anything about that video or the people who recorded and disseminated it?”
Simon showed his teeth in a feral grin. “Because, James, your daughter is the one who recorded that video. It was her sub girlfriend who then streamed it live to the Mantle for everyone to see.”
Her father turned and stared at Cass. His mouth hung open in shock, unable to speak.
Cass’s mother had come into the hallway. It was apparent she also heard what Simon said.
Cass met her mother’s hurt gaze, pleading with her eyes for help.
Her mom looked away and turned around. “Excuse me. I think I’m going to leave now. This is obviously something for the two of you to handle.”
Cass’s heart plunged into her gut. Her mother had abandoned her, leaving her in the hands of her father and this murderer. Her mom clearly wanted no part of whatever the two men planned on doing with her.
Her father spoke, breaking the silence left by her mother’s departure. “Cass, I believe you should come with Mr. Cantwell and me into my office. I think you have some explaining you need to do. You’ve heard us talking about this video the whole time you were here, and yet you said nothing. Why?”
Cass didn’t answer. She walked past her father down the hallway to his office. Simon and her father followed right behind her. She knew she needed to figure out a way to escape but right now, there was no way she’d make it past the two men. Even if she did, where would she go? She didn’t have any plan to escape the enclave.
When they reached the office, her father pointed to one of the chairs arranged in front of his antique wooden desk. “Sit down, Cass. I want you to answer my questions.”
Cass sat in one of the padded leather wingback chairs situated in front of her father’s desk. He went around the desk and sat down opposite her. Simon moved in and stood to one side, placed so he could look at both of them.
Cass shrugged. “I don’t know what you want me to say. You and Simon here…You don’t mind if I call you Simon, do you?”
The Sapiens First leader nodded in her direction. “You’re an adult and I plan on treating you like one, so you may call me whatever you wish.”
His stare made Cass’s skin crawl and she quickly looked away, back to her father as she continued. “You and Simon here have been talking as if the events on that video never happened. I think we can agree that all three of us now know how horribly authentic it really is.”
Cass glanced up at Simon. “Given that information, what could I possibly add to your investigation, Simon, when you are obviously only interested in trying to cover up the murder of the seven individuals you killed on that stage?”
Cass turned back to her father again. “One of them was Shelby’s brother, Eric. Did you know that, Dad?”
Her father nodded. “I did. He got himself into that position. None of the subs should have been anywhere near that rally. I made sure the police chief got some officers friendly to the movement to warn him to stay away. I can’t be held responsible when he didn’t take the hint.”
“This isn’t his fault, Dad. It’s Simon’s.” Cass pointed at the Sapiens First leader. “You wore a mask on that stage, but I recognized your voice as soon as you came into our home. The tattoo on your forearm is quite distinctive, by the way.”
Cass didn’t know where all this bravado was coming from. She certainly didn’t feel it deep inside, but she didn’t know what else to do. If she didn’t stand up to them, they were going to try and force her to do whatever it was they wanted. She had to be brave and strong. She couldn’t give up Shelby’s location, no matter what they did to her.
As if in response to her thoughts, Simon leaned over the desk, placing both his hands flat on the broad wooden top so he could look directly into Cass’s eyes. “Cass, you’re already in a lot of trouble. However, your father is placed high enough in the organization that if you cooperate now, I think we can both agree that the punishment will be rather light, considering the level of your betrayal to humanity. On the other hand, if you do not comply with my request for information, then I’m afraid there’s nothing your father will be able to do to protect you from what must inevitably happen.”
Despite feeling like she was going to burst into tears at any moment, Cass held Simon’s hard gaze for a few seconds before she said, “What, Simon, are you planning to kill me, too, with that thing hanging in the Benson’s house?”
Simon sneered, which told her he knew exactly what she was talking about. Dammit, they were all in on it, even her father.
Simon pulled a small notebook from his coat pocket and said, “Cass, I’m going to ask you a few questions. Understand this. I’m only going to ask them once. If you don’t answer, or answer incorrectly, I won’t be responsible for what will happen to you after that. Only out of respect to your father do I even offer a sub like you anything approaching humane treatment.”
“Daddy, are you going to let him do this to me?”
Her father stared at her for a few seconds, then looked away. “This falls under Simon’s jurisdiction now, Cassie. I’m sorry, but you got yourself into this mess. I’m afraid you’ll have to get yourself out of it.”
Simon nodded. “Thank you, James. Now, Cass, there’s no use denying that you were the one that took the video. We know you did because we were able to trace the serial number of the implant that recorded it back to the medical device manufacturer. They keep quite good records and for the right payoff, the corporate librarian was only too happy to provide us the information we needed. After that, it was simple to follow the trail to the hospital where it was installed. You can imagine my surprise when I found your name at the end of our search. That was quite a nasty accident you were in down there, by the way.”
“So what?” Cass asked. “I guess I’m supposed to applaud you for your detective work?”
“No, I’m merely telling you what we know so you are aware of how thorough we are. I will know if you’re lying to me so let’s avoid any unpleasantness and tell me what you know. We know you’ve been in touch with that sub girlfriend of yours. We were able to track some transmissions coming out of this enclave that went to a net address she used before she went dark. What did you two talk about?”
“I’m not telling you that. Ask me something else.”
“I told you not to mislead me, Cass,”
“I’m not misleading you, Simon. I told you that I wasn’t going to answer your question. That’s not lying, it’s just not answering.”
Simon sighed and set his notebook down. As he started to remove his sport coat and rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt, he said, “James, I think maybe you should leave the room.”
Cass’s father hesitated. “I am not sure about that, Simon.”
“I’m afraid I must insist. I’m going to have to convince your daughter to listen to reason. It’ll be better if you’re not here to see
or hear it.”
“You’re not going to do anything permanently damaging to her, are you?”
Cass shot a horrified glance at her father. He was going to leave her alone with this butcher. “How could you even consider letting him be alone with me, Daddy?”
“I’m sorry, Cassidy. You could’ve just answered his questions as he asked. Like I said earlier, this falls under his jurisdiction and I have absolutely no control over what happens anymore.”
Tears welled up in her eyes as her father stood up and left the room, pulling the door closed behind him, abandoning her to whatever Simon planned to do next.
Simon reached down to where he’d hung his coat over the back of a chair. He pulled out a small rectangular box. “Now we can get down to business.”
The grey metal box had a few round black buttons on it, a dial set below a tiny LED screen, and a flimsy, rubberized wire antenna coming out of one end. Cass watched as Simon fiddled with some of the settings before holding it up and looking at the readout on the tiny screen.
“This, Cass, is a nasty little device we came up with to use when convincing subs like yourself to cooperate with us. One of the nice things about your primary implant is that it gives us direct neural access to various centers of your brain. For instance, if I wanted to, I could reward you by accessing your brain’s pleasure centers.
Before Cass could react, a flood of total body stimulation washed over her. It was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. The intensity of the sensations made it so all she could do was let out a small gasp as she sunk deeper into her seat. Her hands trembled as she gripped the padded arms of the chair while Simon held down the button.
He smiled as he stood there watching Cass writhe in the chair. “I want to prove to you that I can do what I say I can do.” Simon let go of the button and the sudden stimulation went away. Cass found herself hugging her arms across her chest, breathing heavily, soaked in a cold sweat.
