Page 114 of Mind Maze

“Me and Seth took my father’s life’s work and expanded on it, making it better. This is the future, Romy. It’s incredible. The dinosaurs like our fathers are using outdated methods to modify human behavior. There’s so much room for error and failure. Like you, for instance. They tried to fix your broken brain as a child, but it failed. It’s time we fix it once and for all.”

Dread consumes me.

“With the evolvement of AI, we’re able to take science, especially in the field of psychiatry, and rewire a person’s brain. This is an incredible advancement,” he explains, voice turning giddy. “People will no longer need medication or endless, useless therapies that don’t always work for mental health problems like generalized anxiety disorder or bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. We can take actual hard data from the person, reveal the inner workings to an AI program, and have AI create a customized brain modification system.”

He’s lost his mind.

This is crazy.

You can’t play God like this without consequences.

“You can thank yourfiancéfor that technology,” Doc Junior says with a chuckle. “Caius created the program for his own purposes, but Orion sold it to us to use in our research. We did not disappoint.”

I know Caius is intelligent, but it’s unnerving to know that his brain created something that is now being used experimentally with these mad scientists. If he knew what they were doing, would he be okay with it?

“People will be healed of their ailments,” Doc Junior continues. “They can go on to become functioning members of society and live to their full potential, not being weighed down by their illnesses or past traumas. Think of the soldiers suffering from PTSD. With this program, anytime their brains revert back to the awful, terrifying memories, the customized system will divert them to a safe zone in their mind. The system is intuitive and forever self-correcting.”

He walks away and returns with a tiny granule that’s almost imperceptible to the human eye. “This seemingly insignificant piece of hardware is what we call a Stem Lock.”

My eyes are blurry from the forced video watching. I try to focus on the fleck to see how something so small could be so important.

“Think of it as a healer, a miraculous healer.” He thrusts his hand closer to my face. “Once we affix the Stem Lock device to your brainstem, your mental pain and anguish will be a thing of the past. Your doctor can easily monitor and adjust the system via an app.” He laughs and shakes his head as though in awe of himself. “This is life-altering, Romy. It’s a game changer. Humanity is about to be eradicated of mental health disorders. The possibilities, after that, are endless.”

He’s insane.

The ramifications of such technology is terrifying.

“Want to know the best part?” he asks, grinning at me. “You and Kaitlyn get to be the ones who’ll take us there. The future starts soon. We’re almost ready to begin.”

Caius

Ithink they forgot about me.

And that’s the most hope I’ve had since landing my ass in this bed.

I need them to slip up just a little. Then I can pounce on the opportunity and escape.

I’m regaining movement in my arms and legs. I wriggle my toes and flex my fingers, hoping to kickstart the ability to move all over.

Wherever I am, I know in my soul it’s a fucked-up place. It has all the markings of a hospital, but I know better. Sometimes the ugliest things are dressed up in the most beautiful packaging.

Leaving this place is my utmost priority.

Move your body, man.

It takes an incredible amount of strength and effort, but I manage to force myself into a sitting position. My head is woozy, but I’ll be damned if I let it keep me from getting the hell out of here.

The first thing I do is rip the tape off that’s holding the needle for my IV in place. Carefully, I pull it out and then press my thumb on the hole to apply pressure. I’m done getting drugged against my will.

Now you know how Romy felt all those times…

The thought of Romy right now sours my gut. I have no fucking idea where she’s gone or what they’ve done to her. Idon’t even know who “they” are. All I know is she’s been taken from me.

Once I’m sure I won’t keep bleeding after removing pressure from the IV needle hole, I begin ripping off the leads stuck to my chest. I’m no longer on oxygen, but I do have more leads stuck to my head.

What the fuck?

Parts of my head have been shaved where the leads are. I don’t know what the hell they’ve been doing to me, but I don’t like it.

---