“Where do you work?” If only there were an easy answer to that question I could give. Humans by nature are nosy. They never stop at that pesky question when I reply, “The Government.” No. They need to know which floor I worked on. How the food tastes over here at the Government office. Where the janitor’s baby got her ears pierced. And when Andy and May Lee from the eighth floor will stop pretending to not fuck, when they so obviously are. When I encounter these nosy brands of irritants, I feel as if my job actually makes sense. Well, it should. It must. The Human Control Center is certainly the single most important entity the country hosts. And yet… Its existence is known to not even the first percentile of our nation. That is where I work.
“Good morning, Miles,” Ethan greeted me as usual upon entering the vast grey structure. He’s been the front security guard for the last four years I’ve worked here. Ethan stood with his pearly white teeth beaming at us every day in front of the grey monstrosity he was protecting.
“Good morning, Ethan. How are the wife and kids?”
“Doing great, and yours?” he replied with his signature positivity.
“Likewise,” I reply and enter the grey monument.
There were eight hundred buildings in the massive Governmental courtyard. Of which the important ones are the obvious… The House of Commons where the commoners aren’t allowed, the Parliament, nicknamed the circus, and, the Prime Minister’s mansion, where he doesn’t stay. Amidst all these important buildings, hidden in the west quadrant lies the Human Control Center of Zairn. Who doesn’t even have a board in its possession.
` As usual, I pass through the ground floor without a single impeding conversation; like a snake slithering towards its prey; the elevator. There are always people inside the elevator, yet not a single conversation explodes out of it. It’s the unspoken rule of the HCC… departments aren’t supposed to talk to each other. Especially my department.
“Case #3210024. Denny is seeking an update, Miles,” Nia didn’t even wait till the elevator doors shut behind me. Almost as if she were a wife waiting for her hardworking husband to come back from a hectic day. Unfortunately for her, I was married; happily.
“Why’s he seeking an update? It’s open and shut. And Micah passed the judgement on that, not me,” I reply, not wasting a step to my cabin. Nia followed.
“Denny is seeking an update from you, Miles, regarding Case #3210024” she repeated like the broken tape recorder she is.
I scoffed. She left. Robotically, I ordered everything on my table. From the red uncapped pen from last Friday to the new itinerary I was supplied by the planning department which no one has claimed to see.
“Denny, are you there?” I ask the moment I donn the talker phones.
“Yes, Miles, about Ca-”
“About Case #3210024. Subject name Ethan Garner. Preliminary and primary report by Micah says he’s not a Defection risk.”
“Good.” Dennis Borgham, the head of the monitoring department, replied.
“You could have gotten the same report from Micah, Denny,” I added before Denny could do his trademark leave before you could breathe.
“Yes, but I wanted to get your input. His wife was found to be a grade-A Defective. Considering the fact that he’s one of our employees, I wanted a backup opinion from you.” The highest compliment a tracker like me could hope to get from the department. Denny performed his trademark.
Case #3210024 Ethan Garner… our security agent. He became a case of interest when his wife was found to be Defective three months ago by Micah Bannen. Immediately, the information was passed on to the Re-build department, from where the Defective was effectively removed and replaced. Ethan is obviously unaware for his own safety. So are the millions of other loved ones of the Defective. It is the kindness the Government shows to them. How else would they control mass mayhem? We, the Human Control Center are helping to maintain the peace of society by quietly identifying the Defectives.
Who are the Defectives? You may ask. You’re not allowed to. It is best if you don’t know about them. For then… you become a Defective. Instead, I’ll show you how we identify these Dangers to society.
Case #3210144 Natalie Brown. My latest case. A high-profile one at that. Usually, trackers aren’t allowed on high-profile cases till their 8th year. I, by Denny’s involvement surely, am handed these in just my 4th. Natalie Brown is the daughter of esteemed businessman Reginald Brown; owner of thirty businesses across the country, with tight connections all across the country and outside, and his solar refineries are amongst the ones the Government has made a deal with for decades. Yet his daughter, a law student, has shown multiple signs of being a Defective.
I open up the screens. A large array of holographic panels flash in front of me, showing the cases of suspicion our Identification department handed over. This one is not a difficult case. I could see from a glance that she’s a Defective. Slogans in her car which she tries to hide in the glove box, rebel bands on days which she feels particularly courageous, and the obvious thing, a poster saying Uncover the Truth, pasted on her bedroom wall, in front of which she and Andrew McCain from her class were having moments of wild intimacy me and my wife would envy upon watching. Both of them even had golden hair. She fits the criterion. Her social media posts, not from her public account obviously; the fake one she made through multiple overlays across Bangladesh, in which she writes about the Lies our great Government portrays. She even had posts about how the Government is secretly brainwashing people without their consent and even accused herself of maybe being brainwashed in the past. All lies. Brainwashing has been a capital punishment ever since the case of Ivine Brookes, fourty years ago. And the Government would never bend the rules. Yet people like her are the reason why we exist. We, the HCC must control these defective humans who threaten the peace and prosperity of our great nation of Zairn. You may think, what can one little girl do against the entire Government? One little girl has friends she influences, which grows wider as the days pass. Soon there’s a rebellion group. Then there are protests. Small at first, but eventually spanning multiple locations in the country. All from the lies she started with. It is obvious that the Government will come out on top. That is not even a matter of question. But in doing so, they will have to use force and neutralize these protestants. Their families will suffer because of that. Which will eventually drop their Productivity scores, leading to lesser Work Effectivity scores in places they work, which results in overall bad services to the society. All of this leads to the suffering of society and the general populus; their lack of numbers in the Happiness Index. Which is against everything our Government believes in. The people are the priority. The Government of Zairn loves the people. So… it is necessary to identify the Defectives before anything else happens. The HCC is made for this one duty.
I write up my final review on Natalie Brown and stamp it with my red seal saying “DEFECTIVE” before sending it up to the Re-build department. Where her replacement will be made using state of the art cloning mechanisms. Dr. Kaori’s brilliance. He developed the mechanism by which they could replicate human consciousness, and through many decades of research never known to the public eyes (for their own safety of course) the Government is now able to program and create their own clones… which would replace the Defectives in their homes. There were many discussions helf on the effectiveness of these clones. Until Dr. Kaori revealed that there were clones in the meeting itself. The only defect in the clones are from the ones who design the consciousness. They may overlook some slight details like the way one braids their hair, the strength of voice they put on pronouncing “r” and other mundane things. Fortunately, we humans of Zairn have better things to do than notice such irrelevant artifacts.
By the time evening rolls by, I ger the update that Natalie Brown has been neutralized and that her clone has successfully taken her place. Efficient work. Due to the high profile nature of the case. Just before I leave my table for the day, I peek into Natalie’s bedroom one last time, where the now fixed Natalie took down her posters, cleaned out her car, and deleted her illegal social media accounts. The country had been saved. As I left the building, I saw a new black bag coming through to the Extermination department to be incinerated. A golden strand of hair was peeking out of the bag too. The Government, the HCC, and I have saved the prosperity of our country once again.
The ride back home was pleasant. Every car followed the rule. Every lane followed silence. It was the world our Government promised us. It is the world me and my colleagues strive to give the public. Follow the rules and live your life the way you want. I look to my right at the signal. Inside the car was a child waving at me with his half crooked teeth. His mother joyously asking him to be respectful too. In the front seat, the father sat responsibly, with a gentle smile on his face. That was a family close to self destruction. The husband and wife fought too much; she even wanted to leave him for it all. And today, because of our intervention they’re a happy family. Case #2210022, Zack Barnes, labelled Defective by Miles Thorgan. Another one of my proud successes.
“Welcome home, honey,” Julia said, waiting for me by the door to take away my suitcase. She wore a purple gown, over which an apron had been neatly tied. She smelt of lavender, fresh bread, and lasagna. “I hope you had a good day at work today.”
“I did,” I replied and sat down at the table where all has been prepared by her many hours of toil. I have to commend my wife. She, who initially hadn’t a simple clue about cooking now is a master at it. I remember joking with Denny a year or two back saying “I would love to get Julie some cooking lessons. Do you think the Re-Build department will help?” Denny didn’t seem to find it particularly funny. But I know him better than the others to identify that sly smirk he keeps at the edge of his mouth.
“What are you thinking about, honey?” Julie asks.
“Just about how lucky I am to have you,” I replied. She blushes gently. Julie used to be the wild-cat in our college. She was involved in everything and anything. She often got into issues too. Sometimes even about the Government. We were young and dumb after all. And all those from our group thought I was unworthy of her. If only they knew the importance of my role in maintaining the peaceful lives they ungratefully lead. Julie continued her immature arguments against the Government even a year into our marriage. If only I could tell how important my job was to keep the peace in our country. But I guess even she realized it without my intervention. One fine Monday, it was as if she transformed and began realizing how kind our Government treats us. It was a good day. We made love too. Life has been better since that day. Julie seemed like she matured into a wonderful little butterfly overnight. Yet only one thing confused me… She also started wearing her bracelet on her left hand since then.
