The Visionaries

4

He dreamed of them. It was a long time ago, when he was a kid. There were various children singing to him. A woman held a birthday cake in front of him. It was white with blue trim and various candles on it. He could barely make out their faces but they looked like each other. The woman and a man were in front of him, smiling, mouthing to the song.

A voice called out to him in the distance. He couldn't make out what they were trying to say. He was in a meadow surrounded by mountains. A woman was in the distance, gathering flowers. He tried to walk closer to the woman. She was about to turn when everything vanished and a bright light woke him up. He snapped out of it. He was in a bed, connected to endless machines, an IV drip, and in a hospital gown.

"I guess I better get straight to the point." the man said. "I am Michael Winters, head of the New State's military. You are the first successful supersoldier. Soon, they'll be others like you but for now, we have to prove your worth."

He was confused. Well, that was a lot to take in.

"You see, we're trying to build a new world. The old one was a mistake. You can't remember it but it was a terrible one. People were starving, the government was under constant attack, and there was sickness that was killing the citizens. But some people can never fully let the old die." he said.

"What do you mean by that?" the experiment asked.

"There's a group of people that want to destroy the progress we've made. They've been sabotaging every attempt at progress. I need you to get rid of them." he said.

"As in?"

"Kill or capture. Don't care which. My boss would prefer the latter. I would personally like all of them dead."

"Who are they?"

"They call themselves the Indigneous Liberation Movement. They have actively sabotaged all of our work in resettling their kind and everything else. As far as we know there's five of them, three women and two men. Were told they're all Indians but that's all we know."

"So you want me to kill them."

"I do."

"What do I get in return for it?"

"Well, you'll be awarded a lot of useless shiny medals, they'll praise you to high heavens, you'll be a hero, and my project will succeed."

"What's in it for me, through?"

"You'll get an apartment, someone to do all your cooking and cleaning, whatever you want at your disposal, and if you are that kind of man, anyone at your disposal."

He cringed a bit. He had no real memory of himself but that didn't even sound appealing.

"That sounds like a nice change of pace from this." Was he even able to kill people? He wasn't sure what cause the man spoke of or what those people had done exactly. Did they deserve to die?

"What if I don't take your offer?"

"You don't have a choice. You belong to the government. And if you resist, we'll find ways to make you do it."

"Like?" The man pulled something out that looked like a dog collar but metal with a lot of lights.

"This is a shock collar. It will shock you everytime you refuse to follow orders. Your superior for missions has the only key. If you somehow manage to get it off, we'll implant a chip in your brain that will force you to comply. And if somehow you manage to resist that, there's always a lobotomy."

He gulped. He didn't want to lose his free will or himself. He wished he had other options.

"Alright, I'll capture them."

"Good, I'll have them escort you to the base and bring you some clothing." Michael said. "You've done the right thing." He patted him in the back and walked out of the room. He stared at his hands. There was a wristband on it. Experiment 626 was written on it, listing him as a male, and his age as twenty three.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." he said. It was an older nurse, carrying a bundle and a small bag.

"Hello." she said. "This is your clothing, shoes, a towel, and some toiletries for you. Follow me."

She led him to a locker room and left. He was the only one in the room. He removed the hospital gown and got in the shower. He found the bag and opened it. There was a razor, shave gel, shampoo, a washcloth and body wash. He felt the top of his head. He didn't really need the shampoo. He poured body wash on the washcloth and scrubbed himself. He dried off and checked out the clothes left for him. It was underwear, socks, and a grey dress shirt with black pants. Great. He opened the door and there was the nurse, on her phone.

"Alright, follow me." she said. They walked down halls with bleak lighting. There were white doors on the walls. There was no sound coming from them. He heard a loud scream and then the sounds of machines going off. A group of doctors and nurses ran past them.

"What is this place?" he asked no one in particular. There was an operation room where the surgeons were operating on someone. Or something, he couldn't tell. They walked to an elevator and he watched her punch some buttons. As the elevator started to go up, he stared at the floor. They finally got to the first floor and his eyes struggled to adjust to the light for a moment. It was sunny and the first floor was completely made out of glass. There was a desk upfront and there was a woman on the phone. She stared at him for a few minutes and kept talking. Then another woman appeared. She was tall, blonde, and thin.

"So you must be the creation that Michael was talking about." she said.