Enhancement

- - 32- -

"... that's not what we do in Pod 14."

I rise from my position on the floor, still in my fading, foggy trance. I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand and slowly cross the room, sitting in my chair again. My mind is suddenly clearer, like somehow my mom would understand my choices. But right now, I need to know what Commander Liad will say next.

I stare at Commander Liad, waiting for him to elaborate. Delphin, who had somehow disappeared from everyone's attention, makes her voice loud and clear. "When we sent Tanner and all the other rebels into the city, we weren't kidding around. We're starting a full-out rebellion."

Rebellion. The fiery word fills the air like smoke. Rebelling has only ever been a hushed thought growing up, but now Delphin is practically yelling it in my ears. Something inside me shifts into gear. I want to rebel. I want to stop the Project and avenge my mom. But more importantly, I want to take down every Screener and leader that ever killed or tortured anyone.

"Our plan is simple," Delphin continues, "Our inmates and lower-class citizens are our rebels. As the Pod inmates return to cities, they stir up talk of rebellion. My job is to keep the lower-class earpieces filled with subtle reasons to fight as they work the fields."

Delphin glances at Liad, and he shakes his head subtly. "We'll introduce that later," he says to her. Red flags rise in my head, but I ignore them.

Turning back to us, Liad says, "This process may sound slow, but I assure you, it's effective and safe. Here's an example."

Commander Liad pulls from the air a holograph video. He spins it around and plays it.

"Watch me, Mommy, watch me!" a little child yells gleefully in the video, gliding high in the air on a swingset. I recognize the playground to be the one from my elementary school. "I'm swinging so high!"

"Wow, look at you go, honey!" a woman says from behind her as she pushes the swing. She stands with another woman, presumably a friend. As the swing rises higher, the woman adds, "Be careful, Holland, hold on tight!"

I visibly shudder. What the heck, am I watching myself? And my mother? That child is me? My hands clamp around the arms of my chair, holding on for dear life.

This is too much too soon. I've never seen a photo or even a document from my childhood, and now I'm watching a video of it? The feeling in my chest rises in a form of nostalgia. My mind can't remember almost anything about my childhood, but I feel like I should. I've been missing out on these moments of joy somehow.

Warm fingers wrap around my hand, and my eyes dart towards the source. Stephen's eyes are focused on my hand, and he gently loosens every one of my fingers from the chair. I relax my hand for him and slide my fingers between his. He looks up at me and half-smiles the exact same way he did way back when we were locked in our Enhancement Project cell.

"Okay, Mommy!" the child version of myself yells in the video, a huge smile on her face.

"Liz," the friend of my mother smiles, "Your daughter is too cute."

"Until she falls of the swing," my mother laughs, "But she's a sweetheart, and so smart, too. She can read picture books all by herself.

"Wow, that's really great," the friend says. "Can she read any book or only the assigned ones?"

"The assigned ones." My mother's tone dulls as my hands press harder around my chair. This is my mom talking about me at age four. If I would have known this footage existed, I would have paid anything to get it. Anything.

"They won't let her skip ahead," my mom says, "or buy any more books from the store."

"Huh," my mom's friend says, "I wish she could read whatever she wanted. If only that were possible." My mom looks at her, and they communicate silently through a stare.

"Mommy, push me more!" the younger form of myself says. My mom gives her an extra large push.

"When she's older, I bet," the friend says, "but anyway, do you need some more sunscreen? I think you do." She pulls out a small tube from her pocket. "And make sure to pull the label off while you're in the bathroom stall. The back of the labels always collect lint."

The friends connect eyes again. My mom looks downright confused. "Alright," my mother says with an undertone of suspicion, "Just watch Holland for me until I come back."

"Of course," the friend smiles, "but the label. The stall."

My mother nods, pocketing the tube and heading in the direction of the bathrooms in the school.

"Alright, Little Holly," the friend says, "Let's go to the sliding boards!"

The video cuts off. I blink a few times and then look at Liad with conflicted feelings. "What did I just watch?" I ask him.

"Espionage, treason, and evasion," Liad explains. "The government hides cameras everywhere, but the feeds only record when taboo words are mentioned. So with extra caution, your mother's friend handed your mother an illegal note written on a label. That note contained information about rebelling, and over many years, re-using this method has built up supporters of a nationwide movement."

I nod, clearly my raspy throat. "So it works? It convinces people?"

"Of course. We train our inmates to be careful and thorough. Instead of teaching a year or two worth of respect for government, we teach efficient methods of gaining trust, planting doubt, and delivering messages. These things take time and span over years to do."

Commander Liad checks the time on his holograph desktop. "We'll save the rest of the plan for tomorrow."

"Sir?" A voice says from the doorway. My eyes jump to our interruption: Olivette.

Liad acknowledges her with a nod before saying to each of us, "Mr. Moore and Miss Renner, it was a pleasure meeting you. I'll be seeing you soon."

We shake Commander Liad and Commander Delphin's outstretched hands before standing. Olivette motions politely for us to follow her. Letting our hands fall apart, Stephen and I follow Olivette out the door of the large room.

-- -- -- -- --
ugh, plain chapter, I know. but don't worry, it's going to keep moving along. maybe I'll add a romance scene here and there...

Question: Choose a word: few, some, or many.

Follow-up Question: On a scale of 1-10, how much do you like the new covers on my books?

I think the new covers are amazing, but are they non scifi enough? Idk, I still love them :)