MINE

Chapter Eight

The feeling of happiness wore off about an hour later. While Nathan could still feel traces of it, he was clear headed enough to think now. He couldn't remember much of the past hour but knew he drifted in and out of sleep for most of it. The sleep however, was different from the ones he had at night. It lacked the nightmares that plagued him. Those were replaced with hazy dreams of unreal fantasy creatures – at least that was what he thought.

Was it better to have those dreadful nightmares?

That was a question Nathan did not have a definite answer to. On one hand, they connected him to his past. They were a constant reminder of the things and people he had lost and that somehow gave him a sense of attachment to his former reality. On the other hand, they left him with a deep sense of sadness... and drive. He felt like they pushed him to survive in this new environment he found himself.

The replacement dreams felt unreal. They gave him an easy escape from the dreadful ones but left him with an uneasy feeling once the happiness faded away. It was that uneasiness that led him to think about them longer than he would normally have. The only thing he knew about them was that they started when he started taking the preventive shots ordered by the Ruling Council.

"Borgina, I need you to find something out for me." Nathan said, sitting up on his bed.

"Off the record?" Borgina asked.

"Yes." He replied, with a playful frown on his face. "How can you tell?"

"You make a cute face." She replied. "What do you want to know?"

To Nathan, the face he made was somewhere between embarrassed and shy. It was nothing close to cute but knowing Borgina, she was either telling the truth, or patronizing him. She did that to shield him from embarrassing moments from time to time. Under normal circumstances, he would probe her further but today, he had other things on his mind.

"I want to know what's in the preventive shots." He replied.

There was a silent pause from Borgina and he knew exactly what that meant. Whatever the answer was, he wasn't going to like it.

"I am not authorized..." She began but was interrupted mid-sentence.

"I didn't ask if you were authorized. I asked what was in the shot." His tone was stern.

"I don't know what's with you these days, Borgie. You barely tell me anything. Are things different with us now because we're no longer on Earth?"

"You only call me Borgie when you're upset." She stated calmly.

"Damn right, I'm upset. Why can't you just tell me?" He asked.

"Because I was looking for a solution first." She replied. "Why tell you now when there's nothing you can do about it?"

"Maybe because I asked?"

"I know, Nathan. Things are different here on MoonEx. Not between us but with this entire arrangement. I'm still trying to figure things out."

"At least tell me what you know." He probed.

"The shots aren't preventive shots at all." She replied.

"What do you mean?" A perplexed Nathan asked.

"They are Intoxifiers to keep you all in a constant state of euphoria." She replied.

"What? They're doping us?"

"Yes they are."

It was a simple response but it drove Nathan crazy.

"Why in the world would the government dope its citizens? Back on Earth, they threw people in jail for that. They get here and deceive people into it? It doesn't make any sense." He ranted.

"That's exactly why I didn't tell you before." She replied.

"You should have, Borgina. These Intoxifiers have health implications."

"Yes they do, but the quantity you're receiving wouldn't show any effects until the distant future." She replied.

"Then what? It's okay for me to die then?" He asked, clearly pissed off at everything.

"No, Nathan. You shouldn't bother about what happens then. Your focus should be what happens before then." She replied calmly.