The Love and The Lie

Chapter 4

Karen's POV

I go to a screen that shows what Henery sees. He experiences bugs, heights, murder, drowning, and getting lost before coming out of the simulation in five minutes. Jeanine sighs with frustration.

 He manipulated the simulation again.

I turn to Jeanine for instructions. "Alright, bring the subject to their cell," She says after recovering from her frustration. I leave to retrieve Henery. Unstrapping him from the table is difficult though. He thrashes and flings his arms and legs everywhere.

I turn to Jeanine, "We're going to need a guard!" Jeanine looks up from her papers and realizes that Subject 974 doesn't look so well... in the head. She takes quick glances at the worksheets that she holds and at Henery before deciding something that I couldn't have predicted.

"Hmm," She squints her eyes and I grow nervous. "Execute him."

One second the words are out of her mouth, the next, Henery's body lies on the floor right in front of us. Jeanine doesn't look affected, but I am. If she found out about my secret, would this be how my death would be brought?

"Get the body out of here and clean up the mess," Jeanine orders the guard in monotone before heading out with me. Just before the door closes, I take a peek at Henery's body. Deep red blood oozes from his chest and his white clothes are soaked in crimson. But that's not the most striking thing about him. One second ago he was insane and savage. Now he looks calm.

The door closes and I take a look at Jeanine, but stay silent on our way to the office. Once there, I close the door. We need to have a talk about this. It is the second time in two weeks that a subject has been executed. I clear my throat expectantly. Jeanine turns around to face me once at her desk. "You have my attention, Karen," She says in a tired tone.

I hesitate before finally saying something, "You didn't have to do that," I say.

Jeanine sighs, "Yes, I did."

"Why then?" I ask

"We can't use mentally ill people to test a serum that's supposed to work on a normal person. There was no use for him, Karen. And we can't let him go because he'd endanger everyone else, or tell them about Erudite,  or keep him because that would be illogical."

I want to argue that we could use memory serum, but then remember the first problem that Jeanine mentioned with letting him go. "Well, why did you have him shot?" I say, my pitch growing higher.

"It's faster, and not a drain on our resources," Jeanine plainly states while sitting at her desk, preoccupied with a pen. I sigh. It's difficult to fight Jeanine in an argument. I slump down into one of the two cushioned seats in front of Jeanine's desk, and frown.

 "Come, now,"  I hear her say, and I glance up at her. She reaches out for me and I finally get up and walk over to her. When I'm by her, Jeanine wraps her arms around my waist and brings me closer to her, controlling me to sit on her lap. When I do, she kisses my cheek and hugs me close to her. "I know that something is bothering you," Jeanine says, making eye contact with me, "You can tell me," She says.

No I can't, I think. You'd kill me. I don't tell her. I just lean into her chest like a 5 year-old and silently make up a good lie for later.