We always give them thirty seconds to decide. PsyOps tells us that this is just enough time to weigh a set of options, to process the importance of a choice, but not quite enough to fully engage the rational mind. That's important. We need to know what's in their guts, and thinking too much might ruin the surprise.
We explain that their parents died...poorly. A scrap of hair usually serves as proof enough, especially after seeing the charnel house we take them too. Pigs blood and corpses on loan from the medical school. The Ops guys really get into that part.
The scene itself is simple, the room cold – cold enough to keep them uncomfortable, alert. The subject and the killer sit across from one another in hard-backed metal chairs. There is cursing, insults and a single bullet.
We offer revenge with no consequences. The subject knows enough to realize we aren't lying, knows enough to realize that this is his only chance.
By now only seconds remain, and his finger squeezes against metal. This, Ops tells us, is when the options finally click into place, when the choice is really made.
8 out of 10 pull the trigger, and find that the gun has mysteriously jammed. They are executed on the spot, their still living parents compensated from an insurance policy they have no recollection of taking out. What a waste.
The other two, we recruit. At first they're angry, but once that anger fades, they understand. Some of them even volunteer to be the killers.
YOU ARE READING
A Year of Stories
Short StoryThe goal: A new short story, every weekday, for a year. That's about 260 stories, for anyone keeping count. This is Volume #1, covering January and February stories. Inside you'll find a mix of Fantasy, Literary and Science Fiction, occasionally...
