The Simple Words

Prologue

“You can’t do this to those kids, Miller. Not without at least telling them what they’re up for. You don’t know what you’re doing”, said a woman in her mid-twenties with short, blond hair hastily to her boss. Everybody else on the department had gone home, but Miller had asked her to stay a little bit longer to talk with her about an experiment he wanted her to help with. “Don’t you think this is too much? They’re just kids. Their families will be worried.”

Miller grunted and looked at the woman intensely. “Why can’t I do this, Robertson? I’m your boss now, not your colleague anymore. This is not an experiment, it’s a test. Or you could look at it as a game. We’ll make up a story for the parents, or we could even tell them the truth. We could give them money for it. And if you don’t want to cooperate, that’s fine with me. Go find another job then.”

Robertson pursed her lips in a tight line. Miller continued talking. “This is what we do. Research about humans and their actions, and with this test we will be getting to know how the teenage mind works. Everything will be set up, the only thing you have to do is writing the report. Some guys from the Performance, conduct and behavior management will be cooperating, too.” Miller raised his eyebrows, as if asking Robertson if she was also in. “Besides, most of the kids are expected to get something good out of the test. Nobody has ever done something like this before. It’s fresh, it’s new. We want to entertain people. We’re going to film everything, so if it turns out to be interesting, I could even sell it to the television. We’ll see.”

Robertson nodded slowly.

“Good. For your information, I let the computer pick the kids randomly, but nobody who lives more than an hour away was counted in. Ages 16 to 20.” Miller started ruffling through his papers which were lying on his desk, searching for something. Robertson hadn’t moved from her position in the big, wooden chair across the person who had become recently her boss.

She felt bad for the kids, who would be away from their friends and family a long time, only for some stupid test. The longer she thought about it, the quicker her guilt disappeared.

This could be interesting, right? She had surely never done anything like this. She hoped that this would make a good story, or what Miller said, even good television. She decided to make the best of it.

Miller finally found what he was looking for. “Ah, here it is. Ten boys, ten girls, ten rooms. We found some old, empty apartments sprawled out in the woods, they will be perfect. The pairs will also be randomly picked by the computer. Letters to the participants will be sent out today. I’ll tell you the exact starting date later, but this is all you need to know for now. First meeting is tomorrow morning at ten.”

Robertson spoke up. “What do the letters say?” Miller looked through his papers again, and pulled one out. “Not the truth, of course. It says they need to fill out some forms for the government, and they’re required to come.” He sighed. “Any more questions?”

“What if some of the kids are in a relationship?” Robertson asked with an unsteady voice.

“We’ll see. It’s all puppy love at this age, anyway. That’s what this is all about, isn’t it?.” Miller stocked the papers up in a neat pile again.

Robertson stood up from her chair, and walked towards the big, glass door.

“Oh, and Robertson?” She turned around and looked at Miller with an anticipating look.

“This will be the cover story, so don’t mess up.” He gave her a wink before she walked out the door, taking a deep breath as she hurried though the halls of the building. As she got outside, she inhaled the fresh air deeply, and instantly became more confident.