MOLT 32

EXERTION

Personal Database #25

Subject: Wyn Rivera, MOLT 0, age 0-19.

<Medical Record: see HEALTH DATABASE #475>

<Behavioral Record: see SOCIOLOGICAL DATABASE #373>

Purpose Of Written Study: Pre-MOLT psychological analysis

Time to MOLT 1: 1.5 wks

Intellectual Property of the Governance of MOLT, Central Division

March 29, 2254

The longer I spend here and the closer my fateful birthday gets, the more I'm starting to realize how little I actually know about the MOLT. Woken by the alarm embedded in my wall at 6:00 A.M. to find that Terra was already gone, her sheets neatly folded and in a pile at the foot of her bed, I was escorted out of my room and to my first "class" by the same Governance employee who showed me to my room last night. In the sterile halls that we walked through on the way there as well as inside the classroom itself, my eyes met those of dozens of other Birth MOLTs, all just as clueless as I was, knowing just one thing about the life-changing procedure they're about to experience. Fragile, primitive Birth MOLTs go in, and true citizens genetically engineered for endurance in the post-Fall world emerge: what happens in between is a well-guarded secret.

In my introductory pre-MOLT lesson this morning, the Governance shed some light on the subject. Although, like all of the other post-MOLTs, our instructor, Aaron Henry, appeared to be between twenty and twenty five years old, his name tag listed him as a MOLT 31: between 155 and 160 years of age. Looking at someone who's almost dead is quite unsettling...especially when they're teaching you about the very procedure that they're about to go through one last time before they reach the human body's natural MOLT limit: the dreaded MOLT 32.

Anyway, I digress. So much information was force-fed to us over the course of our lesson blocks, which lasted for over half the day, that I struggled to keep track of the notes I speedily entered into my Governance-monitored educational profile. I hadn't expected training to involve such involved mental exertion, but the information I managed to glean was definitely worth it. I tried my hardest to focus and absorb as much of what we were taught as possible, both for my own purposes and to show the Governance what I can do before I go in for Governance Training (hint hint, I learn quickly).

We were told that our Complements- all jumpsuit clones, or TLOMs, as we learned they're called- are to be an intrinsic part of our MOLTs: that's why we share rooms with them and will be encouraged to interact with them over the course of our stay at the pre-MOLT training facility. They weren't paired with us at random either: according to Aaron, the Sociology Department has an entire committee dedicated to matching Birth MOLTs with the perfect TLOM based on personality traits, future plans, and other defining characteristics.

So you guys up at the Governance think Terra and I have similar personalities? I am insulted! I can be slightly annoying, sure, but last time I checked, I don't ignore people for no reason and I usually at least make an effort to be civil when I meet somebody new.

But what's done is done- I'm stuck with Terra, who would probably do everything in her power to mess up my MOLT. I'd like to humbly request you to keep an eye on me while I'm going through the surgery (I'm assuming that's what it is, because how else do you replace someone's organs?) just to make sure my Complement doesn't...try anything. I hope that the Complement's job in the MOLT isn't too significant, because if it is, I'm already dead.

Speaking of Complements, they have their own lessons to attend in a separate wing of the facility. Apparently their role in the MOLT is very different from ours, and they must be educated differently. I'm really grateful for the daytime break from my own personal pre-MOLT brat, but all of this is starting to make me wonder...

I know that your comments on my performance at school (well, not really your comments since that was the Education Division, but you know what I mean) always said I'm too curious for my own good, but I can't help but speculate. You can't blame me, can you? There's just nothing better to do here, stuck in a room with someone who hates me, a TV that only shows the same documentaries on the Great Fall we watched in middle school, and with no tasks assigned to me other than writing this log entry. Your most pointless thoughts are the result of boredom, am I right?

What does the MOLT feel like? Will I be able to recognize myself in a mirror once it's done? Even after Dr. Flynn's promise, will my neighborhood really accept me as a MOLT 1?

I may think endlessly on them now, but these are all things I will learn with time. However, my primary question is something I may never know the answer to: something that wasn't addressed in any of the lessons I attended today, and probably won't ever be, knowing the Governance.

What differentiates a Birth MOLT from a TLOM, and where do the TLOMs live? It isn't like you see Birth MOLTs in white jumpsuits in the Frezieran streets.

I remember Terra's adamant refusal to tell me where she's from, and while I initially dismissed it as a result of her bratty nature, I'm now starting to wonder whether there's something more to it. Maybe the Governance keeps the TLOMs somewhere secret...maybe they're not supposed to tell. But if so, why are they kept there? Why don't they get to MOLT? The MOLT is supposed to be free for all citizens, isn't it?

I shouldn't spend so much time pondering this. The more you think about such things, the more complex and sinister they become. I should probably go to bed; I don't really have a choice either way- that irritating little worm Terra says the sound of my typing is disturbing her sleep.

So, since my unwelcome roommate has brought my peaceful writing time to an unexpected end, I guess that's all for today.

Signing off,

Wyn.