The projection crackles a little, and sputters to life. The man in the lab coat disappears out the door. A woman in an emerald green suit appears on the screen.
"Hello esteemed citizen." She pauses as if waiting for us to reply. We don't. "Why are you here? Why have you spent the past week in a cell with only one other person as company?" That's a good question. Have I really been here a week...? It feels like longer.
"In 2050, the population began to decrease across the globe." She smiles benevolently, gesturing to a little graph, with a little red line, slowly making its was down the lines. "It became clear that we could not continue to have population laws, or antinatalist policies anymore. Nor could we afford to execute prisoners."
"Still doesn't answer any questions." Marigold grunts. I agree.
"In 2055, our jails were flooded. It became clear that we had to do something! So our top scientists developed a formula that can make someone...not guilty! It erases all memories a person has of their past life, and makes them a fresh canvas, a new being to start over as a functioning member of society."
I feel sick. If this means what I think it means...I look over at Marigold. Her eyes are wide.
"You may be wondering how this all applies to you! Well, you are currently in a compound in southern Florida, with twenty pairs of two!" A little diagram of the compound shows that we are currently sharing the hallway with forty other people, each in a different room.
"You are here because you have committed one of the following crimes;" A quick list scrolls across the screen and I feel sick.
Manslaughter...
Rape...
Murder...
Kid napping...
National sabotage...
The list goes on. I feel sick.
I'm a criminal.
