Vision Zero

Chapter 7

     Four o'clock a.m., Cole flips on the light and yanks Vaughn off his cot. The thud wakes Ender, but he doesn't stir. He keeps his eyes closed and listens, pretending to still be asleep.

"On your feet. It's time to start your first treatment session."

"The sun's not even up yet," Vaughn says, his eyes barely open.

"It's time. Come with me."

"Can I at least brush my teeth first?" Vaughn asks, his throat dry, a filmy slime coating his tongue.

"You will have time for morning ablutions when you are finished with your treatment. Next time, get up earlier," Cole says.

"How was I supposed to know you were gonna drag me out of bed in the middle of the night?"

"You are not on vacation at a five star resort, Mr. Landry. This isn't sleep away camp. You are here to avoid being placed in the prison system. You will do what I say. No questions asked. Is that understood, Mr. Landry?"

"Yeah," Vaughn mutters.

"What was that? Speak up! I can't hear when you mumble," Cole says.

"Yeah," Vaughn snaps back.

"Are you pulling attitude with me, Mr. Landry?"

Vaughn stays silent, his gaze fixed on the tiles beneath his feet.

"Look me in the eye when I'm speaking to you, Mr. Landry. I expect an answer when I ask you a question. Since you still don't understand how things work around here, I'm going to give you one more chance. Are you pulling attitude with me, Mr. Landry?"

"No, sir," Vaughn says, maintaining eye contact with Cole.

"You'll learn. Come. Dr. Sacavage is waiting."

The slam of the door jolts Jonah awake. He bolts upright, then lays back down.

"Can you believe that guy?" Ender says.

"Huh?"

"He's such an ass."

"What time is it? It's still dark out there," Jonah says.

"Way too early. This must be part of their plan. Sleep deprivation. Makes the mind more pliable. Easier to control and manipulate," Ender says.

"Careful what you say, man. This place could be bugged. They could be listening to everything we say," Jonah says.

"One way to find out. I learned a few tricks from my father. Useless piece of garbage. At least he was good for something," Ender says.

"How you gonna do that?"

"Stay quiet. Don't move," Ender says, pulling a cell phone out of his pillowcase.

"How'd you sneak that in?" Jonah whispers.

"I told you. I learned a few tricks from my old man."

Ender searches the entire room, then checks the bathroom.

"It's all clear. No bugs. Now we can talk," Ender says.

"How'd you learn about that stuff? What's your old man do?" Jonah asks.

"Attorney general. He works with the president."

"And he couldn't get you out of this?"

"Could. Didn't want to. He tried getting me swept under the rug like I didn't exist. Had me processed and stuck here so his rep wouldn't be tarnished. Wouldn't look good for him. Wouldn't look good for the president, either. They needed to get rid of me. Sent me here to get deprogrammed," Ender says.

"What are you talking about? Deprogrammed? I thought they were just changing how we act," Jonah says.

"Yeah, to the extreme. They want to take away our ability to think for ourselves. Get rid of our freewill."

"How they planning to do that? Lobotomy?" Jonah says, half joking.

"Don't know. I heard they use hypnotherapy. Sometimes shock treatment."

"Nobody's gonna be zapping me with anything."

"I think that's just for the extreme cases. For us, they'll just use old torture tactics. The kind they used years ago to make prisoners of war spill secrets. You know, keep us from sleeping, all carb diet."

"I thought they were just being cool. You know, pasta, soda. That was my typical lunch before I got stuck here," Jonah says.

"Yeah, but then your mom forced you to have meat and vegetables for dinner. All our mom's did. That's what kept us okay. The brain can't think right if it's only got carbs," Ender says.

"What are we supposed to do? We're stuck here. They say get up, we gotta get up."

"For now, we do nothing. But we keep our eyes open and our mind clear. Don't get sucked in. Don't let them brainwash you."

"Don't worry. Nobody's washing this brain. How'd you find all this out anyway?" Jonah says.

"I told you. I hear talk at home. He thinks I don't listen, but when he's on the phone, my ears are tuned in to everything he says. Especially when it's with the president."

"So how do we stop this?"

"We don't. We just let them think they've won. Just go along with whatever they say, but don't let them get in your head. Don't let them change you," Ender says.

"Shouldn't we tell the others? The girls could be in danger and not even know it," Jonah says.

"We can't risk it. Not yet. The less they know, the better. Right now, Sinnott, Sacavage and Hale need to believe they have control over us. If my calculations are right, you're going to be the next one to go with Dr. Sinnott. Just play along. Then tell Xander and me what he did."

Ender looks over to see Xander stretched out on his cot, snoring like a buzz saw.

"How is he still asleep?"

"That guy sleeps like the dead," Jonah says.

"Careful what you say around this place. I don't trust these people."

"You don't think they would...you know? Do you?" Jonah says.

"Don't know. But they do work for the government. Anything is possible. Whatever happens, we stick together."

"I still think we should tell the girls what we know," Jonah says.

"Tonight at dinner, I'll feel out the situation. If I think they can handle it, we'll let them in. If not, we work behind the scenes and keep everyone safe."

"You really got put in here for changing some grades? Didn't think that was such a major offense."

"It's not. I hacked into the president's computer. I got tossed in here because they wanted to keep me quiet. But I saw things. Scary things before they shut down my access."

"What'd you see?" Jonah asks.

"You don't want to know."