Smiles Never Forgotten

        It's been a little over 4 years since Rembrain launched Ender Cell Therapy. The memorais now patrol the streets at mass. Their sole purpose is to maintain the "peace" in Junmeso and in doing so, Rembrain can show the world what a force they truly are although, I'm sure they have more motive than just that.

        I've tried to leave this city many times but the memorais won't allow anybody to leave out of fear that our happiness and safety will become compromised. For years, I've silently observed them and their behavior. I've looked into their programming and have made many interactions with them to see just what makes them tick.

        After much digging, I found that the Ender Cell Therapy is actually not a therapy at all. Rembrain has developed an AI "cell" that is essentially a robotically engineered tissue that blocks out negative transmitters in the brain and detains them upon activation and replaces them with a mild neurotoxin that secretes positive signals instead resulting in the host not being able to experience sadness, grief or anger.

        What Rembrain doesn't tell people is that the Ender Cell stores those negative emotions within itself and that the body goes into shock once the cell cannot store anymore. Rembrain then collects the Ender Cell from the host when it reaches its cap and transfers it into a memorai in hopes to create the most life-like robots in existence; ones that can understand all human emotions and lead humanity to a more progressive state.

        Besides the rapid decline of what was once a beautiful city, it's been hard to come to terms with how these past few years played out knowing that I was ultimately the reason for my parents' deaths. Although my father cheated on my mom, I know I should've stuck around for her sake. If I never would've ran away I could've eased some of her pain instead of causing her more and they would've never even considered getting the Ender Cell.

"Snap out of it, Desta!" I muttered to myself.

"You can't let them see you frown."

        For the past three years I've worn a fake smile in public whenever I go out. Junmeso has all but been taken over by Rembrain at this point; just about everybody in the city has undergone the therapy. The people who haven't live in hiding like myself or they decide to check-out from this world. The memorais detain anybody who they deem a threat to humanity's happiness; anybody who causes sadness or anger for another person or themselves. I'm not sure what happens to those people after that. So, if they see me look unhappy they will report me to the facility and take me in. But I often find myself stuck reliving the last memory I have of my parents and when I do my face can't help but twist up.

        It was four years ago when I came back to Junmeso to visit them. Something had seemed off ever since I even stepped foot in the city. But the most strange thing happened when I sat at the table with them both. It was the happiest I've ever seen them in the same room in a long time. There was friendly banter between them as they wore huge smiles on their faces and kept a softness in their voices. It was disgusting.

        I wish I knew everything I knew now back then. On that day, four years ago, I had done something I never thought I would. My father had given my mother a kiss on the cheek and told her that he loves her. The blood boiled inside my veins as I couldn't process what I was hearing. How could he claim to love her after hurting her the way he did?

        I couldn't control my body in the moment. I yanked my father away from her and slapped him as hard as I could in the face. He was knocked back quite a bit and for a brief moment time stood still. In that stillness anger had been drawn on his face. His brows furrowed and he began to shake uncontrollably. I was sure I was done for. But then, suddenly, he began laughing and smiling.

"You still have a good arm on ya, Desta! That's my boy!" He shouted gleefully.

        I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and got up in his face.

"What do you think you're doing, dad!? Don't you dare think for a second that things can ever go back to the way things were for all of us!"

        His face changed once more to a solemn look. If I didn't know any better I'd say it looked like he was about to cry. That's when I was met with the beaming eyes of a metallic figure glancing at me from the door way in the other room. This would be my first encounter with a memorai.

        My father shoved me down onto the floor and began to bang his head against the wall. The memorai sprang into action and took hold of my father and in the midst of all this chaos, my mother sat at the table staring into nothingness. She hadn't said a word but sat there smiling as if nothing was going on. As the memorai clutched onto my father, he had started to convulse.

"Let him go! Can't you see he needs medical attention!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

        The memorai all but ignored me. Then, a needle had emerged from it's index finger and its robotic voice would command the words

                 "Initiating code 57: neurolink disconnect".

        The robot lunged the needle into the back of my father's head, bringing him to his knees almost instantly. I witnessed the life escape his body right in front of my eyes as his once ivory eyes were stained with red.

        My face was in total shock. I looked over at my mother who still stayed sat at the table but this time tears waterfalled from her eyelids. The robot dropped my father's lifeless body on the floor and proceeded to make way to my mother.

                  "Initiating code 57: neurolink disconnect."

"Don't you dare!" I screamed out.

        I attempted to tackled the memorai but it didn't budge at all. Even though I was clinging onto its frame, it powered through and kept its focus on my mother. It wasn't until it had approached her that she would say her last words to me:

"Desta, I forgive you".

        The memorai, with no mercy at all, plunged the needle into the back of her neck and once more I witnessed life escape a body. It had dropped her to the floor like an empty shell and then I heard vehicles pull up in front of the house. I ran into the basement and hid. Ironically, the only thing I seemed to be good at was running away.

        Shortly after, I heard a group of people through the floor boards above me talking.

"Well, this is definitely a scene local enforcement isn't going to be happy about" a feminine voice uttered.

"Hey, at least we try to help" , a second voice stated, "Here, take this body and slide it against the wall over there. And make sure to put the memorai in a trance."

"Sir!"

        I couldn't believe what was happening. I waited about 10 minutes before they left the premises. I made my way back into the dining room to find both my parents laid side by side against the wall holding hands. Blood had cascaded from their neck and soaked into their garments. Their crimson eyes were wide open and the smiles on their faces were as bright as ever.

        It was from that moment that I knew I had to leave this city or die trying.