Lies

Numb. I didn’t know how else to describe the state I had been in for the past two years other than “numb.” What happened to all the drive and energy I had? The drive to move towards my future? Stephen had taken it to the grave with him. The night I found him, my dreams and aspirations shifted, they became more specific. I wouldn’t want anyone to have to lose someone to such a simple sickness the way I did, so I studied hard with the determination to create a cure that Stephen would be proud of. Yet, even with a clear goal, the passion that was once there had dissipated. Despite that, I got a job and moved closer to the city. While living in a small apartment by myself in the outskirts of the metropolis, I have had a lot of chances to think and reminisce on my own. I often found myself thinking back on my sixteenth birthday and wondering what I could do to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.

“Ephialtes, are you coming?”

My attention was brought to a voice I had grown familiar with, “Yes, coming!”

James Dolion, an Arbiter, was the director of the lab I had joined shortly after my sixteenth birthday,, had taken a look at my resume and decided to take a chance on me as an assistant. Such a chance was nearly impossible. I don’t know what I did to luck out, but whatever it was I’d have to do more of it. For Ergasia, who couldn’t move up the way Arbiters could and rise into a government position, working in a lab in direct contact with Arbiters was the highest we could go. Most of the time, Ergasia who were interested in work such as medical science or engineering would have their own labs. From Ergasia labs located outside the metropolis, they would send in their research and findings to an Arbiter positioned above them located inside the city. However, I got to work directly with an Arbiter inside the city. I wasn’t the first Ergasia to do so, and probably won’t be the last, but it was such an uncommon occurrence that it definitely made a stir.

Mr. Dolion was in the medical field and had been working towards creating a fully automated, self-run assisted living home for the eldery for the past ten years. Whether or not they had a G-Lens, they would be able to access similar technology in order to evaluate their health, get the necessities they would need, and have a personal AI caretaker. It would be an expensive project, but the only thing missing was medicines. Despite having all that we did, we still couldn’t keep the human body from getting sick nor healing certain diseases.

Under Mr. Dolion, I had discovered two things: First, Stephen was suffering from advanced lung disease. It was a miracle he was able to live as long as he did and keep it a secret from me since I so much time with him. But his mother had said he was constantly suppressing symptoms during the day with medications, so nights had been bad for months leading up to his death. Second, there was nothing we could have done to help him recover with the medicines and technology we currently have, all we could have done is exactly what he did: suppress the symptoms. Since Mr. Dolion is working towards creating such medicines, I sought him out and worked to gain his favor in order to work on projects that could have saved my best friend.

I should say I have discovered three things, however the third was not related to medicine at all. Rather, my Lens which had glitched shortly after receiving it had yet to stop. It would periodically do the same thing, giving me more information that I asked for. I could only deduce it was a result of the Lens being installed despite having less than average eyesight. Because of that, I kept the glitching to myself. It wasn’t like it was affecting my daily life.

“Did you go through the reports?”

I shuffled alongside Mr. Dolion, glancing down at said reports as I answered, “I did. There wasn’t any change, then?”

We had been testing a prototype of a drug with hopes that it would slow the infection that came with heart diseases. This was Mr. Dolion’s passion that he had spent the past seven years on. He shook his head, “No change. Even with the modifications we did, the subjects’ condition remained the same.”

I sighed, “Another late night awaits us, doesn’t it?”

He laughed heartily, “You’re right, kid. Let’s hurry up then. I’ll order us some food. Any suggestions?”

I shook my head, “You know I can eat anything.” Which was a lie, but it was what I always said. Mr. Dolios had a rather unique taste palette that I didn’t quite like, but I was determined to stay on his good side in every aspect, including food.

“Alright, all ordered. I hope that new wasabi chicken feet place sounds good to you!”

Not in the slightest.

“Sure, sounds good.”

“How are you doing? We miss you and hope you come home soon!” The daily message from my mom rang in my ears.

I couldn’t help but smile to myself, “I was just home two weeks ago. I think I’ll be pretty busy, our last test didn’t go well either. You and dad take care of yourself, okay?”

“Make sure you contact your dad too. He misses you just as much as I do.”

“Got it, got it. I wish we could chat all day, but I should focus on my work. I’ll talk to you later!”

My mom replied with her love and best wishes before I temporarily disabled my chat function. I would have to listen to all the missed messages from family after we wrapped up for the night.

“Oh,” I began out loud, “There’s an update for the chat feature? You can change the colors now, nice.”

Mr. Dolion paused a moment before responding, “You’re right. I think I’ll make mine blue then, a nice peaceful color.”

“Or sad.” I commented while pulling out various chemicals from the cabinet.

Mr. Dolion shrugged and teased, “Depends on your perspective I guess. But you seem to always see things negatively, so I guess that’s no surprise.”

I couldn’t argue, “Guess I’m a bit pessimistic.” I think I was still easy to get along with, but I could safely say I wasn’t as exuberant as I once was. Numb really would be the best way to describe it.

He laughed, “I already knew that about you, kid. Hurry up and bring 287 and 288 over, it’s about time to check their condition.”

287 and 288. Two hundred and eighty eight small animals that had been tested on over the course of seven years and none have yet to survive. I retrieved them from their cage and handed them over one at a time and watched as Mr. Dolion slowly drew blood. We tended to work in silence outside of the comments of what to grab, what to write in the report, what to put away, thoughts on what to try next. We mostly did a lot of waiting, each of us in our world. Many times I would crave the ability to replay childhood memories to remind myself of why I would work so hard. But the only memories of Stephen I had available to replay on my Lens were from the day I recieved, which was a day I never wished to see again. More often than not, I would sit in silence and let my mind go blank.

“Our food will be here soon, do you mind waiting for it? I have to go meet someone for a few minutes.” Mr. Dolion spoke, filling the void of silence.

I nodded, “Of course.”

He strided out of the room, long graceful strides that didn’t fit his age. Mr. Dolion had to be at least fifty, yet he maneuvered as if he was still in his twenties. Maybe if I stayed on my feet all of the time the way he did, I could stay as healthy and energetic as him. I tried once again to fall into the peaceful silence, but a sharp ringing that I had sadly grown used to sounded in my head. It was the sound that accompanied the glitches, but this time there was no one around to randomly get information on.

“Are- know? Why- hire that kid?”

My eyes that had closed to rest shot open. Was I hearing the conversation across the hall? If there’s no one to see, does my Lens try to pick up other people’s direct messages somehow?”

“Don’t worry.” The conversation became clearer, “He doesn’t know.” It was Mr. Dolion’s conversation I was hearing.

“But why take in that kid of all people, he’s Egrasia isn’t he? What if he finds out the truth?”

The truth? What truth?

“He won’t, don’t worry. But, I can’t help feeling bad for him. He’s been through so much at such a young age.”

“Everyone loses friends and family, that’s not going through ‘so much.’ He’s normal. But you said he’s smart? That’s dangerous to have around, James.”

“I’m telling you, it’s fine. He–”

My ears rang again, a quick pain shooting behind my eye and then the glitch ceased. What truth was being hidden? I began to sort through all the notes I had read over since working for Mr. Dolion. I pulled them all up in front of me on my Lens, scanning for keywords that seemed out of the ordinary. In the background, I began to replay conversations I had with him since the day I met him. Was there anything that he wrote, said, or did that could hint at him keeping a secret?

“Nice to meet you, I’m Mr. Dolion. I’m looking forward to working with such a young, smart kid.”

No, probably not that.

“Don’t you want to move closer to the lab? I know technically Ergasia aren’t allowed to live in the city, but I bet I could pull a few strings.”

No, not that either. Though I wish I would’ve said yes that day, I could probably get some more sleep if I lived closer.

“Want to try the new chicken and wasabi pizza?”

Not that either, that was a terrible memory.

“Any ideas, Von?”

Wait, that day. I forgot about that day. I hid all the images of documents and put that memory in focus to watch it play out again.

“Have you ever tried mixing Solution B with this?” I held out a polyphenol that we hadn’t tried yet.

“Oh, maybe not that one. It probably won’t work.”

“So, you’ve tried it?”

Mr. Dolion took both vials from my hands, “Whether I have or not doesn’t matter. Forget about it, okay?”

He quickly avoided the subject and distracted me with another task to do shortly after. I forgot about that day. Why had he been so adamant that it wouldn’t work? He had never told me to not try something, rather he usually encouraged me to try new things even if he knew they would fail. What was that polyphenol I wanted to mix in with Solution B? Did we still have Solution B or would I have to remake it? I began to search the lab to find what I had seen in my memory. While listening closely for when Mr. Dolion could return, I quickly rummaged through our storage.

“Found it.” I sighed in relief, we still had plenty of the solution left. I filled a syringe with a strand containing the heart disease we were currently researching, another with Solution B, and a third with the polyphenol from my memories: some simple ellagitannin extracted from pomegranates. I hid them away in my bag before returning to my seat before Mr. Dolion could return.

The door swung open shortly after I sat down, “Good news, I ran into food on the way back. Let’s eat!”

I forced a smile, “Yay.”

“After we eat, feel free to go home for the night. We’ll have to wait a bit for more results.”

I nodded, “Got it.”

I eyed my bag. What would happen if I got caught? I’ve never even seen Mr. Dolion upset, but would this make him angry? I diverted my attention to the food in front of me, it would be best if he didn’t follow my gaze to my bag. Even though I don’t think it would be obvious why I would be looking at my bag, he may be more cautious now after his conversation earlier.

“Thanks for another day of hard work.” He patted my shoulder as the two of us parted ways. We exchanged goodbyes and my thoughts immediately went back to the full syringes in my bag. This was either going to cause a huge problem that Mr. Dolion was trying to prevent, or this was going to get me a step closer to the truth that had been hidden from me. What kind of secret would the Arbiter’s be trying to keep from us?

What would be the best way to test this? I could do it on myself, I don’t have anything to lose. But how would I explain my sudden sickness to those around me, especially Mr. Dolion. I’d have to do all I can to avoid suspicion. While lost in my thoughts of what to do next, my foot collided with a cardboard box, bringing me to a stop. Why would someone leave a box outside?

“What the-?” I questioned out loud. As soon as my voice came out, a small head peered over the top, fluffy ears perked in interest. Perhaps someone in the heavens heard my pondering and decided to provide some help, “Well look at you, an answer to all my problems.”

The small dog’s tail slowly and cautiously began to wag. It looked young and healthy enough to serve as a good subject, but not young to put it in immediate danger if I injected him with the virus that causes heart disease.

“Want to come home with me?”

Its tail wagged a bit faster.

“A trusting thing, aren’t you?”

I scooped him up in my free arm that didn’t have a bag slung on it and carried him to my apartment on the outskirts of the metropolis. Cars and bikes alike silently sped past as I walked. I definitely could have driven myself, I got my license. But every time I got on a bike or in a car, I thought of Stephen who enjoyed riding through the streets in his free time. He would laugh as the wind hit us in the face, drive until the moon was over our heads, and find a place to park by the sea to listen to the sounds of crashing waves. Our parents would lecture us each time we came home past curfew, but that didn’t stop us from going out again the next night to do the same exact thing.

As I smiled at the thought of my days with Stephen, the dog in my arms wriggled in excitement. “We’re almost there, hang in there.” Upon returning home, I gave the dog some food and tried to make him as comfortable as possible before injecting him with the virus. If this didn’t work, this dog would face a painful death. “Sorry, pup.”

He whimpered as the needle pierced the skin, but it curled up next to me and fell asleep shortly after, content and comfortable for the time being. Each night I would come home, I would see his condition slowly worsen. Day by day, the energy and joy the dog once possessed faded and it moved around less and less. Nearly a month later, its condition reached a point where I could finally try the new cure.

“Hold still, hopefully this will help.”

He whimpered once again but had no energy to move and quickly fell back asleep. I laid next to him and silently hoped that this would work, but at the same time was scared of what that would mean about Mr. Dolion, about my workplace, about society.

Von.

Von?

Are you working too hard again? You better be getting some rest.

Stephen’s voice?

Tomorrow’s going to be exciting, isn’t it? You’ll finally get some answers.

Answers? To what?

Just don’t get too deep into this, okay? Stay safe. It’s not time for you to join me just yet.

I jolted awake, sweat dripping from the tips of my hair. “What kind of dream was that?” I wondered out loud. “Wait, Dog? Where’d you go?” My search for him didn’t last long. At the sound of my voice I saw his ears prick up from the foot of the bed. He walked over, his tail wagging. My thoughts began racing. It worked? What does this mean? Why would Mr. Dolion hide this? Did he know that it would work and didn’t want to find a cure? Why?

What if there is a cure for this heart disease? Does that mean there could be a cure for lung diseases too?

Stephen could have lived?

There’s no way that’s true! But what would happen if I ask Mr. Dolion about it?

If it’s true, then the Arbiters are terrible for hiding it.

I gasped. What was I thinking? If my thought database gets scanned, not only will they know I’ve been testing without permission, but that I’ve thought such a thing against the Arbiters. “We have to stay safe, Dog. But I need to know what’s going on.”