FicWad

“You’ll notice at social hour, if you ask almost anyone, they will not remember why they’re here. They’ll say after a while, you tend to forget. Some are worse then others. Some say, after a while, it’s not so bad. Some take it to another extreme and say they’re beginning to realize New America is not that bad. Those are the people who are released. As soon as you forget all about your past and conform to New America, they’ll let you out.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. But, sometimes you can eat some of the food. Most of the potato skin is unaffected, but you’ll have to completely wipe off all traces of potato on it. I can’t risk forgetting anything more than I already have, and neither can you.”
I pealed off the potato skin and did as he obeyed. It tasted like shit, but at least it was something.
“So, what happens when you don’t eat the food? I trust you haven’t eaten before.”
“Look under the bed. You’ll notice a patch of non-carpet area.” He was right.
“Now what?”
“You’ll notice it’s cut into a square. Try to lift your fingers under the corners.” I did, and I noticed a deep, dark, hole. It was like a never-ending trap door. I could make out that there were shapes at the bottom.
“What is it?”
“Where I put my food.”
“Oh.” I said. I closed the trap, and I came back from under the bed. “So, what about your censorship chip?”
“Oh, I got rid of that ages ago.”
“How do you—”?
“Look under the mattress.” I did, and I saw a short dagger. Except for it wasn’t really a dagger. It was just a kind of fat piece of metal with nails poked into it, and a sharp, triangular, pointed end.
“Did you wonder why there wasn’t a showerhead?”
“Yeah…”
“It’s because the metal ring around the shower head is now a knife.” I looked at it, and he was absolutely right.
“So, what about your censorship chip?”
“Oh, I got rid of that ages ago.”
“How do you—”?
“It was carved out of my neck.”
“By who?”
“Goddard.”
“Goddard?”
“He was my inmate before he left. All of them are carved into your neck, but they are carved into your neck.”
“But don’t they notice?”
“They?”
“The…assistants. The staff.”
“See, here’s how it works. They stitch it into you, and then they take it out. But, you’re out for so long, that you don’t even realize you have stitches, because they insert nova cane into you. You have to unstitch the stitches. It is a most excruciating pain. But then, you sew it back up with this knife…the last nail in it has been removed. It took forever, but it is used as a needle and a knife.”
“Oh.”
“I’m afraid if you want to remember anything, I am going to have to unstitch you. And you’ll unstitch your next inmate and so forth. It’s like a brotherhood thing. It would be immoral for me not to, even if I hated you.”
“But wouldn’t it look infected?”
“You can choose not to go to social hour.”
“Really?”
“Mhm. After twenty-four hours, it usually heals up just fine, and you can go to the next one. And it’s easier to unstitch it when your stitches, like yours are already a little red.”
“Oh.”
“We’ll begin the unstitching after Elsie, our caretaker comes into take us out for social hour. Let me do the talking. I’m used to dealing with bitches like her.”