closed mind is bliss

The beauty of having someone to decide every little thing for you while you grow up becomes prejudicial in the city of Landow. Although Maressa may contest it, her life has been more than four times threatened by circumstances. 

There’s four core types of deciders in 2050, Landow: Conditioners, Logisticals, Knee-jerkers and Maximisers.

A Maximiser works their brain by exhausting every possible outcome linking any consequence – good or bad, to their decision. In fewer words, Maressa catalogues them as overthinkers.

A Knee-jerker uses a system of decision-making that bases itself on luck; they’ve incorporated the way humans make small decisions into the way they make big, important ones. Maressa catalogues them as automatic thinkers.

A Logistical person is pretty self explanatory, they use logic to assess options and their benefits that may come while, also, crossing references to their previous criteria of needs. She calls them rational thinkers.

A Conditioner leaves their decision-making completely to external sources – most of the time by use of conditions: If, Then. Maressa names them underthinkers.

If Maressa is being completely honest, she’s certain that being a hundred percent only one of them is exactly what puts Landow in danger. But commodity and the fear of deciding makes people do and agree to weird things. 

While growing up may have been easy because her parents were flexible and used every resource available including, but not limited to, spontaneity and sentimentalism, Maressa thinks of herself as being a Conditioner.

It’s really a coward's way of decision-making – it gives the person the excuse of faulting anything and everything except themselves. Maressa knows this, consciously thinks about this everytime she has to come to a judgment about any matter.

So, it’s extremely surprising that she finds herself in the situation she’s in, now. 

“Girl, you better get out of here before anything else blows wrong.” 

And she knows this, she has the instinctual feeling of having to leave, settled low in her gut. It’s just– 

“I can’t– I,” Maressa looks around with wide eyes, sees nothing but water and flooded holes in the ground, “my friends, they’re down there, somewhere.” 

The man has left already, probably made the right call, she thinks, even though Maressa knows his wife and kid are floating where her friends are, too. 

And the thing is, normally– frequently, there would be no hesitancy, she wouldn’t need to use her default decision-making system or any of the others, for that matter...However. 

Landow has become a city that kills for the system that you use, that you are. Her parents were killed when she was 19, they had no other family, no friends, no one and that’s exactly how Maressa stayed until she turned 21. 

Right now, though, 25-years-old-Maressa isn’t very keen on having to go back to old habits and lonely traditions – in this city that is out to promptly stake you as an example, having people to count on is a blessing that not everybody has. 

Which is why, when they entered this store to look for resources for their houseboat, Maressa didn't think anything of the holes on the ground – holes that looked like the ones caused by Military soldiers’ explosions. 

It’s when various ones started to break and consequently dumping her friends in current waters, that she starts to freak out, a bit. 

“Fuck.” 

Maressa can feel her brain expanding, can sense it in the way she shivers that she’s about to cross a line – it works like this: she runs through the Big Four and walks consciously, very slowly and afraid, to what the Radows call Conflicters. Maressa names them as creative thinkers. 

Anchoring herself to a secure spot above the hole, she dives in and swims to find Emver and Stara. 

The Radicals of Landow, the Radows, decided that Conflicters shouldn’t exist because they would disrupt Landow’s system and make their residents vulnerable to attacks. Maressa doesn’t understand this, she thinks that creative thinkers should be the one in charge exactly because of how their brains are wired to think. Radows seem to comprehend that the way it’s wired, it’s bound to put emotions and selfishness first. 

Clearly, it isn’t. This is the first time Maressa makes a decision that is entirely her own. 

A month later, when Emver and Stara introduces another addition to the group, Maressa starts to think that being open-minded and giving way to gauge how she feels about whatever options she has, isn’t so bad. 

Yes, at times she feels like she could explode from the terrifying sentiment of deciding wrong and ultimately damning her entire life ahead but. It’s worth it. 

The second time she has to use her newly wired brain to make as big a decision as the life of her friends, it’s when Radows trap them underground. They were searching for new, more spacious locations to make home when Damilia, the new member, shushes everyone to a stop. 

“Did you hear that?” She asks.

“Radows or patrol?” Emver questions and looks around.

“If it’s like this, then we shouldn’t settle here,” Maressa whispers, “let’s keep going.” 

That’s when they’re effectively surrounded by the guns of Radows. 

“We’re not here to hurt anyone. Let us just Test every one of you and then we’ll let you go.” 

Maressa glances her eyes to Emver, knows that if she takes the Test, they’ll be separated, knows that he thinks the same thing because he nods and points his eyes to his left.

“As you wish. I’ll go first,” Emver speaks and Maressa situates herself last, behind Damilia.

When it gets to the newbie’s turn, Maressa sees no way of escaping except if a distraction is created. She has to decide whether to chance her luck on the Test, create a distraction herself, try to escape and leave her friends to fetch for themselves or try to signal any of them to help.

It’s the second time and it’s just as big. Sheltering a Conflicter is almost the same as being one, Radows have no compassion for either. 

It’s the second time and everything feels slowed and sugary, Maressa steps forward when Damilia does the same. 

When a Radow starts the test on her, Maressa knows what to do.

“A white board with gray corners and a black marker.”

“A black board with gray corners and a white marker.” Damilia speaks robotically.

“You want to leave, how do you leave?” 

Maressa pokes Damilia and the latter looks around.

“I leave by bike.” 

“You want to sleep, where do you sleep?”

Damilia looks around again.

“I sleep in the bunker.”

“You’re diverted, how do you react?”

Maressa pokes her again, hopes she gets the message because the Test is ending. 

It’s the second and last time Maressa decides for herself. 

When Damilia goes to distract the Radows so Maressa can escape, she’s tasered and lassoed by ropes. The last thing she thinks about is how she’ll never use this way of deciding again as everything fades to black.