Play Your Part

Angel groggily opened her eyes after being asleep for what seemed to be hours. Her head ached, her body was stiff, and she could barely lift herself off of the floor. She was surrounded by complete darkness and silence and couldn’t feel or sense anything around her. The last thing she remembered is walking with her best friend, Macie, to her house to spend New Year's together. Their annual celebration was filled with laughter, apple cider, lots of chocolate in many forms, and the occasional glitter dresses, nail polish and/or shoes. But now, her very recent interaction seemed like a distant memory.

Finally able to stand, Angel slowly moved around the room feeling for a light switch, a door, or anything that could release her from this dark prison and help her figure out what was happening. Just as she was about to touch what appeared to be a door, the overhead lights immediately flashed on filling the room with a hazy yellow hue. Angel could barely see through the thickness but was determined to find an escape. Suddenly, a massive screen ascended from the corner of the room and Angel, startled, quickly turned to see what the noise was. A woman, perhaps a news anchor, blankly stared at the screen for a few minutes until a high-pitched noise rang out and she began speaking. Angel covered her ears from the impact of the noise but got distracted when she heard the lady say “Thank you for participating in our Vac-2-Mute Health Study. You are not only helping your community but the world at large”. The woman continued talking in her jovial, yet eerily, robotic voice but Angel was too caught up in her thoughts to pay attention. “I don’t understand. A health study? I didn’t volunteer for a health study!” Angel's frantic thoughts were quickly interrupted when the screen jumped to videos and pictures of millions of people receiving the “new health drug". This drug was supposed to lengthen a human's telomeres, the protective covers on the end of chromosomes, resulting in longer life spans. It was clear that this drug was welcomed by the masses but Angel was an exception; she didn't even know this drug existed.

The screen switched to a cafeteria setting where everyone, including women, men, and children, were sitting at tables eating in complete silence. Scene after scene of ‘robot humans' continued to fly across the screen. Angel couldn’t believe this. The bodies of the people she saw were alive but their brains were dead. Then, Angel noticed she had on the same uniform as the robots on the screen. She gasped in terror as she felt her knees buckle under her. The room went black.

Angel opened her eyes to find herself in an examination room. She didn’t want to move for fear somebody was watching but even if she wanted to, she couldn’t - her arms and legs were strapped to the table. She glanced to her left and right only to see other bodies lying on tables as well. She knew in her heart they were dead and just as she was about to scream out, she heard a door open and footsteps approached.  

She also knew at that very moment she had to play the part. She had two choices: Become a science experiment for research purposes in order to understand why she was resistant to the drug or adopt this new way of “living”. She sadly didn’t want to choose either but her life depended on it. Her third, yet highly impossible choice, was to run but she knew she wouldn’t get far.

Angel closed her eyes and daydreamed of better times to keep from freaking out. The unknown subjects in the room were speaking but Angel could not decipher what was being discussed in the midst of her own thoughts, so she decided to focus solely on her daydream. A few minutes passed and Angel was alone again. This time she yanked at her straps but they were gone. She bolted for the door and just as she was about to push, the doors opened causing her to fall into the empty hallway. She had to think of a plan quick. She heard footsteps coming up the corridor and realized it was the robot humans so she seamlessly joined the crowd to begin her assimilation. 

Angel had to commit to studying the idiosyncrasies of these robot humans so she wouldn’t get caught. After about two months of role-play, Angel was a natural: she knew when to blink, how long to sleep, how much food to eat, when to use the bathroom, and only talk when the high-pitched noise alerted her to. Masterfully, she learned how to suppress the urge to scream out when she was frustrated with this existence, or when she wasn't feeling well, or when she had an involuntary response like a cough or sneeze. At this point, Angel felt she could effortlessly continue this façade due to the predictable nature of the environment and the humans who lived here so her sense of caution faded.

One day, Angel overslept and was not in her designated spot for breakfast by 8am. The overseer and his assistant alerted the guards to go check her room. As the guards were coming down the hallway, Angel was turning the corner on her way to the cafeteria. She was panicking inside but was careful to remain poised. They escorted her the rest of the way. After this frightening incident, Angel realized she had slacked off and needed to regroup. Months continued to roll by and Angel became increasingly restless which heightened her desire to escape but she knew she couldn’t.

On this particular day, Angel went into the cafeteria for lunch and stood in line. She noticed the overseer and his assistant weren’t present and wondered why. During this time, the overseer and his team were watching the cameras discussing any findings they may have discovered when one team member jumped up and hit the screen. He pointed to Angel who dropped her napkin, hesitated to pick it up, and placed her foot on it. The team never witnessed this behavior since the administration of the drug and could not believe their eyes. They now wondered if the drug was wearing off or if its strength wasn’t powerful enough to begin with. Alarmed, the overseer and his assistant ran to the cafeteria placing the guards on standby. Angel saw both men hastily walk in but thought nothing of it. Moments later, she realized they were hovering in her area and she could feel their eyes on her. Once she got her food, she ate as calmly as she could and then proceeded to walk back to her room. She then heard footsteps closely behind her and she took off running with the guards in pursuit.

Angel not only studied the behavior of the humans in order to emulate them, she studied and memorized the hallways and openings of the facility in order to hide and hopefully escape when it was time. She was able to lose the guards and hide in a space where no cameras were installed but she knew she couldn’t stay there for long. Angel had mentally planned her getaway several times so she was ready. She quietly maneuvered her way to the nearest exit and waited, for what seemed like hours, for a facility employee to get off work. When the double doors opened, it took them a while to close, so that gave Angel just enough time to sneak out behind the man punching out for the day. By this time, it was sunset so she was met with the challenge of finding her way in darkness. She heard the employee’s car and quickly turned to see him exiting through a gate. She ran so fast, she fell through and hit the gravel. Angel immediately realized she was outside the gates - she was free. Her heart rate dramatically increased and her flight response instantly kicked in but soon as she took off running across the grassy yard, blinding lights popped on causing her to abruptly stop in her tracks. A voice came over the loudspeaker “There is no need to run. You have nowhere to go. The world inside this facility is the world out there. You will never make it". Angel didn’t believe them, she couldn’t believe them. She had come this far and had to see for herself what humanity was like outside those gates so she continued running. Unfortunately, the last thing she heard was “I command you to stop!” followed by a series of gunshots.