Delete
I was lead out of the school by a man and a woman dressed in fancy clothes. They were smiling and overjoyed that their child had finally been returned to them. But I knew better. These people weren’t my parents and nothing they could say would convince me otherwise. I decided to go along with the charade until I was able to form a plan of escape and rescue my friends. The rest of the kids may not have remembered anything, but the memories of the past ten years were so clear to me. They took us from our parents and forced us to go through this intensive training. It was hard for all of us and there were many nights where we’d cry ourselves to sleep, wishing for it to stop. Whenever one of us turned ten years old, the mysterious men dressed in white would come and take the kid away to what we called the delete room. Any kid that went in there was never the same. We’d wave at them from our windows, but they’d look at us and smile like they didn’t even recognize who we were.
I still don’t completely understand what the training was for, but it appeared to be the men in white wanted to somehow condition us into what they called sleeper agents. Every exercise was rigorous and each harder than the last. We’d be forced to fight one another, solve difficult puzzles, endure a barrage of insults and complete obstacle courses on a daily basis. Ten horrible years of that until it was my turn to go to the delete room. The men in white came to my room and dragged me away as I struggled to get loose. I wasn’t going to allow them to do to me what they did to all those other kids. I saw my fellow prisoners watch me through their door windows, a sad look on their faces as we made our way to the room. Pushing me inside, the two men brought me to a chair that was right in the middle and strapped me in, making sure there was no way I could free myself.
“Kind of a pity to see this one go. He was the best out of all of them and I doubt we’ll see one like him again.” Man A said, glancing at me before nodding to the glass that was in front of me, “Oh well, orders are orders.”
The second man agreed with him and left the room, Man A following close behind. I screamed, tossing and turning in the chair, doing my best to get some part of me free. My struggles were for nothing though, as I heard some buzzing coming from somewhere in the room. I stared at the glass and saw it turning a bright white, even brighter than the walls. I yelled at it, throwing insults left and right, fearing that I’d lose myself like the rest of those kids that had been in here. I blacked out for a moment.
Once I came to, I felt a little dizzy and disoriented. I looked around and saw that I was in a different room. It looked like a waiting area, filled with chairs and a table with magazines on it. Observing my surroundings, I noticed that the clothes I had on weren’t what I had become accustomed to for the past ten years. Instead of a white shirt, white pants and white shoes, I had on a red t-shirt, blue jeans and black and white sneakers. I was confused, but it suddenly dawned on me. I still remembered that? How was it possible? Had something gone wrong in the delete room? I tried to think of an answer to my questions when I heard footsteps and saw a couple headed my way. They were a man and a woman, dressed in what looked like Sunday clothes, or at least, that’s the impression I got. I watched them come closer and closer, hoping that they were there for a different reason. I was wrong however, as they came up to me with big smiles and the woman crying a little bit. They introduced themselves, saying that they were my parents when I asked who they were and what they wanted with me. The man laughed a little, replying that they had just come to pick me up from school since it was a special day and we needed to celebrate. I was confused, but decided to go along with them since there was nothing else I could do at the moment. We exited the building and as I looked back, I saw that it was a school.
I tried to make sense of things, but I didn’t have enough information. I heard the woman call to me and I saw that she wanted me to get in a car, theirs most likely. I smiled and just went along with it, thinking that it was better to act like a good little boy and prevent them from getting too suspicious. During the drive, I swore I’d get my friends out somehow. I’d do anything to get them out that terrible place, even if I had to use the training they forced us through. Whoever those men in white were, I would make them pay for taking away so much from us. We wouldn’t be their guinea pigs anymore, not after I was done with them. First things first though. I had to get these people to tell me everything they knew. I’d play along with their little game, but sooner or later, I’d get my revenge. And when that day comes… they better be ready for me.
