Approaching the Firing Line

[Alexander Ludovico]

*Four... five. Again I stop the drip and wait for the pain to fade somewhat.* Think logically. Which would you prefer? A clean sweep, picking up your friends with minimum force and minimum injury, and bringing them here without the threat of interrogation or internment? Or the raids you're used to in the Zones, where windows and doors are smashed, firefights last half an hour, and the handful of killjoys who aren't killed are seriously wounded before they can be transported back to the city? By withholding information, you sentence your friends to exactly what you claim to want to avoid.

*I adjust the drip the slightest amount, making sure she doesn't see me do it. The pain will remain at a low level, never quite fading completely.*

[Blackout]

then you'll have to keep this going for a while because im not going to betray them *she clenches her hands into fists and digs her nails into her palms to try to avert the pain*

[Alexander Ludovico]

*I increase the drip to the standard amount* Ten minutes. Just be aware you're choosing the greater of two evils, and you're choosing it on your friends' behalf.

*Standing, I approach the doctors and lower my voice* Is Placebo Beta operational?

*They answer with a tentative yes, and I nod once and return to my seat to wait for the ten minutes to conclude.*

[Blackout]

*while he's gone I mutter to myself* the longer i do this, the more time i give them to recover *she bit her tongue harder until she could taste blood in her mouth*

[Alexander Ludovico]

*Ten minutes pass, and I slow the drip.* Think again about answering. You are sitting in a room that's been outfitted with a special set of equipment. For the past eight months, a team of doctors has been working on something called Placebo Beta. You would not have heard of it. You may, however, have heard of Placebo Alpha, or Operation Placebo. It was a rather controversial operation put into effect in the Zones, and it was remarkably efficient in terms of inciting killjoys to kill one another. An airborne hallucinogen that made our rebel desert population believe they were fighting off in-the-flesh zombies that happened to be other killjoys like themselves. The program was shut down within a week, however, because of the low retention rate. The killjoys were dying before they could be made better.

*I lean back in my chair, making sure she's paying attention. The drug in the lefthand IV tends to be disorienting after a few doses.* What you're going to get a chance to try out, should you choose, is a refined version of Placebo Alpha. No zombies and no aggression, but a much more controlled physical reaction. In other words, our doctors can make you believe you have any injury imaginable, for as long and in whatever severity they desire, without risking the loss of their patient.

So I ask you again: who are your associates, and where are their safehouses?

[Blackout]

*i slowly process the information and weigh my options. one the one hand i get excruciating pain for however long these quacks feel like. on the other, be done with the pain and tell him about Bullet and Birdie and... Ace and Tes. That decided it. She glared up at Wilson, eyes golden again, but also slightly tinged red around the edges and spat a glob of blood at his feet* You dont scare me Wilson, do whatever you want with me, but i will not breathe a word about them!

[Alexander Ludovico]

*The doctors move in, and I give them room to work. A surprisingly compact apparatus is wheeled in from a hidden side door, and the doctors begin placing highly modified wired discs that resemble electrodes, with practiced ease. The headband of the chair doesn't seem to bother them, and they're done within three minutes. They check all the restraints to make sure the killjoy is still secured, then remove her killjoy mask and replace it with a clear plastic one that covers her nose and mouth and is hooked up to a canister of gas.*

Congratulations, Blackout. You get to be the first human subject of Placebo Beta. *I set the file on the ground next to my chair.* You do a lot of running, out in the Zones. Ever broken a leg? *At my word, one doctor opens the valve of the gas canister, while the other starts typing lines of code into the monitor of the apparatus*

[Blackout]

hey! Give me my mask back! *she struggles a bit before breathing in the gas and she had the feeling of being back in the zones and running across the desert. I feel myself running across a large boulder when I slip and fall to the ground and my leg breaks with a loud snap, and despite my best efforts to tell myself its not real, the pain over takes me and I cry out loudly*

[Alexander Ludovico]

*As soon as she cries out I motion to the doctor at the monitor, who quickly edits the coding and eliminates the pain. Unlike the IV line, these sensations can be changed instantaneously. I lean forward slightly, meeting Blackout's oddly colored eyes* Again I ask. Do you want to sentence your friends to this? It can be easily avoided.

[Blackout]

*i breathe heavily when the pain ends and glance down at my leg to reassure myself it wasn't broken. I could feel a tear or two roll down my face from the pain and I look back at Wilson, eyes now normal again.* I would never want them to go through this, but I can't betray them

[Alexander Ludovico]

You're betraying them by refusing to make their transition simple and painless, rather than violent and bloody, hunted through the scrub. But if that is your decision, then so be it.

*I pick up the file and get to my feet* The effects of the gas last roughly three days. The doctors will write you a program and disengage without reversing it - the sensation will not fade until the last of the chemicals leave your system. At the end of that time, you will be given one last chance before your rehabilitation begins.

*I turn to the doctors* Be creative, then hand her over to the guards. They know what cell to take her to.

Anything you'd like to say, killjoy?

[Blackout]

*i compose myself and glare at him fiercely* only this, when I get out of here, I will come after you. Watch your back for you never know when someone will stick a knife int it. And when I find you and kill you, in those last seconds before you die, I'll be the last thing you see

[Alexander Ludovico]

*I sigh, almost disappointed. They always fall back on threats.* I've had a lot of people say that, Blackout. None have managed to follow through. Enjoy the next 36 hours.

*The doctor starts typing again, and I close the door behind me with a click. The draculoids outside look over*

She should be ready for transport in a couple of minutes. You'll probably need a gurney, and she may still need to be restrained. *They look confused by the ambiguity of my words, and I add,* The details depend on the creativity of the doctors. Inform me if there's any change.

*I proceed down the hallway, heading for the elevators at the far end. I didn't get the information I wanted, but with any luck, she'll retain some of the knowledge after her rehabilitation. *

[Blackout]

Then I'll be the first to do so *i test the restraints again before the gas starts flowing and I see myself back in the zones. I hear a growl behind me and suddenly something leaps at me and pins me to the ground. It looks like a mountain lion but it was mutated from the radiation and I cry out when it bites down on my shoulder. I see another arrive and both start trying to tear me apart while I scream in pain and end up trying to hit my head against anything to try to knock myself out so it would end. At one point I thought I felt my hands being released and I thrashed around in pain*

[Alexander Ludovico]

*The first doctor finishes programming in a few delayed-onset responses while the second confirms that the gas has reached its optimal concentration before shutting off the apparatus. A shining metal gurney is wheeled into the room, and the draculoids transfer Blackout to it with some difficulty and strap her down again. As the elevator doors open and I step into the lift I see them wheel her out of the room and move in the opposite direction; the cells are in the habitation wing of this floor. They're near the rehabilitation rooms for a reason - some programs take upwards of two weeks to complete, and the doctors don't want their patients being shipped all over the Tower between sessions. The killjoy will be in isolation for the next three days, with an IV drip to prevent dehydration, but she'll spend several more days after that in the same pair of rooms for her standard Wolfblood treatment.*