It's All Under Control

"Jump!" Sara yelled. I did jump. We both did. Right in to a raging river. We were informers against our will, me and Sara. Told to integrate so they could spy through us. We were hooked up to the main system along with millions of others. Implanted with a tiny chip that made a small bump on the back of our necks. This was our transmitter. Me and Sara, we are second level. Meaning we are programed so they can watch our thoughts as to have clues into what everyday people are up to. Basically our minds were being messed with even more than the general public which was mainly level one. Level three is where you have no control at all.

During the plague of 2055, a one world government formed orginally to have equal control of the vaccines. We did not know, but this was when they started micro chipping everybody. That was twenty years ago. That was when microchipping became mandatory.

Around the world, new born babies would be chipped the day they were born. The chip would ping in your neck causing a slight shock and you would become aware that one ping per five seconds meant you were either being watched and listened to, or two pings one after the other, ping, ping, you were about to be controlled. And though you knew they were in your mind, you could not stop yourself from complying.

Me and Sara were both determined to have our chips removed. We would attempt it ourselves but they are implanted into our spinal columns. There are a few doctors underground that will remove them. Any mistake in removing one would leave a person paralysed or worse. I've seen it. Multiple times. And if your paralysed, you have to go live at the so called "rehab center." They basically starve you there until you die. I'm definately not doing that!

It sure seems the government knows pretty much everything about everything. Through the microchip, they ration our water and our food. You will get points if you dont work. Ten points will land you in jail for a week. Jail is a work camp. They will break you. You can even get jail time for your subversive thoughts. You have to comply. You have no choice. If you are out at night they might shoot you. There are always drones flying over, watching you, and Marshalls and Rangers out and about in their ATV's and horses.

But there were glitches in the system. At least we were counting on this. We have heard of other people getting their chip cut out and starting encampments deep in the woods. That's were we were trying to get to.

We learned that if we thought about something for less than ten seconds the main computer will overide it. No ping. So we dont talk about hardly anything longer than six to seven seconds. "Beautiful day" is what we say out loud to remind ourselves to think otherwise. It took months of training our minds so we could develop a couple of avoidant techniques.

This journey itself took about a year to plan as we had to do it in non alarming intervals. In our minds, we are going hiking. Meeting up with old friends. Having a picnic! Dont think about doctors. The gov probably wants us to lead them to one. It was a catch 22 as they say. We had to be stealth. But it wasn't just us. The government is following thousands of others as well. Is it really so hard to believe so many people decided the microchip used to control their minds was not their cup of tea?

That's why we jumped into the river. We had to keep on the move. We needed to be hard to find and hopefully very uninteresting so they would turn their attention else where.

The river swept us along faster than they could follow. I heard radio sounds fade away as I did my best to stay a float in a fast moving river.

We found a place where a beaver had made a dam and we stayed there neck high in the water. We stayed there until darkness, hiding ourselves among the sticks of the beaver dam. We had been in the water for hours, silent, meditating, in fear of being found. Breath in, breath out.

When night fell we got ourselves out of the water and sat on the bank. No food and no flashlight. We decided to take turns sleeping by a tree. It was good to have a buddy, someone to keep a look out while you slept. We could feel the governmnent pinging us, searching our minds. It takes eveything in our power to keep our thoughts rolling so fast that they can not capture the gist. We talk about fashion and swimming until they no longer ping us. We were determined. We were not going to live like this. We'd rather die trying.

In the light of the morning I was startled by the sound of some one singing. I was surprised to see someone walking towards us through the woods. He had a full beard, long dreads, no shoes, and his cloths were dirty.

I woke up Sara and we both stood up. We didn't say a word but just watched him. He walked to the edge of the river bent down and splashed water on his face. We both stood there silently. We looked around hoping he was alone. He turned to face us. "Beautiful morning!" he said and smiled.

"Here" he said and handed me an unopened coca-cola.

"Sorry, I only have one."

I wiped it with my shirt and popped it open and handed it to Sara. We both drank.

"Thanks" I said. We were suspicious but thirsty. He lit a cigarette and offered it to us. We both shook our heads no. He sized us up and we did the same.

"There is a camp about a quarter mile from here." he said. "I will go there and ask if ok for you to come. wait here." he started to leave. "Oh, he turned back and looked at us, "and you never saw me." "I'll be back."

He walked into the woods.

When he left, I noticed something shiny on the ground near where he was standing.

"What is it?" Sara asked with out using words, but just by looking at me and pointing. One has to be careful.

It was something with a chain.

I looked to see if the guy was still in sight. He was not, so I went over and carefully picked it up by the chain and brought it over to Sara.

It was a heart shaped locket on a chain. It was about one inch around and made of metal with inscribed lettering on the front LRG and a 925 stamp on the back. "Silver" I said. "Do you think it belongs to that hippy?" I asked out loud.

"Open it." Said Sara. Curiousity was getting the best of us. I felt a ping and dropped the locket. "Beautiful day!" I said to start my mind thinking about other things. Sara got a double ping. Without any hesitation , she immediately picked up the locket and tried to open it.

The locket had a little hook latch that when unhooked made a clicking noise. It was hard to open like the hinge needed oil. I thought I felt another ping in my neck but was not sure. I yelled. " Ping!" Feeling sudden panic I said, " Lets go." and I pushed Sara's hand hoping to push the locket out of her hand. But she was already being controlled. It was too late. She held tight and continued to open the locket.

When it finally opened, the inside did not have a picture of loved ones, but the parts like an old fashioned time piece. Once fully opened a little red light came on and it made music like a music box. I stepped back. Just as suddenly, the music stopped and then three beeping noises. We both felt sharp double pings in the back of our necks. I looked at Sara frozen with a look of terror on her face. I was frozen as well. We were under their control and we could only stand there.

"Did you leave the locket?" Asked the Captain to the dread hippy guy once he got back to the government camp.

"Yes, as you commanded."said the dread guy. "I dropped it on the ground for them to find."

" Good man." said the Captain. "Ah yes, I see them standing frozen in my grip." He was staring at his computer. "Too bad those kids were renegades." he said, "No examples needed." and he pushed a small red button attached to a a little black box that connected to his computer by a cable. This activated the tiny radioactive bomb that was inside the heart shaped locket.

The Captain cleared his throat. He said to the dreaded hippy guy, "Tonight, you can have a piece of meat with your supper." Go to your quarters. We will call on you"

"Yes sir. Thank you sir." The dread hippy turned and went dutifully to his room.

The Captain turned back to his screen and looked at where me and Sara had been. Nothing but a large empty spot along the river bank. No trees, no beaver dam and the river changed course slightly.

"I need a sherry." said the Captain to himself outloud.

"So much more work to do"'

"Dam rebels."