The never-ending train to perfection

Beth opens her eyes; she realizes she is not in her bedroom; yells out for Lucy, her best friend she was with at the bar. ¨Luccccyyyyyy¨

Oh shit, this time, I think I might have flirted with the wrong man, and what the hell is that noise? And why the hell am I in a bunk bed? I think it is a bunk bed or is that the ceiling? 

When Beth drinks too much, she gets handsy with any male within a mile vicinity; she has a reputation of being the town slut, after a few drinks. She has slept with almost all the men who come into her brewery, where she is the local beer barista. 

She made a pact with her best friend Lucy not to get too drunk and stay with her. Lucy has boyfriend drama, so it was a girl's night out to bash men; that always helps since every man Beth meets only wants her as a secret since they are married. 

Lucy, on the other hand, has only slept with one man, Larry, and they are engaged to be married next month.

Beth thinks about the conversation she and Lucy had before the blackout when she picked Lucy up. 

Lucy, you are getting married in less than a month. You can't overlook his ¨weirdness¨ it sounds like work drama, and I know you don't like to get involved in his work life, but maybe he needs to talk, and you aren't listening to him.

Beth, I am not getting the opportunity; he comes home late, sneaks around, and all he mumbles about is this ¨new drug¨ they are working on in the lab. 

Then when I ask questions, he says it's classified; stop prying into my business; he is jumpy. I have never seen him like this before.

Let's forget it, and go out and have fun, maybe you will change your mind once you realize that all the men around here suck and are cheaters.

The whole town, Beth, have you slept with everyone in the city?

Well, not Larry, that weird fuck, he is all yours, as Beth winks at her friend. 

You know what else? He has ordered some suits from this Japanese businessman. He said it's for this new client he has. Then he muttered something and walked away. 

Why couldn't he be an ordinary boring scientist? Instead, he wants to be the next Albert Einstein. He has also been blabbing on the old train that used to run by the house.

What he sounds like he has lost his damn mind; now I know why you need a girl's night out. I have been to your place a thousand times. But what train tracks?

Those old tracks outside the house, maybe I never mentioned it. 

Beth, I am telling you something is going on with him, and I am not sticking around to see what. If he is going crazy, he can be someone else's problem.

Ok, Lucy, I understand but don't you want to know what he is working on? Maybe he will be a millionaire, and you will never have to clean another bedpan again.

Shut up, Beth! You know that turns me on. I want to forget about him for the night. ¨Let's get a drink.¨

One more question, has he told you anything about this project? 

Beth, you know how tedious his job is; he is always talking about neurons, firing, synapsis, and new potential. 

The last time he was this excited about work, he got addicted to cocaine and had to go into rehab after the product failed to produce the same results in humans as it did in mice and all those people in the study died. 

He has only said that the next product they are going straight to human testing since testing products on mice is a waste of a good product. 

Beth said he would rather have the humans in captivity than the mice so he can study them; who says that? I am telling you he is on drugs.

Wait a minute, he said the product was wasted on mice, and the humans died? Yeah, he said they would have survived if they had doubled the dose in humans. 

That does not make any sense Lucy. It sounds like they would have still died. Isn't it toxic to take double the amount of drugs? 

I have no idea; I don't understand that science mumbo jumbo. 

I don't need to cure the world's diseases, learn how to live longer, or look young forever. I want a peaceful life, you know.

Wait, is he working on a cure to live longer and look good?

I wish, but whatever he is working on is making him crazy - let's drink. 

Do you want your usual? 

You know it, vodka on the rocks, with a splash of soda and a wedge of orange.

Coming right up!

Lucyyyy, where the hell am I? Lucy, where are you? 

Beth looks around, and all she can see is a mirror with lights around it, ¨wow I look awful¨. 

The room is small and dark. She then notices it feels like they are moving; she is moving as she rolls over to find a bucket and vomits into it. 

Damnit, I must of drank more than I thought. She looked up after she vomited and saw a door. She swings her legs over the edge, careful not to hit her head since it already hurts like the devil.

The room is smaller than it looks once she stands and realizes that she barely fits, and she is only 5 foot 2. 

What the hell, she thinks? I am out of here. She stands in front of the door but doesn't see a handle; the only light is from the mirror. 

She reaches for her phone and notices she does not have it, and her clothes have been changed. She is in a long nightgown that touches the floor and sleeves that almost cover her hands; it is light pink and silky. 

I must be dreaming or still drunk. I would never buy this hideous thing, and where the hell is Lucy, we never leave each other on a girl's night out.

LUCY, where the hell are you? 

What is going on? 

Oh no, as she leans over and starts projectile vomiting into the bucket this time, it is almost full, and she accidently knocks it over. It is disgusting; she has no choice; she lays back down on the bed. 

What is that noise?

After she lays down, she instantly falls back asleep, almost as if there is not enough oxygen in her room, and she blacks out.

After Beth passes back out, the team goes in to clean her room. They are wearing hazmat suits not to contaminate the scene. They put her puke bucket into a red trash bag labeled specimen. 

They are fast and efficient and have the room and Beth cleaned up in 5 minutes. They have been trained to be in and out of the rooms in less than 5 minutes.

10 hours later Beth wakes back up. So far there has been no deviation from the protocol. Log 1, subject 1, Day 2. 2020

The only sensation that she can't get rid of is that she feels like she is moving fast. She stands up and looks in the mirror; what is that? 

She looks closer and notices that she has streaks of white in her dark black hair. 

What the hell? Is this a reflection in the mirror? She hits the mirror and yells me out of here; where are you? Where am I? What is happening to me?

She then hears footsteps but barely audible over the sound of a whistle. Is that a whistle? What the hell is happening? There is a knock at the door, and then the door flings open, and she sees two men. 

As the men look at Beth, they analyze her; what the hell are they doing? Larry, is that you? Where is Lucy? Why am I on this thing? What am I on?

Larry steps forward and says, Beth, we knew you would be the perfect subject to test the new anti-aging product we are about to release in Japan. 

In Japan, women care about how they look; they want to have flawless skin and take care of their men. We here in the US have women like you, sluts who can't dress and steal other women's husbands with no shame. 

We knew that there would be no loss to the human race if our test subjects died.

We are working to make the human race a better place and will start in Japan but use the US as a testing site. I know Lucy told you about the mice that died, and what a waste. 

Those mice were more intelligent than their test subjects, humans. So let's find human test subjects that are a drain on society and that no one will miss. So we chose you.

What the hell, Larry, you are my best friend's boyfriend, and who is this weird little man with you, and where is Lucy?

Hi Beth, Lucy says as she opens the wall with the mirror. 

Beth, I was only friends with you because we knew you would be perfect. You are disposable; if you die, no one will miss you. 

Larry was so upset with the last trial; we knew to hand pick our subjects this time. The worst society has to offer. My dear Beth fits into that category, and I see the products are already working.

Beth stands there and can not believe what she is hearing. Then the Japanese man enters the room and demands her to sit down. 

No, I will not sit down; let me out of here; where are we anyway?

Larry says we are on a train, and it will never stop for you until you have transformed into your true self. 

What do you mean by my true self? 

Well, said the Japanese man, if you are a good person, the medicine we gave you will turn you into a beautiful, flawless woman, inside and out. If you are a terrible person, you will shrink into an older woman and live in misery here, on this train. Don't worry; you will not be alone, as we already have 100 women in the program.

What the hell, you have 100 women on this train; where are we going, what are you doing to us?

Lucy says we are only giving you what you deserve; you are going nowhere, so why not put you on the train to nowhere? 

Well, unless you transform into a beautiful, pure soul, but by the looks of that grey hair, you will not be one of the lucky ones.

Are you brainwashing women to become robots? No, they are not robots; we are tapping into their deepest desires with a bit of manipulation. 

Today's society brainwashes so many women. We are allowing them to redeem themselves, don't you understand?

No, you are killing us; you are taking away our choices, our opportunities.

What opportunities, Larry says, to steal women's husbands. Lucy laughs. 

If we can eliminate all women like you, we will have a chance to change the world. The way it goes, the only option is to get rid of the trash, and you and many other women are trash.

So you are just getting rid of women; that sounds sexist. What about the men who can't keep it in their pants?

Well, you are the temptress; you are the devil; this is precisely how Eve ruined Eden; she took the apple and convinced Adam to eat it. God has chosen us to rid the world of women who tempt men.

Luckily my dear Larry is a genius, and his associate Mr. Y has the money to invest.

Women like you will not be missed; it will be like you never existed, except you will stay here on this train forever.

We have patented a way for those chosen; those women whose true purpose is to become better will be able to walk right off and into their new lives. 

Don´t you wish you made better choices now?

Lucy hands Beth a drink. Here Beth, have this, it will help you feel better. Immediately after she drinks it, her hair starts to turn grey, and the wrinkles come. 

What is happening to me? Beth asks.

This is the part where the side effects, if any, will begin, and they have begun, Larry states. Almost as if your body knew exactly what to do, isn´t that fascinating?

Do you want to lock her in again, or should we let her roam free? Lucy asks.

Why not? What's the worst that can happen? Maybe she will kill those who are like her? Let the games begin.

10 hours later, Log 2, Day 2. Perfection formula 2 cups drank. 

Beth emerges from her cabin, this time, she is shriveled up like an older woman, and her hair is white as snow. 

She has one thing on her mind; an intense hunger. There are signs to the dining room, and she follows them. 

As she starts walking down, she can barely stand up, and her whole body hurts. 

She walks into the dining car, and there is no one there. 

What the hell, where is the food? I am starving; she sees a window to the right; what is that? 

She is looking at a nursery, babies crying, but she can't walk into it. Is this a window? She is starving; what is going on? 

The taste for blood is killing her. She buckles at the pains in her stomach; the urges intensify until she can no longer control them. 

She looks up and sees a woman walking into the car. She leaps forward and bites her neck; the blood pours out of the carotid artery, and she drinks. 

What is that taste, though? Why can I not move? 

She lies on the floor, starts convulsing, and stares at the ceiling. She thinks, Lucy, what happens when the men get sick of women like you say you want to create more of? 

The sound of the train wooshing beneath her. She looks to her left and sees Larry, Mr. Y, and Lucy stepping off the train. 

Lucy says now, who's next?