Green Heart

“How dare you defy me again!”

His words are filled with a terrifying anger, and I am suddenly snapped to supreme awareness. I whirl around to see my husband filling the doorway with his presence.

His hands are fisted by his side. His teeth are clenched tightly. The rage reflects in his eyes. He steps toward me and I push back against the chair cushions as if that will keep him away from me.

I snuck out to the market and one of the house servants has obviously betrayed me again. I am the direct blood descendent of the Founder, but the servants’ loyalty always goes to my husband. I should’ve known he’d find out. My fingers close around the antique heart-shaped locket around my neck.

I come from a long line of strong women. Each time I hold the locket in my hand, I can feel their strength flowing through it and into me. Some day, that strength will flow into my own daughter.

I sit up straight and lock eyes with him.

“How dare you deny me access to the outside world as if I’m your prisoner!”

His eyes flash and he crosses the space between us in two long strides. His hands close around my biceps and he pulls me up to stand in front of him.

“You ungrateful jezebel. I provide you with the best that life has to offer. Your food is prepared by the finest chefs. Your clothes are made from the best cloth by the best designers. You live in a lavishly appointed home with beautiful gardens. You have a library full of books and every physical pampering you could ask for, including my bed.”

“But don’t go outside the palace walls.” I didn’t mean for my tone to mock his frequent admonition.

Or did I?

“That’s right.” His grip tightened around my arms. “You know the unrest that pervades the world now. I can’t protect you out there.”

Do his eyes soften a little as he covers my hand and the locket with his own hand? His other hand still has a tight grip on my arm. I’m certain it will leave a mark when he releases it.

I know he does care for me. After all, he’s been genetically engineered to do just that. And I should be perfectly content here in my childhood home, surrounded by my family and by servants who were each birthed and nurtured to be perfect at their designated life’s purpose. But something still draws me to explore, to question, to seek meaning and purpose.

“Mother told me as her ancestors told her - always pursue truth through intuition. And my intuition tells me there’s something out there that isn’t truth.”

His grasp on my hand tightens with each word I speak. It is no secret to me that just the mention of my mother has been conditioned to arouse every inner demon that drives this man.

With one quick jerk, he yanks on my locket hard enough to break the chain. One more quick movement sends it flying across the room, smashing to the floor and skidding under the couch.

“Your mother died because she couldn’t keep her thoughts and her suspicions to herself. You’d do well to remember that.”

He releases his vise grip on my arm, sending me falling back onto the chair. He turns and strides out of the room.

As I will my breathing to return to normal, I remind myself that he is right. I am being ungrateful.

I want for nothing while others outside the palace walls go about their jobs with blind faith in their leaders. They don’t question their existence. They serve at the pleasure of the Ruler. And that Ruler just made it very clear to me what happens to someone who questions him.

They die.

I scramble off the couch to retrieve the locket. Extending my arm into the darkness under the couch, I feel around for the pendant. I finally close my fingers around it and pull it back into the light of the room.

The clasp has popped, and I gaze upon the photo of my great-grandparents engraved there. As I inspect the locket for signs of damage from the impact with the floor, I notice for the first time that there is another level to this locket. It’s jammed, but I pry it open. Out falls a square of plastic hardly bigger than a grain of rice.

Curious.

Intuition tells me this is an object of great value, despite its size. And who placed it in the locket? Founder Green had gifted my great-grandparents with the locket when their first child - a daughter - was born. It has been passed down to the first and only daughter of each generation. I remember the day I received it like it was yesterday, not 5 years ago now. My mother had been shaking as she placed it in the palm of my hand.

“I’m trusting to you, brave daughter, the possession I prize most in the world. Your ancestors believed the locket contains the grand plan of the universe. The world’s mothers instruct us to always seek the truth through intuition. Listen to that voice that calls you to find answers and create a better world for all who live in it. That truth lies within.”

She spoke it as if it were a scripted ritual, repeated through generations.

She was dead within a week. Father says it was the virus that lives outside the palace walls. Mother had defied Father and left the palace because voices compelled her to go out and find the truth.

But in my gut, I know better. My mother was fine just hours before she died. It may have been a virus that killed her, but she didn’t get it from outside the palace. It came from within.

Before darkness falls and the servants bring in my dinner cart, I am able to repair the chain and place the odd object back into Great-Grandmother’s locket. Something tells me it must be kept safe and away from my husband. It is out of sight, but not out of my mind as I move through the routines of the evening.

Eat. Conversation with my husband. Watch his choice of TV - usually something filled with sexual perversions that I find disgusting and he thoroughly enjoys. We end in bed. He relieves his sexual tension inside me, then rolls over and begins to snore.

My thoughts return to wondering what I’d found inside the locket. I remember seeing a similar object in my history studies. I somehow sense that it is the key to the uneasiness I’ve been feeling lately. Following my intuition and recalling my readings, I know that I need to find an ancient microchip viewer and find out what secrets the object holds. That will mean venturing into my Father’s workspace - a space that is normally strictly forbidden to me.

I slip from under the covers and steal quietly through the palace halls. Thankfully, all of the servants are in their personal quarters for the night. Father’s workspace is not locked. There’s no need for locks when every human has been genetically programmed to only obey orders. And their orders are to never enter restricted areas unless instructed to do so by the Ruler.

It has been my curse, as it was my mother’s, to have the blood of the Founder in my veins. It is unaltered by the daily injections others receive to mold them into perfect, obedient human beings. But that blood stirs me to search for the truth, sometimes to my detriment.

My heart is pounding as I cross the threshold into the forbidden room. I know it will mean certain death if I am caught in here. But I must take the risk.

In the back corner of the room, I spot the machine I’ve only seen in books. I cross quietly to it. After a few minutes of searching, I find the only possible place to insert the chip. With shaking hands, I open the locket and remove the chip.

It slides soundlessly into the slot and the machine springs to life. A holographic figure now stands in front of me. He appears old beyond his years. I’ve seen him in the pictures of the men who founded the New World.

“I am Professor Simon Green. If you’ve found me, you’ve found the chip. Listen carefully, as I’m sure we both have little time. The Founders will kill me soon because I have disagreed with their plan to survive. We were wrong to extinguish free will from the world. We unlocked the key to genetic molding and decided that the new world would never face complete destruction again if we could use our knowledge to remove that part of a human being that is willing to fight for freedom of choice. Search the records. You must find a way to break the cycle. You’re the only hope for a renewed human reconnection.”

Before I can be discovered, I quickly remove the microchip and slide it back into the locket. With Founder Green’s message ringing in my ears and the locket securely around my neck, I feel a sudden surge of courage. I am confident, but I am fearful as I return to my room.

I soundlessly slip back into bed, but I know I won’t rest until I discover the truth behind Founder Green’s message.