Juliana pulled two black curls of
hair behind her ear and sighed, staring down at the floor. “It’s not that I
resent the counsel, I just don’t feel like I belong with them. I think that
they’re duties are definitely important to the community, I mean I know mine
were. I just need a change of pace, a change of career. That’s all.” Although
this seemed like a simple request, it was the complete opposite. Juliana
realized this the moment she began to plead to Mr. Beyer.
“You’ve been told before Ms. Jones,
the job that was chosen for you in your drawing years ago will be your job
forever, whether you like it or not. The chip is inserted, and to take it out
would make you a disgrace to this community; remember Harry Wilburn?” She did
remember him. In fact she remembered him quite well.
Harry Wilburn had always seemed a
bit odd to her. He had been in her class during school each year, and he had
always been a troublemaker. Or had he? Some days he would be mouthing off, but
others he would be apologizing to someone for something, or taking the blame
for someone else’s duties. He was brilliant at music; that she could never
forget. The council had suggested he could be a musician and although he loved
music, he refused and said he would simply take the random drawing just like
everyone else. Music, he said, was just a hobby. Well, next thing you know, he
was picked as a musician. He begged for them to detach the chip, “I beg of you!”
he’d say to anyone who’d listen. “Help me get this out!” Street-watchers would
repeat the rules to him, which only seemed to aggravate him more. Then one day
he decided to take it out himself.
What followed for Harry was the
worst kind of pain. He wasn’t a doctor so he didn’t know how to remove it
surgically, but instead he cut his own arm off. The next day he went to the
hospital, begging for some kind of bandage to help him refrain from bleeding to
death. To his dismay every doctor there shunned him, not willing in the least
to help him. Nobody came to Harry’s funeral, in fact he was simply thrown in a
nearby ocean, to be forgotten forever. But Juliana hadn’t forgotten him in the
slightest.
“Yes of course I remember. But I
don’t have the will to cut my arm off, and besides it’s not like it would be so
hard to just remove it.” This had come off more hostile than she had intended
it to, and because of instinct she backed away from Mr. Beyer slightly, as if
virtually preparing herself for something.
Mr. Beyer glared at her shaking his
head. “Many people wish they could be council members. They want the
responsibilities and privileges you have. If I were you, I would stand back and
appreciate my career, and maybe watch my back.” Was that some kind of threat?
His eyes were ice cold, and his body was still, almost in a frightening sense
as if he had turned into a statue. Juliana was silent, eyes wide and expectant.
“Is that clear?” Mr. Beyer snapped causing Juliana to take another step back.
“Yes sir.” She quivered, fear striking
her. For some reason it was proving very hard to lose eye contact with Mr.
Beyer, it was as if her eyes had to be dismissed. But she was a grown woman,
with rights too. She would dismiss herself.
“You're dismissed, Ms. Jones.” Mr.
Beyer said with a sly smile. Juliana walked away with a new sense of loathing.
The next day she did not appear at the council meeting.
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