Conditioning
Rural Russia - November 16
Josh’s transport trudged down a pothole-filled dirt road. He, Gustav, and the other soldiers inside jostled and lurched with each bump.
“We’ve gotten reports of one of our supply convoys being attacked, stuff stolen,” Ferdinand said, “Our job is to assess the damage, determine the culprits, and bring them to justice. Understood?”
“Yes sir!” the squad shouted.
Ferdinand swiped up, and suddenly Josh’s field of vision was filled with pictures and a 3D representation of the convoy and surrounding area.
“According to our sentries’ reports, the convoy’s attackers were well-organized,” Ferdinand said, “Likely military-trained. Possibly Russian Army remnants. If so, show the pagans no mercy.”
“Where did they go?” Gustav said.
Ferdinand put up a picture of a farmhouse.
“Some locals mentioned a man by the name of Heidegger,” Ferdinand said, “An exile. Local oddball to his neighbors. They consider him some kind of religious freak, ironically enough. So we’re going to pay him a visit. Now, he may be a traitor and a filthy heretic, but we’ll keep him alive for now. He will answer many of our questions. If there are rebels, we show we’re ready for them. I’m putting up more relevant information on him on your P’s for your own reference.”
More info boxes, as well as a picture of Heidegger’s traitorous face, appeared in Josh’s vision. The man seemed to have received a lot of complaints from the locals. He wasn’t particularly an outgoing person in the years he had lived here. There were medical records indicating severe mental retardation, as they called it at home, as well as a terminal diagnosis of the incurable mental disorder known as liberalism. No wonder he was helping rebels. Even his own neighbors hated him.
They pulled up in front of Heidegger’s farmhouse and got out, readying their guns. A recon drone was already circling overhead, slowly building up a model of the house in the Panopticon.
“Doors to the front and rear,” Gustav reported, “Windows blacked out. Chimney smoke. Someone’s home.”
“P-check,” Ferdinand said, “Everyone got the full layout?”
“Check,” everyone said.
“Alder, Volkard, Colmar, check the buildings over there,” Ferdinand said, “One at a time. Josh, Gustav, and Leo, with me. Leo and I will talk to Heidegger. Optimal outcome, no shots fired, unless we come across rebels.”
They approached the front door. Ferdinand knocked politely on the door. A middle-aged man with a crazy beard opened it and stared at them.
“Can I help you?” he said.
“
Dobroye utro, sir,” Ferdinand said, spitting out the Russian, “Heidegger, right? I assume based on your background there’s no need to speak the base tongue.”
“Of course,” Heidegger said, “What do you want?”
“To talk,” Ferdinand said, “Is that not obvious?”
“Well…we’re talking,” Heidegger said.
“It would be more Christian if we talked inside,” Ferdinand said.
Heidegger reluctantly opened the door for them. As soon as they entered, Ferdinand motioned to Josh and Gustav.
“Check upstairs,” he ordered.
They did as they were told.
“I’m not your enemy,” Heidegger said.
“Says the traitor who left the Kingdom of God to live with heretics and barbarians,” Ferdinand said, “But don’t worry, we’re not here for you today. Where are they?”
“Who?” Heidegger said.
“You know, a supply convoy was raided by some highly trained Russian soldiers a mile away just a couple hours ago,” Ferdinand said, “You know anything about that?”
“No, of course not,” Heidegger said.
“See, it’s not just the materiel stolen,” Ferdinand said, “They’re going to use that materiel to make life harder for everyone. Both for us and locals.”
Ferdinand looked at a cross hung on the wall. “You’ve still got morals, huh?”
“We are all God’s children, even if we don’t believe in Him,” Heidegger said, glaring at him.
“Look, as a fellow Christian, I completely understand,” Ferdinand said, “We’re all God’s children…so you protect godless pagans more than actual Christians who do believe in Him. You let them get their hands on these dangerous weapons. You let them terrorize us. We don’t stop them, they’ll use those weapons to attack more convoys, take more weapons, and plunge this whole region into chaos. And so the cycle of violence and death continues. Every rebel you save today, you condemn God knows how many good Christians to suffering tomorrow.”
“You don’t see them as human,” Heidegger said.
“I see them for what they factually are, as barbarians,” Ferdinand said, “Remember, it was the Goths who plundered Rome. Attila the Hun rampaged through Europe, slaughtering all who opposed him. The Vandals sacked Rome and many other cities so thoroughly we got the word vandalism from their barbarity. They all plunged us into the Dark Ages, where the Catholic Church and godless pagans oppressed us and burned good Christians at the stake. We will not let these modern barbarians plunge us into a new Dark Age. That’s the hard truth. We all have to make sacrifices for a better future.”
Josh continued searching upstairs. He slowly approached a closet door and pulled it open, finding the back wall wasn’t there. There was an entrance hastily covered by a curtain. Pulling aside the curtain, he found a secret room…full of Russian soldiers aiming AK-47s at him.
“FRAK!” he said.
The soldiers tried opening fire, but Josh, with the Panopticon’s help, shot first, quickly mowing them all down. As he did so, he felt a dull pain between his eyes, and his vision slightly blurred. Damnit, not now. It had been happening since Tsarberg. His trigger finger briefly dulled and slowed down, which would have been fatal had he not wiped out all of the soldiers already. Gustav ran into the room.
“Did I miss something?” he said.
One of the soldiers wasn’t dead. He lunged at Josh with a knife. Gustav raised his rifle but strangely froze in place. Was he suffering the same issue? Frak. Josh raised his hands and grabbed the soldier’s arms, slamming him against a wall. He wrestled the knife out of his hands and then slashed his throat with it. It was actually pretty easy.
“Okay, we’re done here,” Josh said, “Let’s report to Gaillard.”
They went back downstairs, where Ferdinand had already handcuffed Heidegger.
“Why don’t we just kill him now?” Josh said. “We found proof of his treason.”
“No, we’re sending him to base camp for enhanced interrogation,” Ferdinand said, “Anyways, good work, team. Secure the area, eliminate any stragglers, take back the materiel if you find it, then burn the place down.”
“Yes, sir!” Josh said.
Jerusalem forward operating base, southeast of Tsarberg - later that day
Sarah Astoria attached several electrodes to the back of Josh’s neck. Gustav, sitting in a chair nearby, already had the electrodes attached.
“So can you tell me more about the incident?” Sarah said.
“Well, I was fighting some rebels, as I usually do,” Josh said, “Then my HUD started glitching, and I felt some interference with my aim. Like the Panopticon was malfunctioning. Has been happening since Tsarberg.”
“Huh,” Sarah said, “Interesting. This has never happened before. Nobody else from Tsarberg reported anything out of the ordinary.”
“That’s why Theodor flew you out here, did they?” Gustav said.
“He has a vested interest in making sure all of you perform to expectations,” Sarah said, “Especially someone with a kill count filled with so many high profile individuals. You’re pretty much his favorite soldier, Josh. Alright, let’s begin the diagnostic.”
A cube appeared in Josh’s line of sight.
“What do you see?” Sarah said.
“A cube,” Josh said.
“Same,” Gustav said.
“Rotating?” Sarah said.
“Yes.”
“Yeah.”
Sarah pushed a button, and the cube was replaced with a large tree in the middle of the room.
“Now?” she said.
“A tree,” Josh said.
“What kind of tree?” Sarah said.
“Apple tree,” Gustav said.
“Can you touch the apples?” Sarah said.
Josh and Gustav got up and “touched” the apples. Josh actually felt the apples themselves, even though they didn’t exist. It was almost like he could take a bite out of it.
“Okay, you both pass,” Sarah said, “So, it was like a headache and some motor function issues?”
“Yeah, it was quick,” Josh said, “A slight pain behind my eyes.”
“Like I was frozen for a second,” Gustav said.
Sarah looked at the results.
“Well, I’ve checked the diagnostic,” she said, “No signs of any malfunction. And physically, you’re in exemplary shape. Both of you. Probably hit your head somewhere.”
“There was this, uh... this thing…that happened in Tsarberg, if that helps,” Josh said, “Chancellor Kirova…before I killed her, she took out a pen and did something.”
“A pen?” Sarah said.
“I destroyed it soon after,” Josh said, “Don’t know what it did.”
“You know what Russians are like,” Sarah said, “Always doing irrational and crazy things. Like all of equalism itself.”
“Well, I’m not so sure,” Josh said, “Just felt like bringing it up.”
“Well, Sarah, are there any other issues?” Gustav said.
“Seriously, both of you are fine,” Sarah said, “The P’s are operating normally. But if you have any other concerns, maybe you should speak with—”
“How about me?” Theodor said, walking in.
Josh and Gustav immediately saluted.
“Herr Tesla,” Sarah said, “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“My apologies, Dr. Astoria,” Theodor said, “When these two here reported a malfunction—only the second and third since we began the program—I wanted to come here in person. Or did you forget I was the other person who developed these miracle tools of war?”
“Of course, sir,” Sarah said.
“So, you must be Gustav Johansen, right?” Theodor said. “And Josh Johansen, originally known as Joshua Zelensky, is it?”
“It’s just Johansen now, sir,” Josh said, “I want nothing to do with that name.”
“At else, gentlemen,” Theodor said, “Please, take a seat.”
Josh and Gustav sat down.
“So, I understand both of you recently went on a rebel suppression mission,” Theodor said, “Johansen the younger here killed, let me see…”
“Ten, sir,” Josh said, “Ten rebel scum.”
“Impressive,” Theodor said, “As for you, Johansen the elder?”
“Unfortunately, all of the kills were taken by the time I got there,” Gustav said.
“Regrettable,” Theodor said, “You know, kid, you could stand to leave a few kills for your good old uncle here.”
“I’ll try, sir,” Josh said, “But I’m just following my orders. As any good soldier should.”
“Of course,” Theodor said, “I totally understand. Anyways, could you explain to me how exactly the situation unfolded?”
“Um, so,” Josh said, “We were in a farmhouse. I found a hidden room and almost walked into an enemy ambush. I got the drop on them and opened fire. Those kills…it was automatic. By the books…blam-blam, you know?”
“Right,” Sarah said, “Just like your training.”
“Just like that,” Josh said, “Really, it was closer to Halo or something.”
“Halo?” Theodor said. “Which one?”
“I always liked the fifth one most,” Josh said.
“Same here,” Theodor said.
“Anyways, towards the end of the fight…that was when things got weird,” Josh said.
“How so?” Theodor said.
“I felt a dull pain behind my eyes, and my gun arm froze up for a few milliseconds,” Josh said, “It was like I was…hesitating? Or something?”
“I felt the same thing when the last guy came after us with a knife,” Gustav said, “Dull pain, my whole body froze for second. Then he was on Josh.”
“Close quarters combat?” Theodor said.
“Yeah, he was on top of me,” Josh said, “I couldn’t aim my rifle from that close. My hands were busy holding back his knife, but I soon overpowered him, took the knife, and slashed his throat.”
“How did that feel?” Theodor said.
“…how?” Sarah said.
“Emotionally, I mean,” Theodor said.
“Well, I didn’t feel anything,” Josh said, “As usual. I mean, it was quick. Self-defense. You could say I felt some relief he was dead.”
“Relief, huh?” Sarah said.
“Yeah,” Josh said.
“It’s not unusual to experience other feelings,” Sarah said, “It says here in your records you frequently experienced euphoria after past kills.”
“Yeah, I did,” Josh said.
“How about you, Gustav?” Theodor said. “Feel anything?”
“Relief, same as my nephew,” Gustav said, “Not as much euphoria as he does, but I do feel it. I don’t know, I thought maybe I’d feel…something else, I guess.”
“Something else?” Sarah said.
“Yeah, like regret,” Gustav said, “Something like that, but I didn’t. Maybe it was for the best.”
“It was for the best,” Josh said, “Man up, uncle.”
“So you’d do it all again?” Theodor said.
“With pleasure, sir,” Josh said, “I’d do it ten times over.”
“I’m not so sure,” Gustav said, “Like, I’m still worried about the glitches.”
“But the P’s passed the tests,” Sarah said, “There’s nothing wrong with them.”
“I don’t know, it feels like something might be off,” Gustav said, “Look, I want to do my part, and I can’t if this implant isn’t working at 100%.”
“But there isn’t,” Theodor said, “Don’t worry. It’s probably some fluke. You should be proud. You’re making a great contribution for the world.”
“But—” Gustav said.
“Dismissed,” Theodor said.
Downtown Tsarberg - November 17
Josh’s transport rolled down a crater-filled street. The district had suffered heavily during the attack two weeks ago, and there were still hotbeads of resistance. His mission today was more rebel suppression.
“It seems Heidegger didn’t stay silent that long after I went to work on him,” Ferdinand said, “He’s given up a location, a rebel stronghold. It’s a housing project that Kirova repurposed from an old Soviet-era tenement to deal with urban homelessness. We are approaching it right now.”
A model of the building appeared in Josh’s line of sight.
“High Command wants us to do some recon, possibly flush out any rebel rats,” Ferdinand said, “Let’s get to it.”
After a few more minutes, they arrived at their destination and got out.
“Standard operating procedure,” Ferdinand said, “Alder, Volkard, Colmar, set up a perimeter. Leo, get the drone up.”
“On it,” Leo said.
He concentrated, and soon a drone flew up from the roof of the transport and began circling the housing project.
“Can we hurry it up here?” Josh said. “We ought to burn the whole forest down. Give those barbarians nowhere to hide.”
“Leo, status report,” Ferdinand said.
“I see something,” Leo said, “Here, let me pull it up on the P’s.”
A live video feed appeared on everybody’s Panopticons, showing the building rooftop.
“See there?” Leo said. “Solar panel looks cleaner than the ones on neighboring buildings. In almost perfect condition too. And there are cables hooked up to it. Must be rebels leeching power under our noses.”
Ferdinand tapped his earpiece. “High Command, this is Gaillard. Positive ID. Signs of rebel activity at the housing project. Solar panel looks clean and intact, with cables hooked up to it. …Alright, copy that. Understood.”
Meanwhile, Gustav kneeled down for some reason.
“Uncle, have you gone senile?” Josh said.
“Smell the grass,” Gustav said.
“Why?” Josh said.
“Just do it,” Gustav said.
Josh knelt and smelled the grass. Surprisingly, he could smell the…grassy odor.
“Huh,” Josh said, “I don’t remember the last time I smelled grass.”
He didn’t want to remember, though. It smelled terrible.
“That’s because we usually can’t smell grass,” Gustav said, “Or really that much else either. Hey, Leo. Smell the grass.”
Leo sniffed at the grass. “Nope, nothing.”
“When did you notice that?” Josh said.
“After Tsarberg,” Gustav said.
“Requesting course of action,” Ferdinand continued, “…didn’t read…please repeat…okay.”
He turned to the squad. “High Command says we should fall back and await rein—”
At that moment, he was shot in the head. Everyone scrambled for cover.
“Frak!” Leo said. “Frak, Gaillard’s dead!”
“What do we do now?” Colmar said.
“Who’s in charge?” Alder radioed.
“Anyone?” Volkard said.
“Josh?” Gustav said. “You’re the second highest ranked.”
“Am I?” Josh said. “Sweet.”
He picked up the radio.
“This is Josh Johansen,” he said, “I am assuming command. Everyone, weapons free. Go in and kill them all!”
The squad charged across the parking lot up to the building. Leo brought the drone around to scan the front.
“I see him!” he said. “Frakking Russkie got a sniper rifle, second floor.”
The sniper fired several more shots, forcing everyone to take cover behind abandoned cars.
“He fired six shots,” Leo reported, “Hunting rifle, bolt action. He’ll need to manually reload. I estimate ten seconds.”
“That piece of scheiße,” Josh said, “He frakking killed Gaillard. We’ll get ‘em back. Alder, take the left. Volkard, the right. Leo, stay out here and scout around. Colmar, Gustav, with me. We go in and take him out. Are you with me?”
“Yeah!” everyone said.
“Let’s go!” Josh said. “Follow me!”
They ran across the building and up to the front door.
“Ready?” he said. “Three, two, one!”
Volkard kicked the door open, and Josh charged in.
“Uncle, cover me!” he said.
“On it!” Gustav said.
There were some rebels inside, who grabbed their guns, but Gustav shot them first. Josh ran through the lobby, shooting any Gustav missed, while Volkard, Alder, and Colmar finished off any survivors.
“Split up!” he said. “Find any stragglers and kill them!”
They ran upstairs, and Josh soon found the sniper. Before the man could even turn around, Josh shot him several times, then several more times for good measure.
“That’s for Gaillard!” he said, teabagging his body. “Git gud!”
He heard some shots ringing out from the upper floors, as well as Gustav cursing.
“Hold on, Uncle!” he said. “I’m on my way!”
He ran up to the fifth floor. Stepping over the bodies of some rebels, he caught up to Gustav in another room. It seemed he was…talking to a rebel?
“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you,” Gustav said, “You need to go.”
The rebel woman was scared. She had one hand in her coat, reaching for a gun most likely.
“Calm down!” Gustav said, putting down his gun. “It’s not safe here. There are rebels here.”
“Uncle!” Josh said. “What the frak are you doing?”
Gustav turned around, and the woman began withdrawing her hand. Josh immediately raised his gun to shoot her, but his arm froze again, and his Panopticon’s UI glitched and distorted wildly, worse than before. A sharp pain shot between his eyes, and he saw a woman standing there, holding something he could barely make out with his blurry vision. A millisecond later, his vision cleared up, and he saw a gun. Josh curled his finger around the trigger and quickly shot her in the head.
“What did you do?!” Gustav said.
“What do you mean?” Josh said. “She was a rebel!”
“She was unarmed!” Gustav said.
“She was reaching for a gun!” Josh said.
“She wasn’t!” Gustav said. “Look!”
Josh looked at the body. The woman was holding a phone.
“She was holding a gun,” Josh said, “I swear she was holding a gun!”
“It was a phone, Josh!” Gustav said.
“Then who was she calling?” Josh said. “More rebels? You should have killed her, Uncle. You’re growing soft.”
They continued their sweep of the floor. Josh pushed open another door, finding what looked like mattresses set up on the bare concrete floor, next to lamps and other lights.
“Looks like that’s what the cables are for,” Gustav said.
“What are they planning here?” Josh said. “Some kind of hideout to launch a raid on the rest of the city?”
“I don’t know, I don’t see any weapons here,” Gustav said.
“Maybe they left already,” Josh said.
Josh opened a door and entered another room, only to recoil when he realized it was full of heavily armed rebels of various ages. He began shooting, but Gustav grabbed him and pulled him back.
“What the frak are you doing?!” Josh said.
“I should be asking you the same question!” Gustav said.
He turned to the rebels. “Run! You need to go!”
“Why are you helping them, Uncle?!” Josh said. “Are you a traitor too?”
“No, you’re just slaughtering these people!” Gustav said. “They’re not even rebels!”
“They’re clearly armed!” Josh said. “They’re shooting at me!”
“No they’re not!” Gustav said. “Can’t you see? Can’t you see there are kids here too? Why else aren’t they shooting back? Same as Heidegger’s place! They didn’t even shoot back!”
“You’re not making any sense!” Josh said. “Pull it together and man up!”
“No!” Gustav said, pistol-whipping Josh across the face.
Unknown
“You see me as who I am?”
“Of course I see you.”
“You don’t see a terrorist?”
“No, you’re unarmed.”
“Good. Finally someone on your side isn’t mad.”
Josh woke up, finding he had been tied to a chair. His Panopticon didn’t boot up as usual, but he didn’t need that to know they weren’t in the housing project anymore. They were in what appeared to be a warehouse. Josh focused his eyes on Gustav, who seemed to be talking to a woman and her son.
“If you weren’t rebels, or fighting against us, why didn’t you say so?” Gustav said.
“Because you can’t hear us,” the woman said.
“Why’s that?” Gustav said.
The woman pointed to the back of her neck. “Your implants.”
“The Panopticons?” Gustav said.
“Yes,” the woman said, “Before this war, I was on a team Kirova had assembled to research Panopticons, using information leaked to a team in Persia. We don’t know who’s on the Persian team—Kirova wouldn’t tell us—but while they worked on immediate countermeasures, we wanted to understand exactly how they worked. We found that in addition to its publicly known function of helping you fight, it also…makes you see certain things.”
“Certain…things?” Gustav said.
Josh could barely hear them, let alone respond.
“It works by intercepting electric impulses to and from the brain, rewiring your brain to sense what they want you to sense,” the woman said.
“And why would they do that?” Gustav said.
“Beats me,” the woman said, “Control? Loyalty? Efficiency? Can’t say for sure. But what I’m saying does make sense, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, it does,” Gustav said, “Would explain why when the implant glitched, my perception of you and the others changed.”
“Kirova knew the Panopticons operated on electrical impulses,” the woman said, “And she happened to have carried, for the last fifty years, a piece of Cold War technology that specialized in disrupting electronic systems. So she modified her weapon to affect your Panopticons. But with the war beginning as it did, she only had enough time for a partial implementation. Which is why your implants glitched, but didn’t completely fail.”
“I see,” Gustav said.
Josh had recovered enough to feel his arms again. He had to act quietly about this. His uncle was clearly deluded and had to see a psychologist. These rebels were leading him astray. They had to be eliminated, even though they weren't armed. Even the boy too, so he wouldn’t grow up to become another Olga Kirova. And he had to alert High Command the Panopticons’ data had been leaked. He slowly reached into his back pocket and took out a pocket knife they hadn’t found, which he used to begin cutting the ropes.
“So then why didn’t the other locals say anything?” Gustav said.
“Honestly?” the woman said. “They’re scared of you. They're scared they might be seen as rebels next. So they’re more willing to sell each other out if it means they’ll survive.”
“We were told we were bringing Christianity and civilization to the barbarians,” Gustav said.
“All you’re bringing is death and destruction to the world,” the woman said, “No wonder you see us all as terrorists and rebels. You already think we’re barbarians. But maybe the real barbarians are the ones looting and pillaging our cities. My name is Yekaterina. My son is Alexei. We’re not barbarians. We’re people too. Please, you have to help us.”
“I’m going to do what I can,” Gustav said, “You just have to—”
Josh cut through the ropes and lunged out of his chair. In one second, he had reached Yekaterina and slashed her throat. The blade caught in her neck, probably embedded in bone. Frak, he had cut too deep in his rush. He dropped the blade and Yekaterina and grabbed Alexei’s torso before he could run away. He lifted him up, spun him around to gain momentum, and then brutally bashed his skull into a concrete wall.
“That’s what you get, terrorists!” he boasted, teabagging their corpses and flipping them off. “Git gud!”
Next, he turned to his uncle.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you, traitor,” he said, cracking his knuckles.
“I’m your uncle,” Gustav said.
“When has that ever stopped me?” Josh said. “I killed my first wife and my own dad. What the frak’s gotten into you?”
“None of it’s true,” Gustav said, “None of what we’re seeing is true.”
“Frak you!” Josh picked up a crowbar and slammed it into Gustav’s head, knocking him out.
Jerusalemite forward operating base
“Seriously, why the frak am I in the cell too?” Josh said. “I reported the whole thing!”
The guards outside the cell didn’t respond.
“Are you seriously ignoring me?” Josh said. “Really?”
Gustav, who had been strapped down to a bed, stirred awake.
“What the frak did you do, Josh?” he said. “Where are we?”
“I’ve been trying to find that out, but nobody’s been giving me a straight answer,” Josh said.
“That’s because only we can give you answers,” Theodor said, walking in with Sarah.
“Herr Tesla,” Josh said, “What is going on?”
“I have to owe you two an apology,” Theodor said, “Astoria didn’t spot the error with your Panopticon until she reviewed the data again.”
“Really?” Gustav said.
“I downloaded a full error log from your Panopticon while you were knocked out,” Sarah said, “Whatever was in Kirova’s weapon was designed to shut down the P’s from within by hijacking and redirecting the electrical signals it sent.”
“These barbarians are more ingenious than we give them credit for,” Theodor said, “We’ll have to update our Panopticons to patch the flaw.”
“Theodor, without the original weapon, I’m not sure we can,” Sarah said.
“Then we can at least take solace in the fact that Kirova’s weapon seems to be one of a kind,” Theodor said, “We can reinforce the hardware to reduce the effectiveness of such attacks, but I’m sure the software is fine. I’ve designed it without flaws, and there’s no way I missed anything. As for the leak? I’ll do an internal investigation.”
“It’s all a lie,” Gustav said.
“What’s that?” Theodor said.
“It’s a lie,” Gustav said, “You made us kill innocent people and made it look like they were armed and fighting back.”
“I’d rather not have to explain it to everyone, but since you already seem to know, fine, I guess I’ll tell you,” Theodor said, “Yeah, we did that. I totally know why you’d say that.”
“Why I’d say it’s all a lie?” Gustav said.
“Wait, you’ve actually been doing all this?” Josh said.
“Yeah, we have,” Theodor said, “You know, the reason our enemies are so dangerous is because they look just like us. We give ourselves a bad rap, and we like to think otherwise, but we are genuinely empathetic as a species. Even when our lives depend on it, we don’t actually want to kill each other. Which can be fatal when your future depends on wiping out the enemy.”
“How much history have you studied in school?” Sarah said.
“Enough,” Josh said.
His least favorite subject.
“We’re talking 20th century military history here,” Theodor said, “At the time, most soldiers didn’t even fire their weapons.”
“Yeah, I learned about that,” Josh said, “If they did fire, they would just shoot over the heads of their enemies. In World War I, generals would walk the line with a stick and hit their men until they shot. Even in World War II, only 15% of our men would actually pull the trigger.”
“The fate of our world was at stake, and only 15% of them fired,” Theodor said, “Pathetic. We would’ve beaten the Angeloi much faster if we got our act together.”
“Exactly,” Josh said.
“I don’t like where we’re going with this,” Gustav said.
“So we adapted,” Sarah said, “Better training and conditioning. In Siam, the percentage goes up to 85%. But…”
“The kills were still low,” Josh said, “And many of those who did kill came back…crazy.”
“We noticed it,” Theodor said, “That’s how things were until we got the Panopticons. You see, we’ve actually been working on it since Siam. We had a few hiccups—ever hear about the Preacher incident?—but we made steady progress over the years until the model you two were outfitted with. That chip is the ultimate weapon of war. It helps with your intel, targeting, communication, and, most importantly, your conditioning.”
“It influences what we see so we’re more willing to kill,” Gustav realized.
“Exactly,” Theodor said, “It’s a lot easier to pull the trigger and shoot your target when you’re shooting the bogeyman, isn’t it? It’s not just your eyes, though.”
“It takes care of your other senses, too,” Sarah said, “You won’t hear their screams. You won’t smell their blood. You won’t see their mangled bodies.”
“That’s why we couldn’t smell the grass until just now,” Josh said.
“Are…are you mad?” Gustav said. “They’re human beings! I can get fighting enemy soldiers, but when we start making innocent civilians into targets, that’s going too far.”
“Do you have any idea what service we’re doing for the world?” Theodor said. “These Russians have only brought ruin to the world for over a century. The scourge of equalism. Then the drugs and cartels they sent over the border to kill our people. All they’ve contributed to the world is destruction and chaos, and it’s in their very blood. Just look at the amount of scheiße they carry in their DNA. Higher rates of cancer. Multiple sclerosis. Heart disease. A whole host of genetic disorders. Substandard IQ. Radical and criminal tendencies, as Varennikov and the cartels showed. Sexual deviance, as Kirova showed. It’s all there. It’s not just the Russians. It’s the Chinese and the Persians and the Eimericans and the Indians too. That’s why they’re truly barbarians out to destroy us, both physically and biologically. And if you let them breed, and with our people, everyone born into this world will be afflicted with it. Is that what you want for the next generation?”
“This…this is genocide!” Gustav said. “This is wrong!”
“It’s not wrong if you don’t know it’s wrong,” Josh said, “If you don’t know it even happened. Don’t feel bad about doing your job. Good soldiers follow orders.”
“The people at home won’t do it,” Theodor said, “They don’t have the P’s. The P’s let you do it. You’re the only ones who can protect Christendom. That’s an honor from God.”
“There’s no honor, only murder,” Gustav said, “Lies and murder.”
“Nobody lied to you,” Sarah said, “You knew this would happen.”
“What do you mean?” Gustav said.
“When you signed up for the project in 2024 and had the P’s implanted,” Sarah said, “It was part of the contract you signed. Don’t you remember?”
Not really. Josh didn’t see any use in reading all that complicated legal-speak.
“Don’t care either way,” Josh said.
“No,” Gustav said.
“I see,” Sarah said, “I don’t expect you to remember. The implantation itself may have messed with your memories a few days before and after. Very common, especially for the 2024 model. The brain initially can’t handle an entirely new source of electrical signals, but at the same time it accepts it. We can’t just put it in like that. We needed you to accept it, willingly.”
“Well, I no longer accept it,” Gustav said, “Take it out.”
“Excuse me?” Theodor said.
“You heard me, take it out,” Gustav said, “If you want me to fight, sure, I’ll do it, but I at least want to know who I’m killing.”
Theodor said nothing. Then he nodded to Sarah, who handed him a remote. Theodor pointed the remote at Gustav. Suddenly, Gustav’s head jerked back, and his eyes rapidly blinked. Then Theodor turned the remote on Josh. Vivid memories suddenly played back in his head, as vivid as they days they happened. More vivid than any video could possibly be. He saw himself killing Alexei, feeling his tiny body struggle against him and his mouth shriek as he hurled him through the air and smashed his head into a wall with a sickening crunch. Killing Yekaterina by slashing her throat, smelling the fresh blood that splattered over him, feeling the knife blade catch on the bone. Those people at Heidegger’s farmhouse…they weren’t rebels. They were just refugees.
“Please…don’t shoot! Please! Have mercy!”
They were putting their hands up and surrendering when he opened fire; the guy who charged him was only desperately trying to run past. He remembered killing Olga Kirova, but he could now hear the gunshot and the bullet tearing through flesh and bone, as well as the smell of the blood and brain matter splattered on the ground. Time rewound to his various rebel suppression efforts during Red Christmas and the years afterward. He heard the screams of each victim, their pleading for mercy, their pleas of desperation, finally the complete breakdown of their spirit when they realized their fate. He remembered the loud gunshot echoing up and down the tunnel as he shot Angela Hansen, then the smell of ash and gasoline when he set fire to the
Die Zeiten office and hung Anders Humboldt, watching his feet dangle in the air like a puppet. Time went back even further, to the India campaign of 2034. He remembered killing Jayapal, riddling her body full of bullets even as she had her hands up. Putting two bullets in Jayasimha’s knees and then listening to him scream in pain while he tea-bagged him. Back further to Bloody Tuesday. Dismembering Theresa Novak with a bone saw and listening to her screams as blood spurted all over him. Murdering the Athanatoi squad of Angelica Haus in a one-sided slaughter. He heard each agent’s screams as he mowed them all down, then walked over and shot them once more in the head as each survivor pleaded for mercy again. Plunging a knife into Diana Frank and feeling the life bleed out of her. Before then, to Uberbowl 2029, when he killed the terrorist with a shot to the head before he could say Theodor paid him. Back to the East Africa campaign, where he showed no mercy to the MLA rebels.
“No!” Gustav said. “What are you doing to me? Oh my God…I did…all that…my God…I’m a goddamn monster…oh my god…what have I done…”
Coward.
“We control what you see, Gustav,” Theodor said, “We’re making you and Josh relive every single kill you’ve made since getting the Panopticons installed.”
“Give me my frakking eyes back!” Gustav said. “Make it stop!”
“But wait, there’s more!” Theodor said, adopting the exaggerated accent of an infomercial narrator. “We can even play back your former superior Kurt Moreau’s memories! He’s had an older Panopticon prototype for at least ten years before you got yours, did you know? Part of a classified experiment. Here’s some footage from a test we did in a place called Huaxtepec on July 12, 2016.”
Suddenly, even older memories came back, of the campaigns in the last years of the occupation of Mexico. Kurt was running through a destroyed street, dodging gunfire and smelling the heated lead. That lead smell was so strong, yet Kurt ran through like it wasn’t there. He spun around and shot a random woman in a second story window. Another minute, another kill of an innocent civilian. Rinse and repeat. Kurt’s hands were numb, yet Josh could feel every ache and soreness in them, even if Kurt didn’t notice. A kid ran away from him, wearing a backpack, and Kurt shot him. He rounded a corner and found an old man praying in Nahuatl, shooting him just like with the kid. The enemies on the pyramid were actually terrorists, but the recollection ended just as Kurt attacked the pyramid, letting out a fierce “Hoch!” as his war cry.
“What…Kurt…no…” Gustav said. “No…you couldn’t have…”
“That’s what really happened in Huaxtepec,” Theodor said, “That was why the party cartel and the
lügenpresse were making such a fuss about war crimes back then.”
“Because it was!” Gustav said.
“Can’t be a war crime if there’s no evidence of it,” Theodor said, tapping his head like the meme, “Especially on the part of the alleged perpetrator. Alright, now that you’ve seen that, both of you have two options. Reset your Panopticons to get them back to normal, or immediate court martial.”
“Hell no!” Gustav said. “You are getting the damn Panopticon out of us! Now!”
Theodor pointed the remote at Josh. “Or do you want me to keep Josh lost in his memories for the rest of his life? Unable to tell past from present?”
“Hey, let me make this clear,” Josh said, “That recollection did absolutely nothing.”
Theodor was taken aback. He stared at him in shock.
“…excuse me?” he said.
“I still felt nothing,” Josh said, “All of the things I did…that was all me. I know it was me. I did it of my own free will. Even if my enemies turned out to be different from what I saw…even if I could smell their blood and hear their screams…they’re still my enemies in the end. And I don’t regret what I did. Not at all. If I didn’t have the implant, I’d still do it all over again.”
“You…really…don’t feel anything?” Sarah said. “Even
without the Panopticon?”
“Haven’t for many years now,” Josh said, “Gotta be a man, you know. Unlike my sorry excuse of an uncle.”
Theodor opened his mouth, trying to find something to say, but he couldn’t. It was clear even he was surprised by this development. Finally, he put a hand on Josh’s shoulder.
“I like your attitude, kid!” he said. “Perfect for the man who killed Diana Frank, Theresa Novak, Anders Humboldt, Angela Hansen, Olga Kirova, and Pramila Jayapal and paralyzed the Samrat Chakravartin himself. We really need more men like you. If everyone was like you, we’d have won this war already.”
“Josh…please tell me you’re joking,” Gustav said.
“No, Uncle,” Josh said, “This has always been the real me. No Panopticon will change that.”
“Well, as convenient as this is, I’m going to have to rethink my approach to this,” Theodor said, “Okay, Josh, all you need to do is get your Panopticon repaired, and you’re clear for duty.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Josh said, “But I’d prefer you disable the sight changes. I want see my enemies for who they really are.”
“Sure, I’ll make an exception for you,” Theodor said, “Gustav Johansen, though…you are accused of committing treason by aiding and abetting the enemy. That is undeniable. You have two options. First is we do a hard reset of your Panopticon. All of your memories since the capture of Tsarberg will be erased, and the Panopticon will be repaired to normal.”
“Frak you, I’m not taking that,” Gustav said.
“I had a feeling you’d say that,” Theodor said, “On to option 2.”
He pointed the remote at Gustav, who clutched his head and screamed as more unfiltered memories streamed through his mind.
“You will be convicted in a court martial and sentenced to life imprisonment,” Theodor said, “Because death by firing squad would be too merciful.”
“Frak you!” Gustav said. “I can take prison!”
“Think again,” Theodor said, “The Panopticon is your friend. Without it, you’ll remember every single thing you did. What you’re seeing right now is life without it. You’ll relive every battle you ever fought, every kill you logged. Every life you’ve taken. I have it all logged and ready to stream directly into your brain, 24/7.”
He pressed the remote again.
“No…no…no…no!” Gustav screamed. “Make it stop! Please! Make it stop! No! No!”
“You'll see and smell and feel it all,” Theodor said, “Is this what you want? On infinite loop, in a cell all to yourself, for the rest of your life?”
“Argh!” Gustav said. “I can’t handle this! Stop it!”
“Uncle, remember,” Josh said, “Good soldiers follow orders. Be a man.”
Gustav continued screaming.
Rural Russia - November 18
Josh’s transport trudged down a pothole-filled dirt road. He, Gustav, and the rest of his squad jostled and lurched with each bump.
“We’ve gotten reports of our scouts being fired on in Novgorod,” Josh said, “Our job is to assess the damage, locate the enemy forces, and eliminate them. Understood?”
“Yes sir!” the squad shouted.
“Let’s gut those barbarian rats!” Gustav said.
---
This was the other Black Mirror reference I had and among the first committee-related ideas I came up with.