There will be no regrets.

I’ve told her to put on her best clothes on account of the special occasion. Just four days ago mother died, now this; it’s an important week for the family. Trying to explain the nature of the event proved too confusing for her brother when his time came, so we didn’t bother much this time around. It’s not the processing capabilities of a five year old’s mind that I have little faith in—if anything, we keep finding our young to be fit to undergo the procedure at earlier and earlier ages—, but rather the biological condition that is to be emotional. Case in point, even if an attempt had been made to explain to her the milestone she’s about to go through, she could not stop crying long enough to hear it. She misses her grandmother so much, she says, yet it’s only been four days since her passing. How silly.

It’s hard to put myself in her shoes, though technically it should be easier for me than for many others. I’m part of a dying trend, of the generations that still remember acting outside of reason. I was deradicalized at fourteen, which is by today’s standards an absurdly old age for it; no person has any business reaching such age led by emotion. But back then the procedure hadn’t yet become mandatory for anybody younger than that. Of course, I can’t think of any way to justify it now, but I remember trying to resist the day it was my turn, begging my parents who only knew too well what was best. Because surely I was filled with fear and anger and anguish, toward things I didn’t understand though they presented to me as common sense and science. News still came around ten, five years ago even, about small groups of radicals that had somehow managed to go unnoticed and lived in hiding from the rest of us, with no contributions to speak of, only hinderances. And they always kept children with them, always thought they were fighting some war for their sake —and what violent fights some of them were. I know because I put one up myself. But if you’re lucky enough to be convinced, or even forced before you get the chance to kill yourself, then the whole procedure is over before you even know it, and then it’s all clear.

It was a long and arduous way coming. I am not one with the skillset and intelligence to comprehend the extensive mapping of the brain that was done to reveal the more specific functions of previously known but hardly understood structures inside the head, and the way they communicate to and among themselves in fractions of a nanosecond: the very nature of emotion and its influence in the human consciousness. In time they figured out the precision of every tiny electric current, the release of every chemical and the systems that suppress them, the psychological need for every emotional impulse and the thresholds they can be pushed to on each side of the spectrum. It was never revealed to the public exactly for how long the studies took place under military grade secrecy before experimentation was carried out, or how long that then went on before the first journals were published, to the skepticism and growing alarm of the populace. Then came the first public subject to undergo the finalized product: along with the promise of a painless experience and no more than a mild feeling of disorientation that wasn’t sure to last, there would be no loss of bodily or mental autonomy, no decrease in physical or intellectual capabilities, only freedom from anything that stood against human reason. David, a seventy-three year old man who “held too many regrets” signed a contract which included many legal and medical protections, the agreement for his brain and behavior to be continuously monitored for ten years after the operation and then for as long as he wished after that, as well as how he would be handled with should he show signs of any type of deterioration. And, as a guarantee and proof of the procedure’s efficacy, he would immediately be given and allowed to keep the little amount of fluid that would be taken from him, with an open invitation to reverse the operation any moment he so wished. He then proceeded to become the first person to be deradicalized before the eyes of the world. Several hours later, as he slowly came to and was questioned on how he felt, the first words that came out of his mouth to accompany his most serene expression were “I wish this had come to me sooner.”

Of course, it took years for the everyday person to overcome fear and even start considering such a fate for themselves, not to mention the technology required was too novel to come cheap. But the world had just found the cure for greed, for the hubris of the creature cursed to be aware, for the never-ending hunger of the ego, the myth of the soul. Once in the clarity of reason, one could only wish to be surrounded by it, to be done with the idle ingenuity of the past, the shy wants of the uncertain will. It was as if society had become immunized against the selfishness of the individual, and whatever knowledge and skills they possessed they were only too willing to offer to the rest. No reason for deceit when survival of the species was at stake, to rejoice in the vice of leisure. Therefore, nothing stood in the way of reason, and as years went by it grew in number and slowly became part of those who could more greatly influence others. The procedure of deradicalization became commonplace among the richest countries, capable of breaking the resistance of those who refused to be rid of their biological setbacks and join a new era of progress. Although everyone whose eyes had been opened shared the same sensible ideals for the world, sacrifices were still called for, and those who showed to be a threat to the collective goal of mankind didn’t have a place in it, nor those who advocated half measures and weak standings. And it was never going to be a fair fight; those who remained radical soon realized the bitterness of their demise: the very thing they fought for would always keep them just too far apart from one another. As dominion grew more complete, and once those small insurrections became more scarce, mandates were established to ensure the prosperity of the new age. There was certainly concern in the earlier years regarding an appropriate age to have children deradicalized, mainly to avoid interfering with one’s ability to create and retain lasting memories into adulthood. But as we progress, we’ve only come to find that previously held beliefs are unnecessarily conservative in such matters, and no detrimental effects have been observed as the age limit is lowered. The current mandate is for all persons to undergo the procedure when they reach five years.

Indeed, today is a special occasion, and now she comes, wearing her favorite dress with her favorite socks. As she looks sad still, I ask her if it’s because of her grandmother. She says yes, and asks me if I’m sad as well.

“No. That’s how things are.”

She then asks me if I’m happy that today is her special day.

“No. This is just how things should be.”

Then she’s quiet again. I tell her that once she comes back home, she’ll have a new toy: a little heart-shaped pendant hanging from a necklace. I’m talking about what’s remained an offer since the beginning, that small amount of cerebral fluid that stood as a promise to David and to every single person ever since. It’s only humane to continue to surrender it to whom it is extracted from, and it would otherwise have no other use. It was decided back then to use lockets in the shape of a heart to honor one of mankind’s most famous rhetorical figures throughout the ages.

She smiles at the thought of it, and so we get on our way. It’s such a silly thing, really, but it won’t last much longer now. In the several decades since this dawned on us, not one person has ever wished to reverse the procedure. Once you’ve been rid of it, you just don’t have it in you to ever want it back. At the end, most people forget their lockets after placing them somewhere out of sight, some just throw the useless things away. That’s what I did. I look at her once more as she still thinks about what I said, smiling. She will throw away hers too.