"The Heart Shaped Locket"

“5:00 AM - Wake up, sir”

The familiar voice resounded throughout the domicile. A femine, yet stern voice, that oft commanded the slowly ailing Johnston, and ran his tiny abode. A steaming bowl of rice, with two small portions of synthesized ‘protein’, most likely recycled feces he guessed, sat beside a large glass of light blue liquid on the table opposite his small cot.

“5:20 Am - Remove your jumpsuit and enter the cubicle, sir. Remember to finish your bowl next time. Nutrition is important.”

Johnston set down the utensils, and his mostly finished breakfast. He slowly stirred, inching up from his seat to remove his jumpsuit and step into a small cubicle where he would cleanse and prepare for his day. The water was as warm as to be expected, he had long grown used to the quick flash of lukewarm water, followed by a stream of thicker liquid he was immediately instructed to lather onto his body.

“Lather quickly, Johnston. You need to report to the revol-cycle by 5:45 am for your shift.”

Thoughts of her flooded his mind, the memory the Imperium believed they had wiped away when they sent him to City 37. Johnston knew the course, and tuned out the voice, washing, rinsing, equipping an identical jumpsuit before circumnavigating the ruined cloister referred to as City 37. It didn’t take him long, maybe 10 minutes, as all of the domiciles were near the charging stations. Johnston took his seat, and put his hands onto the grips of his revol-cycle, per his usual daily shift.

“8:00 AM - Time for your break, sir”

The voice broke the silence like a knife, as Johnston slowed his pace.

“42 batteries charged, sir. An insufficient haul for a morning cycle. Drink your green nutra-salient, and step back onto the bike to finish your second shift.” He pondered what laid beyond City 37 for a moment, before stepping off of the cycle. The stench unmistakable, he turned, to see a small latch drop down, with a mug full of a viscous, green sludge. He knew it, its taste, and its implication all too well; one had never seen what the Imperium did to lesser men, but he knew.

“Break time is over, sir. Please step onto the revol-cycle to continue your shift.”

Johnston nodded, choked down the last of the sludge, and continued riding. His thoughts drifted like the murk in his guts, tumbling and flipping through the life he’d lived to that point. Another few hours passed without much interest, a helping of rice, and synth-protein, much like his breakfast, for lunch.

“Computer. What day is it?” Johnston’s voice croaked, like nails against glass.

“You know I cannot tell you that, sir”

“You must be able to. I’ve worked without question for at least 50 days. I must have some bearing.”

“Then it is 50 days since you last questioned it, and another 27 since the last time. 89 since the one before, and 142 since the one before that. Your first instance was another 57 days prior, sir.”

Johnston nodded, his shattered voice breaking the silence once more, as he turned back to the end of his shift. “I understand Lyd- Computer. I will get back to work.”

“8:00pm sir, time to go back to your domicile to rest. You successfully charged 127 batteries. Do better tomorrow”

Johnston complied without complaint, ignoring the second helping of Nutri-Salient sitting on the stoop for him, knowing it would magically reappear in his domicile upon his return. He walked a bit slower this time, contemplating and watching each alley and access arcade, though it still took him only 12 minutes to traverse City 37. The voice was wrong, different.

“Welcome home, sir. You are two minutes late. Your portion has been cut accordingly” The voice greeted him once again. He entered, and as expected, there was a glass of nutri-salient sitting on the stoop for him, beside a heart-shaped locket.

“Please pick up the locket, sir.” The voice commanded, this time it sounded almost hollow, shifting slowly into a raucous threat.

“Former President Johnston, please stare into the locket, that we may remind you what is at stake. Her voice was a gift, one you have lost”

-Fin