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  “Don’t say that.”

  “If they haven’t figured out by now that I’m actually Alexandra Gray, they soon will. When that happens, I can kiss any chance of freedom goodbye. As I’m sure you’re aware, altering one’s accountability chip is a serious crime, tantamount to fraud.”

  “So where’s your original acc. chip?” Alex asked.

  “We stuck it in a pig. For a few years, I continued to pay taxes under my legal name. The pig’s cholesterol was through the roof, which cost me a small fortune in taxes, but eventually the pig died, as did Alexandra Gray.”

  “So you changed your name?”

  “I became a creature of the underground, almost like a rodent. I changed my name to Mara because I think it represents me in some ways.”

  “How so?”

  “Aside from being cute and agile, a mara is a naturally occurring hybrid. It’s essentially a cross between a guinea pig and a rabbit. Their behavior can be friendly if domesticated, but if they are scorned by humans, they will avoid them at all costs and only come out at night.”

  “So now that I’ve shown up in your life, they’re likely to make the connection that you’re Alexandra Gray and not Mara Miletus?”

  “I have a modified accountability chip so my phony info comes up if I ever get scanned, but I cannot be tracked. I’m off the grid… well, not exactly,” she laughed as she looked around the prison, but I think you know what I mean.”

  “So what’s your story?” Alex asked inquisitively. “What happened with the whole… you know?”

  Mara took a moment to gather her thoughts. “Where should I begin? Well, the short version is I met a man – your father – and we fell in love. Your father was a very powerful man and when I got pregnant, he abandoned me because he didn’t want an unauthorized birth to jeopardize his position. He took off and I never heard from him again.

  “I laid low for nine months and thought I would just have you without anyone knowing about it. I knew that when the time came, my hormone levels would spike and alert the guardians of my labour, so I decided to run. I thought they would just search my apartment, I didn’t know they could track me.”

  “So what happened after that?” Alex asked curiously.

  “After I was arrested, they told me you had died. I spent the next five years inside this prison, mourning your death. I was also sterilized to prevent me from having any more unsanctioned children. That didn’t seem right to me. How can you take away a person’s right to bear children? Does this system not allow for a person to improve themselves? As hard as it was to spend five years of my life in prison, it made me become stronger, both mentally and physically. I educated myself, made some connections, and when I was released, I vowed to spend the rest of my life avenging your death.”

  “How’s that plan working out for you?” Alex joked.

  “Despite my current situation, I’ve actually made a lot of progress. As I mentioned before, I’ve made many friendships and have built an entire army that has rejected the ways of this tyrannical Leadership.”

  “About that,” Alex paused. “I found the box.”

  Mara looked at her a moment, then asked, “What box?”

  “The box that was hidden in the floor of your bedroom.”

  “I haven’t the slightest idea of what you’re referring to.”

  “You had a full schematic of a space exploration ship along with plans to mine minerals from other planets. There must have been over forty pages labeled classified. I imagine it was printed on paper so there would be no digital record of it. Then I wondered how you got a hold of these documents… until I found several pictures at the bottom.”

  “I have no recollection of any of that. He must have erased those memories from my brain.”

  “Who?”

  “Maxim Morrison – your father.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The news did not hit Alex that hard as it simply confirmed what she had already suspected. The photos in the box clearly showed a young Maxim Morrison before he was the Leader with a younger version of her mother. Alex had only a few seconds to glance at the photos, but that was all the time she needed. With her photographic memory, she could recall all the vivid details in the photos down to every wrinkle of skin and fold of fabric. From what Alex had seen, the young couple appeared to be in love.

  “If only there was a way to restore my memories,” Mara lamented, “then we would know so much more. Who knows what else he has deleted.”

  “Fortunately, nothing is truly deleted,” Alex said. “There’s always a backup memory stored deep in your subconscious. Even after a level-two deprogramming, it still does not reach your subconscious.”

  “Is there a way to retrieve them?”

  “Yes, in theory.”

  “In theory?” I hate theories. What about in reality?”

  “There are proven methods to access a person’s subconscious.”

  “Like hypnosis?” Mara asked.

  “Hypnosis is one method, but it’s a little outdated. I’m thinking more like a dream recorder.”

  “A dream recorder? They have those?”

  “They? No, but I built a rudimentary prototype a few years ago. I abandoned it due to competing interests occupying my time and I always meant to go back to it, but never did. It has all kinds of practical applications from psychoanalysis to entertainment. It works by scanning your brain activity during REM sleep. In theory – excuse me, in reality – those firing synapses are converted into digital data that a computer can reproduce on a monitor. In effect, you could recreate a person’s thoughts with vivid clarity, including colour and sound.”

  “Does it work?”

  “Well, I haven’t actually been able to reproduce what’s in someone’s head onto a monitor, but I have made strides in that direction.”

  “What do you need to get this device to work?” Mara asked. “Maybe I can get some equipment.”

  “Let me give it some thought,” Alex replied. “If we could hook you up to the dream recorder and have you dream about your past, there’s a chance your repressed memories will resurface in your dream. Then we’ll have a digital copy we can analyze.”

  “Is it safe?”

  “There’s a one-in-three chance it’ll completely cook your brain.”

  “What?”

  “I’m joking, it’s perfectly safe.”

  “Have you used it before?”

  “Oh sure, I mean, I designed and developed it. I wouldn’t have allowed it to be unsafe.”

  “Do I have to be dreaming? Can’t you just have it read my mind?” Mara asked.

  “Sorry, it can’t read your mind, but it can record your thoughts. The trick is to have those thoughts projected on a monitor. I haven’t figured that part out yet.”

  “So we can get the data, we just can’t view it?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Couldn’t you just upload the data back into my brain while I’m conscious and have my dream displayed in my head?”

  “It’s not that easy, but…”

  “What is it?”

  “You just gave me an idea. Often when you try to reload data back into a person’s brain where the dream originated, the brain gets confused and mixes the dream data with your other thoughts. In other words, it contaminates the data and you wouldn’t be able to decipher fact from fiction. However, my brain doesn’t work like yours. Obviously, there’s no practical application to have everyone’s dream uploaded into my brain so I never thought about it before; however, in this particular instance that just may work.”

  “That’s great!”

  “It’s just a theory though; I haven’t actually done it before.”

  “Can it be done?”

  “I don’t see why not.”

  “I love your confidence.”

  “I guess it’s one of the perks of living at the Facility – you get to chase any whimsy and explore any idea. If you have the knowledge and the passion, one is bound only by their
own creative limits.”

  “I guess it’s a good way to compensate for the deficit in the student’s lives and make them forget about their family.”

  “I wouldn’t say that. They’re not trying to make us forget anything. In fact, they have the technology to erase certain memories that cause us pain, but never once have they suggested we use it to forget about our families.”

  “Yeah, because you were taken away when you were so young, you don’t have any memories of your family.”

  “True, but not everyone who’s in the Facility shares the same past as I do. The government provides extensive funding to ensure we have everything we need to develop into respectable members of society, what’s wrong with that?”

  “Nothing. It sounds like they provided you a life I could never have given you,” Mara said with a sombre tone.

  “Don’t say that. I’d much rather have my mum,” Alex said trying to comfort her. “No amount of technology can replace that. Besides, even with all those resources, look where I ended up.”

  “I guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.”

  “You don’t really mean that,” Alex said as she pulled her mum in for a hug. Mara cleared her throat before changing the subject so she would not completely lose control of her emotions.

  “So this dream recorder thing, where is it?”

  “It’s probably in a box somewhere at the Facility, collecting dust.”

  “Too bad we’re stuck here in prison,” Mara said.

  “Well, neither one of us has been convicted yet, so in theory we could post bail until our trial dates.”

  “You know how I feel about theories.”

  “I’m being serious. Once we’re on the outside, we’ll have access to the equipment we need.”

  “How much is your bail?” Mara asked.

  “One-thousand units. How about you?”

  “Five-thousand units.”

  “Okay, so all we need is someone on the outside to post bail for us and then we can get started. Do you know anyone willing to do that?”

  “Possibly, I’ll make some calls.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Technological advancements had affected every aspect of society, and the prison system was no exception. It was clear the old ways had not worked. In the past, many ex-convicts left prison harbouring unhealthy amounts of bitterness and resentment toward the system. Once released, they would often fall back into the same old patterns that had landed them in jail in the first place. The rationale for locking people up used to be: punishment, protect society, deterrence, and rehabilitation. The new reformed prisons still incorporated all those elements, but there was a much stronger emphasis on rehabilitation than there had ever been before. At the core of the new model was free education.

  In some cases, inmates could have their memories wiped and even their genetics reprogrammed. The latter involved a non-invasive procedure that would alter particular genomes, causing new neural pathways to be formed. This would often produce new patterns of thinking and behavior to emerge that would eliminate any proclivity to nefarious activity. While the science hadn’t been perfected, it had been proven to be effective with certain individuals. As a result of the free education and genetic reprograming, recidivism was quite low.

  ***

  Alex sat in her cell enjoying a classic, Homer’s Odyssey – a book she had always meant to download, but never had the time until now. Fluent in both Ancient and Modern Greek, Alex wanted to experience the book as it was originally intended so she had downloaded the Greek version. She took her time, slowly going over each line of text in her head.

  ὣς φάτο, τοῦ δ᾽ ἤκουσε περίφρων Πηνελόπεια, Κι ἡ Πηνελόπη ἡ γνωστικιὰ τὸν ἄκουσε, κι ἀμέσως ἀμφίπολον δ᾽ ἐνένιπεν ἔπος τ᾽ ἔφατ᾽ ἔκ τ᾽ ὀνόμαζε· τὴν παρακόρη μάλωσε, καὶ φώναξέ της κι εἶπε…

  Suddenly, her concentration was interrupted by a knock on her cell door. “Ms. Gray, you have a visitor,” a prison guardian said.

  Alex was escorted down a long corridor toward the visiting room. When she entered, she was excited to see Milo standing there with a huge smile on his face.

  “I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Milo said.

  Alex laughed. “No, not at all.”

  As she approached closer, Milo was able to get a good look at her face.

  “Oh my gosh. Alex, your face is all bruised up.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “I was about to ask how prison life is, but now I don’t need to. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I was assaulted by a group of women who could easily have passed for men.”

  “Looks like they got you pretty good.”

  “I consider it a badge of honour – an initiation if you will.”

  “I’m so sorry, Alex. I wish I had been there to protect you.”

  “You, protect me?” Alex mocked him. “No offense, Milo, but I’m fairly certain these women would have beaten you up as well. Besides, I don’t think anyone will bother me again. Mara is well respected in here and told everyone not to mess with me. So far, nobody has.”

  “So when are you getting out of here?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m still waiting for a trial date.”

  “There’s hardly any crime so our courts aren’t that busy. What’s taking so long?”

  “Milo, it’s only been a few days.”

  “I know, but it feels longer.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it.”

  “Don’t worry, Alex, you’ll be out in no time.”

  “Depends on how sympathetic the judge is to my case. If not, I’m looking at five years in prison.”

  “What’s the best case scenario?”

  “The best case is that the judge issues me a warning, but in the past, they’ve come down harshly on these types of crimes.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because people value their privacy.”

  “But didn’t Jeremy Bentham once say, ‘Where there is no publicity there is no justice. Publicity is the very soul of justice. It is the very spur to exertion and the surest of all guards against improbity’.”

  “He did, but he was referring to transparency within our court system, not private individuals. The Wikileaks Act forces governments to disclose all information about its operations. But with so much transparency, people were concerned about their private information being leaked as well. Therefore, strict laws were enacted, which severely punish those who procure personal information by illicit means.”

  “Such as hacking into a government database.”

  “Precisely.”

  “But the information you acquired was about you,” Milo said.

  “That may not matter. We’ll have to see what the judge says. Sometimes the end does not justify the means.”

  “So what’s Mara like?”

  “You’ve met her. She’s a bit intense, but underneath her rough exterior, she’s kind. Unfortunately, some of her views are a little radical and unsubstantiated.”

  “That’s a dangerous combination.”

  “I agree, but I’ve had some talks with her and I’m trying to show her a better way.”

  “How’s that working?”

  “It’s working well. As with any of us, sometimes we need to be shown a better way in order to evolve.”

  The two continued to talk for another ten minutes before a guardian instructed them that visiting time was over. Alex and Milo said their goodbyes and gave each other a hug.

  “See you on the outside,” Milo quipped.

  Alex just smiled before being escorted away. Milo remained where he was and watched her until she left his sight.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The more time Alex spent with her mother, the more she was learning from her. In addition to building her physical strength, Alex was building her strength of cha
racter as well. The young prodigy was quickly absorbing a lifetime of lessons from Mara.

  “No, keep your hands like this,” Mara said, correcting Alex’s form. “Good, now try to hit me.”

  Alex threw a punch and Mara ducked out of the way and tackled Alex to the ground. Alex secured Mara’s wrists, quickly pivoted her hips, and locked up an armbar, forcing Mara to tap.

  “Excellent. Well done,” Mara applauded. “Never give up, there’s always a way out.”

  Alex nodded.

  “Let’s go again,” Mara said, as they touched hands, signifying the start of another sparring session. They began to circle each other, which caught the attention of some other inmates and prison guardians on the field, but everybody knew they were just practicing.

  Mara lunged forward with an aggressive attack, but Alex was quick to react. She dropped down a level and wrapped her arms around both Mara’s legs and took her down with ease. From there, Alex swiftly moved into a full-mount position and playfully began raining down punches.

  Just when Alex thought she was getting the better of her opponent, Mara reversed the position and trapped Alex’s arm behind her back forcing her to tap.

  “See, you thought you had me and you let your guard down. If you do that in the real world, it could cost you more than a limb. Let’s go again.”

  “Why don’t we call it a day? I’m kind of tired.”

  “Alex, the reason why we drill over and over is so these moves become instinctual. When you’re in a fight, you find out what you’re really made of. You cannot think, you can only react. Now let’s go again.”

  “Okay,” Alex huffed as she sluggishly picked herself up.

  “This is how you build character, Alex,” Mara said as she circled around. “There are many skills in life one cannot simply learn by downloading them into their brain. There are no shortcuts to success. If you want something, you must work hard, be disciplined, and be focused.”

  Mara charged forward unpredictably, but Alex quickly stepped out of harm’s way.

  “You must train your body as well as your mind. This is how champions are made; this is how you become a great leader.”

  Instead of being on the defensive, Alex launched an offensive attack of her own. She distracted Mara with a simple leg kick, then moved in for the finish. Alex got a hold of Mara and hip-tossed her to the ground. Within seconds, Alex had Mara wrapped up like a snake and secured a deep choke that restricted her mother’s breathing.