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The sky was blue. The flowers were up. The sun was smiling. It was perfect.
I had been here for a while, but it was all still unimaginable compared to the murky, disgusting town from before. I still couldn't believe I wasn't in a dream, with all the smiling, the disappearance of my problems, and just the brightness and color of everything. It was truly perfect.
As I swung the door open and happily marched out into my front yard, everyone else in the neighborhood did the same. They seemed extremely joyful, maybe even happier than me. I somehow brightened up even more at this, as the thought of reliving this place, Rosa Valley Township, day-after-day like that was awe-striking.
I shouted a good morning to all of them, and exactly in unison, they did the same; waving and beaming with pride. Some were happy couples, some were with family, and some had a pet or two. Looking closer, most men were businessmen, but some were doctors, or professors or attendants or other things. Then, a few of them, assumingly in the profession or just hobbyists like everyone else, went to tend to their already-thriving gardens, as the rest got in their cars to do errands or go to work. People said work was surprisingly fun here, as everyone was matched with a job that perfectly appealed to them, with good pay and amazing work hours. Apparently, we were matched with our perfect neighborhoods as well, because getting along with everyone was extremely easy, and all of them were so nice.
After watching the others for a bit and admiring the peace, I turned back to study my house again. It was made of sturdy, light blue brick, with a pristine white door and white picket fences surrounding it; the shape and vibe of the property was uniform to everyone else's, however theirs had many different color schemes. I had also hung a heartfelt sign on the door, reading “There's no place like home,” and had put a nice flower-shaped rug in front of it. I had seen some of my neighbor's doors when introducing myself to them, and a few of them had signs as well, saying phrases like “Home is where your heart is,” “Kindness first,” and the signature “Live, Laugh, and Love.” Some even had little pillows on their porch swings with similar expressions.
Sadly, I did not have a porch swing, but I did decorate the porch with colorful vases and unique potted plants. It seemed everyone here loved gardening, and of course I did too, so I strived to create the most welcoming atmosphere possible, just like the effect they had on me.
Now forever grateful for how nice and equal the neighborhood was, I went over to my humble blue compact car and got in. I hadn't been matched with a job yet, but I wanted to visit more of the town to view more architecture and watch some birds. Besides vases and plants, those were my favorite things. Maybe I'd get lucky and see construction at work here; ever since I arrived, I sort of wondered of this place's inner workings.
* * *
First, I thought it was a good idea to visit the Auditor's office, to check if they had updated my citizenship and registration here. As soon as I walked into the lobby and got my number, an announcement called me in. I was practically jumping for joy.
However, standing at one of the many counters where the Auditors and Accountants were, I had to clear my throat slightly. The person behind the window of 32B was typing away, looking back and forth from their paper, to one of the monitors, then to the other.
“Hello?” I asked. “Sir?”
To my surprise, the person did not look me in the eye, or even glance in my direction. They kept on typing, without revising.
I was about to call out again, when the Auditor suddenly spoke up. “Please state your reason for visiting the Office.”
Staring vaguely into their window, I didn't know where to look. Was this normal?
“I… wanted to know if…”
“Is your wife ailed? Is she complying with you?”
“What? I don't have a wife. What do you mean by…?”
“Would you like to register for one?”
The Auditor suddenly stopped typing and turned towards me as they said that. Their tone was dull, like that was the most normal thing in the world, and they stared at me blankly. It felt like I was being suffocated. The large grey hall felt like a tiny squeezing crate under their eyes.
I put my hands in my pockets, not sure what to do with them. “Register…?”
They didn't react. “What is your name?”
Where was this conversation going?
“Um, my name is Samuel Grover,” I replied. I figured it would be polite to just answer instead of asking even more what was going on. The Auditor grabbed a paper, notably a little robotically, and put it under the window, motioning to a cup of CLEAN PENS at the side of the counter.
“Sign on the line.”
“...Okay.”
They turned back to their computer, switching to a different tab and typing something in again. A few moments passed before they started scrolling through a quite lengthy page. I took a peek at it… times and numbers mixed with random lines and dots. This place was so, so different from the outside neighborhoods. I thought back on it and wondered why—maybe it was common for government buildings here?—but nothing I was sure I’d heard of came to mind.
“The Bureau will visit your home today for inspection while you're out, and if you're approved, you'll be visited again when they bring your wife. Do not worry about getting to know her, she will already be informed of you and your needs. You're dismissed.”
“What…?”
“You're dismissed.”
* * *
After leaving the Auditor’s office, still trying to process whatever had happened, I drove around a little more before I found a construction site next to a beautiful park; absolutely perfect if I wanted to feed the birds while witnessing some good old architectural plans. I sat down on a wooden bench positioned to view the whole dewy park, along with the construction in the distance. What were they building? A house, it looked like; so far, it was vaguely similar to the shape of the other houses around the park.
“Hello,” a man said, passing by on the path but slowing down a bit to talk. “Nice afternoon. Whatcha’ doing? Watching the sky, looking over the park?”
“Oh, I was going to feed some crumbs to the pigeons,” I replied happily, turning next to me on the bench I was sat down on. “...Uh, I don’t appear to have any bread, though.”
“Well, that’s silly,” the man said, looking me in the eye. I couldn’t really tell what his expression was. “Bread? For birds?”
“...What, what do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing, pal. You’re a pretty funny guy,” the man said, before walking away swiftly. Some people around glanced at me before turning to continue doing whatever they were doing before. I just stared dumbly at the path in front of me where the man had just been making conversation, having no idea what he was talking about anyway. What was wrong with feeding bread to birds? Were the birds the problem? Actually, now that I had thought about it, I really hadn’t seen any birds in the few days I had been here. Was that it?
Well, my mood had been jostled a bit after that interaction, so after a few minutes I decided to go back home. Today had been quite a confusing day and I figured I needed a rest anyway. A jumble of thoughts came up, as I laid in bed, about the whole sudden wife situation. What was that Auditor saying? She would be informed of my needs? I didn’t really understand what that meant, or really wanted a wife anyway, but I guessed it would make me fit in with everyone else. Most, if not all of the people I had seen so far in my neighborhood had wives, and they were quite nice; some even baked pies for me when I moved in. I hoped mine would be nice, too, but reminded myself that hoping is a silly thing, because everything is matched up perfectly here. I became happy again at that remembrance and slept soundly that night.
* * *
Suddenly I was awoken to a knock at the door. The Bureau, assumingly. I had to rush to get changed before speeding to the front of the house.
“Hello!” I greeted, nodding at the government official in front of me. She was the first female worker I had seen at all, but I didn’t think much of it. “Good morning.”
“Grover,” she replied, nodding as well. “Good morning.”
The official nodded before another woman stepped out from behind her. “This is Penny. Penny Alicia Grace,” she said, motioning to the other. Penny smiled and nodded before bowing slightly. She had brunette and copper blonde hair, notably in short pigtails, with green eyes. She was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and a skirt which was long and nearly reached the floor; it seemed flowy and looked quite nice. She was also wearing a cardigan with a flower symbol on it, a symbol I had seen on the Auditor's computer when I snuck a glance yesterday. Penny looked way more graceful than I did, with my plain black tie and brown jacket. I should have woken up early, although I didn't know when the Bureau was coming at all…
“Good morning, Samuel,” Penny greeted, voice soft and cheerful. I had a cheerful voice as well, but it wasn't really soft, at least not to me.
“Greetings, Penny.”
After a few moments of small talk, the official left, and I let Penny into my home. Our home now, apparently.
“So, Penny… I'm real new here, so I don't know much about this place, but I hope we can be a great—”
Penny was looking out the window, intently staring at the Bureau vehicle driving away. She didn't seem to be listening to me at all, and had a sort of determined look on her face.
“Hello? Penny?”
She kept watching the vehicle, but answered in a voice that starkly contrasted her earlier happiness. “Spare me the formalities,” she said, turning around, looking awfully mean now. “I was going to escape today. You ruined it,” she spat.
Suddenly, the pretty and calm woman from not even a minute ago changed into a cold and selfish wretch. Additionally, she took out her pigtails and threw the hair ties into the garbage. I just stared at her, dumbfounded, to which she continued looking at the window. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“I thought you were supposed to be nice,” I muttered, turning my gaze to the floor.
“Supposed to,” she responded.
Eventually, she stepped away from the window, turning towards me. I assumed she was sizing me up or something.
“You look like you have no idea what you’re doing.”
“Uh… As I said, I’m real new here—”
Penny suddenly groaned, leaning on the counter. “Oh, of course,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I guess that means you won’t report me or whatever.”
“Report you? For what?”
That was when she whipped her head around in shock. “For not complying?”
“Complying? The Auditor was saying something like that, but I didn’t understand anything about it.”
“You really don’t know what you’re doing.”
* * *
Penny had then explained nearly everything to me, when I had finally come to accept how strange this place was. She mockingly called it “your common sense awakening.” On an additional note, as well as to my joy, she had warmed up to me and was not as mean as before, practically not at all though she did usually have a sarcastic personality.
The main highlight, she said, was the whole nuclear heaven picture. This township—really a sort of city-state, but it was called a township anyways—was created after a nuclear incident, and was a safe haven. If you moved here, it meant you were taken out of the dumps of the outside world (I called it the Before), and it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you couldn’t mess up as there were “limited spots.” Of course, every government has its orders and different ways of being, but here was largely perfectionist, and she didn’t exactly know how to describe it, but Penny said it was like they were afraid of anything being off or different from everyone else. She also mentioned that sometimes, if anything was the slightest bit off, and someone wanted to discreetly point it out, it was subconsciously agreed by the people to call it funny.
I asked her to explain the wife situation, and she gladly went off into an angered ramble about it. Here, women were trained to be the ‘perfect wife’ during the required boarding school—which explained why I didn’t see any children around—and then chosen to become one if a man registered and they were matched. Legally, me and Penny were already ‘married’ as soon as she entered my house, but we could do a traditional wedding if we desired. Furthermore, Penny had already been married multiple times, but kept getting sent back to the Bureau because she wasn’t complying. The officials, although having no proof she wasn’t complying, had said I was her last chance to be better. She didn't elaborate on what would happen if they caught her breaking that chance.
We decided to go out to the supermarket so she could further show me what was wrong here now that I was told all this information. I now noticed everything, and it was sickening, to say the least. It was almost as bad as Before, if Before was a… well, I didn't even know what to call it.
Me and Penny were in the bread aisle sneaking looks at people passing by. There was a woman by herself getting some pastries, and all the people that passed either gave her strange looks or stared at their feet. Penny whispered to me that this was usually seen as an awful sight and that the woman was apparently disrespecting her house and husband for running to the store by herself. It was the same, usually, if a woman had a job, but sometimes this was an exception for teachers and some Bureau workers. Suddenly, we heard two people walking towards us, footsteps echoing on the epoxy floor.
“Hey, you two!” a friendly voice rang out. Penny spun around, and immediately put on her innocent look. There were two men, both in suits, one with a joyful smile and the other with a smug look. The joyful one spoke up again, a little quieter this time. “Would you mind coming with us to visit Room 700?”
Penny nodded curtly to me, and I turned to the people. “Uh, sure.”
They brought us to a van, and Penny kept shooting me serious and disgusted looks. Whatever Room 700 was, it was bad. The car ride was around thirty minutes before the people got out; the energetic one took hold of my arm while the smug one took Penny's. Penny herself looked a little uneasy as they entered a large white building and led us both to a hallway, with grey doors lining the walls. Each door had numbers and letters like the Auditor's office, and I was put into the room labeled 43B. Penny was split up from me and got shut into the room beside me, but before I could say something, my own door was shut and a woman called out from inside.
“Samuel Grover,” she read, looking at some notes. “Welcome in. I'm the Psychiatrist.”
She motioned to the couch in front of her, and I sat. “Hi.”
“You might be wondering why you're here today. We got a report earlier about you and your wife talking about some interesting things,” she said calmly, looking into my eyes. My throat tightened, and I didn't respond. A few noises came from the other room that could only be perceived as shouting and a scrambling of words.
The Psychiatrist spoke again, directly over the noises. “Why were you interested in such topics? Are you troubled by anything?”
I didn't respond again, my eyes darting from the floor to the Psychiatrist to her papers.
“You can reveal your worries to me, Samuel. How do you feel?”
The shouting got louder and soon descended into screaming.
“How do you feel? You're trapped in this freak perfection society!” I blurted out. “You, like, kill people for just telling the truth or something?” I shouted, my hand instinctively moving towards the wall where the screaming was.
“It's only culture,” she responded, staring at me with the same eerie calmness. “And if you're referring to your wife, I wouldn't know.” The Psychiatrist folded her hands over her lap. “This was her last chance, and she’s been out here for a while. We’re giving her a break.”
I froze. A break? What did that mean?
All of a sudden, something caught my neck from behind and started strangling me. It felt like a pair of cold hands, sheathed with notably thin gloves. After a few long moments, one of the hands let go to bring a dirty rag to my face. It clumsily flopped over my cheek before they fiercely struggled it onto my mouth and nose, pulling back so I got overwhelmed and couldn’t get away; the rag smelling strongly of chemicals. Just a few seconds of squirming passed, and I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t cough, and then couldn’t recall what happened shortly after.
* * *
When I awoke, I felt my limbs being tugged off. I couldn’t open my eyes or my mouth. My ears were ringing, and I felt dizzy. Way too dizzy. I felt something snap near my arm, but it didn’t hurt. It jostled my eyelids open, though.
Immediately my eyes stung near their corners (the only thing I could really feel) and throughout, which got me confused for a bit, but I regained some control and tried to peer at whatever was in front of me. Nothing. However, the disappointment didn’t last for long, because my ears stopped ringing and I had gained some sort of consciousness to hear some talking in the far distance. Muffled, but at least I knew someone or two was there.
Of course, I tried to say “Hey,” or scream or something, but to no avail as I still couldn’t speak or notion to anyone that I was here as I couldn’t see or move. Disappointment and embarrassment washed over again; not anger, but I did want to feel angry. I had wanted to feel angry from the beginning, actually, now that I thought about it. Back when I talked to that dull Auditor, who wouldn’t listen to me. Something changed once I moved here that made me unable to feel anger or any remote sort of sadness. I could only feel joy; fake joy, at that; or embarrassment, or even fear, I guess. This was the first time I felt fear here. But it didn’t feel as strong as before, even though this situation was probably way worse than the Before.
I kind of wanted to go back to that place, where everything was dirty and draining. Emotions were felt with true strength, and the unpredictability was scarring. Houses were creaky and half-destroyed, the streets filled with mud and trash, and the old neighbors were…real. The practices were, well… I couldn’t really remember a large vocabulary right now, but they were also real. It was thrilling, sort of, or at least more exciting than here. After the first week here, I would feel like it would just be same old, same old. Or it would just be creepy. And painful.
Speaking of pain, I did try to feel it. I guessed it was mentally painful to be in this strange situation, but my whole body except my eyes was completely numb. I almost fell asleep but then a large, cold, and burning smack hit me on one side of my body; I think I was hanging somewhere but fell onto the ground. No matter, anyway, because now I could hear very clearly and could feel some sort of pain as the side of my body that hit the floor was stinging a bit. The people talking were dead silent, but there was a moderately-loud machine sound a few yards away from me, a little similar to a washing machine.
Some footsteps I heard walking towards me. A man spoke up. “Oh, it’s the energetic fellow. From Paratoma.”
The man paused, slowly strolling around me. “Why don’t you run him again, hmm? It’s too early for this guy, he’s only mortal. No one will notice.”
I suddenly remembered the word I was looking for: Human. The practices of Before were human.
“Up the serotonin dose?” another voice echoed, a little further away.
“Eh, wouldn’t that be risky?” the man questioned.
“He’ll be fine.”
* * *
I walked out to the front, swinging open the door and beaming with pride. I observed the other people around me, grinning as well. It felt slightly unnerving, but I smiled anyway, waving at them all. A voice echoed in my head saying something about order, but I really couldn't tell what it said specifically. I thought, well, order is good here, since being joyful and prideful is so especially motivational.
The sun shone quite brightly and its rays beamed much like the rest of us, looking a tiny bit artificial. Well, artificial was good, because it ensured that nothing would change or reflect disappointment. We could all stay here and be happy together, living in peace with no sight of war or sorrow like Before. Although Before was a word strangely engraved in my mind, I didn't know what it was like, or what it really was, but assumed it was terrible with famine and everything bad. Why would anyone not want to live in this paradise? It was perfect; it would always be exactly like this.
We were supposed to be happy here, and I was, because it was unimaginable. The sky was blue. The flowers were up. The sun was smiling. It was perfect.