00024

Gov. Bright and Security Leader Clyden took George McCleer further down into the mountain, down to a deep, deep underground chamber built into a vast cave.

A rusty iron solid door with a dust-covered view window sealed this chamber from the rest of the mine. George McCleer saw vaguely through the dusty window into a room with a dozen empty tables with straps to hold down the unwilling criminals for the transformation into miners. Currently, the tables were empty.

Sec. Ldr. Clyden opened the door and waved for Xavier Bright and George McCleer to enter, and he came in after them.

Behind a plexiglass shield, inside the control room, a small crew of white-coated technicians manned the banks of machines which made the process possible. From their plexiglass observation they oversaw the process. Several robots stood at attention within the transformation chamber itself.

A struggling young man was brought in by some of Sec. Ldr. Clyden's Security Agents. The man yelled and kicked and hollered, to no avail. He did his best to escape their grip, so he could flee. But where would he go, anyway? He was already trapped in the mines. All that remained was to become a miner.

Tretl Clyden waved a hand, his gesture encompassing all the tables. "Pick a table, anyone you want, whichever is easiest for you men to secure him to," he told his Agents.

Xavier Bright told George McCleer,"This is the trespasser from before that I had told you about. He meant me ill will that day, but by tomorrow he will love me."

The Security Agents strained themselves to strap the young man onto a table. "This is wrong! You can't make me into a miner!!"

Xavier walked casually over to the table. "Oh, you think it is nothing to come onto my property with the intent to assassinate me? Okay, well, then, I guess we should just let you loose."

"But two wrongs don’t make a right!”

The Governor leaned over the restrained man. Arrogantly, Xavier Bright said, "To think, you balked when you had the chance to kill me. But it’s too late for you to regret it." He nodded to the techs behind the glass. "Start the business!”

A technician came into the transformation chamber through a door built into the plexiglass. He fit some intravenous tubes into both of the arms of the unfortunate man. The IV's connected to pumps and machinery under his table. Next, the  white-coated man attached a series of sensors to the chest and head of the trespasser.

Gov. Bright told George McCleer, “I really don’t know why they need to watch his vital signs- Maybe so they know how much juice to give him and to adjust the flow accordingly. But let’s face it, he’s going to become a miner no matter what his readings are!”

George McCleer, a bit queasy from the anticipation, inquired, "Did you already have a trial?”

 Xavier Bright stared at George McCleer, a look of surprise on his face. He shook his head. "I cannot believe how naive you are, George." He turned his attention to the captive connected to a dozen different tubes.

A dark, viscous fluid, almost a type of sludge, began to flow through one of the tubes into the would-be assassin’s arm. Green ooze pumped through another tube into the other arm. In moments the strapped man began to tug to break free, yelling in terrible pain. "Ahh- turn it off! Turn it off!"

Xavier Bright matter-of-factly explained to George McCleer, "This must be torture for him. The darker fluids are so thick they are practically semi-solids, and the green fluid carries the bio-enhancing ingredients throughout his body. Each cell is stuffed like a turkey for Thanksgiving, almost bursting. The ingredients then force the cells to split and multiply. And then these new cells are also crammed full of the bio-enhancing stuffing. And each cell is made into a super cell, which is actually a good thing, but, at the moment, I don't think our trespasser appreciates that. Listen to him howl."

The victim's flesh stretched tightly over expanding muscles and bones beneath, his whole contorting body growing and swelling by the minute. Perspiration drenched him. All his veins stood out, throbbing wildly as the fluids coursed inside them. The poor man panted like a dog ready to fall over from over-exertion.

Another technician, still behind the plexi-glass, called out his vital signs. "Heart rate 250. Blood pressure 220 over 175."

Wailing, the misshapen man begged for mercy.

Not liking what he saw, George McCleer turned away and complained, "Xavier, what are you doing? You will kill the man!”

Sec. Ldr. Clyden answered for the Governor. "Then the guy should have thought about that before coming to blast Gov. Xavier.”

Xavier Bright added, "Kill him? Like he wanted to kill me? Of course such a rapid transformation is painful and dangerous. But his body is being changed so that it is nearly indestructible. And powerful as well. You would think by now, being as large as he has become, he would snap the bindings and make his getaway. However, he is in too much pain to think that far, at this point. Besides, the straps are much stronger than they appear. Anyway, if something happens to him while he is suffering this agony as he changes into a miner, if his heart should stop, there is an eighty percent chance his body will regenerate or recuperate in time for his vitals to start back up again. It is unlikely he will die, although at this point I think he wishes he would. Sec. Ldr. Clyden, look how quickly this one becomes ready. He barely lasted five minutes before his mental faculties crumpled."

"So I see, Gov. Xavier."

The future miner's body continued to swell, but he didn't seem to realize it anymore. He groaned and muttered weakly, spouting nothing but gibberish. His eyes glazed over in a state of shock. He seemed completely out of it.

Clyden said, "I guess he's ready to go. His mind is pretty much destroyed from agony by now. Good. Now it is time to administer the ID Wipe."

"The what? ID wipe? What are you talking about? Earth doesn't know anything about this! What's in that needle? Tell me!" demanded George McCleer.

The technician stabbed, with all his might, a large hypodermic into an arm of the morphing, blubbering, gibbering man, and the new miner passed out. He looked very still, almost lifeless.

Xavier Bright found it all satisfactory. "Good. Now he won't feel a thing from here on out. His body isn't yet matured into a miner's body, so we can still force a hypodermic into his arm, in case you’re wondering, George. However, it still requires much effort and strength. Of course, we use diamond-tipped needles, to make it easier. What we just did, George, is part of how I rehabilitate the criminals. After the pain has shattered his mind, we inject him with this tonic, before his mind has time to mend itself back into a somewhat healthy condition, once the agony of transformation is over. We just destroyed his sense of his own personal identity. The injection will shut down parts of his brain which contain more than just simple general knowledge. He won't have any more personal memories. He no longer will know who he was. It's a blessing for him, George. Would you want to remember your life, if you were a criminal? Who could be happy knowing he was such a miserable lout like that. When he is ripe, the robots will carry him to the recovery room, and when he awakes, he will be properly educated to respect authority. And we will teach him how to be a good miner.”

“That's barbaric!" fumed George.

"I am sure you have already heard, while on Earth, about the ordeal these criminals are subjected to, to make them ready to serve us and dig out Earth's precious fuel ore. You did not complain then. The only difference now, is that you have seen it firsthand. Or did you mean it is barbaric because we give them an ID Wipe? But how can that be bad, if we make them happy to be serving their time?"

Disgusted, George McCleer told him, "You're crazy, Xavier. Even in college, you seemed a little off, but now I think you jumped overboard, off the deep end."

"Oh? If you think that was crazy, seeing it happen to someone else, you'll really think I am mad when I have it done to you," Xavier Bright replied.

"That's not a funny joke!"

"No, it's not a joke," the Governor said. He nodded to the Security Agents, who promptly surrounded George. Sec. Ldr. Clyden did not stop his Agents.

"You see, George, I know why you have come. I know what you are seeking. And if you find it, then what? Do you plan to take my job here as Governor of the World of Hope from me? I always knew your true reason for coming. And that's what makes you a threat to our World of Hope. You know, even the idea of removing me from my position, after all I have done to make our planet run so efficiently, is a threat to Hope's well-being. Was it not enough that you took Nina from me? Well, now it's your turn to suffer. Oh, and I am taking Nina back."

George McCleer couldn't believe this was happening. "I don't want your job! I am only on this planet to make an assessment, and then I am going back to Earth to make my conclusions and recommendations, that's all. And- and I never took Nina from you. She had stopped seeing you long before she and I got together- You'll never get away with this, you know-"

George McCleer put up a gallant struggle, even more energetic than did the young man who now seemed so peaceful, slumbering on his table, turning a dull grey-green, becoming a miner.

"Ah, ah, don't lie, George," Xavier Bright scolded. “I know better.”

The Agents strapped George McCleer down onto another table. One of them remarked, "Struggling won't help! If you didn’t want to become a miner, you should've thought of that, before you became a threat, like Gov. Bright says!"

Sec. Ldr. Clyden decided to help his Agents, so mightily did George McCleer struggle. Clyden said to the others, "Yeah, the Governor said George would be trouble for our world, so that's why I picked you guys to help. I know you're loyal and can be counted on to keep quiet about what we're doing here today."

Gov. Bright watched. "Honestly, George, I think I will get away with it. First, I will convince Nina you had an accident, maybe like the one you almost did have with the Eater. I shall give her a shoulder to cry on. I will comfort her. I will subtly woo her. I shall make it so that it is like it was before between the two of us, before she started to listen to you, and, I suspect, whether intentionally on you part or not, I do not know, nor do I care, before you managed to turn her mind and attraction away from me, towards you."

Strapped onto the table, George McCleer shouted, "You're delusional, if you think she'll ever want to be with you again. It's long past our college years! And she'll never believe your lies!"

"Oh? But I know how to persuade her. I can still remember how, even though it was all those years ago, George. Did you not notice how I still bring a certain light into her eyes, even now? Don't worry. It won't bother you. You won't know anything about it or even remember her. You won't remember who you are. You will just be a number. And you will want to serve me. It will be almost like a zeal, digging as much fuel ore as you can, for Gov. Bright. How nice. Oh, I hope that doesn't make me sound too egotistical. I know you always viewed me that way. But, see, I do what I do for the good of our world."

George McCleer groaned in despair, "Oh, God, don't let him get away with this! ...You were right, Nina, you were right when you warned me to be careful of trouble!"

Xavier Bright cocked his ear, to be sure he heard aright. "Oh? Did Nina guess I might do something to you- Did she suspect I might even do this? I am hurt she would think that of me. But it seems like she knows me better than you did, my old room-mate. There must still be something between us, then, a spark, for her to know me so well. Wouldn't you agree, George? I will fan that spark into a fire. She will love me again, George, without you there."

He turned to Sec. Ldr. Clyden, as the tubes were inserted into George McCleer’s arms. "Let us be going. I don't think I can watch this happen to my old room-mate, even though he has treated me badly and means me harm."

The Governor and his Security Leader turned and headed out the heavy iron door, hearing George's screams as the transformation began.

(c) drk 2011