Great Patriot 19701222: Wake up! The time is 7:00AM, and your job will be starting in 30 minutes. Have a great and productive day.

I slowly opened my eyes, looking at the bleak white ceiling. Another day of work, another day in this wandering disk floating through empty space. Artificial pink bacon and yellow-dyed tofu was served for breakfast as per usual. I walked to the courtyard, where a hologram shows the programming about the past lives of our grandparents; how the Earth was plagued with COVID-86 which mutated over the years with the unvaccinated population passing it around, and how Manifest Destiny is the frontier of human technology that will bring us to our new edenic home. This was followed by a speech from the Outshine Dynasty, the ruling family of this spaceship, declaring how this is the only spaceship remaining of humanity, how we will all reach utopia within four years of their leadership, and how our lives will be made great again. As long as we take our daily prescription of pills.

This was followed by a great, unanimous cheer from the crowd. I was always skeptical of their leadership because of their egotistical views, but it seemed as if nobody really noticed or cared.

I headed off to my workplace, the anesthesiology headquarters; I was lucky to have a place in the elite class on the upper decks, unlike those unlucky souls in the lower platforms. 

“GP1970, here’s your work for today,” says Sigmond, “six patients with Stage 3, three with Stage 1.”

“Got it, thanks,” I replied.

Sighing as I walked over to the operating room, I organized my thoughts for the long work day ahead. SOS patients were a threat to our spaceship and lives, plus the disease was contagious, so they must be reported and neutralized quickly. 

As I walked in, a Stage 3 patient struggled violently on the red, bulky restrainer bed. The metal straps were locked around his neck, wrists, and ankles - standard procedure. A piece of black cloth was stuffed into his mouth as he tried to scream.

“Good job restraining him, boys. Seems like we have a violent one today, eh?” I said jokingly to my coworkers.

We shared a chuckle.

I walked over to the patient, who was staring at me with his bloodshot eyes. He tried to plunge and grab me by the neck with his bony hands, but the impregnable restraints buckled up tighter, turning his hands purple. 

“Pass me the S.J.Res.34 dose, would you, GP2673?” 

Slowly but carefully, I put the medicine dose into my needle, and pushed out any air bubbles. 

I walked over to the patient. “As you have contracted the third and final stage of the Switched-On-Syndrome, this royal Outshine Throne, this sceptered space, this blessed fabric, this kingdom, this realm, this holy ship has sentenced you to neutralizing with S.J.Res.34,” I said as I injected his neck with the correctional medicine - standard procedure.

“Multiple… Ships… Family…….,” he muttered as he closed his eyes into sleep.

“Time of curing, 9:42AM of August 10th, 2198,” I noted.

We put him inside of a box and slid it down a chute that goes to who-knows-where. 

After the long work day, I grudgingly walked back to my living quarters and collapsed onto my bed. 

Then, I remembered what my first patient said.

“Multiple...Ships...Family…?” I murmured.

But I thought there was only one ship. And also, what does the word “Family” even mean? I’ve never seen it anywhere.

I pondered these questions for a while. Everyone on the ship is required to take the daily pills, which is for us to forget about our dark pasts and make us emotionally stable. 

What if I just skip the pill one day? Just one day.

I kept on thinking about the possibility of the Outshines lying to us when I drifted asleep on the bed. 

Great Patriot 19701222: Wake up! The time is 7:00AM, and your job will be starting in 30 minutes. Have a great and productive day.

I slowly walked to the pill station, where a camera stared at me. I looked at the red pill,  picked it up, and pondered whether or not I should take it. I tilted my head back and dumped the red pill in my mouth, finishing it by gulping a cup of water. 

“GP19701222 has taken the pill,” said the system.

I immediately went to the bathroom and spit out the pill, hidden between my teeth and cheeks. 

Off I went with my day, going to work, but this time, I felt a bit weird when neutralizing the patients. When their eyes closed, I felt tingling down my spine; my nose also became itchy and my eyes a bit watery. A single droplet fell from my eye, and I wiped it off, perplexed as to what this salty liquid was. I shoved the body down the dark shute to nowhere, which made me wonder even more what was really down there. Suddenly short of breath, I gasped, much to my colleague’s surprise. 

“Hey, do you want to meet me here today after dinner?” asked a person next to me during lunch.

“Do I know you?” I asked, taken by the sudden invitation.

“I’m one of your co-workers in the operation room, remember? The short guy in charge of the veil? Well, anyways, my name’s John. Nice to meet you,” he said.

John? Who? Oh wait, he’s GP3182. He's the unlucky guy on my surgical team on the lowest floor.

“Nice to meet you too,” I hesitatingly replied while interacting with someone on the lowest floor.

“Oh, look at that. Time to go back to work. Want to talk in your living quarters after dinner?” he asked again.

“But you have no way of going in,” I replied.

“I have a way, trust me,” he said, smirking.

Time passed quickly today. I kept on thinking about the meet-up I was going to have with… John. 

-----

“Hey, nice to see you again,” John casually said.

“GAHHH! … How did you get in my bunk!?” I screamed.

“It’s great to have a private place for small talk, eh?” He replied, looking around my empty bunk.

“I guess.” 

“So, what’s your real name?” He asked.

“What?” I answered, confused.

“I mean, your real name. The name your subordinates call you?” he explained.

“Uh… Why?”

“Just curious.”

“Well, my name’s Joe.”

“Ok, Joe. You didn’t take the pill today did you?” John inquired, while pointing his head to the pill dispenser.

“Uh… Yes I did. Of course I did! It’s a requirement right? How dare I not take the pill?! Did you not?” I exclaimed.

“Yeah, you’re terrible at lying. Trust me, I’m safe. Tell me if you are skeptical of the government. Even a bit,” John cautiously whispered.

“Uh……”

“Come on, no need to be scared.” 

“... yes?” I muttered.

“Same here. Actually there are dozens of people like you and me on this ship. We created an alliance, called The Clouds. The reason I’m working on your team as an anesthesiologist is to take one last look at the lost members of our organization... Yes, SOS is not a real virus; it’s the label for the caught rebels, and you’ve been tasked with killing them with drugs” he said, opening up a bit more.

“It can’t be…”

“Yes it’s true. We believe the government keeps thousands of secrets from us to keep us under control, and the Clouds’ goal is to reveal them and free the ship of its tyranny. This group is completely confidential and anonymous. We don't often meet, but when we do it’s always in complete privacy, somewhere nobody would suspect us to meet. But, the most important thing is our sense of family. We all support each other, and the executed people are considered martyrs to us.”

“Fami- Mart- What-?”

He pulled out his hands. “Here. Look closely at the two pills in my hand. You take the red pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and forget about everything and live how you want to live. You take the blue pill, you stay in this story, and I show you how deep the whole thing goes.” He stared at me, and gestured for me to choose a pill. 

I took the blue pill.