The Awakening - Chapter Eight

Philip was back in his cell. It didn’t look like a cell, it was the same room with the same bright light as before. Philip was left there to rot. He was given 2 meals a day which came whenever they decided to give it to him but he didn’t care. He knew that when they all had their minds cleared that he would be released.

The man who interrogated Philip could tell that Philip didn’t care. He could also tell that Philip didn’t believe he was hiding anything. It was going to be difficult getting information out of him when he wasn’t really hiding anything to begin with.

They analyzed the substance that they found on the former detainee. They were sure that it contained some kind of mind controlling additive but when they analyzed it, they didn’t find anything illegal. They also didn’t find anything that could be considered habit forming. There was nothing in the substance that could be considered threatening and yet they were terrified of it. Where did it come from? Who was manufacturing it? Where was it being manufactured? Philip didn’t know the answer to any of those questions because George never told him. They had sent several agents to try and find out where it was being made but each one came back empty handed. Not only did they come back empty handed but they were changed somehow.

It took some time but one of the chemists working for the agency figured it out. The substance effected several parts of the brain at the same time. While it remove additive behavior it also made everyone single minded in purpose. It somehow gave everyone the same perspective. The same viewpoint of life. The substance was being used to convert each person into a vast army. But what was this army’s true purpose? Was there a way to counteract its effects? The chemist worked tirelessly to figure it out. By knowing what areas of the brain it targeted, perhaps he could figure out what the opposite was? He worked for weeks while Philip sat to rot inside his cell.

Philip was interrogated on a regular basis. He was asked where the substance was being produced. He was asked what the purpose of the substance was. He was asked who his contacts were to get the substance. Philip said that if they wanted their questions answered, they should take the substance themselves and their minds would be cleared and they would know for themselves. They knew that they were getting nowhere with Philip. The reason why they didn’t let Philip go is because they needed a test subject. The Chemist was trying to find an antidote to the substance and Philip was going to be the trail.

The day finally arrived. The chemist figured something out and they started putting it in Philip’s food supply. It took about a week before Philip began to notice that he was changing. He started getting nervous about where he was. When they interrogated him he didn’t talk like a religious fanatic anymore. They knew the antidote was working. Philip told them everything he could. He told them about George and how George first came to him. He told them about how he changed after he took the substance for himself. He remembered how happy he was once his ‘mind’ was cleared. He wasn’t happy anymore. The fears that haunted him came back. He desperately wanted to drink again but they wouldn’t give him anything. Philip cursed them for clouding his mind again. He wanted to be free.

The men that interrogated Philip said that the substance was being used to create a vast army. Did Philip know what the purpose of that army was? Philip only knew that the plan was to clear the mind of every person in the entire world. Once that happened, all the wars would stop and everyone would look out for each other. Philip asked what was wrong with that.