Beyond Courage: Harper's Program for Enlightenment

The door of the cell slid open.

"Get him out of there," a guard grunted. Two others grabbed my arms and pulled me to my feet. I was unceremoniously dragged down the hallway, down a flight of stairs, and into an interrogation room. The guards pushed me into a chair in front of the desk and sat me upright. I looked up at the man sitting behind the desk. A wide grin spread across his face as he looked me up and down. He had a large red scar running down his right cheek and his eyes were cold.

"Harper Little," he said, "I presume."

I nodded slowly. "Yes...?"

He stood from his seat and walked around the desk to stand in front of me. He began pacing back and forth slowly, like a wild cat waiting for its prey to make a move so it could pounce on them. "You're one of those scientists that created that enhancement program, aren't you?" he asked with an air of confidence in his voice. I didn't answer him for fear of what might happen if I did. "I've been looking for you for quite some time now."

"Why? What are you going to do with me?" I asked quietly, staring down at my hands resting in my lap.

His reply came swift and sharp: "I'm gonna kill you." His voice was filled with glee as he said this, as if it was something that he wanted to do all along but was forbidden to until now. He continued pacing back and forth as he lifted his head towards the ceiling, letting out an angered growl before returning his gaze back to me. "You messed with things that you shouldn't have messed with! Things that people would rather forget or pretend don't exist! We're meant to stay human!"

"Look," I replied calmly without looking up from my hands, "you took away my freedom, my rights, even my life because I tried to better humanity? You're no better than that government that killed millions of innocent people when they outlawed this kind of research!" I finally looked up at him as I spoke these words and saw the rage burning inside him. It seemed like he was about to reach over the desk and strangle me until I died when one of the guards tapped me on the shoulder. He lead me out of the room and put me into another small dark cell. This one however had no bed or toilet - just a cot on the floor with a blanket thrown over it with no pillow or sheets on top. No light shined through anywhere in this room except for a small slit right under the door which allowed some dim sunlight to enter inside by way of an old barred window set high on the wall opposite the door. I sat down on the edge of my new bed and stared blankly ahead at nothing until my thoughts wandered off elsewhere...

*

It had all begun after 9/11...