"What happened to this boy?" I asked... as I tilted my head towards the monitor showing the naked 13 year old boy. The image of the poor kid had been left in the most preverse of all the positions. He was on his back with legs pulled back over his head. His legs were held in place by the restraints on his ankles. The result was his feet were well spread apart above his head so his asshole was showing. "He died..." the words brought me out of my trace like state like a shot. I was thinking - poor kid - they did this to him every month. I was also thinking - these guys are bastards to do this to a kid. All I could see was how innocent he looked. He was so small, so thin, ginger and pale. But then - like a car crash - came the words "he's dead". What a shame I thought. The Doc continued not knowing the instant emotions he had just conjured up in me. He was Irish... but you'll be Scottish." "If he was Irish, why wouldn't you just keep me as Irish? Or... why can't I be an American? I know more about America than I do Scotland. I won't be tripped up as easily if someone asks me historical questions" I rightly pointed out? "aw well it's all very complicated, let's just leave it at that..." the Doc said trying to shutdown the line of questioning. "You know if this is going to be my life from now on... I should have the right to know" I insisted.
"You know you DONT actually have that right... ...you KNOW that dont you? It's been explained to you; repeatedly - you dont have any rights... and everything is on a need-to-know basis" The Doc said in factual mode of protest. There was silence, and when he looked up, he saw I was staring at him. I acknowledged his notice of me staring at him by slightly leaning my head to the right - as if saying - well? "ah..., ok" the Doc said knowing it was going to be harder to avoid the question than it was going to be to answer it. Well a Scottish boy, of similar looks to the Irish boy in those images, just died a few weeks ago. We got to his body before anyone else; so no one knows he died. We are in the midst of creating a backstory, that rather than him dying, that he was captured by some rich american and turned into a sex slave. So it's the Scottish boy's identity that we will have you assume, not the Irish boy's identity" the Doc explained. I asked "so why not the Irish boy, who's pictures I saw, wouldn't that be better? "No" said the Doc, "because the Irish boy died many years ago and he was already 18 when he died so we couldn't make that into a story. So! you will look like the Irish boy; but will assume the identity of the Scottish boy. Dont worry we will download the Scottish boy's entire childhood in your memory; so dont worry about having anyone trip you up." finished the Doc. Looking back at the image I asked the Doc "he was unconscious for all of these pictures right?" Yes the Doc said, just like you were... ...You dont remember the intake center do you? The Doc asked. I thought to my self for a second. Now that I know about what happened at the "intake center" it explained the weird dreams I had had through the years, but I never thought that it was real. Since I hadn't answered the Doc he took it that I hadn't remembered. Rather than all of the sudden claim I had remembered a little - I chose to remain silent - rather than have him think I was lying. But now I thought - I bet that kid had those same dreams. The Doc mistakenly then claimed "neither did he. I think the Doc knew I was feeling sad for the boy. "So why are his eyes open in that image?" I asked. We control everything with those probes; event the muscles around the eyes. Why are they so green? I asked back. Well its sort of related to the red hair and skin color as I explained before. Relative to the eyes there are five gene pairs that control eye color. His bey 2 gene on chromosome 15 contains blue allele. On chromosome pair 19 the gey gene contains a green allele. He has a small amount of melanin in the front layer of his iris along with the melanin in the back layer which causes his blue eyes to appear green... The Doc finished. What? I said. His eyes are green because of his genes. The Doc said. "Yea but they are the most brilliant green I have ever seen on a person!" I responded. "Part of that is the lighting, but I agree they are a beautiful color aren't they, and his red hair is very red", replied the doc. "We picked him mostly for that reason. Well get used to it, you're looking in a mirror" finished the Doc
Did you kill both of these boys just so I could assume their identities? The Doc responded defensively "I didn't, no... they were both accidental deaths. The Irish boy was killed in a car accident. The Scottish boy was killed... playing... I think." the Doc said squinting and looking toward the ceiling as he tried to recall what he was told "You don't think his mother will be able to tell the difference between him and me?" I asked; as if he was daft. "Ummm... no... um, I have failed to explain this very well" the Doc said "the people who knew the Scottish boy, that actually did die dont, and never will know what happened to him. They only know that he disappeared. They dont know if he ran away, was kidnapped or who knows - whatever. The underground world on the other hand, when they research where you came from, will be lead back to the Scottish boy's past. They and will assume that the the background story of an American who had the boy kidnapped to be used is true." the Doc finished his point. I squinted a little bit and asked incredulously "Are you trying to say that... in America... that there are actually real child sex slaves?" I asked in disbelief The Doc smiled and responded "yes there are a few people who have one or two, but you're right there are not a lot here, maybe 40 or so, that we know of. The Doc answered soberly. I responded in complete shock with a demanding "Why dont you bust them? "Sorry that's a need-to-know question... I have said too much, but suffice it to say, you will see there is sex slavery all over the world, often including children. And soon, you will be one of them, and you will meet many more." the Doc finished.
"So I will be a sex slave then?" I asked. "No, no not exactly" the Doc replied. "A sex slave tends to be locked up in one place; usually in someones home or compound. That wouldn't work for our needs. We need to get you out in the world... and into places where Kim Jong-Un will see you... and become interested in you. He loves redheads, and he likes pubescent boys in-and-around the age of 12 to 15 or 16. He MIGHT find a way to reach out to find you. Perhaps he might try to procure you as a sex slave, but that's too unpredictable, it might never happen; it's too hard to know. Even if we offered you for sale, or auctioned you off, he may not be in the mood to buy. Besides it's more risky for you, as he might try to abduct you, which is dangerous for you and for our agents. Instead we will let it be known, that after the american no longer wanted you, because you were going through puberty, that he sold you to another american to be trained and used in the world of underground high stakes fighting" the Doc finished. So I wont be going back to Scotland to meet my supposed parents or friends at all?" I asked. The Doc laughed a little and said "No his relations will not know about the backstory, only the people in the network will be able to find any of that out" You will become the Irish boy in looks, but you will be assuming the Scottish boy's identity, does that make sense? No one from the normal world will ever know what happened to you" the Doc went on. "All they will know is that you were sold and trained to fight for him in these international high stakes bouts. His friends and mother will never know that... or even that he had actually died" the Doc went on. I asked "how old was the Scottish boy? The Doc responded "you mean when he died? ummm..., 8 or 9 I think". I said "isn't that heartless? His mother and father aren't they devastated that they dont know what happened to their son? How could you guys do that? How did he die? I asked. The Doc looked at me bewildered and said "You know, I dont know, I was never told, just that he was playing... I was just told he died playing, but it doesn't matter now does it? Anyway the three years you are here being trained will be when this supposedly kidnapped boy will supposedly be a sex slave." the Doc went on. "Fuck you guys are heartless fuckers", I said, in a disgusted tone of complete disbelief.
"You know maybe its time for a reality check my friend. Everyday people die and everyday people disappear. All sorts of people are sad and distraught. Every time a bomb is dropped women, and yes children, and other innocent people are at risk. They are often killed. Some children get their arm or leg blown off. Or they see their mom or dad die right in front of them. Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Desden, war is a horrible thing, and there are consequences; including innocents who suffer or die. There are a lot fewer innocents that die now that we can surgically take out threats. That's what you are, a scalpel, which we will use to prevent the mass suffering. But you will have to cut though healthy tissue to get to the cancer. But if you dont want to cut because you dont want to hurt the harmless, then we can't get to the cancer to remove it, and many many more people will suffer. Imagine the suffering if Kim Jong-Un launches a nuclear weapon and it lands on Seattle or Portland. A whole lot more innocent men, women and children will suffer. In fact they will suffer far more on that day that anyone that you will harm in the process of preventing him from being able to carry out that launch." The Doc finished his rant, or so I thought.
But the Doc went on; as if to make the point even more ugly. "If someone asked you to torture and beat a group of 20 children. And if you do that sufficiently harshly that act will buy you the right to kill 10 other children; and one of those other children will be Hitler. Would you do it? To stop Hitler, would you sacrifice 30 kids?" The Doc asked which was followed by a lot of silence as he stared through my eyes into my skull. "You're not so self-righteous all of the sudden eh? So... would you would save 7 million people at the cost of 30 children" the Doc pressed his advantage "Thats a horrible choice" I shot back to him in an angry tone showing my anger that he would express such an option and put me at the center of it in such brutal terms. "NO if not a horrible choice at all! Its a FUCKING jackpot! Its a deal of deals! The seven million Jews that died in concentration camps, they died horrible deaths... some by torture much worse than what you would have done, to just those 30. Tell me, would you do it without hesitation? the Doc kept drilling in for unconditional surrender from me, and his arguments seemed sick, but sound, so for lack of an argument back I surrendered! "Yea... probably" I responded a bit dejectedly. Would you find a man who could get next to Hitler, because you can make him exactly what Hitler wanted including doing horrible sadistic acts, just to get him next to Hitler so he could kill Hitler? The Doc asked again driving home his point. "Yea I get it, I get it, that someone is me. I am expendable and so are other innocent people, I really do get it" I just couldn't argue the point it was clear to quote a philosopher "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few". "I get it" I said, "I get it - I may not survive, I will have to do some bad shit, people are going to get hurt. But I get it, it's to save a lot of other people - I get it - it doesn't make me happy but I FUCKING I get it - just lay off OK?" I bit back.
I thought to myself I should change the subject. The only thing I could think of to change it to was - if I was so fucking god damned important why do I keep being treated so badly. So I decided to pour my indignation into an indefensible line of questions. "So if I am so fucking valuable why did you let those fuckers on the plane almost let me freeze to death. Why did you let that one fucker pick my frozen ass up off of my seat and then drop me drop me on my head with my hands cuffed behind me? Can you explain that? I insisted on an answer. "ah that" the Doc said softly, clearly much more comfortable with this line of questions. You are classified at a level so so much more classified that they have a clearance for. And they dont they have a need to know so we let them believe you were and american that had helped Al Qaeda. Sorry but it was a necessity that they have some sort of background story about you that they would believe and not be curious about. Besides the bump on your head is almost gone. the Doc finished. I started adding up all of the components of what he had just told me and asked loudly "Am I in Guantanamo?" the Doc shook his head softly as if to say he had revealed too much and said "I am afraid I cant comment on where you are. Sorry its on a need-to-know basis." the Doc retreated to his favorite pat answer.