The Omega Cage by Steve Perry Read Free Book Online Page A

touched his droud, then turned away as Lepto looked back. " Now ,"
    Lepto said, his voice soft and dangerous.
    Maro moved. He knew about the mindwipe process. Sometimes it was ordered as part of a convicted man's sentence; sometimes the authorities of a particular prison took it upon themselves to order the procedure on their own. On full-termers it was their option.
    Maro felt a stab of cold fear as he followed the guard through the hot afternoon.
    If that was what was in store for him, he would try to meet it calmly, but he was afraid he would lose that resolve when it came down to it. He had an option: part of his training had included a method of triggering the R -complex, the reptilian hindbrain that controlled the autonomic functions in everyone, into shutdown. If worse came to worst, he could kill himself before his psyche was shattered.
    Better to die whole than to live as a vegetable.
    But better by far to live whole than either of the other options , said a little voice inside his head. Give them whatever they want .
    Inside the chamber, a big man sat in the chair. There seemed to be no restraints holding him in place, nor any electronic connections, but the strain on his body showed in the tension of his muscles. He was trying to move and could not, that was apparent.
    "Stasis field," the warden said, smiling at Maro. "And the electronics are all induced. Listen." Stark waved one hand, and the sound of the prisoner in the chair reached Maro's ears, amplified for clarity.
    "—fuck you, all of you, I spit on you—!"
    The warden waved his hand again and the volume of the prisoner's curses fell sharply, becoming a tinny whine.
    "You're looking at a man who refuses to get along with the universe," the warden said. "A killer, of course; that wouldn't set him apart in here, but he's one who took particular joy in it. Still, others in the Cage could claim that distinction as well."
    Maro couldn't help himself. He asked, "Then why this?"
    Stark grinned wolfishly. "He killed a guard. One of my men. The guard in question was gutter scum, hardly better than most of you inmates. But he was one of mine ."
    Maro turned back to watch the struggling man. Of course .
    "Go," Stark said to the technician.
    The woman adjusted several controls on her board. The cursing stopped as if cut off by a knife. "Mom?" the prisoner said.
    "Early memories first," Stark murmured.
    "Oh, baby, yeah, just like that!"
    "And the ones with the greatest emotional attachment seem to clear fastest," the warden continued, as if discussing the weather.
    In the chair, the man smiled beatifically.
    "Probably a killing," Stark said. "An early one, when it was still fun for him."
    Maro watched as emotions danced across the prisoner's face. He smiled, cried, laughed, gritted his teeth, gasped, and screamed. What was so horrible about it was that he did each thing so quickly, shifting from expression to expression as if each was meaningless. Maro would not have believed that such an emotional range at that speed was possible.
    It took only five minutes. In the end, the man sat with as neutral a face as that of a life-sized doll.
    "Let's call him, oh, how about… Dain?" the warden said.
    Maro turned to stare at Stark.
    "What his name was doesn't matter; he won't answer to it now. He doesn't remember it—or anything else. Oh, he'll be reeducated—we have some viral programs we can infect him with that will give him basic skills. He'll be able to feed himself and defecate in a toilet, and he'll have a basic command of language. Then our new Dain will be a useful member of our little society. He can spend the rest of his days working happily at some simple job such as peeling vegetables or pulling weeds, and never have a worry past that. Of course, he won't remember anything about who he was, but that's not all that important, is it?"
    Maro did not trust himself to speak. He had a sudden urge to throttle the warden, to choke him until he gasped for breath and