All That She Can See(68)

‘Wait… do you mean… normal people? People who can’t see what we see?’

‘Come here,’ Lonely said, beckoning Cherry over to the screen.

She pressed the pad of her thumb onto a small green square on the bottom right hand corner. The screen went dark and then flashed, capturing an unflattering image of Cherry’s face that remained on the screen for a brief moment before disappearing and leaving a four-way split screen showing security footage in its place.

‘These are the live feeds from our main examination rooms. They took 555 down about half an hour before you arrived so they should start her removal process… ah, yes. There we are.’

Lonely touched the top left quarter and it filled the screen. It took a moment for Cherry to figure out what was going on but when she did, she watched in horror. A large, grey Meddlum was on its haunches, cowering, its long claws covering its ears and clutching its head. There was a woman on the other side of the room writhing around. Her mouth was wide open, her teeth bared like some kind of animal. Her hair was slick with sweat and plastered across her forehead and she was scratching at her shoulders, her chest, her stomach, as though her whole body was on fire. If the three doctors in the room hadn’t been moving at a normal pace, Cherry would have thought this footage had been sped up. Cherry peered closer, noticing something between the woman and her Meddlum.

‘What are all those red… strings?’

‘When we bring a Meddlum into our world, when we make it real, we also bring form to the attachments it has created between itself and its owner. To detach a Meddlum, one simply has to…’ Lonely gestured to the screen as one of the doctors took a scalpel and reached out to slice through one of the strings. Each half fell limp and the woman in the corner dropped to her knees, writhing in even more agony than before.

‘… cut the ties! Marvellous, isn’t it?’ Lonely said, without a trace of remorse.

‘No.’ Cherry shook her head. ‘It’s barbaric! She’s in pain! They both are! How can you think putting someone through that much agony is OK?’

‘We’ve tried all kinds of anaesthetics. We’ve tried every painkiller under the sun, but we’re dealing with emotions. It’s not the same as physical pain. Nothing will dull it. Besides, she asked for it.’

‘No one deserves this,’ Cherry said, clenching her fists.

‘No, 601, I mean she actually asked for it. That woman came here voluntarily. It’s rare but it happens. She signed a contract – I assure you she’s here of her own free will. Look a little closer at what she’s trying to get rid of.’

Cherry squinted at the screen. ‘Is that Grief?’

‘Precisely. This is a far briefer torture than if we’d let her be. When it’s over, she won’t feel a thing and Grief will be gone for good.’ Lonely laid her hand flat against the screen, turning it to black.

‘Surely not… for good? It’s like cutting down a tree, isn’t it? It’ll just grow back… won’t it?’ Cherry asked, walking back around the table to stand in front of Loneliness.

‘Not if you pull it out from the roots. You’re better off leaving it to the professionals, 601,’ Lonely said, taking up a clipboard and sitting down on her side of the table.

‘It’s Cherry and it doesn’t seem right when the “professionals” don’t really know what they’re doing. You don’t know what kind of lasting damage you’re doing to her. She needs to learn how to live with her grief otherwise she’ll never get over it. Not really. That’s why I opened my bakeries —’

‘Baking cakes doesn’t mean anything here, 601.’

‘My name is Cherry.’

‘Not here it’s not.’ Lonely looked up at Cherry, her eyes and words vacant, and yet Cherry could hear them in her head, full of vitriol.

‘Is that the plan? Give everyone a number, take away their feelings and turn them into… into robots?’

‘The world would be far more efficient that way, don’t you think? Feelings get in the way of rational judgement. Anger and resentment break up families. Heartbreak and grief linger and become distractions. It’s all unnecessary. Taking away those feelings means people can continue with their lives ‘

‘That’s madness! Feelings are part of life! Feelings are life! If you take away what people feel you take away anything meaningful. People’s hearts break because they once cared. They cared so much for something that the loss of it actually makes them feel like they have a hole in their chests.’

‘And we can fix that.’

‘No, you’re missing the point. You’re essentially taking away consequence. If you take away Heartbreak, people will care less about losing what they love so that won’t be real love at all. If you take away Guilt, people will drink, eat and gamble their lives away without thinking about how that might affect people they care about. If you take away Loneliness…’ Cherry’s voice broke, ‘you’re taking away what it means to be loved. What it means to be surrounded by people who cherish you. What it means to be so scared of being alone that you treasure every single day that the people you care about are by your side. Wanting to diminish the evil in this world is a good cause, one I have fought for the majority of my life… but not like this. I won’t let you do this.’