***14 March 2005 – Brainwash

 

Aaricia leaned with her back against the cold metal wall. She guessed it was the east wall, between the couch and the toilet. She sighed, she felt depressed and scared.

What was going to happen? Why had they put her on ‘Sensory Deprivation Therapy’ again? She had told them three names, what had she done wrong? Did she have to tell them more, betray more of her friends.. like Iara?

She couldn’t see anything because she was blindfolded, she couldn’t hear a thing because her ears were plugged with a headphone that put irritating noises into her ears. She couldn’t smell or taste anything because they put a breathing mask on her. How long had she been here yet? She shook her head, but couldn’t remove anything from it. Her hands were cuffed on her back so she couldn’t use them to rip the things off her head. She felt thirsty.

She had the feeling that somebody was watching her, that somebody was standing next to her. It could be, she couldn’t see or hear anything. It made her feel scared.

“I know somebody is watching me!”, she yelled, “Where are you.. somebody is standing next to me.. I’m thirsty IS NOBODY LISTENING TO ME?!?”

She sighed.. there was somebody standing next to me, or maybe she was only thinking this. How could she know this, she couldn’t see or hear a thing. Maybe nobody was in her cell.. but she knew that they were watching the camera recordings. They would be hearing her words, but they didn’t react to anything.

Her thoughts went in circles.. what was going to happen..?

Then suddenly she got pulled up from the floor and thrown on the ground. She screamed.

Somebody pulled off her blindfold, the bright light hurt her eyes, she blinked much. Then her earphones got removed, as well as the breathing mask.

“On the bed, rebel!”

She complied with the stormtroopers’ order, while sitting down onto the bed she was still getting use to the light. How many hours had passed? Maybe it was several days or like the last time.. only 24 hours.

“W.. what is going to happen?”, she said the thought that she had repeated so often in her head again and again, aloud.

No reaction. Another interrogation? Execution time?

“Will I be executed now..? Why won’t you answer a thing?”

The trooper then approached her, she hoped that he wouldn’t hit her because she had asked these things. But he started giving her a very short medical examination.

Ah of course, she thought cynical, I have to look good to the audience when they shoot me, so that they won’t think that the Imperials abuse their prisoners.

Footsteps approached the cell. Three people entered: another stormtrooper and two people that didn’t wear any armor nor a mask, some Imperial officer and.. Vernant!

She felt totally amazed, but tried not to show this. For the first time in several weeks she felt some hope.. he would definitely get her out of here!

“Here the prisoner is.. or better said.. the test subject.”, the trooper said to the two men.

Aaricia’s eyes became big. Test subject..?

“Test subject?”, she asked, “For what-“

“Silence.”, the trooper barked at her.

“She looks fit for the experiment.”, Vernant said with an emotionless voice, while staring at her.

Aaricia looked at him and the Imperial, gasping.

“Are you.. going to brainwash me or something?”, Aaricia asked, feeling frightened.

She stared at Vernant. How did he get here, what was he planning? What kind of experiment were they talking about.. and.. was Vernant only using this as a cover, maybe the Alliance sent him here or maybe he did this on his own. She knew that he had connections with the Empire. Apparently the Imperials trusted him.. but.. if he would set her free then he would risk his own life. They would probably punish him for letting Aaricia escape. Maybe.. she grinned in herself, maybe he would just act like he brainwashed her while giving her some placebo treatment. And then Aaricia only had to act like she was brainwashed. She almost cried, this was the first time since what felt a really long time, that she really felt some hope again. Now she best act like she didn’t know Vernant..

“Bring her to the medical center.”

“Get up, prisoner.”

 

The man in Imperial officer uniform seemed to be some Imperial doctor, he apparently did the experiment together with Vern. He stared at her with a cold but also interested face. He would probably see her as some animal, as some guinea pig. She was again sitting on the bed of the medical center, where she also spent some time after she had tried to.. she frowned with a sigh.

“How do you feel?”, the Imperial asked her.

She stared at him.

“Great.”, she answered with a sarcastic voice.

“Do you have a headache, stomach ache, anything?”, he continued with a semi interested voice.

She stared into his eyes, a feeling of hatred grew inside of her. She spat in his face.

The man didn’t move a muscle in his face and wiped off the spit, then he nodded at the stormtrooper that was standing on the right of the bed and sat down on a chair behind a desk, humming a tune. The trooper approached her, she knew what he would do and closed her eyes. He slammed her into her gut and she screamed from pain.

“How sad.. what the terrorists have done to you.”, the Imperial officer remarked.

“YOU ARE THE TERRORISTS!”, Aaricia yelled with a fanatic, enraged voice, “It is YOU that terrorize the people with fear, it is YOU that oppress them.. but for how much longer.. everybody is getting more and more sick of your terror! Someday all the people will stand up against you, you KNOW that.. that’s why you try to-”

The trooper slammed her with her back on the bed after which the Imperial officer gave her some injection. Within a few seconds she felt very calm and drowsy.. like she was very drunk. In the distance she heard echoing voices..

“Poor kid, they have totally mislead her.. implanted such wrong idea’s in her mind.”

“We will cure her mind of those ideas and make her happy again.”

“Yes that’s what we are going to do. She will be thankful to the Emperor.”

She wanted to shout but she felt too exhausted.

Nooo I’m not mislead, I’m not sick.. it is you that are the sick people #$@ bastards!

 

When they put her into a transport ship she stared at the suns. Would today be the last day that she would see them again.. see them from her own eyes?

When they landed with the ship, which was very soon after it had taken off, and she was dragged out of it, she gasped when she saw a building that looked pretty familiar: Vernant’s music story that was actually a secret laboratory. Last time when she had been here Vernant had cloned limbs for her and put them on her. That was a few months ago.. just after the Alliance had saved her from the execution. Now on the building there was a big sign: Mos Entha Psychiatric Clinic.

They pushed her inside, quickly she gave the blue sky and the suns a last glance. Then the door closed behind them. The store was totally changed, it really looked like a psychiatric clinic. Aaricia shivered.

When they entered the next room she gulped. There was some cage with a bed in it and the projector of some big machine was aimed at the cage. What was the function of that machine, she wondered feeling scared.

 “Move it.”, the barrel of a rifle was prodded in her back. She walked into the other room. A very familiar room.. the room where Vern and Lella had operated on her. She had never expected to come back here, especially not with Imperials, in the position as a prisoner.

Vernant gave one of the troopers a straightjacket, the trooper aggressively forced her to put it on.

“The subject has to rest for a day because she suffered from malnutrition and dehydration. She needs to be more healthy before we can start the experiment.”, Vernant explained to the Imperials.

The Imperial officer nodded and asked Vern some technical questions.

Aaricia had to sit on the same bed.. the same bed where she had lied on when Vernant had operated on her after she was just freed, where he had helped Aaricia, the wanted rebel that had just escaped from the Empire. And now..

He strapped her on the bed, she gave him a scared glance.

Oh my god Vernant I hope you know what you are doing.. my fate is in your hands now, it is you that can get me out of here. I trust you Vern, because I don’t have another choice..

He gave her another injection and she started feeling very sleepy again.

“Tomorrow we will meet again here, my dear colleague.”, she heard Vernant’s voice in the distance, and when she watched them she saw two Vernant’s shaking hands with two Imperial officers.

She thought of her friends from the Alliance.

“They will get me out of here.”, she mumbled, after which she fell asleep.