Alter Ego

The crisp autumn breeze blew through the dull grey sky and shook the bare, twisted branches of the maples. The tree's few remaining leaves ruffled, and fluttered to the ground, carpeting the front lawn of St. Bernadette's preparatory school. The leaves provided a satisfying crunch as Jessica Manley trod the brilliant orange and red carpet to her school. Jessica, now in her seventeenth year, had long raven hair and green eyes. She was dressed in a black, woollen pea-coat worn over her school uniform of a white blouse, and pleated skirt. Reaching the stone steps of the School's side entrance, Jessica pulled open the great oak door and entered.

Rooting through her locker for her English text, which was now some three weeks missing, Jessica's search was interrupted by a familiar voice.

“I think you might have to give it up for lost.”

Jessica leaned around her locker door to find her best friend, Emily, waiting with a book bag slung over her right shoulder. Emily stood only an inch shorter than Jessica, with short blond hair and brown eyes.“You're locker is like the Bermuda Triangle. If something gets lost in there, there's no getting it back...”

Jessica's mouth curled up into a rueful smirk. “Cute” she said.

“C'mon, move your butt. If you don't get a move on, you'll be late for medication.” Emily chided.

Jessica groaned. “Is it even legal to dispense medications at a school? Did our parents agree to this?”

“St. Bernadette's Preparatory School assumes responsibility for your child's medical needs during school year in order to optimize the health of the learning environment” Emily recited. “My mom says it was in the brochure.”

“Sounds like rich parents trying to over-medicate their kids into behaving.” Jessica retorted. “Zonk them out on Ritalin so they don't have to pay attention to them.”

Jessica resented being required to take pills every day before class. She didn't even know what they were supposed to be doing for her. However, she did know that they made her feel fuzzy and nauseous. Last summer she decided that she had had enough, and began holding the pills under her tongue, before throwing them out since the beginning of term.

Suddenly, a loud crash, and a wail rang out from down the hallway. A tall, red-haired boy, staggered around the corner and crashed into the lockers. His uniform dishevelled, his eyes wide with terror, and his face pouring with sweat, the boy screamed, and scrambled as two teachers tackled him, and each held him by an arm.

“IT'S A LIE!” The boy screamed, “THEY'RE LYING! THEY'RE NOT WHO THEY SAY THEY ARE!” He continued to thrash and cry out as the two teachers dragged him down the hall to the nurse's office.

“What was that all about?” Jessica wondered aloud, as she and Emily stood there, dumbstruck.

“I'm afraid he's been having some troubles at home, girls” called a low, raspy voice from behind them. The girls turned to find Keira Donnelly, the school counsellor approach them. Dressed in a black pantsuit, Donnelly was 29 years old, and had short auburn hair. “Are you girls all right?” she asked, “he didn't hurt you?”
Jessica and Emily shook their heads, and mumbled some assurances that he had not.
“Well thank heavens for that. You girls get to class, and let us worry about this. Go on, run along now” said the guidance counsellor as she placed a hand on Jessica's shoulder to shoo her away.

Suddenly, Jessica felt a jolt shoot through her entire body. Her muscles tightened and her breath stopped cold in her chest. Pin pricks ran up the back of her neck, and further on, into her brain. A jumble of images and sensations flashed through her mind at a lightning pace, accelerating and swirling through her mind imperceptibly until, with a shock, Jessica found herself back in the school hallway, gasping for breath.

“What's the matter, dear?” she heard Ms. Donnelly ask, almost distantly. “Are you ill?”

Jessica, at a loss to describe what had just come over her, fumbled for words. “Um...I...I think I might be. I think.” Instinctively, she began to step backwards, away from her guidance counsellor. “I...I think I'm going to have to excuse myself...” her voice trailed off, as she turned, and hurriedly walked down the hallway, and exit through the oak doors onto the front lawn.

Jessica could then feel her steps increase into a trot, then to a jog, and then a sprint. Jessica, without fully knowing where she was going, was running as fast as her legs would carry her, and deep within her, for some unknown reason, she was pushed on by an urgent sense of panic.

After several minutes of running, Jessica found herself turning onto the street where she lived. Reaching her house, she ran in the front door, turning immediately and running into the garage. There, she fumbled around her father's work bench until she discovered a large chisel. Grabbing the tool, she turned and with desperation ran up the stairs to her father's office. There, she wedged the chisel into the gap of the drawer, and with some effort, broke open the lock, and pulled out the drawer.

Jessica furiously began to flip through the files contained within the desk drawer, having no idea whatsoever what she was looking for. However, when she came across a file marked “Project Moses”, she stopped. Now paused for the first time on almost half an hour, she panted, exhausted, and frightened that she had just gone to such lengths to retrieve a file that, until just now, she had never known existed.

Despite regaining control of herself, Jessica could still feel a tug in the back of her mind, urging her to open the file. She lifted the cover of the manilla envelope, and read. It outlined the implementation of a program, overseen by the intelligence community, whereby all children born to those possessing “super-human abilities” were to be taken from their birth parents, and each placed with a pair of agents who would then raise the child as their own. This, the file explained, would ensure a suitable degree of control over the post-human population, and ensure it's loyalty to the existing social order- thereby avoiding a possible insurrection by persons of mass destruction.

As she read the contents of the file, Jessica's mind raced over the events of the day. The disturbed young man at school, and her own episode could be related to the program laid out in the file. However, before she could delve too deeply into her revelation, Jessica felt her mind crawl to a halt. She found herself unable to run her thoughts over her discovery, and likewise, she found her limbs immobile.

Unable to turn her head, Jessica caught a glimpse of a slender hand in the corner of her eye reach over, and pick the file from out of her grasp. “Naughty girl” said a raspy, familiar voice “it's past your bedtime. Go to sleep.”

Without struggle or argument, Jessica curled up on the ground and closed her eyes.
Keira Donnelly, stood above her student with the file in her hand, and reached into the pocket of her pantsuit for her mobile phone.

“We had a close call today.” Donnelly spoke into the phone. “The Manley girl manifested. Sensitive or a Precog, I'm not sure which. She got her hands onto some sensitive information, but it's taken care of. She won't remember any of this when she wakes up. Tell her minders to remove all pertinent documents from the house in case this happens again.”

For a moment, Donnelly was silent, as a reply came through the phone.
“No, no” she interrupted, looking down at the sleeping young girl “it's better this be of her own free will. It'd be a shame to waste such a valuable resource...”