"Of course, everyone knows about the 1000 Microchip doctors place in a newborn's foot. Where would our society be without it? I can tell you where; the stone ages. We would still be burning through fossil fuels, polluting the atmosphere, and dumping trash into our oceans." Professor Automa said to his college class. Everyone nodded in agreement. They had all seen the primitive way the 21st Centurions had lived. They contributed so much to the decay of the planet and tore each other apart with wars over petty things.

Even the redhead girl, Anna Vactory, towards the back of the class had to agree, to some extent at least. She turned her attention away from the lecture and looked at the sunlight creeping through the tiny gaps in the blinds. She saw tiny specks floating around in the faint light, like they were alive; dancing. They twirled and bowed and swept up again.

A faint beeping was heard from Professor Automa's desk. He cleared his throat and Anna refocused with a start.

"Ms. Vactory, please control your thoughts." The professor said. A student's hand went up, a boy with black hair, unstyled. "Yes, Mr. Form?"

"I read somewhere that the microchip had limited sensors to people's thoughts. How does it do that?" Mr. Form asked.

"Excellent question. You see, the 1000 Microchip is designed to implant itself into the nerves on the bottom of a person's foot. By age 25, the chip is fully implanted with the nervous system and cannot be removed except with invasive surgery. The microchip is powerful enough to use the nervous system to communicate with the brain. It can also send mild electric impulses, messages, if you will, to the brain." Professor Automa explained. Everyone nodded in agreement.

'Messages to the brain?' Anna thought. 'What kind of messages?' She wanted to ask, but she knew the answer would be vague, at best.

"These messages are strictly regulated and are used to deter wayward thoughts in people with different minds. These messages do not have full effect until, as I said, the age of 25." The professor continued. Another hand went up, this time a girl with brown hair.

"Didn't factions of the 21st Centurions protest against the microchip?" She asked.

"Ah, yes, initially, the 1000 Microchip did stir up controversy. Many groups tried to impede the widespread use of the chip. Luckily, with the passing of the 31st amendment, everyone was required to have the 1000 Microchip implanted. Without it, we would still be like the 21st Centurions, reading primitive and progress impeding literature such as Little Red Riding Hood or The Odyssey." Everyone nodded in agreement.

Anna did not. She had always been fascinated with the 21st Centurions. In fact, it was they who discovered that red hair was slowly going extinct. They had something that, she hated to admit, she also possessed. It was a filthy word, greatly looked down upon by society. She did not even dare to think it, knowing what the 1000 Microchip was capable of.

She heard the faint beeping from Professor Automa's desk and he looked at her. She had to direct attention away from her. Her face grew hot, her palms became moist. She heard her pulse throbbing in her ear. The professor opened his mouth to speak.

Her arm instinctively shot into the air.

"Yes, Ms. Vactory?"

"Um...why is the 1000 Microchip named the way it is?" She asked. She couldn't think of anything else, but the beeping on the teacher's desk stopped at least.

"The 1000 Microchip is so named because it is said that it can send up to 1000 electrical impulses to the brain every second. Of course, its full power is hardly ever used except to prevent criminals from committing atrocities." Professor Automa explained. Everyone nodded in agreement. "Now, are there any more questions before the end of class?"

Class was dismissed and Anna found herself unable to walk straight. Every student she passed, her subconscious asked if they were acting of their own free will. It asked if anyone had free will. 1000 messages a second...Professor Automa had said it as if it were common knowledge. Were these even the real people she knew? Or were their real selves being, as the professor said, "deterred?"

Anna had to control her thoughts. If the 1000 Microchip could sense her thoughts, then she could be arrested for these thoughts. Not even her mind was safe. Who's to say her every thought was not being transmitted to some distant facility with tall silver walls and a million government workers patrolling every person's thoughts, sending 1000 messages to suppress likes, dislikes, urges and what Anna knew she had in common with the 21st Centurions:

Creativity.

It almost felt like she had cursed at an authority figure. Her subconscious asked if it was actually her that felt that way. Anna clutched her school books to her chest and her pace quickened. The 1000 Microchip would not be fully implanted in her nervous system for another 10 years. She remembered her history class, how they said it took 21st Centurions almost 24 years of their lives to go from preschool through college. Then Anna asked herself if the 1000 Microchip was forcing people to learn at an unnatural rate.

-o-O-o-

That night, Anna sealed herself in her dorm, activated the sound-proof walls and seeked out every hidden camera she knew was there. Her room was filled with sobs of pain, her floor stained with blood. By morning, she needed stitches and her foot might not heal the same way ever again. It was a small price to pay, Anna thought. Anna thought. The 1000 Microchip sat in the palm of her hand. She crushed it with the base of a lamp on the bathtub floor.

There was one Anna Vactory. And she was no one's puppet.

No one nodded in agreement.