Manipulation Room victim no. 191723
Name: Anwen Grove
Age: 06 years old
Occupation: Student
Family Member: 18-year-old brother, Nixon
Description: Concussion from a frying skillet across the forehead before being inflicted with multiple stab wounds.

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"I'm so glad to see all of your bright, happy faces here this lovely morning! You are all the future of the beautiful Delta 5. The youth of today, are the people of tomorrow...This is why I love visiting the schools so much, it's like taking a glimpse of the future." 

I rolled my eyes and inwardly groaned. President Thanatos. Another one of his mentally draining assemblies about love and good will. Who is he to talk about love when he gets us to kill our family members for no logical reason? Every time I see him I fill with a deep, dark animosity that burns like lava. Here I was, sitting outside in an open field, surrounded by other bored and fatigued students, facing the stage where Thanatos was standing. He doesn't visit the school often, but I hate it whenever he does. He only tries to brainwash teenagers who he thinks are completely stupid. We know what's really going on; we're not thick. It's not the same as the primary school; unlike them, we know what's going on. 

"I understand that many of you have already been personally affected by the Manipulation Room and that the memory probably haunts you to this day. I now ask you to understand that that is simply part of life on Delta 5. This is our society, it's natural. It has to happen in order for the rest of our survival..." 

I rolled my eyes even harder, causing them to almost fall straight out of their sockets. My father dying didn't have to happen at all, his death benefited no one. If he were still here, it would make no difference whatsoever. His excuses were even worse than his cruel, ridiculous policies. Trixie, sitting next to me, was fast asleep. She was snoring quietly, her head lolling on her shoulder as she snoozed. She clearly wasn't finding this assembly very fascinating, although no one was. Across the crowd of students I could see that not a single one was paying attention to what he was saying. He may be the president but he has about as much respect as the pile of rotting trash I passed on the way here. 

"Someone sitting in the crowd may even have gone into the room themselves, and that is simply commendable. Incredibly touching, truly. I'd like to take this moment to commend you for your contribution to this planet's safety, to the safety of the people. Your lives are all my main concern, I say that truthfully and whole-heartedly." 

Again, I wanted to hit something...I needed to hit something. Trixie's head fell forward slightly, landing on my shoulder, and I gently pushed her sleeping head to the other side. Her snoring stopped abruptly, before continuing at the same sluggish pace. I put one leg over the other and sat back in my seat; this would be a long assembly. Suddenly, Thanatos' speech and Trixie's snoring disappeared in an instant. I was day-dreaming, anything to escape this god-awful assembly. It was like being stuck between two realities: one that was imperfect, but do-able. The other was a vision I pictured myself in, the one I longed myself to be a part of. Was it possible to make that world into a reality? Probably not. 

To me, the world of boring speeches and endless snoring from the person beside me was like being on a planet with little gravity. Just the slightest nudge from my imagination and I was soaring amongst the clouds, off into a world of fantasy. My daydreams were almost as wild as my night dreams, my creativity seamlessly sewing together different aspects of my subconscious. Were I ever to harness it, to write it down, I would be hailed as a creative genius. But for now I was that simply irritating kid who always did her homework and daydreamed during boring assemblies. I sometimes wished I could offer the others a window into my mind, then they would be able to join me in my flights of the fanciful and the ridiculous.

I could've sworn I saw glimpses of Ezra in my dream too, his ocean eyes clear and evident through the thick cloud. It was hard to miss, a sight I would never tire of seeing. Before I could explore this further I was back, back in the open assembly, drowning in Thanatos' words. It was strange...I'd never had anyone else in my dreams before. It was always me, myself and I. But now it was me, myself and...Ezra.

"I'd just like to reiterate the fact that this very school was created as evidence. Evidence of my love and care for you, my wonderful citizens. Now...does anyone have any questions?" He clapped his hands together and looked around at the crowd of blank faces. Beside me, Trixie let out a loud snore, the only thing heard in the stone-cold silence. Suddenly, I saw an arm rise above the heads of nameless students. Attached to the arm was a body, and that body belonged to one person. Ezra Ray. 

"Yes, you there!" Thanatos said, pointing to him with an intimidating finger before withdrawing it swiftly. Ezra cleared his throat, his eyes staring at the ground instead of at Thanatos. "You claim to be a loving, peaceful man but wasn't it your idea to continue the initiative of the Manipulation Room? How can forcing innocent people to kill their loved ones be a correct, noble thing to do? And even if it would apparently solve the population crisis, one person dying every six months will solve nothing. We have more people dying during those months from natural illnesses...it's ludicrous." His voice was wavering, croaking and thick with hatred. I'd never heard him speak so confidently, and I agreed with every word. I smiled to myself with sincere admiration. 

Before I knew it, I was clapping. People glanced in my direction before joining in, and soon the whole school was clapping and cheering. President Thanatos looked furious on the stage, his glares piercing through every single one of us. Soon, his aggravated posture began to scare us and the cheers and claps died down to silence once more. We knew this man was capable of anything; I just wanted to know what he'd do to Ezra. Would he hurt him? Would he kill him? He wouldn't, surely. 

Thanatos folded his arms and turned to face Ezra, whose expression was unwavering and filled with animosity. "Well aren't you an opiniated young man..." Thanatos croaked, chuckling lightly. "Answer his question!" I heard someone in the back of the crowd yell, followed by others chanting in agreement. I saw Ezra rise from his seat and the air in my lungs had been stolen from me, mostly from fear. Did he want to be killed? I was slowly filling with worry. I craned my neck to get a full view of him. "What are you thinking..." I whispered under my breath.  

Ezra folded his arms, "I just want to know why my father had to be killed so you could stand there and call yourself kind and caring." He said, standing tall and confident, his voice monotone, his eyes hard and icy. It shocked me how full-frontal he was being about this, but I also admired it. I admired it a lot, it felt like he was doing this for me. For all of those people who had a parent snatched away from them by this ridiculous man. Thanatos' mouth fell open but no words came out. There was just a tense silence, pressing down on me like a ton of bricks. 

Trixie had woken up beside me, snuffling to herself as she rubbed her bloodshot eyes. "You are all dismissed. Till we meet again, children." Thanatos said, finally, his smile as fake as plastic and hiding a miserable scowl. Ezra didn't hesitate to leave, his eyes still glued to Thanatos with a hate-filled glare. I pushed passed people to reach him, not sure why I was so desperate to speak to him. When I finally caught up with him, he turned around and saw me panting and wheezing behind him. 

He chuckled, "Shouldn't you know better than to run after me after last time?" 
I grinned at him, "I've been practising my running-after-Ezra, you know. I'm getting better." 
He laughed again, the beauty of his laughter filling my ears and causing me to smile. "Was your leg okay? I never asked." 
I nodded, moving to the side so that the crowd could flow past without us causing a collision. "I sprained my ankle, but it's better now." I explained, hit with the sudden realisation of how long we hadn't spoken for. He nodded again, "That's good. Not the...sprained part but you know, it being...better." He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"So...why were you running after me?" He asked, folding his arms and moving closer to me so that a group of students could bustle past. I hadn't even though that far, but I was here now. My breath had been temporarily stopped by how close he was standing to me. One movement of my chest and we'd be touching. "Um...do you have a free period today?" I asked finally. He creased his forehead in thought before nodding slowly, "Yep, I do. You?" 
I nodded as well, "Yeah." I paused, shuffling awkwardly on the spot. I was supposed to be asking him if he wanted to spend it with me but I had become so awkward and flustered that I simply stood there like a statue. "Would you like to spend that free period with me...you know, in our usual spot." He asked, filling me with relief. Our usual spot. There was something about the use of the word 'our' that made me even more happy than I should've been. I nodded gleefully, "Sure! That sounds nice." 

He smiled at me again, and I had to hold back the sudden urge to squeal. There was something about the way his dimples sunk, the way his eyes glowed, the way his mouth stretched into a lovely smile revealing his teeth. It was so incredibly perfect. "Cool, I'll see you there then?" He said, holding onto the arm-strap of his backpack. I nodded, "Yep, see you there." I didn't move though. I stayed there, staring into his hazy blue eyes. I knew 'see you there' was normally accompanied by an exit but I couldn't bring myself to turn away from him. Eventually, he broke eye contact and cleared his throat, "Bye, Lyric." He turned around and began to walk away.  

Amidst the magic of that moment, a thought suddenly came to me. "Wait!" I called, causing him to stop abruptly and turn to face me. "Yeah?" He said, seemingly relieved that his departure had been cut short. "Um, what you said just now in assembly...it was really nice. I admired it a lot. You were very brave." I was going to continue to tell him about my own father but the words wouldn't come out. They were trapped in a cage in my throat, strictly under lock and key. He beamed at me, "Thanks. If I'm honest, I was scared I'd get my throat cut." 
"So was I! I was so worried." I giggled, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. He raised an eyebrow at me, "You were worried?" 
I rolled my eyes at him playfully and laughed again, "Don't get too flattered." 
He laughed cheekily, "See you at free period, Lyric." He gave me a final wave before he exited fully out of view.

I smiled to myself, replaying the conversation that had just occurred in my head. Before I could reminisce for long, I heard another voice behind me. "How...sweet. I might cry." It was salty and sarcastic and it didn't take me long to figure out who the voice belonged to. I turned around and smiled at him, all sugar-coated and fake. "Credence...how nice to see you." I spat. He was standing tall and proud, Karma and Isaiah standing behind him. 

I saw that he had cut his hair. It used to be long, he'd often put it into a man-bun. I used to joke about how his hair was nicer than mine was. Now, however, he had a buzz cut, and it looked pretty awful. "New haircut? Nice." I mumbled, scanning it with my eyes before returning my view to him. He simply shrugged, "Fancied a change." I wasn't sure what change he was referring to. His haircut, or his whole personality. I nodded, "Right." 

"So...Ezra was awfully brave back there. He's lucky he didn't get his throat slit." 
I nodded slowly, "Well, he didn't, so that's that." 
"You must be happy about that..." He grumbled. "Well, yeah. I don't have to see my friend get killed, I'd say that's something to be relieved about." I responded, folding my arms and averting my eyes to the ground. He scoffed, "Friend...yeah, right." 
"What? We're not together-" 
"-yeah, Lyric, like that's true!" He sounded offended and slightly annoyed but I didn't know why. I'd simply told the truth, I hadn't even begun to be rude to him yet. What had happened to him? 

"You know what Credence? Get lost, just get lost. I don't need you in my life and neither does Kierra. We were your best friend for so long but if you're going to be like this then I can't be around you. Goodbye." I didn't wait for an answer, I simply left. I was unwilling to finish that conversation as much as he was. I practically ran off of the school courtyard, pushing myself through the school entrance and pretending that conversation had never happened. 

I had no idea what had gotten into Credence but it needed to stop.