Higher Learning
Many decades ago, the chemistry of the brain was unlocked. Centers for learning were targeted and the learning process was refined, quickened, and made more efficient. Through chemicals and drugs, the neurotransmitters in the brain could be controlled. A pill was invented that drastically changed the way learning took place. By controlling the neurotransmitters, a variety of emotions and actions could be induced or suppressed. Science with the backing of the government had taken away all natural occurrences of brain neuropathy.
Rocking back and forth with nervous energy, Colby stood in line waiting. Today he received his prescription and would soon be sent to the Bismarck Academy. Colby had just turned ten and was tall for his age. His blonde hair was neat and orderly and his white shirt tucked into his black pants with uniform precision. His father stood with him and prodded him as a page came over the intercom. Dr. Plumford's office was full of other children. Colby's head was full of thousands of thoughts and questions normal for a young child. As the clock on the wall mechanically passed the hours, Colby waited patiently for his turn with the doctor.
He felt a gentle tapping on his shoulder. A young nurse in a pink dress turned to Colby and smiled.
Her voice rang melodically; "The doctor will see you now."
After completing the examination, Dr. Plumford handed Colby a packet of information. He ran his fingers along the side of it feeling thickness and feeling the importance of the packet
"Excuse me doctor", Colby interrupted, "it says here that I am supposed to report to Level 14."
"That's alright son", Dr. Plumford assured him. "You'll see what it's all about soon enough."
The doctor asked if there were any further questions, then turned and walked out of the room. Colby gathered his things and grabbed a hold of his father's hand. The jaunt home was relaxing. The peaceful evening breeze calmly blew, and Colby was wondering if he would ever again share such an experience with his father. Going away from home to the Academy was a new and exciting adventure. He looked off into the distance to see the quaint home in which he had spent his childhood years learning the basics of life. He closed his eyes and made a photograph capturing the gentle simplicity of the little farmhouse.
Night fell upon the little home. The desk lamp in Colby's room cast a shadow of a ten-year old boy anxiously sifting through the wealth of information that was enclosed within the packet he had received. He glanced at his prescription bottle. The instructions read: take twice daily at meals, never skip. Colby pondered what it was like to learn the old fashioned way, how difficult it must have been. He was thankful for technology and let out a sigh of relief as he drifted quietly off to sleep.
The steady pattern of the sun's daily rise and fall signified Colby's increased progress. The pill had been an aid. Parents were responsible for teaching their children to read, write and to solve basic mathematical equations; the pill was to take over higher education in the young adult ages. Years passed as Colby's hunger for knowledge consumed him, and he passed level after level of learning. Some of his instructors at Bismarck Academy noted that Colby was doing exceptionally well and encouraged him to push ahead. With the ease of which Colby picked things up, he again was reminded of the traditional way to learn, by desire and God given ability.
Each person's mind was capable of only holding so much information. The learning pills chemically aided young, impressionable children. The government hired medical scientists who configured the brain chemistry of each child born. Studying brain chemistry allowed scientists to create pills to help children learn and in the later years of life, keep them from knowing too much. The learning pill was a government invention designed with the intent that citizens who are chemically controlled can do no harm; that a controlled person is not smart enough to have thoughts about the government in one way or another. When a child's mind advanced beyond his or her learning years, the pill would cause his or her love and desire for learning to disappear. The pill was taken causing the natural thought patterns in the brain to cease. No one adult person could ever have a heart that pulsed for learning for the simple act of learning itself. Knowledge about the government was limited. Citizens of voting age under this control believed only what the government allowed them to learn.
Dew collected on the leaves of the purple iris in the Academy's garden. The rising sun was just breaking over the crest of a nearby hill, creating violent reds and serene oranges to light the sky of a new day. Colby busied himself with his daily housekeeping tasks. Unaware of the time he was nearly late for first block. In class the instructor droned on in a monotonous voice. Colby could feel his eyes glaze over with boredom, but instead of veering away from the lesson, as usual, he was interested in what the Professor had to say. The words seemed to weave a colorful web in his mind. He felt a throbbing hunger to better understand the lessons' meaning in depth. It seemed to Colby that he was in control. He felt like a child again. He could choose to remember or disregard what he had just heard. His new found enjoyment puzzled him. That day was much different from others.
Academy life was routine, organized and insanely strict. Colby thought about the morning's events and realized he had forgotten to take his learning pill. He was shocked and almost horrified that he had been so careless and forgotten something so important. Although he was swept with guilt, Colby enjoyed his free thoughts and felt so innocent. When a person skipped a pill, a portion of chemical knowledge was lost, but that child like freedom and desire returned.
Time clicked like an old Grandfather clock as Colby matured into a bright, confident, and witty person. He was often surprised when he looked in the mirror to see a handsome young man looking back at him. His decision to cease the intake of his pills came naturally. He was precise in the disposal of the chemical enhancement, and he began to feel a freedom that he had never known, better than that of his childhood years. As his knowledge of government control increased, he realized his choice to break free of the control must be kept a secret. His thoughts were his own and he was sure that he would no longer have a reason to change the natural chemistry of his brain. Colby was amazed with his God given intelligence. The pills for him had truly hidden his natural abilities. Colby was consumed with the hunger to learn, he was an innocent child again. He wanted to share his appetite with his classmates.
Looking around the room, Colby's eyes landed on a well kept young man with chiseled features and nicely groomed blond hair. A name did not come to mind. His attention focused on a group of girls, all of which had beautiful smiles. He glanced across rows and rows of his peers, stopping on a girl with delicate curls cascading down to the small of her back. Freckles spread across the bridge of her nose, her eyes a verdant green. His eyes drifted again, wandering across the vast sea of students in the room. Glancing behind him he saw a tall skinny fellow with scruffy black hair and shifty eyes. Across from him was a petite girl with blond hair sitting next to a boy with a shaggy head of brilliant red hair and a face sprinkled with pinky freckles.
He didn't know many of them by name, but liked them all. Colby found himself wishing that each of the individuals could experience the freedom that omitting the pill had given him. The freedom of knowledge was a wonderful gift. How lucky it was for him to stumble upon such a blessing. His mind was now free to dance, pivot, and float as if he were a leaf drifting on a cool fall breeze.
The fiery sun set low in the sky. Cool shadows crept across the land and pitch-black darkness threatened the horizon. Colby lay awake, tossing and turning in his bed. His mind was clouded. Never before had he been so confused. He pondered telling the other students about the gift of the natural thought process. Taking a deep breath, the answer came to him. Soon Colby would gather everyone together and tell each about the learning pill.
"Colby return to your seat immediately!"
Hoping that the word of the meeting would spread, Colby obediently returned to his chair. The instructor droned on in his monotonous voice. Remembering that all of the students knew sign language, Colby glanced across the room.
He spelled out, "Meeting at 5:30 tonight in courtyard: spread word".
The shaggy haired red head turned to his neighbors and bean to relay the message. Word caught on like wild fire and a glimmer of hope welled up in Colby's bones.
"What is going on?" the instructor inquired. "Stop doing what it is that you're doing and pay attention! This isn't a holiday!"
The lesson continued as gentle whispers could be heard.
"What do you suppose the meeting is for?" A girl asked.
A tall skinny fellow answered, "I don't know, sounds important. Are you going?"
"Yes see you there?"
He signed back, "Yes."
The sky was swollen with hues of grays and purples. The air was heavy and smelled of rain. A hot breeze blew, and far off in the distance the rain left tell tale patterns. Colby found a rock to stand on as the crowd gathered with increasing numbers. Colby jumped up and down with anticipation. He was nervous and excited about the freedom he was about to share. His voice was smooth and even as he welcomed everyone.
" I am sure that each of you is wondering why I called you here. I have something very important to tell you." Colby said with much authority.
Colby's audience was captive. Stillness took over the group.
"Everyone," he began, "takes a pill every day; a learning pill. Free, uncontrolled, innocent, childlike thoughts and emotions are at your fingertips. Free thought is your birthright; emotions are part of what you are, they are unique to you. The hunger for knowledge, the desire to learn just to learn itself is a wonderful feeling. Learning without the chemical alteration we have been subjected to is not right, and it must stop!"
"No one move!"
Voices in the crowd murmured. The air was still, thunder rumbled in the distance; lightning lit up the horizon. Ominous government agents restrained Colby. They began to read to him his Miranda Rights. The murmur of the crowd turned to shouts. Colby sank down to his knees. He wanted to share his gift. The gift of free thought, real knowledge, a gift that could be kept forever. The pill for some had been a crutch, helping them to walk. For others, the chemicals were crippling. The loss of free willed thought is what the government had wanted; to control what each of its citizens knew. The only knowledge that was allowed was taken twice daily with meals. Colby was screaming, but not a sound left his lips. Across the way stood a beautiful girl with delicate curls that cascaded down to the small of her back. She was looking at him with verdant green eyes and he could make out the freckles that spattered across the bridge of her nose. She was holding hands with a tall skinny fellow who had scruffy black hair. Next to him were a cluster of girls with beautiful smiles, and a boy with shaggy red hair and pinky freckles that covered his face.
In unison, the group opened their pill bottles and dumped the contents on the ground. The sky opened up and trinkets of silver rain came pouring down; washing government control away with the wet earth.
You are at Fruita Monument High School's Teenfinity project, an in-class science fiction magazine produced for educational purposes. Copyright © 2000