content: A Cautionary Tale from the Year 2070 The conveyor belt creeps forward. ...Clink, clink, clink. You’re going into the oven. It’s getting warmer! ...Clink, clink, clink. You feebly lift your gaze toward the fire. It’s getting brighter! ...Clink, clink, clink. Beads of sweat drip from your nose onto the metal conveyor, evaporating instantly. It’s getting hotter! ...Clink, clink, clink. The sound reminds you of a creaky old roller coaster, steadily moving up, up, up into the oven! ...Clink, clink, clink. You're nearly there! “How could they have made a mistake,” you cry out, “I was a supporter from the very beginning!” Clink, clink, ... CLANK! The conveyor belt's metal plates suddenly swing open below you, sending you tumbling into darkness. Your body tenses up with fear as you fall, fall, fall... ...SMACK! Crashing through the surface of a raging torrent of icy water, you instinctively scream out — but all you hear are muffled bubbles and a thunderous cacophony of water rushing past your ears. Deep, deep, deeper — the cold watery abyss devours you like a limp minnow swallowed by a whale. You flail in every direction, desperate to reach the surface. “...Kick! Move! Swim!!” The words jolt through your head like electric shocks. You desperately cling to your last breath beneath the surface until your chest burns with unbearable pain. “Don't give in! Don't... give... in...” But you do. Your mouth bursts open and you inhale a deep blast of cold air. Above the water's surface, you steady yourself amid swirling rapids, sliding further down a dark, watery labyrinth. Just then, a soft light from the moon peaks out from the clouds overhead, illuminating your way. A spark of hope ignites within you. Reaching the river's edge, you collapse onto the cold muddy bank, clawing up handfuls of mud and wet leaves before curling up into a shivering, lonely ball. Images of the oven’s blinding inferno from moments earlier flash through your mind. Taking a deep breath, you slowly exhale into the chilly night air as a lone crow calls out from the trees above. Then, suddenly, you feel a chill run up your spine. The corners of your mouth feel strange. You’re... you're grinning. Still hunched over the wet ground, you begin rocking back and forth uncontrollably — “I knew it... I knew it!” Digging your fingers deeper into the cold mud, you slowly turn back to see the familiar black silhouette of the MDE Processing Center towering in the distance, its windows still flickering orange and yellow like the embers of a warm, comforting fireplace. “I knew they wouldn’t mistake me for one of the undesirables. They never make mistakes. We never make mistakes.”  THE END