Free Renegade by J.A. Souders

slide away slightly, so I can think properly. The only thing I can think about is how it’s against the law to touch him, but how nice it feels when he touches me. “What’s brainwashing?” I whisper, my pulse still skittering around my veins.
    He pulls back and gives me a curious look. “It’s a process that … persuades others to conform to the wishes of someone else.”
    “You mean Conditioning?” I ask. Conditioning isn’t exactly that, but it sounds close. It’s how we train the Enforcers. To get their bodies to learn the complicated maneuvers, to follow Mother’s orders unequivocally, and to shut down their emotions so they won’t interfere.
    His eyes light up. “Yes. Exactly. That’s what they called it during the War. Conditioning.”
    I shake my head. “They don’t do that to me. Only Enforcers.” However, my heart beats a little faster.
    His eyes widen and his mouth works for a minute before he finally asks, “You Condition the Enforcers?”
    “Certainly. How else would you train a three-year-old girl to be an Enforcer?” I ask.

 
     
    C HAPTER S IX
     
It is a privilege and an honor to serve as an Enforcer, Elysium’s most prestigious designation … Conditioning is the ideal training method as it is safe, quick, and painless.
     
—EXCERPT FROM S O Y OUR D AUGHTER H AS B EEN C HOSEN TO B E AN E NFORCER. C ONGRATULATIONS! PAMPHLET
    Gavin’s jaw drops and his hands fall to his side. “That little girl was three when they started training her to kill people?”
    “Yes. That’s the age we all get our designations. And it’s the perfect age to start Conditioning. The body is still adjusting itself to everything around it. The bones are still pliable and the muscles still developing. Mother tried other ages, but the candidates always failed.”
    “That’s … that’s awful.” He reaches a hand out again, but glances at the Guards and lets it drop. “And you’re sure they haven’t done this to you?”
    “Yes.” My answer comes immediately, without question. As soon as it does, it feels wrong on my tongue. I rush to explain more, but I’m not sure if I’m trying to convince him or myself. “Anyway, none of the Enforcers remember anything from before the age of ten. It’s part of the process. That’s the age when they start their duties. Before that is inconsequential.”
    “But how do they remember their training?”
    “That’s part of the Conditioning,” I say. “They remember … only what they need to remember.” What they let them remember.
    Perhaps it feels wrong because that has been one of my fears. That I was—am—Conditioned. It’s truly the only thing that explains … everything. How Gavin claims I’ve said things that I don’t remember saying. How I’m always forgetting things I know I did.
    My fingers reach for the pendant again.
    The concrete floor is almost unbearably uncomfortable and I adjust myself so I’m sitting on the floor with my legs crossed at the ankle in front of me. It’s impossible to keep the fabric covering my knees, but comfort outweighs modesty at the moment.
    Gavin watches the movement and follows the hem of my skirt up my legs before turning his attention to the laces in his shoes. “Do you remember everything?” From the way he asks, I know he knows I don’t.
    I look down at the ground. “No.”
    “But you still think they’re not Conditioning you now?”
    Hoped. Knew otherwise. Forgot.
    I don’t say any of these things.
    “I’m the Daughter of the People.”
    He looks for a moment like he wants to ask more, but instead he asks, “How did you get to be Daughter of the People? Is Mother your real mom? Somehow I don’t think so.”
    He is entirely too observant. I shake my head. “Mother … adopted me. She’s been waiting for the perfect genetic candidate. So, she made me her daughter, and gave me everything I could possibly want. My only requirement is to be a Breeder—to couple,” I say when I see the