Vitamin T

Everything you think, do and say is in the pill you took today.

Ronnie Halladay watched as the sea gull carried his bottle of vitamins into the air. As it shrunk into a distant dot he thought he could see the bottle falling into the gorge. Fifteen days into the solo trek with sixteen left to go he would be roughing it like some semi-civilized human from the thirtieth century. He checked his phone but it had lost connection days ago and he couldn't call for more via drone. The warden had urged him to get a time release implant but the opening in a solo hike had been sudden. Well, he thought, people had lived for thousands of years with out vitamin T so a couple of weeks wouldn't harm him.

#

Ronnie ran toward the helibus as its rotors spun up.

The attendant held the door open and helped him aboard. "Sorry sir. We didn't get notice of your late arrival." He started leading Ronnie toward the front then looked at the ticket and stared. "This is not an executive ticket."

"No, I just got here from the gorge."

"But only executives are allowed late ... Wasn’t the 'No Further Boarding' sign lite?"

Ronnie remembered running past the sign. Normally he would have stopped but for some reason he kept running. "Ah, I guess I missed it."

The attendant pointed to the rear of the craft. "Please find your seat and buckle up."

Ronnie stowed his backpack and took his seat. As he fiddled with the seat belt he wondered about disobeying the boarding sign. It was the first time he could remember not obeying a sign or anything for that matter. He looked at the two ends of the seat belt he was holding. Above him the fasten seat belt sign was flashing. He held the two ends apart. The engines reved and the craft vibrated as it left the ground.

The helicopter gained altitude and settled into level flight. The seat belt sign went off. Ronnie clipped the two ends together.

The attendant poked his head around the seat back. "Sir, you are-- Oh, I see you have the belt fastened. Must be some glitch our monitors showed that you hadn't fastened it for take off."

"No, had it fastened. Must be my day for glitches."

Despite having slept only a few hours the night before Ronnie stared wide eyed out the window. He had seen the 'No Further Boarding' sign. He purposely had not buckled his belt and then lied to the attendant. Those were the first incidents where he had disobeyed a sign or an authority figure in his life. He kept staring out the window unable to sleep.

#

Ronnie entered his lab and was greeted by his co-workers. After a few minutes of telling them about his hike and commenting on the pictures he had sent them from the helo he walked toward his desk when his supervisor called him and motioned him toward his office.

"Ronnie, great trip I hear."

"Yes sir. Getting away from everything and everybody is both exhilarating and scary. Something you need to tell me? Did I miss some big announcement while I was gone?"

"No nothing like that. But I did get a strange request. Management asked that I keep an eye on you. You didn't catch some bug or break something while you were gone?"

"No. But some of the locals complained about an illness going around. Maybe they want to be sure I don't spread it."

"Must be it. Well, if you feel anything let me know."

"I feel fine." He hesitated. "But I do feel a bit rusty. Mind if play with the K104 analyzer for a bit?"

The manager looked at his screen. "Light day, very light. Number four is free all day. Get yourself back into form."

Ronnie went to his desk and read through all the notices that had accumulated while he was away. As lunch neared and he could hear his office mates discussing plans he lay his head on his arms and closed his eyes.

A head popped around the corner, "Ronnie, we're..." The head disappeared. "He's sleeping. Probably exhausted."

The noise in the office subsided as everyone left. Ronnie looked over the partitions but everyone had left. He pulled a pill from his pocket. The Vitamin T tablet for the morning rolled accusingly in his palm. He carried it to the K104. In a few minutes he had prep'ed a sample and fed it into the machine. By the next morning he would know what was in that pill.

#

Ronnie stared at the bedside clock. It displayed 2:14 AM. Funny how when you wanted to sleep it didn't come but as soon as he wanted to be awake his eyes would start to close. The alarm woke him at six. He stumbled through a shower and found himself dropping a Vitamin T into his hand. He shuddered and dropped it down the drain. Not until I know what is in those he thought.

#

He got off the bus a few extra blocks from his office hoping that the walk would wake him up. The cool morning air helped a bit and as he entered the security zone he was practically running to check on the results of the analysis.

A security guard stepped in front of him. "Mr Halladay. Please come with us." Two more guards stepped behind him.

"What? Why?"

"Routine. There was a medical concern where you were vacationing. You need to be checked."

"No. I made that..."

One of the guards put his hand on Ronnie’s shoulder. "Please sir." The guards led him to a small room and sat him in a diagnostic chair. They secured the clamps and Ronnie could feel the ghostlike touching as the probes found their way into his veins.

A few minutes passed and a woman half the size of the guards entered the room and sat facing him. "Mr Halladay, it appears you have been remiss in taking your supplements."

"They're not required."

"But they are. All citizen's health is the responsibility of the government. And therefore the government requires you to do your best to maintain it. Since you have been remiss you will be required to use an implant." She tapped on a screen.

He could feel the cuffs preparing his arm for the insertion. "Please, before this, what's in those pills?"

The woman looked at him, "I take my pills, Mr Halliday, I don't care."

#

Ronnie sat at his desk and shook his head. It was still fuzzy. He barely remembered getting out of bed and the next thing he was sitting down at his desk. A message popped up showing an analysis of what looked like a vitamin supplement. Strangely, a copy had been sent to Central. He deleted it and checked his agenda. It was a day like all others.

END

Author's question: Do I need to include the last paragraph?