Fine. I’m here to be their… I don’t really know if there’s a word for it.
Explain it. Then if there is no word, we’ll make one up.
I’m here to… clean things up.
Go on.
Kill people who get in the way.
Not yet, though. Your first job is to…?
Learn how to do that.
Correct. You’re in training right now. But one day you will be sent to clean things up. Adam will get orders from the Company and he will have to take care of people. Problem people. Dangerous people. Now listen, not all of those jobs will require your help. Adam and McKay will do some of them. All of them, until you’re ready. But one day… one day they will ask you to take care of things only you can do. And you must follow orders. Exactly as they are given to you.
Just… kill people?
Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on what needs to be cleaned up.
Are all of the girls from the auction going to be cleaners like me?
No. None of them will be like you. They’re… doing other things.
…
OK.
You promise?
I promise. As long as you don’t miss a visit. Not even one, Donovan. I’m serious. I will go live in the woods again if—
You stay out of those woods. There are dangerous things in there.
There are dangerous things in this house too, Donovan.
Point. But…
No. I love the woods. And Nate is in the woods.
That kid… he’s not one of us, Indie. You don’t want him involved in this shit. Trust me. It won’t end well.
But he’s my only friend.
I’m your friend. McKay is your friend. Even Adam is your friend. He might not seem like it now, but he’s on your side. We’re all on your side. And we want you to get through this.
I don’t think Adam is my friend. I make him yell.
Yeah, but… he’s doing it out of concern. He sees you as a little sister.
Ha. He does not.
Trust me. He does. After he bought you, we had to go out to the yacht for paperwork and shit. There was a private party out there too. And the new owners get to choose what their girls will be dressed like when you leave. And Adam put you in shorts and a t-shirt for a reason.
I don’t understand. What does that have to do with anything?
One day you’ll get it. But for now, just… trust me.
Are we done now?
Sure. We’re done.
SESSION #1 NOTES
SESSION #1 NOTES
Indie Anna Accorsi presents as a bright ten-year-old girl with very little concern for the reality of her situation. She comes off as desensitized and distant. Almost unable to connect herself with what is really happening to her.
In a way, this is helpful. She has learned to cope with her life in a way that makes her both likeable and reasonable. Contrary to what Adam believes, she is reasonable. Her decision to take off into the woods upon arrival at Old Home was a way of asserting control over a situation in which she felt powerless.
Noting her preoccupation with my ‘abandonment’ back on the island during our first session, her actions after coming to Old Home are logical and expected.
When I examined her bedroom, I found the screen had been ripped open. She felt trapped up in the bedroom. Probably due to the fact that Adam locked her in.
And when I observed the roofline outside her window, as well as the old tree bumping up next to the edge, her escape was inevitable and obvious. Also preventable, had Adam seen the tree and roof for what they were.
An invitation to escape.
The tree was convenient, possibly fortuitous, and—depending on her view of fate and destiny, if she has one—maybe even a sign that this opportunity was given to her as a gift.
A way out was presented and she took it.
I think her improvisation skills, in combination with a sense of self-preservation, will be an asset in the future once she is working.
However, as a friend, and not her pseudo-doctor, I am very concerned about her mental state.
All Company kids learn to cope early and most of the time this does not turn out well once they reach their late teens.
The most famous case being James Fenici who, while on his first job, was captured by a Central American drug lord and tortured until his unauthorized rescue years later. He survived, but it had dire consequences on his psyche and he was certified insane by Company PSYOPS just a few months later.
Normally, that would be the end of it. James Fenici should’ve been put down. But he, like myself and Adam, is an Untouchable. To his credit, he successfully completed more than a decade on the job after that, but was involved in the death of almost three hundred Company members during an incident in Santa Barbara, California, five years ago.
His current status and whereabouts are unknown. As is his state of mind.
It is my desire to help Indie Anna Accorsi navigate her way through her working life and I will keep my promise to visit her monthly for as long as I can.
SESSION #1 NOTES - PRIVATE
The main purpose of this study is to internally assess the ongoing viability of the Company Zero Program. The Company’s official statement is that it’s a failure. But not all the graduates had to be put down.
Nick Tate is still working, James Fenici hasn’t gone completely insane yet, and Sasha Cherlin is living a normal life as a Colorado teenager.
The secondary purpose of this study is to get closer to McKay and Adam and assess the outcome of their premature withdrawal from the Negative Program.
McKay presents a completely sane, under-control, almost thoughtful twenty-two-year-old male with one exception: He is bound to Adam in ways I don’t quite understand.
Is this loyalty?
Guilt?
Shame?
Or mind control?
I don’t have enough information on that yet.
After Indie’s regular session I made my first hypnosis attempt. On a scale of one to ten I would rate this session a five. She went under without drugs, but it wasn’t deep. Indie’s previous PSYOPS operator’s notes indicate that she was unwilling to submit to training of any kind. They used many different techniques on her with little success.
I can’t say for certain that Indie hasn’t been put under before, but my limited educated guess is that if she has been, it was probably not productive.
Either that or they wiped her.
In this first session my only goal was to assess her reaction. I asked her very basic questions. Name. Age. Date of birth. She answered them all without fuss. But when I asked about Carter she showed no signs of distress to indicate he had been involved in her training.
Which is frustrating and disappointing.
Maybe I was wrong?
Maybe this whole thing is a waste of time?