Carved Mind

Carved Mind pt 1 - Shuttle

The choice in an option of two makes a whole world of difference. A free mind or a carved mind, I wonder what my parents were thinking when they chose for me to have a carved mind. It isn’t that I think it matters for me now since it already happened and there’s no way around it, but rather what could have been their reason behind it?

I am now on my way to the A-36 Moon C Iron mining site for my job as a machine operator. It isn’t really hard work, but you really have to take note that as carved mind I do not have any rights to complain at all. I can’t really complain at my current designation because I’ve done much more labor intensive duties before. Let’s just say I’m thinking about doing something else instead of being lugged around doing menial tasks for the sake of living for another day.

Being a carved mind individual, I do not have the privilege to make certain choices for myself. For example, I can’t even choose to die if I wanted to. But, who would want to die? Life’s hard, and everyone has to do their job. If nobody ever did the menial tasks, who would do them? The free minds? I think not.

“So, how long would you be on A-36 C?” Leonard asked me.

“I don’t know. They’re just sending me without any designation termination date. I heard the guy I’m replacing broke down for not having enough sleep.” I replied.

“I can’t believe someone would actually have not enough sleep. People in the position you’re gonna be taking are provided with some fairly better accommodation than guys like me who work hard labor in the field.” He said as he shook his head showing how dismayed he is about the situation.

I just looked out into the porthole and tried to enjoy the beauty of the stars that pass by in my view as our shuttle sped through the vastness of space.

“You know, I’ve heard repeated exposure to the Newkard field generated by the engines to fly through space a faster than light can cause mutations.” Leonard whispered as he was just sitting beside me at my left.

“Never heard about that. Where’d you get that from?” I asked.

“Oh Brendan, you’re so naïve. I’ve always thought you hear more rumors since you get to talk to more people higher in the tiers compared to me who do manual labor.” He snarked.

“Actually, that might be true in a way. I heard from one of my mates that there was this one guy from a few years back on another shuttle that just disappeared from his seat and never to be heard or seen again.” This other guy beside Leonard remarked. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t really like travelling in these junk shuttles they use to transport us.”

“Hey hey, enough chit chat. We’ll be entering the moon’s gravity and magnetic field in about a minute. Better make sure those protective gears still work.” I said as I saw A-36 come close to my view through the porthole.

A few moments later, the ship creaked as it nearly succumbs to the strong gravitational and magnetic field of the iron rich moon. The whole shuttle vibrated as it struck the landing port with a higher than optimal landing speed.

“Sorry folks, can’t do any better than that.” The pilot announced over the radio. “You’ve arrived at the Government-operated Iron Mining Site in planet A-36 Moon C. Before you leave, make sure you properly align all safety bars and that you have picked up your stuff at the cargo hatch. Good luck and I hope to see you all one day still alive and well for your next location designation.”

They always say that, but I don’t really see much of the same pilots in the last 4 designation changes I had. Maybe there was this once during my second designation where I had the same pilot drop me off and pick me up at that Asteroid Mining operation on Eudara star system. But then again, I was only on designated there for about a year before they moved me to Anfang.

Sometimes, you’ll have to wonder what it feels like to be a free mind. The population on Anfang were the ancestors and sometimes you’ll have to wonder how they came up with the idea of having a divide between carved and free minds. They say being a free mind isn’t any better than being carved mind. But hey, at the very least free minds are valued in the society than carved minds are.

As a carved mind, the government provides all amenities we need. Food, shelter, work, and certain other standard needs. What we don’t get is the option to choose. The government carves our minds into certain ideals and lifestyle that fits any occupation that they need us to venture into. Me, for example, has been carved into a machine worker and was educated, trained, and assigned from the get go to work with machine operation, maintenance, and other related activities. Meanwhile, someone like Leonard is carved into a labor miner carved with high stamina, strong body, and lesser education.

I don’t really understand why my parents would select me as a carved mind. I mean, if they were free minds then what could have made them decide that I should be a carved mind?

“Brendan 6E-6F-31” A lady called me out as she handed me some plexisheet. “Make sure you carefully read the details of the operations in this site. Your designation is also indicated there. This site uses an older system so you will have to claim your room’s passcard from the operations center by presenting your plexisheet. Do not lose your sheet. Keep it safe at all times. Your regulation issue uniform will be in your room assigned to you. All of your electronic devices are useless on this rock, you can only use some of them within the confines of the living quarters. All others will not operate due to the magnetic fields and other interferences. Any question?”

“None.” I answered.

“Good, I expected that from an exemplary carved unit.” She taunted.

I would have responded back to her, but I kept it to myself. After all, any signs of non-conformity especially to carved minds are usually met with unexpected termination.

A few days have passed since I arrived at A-36 C, and things went as expected. Everyone worked like a piece of gear in a huge machinery operated by someone at the control who’s there to tell when to stop and what to do. I do not know about other carved minds, but I frequently fantasize about being a free mind. How different could my life have been if my parents choose me to be a free mind instead of a carved mind… I usually think about the possibilities based on what I see from the masters of the carved minds who are free minds.

I see this one free mind sitting around in an office probably doing some paperwork on his plexisheet. Then, there’s also the government itself who are consisted of free minds. Well, I still have a couple of years before my first assessment comes. That’s about 20 more years, if I’m lucky. On that assessment, they will look over what I have done as a carved mind and see if I qualify as a free mind.

But then again, I saw free minds on Anfang and most of them do work just like us carved minds. Some of them do as much work as some carved minds do, so I don’t really see much difference. They say, as a free mind you can choose the path you want to take. Take up education on topic that interest you and other kinds of privileges. But maybe, the huge difference is that as a carved mind I am considered as property, while a free mind is considered as an owner.

During rest periods, I just scratch my head why my parents could have selected me to be a carved mind and not as a free mind.

“You seem to be stressed, what’s been bothering you?” Leonard asked me as he sits across the table from me on the dining area.

“Nothing, I just think what if everyone were free minds?” I replied.

“Oh you. If everyone were free minds, who would do all these job of mining and manufacturing? No free mind in the correct mindset would be willing to do so.” Leonard answered.

“Then why did the government even allow us to be able to think much more freely about things? Why weren’t we carved into mindless beings who know nothing but their own work?” I argued.

“Well, I was in this other mining designation and this one free mind said ‘You carved minds have emotions, feelings, and relative free will & thought because motivation can yield better performance than mindless machines’” He rebutted. 

“That may be true, but why not make machines do all the work? They do half the work already why bother having carved minds do the rest?” I argued as I raised my voice a little bit.

“Ssshhh, don’t be loud about that.” Leonard whispered as he slid his food tray away and leaned forward to me. “Just go back to eating. We still have work to do after lunch.