"We can't get you off this time, Harlan."
Harlan's father's voice seemed to play again and again inside his head, and he blinked away tears as he stared out of the dusty bus window. It had all started out innocently; Harlan and his friends, stealing odds and ends from the Odessa mall...but the officials hadn't seen it like that. He'd done it more than three times, to be sure. The first time they caught him, the officials made him give the product back and let him off with a warning. The second time, they were going to send him to juvie, but his father intervened. The third time...well, the third time, his parents hadn't bothered to do anything, they just signed the Unwind order, and here Harlan was, off to Blossom Hill Harvest Camp.
It was stifling hot on the bus, and Harlan's white t-shirt was sticking to him. There were a few other occupants on the bus: a pretty blonde girl, a big umber boy, and a skinny blonde boy. All three of them seemed to be in shock, and simply stared in opposite directions. The umber boy was the only one who seemed to notice Harlan's gaze. "What'd you do to get here, champ?" he asked, in a deep, gravelly voice.
"Got caught stealing," said Harlan, with a shrug, like it was no big deal. "And it wasn't the first time. You?"
The boy laughed. "Well, well, looks we got ourselves a little delinquent. Me? I'm a stork, in a family of seven. Guess they decided there was one to many mouths to feed."
Harlan glanced around at the other Unwinds. "How about you guys?"
The blonde girl looked up, her bright blue eyes rimmed with red, her face blotchy. "Not that it's any of your business," she said, in a snobby voice. "But I was caught shoplifting shoes from the Riverside Mall. Daddy couldn't stand the shame of having a thief for a daughter, so I was sent away."
All eyes turned to the blonde boy. "I, uh..." he mumbled. "I also stole some stuff...I'm a kleptomanic, so..." And from his pocket, he drew out a diamond ring that glittered in the midday sun.
The umber boy threw up his hands. "Great god, I'm surrounded by a bunch of thieves, aren't I? That makes my story sound weak. I'm Mike, by the way. Mike Posey."
"Harlan," said Harlan, his throat dry. "Just Harlan."
"I'm Ana Rosewood."
"Tyler Walker."
The bus came to a jolt. Harlan felt the last shreds of bravery leaving him. His legs shook as he stepped out. The sun shone hotly down, and he shielded his eyes as he looked around. The harvest camp was at the same time different and similar to how he'd imagined it. To describe it...it looked like a cross between a rehab center and a summer camp. It was most definitely ranch themed. Even the unwind facility had fake cactai and suns painted on it. There were also yellow dorms, a common, and several sports fields. To the outsider, it would have looked like Heaven. To Harlan, it looked like Hell.
A group of officials came to inspect them. "Three of you will go to the evals," said a sunny-faced girl with a drawling accent. "The other will come with us. Which one of you is Harlan Dunfee?"
Shaking, Harlan raised a hand. "Come with us," she said. "You have a very special appointment."
If one person could make the word 'special' sound ominous, it was this lady. She took him firmly by the arm and led him...were his eyes fooling him? No. She was leading him toward the Unwind Facility.
"Excuse me m'am," he said, in a small voice. "Don't I get some time here before I die?"
Her eyes widened. "Oh, honey, you don't die. You just stop living. And normally you would, but your situation is unique. Your parents asked for you to be Unwound immediately."
These words were the last straw. Harlan's heart broke. He let himself be brought in limply, and let himself be strapped to the gurney and brought down to the Room. He couldn't believe it. It was one thing, sending him to be Unwound, but a whole other, asking for him to be Unwound on sight. He couldn't believe his parents would do that to him. He tried, tried so hard to be angry at them. He tried to kindle the familiar flame in his gut. But it didn't work. All he felt was a sad, hollow disappointment.
He was quiet throughout most of the Unwinding, and the nurse presiding could see he was in no mood to talk. Occasionally, she'd break his lethargy by saying things like, "Are you okay?" and "You're doing great, honey." And he would respond with a grunt or gurgle, or whatever sound he could make around the oxygen mask.
It was what felt like minutes later that the nurse squeezed his hand, and said, "I'm sorry. We won't be able to talk anymore, Harlan. You're doing great. Just hang in there. You're so, so brave."
No, Harlan thought. I'm not brave. I'm a disappointment. I'm a...I don't know. I'm starting to feel odd.
I'm a...
I'm a...
I'm...
I...
...
...
And it was with these confused thoughts that Harlan, who years later would be known as Humphrey, welcomed the wave of blackness that followed.