Beauty in everything

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”Honey, it’s time for your doctor’s visit! Are you excited?” Daniela’s mother pokes her head into Daniela’s room and looks at her daughter with anticipation. Daniela pulls her blanket over her head.

”Noooo mom. I don’t want to. Please? This is dumb.”

”Young lady, you will get dressed right now! We’ve scheduled this appointment half a year ago, we will not move it.”

”How about completely cancel it?” Daniela suggests. The outraged sound her mother produces as a reaction to this suggestion makes it clear that it isn’t an option. Still, Daniela is not willing to go through with it. ”Why don’t you go to the appointment yourself? You’ve been complaining for a while that you need your treatments renewed.”

”Dani, you know that it doesn’t work like that. This doctor is specialized in doing those treatments for children and teenagers. He wouldn’t take me as a client! Now move. I already regret that we didn’t go through with all of this when you were smaller and wanted to be a beauty queen. You wouldn’t have been so stubborn back then!”

A shudder runs down Daniela’s spine. Just the fact that her mom considered to treat her to this doctor while still being a child, too young to understand what’s happening …
Then again, this situation right now wasn’t better. She’s still being forced against her will to go through with it. She has tried to protest, has been protesting since her mother had made the appointment, all for nothing. @suesa

Her friends at school had asked her what she’s so afraid of. Most of them had had their treatments already behind them, they are happy. Or at least they acted like it. Sometimes though, Daniela feels like something is off. Some of them came back changed. Somehow …

”Daniela! Don’t just stand there and stare holes into the air, put on your clothes and come to the car. We’re going to be late!”

Mumbling insults, Daniela follows her mother’s request and pulls a hoodie over her head. A last attempt to show resistance, her mother hates when she wears anything that is not a dress. It’s not feminine enough.

The car ride to the doctor’s office is silent and awkward. Daniela chews on her lower lip and shoots angry glances towards her mother who ignores them skillfully. Finally, after a 10-minute drive that seemed to drag on forever, they park and get out of the car. Daniela’s mother grabs her daughter’s wrist and pulls her over to the door.

”Mom, let go of me. This hurts!” But her mother’s grasp only tightens. She seems to have been replaced by a weird robot. Fear surges in Daniela and she tries to break free. ”Please, mom. I don’t want to.” But her mother doesn’t react.

Behind the front desk sits a young man with a perfect face. Daniela has no idea how old he is, his skin looks like glazed porcelain. Perfectly smooth. He looks up.

”Daniela Arp?” He asks.

”Yes, that’s her.” Daniela’s mother pushes her forward and finally opens her hand. Daniela rubs her wrist. There are already bruises forming.

A nurse appears.

”Would you please follow me?” She asks with a fake smile. Daniela looks over to her mother who has positioned herself between Daniela and the door. The girl swallows closes her eyes. Then she follows the nurse into an adjacent room.

The doctor is already inside. Suddenly, Daniela realizes that she has no idea what he’s called. He has always just been “the doctor”. But it had always been obvious that it wasn’t her usual doctor. She wasn’t here for health reasons.

”Hello Daniela. I’m glad to finally meet you! Please, take a seat.” He gestures towards a chair and Daniela sits down.

Like in a bad horror movie, metal clamps suddenly close around her wrists and ankles, pinning her to the chair.

”What the hell?” She screams and tries to get loose.

”Shhhh. It’s alright, this is for your own safety. The procedure can be a bit … taxing. And we don’t want you to hurt yourself, do you?” The doctor opens a drawer and pulls out a set of syringes.

”You know”, he says, seemingly lost in thought, ”When this started people didn’t think of all the possibilities that would come with it. It took a while to unlock the full potential of the treatments.”

”What are you talking about?” Daniela is still trying to free herself. She isn’t really interested in what the doctor has to say but winning some time might not hurt. ”What is the full potential?”

”Ah, we have a curious one here. That’s nice. Now, my dear Daniela, what did you think you’re here for today?”

”I … My mom dragged me here for Botox injections. Everyone is doing them and she thinks I need them too to succeed in life.”

”She is right about that, you know? In a way at least. You see, originally, Botox injections were used to make someone more beautiful. To reduce wrinkles, mainly. Soon they found other applications for it, medical applications.”

”Yes, I know about that”, Daniela says. ”It can make you sweat less if you inject it in the right place. You can treat incontinence and crossed eyes. My mom has regular injections against her migraine.”

”Smart girl. You are right, the possible applications for Botox increased in number over the years. And as a result, more and more people wanted them. Why only treat people who have problems with excessive sweat? Why not make everyone sweat less? Why only treat wrinkles when they have already formed, why not prevent them from forming in the first place?”

”And then it became mainstream and everybody is doing it. That’s why I’m being forced to sit here. I don’t want any of it. Please release me.”

”Oh Daniela, it’s too late for this. We’re far beyond the point where those injections are on a voluntary basis. There are just too many useful effects that have been discovered over time. Do you know how Botox works?”

Daniela shakes her head. She’s lying but it feels like her restraints are slowly loosening a bit. Or maybe she’s just breaking her hands a bit. Doesn’t matter, maybe she can escape.

”Botox is a toxin, produced by a certain bacterium. It attacks the nerves by preventing neurotransmitter from being released. As a result, information can’t be transmitted anymore. It’s actually very lethal, you know? Too much of it and you’ll just stop breathing. But people still chose to inject tiny doses of it into their body.”

”People are weird”, Daniela remarks. The doctor laughs.

”Yes, they are. They are. But they also gave us the perfect idea. You see, there have always been conspiracy theories about the government poisoning people to keep them dumb and compliant. Additives to the water supply, vaccinations, all that stuff. Of course, it wasn’t the case, it would have been way too obvious! Still, hundreds of smart minds have been looking for decades to find a way to control the masses without them noticing.”

”So what is better than something they willingly inject themselves”, Daniela whispers.

”Well aren’t you an especially smart girl! That’s absolutely correct!” The doctor smiles a creepy smile. ”We modified the injections. Now they don’t just do the job desired by the patients, they also block certain areas of the brain which suppresses critical thinking. At the same time, it activates chemical reactions responsible for triggering the reward response. The more injections someone has, the more often that person wants to have them! This gets rid of the danger that the effect wears off over time. Instead, it gets stronger!”

”That’s sick”, Daniela says. ”Why would anybody want a population of zombie junkies?”

”The fact that you’re asking this question is the reason I still have to inject you. You just don’t understand the pleasures that come with being one of the few intelligent people, ruling over the dumb masses.” He picks up a syringe and walks toward Daniela. ”Don’t worry. You won’t remember any of this. In fact, you will be happier than you ever were.”