How much do you love me? (standard:science fiction, 3667 words)
Author: Richard J Cobain	Added: Jul 30 2003	Views/Reads: 3530/2368	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
In the near future a young man struggling through life thinks he has found the perfect solution when he hears about a new reality show looking for contestants.But the show is not all that it seems.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

offence. 

When he got to the apartment complex and saw the looks on the faces of
his neighbours he knew the answer but some part of him still couldn't 
believe that people would do such a thing. As he ran up the 10 flights 
of stairs he began to get nervous, as he had never been before. It took 
him almost a minute to open the door because his hands were shaking so 
badly. When he got inside he suddenly felt like everything was 
happening in slow motion. His wife was kneeling down on the floor of 
the hall with tears streaming down her face; she had a large bruise 
under one of her eyes. Her clothes were covered in blood and she was 
clutching something to her chest. She was rocking back and forward and 
seemed to be in some kind of trance, her eyes met his but she showed no 
sign of recognition. He gently took from her what she had been holding. 
The body of his baby daughter. She had been shot in the face at point 
blank range and was totally unrecognisable. Something died in him that 
moment as the reality of what had just happened began to seep in. He 
dropped the body, it seemed to take an age to hit the ground. Jackson 
couldn't believe it; he couldn't believe what they had done. They had 
enforced the law to the full extent; they had taken Jessie away from 
him. The bastards had broken into his home beat up his wife and killed 
his baby. She was never going to grow up, never going to laugh or cry 
ever again. Rachel tried to say something but she couldn't speak. “A 
year and three months” Jackson sobbed as he fell to the floor. “She was 
only a year and three months and now she's gone”. The next few months 
were kind of a blur in Jackson's memory, even doing the smallest things 
seemed to sap his energy and sometimes he wondered why he got out of 
bed at all. He was also in a deep state of depression, which he tried 
to hide from his wife and regularly found himself crying for no 
apparent reason. Somehow they managed to get on with their lives 
although the memory of what had happened to Jessie was constantly on 
their minds. 

All that was about three years ago and now they had Rion to keep them
busy. He had come about two years after Jessie's death and although 
they never talked about it, his arrival had eased their pain slightly. 
Jackson put Rion back to bed and he was asleep in seconds. “Not a care 
in the world” laughed Jackson. He didn't laugh that much anymore so 
this surprised him. Rachel was working in the bar for a pig of a boss 
who slapped her ass every time she walked by and all that was for just 
a few credits a week. Jackson wanted her to quit that job but she 
wouldn't as they needed the money “and anyway” she used to say, “a crap 
job is better than no job at all”. She was right about the first part 
but wrong about the second in Jackson's opinion. But they did really 
need the money. Jackson had been out of work for a long time not for 
the want of trying and now things were really tight. He decided to go 
out for a walk and look for work so he picked the sleeping Rion up in 
his arms dropped him in with one of his neighbours and left the 
complex. 

It was very cold outside and Jackson saw a young junkie lying on the
pavement trying to grab people's legs feebly as they walked by. He 
looked vaguely familiar but then again Jackson had sold a lot of drugs 
to a lot of people and he had no doubt that this guy had been a client 
at some stage. When Jackson passed him the junkie said “Give me your 
coat motherfucker”. “Go fuck yourself trip head” Jackson responded. 
“I've got a laser pointed at you mister”. “Junkies like you can't 
afford lasers”. With that the man dived at Jackson bearing a small 
knife. Jackson saw this coming and broke the junkies nose with a hard 
punch. He fell to the ground clutching his face. “You bastard” he was 
sobbing through a face full of blood. “You broke my fucking nose” 
Jackson actually felt sorry for the junkie now. Although he probably 
would have killed Jackson to get a few credits he was still a human 
being and people were walking over him in the street like he was a 
piece of shit. Jackson would have given him a credit but he hardly had 
one himself so he walked on trying to block the junkie's sobs out of 
his head. 

As he walked through the crowded slums he began to think about his
situation. He had a wife and baby to feed and there was very little 
money coming in. “Things are getting a bit desperate” he said out loud 
when someone bumped into him from the side. He turned to see who it was 
but there were so many people around him coming and going that it could 
have been anyone. He patted his coat to make sure his wallet was still 
there and it was, not that there was anything worth steeling in it 
anyway but it had been a present from his mother last year. He looked 
up at the huge clock on Presters Tower saw that it was getting late and 
headed back for home. Rachel would kill him if she found out he had 
left Rion with old miss Griers. 

He was hanging up his coat after returning home when he heard a rustling
noise, which obviously came from his coat pocket. This was odd however 
because Jackson was sure he had nothing in that pocket when he left. He 
reached in and took out a piece of printed-paper that read. 

HAVE YOU BEEN DIAGNOSED? CAN'T GET ANY WORK? GOT A FAMILY TO FEED WITH
NOT ENOUGH MONEY COMING IN? WHY NOT BE A CONTESTANT ON THE NEW GAMESHOW 
"HOW MUCH DO TOU LOVE ME". A TOP PRIZE OF 2000 CREDITS COULD BE YOURS. 
DON'T DELAY. APPLY AT THE WYNDER BUILDING GERMAIN STREET 7TH FLOOR. 
HAPPYNESS IS JUST A GAMESHOW AWAY. 

“2000 credits, Jesus Christ” exclaimed Jackson who had never seen that
much money in his life. “That would feed my family for years” he 
gasped. Just then Rachel walked in. Jackson shoved the paper into his 
pocket. “What is it?” she asked when she noticed him looking strangely 
at her. “Nothing” he replied with a smile, “Just my horoscope, it said 
my luck would change”. 

The next day while his wife was at work Jackson left Rion with slightly
senile but harmless miss Griers again and headed for the Wynder 
building. It was situated on a massive commercial estate well out of 
the slums. Jackson who didn't come here often had to shield his eyes 
from the terrific glare of all the neon lights. “This place must be 
made of money,” gasped Jackson as he stood outside. The building was at 
least eighty storeys high. He had never seen anything like it before. 
There was something about it however that he just didn't like, the 
building had an almost sinister appearance for some reason. It looked 
like it would be more than happy to chew you up and spit you out. It 
took him some time to pluck up the courage to go inside. The interior 
was even more extravagant than the exterior. Glass sparkled everywhere 
and very expensive looking pictures lined the walls. He took the 
elevator up to the seventh floor with two men in expensive suits that 
judging by their expressions thought that he was the shit on their 
shoes. 

The seventh floor was even more expensively furnished than the first.
The ceiling was studded with diamonds and the legs of the numerous 
couches seemed to be made of gold. “Holy fuck” muttered Jackson in awe 
as he walked up to a large desk where a pretty young woman was on the 
phone and painting her nails at the same time. She had the new contact 
lenses he had heard about that made you're eyes continually change 
colour. He found it oddly disturbing and couldn't look at her anymore. 
It took her a long time to finish the phone call but when she did 
Jackson approached her. “Um hello” he said. “Yes” she replied very 
impatiently. “I'm here to apply as a contestant on this new show,” 
muttered a very embarrassed Jackson showing her the piece of paper. For 
some reason she made him feel like he was ten years old. “Oh i see,” 
she said. “Wait here a moment”. She then left the desk and went through 
a nearby door. While he was waiting for her a man passed him who looked 
familiar. Jackson couldn't place the man however, how could he know 
anyone working in this kind of place anyway. He thought nothing of it. 
Eventually she came back and said “Mr Jesop will see you now”. “Ok” 
said Jackson and walked through the door. Mr Jesop was sitting behind a 
golden table, which sparkled commandingly. He was a small fat man and 
Jackson found it funny that such a small man should have such a big 
desk; it was obviously an ego thing. “Sit down mister eh” “Trent” 
Jackson replied “whatever” sighed Jesop. Jackson had known the guy for 
a total of five seconds and he already hated the bastard's guts. He was 
a tiny, hideously ugly man but something about his body language gave 
the impression that he could have you killed in a minute if he wanted 
to. Jackson sat down slowly. “So you want to be on the show”. “Yes i 
do”. “Well today is your lucky day”. “What do you mean?” Jackson asked. 
“I mean you're on the next show this afternoon”. “Seriously” exclaimed 
Jackson, “the next show, I thought I wouldn't be on for days”. “Just 
one more thing Mr Trent, could you sign this form”. “What's it about?” 
asked Jackson. “Oh nothing important, just sign it quickly and we'll be 
on our way”. Jackson took the pen with a shrug and signed the piece of 
paper. Out of the corner of his eye he thought Jesop was grinning but 
it was probably just his imagination. “Come on then we don't have much 
time the first episode of the day should be over soon”. And with that 
he led Jackson through a different door into a new room and told him to 
sit on the couch and wait. 

“So what's this show about anyway?” asked Jackson after a long silence.
“You'll see soon enough” replied Jesop. Jackson didn't question him any 
further but he didn't like the answer. A few moments later a man was 
brought through another door crying, loud cheers could be heard from 
what must have been the studio. “What happened him?” asked Jackson. “He 
lost,” said Jesop. Jackson was beginning to get quite nervous when 
someone spoke to Jesop through his earpiece and he turned to Jackson 
and said “its time mister Trent”. Jackson got to his feet and walked 
through the door that the crying man had come out of and was nearly 
deafened by the roars of the studio audience. Some were cheering him 
but most were booing him. They were going ballistic and looked like a 
pack of wild animals. “Jesus they take this pretty seriously” he 
muttered to himself as he stared back at the live crowd. 

“Over here mister Trent” the host said. He was a tall man dressed in a
very expensive looking three-piece suit with a big fake smile on his 
face. “So” he said, “ before we begin tell us about yourself mister 
Trent?” “Well” mumbled Jackson. “My name is Jackson Trent, I'm married 
with a baby boy called Rion and i need these credits”. “That's about it 
I guess”. “There you go ladies and gentleman,” screamed the host and 
the crowd once more erupted with noise. When it died down eventually he 
spoke again, “Well i guess it's time to play” at which the audience 
roared on cue “how much do you love me?” And once more the cheering and 
booing began although Jackson noticed that there was less cheering this 
time. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a banner that read 
“eat shit Jackson” but that was ridiculous they couldn't have known 
that he'd be next on the show, he had only been in the building half an 
hour. 

With that the host brought Jackson to the centre of the studio and
pressed a button on a keypad. The crowd started cheering like mad and 
Jackson began to get the feeling that things weren't going right. 
Suddenly there was a loud mechanical noise and two massive glass 
cylinders covered with cables rose up from the floor. His wife and 
child were in the one on his left and his parents were in the other. 
“What the fuck is this?” cried Jackson but no one heard him over the 
screaming of the live audience. Jackson ran over to the cylinder, which 
contained his wife. She was holding Rion in her arms and both of them 
were crying. “Rachel” he screamed over and over. He suddenly remembered 
what Jesop had said to him a few minutes ago when the crying man had 
gone by “he lost” what the hell did that mean? What was going on here? 
After the noise had died down the host spoke up. “This is the game 
Jackson, one of these capsules contains your lovely wife Rachel and 
your boy Rion”. “The other contains your parents”. “What is this?” 
begged Jackson but the host carried on. “There is a keypad in front of 
you with two buttons”. “The button on your left will electrify Rachel 
and Rion and the right button will electrify your parents”. “All you 
have to do to win those credits is choose which capsule to electrify”. 
“What?” shouted Jackson in disbelief? “You've got sixty seconds Jackson 
starting now”. And with that he began to laugh hysterically. The crowd 
meanwhile were roaring mindlessly. He looked from his wife to his 
parents and back again. This was crazy. What was he going to do? It was 
murder after all no matter which way you looked at it. “30 seconds” 
cried the host. Sweat was pouring down Jackson's face. He needed the 
money but how was he supposed to make a decision like this, it was 
playing God. He looked at his parents, the ones who brought him into 
this world. They too were crying and begging him not to do it. He 
couldn't do this to the only people he loved. “10 seconds left 
Jackson,” screamed the host. The crowd's roars became deafening. He had 
gone through enough pain in his life with Jessie's death; he didn't 
want to go through that again. It wasn't worth it. “Times up my friend” 
said the host at which the audience broke into a fit of booing. “You 
people are fucking crazy,” Jackson shouted at them. “I'm not going to 
do it”. He turned to face the host who had an apologetic look on his 
face. “I'm not doing it,” he said. “Fuck you, I'm going to take my 
family and get the fuck out of this place”. “Well that's too bad 
Jackson, you see you didn't make a choice so you get the booby prize”. 
Jackson's blood suddenly went very cold. “What are you talking about?” 
he whimpered. “The thing is friend” said the host “if you don't make a 
choice in the sixty seconds not only do you lose your credits but both 
cylinders get electrified”. “Read the small print in future chump”. 
“No” Jackson screamed “no” but to the absolute delight of the audience 
the host pushed both buttons and all the people Jackson cared about 
were instantly killed in one foul swoop. Their bodies lay charred and 
smoking and very much dead. 

He dropped to his knees with tears streaming down his face, not being
able to take his eyes away from the smoking corpses that a minute ago 
had been living breathing human beings. “Not again” he sobbed “dear God 
not again”. Somewhere very far away Jackson could hear the crowd 
roaring for more blood and the host was telling the good people at home 
not to forget to watch the next exiting episode of “how much do you 
love me”?. 

THE END. 

Richard J Cobain. 


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