'Them'

“This pain, Doctor, it is excruciating, and I’m so weak.”

Margaret fainted out of exhaustion.

Dr. Smart had no other curative options besides euthanasia—or ‘Them,’ government-sanctioned and approved, but always issued at the steepest cost.

Margaret awoke, gasping for breath.

“Margaret, you’re terminal. You have two weeks. You can wait, end your life now, or ...” Dr. Smart stammered, “Or choose ‘Them.’”

“Oh, the cure, Dr. Smart! I’m a candidate?”

“It’s no cure Margaret, your soul survives, but the rest ...”

“I know the consequences. I’m not afraid, Doctor.”

Margaret signed for ‘Them.’ Dr. Smart injected the nanite serum.