Sonder

Sonder

The realization that someone aside from you is living a life as vivid and complex as yours. A life full of ambitions, friends, routines, worries, and inherited craziness. Their own epic stories that are unknown to you, as if they do not exist.

“We have the presentation as you requested, sir.”

“Introduce the new project. And hurry with it, we’re against the clock now.”

After taking a puff of his cigar, the man with slicked-back hair looked towards the stage in on the opposite end of the room. The room smelled of smoke and bad coffee and it hummed with the whispers of many men and women around the large table. It was clear that there was a mix amongst the people here. Whether it be race, gender, or features in general, no one could deny that there were people who either took this seriously and others who didn’t want to be there. The lights dimmed until the room became dark and once the woman with tied up hair walked up to the podium, the room went silent. Clearing her throat, she began to speak and her melodic voice filled the room without the help of a microphone.

“The Affinity Experiment has been put aside for far too long. As we are all aware, we are in a time and age where we live in fear of where we have lead humanity. Is war really what our purpose is?” She started, pacing the stage with great presence, the sound of her heels clicking against the tile filling in the silence between sentences. “That question is up to debate, of course. Though, I’m sure that all of us can collectively agree that there is another World War around the corner if something does not change. Think about it. Is there truly any sign that there can be peace within the nations as of now?” This time, a small wave of agreement filled the room which encouraged the woman to finally smile as she adjusted her glasses.

“That is why we are here today. We could be the last hope there is to bring peace. Not just to satisfy this war, but forever for generations to come. Our labs hypothesize that it is the empathy humanity lacks that causes all of this violence to begin with and after many different tests, we can confirm that this works, and it is key to forming a perfect society,” the woman said as a series of images flooded the screen behind her. They were all charts and notes full of scientific terms no one quite understood. What captured the eyes of the audience, though, was progress and good results. “Not only will there be peace, but this may be what we need to possibly even save the world. All it takes is a link to motivate us to help others and make better choices. All we need is one more test to prove it.”

The room then had a wave of conversation filled the room, some approval while others were wary of if a project like this could really be the key to all these benefits. The crowd was interested to say at the least, and the woman smiled seeing the stir in the crowd. “I can see that some of you are still skeptical, but allow us to introduce our new project. Then we will discuss funding.”

The man sitting at the very end of the table took one more puff of his cigar before leaning forward. It was as if he was bored, but the announcement of the project finally intrigued him. On the screen, the words “The Affinity Experiment. Project #9” transitioned in. “For as long as we can remember, our society has been divided in some shape or form due to differences. From gender, race, or sexuality, there has always been some conflict between different groups. These conflicts start minor until they grow into movements and they grow into what we are experiencing today. War. Using the Affinity Experiment, we will be uniting people who belong to groups that don’t normally mix and have them go through a series of tests, pushing them into complicated and emotional situations so that they can push aside their biases and experience empathy.”

The woman then adjusted her glasses as she took a stack of papers into her hands. “We chose an area in the US to host this experiment. There is a quiet city in the state of Oklahoma where we observed the age group of 15 to 18 and found six social issues. Family, Poverty, Wealth, Disability, Gifted, and LGBTQ. We chose seven candidates for these categories which I will read to you now,” the woman announced. She lifted the papers for her to read the information as everyone’s eyes went to the screen that showed a series of photos and the profile sheets she was reading off.

“Family. Kaito Vermillion. Age 17. Male. Passionate for music of all genres, he is the pride and joy of the Vermillion family and is destined to carry on the family name.”

“Family. Nicole Vermillion. Age 17. Female. Unlike her twin, she doesn’t show much of an interest in music. Because of this, she is the castaway.”

“Wealth. Ryan Sullivan. Age 16. Male. He is the wealthiest in this area within this age group. Along with that, he is also the top student of not only his class but the school as a whole.”

“Poverty. Amber Haynes. Age 17. Female. She is the poorest in this area within this age group. Because of her financial crisis, Amber also has a criminal record consisting of theft and destruction of Amazon property.”

“Disability. Kyra Dawn. Age 15. Female. She was a great athlete to the point of becoming our candidate for our ‘Gifted’ category. However, she lost this title three years ago when she got in a car accident and the broken glass impaired her eyes, making her blind.”

“Gifted. Axel Steele. Age 17. Male. Axel is our candidate for gifted due to popular belief in his high school. He’s well-liked and seems to have great ability both physically and mentally.”

“And finally, our last student who belongs to the LGBTQ community. Levi Hawthorne. Age 16. Male. His sexuality has been kept secret due to fear of oppression. He was nominated thanks to a close family member he revealed this information to.”

The audience reviewed more information on these teenagers through electronic tablets, but there was still not much to go off of other than the information that was announced. It was clear that preparation for this new experiment was quite rushed, and considering the circumstances, it was understandable. Though everyone in the room obviously needed to be completely sure that this was something they wanted to fund. Their own growth was in the interest of most of them, not some problematic kids that were going to test their new product.

“The teenagers will be tested immediately. They will be going through a series of self-development and work together to overcome obstacles that we have set for them. They will be supervised 24/7 and will be forced to interact with each other, despite their opposing backgrounds that would normally cause conflict. This experiment will certainly come out successful and will be the key to end this war and anything after,” the woman concluded. The man with slicked-back hair took one final puff of his cigar before putting it out and taking the tablet into his hands. He didn’t bother to look at the information provided. He simply inputted the amount he was going to fund into the experiment and confirmed it. His action paved the way for the other audience members to pitch in their amounts, painting a smile on the woman’s face. “Thank you. Your sacrifices will change the world forever.”