“Good morning everyone, we hope all of you are in high spirits as the annual brainstorm approaches us tonight. Don’t forget to go out and grab the best brain you can! I know I’ll be trying.” The news lady laughs, her eyes sparkling with delight.

The camera goes over to her co-anchor who smiles, a waxy smile so close to melting. “I will be trying too, Jamie. Hopefully, this next brain will help me get a raise.”

She laughs again, a bit too forced this time. “Hopefully.”

The screen turns black as Faith presses the power button on the remote in her hand. She never understood why people made such a big deal about brainstorm day. Didn’t they find it utterly gross that there were brains scattered everywhere and stuck to almost everything? She sighs, knowing they didn’t care. Of course, they wouldn’t because they weren’t part of the sanitation crew. It was her job to clean up the brains no one wanted and to pick up the ones left behind. Brains were so gross and if you dropped one on your shoes, well, you could kiss that pair goodbye.

A good brain sanitation worker always wore rain boots but Faith didn’t. Her shoes were the only individual thing about her. She would take the time to draw intricate designs on her sneakers throughout her work days. Yes, brain sanitation workers didn’t just work one day of the year. Brain pickups usually took a couple of weeks and after pick up came sorting. From there, a brain sanitation worker had to do a thorough analysis of the brain categorizing it as good, average, or bad. Good brains were sent off to labs but there were rumors they were actually sold off to the highest bidder. Average brains were put into storage units and sometimes placed inside robotic bodies to help companies do menial tasks. While the bad brains were destroyed as they had no use for the betterment of society.

Faith hated encountering bad brains. Granted, she hated encountering any brains which begs the question as to why she even got a job as a brain sanitation worker. The answer was this. She didn't have much of a choice. Years ago, when her rent due date was a looming cloud, she only had one opportunity available. Everyone around her told her to just take a chance and grab a new brain. But she didn't want a new brain. The thing about new brain acquisitions that no one talked about was the personality changes. Putting in a new brain meant erasing every part of yourself and staring at a stranger in the mirror every day. And sure there were times where she wished she was anyone but her…but to lose herself completely? It just wasn’t something she’d want to risk.

Shaking herself away from her thoughts, Faith looks at the clock on her wall. It was time to go to work and do her societal duty. With a sigh, she grabs her jacket and leaves.