The year was 6009. After the passing of the 28th amendment of the US Constitution had ruled that corporations are people and therefore could run for office, the world entered a new dark age as other nations followed suit and were swallowed up from the inside out. Most people expected a big tech company to swoop in and take advantage of this affront to freedom and democracy, but to everyone’s surprise it was Nicole’s Classic Neapolitan Ice Cream that won the 2032 election. 

They would be exposed in their third term to having been using subliminals messages and mind control techniques in their advertising which they expanded during their campaign. The Journalists who brought this to everyone’s attention were quickly captured and “re-educated” into being puppet mouthpieces of the state. People took their forced retractions and apologies at face value and accepted their new overlords with open arms as their free will was filled by propaganda. 

Naturally they used their influence to crush their competition. Not just other countries but other ice cream companies too. With the level of control they had they were almost 100% successful in erasing all ice cream flavors besides Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry from everyone’s memory. That’s when the resistance was formed; those of us who remembered the times before, the lies that were exposed and sought to preserve the wider variety of flavors for future generations to enjoy. We stood United against this triple-flavored threat that had an icey cold grip on a pacified society. 

My name is Sonny. I was the leader of a group of resistance fighters in the southern region of the North American Neapolitan Empire. Our base was under siege when we were discovered by the enforcers. We had a mole in our operations and they chose the night before we moved our protected recipe for Mint Chocolate Chip to strike. I stayed behind to distract them while the others evacuated. I have no idea if they saved the recipe but right now I had bigger problems on my hands as I sat restrained in a chair in an imperial interrogation room. 

My head was stuck in place with some sort of device that held it tight and kept my eyelids from closing. It was a sterile white room with blank glass walls and dull fluorescent lights, it radiated the kind of emptiness a person could go mad in if left alone for too long. I arrogantly believed I could withstand it though, I believed in the cause and I knew the truth so no matter what these tricolored bastards pulled I was so sure of myself that I could resist their cheap ploys. I was hardened against the subliminals they put in the constant advertising and propaganda they broadcasted 24/7 and torture wasn’t going to get me to break, they may have held me captive but they were powerless against me. 

I was shaken when I saw my interrogator was the mole, clicking her way into the barren room on her high heels dressed like a proper high-ranking officer of the Empire’s Enforcers instead of the timid tattered-clothes civilian we found her as. Turns out her real identity was Cindy Shortcake, 2nd lieutenant to the head of the region with a reputation for dismantling the most rebel cells in the last decade. I thought she made a big mistake, her smug treacherous face only strengthened my resolve to escape and deck her between the eyes as soon as I could. 

“I must say you ran a tight ship for a piece of rebel scum.” She complemented with the bluntest of backhands, “Most other rebel squads or cells or whatever didn’t give us as much trouble as you to sniff out and find. Most were found and dealt with within a week of hearing of them distributing their illegal goods. You and your lot had this level four Consumable-Hazard you call “Mint Chocolate Chip” on the black market for a good two months before we noticed.”

She paused waiting for me to react before continuing to boast, “Well rest assured the damage you cause has been dealt with. Your distributors are all locked up and undergoing reconditioning, all external contacts to other rebel cells have been either severed or traced back and we have melted and disposed of every last drop of your illegal product. But that doesn’t mean the job is done just yet, is it now?”

“You don’t scare me.” I softly yet sternly shot back at her. She took it in stride as if she had heard that phrase a hundred times before. The tiniest part of me that was scared of all of this had a hunch she had. 

“Scaring you isn’t the end goal dear,” She scoffed, “We don’t want our citizens to fear us, we want them to be happy. And you, just like all of the other rebels despite your crimes, are still our citizens even if you deny it. Just naughty children who don’t know any better than to bite the hand that feeds them. But with enough love and care we can help you realize what a mistake that is and how you’re only hurting yourself.”

“You’re the one threatening me right now!” I screamed, her words causing my hatred and anger to reach a boiling point, “You can’t claim to love people while restricting their freedoms and denying them variety! You can’t make people forget there’s more to life than one choice disguised as three choices no matter how much you try!”

“Tsk tsk tsk,” she calmly responded, “Lashing out just like an angry child. This is why we have to step in, all these other flavors put such dangerous ideas in your head. It may feel good to act like you’re some hero saving everyone but really ask yourself, are you any happier than the millions who live peacefully under our rule? Can you say you’ve lived a more prosperous life worrying about getting caught than someone who does what they're told and simply enjoys the purity of the three Neapolitan flavors?”

I went back to giving her the cold shoulder after I realized words weren’t going to win this battle for me, she would always find a way to twist them so I was wrong in her eyes. She simply shrugged and reached for a remote in her pocket saying, “You can stay quiet like a pouty child all you want but you know I’m right deep down. But don’t just take my word for it, why not ask your friends?”

Before I could ask what the hell she meant by that she clicked a button on the remote and the walls flickered. Turns out they were big screens and they were now displaying different members of my rebel faction. Each of them had dull, dreamy eyes with a limp smile on their faces and they were reciting common advertising mantras one might’ve heard in the propaganda and apologies for “denying the truth and purity of the three flavors”. Were it not for the accursed device keeping my eyes opened I would’ve locked them closed to deny what I was seeing. 

“You see now?” Cindy asked, “You friends didn’t make it far despite your efforts to prolong their suffering. Now they’ve gotten the proper care they need and are ready to be reintroduced back into society, happy that they know the truth again. Truly and honestly happy.”

I tried to spit out some sort of rebellious venom but I was too shell-shocked and all I could manage was to ask, “How did you find them all so quickly? They still managed to get away and find shelter, I know they did! It’s only been a few hours you couldn’t have found them that quickly!”

“A few hours?” She commented, shaking her head, “My dear it’s been days since we found you all. You’ve been solitary confinement while we’ve been gathering up all your silly rebellious friends.”

“No no no,” I feebly denied, “you’re lying that can’t be possible! Why don’t I feel tired or hungry?!”

“Simple, we’ve been keeping you sedated and feeding you generously. We only stopped so we could have this heart to heart and ensure you weren’t honestly hiding anything from us that you didn’t already tell us while under the effects of our special serum.”

I could only stammer, it was all too much. Her sharp confident words, the soft yet happy monotone of my brainwashed allies, the immobility I struggled against, it was all too much to comprehend and I was feeling my inner fear expanding until it overtook my whole being. Cindy pressed another button and suddenly my friends disappeared and I just saw myself. 

I was sitting in a chair in a padded room with a straightjacket on, a breathing mask hooked up to me connected to three canisters colored white, brown and pink. I looked even more dazed and lifeless than my friends and were it not for the sound of my breathing you wouldn’t have thought I was alive. An attendant came in with a bowl of Neapolitan ice cream, which they fed me after taking off my mask, and I slurred out a pathetic little “thank you” in gratitude like I was on autopilot. The attendant held back the rest of the bowl and told me I could finish it if I revealed the location of the resistance safe houses. 

I could scarcely believe myself speak as I thoughtlessly listed off where each of my friends would be hiding and giving the names of any conspirators helping them. I never felt so ashamed and hopeless, I wanted it all taken away from me. I saw myself getting affixed with the breathing mask again and my heart betrayed me as I wished I couldn’t think anymore like the me I saw on screen. 

“You were such a big help to ending this pointless conflict you know.” Cindy reassured me, “Thanks to you order is being restored and your friends are safe. I hope you realize we’re not holding you to wrench any more secrets out of you, we’re simply trying to help you realize the truth. You understand that now don’t you?”

I couldn’t speak. I was too heartbroken. I could only desperately try to deny what I had done by saying “you’re lying” over and over”.

Cindy simply sighed and brushed my head, “Silly child denying what’s right in their face. Don’t worry, we haven’t failed to help anyone so far and we won’t with you. It’s time we moved on to phase two of our rehabilitation program here.”

She knelt down to the side of my chair and pulled out a breathing mask like the one I wore in the video. I tried to twist my head so she couldn’t clasp it around me but she just giggled at my futile attempts. She then clicked a button on the remote and left the room. The screens then changed to a multicolored spiral, a mesmerizing collage of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry colors assaulting my senses. 

I could make out words flashing inbetween frames, no doubt trying to implant messages about the truth in my vulnerable mind. I could also hear audio of my friends reciting said messages for emphasis, which helped to hurry how quickly my already thin resolve was dissolving. Before I could muster any modicum of fiery rebellion in my heart, I heard the hissing of the gas tanks beneath my chair and I was overwhelmed by the heavenly scents of the true flavors. 

I didn’t know how long I was under but I knew it didn’t matter anymore. It was all so clear to me now. We were being naughty children who needed to learn that the truth wasn’t scary at all. The empire was right to hide the other flavors from us, they weren’t the correct flavors to live a happy and prosperous life. 

Too much variety and free will only led to rebellion and I came to realize rebellion had never brought me happiness. As I sat there staring longingly into the enrapturing colors of the truth, breathing the intoxicating scent of its purity into my lungs, I realized I was happier than I had ever been in a long time. Memories of mint chocolate chip or rocky road or blue moon faded away into a meaningless mush in my head, all my thoughts of anger and fear getting buried under the joy and bliss of knowing what was real for the first time in my life. 

I said as much when I was asked by Cindy to appear on television and tell my story. I couldn’t help myself but extol the virtues of the empire and how they helped me realize how kind and generous they had been to us all along. I gave them names and locations of the last few rebel cells I had been keeping to myself when I was still lying to myself. It felt good, correct even, to give myself completely to a cause that I had renewed faith in. 

I now serve alongside Cindy as third lieutenant, my knowledge of how the rebels work is invaluable to the empire and I’m ecstatic to serve them. That said I’m still under supervision, a former rebel like me needs to be constantly monitored and reconditioned lest I fall susceptible to lies again. I look forward to being strapped in and being fed a delicious bowl of Neapolitan every night by Cindy in the reconditioning chamber. Sometimes she joins me even, a good officer can always be made better she would tell me. 

I cannot think of anywhere I’d rather be. I have found my bliss after being lost for so long. I was rewarded for my struggle and the reward is as sweet as chocolate, vanilla and strawberry combined.