Experiment #13

The New Kid

Lina felt herself coming to and her she blinked as her vision began to restore. She felt tired. Really tired. She took a deep breath in and sighed. She turned her head and was startled when she saw the man from before sitting in a chair and watching her. She opened her mouth to speak, but the man suddenly stood up.

"Hey, hey, don't speak. It's alright, you're okay. You just fell asleep for a while. Everything's okay."

Lina began to calm down and turned her head to face the ceiling. She breathed for another moment as the man walked around her, still holding the clipboard in his hands.

"What happened...?" lina mumbled.

"It's alright, you just fainted. Most people faint the first time, but it's normal. Don't get up too fast. Take all the time you need."

The rest of Lina's senses began to awaken and she tried sitting up on the table. Her head felt heavy, but for the most part she seemed fine. Mostly tired, but fine.

"You still feel okay? Any pain, dizziness, numbness?"

"Um..... no... No, I don't think so."

"Good. That's good. When you feel ready, we can leave. But take all the time you need."

Lina did take a moment to make sure she was really okay. She wanted to leave as soon as possible, but she didn't want to throw up along the way.

"Um... what was..... What was that stuff you put in me?" Lina asked quietly. The man didn't look at her.

"Don't worry about it. Just relax and take all the time you need."

Lina sighed and slowly shifted off the table. She leaned forward and touched the ground. The man watched as she steadied herself and took a few more deep breaths before nodding to herself.

"Okay... I think I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah..."

"Alright, let's go then."

The man approached the door and opened it for Lina. They both stepped back out into the white hallway and went back into the elevator. They went back up a few floors and Lina didn't pay any attention as to where they were going. She felt too tired to think. They stepped back out into another white hallway and stopped at a door. The man knocked on it before opening and Lina automatically walked inside.

"I'm finished with her. She's perfectly healthy." said the man.

"Oh that's good! Thank you, I'll take her from here!" said a cheerful voice.

Lina looked up and noticed she was back in Cass' office. The man behind her closed the door and left. Lina sat back down in the metal chair, a little more relaxed this time.

"Look like everything went okay, how do you feel?"

"Um... I'm..... I'm okay, I think."

"That's good. You were gone a bit longer than I expected, but that's okay."

"Huh? How... how long was I asleep?"

"Hmm... about half an hour or so. You look a little tired. Are you sure you feel okay?"

Lina looked down and rubbed the inside of her palm.

"I... That guy..... What was that... weird stuff he put in me? Is that normal?"

"Hm? Of course, the checkups are all perfectly normal! We're just making sure you're healthy, that's all."

Lina wasn'st comforted by that answer. Whatever that stuff was... she hadn't seen anything like it before. It couldn't have been medicine or some sort of vaccine. Lina leaned back in her chair as Cass typed away on her computer. She noticed something bugging her and she reached into her back pocket and pulled out her iPod, which she was unaware of the whole time. She was surprised to see it, the earbud cord still wrapped around it. She didn't notice Cass looking up at her.

"Oh, is that an iPod?"

Lina stiffened and held it with both hands.

"Y-yeah. It's mine."

"Where'd you get it?"

"U-um... it was an early birthday gift..... From my mom."

"Aw, that's so cute! Y'know, I have one too. I meant to bring it with me today, but I think I left it in my car. Can I see yours?"

"B... but it's mine."

"Oh, it alright, I'm not going to take it from you. I just wanna see it."

Lina was hesitent at first, until Cass reached out her hand and she slowly reached her arm out to let her take it. Cass unwrapped the cord and turned it over in her palm.

"Ooh, that's a nice color. I like the blue. Mine's black. I almost got purple, but I went with black instead. How many songs do you have on it?"

"Um... I dunno. A lot. Can I have it back now?"

Lina noticed Cass hesitating. Her smile faded and she looked up at Lina.

"Um... okay, I'm going to be honest with you... We're not allowed to have personal things with us. Even you. I'm sorry, that's just how it works here. Believe me, if they didn't have that rule, I'd ask them to paint the walls a different color."

"So... what does that mean?"

"Well..." Cass sighed, "Okay, promise not to tell anyone? Even though your not allowed to have personal items with you, I'll keep this a secret too. I'll keep this for you, and it's still yours. I even have a charger with me so I can charge it for you whenever you see me. If anyone else sees you with this, they will take it from you. But I promise I'll keep it safe. I don't know what they'd do if they took it from you. Plus, these things are expensive."

Lina wasn't sure she was telling the truth. She didn't want to trust her.

"It's okay, I promise I'll keep this safe, and you can have it back whenever you want. Just make sure it stays hidden so no one will see it, okay?"

"You're..... you're gonna hide it for me?"

"Yes, exactly. Is that okay?"

"When do I get it back?"

"Well, since your new, you'll be coming back often to see me. Since the days almost over, I'll hide it for you. And you can come get it back tomorrow. What do you think?"

Lina was still hesitent, but somehow she could tell that Cass was being honest.

"Um........ okay. Sure. But please don't let anyone else take it."

"I promise. This is between you and me."

Cass opened one of her drawers and Lina watched as she carefully put it inside and closed it.

"As long as it stays with me, it'll be completely safe."

Lina felt a pain in her chest that dropped down to her stomach as Cass closed the cabinet drawer. She really hoped she'd get it back soon. She watched as Cass typed long sentences into her computer before smiling and leaning back in her chair.

"Okay, I think that's all I need from you today! We'll probably meet again tomorrow. But I've finished processing you and now you don't have anything to worry about for the rest of the day!"

"What? ... What do you mean process-"

The door suddenly opened behind them and one of the guards in white armor from before stood in the doorframe.

"Ah, perfect. Lina, you just follow them and they'll get you set up, okay?"

"Um... yeah..."

Lina couldn't find the words to say anything else as the guard behind her was too intimidating. She stood up from the chair and slowly walked out of the room. The guard made Lina walk ahead of them as they headed towards the elevator. They waited in awkward silence for a moment, waiting for the elevator to arrive and open its doors. When it did, they stepped inside and the guard pressed the top button and Lina felt as they moved upwards. A lot farther than it had gone before. When the doors opened again, Lina and the guard stepped out into a small concrete room with a large metal door on the other side. The guard stepped in front of Lina and opened it, a wave of cold air hit Lina and made her shiver. The guard waited for her to go through first and Lina was surprised to find that they were outside. It was late in the afternoon and she was surrounded by tall trees, as if they had just stepped into a forest. The guard closed the door behind them and poked Lina to get moving. They began to walk along a path in the dirt and Lina kept her head down most of the time as she walked alongside the guard. She only looked up once or twice to see that there were more guards posted around the area, as if outlining the edge of where they were allowed to go.

Lina was even more nervous now. None of this made any sense to her.

Through the grove, Lina spotted a building up ahead. When they got closer, Lina noticed it was a large, solid concrete building. Two guards stood outside the entrance and all the windows around the building had bars.

"Hey, we got a new one." said the guard to the other two standing by the door. Lina and the guard stopped just a few feet from the entrance.

"A new one already?"

"Yeah. She's just been processed too."

"Good. I'll take her from here."

The guard beside her left and the guard by the door opened it for her and waited for Lina to step inside.

"This way." said the guard as they led her down the hall. Each door they passed was also metallic and bolted. They went up two flights of stairs before the guard stopped by a door near the end of the hallway and opened it for her.

"This is where you'll stay. Remember it."

Lina nervously stepped inside and the guard shut the door behind her with a slam. Lina looked around the cold room to see... well not much. There was a smaller door off to the side which Lina guessed was probably a bathroom, and in front of her were two old beds... and a little girl with messy brown hair, a purple frilly shirt and light blue pants curled up in the corner. She looked up and they made eye contact. The girl looked... miserable.

Lina sat down on the opposite bed.

"Um... hi."

The little girl didn't say anything."Uh... m-my name's... Lina. I... I just got here."

The little girl shifted nervously and sniffed. She glanced up at her once or twice, but it was clear she was afriad.

"What... what happened to you?" Lina asked.

The girl sniffed, inhaled painfully and pulled her closer to her chest and hugged them tightly.