Windfall

Chapter 5

Kate found herself sitting on a foldout chair in front of a table that was of equally cheap foldout quality. The only other furnishing was a single other foldout chair across the table from her. Two walls where mint green up to the middle, then white to the ceiling, with brief silver strip separating the two colors. The other two walls were mint green to the middle then mirrored glass the rest of the way up. Kate caught her own reflection in the glass and scowled, but at least she seemed to have her clothing back on. The lighting in the room was too bright for comfort and it gave everything a very antiseptic quality to its already pristine emptiness.

That’s when Kate realized where she was.

“Rats.” She swore and cradled her head in her hands, glaring down at the table between her elbows. She knew this place. It was a program that she had gotten when she was fifteen and trying to cope with a back alley rape. Being here meant that it had happened again, but since she didn’t remember it yet, it would mean that it was either still going on or she had shut down to prevent herself from being there for it. It wasn’t really fair that that would get her a ticket here. She didn’t want to be here anymore than she wanted to be there. At least here there weren’t the physical pains to cope with while the rape was happening, small mercies.

A door that hadn’t been in the room moments ago opened up and Kate heard the heels of the doctor, who was also part of the program, walk into the room. Kate glanced up to see the bespeckled woman take her seat across the table and cross her stockinged legs. The woman wore a white lab coat and was really rather stereotypical of a doctor, but then that had been all that Kate had been able to afford at the time. She had never thought to upgrade the program. This was not to have happened again, ever.

“Kate Ishida?” The woman asked, leaning forward and resting her chin on her knuckles in a pose similar to Kate’s. “How are you doing today dear?”

“I am fine Dr. Winters.” Kate cringed at the small knowing smile that curved on the woman’s lips. She had forgotten that the program was more astute than its looks would have given it credit for. Kate had always been pretty good about getting the most that she could for the money that she spent. It didn’t seem worthwhile to have to make a purchase twice because the first didn’t prove to be worthwhile or resilient. This one had been more than she had expected to get from the amount that she had paid.

“Can you tell me anything about what was going on before you shut down?”

Kate considered hedging her answers for about a heartbeat before just sighing and giving in. The program could go on for what felt like months with only minutes floating by in the real world. So lying to the doctor or not answering at all could get her a padded room for a lengthy stay that was more annoying than anything else. She would end up remembering every day she spent in that room, then wake up in the real world and not have had any time at all passed. She had found it to be a very annoying experience the first time that it had happened and preferred not to repeat it. There was nothing like having someone try talking to you about yesterday and having little or no memory about what had gone on. To her the ‘yesterday’ of the person speaking to her had happened months ago. Her brain’s augmentations helped with that, but it still left a sense of unreal distance to it.

“Not yet, no. Well, I know they had me pinned down. I remember them cutting my clothing off. It was cold. Then I was out.” Kate knew she didn’t sound like she wanted to answer the questions, but since she was being honest she should be able to bypass the doctors annoying lock-up habits. As soon as she was out of here though, she had to remember to wipe this program from her banks. No matter what happened she didn’t want to have to sit through this again. She would find a way to cope without the psycho-ward being in on it.