What's a life worth?

Chapter 5

          Isaac yawned, "I feel like I've done this trip 100 times by now.." Aisha sat next to him responded, "This would be the third time, so it may be repetitive, but today is your dormitory room appointment. After this, you'll only have to make one more trip like this." Isaac sighed. Once again, the two were on their way to the other side of the megacity. Today Isaac had an appointment with a counselor to figure out what room he will be living in for the semester.

          Isaac stood in front of a counter with Aisha quietly behind him. Shortly after arriving, a short lady hurriedly came out the door on the side and up to the counter, "Ah, sorry. I always need my coffee in the morning, or else I won't wake up." Isaac awkwardly chuckled, "You're fine. I completely understand." The lady finished adjusting herself in the chair and then spoke to Isaac, "Can I see your student I.D. card? I'll see what you need from there." Isaac handed over his I.D. card, and the lady quickly looked him up. After taking a sip of her coffee, she spoke, "Hm, so you're that guy. Alright. I'll show you around to a few different rooms that are open. You can choose whichever one you'd like to live in." The lady glanced over at Aisha before getting down from her chair and out the door on the side.

          Isaac and Aisha followed the lady as she spoke, "My name is Reina Strassara. I'm obviously one of the consolers here at JCE." The group passed by a couple of rooms as Reina continued speaking, "I'll show you three rooms for today. I don't believe any of the people you might be living with are still in their rooms, so you'll have to make your decision based on what you see in the community area and your room itself." Isaac had a terribly depressing look as he followed behind Reina. Even still, he forced out a question, "How many people live in each room?" Reina seemed to jump for joy at the question, "This part of the dorm room is set up for two people per room. It's not that weird, though, because each person has a helper like you do." She turned her head and smiled at Isaac before stopping at a door.

          She asked Isaac to stay outside for a moment, and then she opened the door to check and see if someone was still inside. In the meantime, Isaac sighed and quietly said, "This still seems like an invasion of privacy." Once she was done, Reina opened the door, "Nobody's home, come on in!" Isaac entered the room hesitantly. Once he was inside, Reina spoke, "All of the rooms pretty much look like this. The only difference, I guess would be in upkeep? This person does seem like they're a really nice person, though. And they're probably closer to a clean freak than a slob."

          Isaac looked around the room. There was a decently sized living, dining, and kitchen area completely furnished. Reina was right about the place being pretty clean, except for a plate in the sink that could be contributed to leftover breakfast. Reina triumphantly stood in the kitchen before speaking, "The rooms here are symmetrical. So behind each door is a room along with a bathroom. If you chose this room, your room would be on the right." She then moved over to the door to her left and unlocked it with a key. Isaac moved over to the door while asking a question, "Why was the door locked if no one is living in there?" Reina opened the door as she responded, "Because we don't want someone to move in first and start planting cameras to stalk the other person!" The group entered the room, and Reina turned on the light. There was a decent-sized bed in the corner with a desk and T.V. also in the room. Isaac never checked the bathroom, but apparently, it was also spacious, according to Reina.

          The group was back in the living room when Reina spoke, "So, what do you think? Would you like to look at the other options?" Isaac quietly looked over his shoulder at Aisha. Subtlety, Aisha tapped her nails together once. As weird as this may seem, this was the deciding factor. Reina has assumed that Isaac would decide which place to live. However, in reality, Aisha was really the person making the decision. The reason was that if Isaac had a choice, he wouldn't even be in college. So it was better to let Aisha decide this in her own mind. And after considering the person who lived in this room, which she found out through her sources online, and the shape of the room when they entered, she decided this room would be fine. After hearing Aisha's nails tap together once, Isaac turned back to Reina, "I'll actually just take this room. It left a good impression on me."