Everywhere

Two

I have retreated myself to the corner of the room. The entire room is overflowing with staff and hear people talking, some are even yelling and others are busy with the equipment. More staff members are entering the room, driving me into the corner even more. 'Listen! This isn't going to work this way. The number of individuals has to be less.', dr. Lich yells. The room is getting less crowded with staff that is leaving, and I see my opportunity. 'Not you.' Dr. Lich grabs my arm and pulls me forward. He puts me in a place where I can see subject X very well and pushes an iPad in my hand. What am I supposed to do with this thing? I am standing right next to the table. I get a bit overwhelmed seeing it's appearance that way. This is the first time that I get the chance to see it entirely. The thing seems female. Her body just lies there, looking lifeless on the glass table. It makes me wonder if she even is alive. She is all stripped down and cleaned from the top to the bottom. Her skin is pale, almost white and her hands and lips are a bit purple which I assume is from the temperature here. She has long dark brown hair, with a slight wave in it. Her entire face is covered with bruises and wounds. There is still coming blood out of the scrape on one side of her face. The blood is beyond strange. It has a dark red-looking color and a thick viscous substance. For some reason I assumed that her blood was white. But what stuns me the most are her hands. First, they are very small and they have five fingers instead of four. What is she supposed to do with the fifth one? 'Can somebody get me a hot cloth?', I hear someone calling. I feel a bit ashamed looking at her like that, but I can't look away either. This is not what I expected from researching extraterrestrial life. My internship coordinator insisted that I should go take this internship. She thought that it was something for me and someone of my age rarely gets an opportunity like this. One of the first investigations of human anatomy and behavior in a lifetime. I wanted to turn this opportunity down, but got shy and didn't dare to say that. My mother wasn't too thrilled about it either. She found it very a dangerous job to do. I also think that someone else is better suited for this project because I don't think I have the gut for this. They flip her body on her left side and start feeling where her spine is located. I tend to close my eyes a bit. The way that they are poking and squeezing her body parts, makes me feel a bit uneasy, but also a bit curious at the same time. I wonder if her skin feels different from the ones we have. They are still shouting things to each other and making sure that everything they observe, gets listed down. Am I supposed to watch every single bit of this? I don't think my sensitive stomach is going to be pleased with that. 'Sorry, you are in my way.' One of the female staff members pushes me aside. I almost let the iPad fall out of my hands. Two other members are at it with cotton swabs. They are sticking them up her nose and in her mouth. I get a white, red-spotted towel pressed into my hands. 'Can you throw this away please?' I take my chance and walk out of the room as quickly as I can. I can't look at this anymore. I look at the towel and startle for a moment. Given the red color, I know for sure the blood that's on it is hers. I nervously look around to see if there is a trash can somewhere nearby. There is not. I need to get this thing out of my hands. I don't know where to put it, so I tuck it in one of my pockets. I know it's a really weird thing to do, but I don't have a better option at this point. I can't be away for too long. I might get the chance to throw it away during my lunch break. I look at my hands to see if the blood maybe has been stained on them, but it hasn't. I can still hear the noisy voices from the examination room further down the hall. As I think about it I figure out I am not planning on going back there. Maybe I'll just wait over here, or I can wander around this hallway a bit. Maybe, I can even get a cup of matcha in the cafeteria downstairs. No, that maybe goes a little bit too far. That will cost me my study points. I let out a deep sigh. Like I even care about those stupid points. And it is not that I and my internship supervisor like each other. I I pull my employee card from my chest pocket and look at it. Luckily, it only has my surname on it.  Out of frustration, I rub my face with my hands. Why did I let myself get into this? There is no way back now. I sigh and put the card back on it's place. I should've just stuck with examining pregnant water fleas under the microscope. But what do I do now? I don't want to go back to that room, but I also can't stay here. After a lot of thinking I decided what I am going to do. I'll just stay here for a little longer, maybe walk around this hallway a bit. Then I'll go back and tell them that I couldn't find the bin. When I stroll further down the hallway, I end up in front of the room. The room where she will be kept in the upcoming time. The electric doors are made of glass so that someone can always keep an eye on her. And that someone is me. I got the job of almost watching her 24/7 and keeping her occupied. Almost like a babysitter. Well, that might be a bit exaggerated, but it does feel like it. I also have to daily check her vitals and bring her food. But whatever I do, I have to make sure she doesn't escape. Not that she gets the chance. The doors respond only to staff who work here, so it is almost impossible for her to escape. She has a bed and a nightstand and she gets a bathroom with a toilet and a sink, but with no water. There is also a 3d-hologram, but that is only for us to get quickly into the system. Fortunately, there is a large window overlooking the city, so at least she has something fun to look at. Only the glass is thick and blinded from the outside, so no one can see, let alone hear her. All of sudden, I can hear noise coming down from the hallway. It seems they are done with the somatic screening. Subject X is now lying on a stretcher. She is wearing some white trousers and top. It looks way too big on her, but at least she is wearing something now. 'Watch out!', I hear someone say and I quickly step aside. The doors slide open and then close again. A couple of the male staff members pick her up like a rag doll and lay her on the bed. When she is finally settled, all of the staff members leave the room one by one. They walk past me without saying a word. It seems that dr. Lich wasn't paying attention to me anyway. Just when I want to follow the crowd, a strange feeling is stopping me. I suddenly feel a big urge to take a look at her. All on my own? No, I probably shouldn't do that. But my curiosity takes over and before I know it, I'm standing on the end of the bed. They've put some plasters on the deep cuts in her face, and her left arm is hooked up to what looks like a glucose drip. 'Indeed, mister Ferlins, take a good look at what she looks like.' I turn around and see that dr. Lich is standing behind me. 'Sorry', I apologize. 'No, you don't have to apologize, you are doing the right thing.' He walks over to the side of the bed and bows down over Subject X. 'Just look at that face.' He looks at me inquiringly. 'Does that look human to you?' I shrug my shoulders and say nothing. 'Humans could be quite aggressive you know.' I look at him a bit confused. 'What do you mean?' 'Well, this one didn't want to be taken.' Now I'm even more confused. 'Doesn't everybody want that?', I respond. He doesn't answer his and comes to stand behind me again. He gives me a firm pat on the back and whispers in my ear: 'Good luck with your internship. Make sure you don't mess up.'