She sat next to him as he flipped to the first book in the New Testament and began scouring the pages until he found the 22nd chapter. She didn't miss the slight fingershake as he located the 14th verse.
"Matthew 22:14," he read aloud, "For many are...
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Tasha considered throwing her glasses across the room. Comparing the new paperwork to the old was infuriating. The simulations had been off, and it was painfully obvious when the Trial actually began–nearly a week ago. The information she had been fed was nothing but falsified nonsense to keep her in the dark. She rubbed her temples and shot Algernon a very pointed look.
Look at him. Just sitting there. Lying to me, she thought, her eyes narrowing.
He looked up right then, catching her off-guard, but before either of them could say anything the door swung open. Two livid Captains strode into the office just then, being followed closely by a very sheepish-looking Iris. She apologized profusely to Algernon, who simply waved her away before he turned his attention to the pair.
Bisa had always been somewhat unbothered by things. Even now, the only giveaway that she was angry came from the way she held her mouth closed tightly, the muscle in her jaw twitching. Lain, however, was an entirely different story.
He stood directly in front of the desk, his dark, hooded eyes narrowed in anger, fingers curling in and out of fists.
"Lain," Algernon greeted. "Bisa."
"Geoff is an idiot!" Lain fumed.
"I will not be shouted at," Algernon replied smoothly. "Compose yourself, Captain, and try again."
Tasha watched, intrigued. Algernon was in charge for a reason. He could control himself to a fault, and others seemed to fall in line as well. Lain looked like he would rather eat a snake but didn't argue. Instead, he rolled his eyes and stepped away from the desk, gesturing for Bisa to speak. The slight woman stepped forward and chose her words carefully. "Geoff is...out of control."
"How so?"
"He's insane," Lain hissed.
"What did he do."
"He's infiltrating the Trial," Bisa answered. "I don't know how. I didn't think he was smart enough to pull something like that off. But he did. He's trying to harm our kids."
"Well, that's not good." Maybe it was the lack of 'care' in his voice, but that response seemed to trigger more animosity from Lain, who was once again in front of his desk. "Of course it's not good. He nearly killed one of my kids yesterday with some unauthorized snake trap! He shouldn't be allowed to alter the Trial once it's already started."
"Tasha, is this correct?" Algernon asked, looking past the two. All three turned towards her. Tasha looked back down at her files and shuffled through them until she found Lain's pile. "Do you have the code?"
"For what?"
Tasha looked up pointedly. "The subject that was afflicted."
"L-1-3/s."
Tasha sifted through the rest of the papers and read over it. Her initial instinct was to raise her brows, but instead, she kept her face blank. Controlled. "This should have been communicated to the Head Captain as soon as it happened. Why isn't there an incident report?"
"Subjects react differently to the Trials, " Lain defended. "I thought it was his reaction to the standard ordeal. It wasn't until I went back and re-watched some of the recordings that I realized it had been tampered with."
"Miss Khan is correct, this should have been brought up with an incident report as soon as it happened." Algernon gave her a curt nod and she struggled to suppress the happiness that flooded her system. He turned his attention back on the others. "As it is, I've been having trouble with Geoff lately as well. I will speak with him."
"Do more than that," Lain countered. "Get him removed. Or I'll take this to the Council myself."
An empty, baseless threat, but he acknowledged it nonetheless.
The two left, Lain leading the charge. Thankfully it was Bisa who closed the door amicably, so it remained on the hinges. Algernon turned his attention back to his computer monitor.
"Tasha, I want you to join me over here."
She walked over and looked at the screen. "Is this...?"
"Trial footage. Yes. As Head Captain, I have access to each team, but because I have six subjects of my own I trust the other Captains to head up their own footage."
"This is..." sick. Tasha's gut twisted painfully as she looked at the kids on screen. The footage was somewhat grainy and barely in color, but they were definitely there. Definitely people. Kids, a few years younger than herself.
"The six of them as a group are intriguing." He turned off the monitor, noticing the way she'd begun to pale. "But what's more important than viewing them is to monitor their stats as closely as possible. The slightest change could be the difference between life and death."
A slight knock at the door brought Iris in, looking sheepish. "Excuse me, Algernon? Geoff is on the line for you."
"Excellent. Transfer the call to my cell, Iris."
"Will do."
He turned away from the desk to answer the call on his phone. Tasha went back to her own desk and sat down, mind-reeling. Spiritual Wellness. Could it really be achieved this way? She picked up another folder and opened it, but could barely focus on the words or numbers. It was hard to shake the feeling that this was happening, that it was real. The Trial was real. The kids were real.
Why did it feel so wrong?
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