Lost Atoms

Chapter 8

"What size clothes do you wear?" Al asks us, as we enter what used to be the lobby of the hospital. The walls are immaculately white and there's blue-backed chairs scattered around. The contrast between this place and the mall is striking; it's obvious the hospital is cleaned regularly.

A large mural is painted behind a wooden care desk. It depicts a giant human hand, but there's some kind of animal, maybe a bird of some sort, perched atop one of the fingers.

"I'm a small," says Cail, and Zenith and I respond with 'large'.

Al goes behind the desk and pulls three similar tracksuits of green and white, complete with matching socks and underwear from a cupboard. They are wrapped in a transparent material.

"You'll have to shower and change," Al informs us. "Just leave your current clothes down here and we'll collect them later. Leave your bags too. We're careful about bringing dust and dirt upstairs. There are washrooms at the end of that hallway there, and when you're done, you can meet me on the second floor."

We each shower. In my washroom, the walls are already wet. I recognize the faint, sweet smell that I'm so familiar with. Navani showered here. But then, why are there small grey hairs by the drain?

When I finish, Cail and Zenith are already waiting for me in the lobby. We look like true representatives of the Earth Revival Alliance in our new outfits.

"Ready to go?" Cail asks, and we climb the stairs to the second floor.

The landing of the second floor looks fairly similar to the first, but a commanding voice from behind the desk startles me.

"Halt! You have brought unsanctioned items upstairs with you!" it says.

A girl with short blonde hair and wide blue eyes walks over. She's looking at us suspiciously.

"We left our stuff downstairs, like Al told us to," I explain.

"You might have," the girl replied. "But your friends brought up a phone and a book. I saw you take them from your bags on our downstairs camera. Hand them over."

Zenith pulls his phone from his pocket and Cail, glaring, unzips their tracksuit enough to pull out their mother's sketchbook, which they'd been hiding.

"Oh, don't look so sour. I just need to make sure they're good, then you can have them back. I'm Clip, by the way."

"Asher, Zenith, Cail," says a voice to our right. Al has just entered the room, freshly changed into his tracksuit too. "This way, I'll give you a quick tour and you can reunite with Navani."

The hospital is four storeys tall and connects to a college via skybridge. Education in New Niagara ends at ninth grade. Only the brightest graduates can study at secondary school, which prepares residents for the highest-paid careers. Al explains that college used to come after secondary school, which intrigues me. "It is on the docket to purify the college," he says, "But unfortunately we haven't been able to do the work just yet."

There's also an area next to the college labelled "Experimental Laboratories" and Al tells us they're off limits.

"What's in there?" Cail asks.

"Experiments," Al laughs. "Most are from years ago. They went nowhere."

"Anything cool?" Cail presses.

"Lots. But you're not allowed in, unless we decide to officiate you."

Next, he shows us a few hallways named after doctors in the old world, each with several rooms that once housed long-term patients. He guides us through a sizable kitchen with more appliances than I've ever seen, and then a lounge where we can hang out. I'm not paying too much attention, because I don't plan on being here that long. But when he opens the door to the courtyard, I feel my jaw drop.