Amidst Our Broken World

Chapter 3 (Part 1) - The Test Subject

My pen made a scritching sound on the clipboard as I recorded the rat's performance in the maze. 

Suddenly, I felt a presence lurking over my right shoulder. I turned to find the tall blonde leaning over to read what I was writing. He hummed in acknowledgement.

"That's an interesting finding," he remarked.

I couldn't feel his breath on my ear, but I noticed how close his face was to mine. Despite our proximity, I wasn't able to see his face in great detail. Regardless, I felt my heart begin to race. I struggled to breathe, to think, to do anything.

"Um..." I didn't know how to react. The smile that crept on his face did nothing to help.

We stood like this in silence for a while, with him patiently waiting for my response.

All of a sudden, like I had just gained some sort of enlightenment, the question slipped out uncontrollably.

"What's your name?"

His smile was the last thing I saw when I woke up.

Normally, I would have thrown my alarm clock across the room in an outburst of rage if I had such a lovely dream with some celebrity. But I was glad to have woken up that instant. In fact, I wished I could have snapped out of that dream earlier. It was weird to have a dream like that with someone so unpleasant and whom I'd just met.

I got up and ready for my morning. After that, I opened the closet to see the exact same outfit but in duplicates of three that the blonde assistant was wearing yesterday.

Putting on the clothes, I added in some finishing touches and tucked in my shirt. It was a little oversized, but the sleeves wouldn't get in my way as long as I folded them back a few times. I looked in the mirror to check for anything awry. Everything was fine. I looked neat and proper in all-white. My hair was a little unruly, but not enough to ruin my entire look.

I smiled at my reflection. I was ready for my first day of work.

Making my way out to the cafeteria, I spotted a glint of blonde hair in the corner of my eye coming out of Room 2. I didn't look his way to make sure in case he thought I cared. Or maybe because it would've been awkward after that weird dream from last night.

Breakfast wasn't all that appetizing. I grabbed a tray like everyone else, got my wheat bun and a boiled egg, and sat down at one of the tables. I noticed that there were no staff in the room except for us lab assistants. There were no groups of people, only pairs, and at most groups of three that scarcely talked with one another. 

I sat down on the other end of a table where a cluster of three were eating silently though together. On a normal occasion, I'd be more than happy to go over and try to get acquainted with them, but for some reason, perhaps because of how quiet the room was, I didn't want to stick out.

I tried to focus my attention on the bland tray of food in front of me, but I couldn't help but watch him out of the corner of my eye. The blonde guy from yesterday had entered the cafeteria and was getting his tray of food. He also sat down by himself, but at a different empty table.

Strangely, I didn't feel a single trace of pity for him. He seemed perfectly content and comfortable by himself, paying no attention to anyone else in the room. Whenever I saw someone like this in high school, I would feel terrible for their solitude. But I guess people were right about real life being nothing like high school.

Out of nowhere, he jerked his head to look straight ahead. Afraid I'd been caught staring (even though his back was turned towards me), I quickly averted my gaze. Actually, it wouldn't have been that surprising if he did notice me staring since I was damn near boring a hole through his head.