The Second Dimension

The syrup of oblivion

It definitely wasn't alcohol.

Lily lit a lighter to take a closer look at the white labels on the crystal bottles. It was hard to read, but you could make out a few letters.

'Substance UMI34'.

Rose, unfamiliar with the substance, had no particular reaction. Lily, on the other hand, froze in horror.

-What have you got?' asked Rose.

-These are bottles of amnesia syrup. Usually, the Researcher puts it in the glasses of his guinea pigs at the end of an experiment. Very little. This substance is extremely dangerous.

-The real question is, why is this syrup here?

Lily's blue eyes gleamed in the half-light.

-I don't really know. One thing's for sure, a dozen bottles are enough to make at least thirty people forget ten years of existence. But to have hundreds...

Rose returned his gaze. There was something wrong with the rest of it.

-And besides, why was Jacob keeping them? He must have known,' Lily continued. You can't ignore hundreds of bottles in your cellar...

-Because they wanted to punish Jacob for escaping,' cut in Rose. That's obvious. He would have run off somewhere. He knew what syrup was. He would have wanted to escape amnesia and would have left.

-So you're not as stupid as you look,' scoffed Lily. If you don't mind, I'd like to finish my sentence, unless you have another obvious statement to make.

She still seemed slightly surprised. Lily was quick to hide it, which wasn't very difficult, given that they were in a dark cellar.

-I was saying,' she continued, 'that given my job, which consists mainly of playing the servant to disdainful scientists, I can allow myself to go down a few flights of stairs to see what's going on.

Rose blinked, although she didn't need to because there was so little light.

-There are laboratory rooms on the third and fourth floors. I can't see through the walls,' Lily continued. But on the fifth floor, there are the post-experiment rooms. Usually, injuries are treated there. It's a sight to behold and it hurts to think that the next day you'll be in their shoes.

-I can't remember any of it. I don't have any qualms about it,' says Rose.

-That's the whole point of amnesia syrup. If you remembered everything, you'd run away, wouldn't you?

Rose had the feeling she'd heard that before.

-Of course I would. In fact, why don't you remember?

-I spend so much time there that the syrup hardly has any effect, and I also have an antidote that I stole from the reserves,' replied Lily, with a big smile. But I can't leave. I'll be spotted straight away.

Rose understood. If she wasn't there at Hywel's, it wasn't a big deal. But if one of the Centre's staff went missing, more questions would immediately be asked.

-Fortunately, that's not the case. We're in no danger,' said Lily.

-Let's recap,' replied Rose. We're in a cellar full of liquids we're not allowed to know about, after knocking someone out, when we should be working, and you say we're safe?

Lily's eyes widened in surprise.

-I hadn't thought of that,' she stammered. They must be looking for me.