For The Sake of Science

Chapter 5 - Welcome to The Institute

Emilly fought the motion sickness in her head and stomach, pressing her eyes closed tighter in the few moments she'd regain conciousness. The minutes blurred together and without her hearing aids nothing was intelligible over the staticy radio. At some point, the car had stopped, but the vertigo and nausea persisted. Someone was nudging her shoulder, and she faintly heard her name being called. They tugged at her arm, encouraging her to stand, but she was too far gone to support her own weight. Eventually, someone gave up and lifted her from the car. She felt the rhythmic steps but soon lost consciousness again.

One at a time, Emily pried an eye open, turning her head to the other side. The blur started to subside and she made note of the heavy wooden furniture that resembled her brother's dorm room on move-in day. The bunk was decorated with string lights, and each mattress had white comforters neatly tucked in at the corners. A bulletin board with a lavender frame hung beside it and was tacked with a handful of polaroids.

Jenna slowly sat up, glancing down at her single bed that had an identical white comforter. She pressed her palm to her forehead, taking a deep breath. She was still fighting a lingering headache but the spinning slowly subsided. Her feet softly thudded onto the cool concrete flooring and stood up. She took in the coordinating purple shag rug and the lamp on the dresser closest to the bunk, white and purple specks reflected onto the ceiling. The crystals gently moved back and forth from the white metal radiator beside it. She turned and smoothed down the creases in her comforter then noticed her side of the room had no decorations or furniture unlike the others. The only thing laid out on the dresser beside her bed was a neatly stacked navy skirt, a white short sleeve button-down, knee socks folded under a pair of Mary Janes.

She turned and walked toward the door which was slightly ajar, and pushed her palms against it. She stepped into a small dated common space that had a small pink sofa, and side table, and basic standing lamp on one side, a compact dated vacuum cleaner next to a metal waste basket on the other. There was a coffee table covered with a few magazines, nail polish, and mismatched coasters. A grey box TV sat a few inches above the floor on a wooden stand with white metal legs, dozens of VHS tapes stacked beneath. They had even used the TV as a shelf of sorts for a small house plant and faux candle.

She peeked down the small cooridoor to her right and noticed a second shared bedroom, and a door to what she assumed was a communal bathroom. wandering out of the common space, she took note of a hall, which seemed to have three other identical living spaces, a pair of double doors on one end of the quad, and a large glass block window at the other end. She headed down the hall toward the double doors and made her way into one large living room with a box TV, massive bookshelf lined with VHS tapes, books, and CDs. It was decorated with bead curtains and fuzzy bean bag chairs. A purple karaoke machine, and the colorful lamps with the bendable arms. It was colorful, cozy, and very pink.

She walked toward the exit and made her way down the concrete staircase that led to an open walk-around that overlooked a lobby and office area. It was a warehouse that they had converted into a dormitory and she had never seen anything like it. Emily descended the second set of stairs then passed by a front desk and seating area before entering the small yet crowded cafeteria.

All eyes shifted toward her as soon as she entered, some more subtle than others, and she quickly tried to survey where she would sit. She turned her head to the right and noticed a girl with olive skin with short brown hair who was waving in her direction holding a tray of untouched food. Emily didn't catch a word she said over the loud hum of conversation but she wasn't about to embarrass herself and stand there for everyone to gawk at.

"Emeline, we saved you a seat," She finally made out a few words using a combination of lip reading and what was left of her shitty hearing, "I'm Mara, one of your quadmate leaders."