Separated By a Wall

The Office is More Alien than Anoch

I stare at her dumbfounded. "You want to tell me your name?" my voice came out high pitched. 12893 raises an eyebrow. "Is that a no?" I gulp. Telling her my name meant I truly did trust her. But how could I trust someone I just met a few minutes ago? But this was in the name of meeting the Anoch. I may even get a high level job with them such as crossing the wall. "I accept." I say with surprising ease. 12893 nods in approval.

"I am Ivana Greystone." she tells me. It sounded so strange to hear someone's name. With Caitlin, we trusted each other since the CareBots were installed. But we always referred to each other by our numbers. "Well," Ivana looks at me expectantly. "You aren't getting lost in thought now are you?" The shock of her voice melded with the shock of knowing her name should have caused the CareBot to provide assistance. But instead, I snapped out of my reverie and cleared my throat.

"My name is Rosanne Evans." I had forgotten what it's like to say my name out loud. It just felt so strange compared to how natural my number had become to me. Ivana's piercing green eyes bored into mine as silence settled upon us like a blanket. The tension hung in the air as she took the chance to scrutinize me. I wasn't sure what to do except sit there waiting for the verdict.

She pursed her lips before brushing her jacket and standing up. "Congratulations Rosanne. Welcome to Omega Inc." She gives me a tight lipped smile. "Follow me." She says. I have to refrain myself from letting out a sigh of relief just yet. I follow her down the hall and back into the elevator. "Ground floor." she commands.

"Do you know why it's called Omega Inc.?" Ivana asks. I freeze. Wasn't the interview over? Wasn't I getting the job? Calm down, I scold myself. You're overreacting. She's simply asking a harmless question. But no matter how much I tried to convince myself, my mind still went on the defensive as if I had to provide a specific answer.

"It's called Omega Inc. because Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. This is the last place the Anoch we bring think of before we...return them to where they came from." she explained before I could give her an answer. She must mean return them to the other side of the wall. "So what exactly is my role here?" She gives me another one of her tight lipped smiles as we reach the ground floor and she steps out, ushering me to follow.

The receptionist looks up scanning me from head to toe before returning her eyes to the computer. "We just have to fill out a few of these forms." She picks up a glass slide brushing her thumb over the sides and it lights up with my picture, number and thumbprint. She hands it to me. "I told you I trusted you Rosanne. This key card opens all the doors of the building. You will be working in a particularly restricted area."

This must have been my lucky day. I was prepared to sit in front of a screen all day or tell my CareBot to serve coffee to offices. But this... this had to be some sort of dream. Ivana slips her hand into her pocket pulling out her own key card and holds it up to the scanner next to the door. "12893 access granted." The door slides open and I follow her inside. Most of the glass is one way glass, another form of protection. Everyone on the inside of the doors could see the outside. Anyone on the outside could only see their reflection.

I saw something that would probably never be erased from my mind once I was on the inside. Half of this room had an office which had an estimated amount of 20 people. They were all staring at their screens with blank expressions shifting their focus from the screen to the other one way glass. On the other side was a tube with bands of electricity surrounding it. It pressed against the sides of them. I could see their mouths moving but I couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Ar-Are those Anoch?" I say, my jaw slack with amazement. "Yes, they are. We bring them here where they respond to questioning which we record down. So far we have taken mostly adults fully grown and asked them questions. But we're thinking of bringing teens like you here. So we can see what they look like and compare them to human stages. We have to equip you and then we'll give you the tasks." I wanted to ask who 'we' were but I was too busy watching the Anoch.