Separated By a Wall

I Never Thought I Would Say This...

Okay, so I've noticed that the pictures that I post along with chapters aren't showing up for some people. They've been sending messages. When I edit it and add it, it looks fine in the preview but doesn't show up in the actual chapter. So I'm sorry about that, you'll just have to use your imagination. I'll see if I can get it fix. But in the meantime, on with the story!

It's been a week since I started working. Ms. Greystone came in last Friday and stopped by each desk, giving nods of approval. But when she stopped at my desk, she simply stood there. It could have been two minutes or ten but it felt like hours. I simply kept shifting my gaze from the screen to the glass, not daring to make eye contact.

I watched the Anoch's expressions carefully. None of them were like Hayden after that. They looked just as monotonous as the doctors that did the questioning and injected them after. For low ranking, Hayden did put up a fight. I never got to see the Anoch afterwards. Whenever I stood outside of the building, I only saw human soldiers, gripping the shoulders of the alien species and covering their faces so the public wouldn't see.

I came home from work that day to find Caitlin already inside the house. "Have you been here since breakfast?" I asked her. She doesn't acknowledge me. Instead, her eyes are focused on the screen. "I found it." she says in barely above a whisper. I raise an eyebrow, slowly and cautiously coming towards her. This is how she usually had to snap me out of my daze when I sat in the wooden chair. I never knew it was this creepy.

Peering over her shoulder, I saw her staring at the square shaped building. The CareBot building to be exact. Holographic children were having them clipped onto their wrists where they would spend all eternity listening to the colorless voice of our new caretakers. "I have good news and bad news." she tells me, still not making eye contact. "The good news is I found a way to get the CareBots off temporarily." She spins around in her chair grasping me in a death-hug. "That's great. But it would be useless if one of us were dead." I choke out. She quickly releases me, smoothing down her sweater. "Now the bad news."

She faces the screen again. "Only one person can make it to the other side and back without getting caught. That's only if the other person, an ingenious hacker," she points to herself. "makes sure that no one could follow the tracks. You're the only one who can go." Caitlin's voice drips with disappointment. We always did everything together. But for once, I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs with joy. Don't get me wrong, Caitlin is my friend. But I wanted to do something on my own. Knowing her, I knew that she was afraid to find out she could live without me. But I was absolutely glad. "At least you'll be covering my back." I offer.

She laughs. "Just like it's always been. Okay, the CareBot building is left abandoned every night at 10. But there are four guards, guarding the doors. You're going to have to use superhuman charm to get past them." I raise an eyebrow. "Superhuman charm? More like my super convincing lies." As you've probably already noticed, when it comes to lying I always make it. Whether I'm nervous or confident or pressured, I was great at lying. I found it surprising every time someone believed something that if I were in their place, I wouldn't believe myself.

Caitlin was the only one who could see past my lies. 'Was' being the operative word. Ever since I got the job last week, I had been lying to her every day after. I tell her my day was boring, serving coffee to offices and transferring data to my boss. When in reality, I was still amazed by how much information I obtained about the species. And she ate up everyone of them. Caitlin liked to call it my superhuman charm. But I called it my brain.

"Yeah whatever." she waves her hand in the air dismissively. "So you just have to get past the guards and into the building. And I'll guide you through this earpiece." she hands it to me. "Where did you get this?" She freezes and starts laughing nervously. "You may find it shocking, but your job isn't very secure. I managed to get this earpiece from there. It looks just like the one you wear." she points to the one I've been using to listen to Anoch conversations.