Separated By a Wall

Annalisia

I stand in front of Omega Inc. The Greek letter is right above the glass door glistening in the sunlight. It looked just like it always did. Except for the entire army standing in my way. A swarm of men in army uniforms have been scattered around the building. There were three standing right in front of the door with tight expressions.

I cautiously make my way towards them hoping they recognize my own uniform for work. But the first one stands in my way. "Number." he says. He stares down at me, his huge build causing intimidation to roll off of him in waves. "Uh, 62319." I reply. His cold eyes narrow at mine for a second as he brings his face slightly closer. I can feel him breathing. And then he steps to the side just for another one to stand in my way. "ID card." he demands. Quickly unzipping my jacket pocket, I pull out the familiar glass slide and hand it to him. He grips it between his thumb and his index finger before pulling out a small, flat device.

It stared to glow with a blue pixelated light passing over the ID card and giving a high pitched beep. He hands it back to me only for another one to stand in front of me. How long was it going to take me to get to my office? "Do you know of the name Spectrala?" I nodded quickly and he speaks quietly and inaudibly into the CareBot. A holographic picture of me running towards the wall stands between me and him. It only shows my back and my hair and by the looks of it, the picture was zoomed in from aboveground. The helicopter.

"Is this you?" I shake my head. Even though it didn't show my face, he could possibly notice the uncanny resemblance between my hair in the picture and my hair now. But lots of people have hair like mine, right? There could be hundreds of people with the same uncanny resemblance. He peers at me as if trying to decode whether I was lying or not. I wish I could say I had nothing to worry about.

He steps aside and I don't dare let out a sigh of relief until I'm safely inside of the building away from prying eyes. Is this what Ivana meant by getting higher security? It certainly has taken effect. There was no way I could teleport with the CareNot to the office which meant I had to find it myself. Not that I haven't done this before. But even if the army was outside, I still felt suffocated by eyes. I was being watched. I don't know by who. I don't know why.

Am I being paranoid or realistic? I quickly shake off the feeling and make my way to the elevator where yet another guard was waiting for me inside.

***

A good twenty minutes later I was finally inside the... sort of, safety of my office. Also known as the electric room, as I liked to call it. I picked one small blue sphere feeling a tingling sensation shoot through my hand as I crush it. I go back to my seat and wait for them to bring in the Anoch.

Two familiar dressed guards come in with a much smaller Anoch. This one had to be at most 4'11. I've been to the other side, teenagers can't be that short, can they? I almost drop dead right there in my seat when I catch a glimpse of the girl. She wasn't a teenager. She couldn't be. And she was so familiar too. But from where? I hear someone clear their throat. Christina stares at me expectantly and waits for my cue. I nod at her unsurely while the two buff guards shove the girl inside the tube.

Almost immediately, the bands of electricity were activated. And then I recognize her. It's hard to forget a cute little button nose. Her brunette hair wasn't in braid but in a bun with a few tendrils framing her face. Her cheeks weren't rosy anymore. They were pale. She didn't have a smile or her pink shirt and shorts. She looked like she was ripped from sleep and brought here. This was the girl that helped me understand fun even if she didn't know it.

They were bringing children in now? Why? They just started bringing in teenagers less than a month ago! This eight year old didn't deserve to be here. I've seen what happens after the test. She can't go to the Speriat House. She just can't. She had so much more to live for. Did the little girl recognize me? I don't think she even saw me. Should I save her? If she did recognize me, then she knows I'm a human. And then if I save her, she'll tell the rest of the Anoch and I'll never make it to the other side. But she can keep a promise, right? If I save her, that would even out what I did to her.