Ultramarine -- REWRITTEN

Three. [h.s.] -- REWRITTEN

          I had asked myself the 'why' she talked to herself and eventually came to the conclusion that she spewed out mindless chatter to keep herself occupied. I'd been standing for hours on end, and though I never had a lack of energy or sore muscles, half of me wish I had. Something about my body felt inhumane. At least sore muscles or a reason to shuffle from foot to foot would keep my mind off of her gentle voice and small giggles that I would hear from time to time behind me as she tried to have a conversation.

          Doctors would come by a few times a day and evaluate her for the upcoming experiment;  I'd be able to turn around and watch to make sure that she wouldn't lash out. I'd never admit that it would give me an excuse to try to catch a glimpse of her eye color. Never. I never gave myself a hard time for it though. Instead, I convinced myself that anything new is the most interesting until you memorize it and it becomes sickening. Thus, I had to memorize her eye color until it was sickening.

          In the present moment, I could hear her eating. Well, her spoon against the bowl. I had to prevent myself from swaying back and forth as I stood perfectly still, hands clasped behind my back, eyes not moving from one spot in the wall. Even my breathing was silent. I was so involved in focusing to stay still and in my own thoughts of what I needed to do that I didn't hear her throw her tray into the upcycling compartment. I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering if she even threw it away.

          A spoon clanked against the bowl.

          I had only imagined that I didn't hear her throw it away.

          She sighed and I blinked a few times. An added task to my mental list. Two, actually. To keep myself occupied, I went over the list in my head over and over and over again until the doctors came minutes later. They gave me a small smile, and I returned the greeting with a nod of my head. I began to turn around to watch, and stopped. One of the doctors confirmed what I feared.

          "Where is she?"

          My eyes frantically searched for any sign of her. A hand, leg, hair, sleeve, but nothing. I stepped back, my palm pressing against the glowing red button next to the chamber as I continued the search. My heartbeat seemed to pound harder against my chest than my hand against the button. The doctors, like me, stood in shock as we waited for an answer to our problem. None of us were trained for a disappearance. Aria's voice spoke out of nowhere,

          "Is there a problem, Harry?"

          "She's gone," I breathed as the two doctors began to search the chamber. Seconds later, an alarm sounded in the complex and echoed throughout the halls. It wasn't loud enough to cover the sounds of Aria's heels clicking against the floor. In no time, she stood next to me, and I could tell that she was trying not to scream. Heat radiated off of her to the point where I felt like her skin would melt from her bones. Other Commissioners searched the chamber, pushing the doctors out of the way. Aria began to interrogate me as I nervously answered, feeling moisture dot my palms while I tried to regulate my breathing. I feared that she would think that I was not up to the task. Of course I was. I was trained to do this. This was my job. I couldn't be anything else. What would they do if--

          "We found her!" a Commissioner exclaimed. Both of us spun to look, finding one of them halfway up the meal slot. I heard an echoed "damn it" from inside of the slot. Aria stepped inside of the chamber and pushed the Commissioners away. Her bracelet swung around her wrist as she peered up the slot. I only watched as she ducked out and pressed a finger against her ear.

          "Have Commissioners block the meal slot entrance leading down to chamber seven and shut off the alarm, please," she spoke calmly. Her hand swiftly moved back down to her side, and I could hear echoed metal being bent and banged from outside of the slot.