The Fabricators

The Fabricators Part 2

“Alright guys, follow us!” a man called. Marie stood with him, as did more of the guides. I shivered and rubbed my arms. I still had three layers on. Why is it that when people turn on the air conditioner they always put it on the Antarctica setting?

                We were led down the hall and into a room with some chairs put together in rows. We took our seats; I ended up between Vanessa and another girl with glasses and light blonde hair. She had on a sweatshirt that read HONOLULU. She looked tanned from spending a lot of time outside.

                The man and some of the other guides gathered at the front of the room, Ms. Garnett among them. They began explaining together the rules of the facility.

                “Only go to areas we have previously shown you. If you get lost, tell anyone that works here, even if it’s the janitor. They’ll radio in and one of us will pick you up. If you can’t find anyone, look at any one of our security cameras, smile, wave, and talk to the camera. Tell it you’re lost. We’ll send someone to find you,” the man said.

                “We’ll take you all to your rooms after dinner, which will be in an hour,” Ms. Garnett said. “Your rooms are assigned. Only you can get in, with the exception of us and a few others. Don’t let others into your rooms. You will automatically lose if you enter someone else’s room, or someone else enters your room. Once we send you to your rooms you will remain there all night. There is a bathroom and a shower inside your rooms. We want you in the dining area by nine thirty A.M.” Ms. Garnett explained, “Anyone who comes in later than that will be disqualified as well.”

                “While dinner is being prepared, you will all remain in here to play a few games and get to know each other better,” Nicole smiled at us. “Let’s start by arranging our chairs in a circle!” The guides all left except for the man and Nicole.

                Once we were all in a circle, Nicole told us we would be going around and answering questions. We started with our names first.

                “I’m Jared,” the man said, introducing himself. He gestured to Oakley beside him.

                “Hi, I’m Oakley,” Oakley waved at us.

                “Vanessa,” Vanessa said. And we continued around like that.

                “Grace,” I said softly when it came to me.

                “Say that again?” Jared asked.

                “Grace,” I repeated.

                “Speak up, everyone needs to hear ya, kiddo,” Jared said.

                “Grace,” I felt like I was shouting. Jared nodded, trying to laugh with me—only I wasn’t laughing. I wasn’t even smiling.

                The next question was what state and city you came from. Oakley answered Greensboro, North Carolina. Vanessa said Columbus, Ohio. I told everyone I was from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

                “I’m from Paris, France,” a boy on the other side of the circle announced. He was the same kid that introduced himself as the president. Jared, obviously his handler corrected him the first time, as well as this time.

                “Come on, Peter, everyone knows you aren’t from Paris.”

                “That’s right, I just moved to Rome,” Peter said, putting a hand on his head, “completely slipped my mind.”