The Name Game

Encounter

Forty-One stared wide-eyed at the man. Taking in his appearance, she noticed his tan skin and sandy hair. His unblinking, deep green eyes held her own as fiercely as she held his. 

Recovering from her initial shock, Forty-One opened her mouth to speak. Before she could do so, however, the man pressed his finger to his lips. As he did so, Forty-One noticed the black tattoo on his wrist.

X-67-16

He was one of them. 

It was for this reason that she chose to follow his instructions and remain silent.

Slowly, Sixty-Seven gestured towards a room on the left side of the hall. A window to the right of the door revealed a group of men and women congregating around a long, dark table, engaged in a deep conversation.

One woman stood out from the rest. She stood at the end of the table, speaking firmly as she pointed to graphs and images that stood on display at the front of the room. Forty-One recognized her as the woman who had addressed the group the previous day, the Director.

Forty-One felt a strong hand grasp her shoulder. Turning around, she was unsurprised to discover it belonged to Sixty-Seven. He released her shoulder and began to walk back the way Forty-One had came. Confused, she followed him. He lead her into a room marked as a maintenance closet, shutting the door behind him. He groped in the dark for a light switch, and upon finding it he flicked it on. Immediately, the room was filled with the harsh glow of white light.  

Squinting through her thick eyelashes to allow herself to adjust to the light, Forty-One heard the unmistakable sound of voices. One voice in particular spoke above the rest. It was not louder, but more authoritative. It was the voice of the Director. 

Forty-One opened her eyes to see Sixty-Seven lying down on the tile floor, his ear pressed against an air vent. He had evidently heard the sound, too.

She approached him and laid down next to him, ignoring the contrast between the cold floor and the heat generated from his body. She pressed her ear against the vent and began to hear a cacophony of voices.

"It's just not going to work!" a man's voice exclaimed. "We've tried this already fifteen times. Over one thousand subjects and still no results. We need to find a better way to do this."

"There is no other way." A woman this time. "All other traces have been obliterated. The Resistance is no where to be found." Something in the woman's voice led Forty-One to believe the Resistance was capitalized, as though it was a veritable organization.

"We have expanded our radius," explained the Director. "We are hoping that in doing so, we may discover information we have not yet attained. This may prove beneficial as we conduct the tests."

"But the probability of finding one-"

"Is high, despite what we have come to believe. I reviewed the history. It seems that I have pinpointed the required demographic. This project has yet to prove profitable, but I believe it will do so soon."