Insight

Chapter Two: Camp Introductions

 I was hustled in and out of my room in a blur. Forced into a wheelchair, I somehow ended up in what looked like a train without wheels with everyone else. I found myself in a situation similar to that of the hoverboard, except we were hurtling along at what seemed to be the speed of light. I was in a cabin by myself, and looking out the window made me ill.

"Has anyone ever heard of culture shock?" I muttered to myself. The door was thrown open and a familiar looking nurse poked her head in.

"Oh hey! You're Siny, right?" she asked.

"Um, Syany, yeah." I replied.

"Girls! She's in here." the nurse leaned out of the doorway and yelled into the hallway. Confused, I just glared at her until Izzy and Lucy appeared.

"Oh. Hey guys." I acknowledged them as they collapsed into the seat across from me. Izzy nodded back. "What is this thing?" I asked as they were catching their breath. They both looked at me oddly.

"You don't know?" Lucy's voice was soft and pretty, feminine with a musical lilt to it. I shook my head in affirmation. "It's a Traction. I'm not sure exactly how it works. I never got to level twenty-two. Supposedly that's where they teach it. Basic knowledge is that there are no tracks, there's just some bubble-like thing on both sides that squeeze the train and make it go."

"Sort of like a wormhole?" I asked.

"No clue." Izzy responded. "What level did you get to? Lucy here only got to level thirteen. She was much more interested in the arts. I got to level fifteen though. Apparently that's high up."

"I got through all of them, actually."

"Nuh-uh. You did not. There's no way you could have. You would understand how this Traction works if you'd gotten through all of the levels." Izzy looked as if I were trying to play mind tricks on her. Hell, I thought growing up in a dream was supposed to eliminate trauma. I thought.

"My nurse says it's possible I lost some of the knowledge due to the serum, but I should get it back."

"You're lying." Izzy accused, looking hurt. "The serums are all super safe. Unless-"

Lucy cut her off excitedly. "You took the anti-serum!" I nodded, confused as to why she seemed so enthusiastic about this possibility. "What was it like?! Was your dream world awful? Did it take you forever to get out of the Dreamscape?!"

"Lucy, you're being rude!" Izzy hissed. But they both continued to look at me expectantly.

"Um, I don't think it was much different than yours, really."

"Oh. Well why is it so hyped up?"

"Lucy, it's considered a drug. Like heroin. You remember heroin." Izzy smirked. Lucy looked down, embarrassed.

"You remember your dreamscape?" I asked.

"Do you not?!" Izzy replied.

"No... not really... actually not at all, now that I think of it."

"Maybe that's one of the effects of the anti-serum!" Lucy suggested.

"Maybe." I responded, but something about that felt wrong. I shifted uneasily in my seat. The Traction picked that moment to stop abruptly and I jerked forward, falling onto the floor. As I picked myself up, stretching my sore muscles (or lack thereof), I realized Izzy and Lucy were still in their seats. Izzy was smirking at me.

The door to the cabin opened and the twins' nurse poked her head in. "We've arrived at the camp. You two want wheelchairs?"

As Lucy started to answer the door swung open more and Nurse Allison appeared. "Wheelchair. Syany. Now." I shook my head in refusal, but as I moved to walk past the crowd in the doorway, I collapsed again. Nurse Allison smiled sympathetically and hoisted me into a wheelchair in the hallway. I heard Lucy request a wheelchair, and after some encouragement from their nurse, Izzy consented to be confined to one as well. We exited the Traction slowly, everyone rushing to get off but everyone confined to wheelchairs. We followed single-file down a short path that lead to a huge decrepit looking wooden gate. There was no welcoming sign or anything proclaiming what the camp name was. As we passed through the gate, I remembered telling Iggy that we'd wait for him.