The Henhouse

June 9th, 2019 - 10:54 AM

Virtual reality had made him forget - as it was always so good at doing. But it was temporary, and Justin's high was fading fast. He struggled to stay on his feet after the test, but his mind was still keen on keeping an ear to the conversations around him.

"Listen to me," Peter demanded. "What if- what if he's- he's winning, somehow? Right? I mean, what if this isn't a study, but a competition-?"

"That's idiotic," said Ivy. "No one's 'winning' or 'losing.' That's not how this works...."

She paused mid-thought when she spotted Justin watching the two of them. Both her and Peter's faces squirmed with odd looks of guilt.

"Nowhere, huh?" he asked them. Trying to sound casual.

Failing.

"I looked around as soon as my test was done," Ivy offered with a shrug. "But he wasn't in his room, and he's not on the patio..." She sighed. "I don't know how, or why, but Casper's gone."

At the words, Justin's heart sank. As much as he'd expected them – after all, Casper had been missing since that morning – Justin still didn't like to hear it.

"I guess he was disqualified, somehow," Dany said, more to himself than to the group. He sat at the kitchen island beside Jonah. "Maybe he didn't do a test, or something."

"But wouldn't they just take him away right when it happened?" said Jonah. "You know, 'You're the Weakest Link. Goodbye.' And what's with the secrecy? Did they think we wouldn't notice?"

"No." Ivy started pacing across the floor. "They know that we've spoken with him, gotten to know him...."

"I was kidding."

"Is this really the time, Jonah?" Peter growled.

"Arguments will get us nowhere," declared Ella, who was sitting on one of the couches massaging her temples. Justin had to wonder if she'd gotten the VR treatment for her test as well.

"She's right," Justin said. "Did anyone hear or see anything last night?"

Though he tried to keep his gaze unbiased, his eyes fell disproportionately on Ivy and Peter, who both ducked their heads and shrugged. But it seemed, for now at least, that they had nothing to hide.

"W-well," Justin stammered, "who was- you know, the last one with him? To see him?"

"Probably you," Jonah breathed. "You're the only one that ever talked to the kid."

"You're all asking the wrong questions," Ivy grumbled. She was still pacing the floor. "What we should be asking is, how did he get out of here?"

"What?"

"Well, there's only two exits. The elevator, and the utility door."

"Not to mention hopping the fence," Jonah added. She looked around and shrugged in defense. "What? I've thought about it once or twice."

"Sure. Three exits. If he left on his own-"

"Too bad there's about 20 cameras outside," Dany noted. "Impossible to hop without someone knowing...."

"Well, if you're fast enough, does it matter?" Jonah wondered.

"Caught or not, they wouldn't let him back in here," said Justin.

"The other two exits are locked by passcard or key," Ivy murmured. "So, either Casper left on his own via the patio, or-"

"Oh, come on," Jonah sighed. "I don't think anyone's really about to peg him as an escape artist."

"How would you know?" Justin grumbled.

"What would he have to run from?" Ella asked, and the group paused. The room grew uncomfortably quiet at the question.

"We're not getting anywhere with this," Peter finally said, despairing. He grimaced. "Maybe- maybe he's winning out, you know? Maybe we're... we're doing something wrong...."

"Peter-"

"I gotta go," he blurted, then headed for his bedroom. Dany watched him quick-pace into the hallways with beady eyes... then the room fell to silence for another few moments. Justin could hear the hardwood underneath them all creak from time to time as people shifted their weight from side to side, restless.

"You know," Dany piped up, talking down to the floor, "Casper's not the only one we haven't seen much of lately."

Both Justin and Jonah squinted at him in confusion, but Ivy seemed to catch on. Her eyes widened a bit in interest.

"It's getting a little suspicious, don't you think?" he continued, picking his head up.

Suddenly it hit Justin, too. He blinked a couple times in thought.

Artie.