I read over the instructions again.
When it is 12:15 and the questioning session is supposed to start, I will bring to to the questioning room. The second test subject, Owen Kasparov, will be there. Do not react. After you go in the room, I will create a small, controlled fire outside, then I will pull the fire alarm. The sprinklers will turn on, I will leave, and Owen will come out of his hiding place to meet you. You will then be both be able to escape together, while the other scientists evacuate. Owen knows where the exit is.
The plan seemed simple enough. And it would probably work. They would be fooled by the fake fire, and leave the building.
But I still have a few questions. I’ll ask those later.
When 12:15 rolls around and my salad plate is finished, the door opens. The Labby steps in, a satisfied grin on his face.
“I knew you’d like salad,” he said. “You ate the whole thing.”
“I was hungry.”
The Labby walks over to me and takes a long strip of cloth from his pocket. As he wraps it around my eyes, I ask him, “What’s your name?”
“Dick.”
“Oh,” I say, unable to hide my smile, “that’s a nice name.”
“Whatever.” Then the blindfold is finished, and I let Dick guide me to the questioning room.
When we’re at the door and Dick removes my blindfold, I ask, “What’s special about this Owen? What did they change about him?”
Dick shrugs. “Maybe he’ll tell you.” He takes a keycard from his pocket and swipes it against a black box on the wall. It’s some sort of card reader. After he swipes it, a satisfied beeping noise comes from the door. Then Dick hands me his card. “You’ll need this to escape. I’ll just pretend I lost it when the boss gets mad at me. They always issue new cards.”
I take the card and hold it. Then I walk through the door. Dick, behind me, walks away to make his fire.
Then the door closes. I only have a few minutes until he pulls the fire alarm, so I look around for this Owen. He’s not there.
I only see the light bulb, swinging from side to side on the copper wire, flickering with its creepy light as usual. I see the two chairs, the metal one with cuffs attached to it, and the regular wooden one.
And I see the darkness around it all.
I feel around the walls. There must be a light switch somewhere. There isn’t.
“Owen? You there?” I shout. Surprisingly, my voice echoes off the invisible walls. The room is bigger than I thought.
“I’m right here,” a voice says.
I whip my head around, and a happy boy stands in front of me. I can barely see his features in the dim light, but he has brownish hair and he’s smiling. He’s smiling a bit too much that it’s creepy, if you ask me.
But I smile back at him and wave. “So, we only have a short time left until the fire alarm turns on. Tell me about yourself.” What’s going on with me? I would never, ever smile back at someone and wave. Especially if all I know about them is their name and we’ve only met just a few ago. Is it one of the Labbies controlling my emotions?
“I’m fourteen,” Owen says. He’s the same age as me. Cool! “I don’t really know much else about myself. What about you, and what did they change about you?”
“I’m fourteen as well, and my amygdala has been replaced with a mechanical part. The scientists can control my emotions whenever they want.” I assume now they’re toying with me. They want to me to be happy. “And you?”
“My brain has a sort of radio attached to it, and its waves can affect synapse impulses in the amygdala to make everyone more happy.”
“English, please?”
“I literally radiate happiness! I can make everyone around me think more optimistic about things.”Owen smiles at me. I smile back.
Crap. I smiled back. I instantly cover my mouth as if I’ve committed a faux pas.
I hear screams coming from behind the door. Hurried footsteps. And then the fire alarm rings.
It is a long, high-pitched ringing, and it does not stop. I remember. The sprinklers. They’re going to activate. We don’t want to get wet.
But Owen already has it handled. He points over to a random spot in the darkness and runs over there. I follow him.
When I get close enough to the edge of the room, I can see a table. I slide under it, right after Owen.
Then, after a few moments, the sprinklers start. We can’t hear it over the blaring of the fire alarm, but can feel the drops of water on the floor. I press my hand against the tiles. The water is cold. It entirely coats the floor.
The fire alarm and the sprinklers stop.
Now, the only thing I hear is the persistent ringing in my ears and the heavy breathing of both of us. I get out from under the table, and Owen follows me. Our footsteps splash on the wet floor.
“C’mon, Owen. We only have just a few minutes ‘till all the scientists realize that the fire has been put out already. Let’s go and find the exit.” Owen nods. “Together!” I add on a final note.
Owen looks at me like I’m the craziest person in the world.
“Well, it’s because of your radio that I said that.”
“No, it’s not because of that. Are we going to leave, just the two of us? We’re not going to rescue the other test subjects?”
“No! We can’t! There’s only a bit of time we have, and we should use it! Otherwise, it’ll all go to waste.”
“We can’t do that. It’s my decision. I know where the exit is.”
“Fine,” I say. “We can find the other subjects, then leave.”
Owen leads me to the door. I hand him the keycard, and he swipes it. The door slides open, and we walk through.
The hallways are a mess. It’s completely covered in water over here, and some of the water is black. It’s from the ash.
I look around. “So, do you know where to find the other subject?”
“We’ll figure it out.” Owen blindly walks around the hallways in search of the third test subject.
After some time of exploring the building, we come across a door. Next to it is a sign which reads, “Cynthia Hawkins - Test Subject #2.”
Problem is, the door’s open. No one’s inside.
“Darn. I guess all the doors unlock automatically when the fire alarm’s pulled,” I say.
Owen covers my mouth. Then he whispers in my ear, “Did you hear that?”
“No,” I say in a normal voice. Owen slaps me for not whispering. Then he pulls me into the room and closes the door. After that, he huddles in one of the corners of the room. I sit next to him, trying to avoid the thin layer of water on the floor.
“Footsteps. No one else is supposed to be here,” Owen says in the quietest voice possible.
Now I can hear it. The sloshing of water. Someone’s footsteps.
---
The chapter isn't finished of course but what do you think? is it too rushed, too abrupt?
