SMOKE (The Aurum Trilogy Book 2)

Chapter 2

TWO

Lauren

I wake up to the same old perpetually white ceiling above me. I shut my eyes and slowly felt my arms for any signs of wires or chords linking me to another simulation. None. I opened them once again, expecting a sudden blackout indicating I was being yanked out of another created landscape. None.I shut my eyes and prepared myself for a recall.

My name is Lauren, Lauren Alison Steel. I'm seventeen years old. I'm an experiment. P-0001, the first product of Project Pandora. I live in Argentum. Dr. Carter created me. My date of creation is indefinite. I don't have any parents. I just woke up from a simulation. My body has been shut down as long as I had been born. I have been stuck in this room for twelve days without anybody to interact with. I was created to kill, not to feel. I'm a trained warrior. I'm a skilled assassin. I am their weapon. And I can't distinguish what's real from what's not.

I propped myself up and placed my hands over my face, feeling ever inch of it, making sure I was real. My fingers crept through the bottom of my eyes, feeling the dark circles underneath which were caused by the continuous nightmares that plagued me each night. It crept to the corner of my lips, then right at them, brushing lightly. I slapped myself to make sure I'm not delusional and this wasn't another fake reality. My hands plopped down my sides. Everything was real... So far.

"Hi." A soft and sweet voice warmly greeted from my left side. I looked at her, horror crossing my face. My reflexes caused me to place my hands on her cheeks, making sure she was true. I examined her like the way I did with myself and she returned it with a look of enraged disgust. Her stormy eyes looked at me as if I were a newfound specimen

"Le fuck!" She exclaimed. "Get your hands off me." She uttered, placing her hands on top of mine and shoving them away.

I stared at her, wanting to punch her but I realized that maybe she wasn't real and this was another test. "Are you..." I swallowed, blinking.

"Yes, as real as I can be." She said, finishing for me. I looked at her, absorbing every detail about her. She had dark brown hair, pale skin, and beneath her dark-rimmed glasses were sea grey eyes matched with long lashes. Her lips curled into a smile and I noticed its rosy tinge. "I'm Lia." she said, extending a hand towards me.

I stared at it, eyes wide, doubting to shake it. It's been a while since I've talked to somebody that wasn't interested in my capabilities or in my status as a government experiment. I touched her hand and shook it. "And I'm..."

But she cut me short. "Lauren Steel."

Wow. This girl's starting to get in my nerves. I hate being interrupted.

I drew my hand back. "Did Argentum send you?"

"Me?" she laughed, her voice still sounding like honey. "I came here on purpose. Thought you might need a friend..."

"I don't need anyone." I snapped curtly, lying back on my bed and staring at the white ceiling above me. "The last time I had a friend," I licked my lips, remembering Zac, my former partner that turned into my enemy in my simulation. He was my best friend. He knew a lot about me. But I didn't know him at all. I didn't know him because he wasn't even existent. "He turned out to be a simulation." I continued, turning away from Lia.

Silence.

Neither of us spoke but I could hear Lia being uncomfortable and shuffling on her seat.

"Now go." I scowled at her, closing my eyes. "Go away. I don't need anyone!"

"I'll be there when you need me, Lauren." I could sense sadness in her voice but there wasn't any space for melancholy in this room. "I'll be there." she repeated.