Trapped | The Trapped Trilogy Book 1

Eighteen

Eighteen

"Who are you?" Nad/Sym asked me.

"Eenralla Land."

"Oh, you're back from your surgery," She says, her tone and posture changing once again.

"What's your full name?" I ask to make sure.

"Nad Hemmings. What has gotten into you?"

My eyes shift to the camera above my door. I can just barely see the red dot behind the tinted blackness covering it.

Nad said I was a Government Official now. Did they change my job while I was gone? Did they know I'd come back? Or were they expecting to capture me?

My brain picks up speed.

Maybe they have an ID for me somewhere in this room, and maybe I can get inside the Government building walls. Maybe I'll get my answers there. I just can't get caught. Which is a problem, because Murkas knows my face, and so does anyone who is working close to him.

Whatever is going on with Nad, whatever they did to her, it isn't right.

Nad seems to appear if I say my full name. When I was first talking to her, she didn't know who I was when I said I was Eenie. But when I said I was Eenralla Land, she knew exactly who I was.

So I try something.

"Sym Lation, is it?" I ask, outstretching my hand.

I'm hoping this will work, and that I won't be stuck with Nad, who thinks I'm insane. She'll want to take me to the Hospital, not the Government building. But whomever the person was that I first met a few minutes ago could take me. She's a Government Official, and I'm hoping that she'll be gullible enough to take me instead.

He face goes blank again, and then her eyes fill with light.

"Yes ma'am. What am I doing here?"

It worked!

"I invited you over here so I could welcome you to the neighborhood."

"I've lived here for six months," She says slowly.

"Uh, yes," I stop shaking her hand and cross my arms in front of me. "I never got to say hello, being a Government Official and all."

She looks around and sees the white clothing hanging in my closet.

"Oh, well, hello. I don't think I caught your name."

"Eenie. My name is Eenie."

"Well then, Eenie, how do you do?" She smiles, looks down at my clothes, makes a face, and then politely shifts her attention to something else.

I pick at the yellow material. Nad was lead to think I was in surgery for something, which is strange, considering no one ever gets sick. No one ever really gets injured. That's why everything is so safe and why we have Safeties-so we stay safe.

"I needed surgery. Uh, bad. On my... hand!" I exclaim, picking up my purple arm. "I broke it falling off of... something." I fake a smile. For my brain learning faster, I sure haven't learned how to make up better excuses.

"Oh my goodness, it's purple. Is it okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Uh, you said you left something at work?"

"No, I was just leaving-"

"Um," I think quickly. "You said you left something there. A pen or an important paper...?"

"Oh," She says, shuffling through the book and papers she holds. "Well, I guess I did," She pauses. "Do you want to come with me?"

"Sure," I say, glad she's polite enough to ask instead of just leave. If that were the case, I'd have to navigate on my own. "Um, let me change first."