Mind Games: An Exquisite Experiment (Season 2, Ep 1)

Part 3

"Look at this place," the woman from the lobby said, her plate overflowing. "We've got more food and better service than everyone else. Those poor yellow schmucks will be in that line for a long time. Unless their numbers come up before they get food."

She laughed and shoved a hunk of meat into her mouth. I nodded.

All around us, the crowd from the lobby became a crush, as people pushed and shoved their way into the room. The group of green tables was set up in such a way to create a slight barrier and I leaned against the wall. My ankle ached and burned. I closed my eyes as I envisioned the transformation of pain until it abated and taking deep breaths.

Over the next two hours, according to my phone, the room thinned as they called various numbers.

"May I have another tonic water?"

"Of course. You know adding a bit of something to it may help ease a bit of the pain in your leg."

"How did you," I started and glanced down at the cane in my hand. "Ah, obvious I guess."

"Yes, and the fact you wince until you shift your weight. Which happens about every fifteen minutes."

"Observant," I murmured.

"Yes. As is the expectation," came the reply as they handed the glass back to me.

I longed to pull out the prescription bottle in my bag, but along with pain relief came a dullness to the senses. All I could do is pull into myself and block it all out.

"Green, number two six eight," the man said from a side.

I opened my breath and inhaled. The surrounding room was nearly empty. With a hesitant step, I leaned on my cane and stepped forward. Pain screamed up my leg, but I forced myself to ignore it.

"Have you filled out your paperwork?" he asked as he led us down a long corridor. His steps were slow enough I could easily keep pace without strain and I inwardly thanked him.

"No. It seems to me there's no reason to complete forms if I don't move forward. Besides, the lack of tables made it more difficult, especially in the crowd."

"There was always the floor. You could have sat down there."

"If it were important enough, I may have made such a choice but as there are still unknown paths on the board, I didn't deem it at a higher priority."

"I see. You don't think ten thousand dollars is worth sitting on the floor?"

The phrasing hit me and my steps stumbled but I caught myself.

"No," I said with feigned confidence. "If there ten thousand dollars was already on the table, then the decision may or may not change, depending on the floor."

"Which type of floor might invalidate such a sum of money?"

"Well, if the floor contained a poison which would kill me or cause permanent harm upon sitting on it, such would invalidate such a sum as unreasonably small," I replied.

"A logical argument. What if the money was on the table but you had to pass a series of test and the first was filling out the paperwork on a clean floor, after you passed?"

"Depends on the test. Are they mental or physical? Am I physically capable of filling out the paperwork after them?"

"That is a good question. One you may soon need to figure out the answer to because we've arrived at our destination. From this point forward, you must realize everything is a choice. Should you want something to stop, you need only follow the rules to make it happen. With no signs of such a desire, the action will continue. You may well wish you'd filled out the paperwork before we got to this point; however, you made your choices. For your sake, I hope they are good ones," he said, punctuating the last words with a slight knock on the door in front of us.

"Come," said the voice on the other side.

We walked through and I am face to face with the man from the lobby.

"This is number two six eight from the green group, Sir."

"Thank you," he said with a nod.

The attendant gave him a slight bow and backed out of the room, then closed the door.

"Welcome, Lexus Davenport. I'm Dr. Mark McNally and I will be your evaluator for suitability into the experiment," he said as he took his seat across from me. "Please have a seat so we can begin."