Power of the Mind

Chapter One

"Good morning, Miss Valarian. I trust you slept well?" came the robotic voice in the loudspeaker.

Trinity sighed, rolling herself out of the twin-sized bed she had been forced to sleep on for the past however many years- it felt like an eternity to her- of her life. "Yeah, yeah, I guess."

"Please rate last night's sleep," ordered the voice.

"No," replied Trinity as she brushed out her hair.

"Miss Valarian, this exercise is ma-"

"6 out of 10. There, happy?" she snapped back.

"Sleep recorded. Thank you, Miss Valarian."

"No prob, Bob," Trinity said, finally working out the last knot in her long hair. She begrudgingly threw on her "school-mandated" uniform- really, just something the director thought she looked cute in- and stretched out once more, enjoying the quiet pops.

"Miss Valarian, the time is now 5:55 AM. Please head to the dining hall for breakfast," the robotic voice chimed in again.

"Alright, alright, I'm going," she complained, slipping on her loafers. She quickly snatched a folded piece of paper from her bedside table, pushing it into her sock, before giving the security camera watching her the middle finger and exiting her room.

The walk through the pristine white hallway was just the same as always- quiet and mildly nerve-wracking. The walk itself wasn't too awful, it was just something about the blinding white and the hospital lights that Trinity couldn't stand.

However, she had still made a point for the last year and a half to get to the dining hall last- dead last. Some days, she even got there at 6:01, a minute past curfew and punishable by taser. When she did get there on those special, special days, the guards yelled at her, slapped her around a little bit, and of course, the main event, a taser was pressed into her head and she was given three 5-second blasts with it. All in front of the entire dining hall. Trinity had decided a while ago that it was to make a statement to the rest of the "school".

Even so, through all of the torture and punishment she had been dished up, she still kept a smile- sometimes a smirk- on her face. She had given up on trying to stop it years ago, so why not subtly fight back?

She arrived at the dining hall, and gave a very sarcastic smile and wave to the guard outside.

"Just go eat breakfast, 814," he said curtly.

"Ooh, ouch! Leon, you know me by name at this point, don'cha?" Trinity laughed, crossing her arms.

Leon's hand began to drift down to the taser at his hip. "Just go, 814."

"Boo, you're no fun." Trinity stuck out her tongue at the man before swinging open the door to the dining hall, causing a loud noise from it hitting the wall.

A couple of heads turned up to face her, just like always. Trinity just smiled and locked eyes with the same girl she always had. Immediately, she made a beeline for the empty seat across from her, waving at a set of 9-year old boys chanting her name as she did.

She pulled the back of the chair to face the table and straddled it, still casually staring at the other girl. "Howdy, Sunny D. How're you holding up?"

Sunny smiled and said, "Oh, I'm fine. Toast?"

"You know it. Feel up to splittin' it?"

"I shouldn't.... the doctors made me binge yesterday."

"I getcha, I getcha. You still cool with our daily drink?"

Sunny picked up one of the two cartons of orange juice she had on her tray as Trinity took a bite of toast. "It should be okay," Sunny smiled.