Forever

Confusion

His eyes snapped open, and sweat beaded his forehead, dripped into his eyes. He wiped it away and sat up, blinking profusely to rid the heaviness from his eyes. Where was..... He was supposed to be in a hostage situation in a Walmart franchise and Hanson had turned traitor. And what about Jo? She'd been injured. Maybe she was dead and had reawoken wherever her curse had chosen. But it wasn't right. They were All sleeping in beds, white and crisp. Jo was next to him, Lucas flanked his right, Joanna two beds over, Hanson and several other people in the beds on the other side. He didn't know half. Moniters towered next to each bed, and each had a pulse tracker on their fingers. He pulled his off, and swung out of his bed, seeing the-comfortable- white clothes he wore. White socks, short sleeved shirt, whit pants.

Something was off.

It was all too clean. Too placid. Somehow he and the others had ended up here... He heard a rustle of sheets beside him, and looked and saw Jo roll out of her bed. She rubbed her eyes, not noticing Henry, then turned and saw him.

She opened her mouth, and at first he thought she would say something good, like she was glad to see him, or if he was okay, or even ask him where they were.

Instead she looked livid.

"You bastard! You were gonna set off a bomb in the middle of that store, and kill all those people!"

"What? Detective, I don't even-"

"No! You shot me in the head, and then you blew it up!"

"But I-"

She stepped up and hit hit in the jaw.

It stung, then burned, then felt so bruised he wanted to scream like a child. But her anger was, perhaps, to be understood. At least, it had been, if Lucas hadn't sprang out of his bed and scrabbled for Joanna, hissing mad. Then Hanson, stalking toward Jo with such anger on his face Henry didn't think it was possible. Then he came.

The man who was the commander in house of the 11th Precinct.

He walked with ease, and appeared to show no care for the fact that several workers were in some kind of daze. He fixed his gaze in Henry, and when he arrived, gripped the ME's arm and pulled him through the doors, into what appeared to be quite a feat of engineering. Screens lined the walls, and everything was made of aluminum- Even the cold, steel-tiled floor. Men and women were stationed at the screens, typing in commands and clicking icons Henry wouldn't have been able to make head or tail of.

"Know what this place is? Know why you were all in simulations?"

Henry slowly shook his head.

"To see how you would react under pressure when a colleague turns. Just a test, supposed to be performed only once on you in your life time. New development." The Commander looked at his star ME. "But your simulation.... Took a weird turn."

Henry realized abruptly that his secret was now exposed for all to see. He swallowed and calmed his breathing, thinking back to fond memories of Abigail and Abraham for steadiness. He'd have to run now, though, and nothing would change that.

"You see, you got shot, and came back to life."

"What are you saying? It's a simulation. And I have an overactive imagination, Commander, I could have easily manipulated the situation with my mind." He hoped he was right, that the Techies would prove it.

The Commander considered the argument for a moment. "Very well."

He turned to the people working the simulations. "Restore their twenty four hour memories. I want this Precinct back up and running after noon."