It's My Life

Chapter 24 - Evolution of Communication

"I think it's time to wake her up. No sense in postponing it." Jones said to Brad and Shields. They both nodded and Jones called the guards in the observation room, telling them to get her up and to his office as soon as possible. The guards quickly turned on the lights and the girl on the screen stirred, sitting up as a guard took her the usual breakfast of juice and a protein  bar, provided by Brad.
I rubbed my eyes as the lights came on, checking my watch. It was nearly nine, and I felt refreshed. The guard came in and held out the small bottle of multi juice and the protein bar, telling me to eat and get dressed, he would be back in five minutes. I drank down the juice as I stood up, then took clean clothes into the bathroom and ate as I changed. Sure enough, five minutes later the guard returned.
"Come along." He said and grasped my arm, leading me to the door where another guard was waiting. I was taken down the corridor and into the lift, forced to face the wall. The lift moved smoothly, and once it stopped I was taken out of the lift and led down the corridor to an office. Three heads turned to look at me, and I met the gazes of Jones, Shields and Brad squarely, though I felt suddenly uneasy.
"Sit down, Cass." Jones said. I faltered, but the guard shoved me slightly, and I sat down.
"Did you have a good swim last night?" Jones asked. I looked at the other men, then to Jones.
"I did, thank you." I replied.
"And who, pray tell, did you contact?" Jones asked, almost casually, and I felt my stomach drop.
"No one. I don't know what.." I started, but Jones slammed a hand down on his desk, stopping me mid-sentence and making me jump.
"Don't lie to us. We know about the payphone, and that you were on said phone for over 20 minutes last night. It wasn't the police, for they would've been crawling all over this place this morning if it was. So who did you call?" Jones asked, pushing a picture of me at the payphone across the desk. I looked at it, feeling my face drain, and moved  back, looking at each man, suddenly afraid.
"I'm...I'm not saying." I said. Jones frowned.
"Surely you know that there's no escape for you until we're done. But after this stunt," he gestured to the picture, "that may never happen." Jones said. I leapt to my feet.
"You said you would let us all go. You said!" I yelled. Jones looked at me.
"You broke the rules. Plain and simple." Jones replied. He turned to Brad. "Take the watch and modify it to five kilometres, and she is restricted to visiting the beach once every four days." Jones added. "For one hour." He looked at me. Brad reached for my wrist, but I pulled away.
"You can't do that to me. You'll kill me." I cried. Jones shook his head.
"I don't think so. Weaken you, yes, but it won't kill you. And maybe by day four you'll co operate. Or you can tell us now who you called. Both times." Jones said.
"I called call reverse." I said.
"Yes, we figured that out since you have no money. Who did you place the reverse calls to? And don't say no one, for you don't talk to no one for over 20 minutes." Jones said. I moved back.
"None of your damned business." I said. Jones nodded.
"Have it your way." Jones said. A guard grabbed me and held me firm as Brad removed the watch from my wrist, pocketing it.
"Another tracker? Surely one is enough." I said.
"Not another tracker, no. This, my girl, is an inhibitor. You go more than the programmed distance from the receiver, and it will send volts through you that targets your muscles and stops you from moving, quite painful, so I've heard. The only way to stop it is to get in range, if you can move." Brad said. I gasped, shock and fear filling me.
"I'm never wearing that thing again." I said.
"You are if you want to swim again. And as I'm sure you heard, it'll be modified to a five kilometre range. Time to put you on a leash, so to speak." Jones said. I felt tears fall, but kept my chin angled to show my stubbornness.
"I want to go back to my room now." I said. Jones shook his head.
"Not yet. I think now is a good time to test your healing abilities. Actually no, you've eaten today. We'll do that tomorrow. IQ test and physical test today. You can do them or not, up to you. You're not going anywhere." Jones said. I trembled, feeling dread flow through to the tips of my fingers, and I rubbed my fingertips on my pants. I wondered, now that Tom could feel me, how much he could feel.
"Take her to the testing rooms." Jones ordered. I was pulled to my feet and led along the corridor to a small set of rooms, pushed into one and the door shut behind myself and the guard.
"Sit down." The guard said, indicating one of the chairs beside the small table. I sat down, arms wrapped around myself, and the guard stood behind me. A few minutes later the door opened and an unfamiliar woman came in, holding a folder.
"Hello Cassandra, I'm Dr. Tucker. I'm here to guide you through an IQ test and some other tests. The quicker you cooperate the sooner we'll be done, but we aren't leaving until we're finished." She said. I already disliked the woman.
"And if I don't answer?" I asked. She looked at me squarely
"As I said, neither of us are leaving until you complete the tests adequately." She said. I felt a little scared, and lowered my head. I wondered if I could talk to Tom, and took a calculated breath, not wanting this doctor to get suspicious.
"Tom? Can you hear me?" I sent in my mind. I tried to send it as loudly as I could, and I felt an affirmation.
"I can. What's wrong?" I heard in my head, and I felt a tear slide down my cheek.
"Crying won't help. We have a lot to do if you want food." I heard Tucker say, and looked at her.
"I need to know that help will come, they want to run IQ tests on me and...healing tests tomorrow morning." I sent back to Tom. The woman watched me a moment longer, then started setting up her papers and items.
"We will get you out as soon as we can. Do as they say, mostly. They want to run the healing tests tomorrow?" Tom asked. I started to nod, then remembered it was all in my head.
"Tomorrow, no food allowed." I sent back, feeling another tear on my cheek. I quickly wiped it away as Tucker turned to me.
"Under general anesthetic then. We can't let that happen. I'll talk to Dad and hurry it up. Don't worry, we will get you out." Tom sent. I broke the connection, feeling tired.
"Are you all right?" Tucker asked. I nodded.
"I'm fine." I said.
"Okay. Try and focus on the questions, puzzles etc." Tucker ordered, and I did my best, though I had to admit I was curious to learn what my IQ was, and the problems and questions were interesting, intriguing.