Voices

The Accident

Once we get to the garage, Dr. Martinez inquires how our days at school were, like he does every day. Today, though, he has a certain look in his eyes that suggests he knows something that we don't. Sure enough, after we politely tell him certain details about our day, he finally bursts. "I have some news!" he exclaims. "The technology that we were testing yesterday with A.J. worked with outstanding results! We also found out that the tinkering that Antony was doing to the motherboard of the entire machine actually made it run better! It's a win-win for everybody!" He stands there with a huge grin on his face. We stare at him blankly and his smile falters. "Why are you not as excited as I am?" I glance at Antony and I can already see the gears turning in his head. He glances at me and then nods for me to say something to Doc. "Well, Dr. Martinez, we aren't as excited because we have no idea what that means for us. Like, does that mean we are done at the Garage? Or does it mean that we have to run more tests? We just don't understand what it has to do with us." I try to say this with respect, I mean, the guy is paying me to help him run his technology on my brain, so I got to give him a little respect in return, oh, and be his lab rat.

Half an hour later, I'm plugged back into the machine and we are doing another test-run. I'm kind of nervous, because the voices might come out, or my subconscious thoughts might show up and like what if I'm thinking about Antony? Oh no, I didn't even think about that! What if my not-so-loud thoughts show up too? Ugh, they are about to turn on the machine. Ooohhh I'm nervous. What if-

-they get it on record that I like Antony? Oh shit. The machine got that. Ohhhh noooo. Erase that, Andrew! OMG, I'm so dead. OMG what if Antony read that? What if he's reading it right now. OMG how could I be so stupid? Anyway, test-run specific questions list, here goes. Dear future self, did Trump win the 2024 election? Did Obama die in that "accident" we planned? Is Tupac really in Barbados? And finally, are we happy with Antony? Are we even dating Antony in the future? Do we ever make contact with that cute girl at the coffee shop? Do we end up with her? Lol, that would be great! But, I would prefer Antony. I guess that my test-run has ran out of time.Alpha Exit ~

After I am out of the machine's control, I run to the bathroom and just sit in there and wait. Wait for doctors to come in and ask if I'm sick. Wait for Antony to come in and say that he read what was going through my head. Wait for Dr. Martinez to barge in and say some stupid science shit about how the machine worked better this time than any other time we did a test-run. Except, nobody comes in for a while. Then, someone does. "A.J.? Are you okay?" It's Antony. Just like I hoped it would be. "No," I reply. "I'm not okay." He sits down next to me on the floor, wraps his arm around me, and pulls me close to him. "Everything is going to be okay," he whispers in my ear. I lay my head on his shoulder, breathing in his amazing scent. He makes me feel safe, even though I'm not in any real danger. I reach over and lace my fingers with his other hand. And we just sit there, holding each other in the silence. Until he takes a deep breath, and says "I was reading what the transcript said from the machine. Is it true? Do you like me?" And in that moment, I wish he never would've walked me home.