Chapter 19 #2
It led us into another corridor, but this one actually had an end. It was a mini hallway, no longer than ten feet, and contained only two doors. One on the left-hand side and one at the end, straight ahead of us. The woman led me to the latter and, after swiping her ring again, pushed it open.
When I stepped through the doorway after her, surprise jolted through me. I’d emerged in a massive chamber, almost twice the size of our community hall back home. Anna had called this room a “chamber”, but I hadn’t been expecting this. Why did we need such a big meeting room?
And, for that matter, why did the meeting room look so… odd? Its shape was octagonal, its walls, ceiling and floor formed from hundreds of dark-gray metal panels that were pockmarked with little holes.
It was also completely bare, except for a single metal chair in the center of the room. The woman gestured to it.
“Please take a seat and Anna will be with you shortly,” she announced. “I already let her know you arrived from the desk.”
“Wait,” I said as she turned to leave the room. “What is this place?”
She gave me a polite smile. “Not really my place to answer that. Best you ask Ms. Springs.” And with that, she exited, closing the door behind her with a soft click, before I could move or utter another word.
I didn’t breathe for several moments. I turned to take in the room again.
It was eerily quiet now that the door was closed.
I couldn’t even hear the woman’s retreating footsteps in the hallway outside, or her exit through the second door.
The silence was almost deafening, which made me wonder if the room was soundproofed or something.
Why has Anna brought me here?
I couldn’t help but experience a surge of doubt, with Hayden’s words of caution ringing in my ears, and I found myself hurrying to the door to check if it was locked.
It wasn’t, which comforted me somewhat, so I returned to the center of the room, the metal panels creaking beneath my feet, and then lowered myself into the chair.
Chill…
Anna said she was going to help me, and I wanted to believe she was going to do just that. She’d mentioned something about a “screening”, so maybe that had something to do with her choice of setting. Though, what kind of screening would require a strange room like this, I didn’t know.
I drew in a deep, calming breath, then glanced down at the time on my ring, needing to distract my overactive mind. I estimated it had been about twenty minutes since I walked into the reception, since the blonde would have informed Anna of my arrival. Which meant she should be here at any—
The door opened again and Anna strode through.
She wore her usual dark blue uniform, and her bob of russet brown hair was fastened back with a lilac hairband that revealed the full contours of her broad face.
She carried a black suitcase in one hand, and in the other a cloth bag that bulged with something.
“Sorry to keep you waiting!” she said, her loud, cheerful voice fracturing the silence and immediately easing my nerves a little. “I had a few bits and pieces to pick up on the way here and got held up.”
She strode over to me swiftly, holding up the cloth bag. “I brought you some breakfast in case you skipped it this morning.”
“Oh, thanks,” I said, genuinely grateful. I hadn’t had any breakfast. I took the bag from her and glanced down at its contents: a large bottle of water and something warm wrapped in tin foil.
“Waffles,” she explained with a twinkle in her green-flecked eyes. “Mom’s are the best.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“That said,” she added, “I suggest you wait until afterwards to eat and drink, as it’s best the screening is conducted on an empty stomach.”
My eyes lifted to her face. “Oh. Okay. So, we’re doing a ‘screening’ now?” I clarified.
“Yes,” she replied, setting the black suitcase down on the floor and kneeling to flip it open.
“Sorry if I didn’t make that clear. It’s what I meant by getting the ball rolling.
Before I can commit to accepting you as my mentee or helping you monetarily, I need to see how you cope with a little test.” She pulled out a clear bag containing small, circular black pads, then rose to her feet.
“Would you mind standing up now, please.”
I did as requested, and she approached me with the pouch.
“If you don’t mind, I’m going to attach these sensors to a few areas of your body.”
“Oh. Okay. What does this test involve, exactly?”
She chuckled, spearing me with a semi-disapproving look. “It wouldn’t be much of a test if I told you.” She retrieved one of the pads and pressed it just above my right temple, then did the same to my left. The pads were self-adhesive and I felt them stick instantly to my skin.
“So, you can’t give me any idea at all,” I said, frowning.
She pulled out two more pads and stuck them to the insides of my wrists.
“Correct, and in any case, it’s not required.
All you need to do is stand here and react.
” She stuck two more pads to the sides of my neck.
“I’ll be in the adjoining room and will come in once the process is complete.
Would you mind unzipping your shirt a bit? I need to get one more on your chest.”
I unzipped it a little, letting her press a final pad above my breast, right near my heart. And then she stepped back, giving me a once over. “Right,” she said, smacking her lips together in a contented smile. “We’re done.”
“Okay,” I replied, forcing strength into my voice. I really wasn’t comfortable with the idea of going into this completely blind, but it seemed I’d have to bite the bullet. I had to win Anna’s help.
She closed the suitcase and picked it up along with my food bag. “I’ll keep this safe for you in the meantime,” she said with a wink. “Also, let me take your backpack. And if you have your phone on your person, hand that over to me too.”
I did as instructed, and she carried the items out of the room.
She returned half a minute later to collect the chair. “You won’t be needing this either,” she explained, grabbing the back of it and hauling it toward the door. She stopped just at the threshold and cast one last glance at me. “Alright, then. You okay?”
I nodded, once again fighting off the uneasiness roiling in my gut.
“Okay. Just react and follow your instincts,” she reiterated. “That’s all you need to know. I’ll be in the next room, as I said. See you in a bit.”
With that, she disappeared through the door, pulling it shut behind her.
I felt the urge to immediately go and check if it was locked again but managed to refrain.
This was supposed to be a test, and I guessed there had to be cameras in here or something else that allowed her to monitor me.
Rushing to the door before the test even began would look seriously weird.
Not the stuff outreach staff would be made of.
So, I remained rooted to my spot in the center of the room and tried to focus my attention on a long wall panel directly ahead of me.
The silence stretched out. For one minute, then two, then three. I shifted on my feet, my hands fidgeting. The sound of my own breathing seemed to grow louder with each minute that passed. I wished Anna would hurry up. What was taking so long?
When I glanced down at my ring to see eight minutes had passed, I seriously considered walking to the door and asking her for an estimated starting time.
But then there was a loud click and the white lighting went dim. It faded out and a dull reddish haze replaced it, emanating from the holes in the walls and the ceiling.
I wet my lips, trying to restore some of the moisture to my mouth. Gazing around the darkened chamber, I didn’t like the change of lighting. I didn’t like that it was so dim, and I didn’t like that it was red. It made the place more eerie.
Silence reigned once more, twisting my nerves tighter, and then a robotic male voice echoed down from somewhere above me.
“Activating in 3, 2, 1…”
My entire body bucked as the metal panel beneath my feet detached from the rest of the floor and shot upward. I lost balance, landing hard on my back. A gasp escaped my throat at the sight of the incoming ceiling. The panel picked up speed. It was too late to jump off.
Adrenaline shot through me and my reflexes kicked in. My hands and feet jerked upward, like a bug who had been flipped on its back.
I hit the ceiling, my arms and legs shuddering from the impact.
Yet, they did not snap and collapse into my body as I had expected them to. Instead, they held, their strength enough to stall the platform. I could feel it still pushing upward, testing my strength, but it was not unyielding. It was giving me a chance.
My muscles strained, perspiration breaking out on my forehead as I continued to resist the pressure, and then after what felt like five minutes but was probably much less, the platform stopped pressing. It gave in, and there was a soft hiss of machinery as it lowered, relieving me of the pressure.
My arms and legs collapsed, my heart thundering in my chest as I gasped, trying to catch my breath. When the panel returned to ground level and slotted back in with the rest of the floor, I rolled off it and tried to stand. I barely could. My knees shook badly, my muscles still jittery.
But that didn’t matter, because barely three seconds later, the panel I had just stepped onto vanished beneath me.
I plummeted. Cold water engulfed me.