"Hello, Charlie."
She turned her head to see Topher standing there as the chair slowly came upright. "Did I fall asleep?"
"For a little while," he answered.
The chair was now fully upright. "Shall I go?"
"If you like."
Charlie liked. She was cold. Her feet were cold and her hands were cold and her nose felt very cold. She wanted to get warm. A hot shower should do it.
It did. She bundled on a nice thick, fluffy terry-cloth robe, got her mirror and comb and a cup of hot chocolate from the cafeteria then went and made herself comfortable in the seating area on the far side of the koi ponds. She set up the mirror on the seat of a sofa and sat on floor in front of it putting her cup down beside her. Looking into the mirror she began to comb her hair.
Charlie liked to look at herself. She liked her straight blond hair, almost brown near the roots shading to flaxen at the ends. She liked her straight nose and full lips and her wide spaced eyes. She especially liked her eyes; they were brown – which was interesting with blond hair – a clear, light brown like iced tea that was almost golden when the light struck them just so… she turned her head a little so it did and admired the effect.
She was beautiful. She liked being beautiful. It was part of being her best. That's why she needed the mirror. To see herself, to see she was still beautiful. As if once she hadn't been….
She jerked her mind away from the thought. Of course she'd always been beautiful, always her best. Nothing changed. Nothing ever changed. She was here, always here, safe and protected with treatments to make her better and better…
"You were gone."
Charlie turned her head. Juliet was curled up on the adjacent couch an open picture book in her lap.
"I had a treatment."
"Oh. That explains it," said Juliet. She was beautiful too but not at all like Charlie Juliet's long hair was deep brown glinting red where the light struck it. And her eyes were a bright blue that contrasted pleasingly with her soft golden skin. Charlie liked looking at her almost as much as she liked looking at herself.
"I like having treatments," she said aloud.
"So do I-" Juliet frowned. "Did you ever notice you feel differently after each treatment? Sometimes you feel good, sometimes you feel sad, and sometimes you are sore and ache."
Charlie thought about that. "Yes, I have noticed that. Today I felt cold."
"Funny isn't it?" said Juliet.
Charlie shrugged, "I don't care. I still like my treatments. I want to be my best."
Juliet nodded agreement. "It's important to be your best."
Charlie went back to combing her hair and looking in her mirror. She could - and often did - do that for hours and hours. After a while Juliet put down her picture book and went off towards the art room. A little bit later Charlie folded her mirror, sat on the couch next to it and picked up the book. The pictures were of rooms, pretty rooms with lots of flowers. Charlie liked flowers. It was a shame they didn't have any here, just pictures of them.
"Charlie?"
She looked up and smiled happily as she recognized Sonya, her very favorite care-taker. "Hello, Sonya!"
The handler smiled gently back. "Hello, Charlie. Have you had dinner yet? It will be bedtime soon."
"No," Charlie considered her insides. She didn't feel hungry at all but – "I should eat?"
"I think so," said Sonya.
"Okay."
Charlie took the book with her, putting it neatly away in an empty space on the racks in the cafeteria. Then she went to see what was for dinner. Sonya said she should eat so she would but she still wasn't hungry. She finally picked a bowl of fruit salad, light and sweet, and got another cup of hot chocolate. She looked around for an empty seat.
There was one, and Zulu was sitting next to it. That was good. Charlie liked to sit next to Zulu. His skin was dark brown while hers was pale. He didn't have any hair but his short beard was black and his eyes were almost the same color as hers. She felt they made a pretty picture together. Contrast was good. She sat down with her fruit salad. Bravo was on her other side. He was very tall. He had a beard too and very curly hair both dark brown. His eyes were light gray. He was pretty to look at too but she didn't think they made as good a picture as her and Zulu.
"That all you're eating?" said Bravo.
"I'm not hungry," Charlie answered.
"You're not your best?" Zulu asked sounding concerned. It was very bad not to be your best. If you weren't your best you told the caretakers and they'd help you.
"I'm just not hungry. I had a treatment."
"Oh." A treatment explained everything. Treatments sometimes unsettled you. But they made you your best so it was worth it.
You always knew when it was time for bed. All the lights started going dim and you began to feel sleepy. Charlie climbed into her pod and snuggled into the soft mattress and cushion as the glass shutter closed gently over her. It was the end of a perfect day. Tomorrow would be just like it and the tomorrow after that and after that… she drifted contentedly off to sleep.
….
Charlie awoke with an unpleasant start. Her shutter was open but the bedroom was still dark. That was strange. She waited for the room lights to come on. They didn't. She got tired of waiting and sat up. The other pods were open too and heads were sticking out of them, blinking around bewildered and a little scared. Zulu was in the pod on Charlie's left side, Foxtrot on her right side, with Juliet and Bravo opposite them.
"Something is wrong," said Bravo.
He could say that again. Something different had happened. Charlie didn't like it at all.
"What should we do?" Foxtrot asked nervously. She was pretty too. She had red hair which was lovely. Sometimes Charlie wished she had red hair too, but she had more important things to think about just now. What should they do?
"Let's go back to sleep," Juliet suggested at last.
That seemed like the best thing and Charlie really tried but she didn't feel secure with her shutter open and the dark looking in at her and how can you sleep when you don't feel safe? She sat up. "I can't sleep!"
One by one the other heads appeared. None of them had gone to sleep either.
"Maybe we should tell a handler," Foxtrot suggested hesitantly.
That was a good idea. Maybe they could find Sonya. Charlie was unhappy and insecure. She trusted Sonya. She wanted Sonya.
"She's right," that was Zulu. "They can't fix it if they don't know something's wrong."
Charlie climbed out of her pod it felt so strange to be doing that while the room was dark except for the floor lights. She joined the others by the door. They stood close together, much closer than usual. The warmth from the other bodies was comforting. They moved into the hall in a clump; Zulu in the lead, Charlie and Juliet and Foxtrot all in a huddle and Bravo close behind, almost treading on their heels.
The hall was dark which was bad. Then they emerged into the big space and it was all dark too, even the windows on the upper level had no light behind them.
Charlie whimpered. Oh she didn't like this, she didn't like this! A cold hand grabbed hers. It was Foxtrot. Charlie reached for Zulu's big hand. It was cold too. They were all scared. This was so wrong, so wrong the dark and no caretakers anywhere. Sonya, she wanted Sonya. Oh where had she gone?
"They're asleep." Everybody looked at Juliet. "The handlers must be asleep too, that's why all the lights are out," she explained.
Charlie frowned. Handlers existed to look after dolls. Sonya was supposed to look after her. The idea that Sonya was at this moment tucked into a pod of her own completely unaware that Charlie needed her was very disturbing.
"They'll be upstairs," said Zulu, we'll have to go up there to find help."
"We're not allowed upstairs without a handler," Bravo objected.
"We're looking for a handler," Zulu replied with a trace of impatience.
"It's not allowed," Bravo said stubbornly.
"We don't want to get in trouble," Charlie contributed, like they weren't already?
"Let's look in Dr. Saunder's office first," Foxtrot said suddenly. "She's always there."
"It's dark," Zulu pointed out.
"That doesn't mean she isn't there," Foxtrot insisted.
Zulu shrugged and they all moved off in a clump toward the medical office. Dr. Saunders was not there. "Now we try upstairs," he said. This time nobody argued.
They went slowly up the stairs in a hand holding chain, Zulu still in the lead with Charlie right behind him holding her breath expecting a handler to materialize any minute and demand to know why they were breaking the rules. Actually she was desperately hoping a caretaker would appear and make everything all right.
Unfortunately they reached the top unchallenged. How come she'd never noticed how untidy the treatment room was? It was also empty. No Topher. No Ivy. No lights. All the blank screens were really creepy – like dead eyes. That metaphor brought Charlie to a full stop. How could she think something so horrible? "I so need a treatment," she muttered.
Bravo agreed. "I am not at my best."
"Who is?" Foxtrot was rubbing her arms like she was cold.
Zulu was wandering around touching things and frowning. "This reminds me of something…"
"It reminds you of the treatment room," Foxtrot snapped, "Like we've all spent enough time up here!"
"We were looking for a handler," Juliet reminded them all. She was standing by a door, not the one they'd come in by.
"We are going to be in so much trouble," Charlie muttered but she followed the others. Finding help was worth a scolding. The door led to a wood lined hallway with doors opening off both sides all of which were locked. Then one opened and a man came out.
Not a man Charlie recognized. He looked startled then broke into a broad and somehow disturbing grin. "Hey, Zu -" He got no farther. A big brown fist caught him on the angle of the jaw hurling him backward into the wall. Then Foxtrot was grabbing Charlie by the arm and swinging her in the opposite direction; "Run!"
Charlie ran, they all did, for quite some time before finally coming to an exhausted and breathless stop.
"That…That wasn't a handler!" Juliet panted.
"Who was it and why did you hit him?" Bravo wheezed.
"That was Alpha," Zulu said grimly.
Charlie began to tremble. She knew that name it was connected with something very terrible. Something she didn't want to remember…..
"We don't have an Alpha," said Juliet.
"Not now, we did," answered Foxtrot.
Charlie shook harder. It was coming back, she didn't want it to but it did: Screams; blood; Sonya shoving her into a pod room then leaning against the closed door to keep him – Alpha – out. Charlie began to cry.
"We shouldn't have run," Zulu was saying. Charlie stopped crying to stare. So did the others. "We have to stop him before he does it again."
"We can't!" Charlie all but wailed.
"We have to!" said Zulu.
"There are five of us and only one of him," Foxtrot said slowly, she was rubbing her arms again.
"Stop him doing what?" Bravo asked sounding frustrated.
"Killing people, cutting people," Charlie's voice shook. Oh where was Sonya? Sonya had saved her before.
"Everybody is asleep," Juliet said eyes widening in dawning horror.
"We need handlers!" this time Charlie did wail.
"There are no handlers," Zulu retorted. "There's nobody but us!"