"The whole point of the viewing was to show that the Earth tried to warn the Rusties-"
"How? I mean-"
"Lauren! Don't interrupt, they're trying explain!" hissed Jaimee ; embarrassed. Lauren reddened sheepishly.
"Sorry. Carry on."
"As I was saying, the whole point of the viewing was to show that Earth tried to warn the Rusties,and tried to stop them, but Humanity ignored Earth, and they went on creating horrible weapons, and biological weapons, worst of all. The Rusties developed a bacterium that traveled from one metal to the other, causing the metal to implode then explode almost simultaneously. The implosion destroyed the contents of whatever- or whomever- was inside the metal, or metal frame, and said object exploded, spreading the biological 'disease' to other parts of the world. Thus, ending the Rusty period." Shantz bowed her head, and sighed.
"So did anyone live?" joked Rhett, and Lauren snorted.
"Nooooo. We just magically appeared again!" Laughed Lauren sarcastically.
"Poof!" interjected Ian, causing ripples of laughter.
They were sitting in what looked to be an old fashioned library, with many books, and there were large comfy chairs that they all reclined in. Lauren sat at the edge of her chair, legs together, arms folded and resting on her knees.
Jaimee sat in her recliner with her legs up in the chair, the leg rest extended. She had a bad knee that the surgery would fix, but as of the moment she had to deal with the pain. She hunched over slightly, listening intently.
Ian was preztled in his chair, legs under neath him, yet somehow still curled into a ball.
Jacob was sprawled out in his chair, carelessly. It was a perfect example of his general attitude toward rules, and his complete disregard for them.
Rhett sat in the middle of the chair, shoulders relaxed and dropped, his arms resting thoughtlessly, unforgotten on the armrests. He watched with regard, annalyzing every moment for the perfect timing of his priceless jokes. They were almost always at the exact right moment.
Shatz was in her own part of the circle of recliners, her legs tucked under her, shoulders confidently back, and her hair swept back into a messy bun. She looked relaxed and at ease; at home even.
"So, what happens know?" Asked Jaimee, wanting to get the worst over with.
"We keep you here, but for now, now that we have cleaned all of the bacterium off of you, we watch you. Maybe do some more tests. You see, the bacterium from the Equiamorphicas was small, and clingy. Kind of like...." she trailed off as she thought of a word to describe it.
"Glue? Tape? Burrs?" Guessed Lauren. She always guessed, when people were in doubt of a word, whether they wanted to or not. Lauren was helping herself as well as them. She needed to say them sometimes, to pluck free the thoughts from her mind that collided and cajoled inside her mind. There were so many, it was hard to get the thoughts across. Her brain was like a subway, and she was trying to find people, the thoughts, at the busy times. Yet, it was 'the busiest time of day' at every moment. And finding the right answers wasn't always easy.
"No. Aha! Velcro!" Shantz smiled brightly. "Like Velcro, yes..."
"And we couldn't get them off of us? Like we washed our hands, but... They clung to our clothing?" Concluded Lauren with relief. She'd gotten something right.
"Yes," nodded Shantz.
"So, uh, are we going to have to keep sleeping on those metal slabs? Or what?" asked Lauren nervously. She didn't want to look-a-gift-horse-in-the-mouth-, but she didn't want to actually grow accustomed to sleeping on one of the most uncomfortable surfaces she'd ever slept on.
"No, you're going to have new quarters, a little more.... homier," explained Shantz, "And you are going to be right next to each other, in honeycomb formation just as before."
"So, when we're not getting tested, where does that leave us?" Asked Lauren, "Can we read or something? Or study? I mean I know we're lucky to not get arressted, and thrown out of the city and all, but...."
"You don't want to feel like a prisoner if you're not?"
"Yes!" breathed Lauren; relieved that Shantz understood her intentions.
"Well, as long as you don't leave the facilities, you should be okay. And we have more viewings if you'd like. And, we also have tactics simulators for you to play on. You can hook hoverboards up, anything really, and mess around on them. The libraries are open twenty-four-seven, although we do request signout as these are extremely valuable. An damages are to be reported so that it may be fixed. No harm done, it's just for safety and preservation. We try not to ruin these. The informational items are on paper, but the stories on the the Literary Projector."
"Literary Projector?" Asked Lauren excitedly, barely able to contain herself from finding one and ripping it open.
"Yes, this is a Literary Projector." Answered Shantz, pulling a small disk from her lab coat, and she pushed a button on one of the sides of the disk, and a holographic book appeared. "An you just adjust the density like this!" She dragged her thumb across the straight line of a wheel that was in the side of the disk, the straight line going along with the curve of the disk. The holograph solidified, and Shantz flipped through the pages.
"So, how do we get books on there?" Asked Lauren anxiously, her knees jiggling with anticipation.
"You don't have to their built right in! You just have to find them. They go all the way back to before Shakespeare-and don't even ask who he is! You have to find out for yourself!" Winked Shantz.
"What if we want to sing?" Asked Jaimee, and Lauren let out a loud, ooohhh yeah! And Ian was like Oh! Me! WEEE!
"There are music rooms, as well as an instructor who conducts and directs the plays and entertainment for those interested." Said Shantz, "Now, any questions? I have a meeting to attend-"
"Where I can do something not- geek- related?" Asked Jacob sitting up, letting out a dramatic sigh.
"Well, I can ask for games to be brought for you?"Asked Shantz politely, with a smile. Jacob smiled and nodded back. "For now, why don't you go try out the simulations? I know how much you love boarding."
She took Jacob off the find the simulations, and Jaimee, Ian, and Lauren looked over to Rhett who had fallen asleep, a very uncharacteristic thing for him to do.
Lauren prodded him in the ribs, and he jolted awake.
"WHA!??!?" He looked around, his hair sticking up in all directions. The others giggled. "Wher'di' Jacob go?" He slurred rubbing his eyes.
"To the simulation room to play on the simulator. You might be able to catch up if you want. I can probably get someone to go get her." But before Lauren could get up, Shantz was back.
"Didn't think we'd forget ya did you? You feel asleep, and I thought I'd let you sleep, but I heard you wake up."
"How-"
"Special ears, dear." smiled Shantz, resting a kind hand on his shoulder. She guided him to the door, and then tosses Ian a small square device."It's a map. You guys can explore if you like."
She left the trio to themselves, and they looked at each other.
"Can we get some Literary Projectors- geez that's a long name!" spazzed Lauren.
"Yeah. I want something to do later, when the singing thing is closed, or if they're not there." Jaimee remarked, rising groggily out of her chair. She'd just realized how long they'd actually been there.
"Do you think they have games on those things?" Asked Ian, scratching his head with a yawn.
"I dunno. Ask her. " Shrugged Lauren, pointing to a Special Crumblie. She didn't look as Scary as the other people. Yes, a capital Scary. These people were pretty, but their faces were clouded over with spite; their superior eyes smug in the fact they were Special; better. They seemed consistantly arrogant with this knowledge as well as many others that the five of them hadn't hazarded a guess at.
The woman's head was down and she appeared to be rummaging through some sort of draw with a lazily intense demeanor.
"Uhm, yeah, I was wondering if maybe you had things-" She handed him a pair of wrist straps, and smiled.
"I heard you, honey. " Her voice quivered slightly, "Its called an Omnitainer. All sorts of entertainment on there, all you have to do is find it."
Ian bade a gracious thank you, and wandered back to his chair while Lauren and Jaimee collected the Literary Projectors, that oddly enough had been waiting for them. They'd both come to terms with dubbing them as LP's.
"Look at this! An Omnitainer! Kind of long, what should I nickname it?" Asked Ian proudly.
"OT?" Asked Jaimee, shrugging, and going back to dragging her finger on the newly appeared semi-solid screen as she drifted through titles with short summaries on the stories contents.
"How about Tainer?" Asked Lauren, putting her hands down, and looking at the curious device in front of her, upon Ian's wrists.
"Eww, no!" Laughed Jaimee. Ian made a face and shook his head no.
"Ainer?" Asked Ian with a smile.
"Ha! Sorry dude, too much like ANUS!" said Lauren loudly. When the librarian lady looked over at her with an aghast face, she squeaked out an apology through her giggles.
She calmed down soon, and went back to thinking.
"Nit?" Asked Jaimee absently, popping a book open and closing it.
"Maybe." said Lauren thoughtfully her hand on her chin, then her hair, then her ear. She jiggled her legs. "I got it! Otter! The 'o' from Omni, and the 't-t-e-r' from 'tainer'!"
"Ohh, I like it!" smiled Ian, nodding. Jaimee nodded, but she secretly thought hers was better. But, then, everyone would guard their own thoughts and decisions.
"So, you guys I want to talk to you, maybe we should go farther away?" Lauren jerked her head nonchalantly toward the librarian as to not give anything away. Jaimee nodded. "Sure!" acted Lauren. "Let's go see what kind of books they have! I want to read up on my boy!"
The librarian looked up briefly and then back to her work, and the three of them wandered noncommittally toward the stacks and stacks of books.
"So, why are they being so nice to us all of the sudden?" Asked Lauren in a hushed whisper.
"I don't know. Maybe they're trying to make up for putting us through that awful test!" shot Jaimee.
"Yeah. But still it doesn't make sense. I think they might be faking." Lauren whispered, then hushed a little lower. Her voice was hard to control. She seemed to be loud no matter what.
"I dunno. Either way, let's make the best of it! At least we're not kicked out, you know!" hissed Ian. Lauren and Jaimee nodded.
"We'll talk more about Equiamorphicas later." Said Lauren loudly. She almost convinced herself that they were going to come back here and talk about them. But they probably would anyway, so that helped. If anything, Lauren was a good liar when the time called for it. Normally she didn't like to lie, but these were serious times. And serious times- they called for serious measure.
Author's Note- So you like? I hope this cleared up some of the confusion that has been reported. I hope it helped! :D Read and review! Love it and enjoy it! Comments and Suggestions, you know what to do! :) REVIEWS please! Thanks,
Lauren/Mellokai