The next time any of them woke from their nearly comatose sleep, they were without headaches, even in the slightest. They didn't know that they'd been packed full of pain medications, as far as, and a little pass their safe limit.
They all hopped down from bed, and tried to find the seamless door in the wall, the door that was all but impossible. The first to mutter under her breath with frustration was Lauren, a perpetual whiner, but oddly an optimistic person.
She found the door in no time, for upon the muttering of her words, the door had slid open with a quick silence that Lauren could never have achieved. She memorized the place of the door, and slipped outside. Her long pajamas brushed with a swish against her legs, and she scowled when she realized she wasn't even dressed. She turned, and banged on the door, and then groaned. She hadn't known how she'd gotten out the door in the first place, but it didn't matter now, she was stuck in the hall.
Jaimee curiously poked her head out of the open space where her door had been, and looked around.
"Lauren!" Lauren jumped a little, amnd then looked to Jaimee. Lauren was in a spot where the rooms for once, didn't connect. There was a little, tiny hall in between the two middle rooms, whereas before the rooms had been directly connected. But, Lauren guessed it wasn't a good idea, for now that they could actually move around in the rooms, you never knew what one would be donig when you waltzed in.
"Hey, do you know how to get the door back open? I did it on accident, and now... Well, now I can't get back in!" Admitted Lauren sheepishly.
"Yeah, you just tell it to open." Answered Jaimee as if she thought it were impossible not to know that.
"Well, yeah thanks!" Replied Lauren, before ordering her door to open. She squealed with exaggerated delight, and giggled. "Thank you!" She jumped up and down once more, and then slipped inside, and then requested a map square from the Hole in the Wall.
"The- item- you- are- looking- for- is- on- the -third- shelf- from- the- left- of- the- foot- of- the- bed." The automated voice paused between each word, and every other word seemed to be from a different context, happy, then sad, then questioning, then knowing. It was odd.
"Thanks, I guess." When the wall replied, she nodded awkwardly, and then turned to the shelves that seemed to be cluttered yet organized with all sorts of things. It took her five minutes of frustration to sift through everything, and find her map square.
She pushed the button on the back, and it came to life.
"Where would you like to go, Lauren?" The voice asked fluidly. Lauren smiled. At least this one wasn't weird sounding, and then she thought, now: to find that bathroom.
"The bathroom's door in the back of the room, next to you're desk." Lauren dropped the device with horrified surprise.
"Don't be alarmed, this is what I was programmed for. I read your thoughts of travel through your pulse. Any other thoughts are intangible to me." Spoke the Map Square. Lauren nodded to herself, and bent to pick it up.
'That's not weird, right?' But it was. She set it on the lounging chair and then race toward the bathroom. She needed a shower, no a bath. It didn't matter which, but she was betting she smelled something terrible.
The bathtub produced the best smell possible for her, a creation made exactly for her. This was all nice, but to be honest it was unsettling. Lauren didn't like being smelly, but she got a rather quick bath, sniffing her arm as she climbed out. Mmm.... Sweet.
She wandered into the drying chamber, and stood still as it sucked the water out of her hair in less that five seconds.
She selected chose a dark pair of pants, jeans of course, and a medium-colored semi-thick sweater, an attempt to battle of the coldness of the room. She slipped into a pair of knee high thick snow-boot-esque faux suede boots that rolled a little at the top, to show furry interior. Fake, of course. She tucked her pants into the them, and zipped them. It was more retro than anything, but hey, it looked good.
She told the door to open, proudly remembering how to do so, and then grabbed her Map Square and hand-held before darting out to see if Jaimee was ready. Jaimee wore jeans, and a tight long sleeve shirt, and a jacket. Lauren felt ridiculous. She glanced down,and sighed.
"I look like an idiot!" exclaimed Lauren.
"No, you look....." Jaimee trailed off, and Lauren sighed exasperatedly.
"Hey, you guys, you gotta get the others, we have work to do- nice outfit, Lauren." Said Shantz with a smile. Lauren beamed at Jaimee who rolled her eyes good-naturedly.
"HEY!" Yelled Ian excitedly," You gotta see my room!"
"Ian, dear, that's going to have to wait. Can you go wake the other boys up, we have work to do." Spoke Shantz, her face apologetic,"When we finish working, I promise, you can all show each other your rooms."
"Hey, how did you know what we would like?" Asked Lauren before Ian had a chance to staggered out of his room, his face sleepy, and his wet hair sticking up in odd directions, while Jacob walked out, immersed in a looked up at her question, as did Rhett.
"Oh, we know all about you. " Said Shantz with a smile. Even though Lauren felt a rock of anxiety forming in her stomach, she effortlessly faked a smile, a long ago learned habit. When in doubt, or when her feelings got hurt she generally smiled, and faked it off.
Jaimee smiled, like Lauren, but the others let their emotions show a little bit. Rhett looked a bit grossed out, and Jacob and Ian just looked a little confused and sick to their stomachs.
"So!" Chirped Jaimee, successfully breaking the tension. "What do we have to do for work?"
"That's for me to know, and you to find out!" Laughed Shantz mischievously.
"Oooohhh. Scary!" Laughed Lauren.
They walked through the dizzying maze of halls, and Lauren touched a finger to the button on the back of her Map Square in the front pocket that was nearly invisible in the front of her sweater. She didn't normally have deceptive ideas like this, but she hated secrets that she herself didn't the answer too.
She thought as loud as she could, Remember where I'm going, my little helper. And figure out where.
Lauren sighed as they turned more and more corners, and walked down more halls. She slipped the Map Square out of her pocket ever so slightly to peek at the screen. It was flashing a warning sign, and Lauren sucked in her breath.
"Something wrong, " asked Shantz, starting to turn around. Lauren shoved the Map Square back into her pocket, and shook her head furiously no.
Jaimee gave her an odd look, and Lauren narrowed her eyes and shook her head no. Jaimee shrugged and kept walking.
The room was small, and Lauren didn't like it. She hated doctors. They were always so strict and Lauren didn't like following all the rules. She liked being herself and doing what she wanted, even if she was selfish sometimes.
She was alone in the room, the only company the small camera in the corner of the room.
Shantz opened the door, and then whispered something to someone behind her.
"What?" asked Lauren angrilly. They were making fun of her.
"We're getting all of you psych evaluations. Nothing serious, I swear." Shantz said with a smile. Lauren smiled back, but it looked more like a snarl. She hated being tricked.
"Fine."
The evaluation was done in an hour, and before she even had a chance to leave, Shantz gave her a shot of something in her shoulder.
"What was that for!?" Asked Lauren with a glare as she rubbed her shoulder.
"Oh, it's routine, don't worry."
"What's it called anyway?" asked Lauren carelessly as she rubbed her shoulder.
"Morphine."
"What's that supposed to do?" Asked Lauren, her the vein in her shoulder throbbing. Shantz had injected the Morphine too quickly,and it had bruised the side of the vein.
"Oh, nothing, really. Here take this." Lauren pressed her lips together, and refused to take the pills.
"Why should I?" She asked comparatively.
"Look, little girl, you're lucky we haven't thrown you out of the town for what you could've caused! Now take the damn pills!" Lauren was shocked at the sudden break in Shantz demeanor, and she drew back into the corner, covering her mouth.
"Don't make this hard for yourself. I don't want to hurt you, but I will." Lauren shivered,and remembered the warning the Map Square had given her.
"You're a fake, aren't you? You're not even a partial, are you?"
"No, honey, I'm not. I'm even better than that!" Laughed Shantz spitefully.
"Then what are you!?"
"I'm perfect." And then she rammed her elbow into Lauren's face, and she knew no more.
Lauren woke once more in her bed, and she wondered if it was all a dream. She rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, rubbing at the odd ache in her right shoulder. It hadn't been there before had it?
She grabbed her LP before sleeping and brought up a medical study book, just in case. She clicked the pen at the bottom of the bottom of the projection, and one materialized in her hand, and she jotted down notes. She had taken a course in handwriting. Almost no one else could read it unless she wrote really slowly, but that was okay with her. It was at least pretty, even if you couldn't read it.
She remembered with a shock the term "Perfect" from her 'dream', and she quickly scribbled it down. She'd look it up later. Wow, perfect. She wondered idly what that could possible mean, if it was rea even, and what it would mean if she found it. She scowled and pushed the unwanted thought from her head, and went back to sleep.
Author Note- You like? Read and Review, please! REVIEW DANGIT!