The following three days followed in a similar pattern; Brian stayed locked in his cell. He was beginning to get a taste as to how it must have been for Ice those long three months.
For one thing, it was fricking hot. Now, really it wasn't any hotter than it had been when he was out there working, but it just felt different now. And for another thing, it was plain boring.
His new neighbor seldom spoke, she merely stared at the wall most of the time. Oh sure, they'd had a good conversation or two as well, but she liked to keep to herself. Brian got the feeling something traumatic had happened before she came to the camp but didn't press the issue.
With each day the sounds outside grew slightly louder, but Brian still did not believe they were significant to show that everyone was back working. And while he kept telling himself he should be happy that he's not out in the hot sun toiling away in the sandy dirt with a shovel, he still persisted to worry. Worrying really wasn't something he was accustomed to, he rarely did so before being taken away. Sure, he might get a bit psyched up before finals or something like that, but nothing ever like this. No, definitely never anything like this.
Absently he began to hum the words to some long forgotten Linkin Park song as he drummed his fingers against the still barely cool walls of his cell. Getting lost within the song, which fittingly happened to be entitled 'Numb'; he mentally drifted off.
Of course his thoughts drifted back towards home, or more appropriately, Kelly. He didn't really think much of his parents. Yeah, he missed them, but he had the feeling that before too long they wouldn't miss him. Kelly though, she wouldn't be so quick to forget him, would she? This thought really hadn't crossed his mind yet. Would she move one with her life while he was stuck down here in this makeshift prison? She couldn't…
His thoughts were interrupted by the hiss of decompressing air as the cell door slowly slid open. Sitting up, Brian anxiously tried to see who was coming for him. As always, it was just some young soldier there to escort him out. Feeling rather defeated, Brian stood up with his back to the soldier and placed his wrists behind his back, waiting to be handcuffed. The guard gave a half smile, which went unseen before handcuffing him and leading Brian away.
But, instead of going in the normal direction for work, they went in the opposite way. They stopped at the showers, the same one where he had gone on his first day in camp. This was the first shower since, minus the two rain showers they had had.
The water, though lukewarm and dirty was a thrilling sensation, which unfortunately did not last very long. As the guard lead him away, his formerly white, moist T-shirt and faded jeans clung tightly to his skin. By the time they had reached their destination, Brian had already guessed where they were going. The doctor's. Doctor Elanovich, that is.
As they climbed the creaky wooden staircase leading up to Elanovich's office, Brian grew slightly concerned. Why would they be checking him again? He wondered.
He would find out soon enough, he decided as the guard that was escorting him swung open the old wooden door to Elanovich's office. The doctor's office had overgone severe changes over the last few months. That was the first thing Brian noticed.
The former room had had a nice clash of split personalities, the front section all sterilized and appeared like a typical doctors office with a few pieces of gym equipment while the rest of the flat was decorated in an almost bohemian style. Now the entire thing was done in the cold, unwelcoming style of a doctor's office. The living space of the flat had been all but eliminated, save for two cots and a white kitchenette in the very back.
The guard holding firmly onto his handcuffs loudly cleared his throat. From a door in the back of the room, Elanovich walked out, looking as unput-together as ever. He squinted at them from across the room.
"No one's scheduled for another half hour," He declared, hurrying over.
"Orders, Sir," The guard replied.
Elanovich squinted at the again, though this time he was only a mere few feet away. Then he got a look of realization and withdrew a small yellow walkie-talkie from his lab coat pocket. He mumbled a few things into it and got a static filled response. He turned back towards the two with an apologetic look.
"One of the other doctors, Viv, made the appointment. Sorry. She should be here momentarily so we can begin." He stated before turning to fumble with the setting on one of the exercise machines.
Shortly after, the door opened with its usual loud creak to reveal Viv, a younger, cold doctor clad in the typical lab coat. Her black hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and her distinctive Asian features added to her feeling of coldness. She gave Brian and the still waiting escort a quick look down before addressing Elanovich. They conversed quietly before Viv gave the guard the signal to leave.
Once the guard was gone, Viv went into power mode. She walked over with a sense of precision, her black heels clacking against the hard floor. She checked his arm, then seeming to approve of what she saw, she gave a nod to Elanovich.
From there, they proceeded to go through a similar experience as last time, but more strenuous. With the ending of each new task, Viv was sure to mark down a little something on her clipboard.
After what felt like many hours of this process, they stopped. Viv had him lay down on the makeshift-operating table and she began to strap him it. Brian panicked.
"Elanovich!" She yelled, and the other doctor came running. "Hold him," Viv continued. Elanovich did as he was told, restraining the flailing teen. A few moments later, Viv was finished securing the oversized straps. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?" she sarcastically said to Brian as she toyed with something above his head.
And with that she placed several electrodes strategically around his head, and one on both the side of his neck and the inside of his arm just below the elbow. Brian heart was pounding as he heard her slowly punch a few keys on what sounded to be a laptop. Then a slight whirling sound started up and Viv backed away. A few minutes later, she stood up and adjusted one of the little black electrodes. Brian struggled to lift his head up so he could see what she as doing but the most he saw was a pale, slender hand tipped off in long silver fingernails. But then she moved away, out of his view, leaving him to only stare upwards towards the old, cracked ceiling.
What seemed to be an eternity later, (though in reality it had only been an hour), the doctor returned and switched off the machine. One by one, she removed the electrodes as the machine began printing out something. While Brian was still strapped down, Viv took his wrists and pulled them close enough together to replace the handcuffs. Once they were secure, she took her time undoing the restraints.
Once free from the binding, black straps, Brian quickly sat up. Viv ignored him while she rea the machine's printout as it came out. Absently she bit on the corner of her lip and let out a quiet 'hmmm'.
Just then, another guard and prisoner entered the office. The prisoner was a guy who looked about Brian's age, maybe a bit younger. Seeing the two intruders, Viv's head snapped up.
"Doctor Vivian Tseng?" The guard questioned with a tone of uncertainty.
She briskly nodded and immediately closed down the laptop (now that he was sitting upright, Brian could tell the wires led to a small black box with several blinking red and green lights, and that ran a single wire into the back of Vivian's laptop.).
With that, Viv hurriedly helped Brian off the table and exchanged him with the guard's previous prisoner.
"Take him back," Viv hissed before focusing all of her attention on her new specimen.
____________________________________
Later that night, long after Brian had been returned to his cell and most of the faculty were in their quarters, Doctors Vivian Tseng and Paul Elanovich were both consumed with the days prior testing results.
Most of the tests were very normal, even worse than before by comparison. But a few stuck out of the lot.
"Look at this," Vivian said, pointing to an erratic line on a chart. Elanovich pushed his reading glasses higher up the bridge of his nose and held the paper under the light. He let out a soft, thoughtful 'hmmm'.
"That's unusual…" He said, his voice trailing off.
"Here's what it should look like," Vivian continued, handing Elanovich a printout of another's score on the exam. "Should we monitor it?" She questioned.
Elanovich held to two very different looking tests in each hand, and cocked his head slightly to the side as if to ponder this question. "It could be nothing," He stated.
"It could be something," Vivian replied sharply.
Elanovich dropped the papers and sat back in his chair with a sigh. "You handle it," He finally said with a casual wave of his hand.
Vivian promptly stood up. "Of course, Sir. Thank you." She said coolly as she left.
As she walked down the stairs into the moonlight outdoors, she smiled and loudly cracked her knuckles.
