Chapter 6- The GOOD Directorate
The first floor of the G-Cube was filled with people. Huge crowds stood around. I gulped, realizing that they had been waiting for me.
"Whoa…" I breathed, looking around. There were at least a dozen stories to the cube. They all had skylights in the floors, allowing me to see all the way up to the top floor.
The crowd's cheering had formed into shouts of "SEVEN! SEVEN!" It was utterly unnerving, to see so many people treating me like a hero. Not that I'm complaining…
There was an aisle that cut the room in two. Chris and I walked down it. It felt like a spotlight was on me. If there actually had been, I probably wouldn't have noticed anyway, what with all the little blue lights filling the room. I saw that there was a man standing at the end of the aisle.
"That's Dr. Gromov, your boss. You can thank him for all of this. The guy's a flippin' GENIUS! I mean, he created ANNET and everything!" Chris babbled excitedly.
"What's ANNET?" I asked, confused.
"You mean you don't KNOW?" Chris exclaimed. "It's the Neural Network! That's what the little headpiece-light-thingies are for." That would have been a good explanation if I had known what a Neural Network was.
Gromov rushed up to meet us in the middle of the aisle. He was very tall, with auburn hair and sort of amber eyes. He was wearing a lab coat and was holding a microphone.
"And you must be Z! Hatchenson, we'll deal with you later." He said, shaking my hand. His voice was accented with Russian. He then spoke into the microphone. "LADIES AND GENTLMEN! I PRESENT TO YOU Z, THE MAN THAT WILL ENSURE OUR VICTORY!" The cheering and applause increased in volume.
"Follow me, Z." Gromov said happily. "I'd like some people who have higher clearance to meet you." He led me to a roped off part of the room. A sign said, "THIRD LEVEL CLEARANCE AND UP ONLY." As soon as we got in, people rushed up to me. In seconds, I was being bombarded with questions. What I like, what Conspiracy life was like, even what was my favorite food and did I like country music. I noticed that only one person was staying out of my way- a man in a black-and-white jacket off to one side of the room.
"Excuse me," I said distractedly. Who was this guy and why did he have no interest in me? I walked up to him. "Hello?" I said, tapping him on the shoulder.
"BWAH!" He yelped, and whirled around. He looked half asleep. I heard someone in the crowd mutter, "Don't waste your time with Charles. He can't even connect to ANNET."
"Oh, it's you." The man- Charles- said bluntly. "Erm, nice to meet you. I wish you luck if you've got to deal with Gromov, by the way. He can get a bit obsessive."
"I don't believe it iz necessary to wish me luck, seeing as zat iz why I'm here in zee first place." I replied. I remembered that I was still holding my mug. I clenched the handle tighter, wishing for something hot to drink, or even better, to spill on this guy. He was certainly rude…
"Snippy! Quit bothering Seven. He's been on the run since this morning! Give him a break!" Dr. Gromov said, popping up behind me. Charles eyed him angrily. They clearly did not get along well.
"You didn't seem to have a problem when the other workers threw themselves on him," Snippy spat. Then he stalked off in the other direction, muttering something about nightmares.
"I'm sorry about Charles. He seems to think anything I think of is destined to fail." Gromov said apologetically. "But I guess the crowds would be a bit overwhelming… Come on," He said. "Excuse me, but Z has to go now," He shouted to the crowd. He wound his way through the masses of people, with me closely behind. We reached an elevator. Instead of up and down buttons, there was some sort of pad. Gromov put his hand against it and the elevator opened.
"You'll be living in the testing apartments. Higher-ranking people like me and test subjects live in the eleventh and 12th levels. The others are offices and testing facilities. " He said as we rose smoothly upwards. "I've made sure that sleep is free for you, and you'll be fitted for an ANNET transmitter after your testing's done." Testing? What was this man planning to do to me?
We came to a halt and the elevator door opened. The upstairs levels were similar to hotel hallways. Doors were on each side, with a blue carpet running down the hall.
"This is the twelfth level. The Director himself lives on the thirteenth. Even I haven't been there." Gromov said, leading me down the hall. We stopped at a door labeled "Seven." Gromov took a key from his lab coat pocket and unlocked the door. It swung open to reveal a white-painted room with light blue furniture and a bed with equally white sheets. Pajamas were laid on the bed, and a mirror hung on one side of the room. There was a door next to it, probably leading to a bathroom. A window opposite the door overlooked the Directorate city.
It was all very sterile and cold looking, similar to the hospital room I awoke in after my operation. I didn't like it at all. I was used to bomb shelters and brown, and to worn furniture with not even a trace of white. But it would have to do.
"You'll get room service for breakfast," Gromov told me. He looked at a clock that was hanging over the bed. "Oh dear, it's already past two o'clock! Z, get some rest. Testing begins tomorrow, and I think you'll need the energy. Good night!" And he left, without even explaining what this testing was. Sighing, I put on the pajamas and climbed into the unwelcoming bed. My mug was sitting on a bedside table, the only spot of color in this prison of white. I closed my eyes and drifted off to much-needed sleep.
A/N: Thanks to the people who reviewed! It's appreciated greatly. Also, it's hard to write in a German accent.