*************************Chapter 4: Social Similarities*************************
When I woke up the first thing I felt was this sharp nagging pain in the back of my head. And dizziness. I tried to rub my head for relief but then I realized I couldn't move. My wrists were bound to a chair. I opened my eyes and gritted my teeth while lifting up my neck. While working the bounds, I concluded that I was inside the cottage. I looked right as the door creaked, recognizing the chattering flame of the fireplace. I saw an old man with white hair and a beard dressed in a yellow long-sleeved shirt and denim overalls enter the room. In his hand was a pail. So that was my captor this time. He didn't look too bad of a guy, to tell you the truth. Looked like a grandpa.
"You sure like to sleep-in don't cha, fellow," he said, laying the pail down in front of him and reaching back to grab another one. The buckets were obviously too heavy for that old man as he strained and hunched to lift them. I felt the cold wind rush into the room. I watched him then bring both of the buckets into the heart of the cottage.
"I have a difficult time waking up. With a piano playing."
"It figures Paradigm hired themselves a lazy bum," the old man gritted, setting the pails down. He hunched for a second, catching his breath. "Nothin' but a loafer."He tried to pick up the pails again, another laborious effort.
"I may be a 'loafer' but I may not be so impolite as to not help out my elders," I said as I freed myself from my prison and grabbed the buckets from him. He watched me curiously. I poured the buckets of melted snow into the large black cauldron. "Besides, I don't work for Paradigm anyway. Please, sit down. You sure tired yourself there." The old man blinked in surprise, taking my advice. I looked around the small cottage and found some coarsely ground coffee but no coffee machine. Good thing I knew how to do it the old fashioned way. I found the reservoir bowl and poured water into it. I added the coffee to the brew basket and then placed the basket onto the urn that was on top of the stovetop. Several minutes later I gave the fresh hot cup of coffee to the nodded in thanks, but didn't know what quite to say. He started at the cup as if it was poison. I took my coat off and exchanged it for an apron I found hanging. I proceeded to make breakfast.
"If you don't mind me saying, my scrambled eggs are pretty good." Scrambled eggs in fact were the only things I knew how to cook. And fried bacon. It was a good thing Dorothy was not in the room; she certainly would have something insulting to say."By the way what are you doing up here? How come you don't live with the others in town?" I asked, trying to make conversation.
"That's really none of your concern."
"Hmm. Well I guess I'm not doing such a good job as a Negotiator," I said, giving him a serving of my absolutely delicious cooking. "To tell the truth, I'm asking purely out of curiosity. Please, dig in."He pushed aside the coffee and looked to the eggs. His face shone the look of doubt. He still didn't trust me; to him I was just another strange wealthy citizen of the domes who didn't have a club how hard life was outside of them. He chewed it slowly. Then swallowed and paused. I watched him intently. He then grabbed the salt shaker and poured a heaping on my cooking. Everyone's a eating the eggs, he didn't even say thank you. He was ruder and harder to get into a conversation to than Dorothy.
He went outside and started chopping firewood. Not like he needed anymore. There was plenty outside. I think he just needed time to think, something to do. I observed from the inside of the cottage, drinking the coffee he obviously didn't touch. The old man paused for a while, rubbing his back. He seemed to be doing a lot of work; didn't this guy ever think of retiring? He then saw me gazing at him and he angrily chopped the wood. I chuckled to myself. Town or country mouse, we were all the same, ruled by the same emotions.I went inside and poured myself another hot cup of coffee. For some reason, the coffee tasted it different; it tasted sweeter out here in the mountains. I examined the rural inside of the home. I liked it; nice, homey, and simple. I wish life could be more like that. I could tell that this old man probably had the same schedule everyday, didn't have to answer to anyone or anything. Only to the needs and desires of himself. Nobody to fight or deal with, no negotiations, and especially no irritating smart-aleck android girl playing pianos in the morning. Life was just simple. He had to struggle everyday to survive while I dealt with stubborn clients and wished for a vacation.
I heard a mysterious creak as I paced over the wooden floor. I turned around. I was at the edge of a green rug. I tapped on its surface twice on different locations on the fabric. Hollow. I lifted the rug up. There was a door on the floor. A hidden room! Was it the same one I tried to investigate last night? I lifted the trap door up and sneaked a peek inside. The unlighted room beneath the cottage was very strange and didn't have any extra logs, just as I expected. Instead I saw a messy room with various technologies, measuring instruments on the walls, wiring, a desk with tons of paper, many of it scattered on the floor. There was a large safe that was obviously broken; I could see its emptiness within.
"What's all this?" I wondered, putting on my gloves as I lowered down the wooden stairs. A closer look at the table indicated some sort of science experiment had occurred, an experiment that failed. I saw flasks tipped over, tube holders, a container with blue liquid, numerous tomes. A stool was tipped over on the floor coated with shattered glass. There were mechanisms on the walls with switches and empty plugs. I picked up a clipboard and read the paper attached. Strange. I was no science buff, but apparently I could discern that some sort of creature had been tested right here in this room. I moved the clipboard and I saw beneath it was a dissection tray with tools.
"This is no ordinary facility." I got the clipboard again and flipped over the first page. Nothing. I then saw something shiny on the dirty floor. I squatted down and picked it up. A picture. An old one alright. Possibly over forty years old. It was none other than the mister who captured me last night. He was younger then, posed by a table and behind him were the silhouettes of fish swimming in tanks. I stood up, looking to investigate some more.
CHOOMMMMMMM.
I then heard a heaving racket that reminded me of yesterday morning when the power surged in my mansion. This couldn't be good. I heard the turning on of the gadgets in the room, the arrows of magnitude indicators wavered alarmingly on the walls. I saw blue electricity gush in an outpour between two metal screw-shaped structures. The power of the electricity rose and rose in the room. I felt the my hair stick up to its end due to the massive amounts of static in the room.
"Ugh. Wait. I didn't touch anything!"I shivered in amazement and fear as the electricity became so formidable that its hazardous tendrils now zapped every corner of the room. "What's going on!" I ran out of the cellar, gasping for breath. I saw an eerie green light being reflected on the walls and the noise was becoming louder. "Did somebody connect the power?" I ran out of the cottage, meaning to warn the old man of what has transpired but the yard was empty. I glanced around, then saw him facing the edge of the mountain. He was gazing at the river. I ran over to him. "Old man! The power!" Above the sound of power surging and the river lapping the bank, I heard a different noise. It sounded like an inhuman wail that seemed to come out of the body of water itself.
"Somebody started the turbines," he said furiously. "You worked for them, didn't you?" He grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me violently.
"No. I came here on my own. I don't work with anyone!"He dropped me and he ran towards the side of the cottage. I followed him. Sure enough, I saw that there were fresh footprints leading into what I thought was the cellar last night.
"This guy's good," I remarked to myself.
"I have to stop the turbines!" said the old man, his eyes wide with anxiety. I grabbed him firmly by the shoulder."If I don't hurry something terrible will happen!" the old man exclaimed, holding a fist.
"I suggest you leave this to me, old man," I said with confidence. "Whoever did this is a professional. A pro researcher like yourself should understand." The man looked at me with wonder. "The job should be left to the professionals, wouldn't you agree?"
I went into the cellar, which actually seemed more like a tunnel. Even with the rapid boost of electricity surging everywhere, it was still pretty dark. My only source of illumination was my flashlight. Against the tunnel's walls were long traveling pipes. I could smell and hear the industrial-use river rushing through the metal. I heard soft footsteps approaching that weren't mine. I switched the flashlight's light setting to the brightest mode possible, ready for anything. I heard a female's gasp. I saw an unmistakable blonde in a tight pink bodysuit bracing herself against the blinding light, caught unawares.