"You told him I was anti-social?"
"Well, I had to think of something, didn't I?"
"Your genius brain couldn't come up with something better than that?"
Robert and Natalie were sitting in their living room, after having lunch and having put Alice down for a nap. Robert had made the mistake of speaking to Dr. Skouras about his wife's reaction to finding him in their home, and had explained Natalie's cold reception of Skouras of late to her innately anti-social behavior. He'd then made the mistake of telling his wife about it.
"Certainly." He answered her sarcastic response with honesty. "I could have told him the truth. I could have told him that you compared him to a Jehovah's Witness, a jailer, and that he annoyed you like a yapping dog by coming to the door and expecting you to pay attention to him, his wanting you to participate in the program."
Natalie sighed sharply.
"He broke into our house!"
"He had a key."
"To our house!"
"His house, Natalie, his property. We are living here on his whim, be grateful. And he was here to check on Alice."
Natalie rolled her eyes and sighed with disgust, holding the latest issue of Cosmo magazine up over her face. She wasn't reading it, she was using it so she wouldn't have to look at Robert, who she'd been extremely pissed off at since last night, when he'd had no reaction to finding out that Roman Skouras had been alone in their house with Alice.
"Oh, pardonez-moi, what I intended to say is, he wanted to see Alice." He paused. "Is that what really bothers you? That he cares more for Alice than for you? Don't forget that she is the reason we are here."
He might care more about me if I were stupid enough to show all my powers to him.
"And would it kill you to participate in some of the activities with the other residents here?"
Natalie made a screeching sound. "What? You want me to play those stupid tests with the mindless people here? One of the idiots here talked to me like I was younger than Alice!" She changed her voice to match the woman's, its sickening patronizing and sing song tone. "Natalie," she mimicked, "would you like to make this block float for me?"
She'd been holding Alice by two hands in the hall, as they'd been exploring the inner campus buildings.
Natalie's mouth had dropped open in shock at how infantiliazing the woman was being. It was as if the woman had asked if she could recite the alphabet.
Alice seemed to recover before she did. Throwing the palm of her hand to her forehead, Alice closed her eyes and groaned as if in pain, shaking her head wildly. "Tupide, tupide, tupide," she muttered. Natalie barely managed to choke back her laughter.
Stooping to pick Alice up, Natalie began walking sideways away from the woman. "No thanks," she answered. "Try that on the kids. Unless," she corrected herself, "you actually meant that question for Alice here."
"I thought she didn't speak English yet."
"She barely speaks anything at all."
"Then no," the woman answered. "I was asking the question of you, Mrs. Pierreson."
"In that case, definitely no," she answered, and hurried away down the hall with Alice.
"Natalie!" Robert was offended.
"No," Natalie answered quickly, "these people are brain dead if they don't realize they're being tested like lab rats! Yet, they all wear these stupid smiles, like Skouras is doing them a favor, and they're grateful."
"They are grateful," Robert's voice was terse. "They have a place to live and food to eat. They are surrounded by others like them. They are stigmatized or institutionalized for their powers. They aren't punished for being themselves. I'm sure if you thought about yourself, you'd realize how lucky you are-compared to some other people."
The crack about her mother and Nina both being instatutionalized didn't go unnoticed. Natalie glared at him.
"I didn't know we were moving here so that my every move could be watched, and have people, oh I mean Dr. Skouras come knocking at the door every morning like Room Service. There's no such thing as privacy here. I'm sure this room is bugged, with cameras everywhere."
"Don't be so dramatic," he chidded. "I thought you were happy to be coming here."
Natalie rolled her eyes and loudly flipped another page of Cosmo. "Happy to be coming back to America, yes," she answered tersely, "happy to be here? Now that we're here and know what this place is all about? No."
"I didn't sign up to be in a jail. To be a test subject."
"Natalie, don't over-react."
"I see you!" She threw down the magazine and looked up at him. "I see what you do in those offices! You test those teens and those mindless adults like lab rats!"
Robert sighed as if both exhausted and grieved by his wife's lack of insight. "Simple tests, Natalie. If these people don't learn to control their powers they could do themselves a great harm."
Natalie eyed him seriously. "These people?!" Her voice cracked. "You sure he hasn't done these tests on you?"
"Are you implying something, my dear?"
"Yes, my dear," Natalie's tone was acidic. "You sound an awful lot like Skouras."
"Doctor Skouras," he corrected.
"If this place isn't a jail, why can't I leave?"
"Where would you go? There is nothing but trees and forest for miles. Not to mention wild animals. There are bears in these woods," he reminded her.
"I think I'd be safer with the bears," Natalie grumbled, burying her face once again, behind her magazine.
PAGE BREAK ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Once Alice was awake in her crib, and Robert had gone back to work as a minion of Skouras, Natalie decided that she and Alice would go exploring. Natalie was eager to get away for a while, and a walk with Alice proved to be the perfect solution.
Alice, strapped into her canvas stroller, Natalie walked along the paved walk ways that went in front of their house. From this vantage-point it was easy to see the forest, mere steps away, but nothing could be seen through the trees. Even so, she knew that the entire campus was in the middle of a dense forest, likely one of the few left on the continent. A road was there, somewhere within the mass of trees, but it was private, constucted for Skouras' ease. Even so, it was a good ten minute drive before one hit the main highway that bi-sected the forest, several miles away.
When Natalie looked to her right, she could see the main campus building, where most of the super people hung out during the day, the adjacent attached campus buildings that held classrooms and observation rooms, and further down the dormatory wings, and other campus buildings like the infirmary. Skouras' helicopter was visible was well, at a distance that was just discernable.
"Mrs. Pierreson?"
Natalie stopped still, on the rise of a hill now, having gone off the paved trail to explore.
Turning around she saw a young woman walking towards her at a calm but rapid pace. She was smiling congenially. Natalie knew better than to believe the lie.
Oh god. She closed her eyes so her rolling them wasn't visible.
The woman smiled extending a hand to shake as she reached her. Natalie acquiesed, reluctantly.
"I'm Angela." She kept smiling. Natalie found it unnerving.
The new minion of Skouras glanced into Alice's stroller, her smile broadening.
"I see you're taking Alice out for a walk?"
Natalie couldn't tell why the woman was there, but she knew it wasn't for a good reason. Biting back an acerbic response, she managed to answer simply, "Yes."
"That's wonderful!"
Lie.
"But," Angela Annoying tilted her head to the side like a dog, and gave Natalie a disapproving smile, "I'm afraid perhaps some of Symponique's rules haven't been explained to you."
With a pitying look she continued. "You see, we do encourage physical activity here, of course, but what with our location we feel it simply isn't safe to simply wander at will-as you seem to be doing. We like to have everyone where we can easily see them and have access to them, should they ever need medical attention."
"Like a playground." Natalie just stared hard at her in disbelief. But, this crazy Angela chick kept yapping.
"Exactly!" Angela looked relieved as if Natalie's answer were indicating agreement.
"We like to have everyone enjoy their physical activity, walks, whathaveyou, just behind the main campus building. There are games, and plenty of room for a walk."
Natalie gave her a terse smile. "I don't want to walk over there."
"I understand, Mrs. Pierreson, really. But we do have to think of the others here. If they saw you walking around outside the given parameters, they'd want to do the same."
"Christ, that's anarchy."
Angela laughed as if Natalie'd been joking and not showing her utter disapproval.
At that, Alice slapped her hand to her forehead and groaned, shaking her head back and forth.
"Oh," Angela Idiot grinned down at Alice, "she is so cute. You're so cute, Alice, you know that?"
As she drew nearer to Alice in a crouch, Alice drew back against her stroller, getting away.
"Tu tupide." She answered.
Angela smiled. "That's so cute!" She looked at Natalie. "What did she say?"
At this Natalie gave a genuine smile. "She said you're cute, too."
At that, Alice cackled with wild laughter, kicking her feet against the rail of the stroller.
Angela straightened back up and looked at Natalie, continuing her speech.
"So, you see we really can't have you walking around here."
"What about the paved trail?"
"That's not a walking trail. As I said we'll need you to only be outside in the courtyard. It's one of the reasons your 'house' is connected to the main unit by a hallway- that way you don't ever have to go outside to go anywhere."
"Oh, golly."
Finally, tired of the charade, Natalie was frank. "Look Angela, let me tell you how it's gonna be. I'm going to be an adult, and I'm going to be responsible for myself and my child and I'm pretty much gonna do whatever the hell I want. I hope that suits you."
With that she spun around and began wheeling Alice to the other side of the grass, back nearer the house, intentionally staying far from the walkway.
"And Natalie," Angela called after her. "We need to talk about the uniform-"
"I don't work here, this isn't a private school, and if it were I'm not enrolling. I'm gonna wear what I want, and my kid's gonna wear what I want her to wear. We're not wearing that ugly shit you give to the mental masses."