Agent Dioxide nodded to Subject 30, and turned to leave. As expected, there she was in the hallway with his partner. She looked frail and weak, cowering over the much taller Agent. It’s hard to think that what had happened just a few days ago was caused by her. 

He took Gershwin by the arm, and she obliged, though with resistance. He gave a sympathetic glance to Agent Caits that said: [i] ‘yeah, another one of those moments.’ [/i] 

[b]…[/b]

Gershwin did not reciprocate a reply to Agent Caits nor Agent Dioxide after she was pulled into the elevator. They were several floors up, so the silence was suffocating. She knew she’d messed up and she figured there would be some kind of repercussion. Halfway down, she thought back to Cody – a handsome lad with a gift for music. What he said kept ringing around in her mind: [b] ‘You’re bright, so very bright.’ [/b]

Mildly touched, she also thought if it had anything to do with her being (supposedly) abnormal. She thought not to bring this up with Agent Dioxide.

[right] ‘So, how much in trouble am I?’ [/right] 

‘You’re not in trouble – you’re not the first one to try. At least we stopped you before you got out of the building. Only then would you have been in trouble, but not by us. We’re here to take care of you two because you’re important to us - to potentially be able to save and change the world.’

Agent Dioxide said that with such indignation and hatred, yet his voice did not expose that, at least he hoped it didn’t. 

[right] ‘Somehow I don’t think you believe half of what you just said.’ [/right]

She got it. 

More silence as they neared the first floor. 

‘I’m not saying you have to go exercise every day, but it would be preferable since…’

He stopped himself. 

[right] ‘Since they’re going to be examining me, right?’ [/right]

‘You aren’t as exasperated as before.’

[right] ‘Why should I be?’ [/right]

‘You should be, though.’

[right] ‘I now realize that there is no way for me to escape this place. The least I can do is be resistant to your every way, but I won’t fight back.’ [/right]
‘Gandhi.’

Had it not been for the very quiet lift, their nervous snickering would not have been heard.

‘Keep that uniform on. That’s the only way you’ll get food at the cafeteria I told you. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

The two parted separate ways, as Gershwin headed for SRD, Agent Dioxide Communications. She watched him walk away before finally tuning in to her surroundings. Despite her ability to wander around, her mobility was strictly limited with cameras, guard posts, and patrols everywhere. She made the smart choice early in Communications, but it was definitely a depressing revelation that her confirmations are all true: she was not going to leave. 

[hr]

The Subjects’ cells are activated only with specific hand-prints. Not even the sanitation staff can enter to clean up. Only two sets are allowed access: the caretakers, and the subjects themselves. 

Two panels are present on both sides of the door. Subjects and Caretakers are able to enter, but only the Caretakers are able to exit. A subject may only exit through the authorization of a present Caretaker.

With this knowledge in mind, Gershwin put aside the thought of briefly napping. She instead decided to travel up and down the elevator to different floors, walking to wherever she wasn’t disallowed access. This amounted to very little; there was barely a window to look into and a doorway that isn’t locked without key-cards. 

An hour had passed. She went to the floor where the cafeteria was. It was almost full, but people made no effort to conceal their fear and apprehension for her, moving themselves away. Some chose to stand and eat. Had they not been told that the Subjects were valuable, they would have shot her on sight. Surely they were all trained professional killers, and nothing was stopping them. But it did feel awful to know that she was hated out of spite. 

She took a tray of food, and sat herself down. Around this time, Cody should be on his way. She ate slowly, hoping to catch him before the allotted time was up.