Through the door a rippling aria was turned down, the melody a contrast to the song in the visiting woman’s voice. The door opened to a raven-haired teenager in a cream blouse and dark green slacks, her braid running down to the small of her back. “Hi Sarah! I’m sorry, I was dancing.” 

She did a lot of that when she was alone in her quarters; her doctors said it was important to keep up her general fitness and would benefit her rehabilitation. It also harked back to what she used to do [i]before[/i] the crash, and that was something she needed sometimes. Most of the doctors and nurses were very polite and friendly, but - except for rarely when Dr. Chauncey would put aside his work and just [i]talk[/i] to her - she felt very alone here at Corinth. She’d never been to Mississippi before; she had asked one of the older guards once if she could go on a supervised visit to see the sights and he had given her an odd look before saying the same thing she always heard. “It’s not safe outside Iris, not until Dr. Chauncey says you’re ready.”

“I promise I won’t keep him waiting,” she assured the honey-blonde as she took the tray with a small smile. “Have a good day!” 

Everyone here was always so busy, most of them caught up with helping the troubled souls in the criminal quarters. They never had time to talk, and after the first three months here she had learnt to stop trying. The rare times one of the younger nurses or guards [i]would[/i] stay to talk, it always turned out there was somewhere else the were supposed to be, and trouble would erupt as a result. 

“You too Iris,” Sarah effused, watching carefully as the girl closed her door and then turning to walk away. By the time she passed the guard at the corner of the hallway, she was already mentally counting her winnings again. She just had one more bout of surgery to scrub up for, and then…

Inside the room, Iris ate as she always did - dipping her biscuit into the milk and taking little bites from the soaking bits around the rim until it was gone. Then the cheerios interspersed with long draughts of juice, and finally draining the milk from the bowl. That was when she found the tablet, the little clear plastic tablet tapping at her lips and looked at it in surprise. The Truth? Was this part of a new testing regimen? She saw the USB port and looked briefly around her quarters. No, no laptop had suddenly made an appearance so with a mental shrug she slipped it into her pocket and set off for her morning appointment. 

She would ask the doctor, he always knew what to do.

It was only a short walk here in the upper levels of the facility, and almost exactly thirty two minutes after Sarah delivered her breakfast she was pressing a button outside a door. The screen lit up with a familiar-looking older face and she gave him her first full smile of the day. “Iris here Doctor Chauncey, I’m sorry I’m late.”