washed over my skin. Little flecks of dried blood that had caught in my sweater from the fight with Wolfe flaked off and swirled down the drain. I stayed in there longer than was necessary to get clean; the shower has long been my place for rejuvenation, the only spot where I could get privacy from Mom. The only place I’m allowed to shed my gloves, my shirt and all else.
I stepped onto the rug and took a moment to appreciate the warmth of the dormitory bathroom. Even in a house as buttoned up as ours had been, drafts ran through it with alarming regularity. I could always tell what season it was by how cold I was when I got out of the shower. The bathroom here was perfectly insulated, though, and as I felt the soft squish of the plush bathmat between my toes there was a touch of that feeling of unfamiliarity again. It was as though I were so far outside my comfortable life that I almost couldn’t recognize the actions I was taking as my own; like they were those of a stranger I was watching on TV.
I stepped out into my room wearing a towel and pulled open the closet to find a half dozen outfits. I took a look at the clothes I had discarded – dirty, disgusting and a little bloody. I wanted to put them back on, but it would undo the shower. Instead I picked out a black turtleneck and a pair of jeans and put them on, unsurprised to find that they fit me perfectly. I was only going to the cafeteria, but I grabbed the coat I had worn yesterday and slipped on my gloves, the only part of my ensemble not completely caked with filth. Rule #4. Old habits die hard.
The dormitory building was large and seemed to contain quite a few people. I guessed they were all metas like me, retrieved at some point or another by the Directorate. They seemed to be keeping to themselves, didn’t meet my eyes in the corridors, which caused concern for me. Some of them hung together in small groups, and I could feel them looking when my back was turned.
I remembered seeing a sign for the cafeteria somewhere near the entrance I had used yesterday, so I walked the corridors looking for it. When I found one, I followed it to a large, open space with a hundred or more tables. Glass windows stretched from floor to ceiling of a two story-high space, looking out onto the snowy grounds. One wall opened up into a long serving line with a variety of different foods sitting out in a self-serve style, from Jell-O to meatloaf. A digital clock hung overhead, announcing that it was almost noon.
I passed through the line without difficulty; there was no cash register at the end, so I just walked off through the ever-increasing crowd and found a table by myself next to the window and sat down, ready to eat.
I was attacking the meatloaf when Ariadne sat down across from me. She wore an overly friendly look that put me on an annoyed footing made worse by some of my food choices. The coffee was not going well with the meatloaf. How was I supposed to know that? Mom never let me have coffee and people on TV drank it with everything. Bleh. Meatloaf tasted different than I expected, too.
Ariadne must have sensed my disquiet because I did not acknowledge her after she sat down. “Good morning,” she said, breaking the silence. “Actually,” she continued, smile widening, “I suppose I should say—”
“If the next words out of your mouth are ‘Good afternoon,’ I promise it won’t be for you.”
She blinked in slight shock. “Didn’t—”
“Sleep well? No.” My eyes narrowed as I lied. “Something about the thought of having a load of tests run didn’t sit well with me.”
“Does that mean you’ve decided against the testing?” Did I detect a note of disappointment in her voice?
“Didn’t say that. I haven’t decided yet. Either way, I’m not enthused about them.”
“Ah.” She nodded. “Perhaps we can help change your opinion. I’ve been asked to bring you to see the Director.”
“Erich Winter?”
“Yes.”
“Great.” I slid aside the tray with the coffee and gawdawful meatloaf. “I’d like to ask him some questions anyway. Shall we?”
The priceless look of uncertainty on her face gave way to a forced confidence as she led me downstairs to an underground tunnel leading to the headquarters