The Institute (19 page)

“This will be
your apartment now,” he smiles like I should be grateful, like I
should thank him for being so generous to me. I’m shocked, well not
really shocked – it’s not like I didn’t have warning about this.
Tate did tell me something like this would happen. “Okay, so
breakfast is delivered to the rooms daily, if you’re not here
they’ll just leave it outside. Lunch is served in the cafeteria
which you will be shown to tomorrow and I’ll schedule your meeting
for the morning, someone will be by to take you. Oh, and your new
uniforms are in the drawers and closet. Sleep well Allira, you
deserve it.” Paxton leaves and I am left alone.

I deserve it
but others who are in the Crypt don’t? People like Tate? I shake
the thought from my mind, walk over to my small dining table in the
corner and sit on one of the chairs and just search the room for
anything that would make me feel more comfortable. It feels weird,
like I am in a stranger’s house and I don’t know where I am
supposed to sit. The room is quite simple: there is a double bed
centred against the wall on the right and this table in the corner
and the bathroom door on the left of the bed and the closet on the
right. I find it kind of weird that even though the furniture seems
outdated, everything still matches, the black cushions on the
chairs match the black bedspread and the wicker dining table and
chairs match the bed head. It’s like it has been a priority to them
to make sure everything looks the same. I would think there would
be more important things than that to worry about … at least I hope
there would be.

I get up and go
look in my bathroom, which is to the right of the bed. I have my
very own ensuite with my very own shower and private toilet. I
almost jump for joy when I first see it. It must have only been a
few days that I was down in the Crypt but I felt weird going to the
bathroom while I knew people could possibly see me. I cling to the
thought that I never noticed anyone going so I’m hoping no one ever
noticed me.

I make my way
to my closet which is on the other side of the bed to look for
those new uniforms. It is one of those walk in closets that’s about
as big as my bathroom back home and when I first walk in, I am
overwhelmed by the amount of clothes I find. There’s everything in
here from sweat shirts, jumpers, pants, jeans, shorts, T-shirts and
singlets. Boots and sandals line the closet floor and I am suddenly
confused for a moment; everything is in my size, did they know I
was coming here? How long have they had my room prepared for? I
suppose they could have set it up while I was still in hospital, in
the hope that their amplification theory was correct.

I pull out one
of the T-shirts and notice that just like Nuka’s shirt, I have
white stripes on my clothes too but instead of one single stripe, I
have three. I check over all of the shirts and notice it’s the same
for all of them, even the ones without sleeves have the stripes
running along the hemline instead. I can’t think of what it could
mean.

I find a
singlet top and loose fitting shorts before climbing into my new
bed. The mattress is so soft, my body almost completely relaxes as
soon as it hits the bed, but my mind refuses. I’m too worried about
what is going to happen tomorrow, about what Mr. Brookfield will
want to do with me now he knows what I can do.

What will his
plan be? What if I refuse to do as he asks, will I be put back down
in the cells with the rest of the uncooperative people? Will I be
made to work elsewhere, like Ty and Deke? I know I should be happy
that I have decent living quarters now but all it is doing is
making me contemplate the possible strings that are attached to
living here.

***

I’m nervous.
I’m sitting outside Mr. Brookfield’s office for at least half an
hour, just waiting to go into my meeting. I almost feel like I’m at
school and have been sent to the principal’s office awaiting
punishment. I have no idea how this is going to go or what is going
to happen to me. I searched my room for a pen and paper last night
to write down what it is that I want to achieve from this meeting,
to try and prepare myself, but by the time I found some in my
bedside table, the only thing I could think to write down was
Shilah’s name.

“Please, come
in Miss Daniels.” Mr. Brookfield’s voice reverberates through me
and it brings me out of my nervous twitching; I know I can’t show
weakness right now.

We walk into
his office and my eyes immediately go to the drawn curtains behind
his desk and wonder if they have been closed for my benefit
considering nowhere else in this place seems to have any windows at
all. Will I ever see sunlight again?

“Please, sit
down,” he tells me as he goes and sits at his desk. “So I see the
test went well?”

“I guess so,” I
don’t exactly know what he wants me to say about it.

“Great, well I
do have some very good news that I think you will be excited about.
We currently have quite a few openings in our field agent
department. It seems we are quite understaffed after the whole
blood test debacle.”

I narrow my
eyes, “Blood test debacle?” I ask.

Mr. Brookfield
sighs, “Listen, I’m going to level with you. I want us to get along
and I want you to feel like you can trust me and trust that we are
doing what is best for the people of this country. Do you feel like
you could do that, Miss Daniels?”

I don’t really
know what to say to that. I guess there is only one correct answer,
even if it’s not the truth, “I do,” I say unconvincingly.

“Good, that’s
really good of you, Allira. Now, regarding those blood tests, I
will be honest with you. We may have administered them a little
prematurely. We hadn’t done enough research into it and when the
results came back, a lot of them were inconclusive. They couldn’t
give us a clear reading on who was definitely Defective and who
wasn’t.”

“What? But that
was the whole basis of my arrest? You were the ones who told me I
was Defective.” I’m angry and confused.

“That was
actually an interrogation tactic, you will learn all about those
when you agree to what we have to offer.” I find it interesting
that he said ‘when’ I agree. Somehow I don’t think I will be given
much of a choice. “We arrested you because Agent Jacobs believed he
had enough evidence to label you Defective and well, it turns out
he was right. Again.” Hmm, it looks like Drew’s ego doesn’t just
annoy me. “Although the tests ended up failing, what it did do was
alert us to suspicious people we had not yet looked at. After all,
what was your family’s first reaction to the news your brother was
about to be found out? You were all ready and prepared to flee, and
you weren’t the only ones. This is why we need you now.”

I am
dumbfounded. This whole thing was a big set up, a way to flush out
the guilty and it obviously worked because what was our first
thought? We told Shilah to run, to start over again like we have so
many times in the past.

“While we have
since sent out a press release about the tests being faulty, our
list of potential suspects has doubled with the ones who attempted
to run. So now, we need all the helping hands we can get. So if you
are truly as understanding of our situation as you say you are, I
will put you down for training – yes?” He is looking into my eyes
with an almost hypnotic trance, like he is urging me to say yes
with just his stare.

“I don’t see
why not,” I try to sound chipper about it and excited like he is
expecting me to be but I know it’s just coming out sullen and mean.
I hope they are going to train me to lie better if they expect me
to be any good at this – not that I want to be good at deceiving
people. I just don’t want to be in this situation at all.

“It seems like
a night in a comfortable bed has turned you around then. I thought
you were going to fight a bit harder than that. ”If I’m being
completely honest, I don’t want to do this but I have a feeling
you’re not exactly giving me much of a choice.” Did I really just
say that out loud?

“Of course you
have a choice Miss Daniels, I just don’t understand why you would
choose life in a cell, in the dark, a life of boredom and solitude
when you can have the chance to be free.”

“Exactly, it’s
not much of a choice is it? ”Well I’m glad you feel that way,” he
responds. I don’t know if he misunderstood what I said or he
actually is glad that I feel like doing this for them is my only
choice. I truly believe it is the only choice if I ever want to see
my brother again. “The others told me you were going to be tough
but I had a feeling I was going to like you.”

Great, I’ve
made friends with the person who ordered my beatings and torture.
He is smiling at me and looking so sleazy I’m now trying my hardest
not to vomit in my mouth.

“Okay, now we
have some more delicate matters to discuss. Are you going to be
okay with that?”

“I guess
so.”

“We need you.
You see, there are still many people out there with defects that we
need to find so they can get treatment here and you will be
so—“

“I’m sorry, I
have to stop you right there,” I interrupt. I can’t take another
lecture on Defective people needing treatment. “I’ve heard this
spiel before, I hear it every year when you make us take your tour.
I’ve been here for how long now? I have not once been offered this
so called treatment. The closest I have come to receiving any sort
of help is when I injured my foot and it had nothing to do with my
defect. I think I will be more cooperative when you are more honest
with me and the truth is, you want to round up every last one of us
to live out our days here with absolutely no intention of treating
us for our so called disease. Am I correct?”

“Ah, there’s
the spark Agents Jacobs warned me about. You’re half right Miss
Daniels, yes our current plan is to follow the law, which right now
only consists of separating those who are Defective, from those who
are not. We have scientists working full time in our research
department, trying to come up with a cure and I will be completely
honest with you, we’re not as close as we would like, or even as
close as we have let on to be. So until we are successful in
developing a cure, essentially yes; most Defective people live out
their days within these walls but you have the chance to have so
much more than that. Our current situation is not ideal but you
should know from your history lessons in school, it is better than
the alternative – don’t you think?”

I hang my head
sheepishly, “I agree, it’s better than the alternative.” Public
executions would be worse.

“You though,
you are special. I’m offering you a chance at going back into the
real world. I think you will be very appreciative of the fact that
I am not forcing you to be like the others. You will spend the next
few weeks being trained to work in the field, you will go
undercover to where suspected Defective people live and because of
the nature of your ability, you will be there to help out your
partner agent who will be assigned to you later. We need to find
you the perfect partner, someone who can really benefit from your
amplification ability. That is, if you are still okay with this
plan?”

I think now is
the time to bring up Shilah, “I will agree to help you—“

“Excellent,” he
interrupts.

“If …” I
continue, taking a deep breath. It’s now or never. “I can have a
few things in return. I don’t have many bargaining chips but I know
how useful my ability could be.” I can see his face harden, his
eyes darken and a crease in his forehead appear.

“I’m not
usually one to negotiate Miss Daniels, and if you push it any
further, you may just end up back in unpleasant surroundings.”

“Well the way I
see it Mr. Brookfield,” I try to use the same condescending tone he
used on me without going over the top and pushing him over the
edge, “If I don’t agree to help you, I will no doubt be sent back
down there anyway right? I’m not looking for a negotiation, I’m
just wanting some compensation for my services. I think that is
fair, don’t you?”

“You will be
paid all of your expenses while you are out in the field; as I’m
sure you are aware, there’s no point to giving you a wage because
you are given everything you need here.”

“Oh I don’t
mean of the money kind. I am thinking more along the lines of my
brother. I want my brother to be treated the way I was last night.
I want his apartment to be close to mine and I want to see him
regularly.”

“That seems
reasonable, is that all?”

“One more
thing, I don’t want him to be trained to be a field agent.”

He sighs and
thinks about it for a moment, “I can agree to those terms and I can
assure you, your brother has been treated with the upmost respect.
We did have plans to train him up, train him to harness his ability
– it would be quite useful too, however he is either too young or
too stupid because he’s not going well with the training. His
ability is not growing at all, it’s very sporadic and random.” I’m
trying ever so hard to bite my tongue at him calling Shilah stupid,
as I have a feeling he said it just to annoy me. He continues
talking when he sees I don’t react, “So we have a deal then?”

“I have one
more request, a favour really,” I rush, trying to get it out.
Breathe Allira, just breathe. “I need to say goodbye to someone in
the Crypt. Would it be at all possible to see him again?” I want to
apologise to Tate for not being strong enough. I am essentially
selling out my own kind, even though it still feels weird for me to
group myself with Defective people; I still feel like me.

“And here I was
thinking you were completely heartbroken over your first
boyfriend.” Does he know everything about me?