11 Building

Aaron Cyrus February 5th,20XX

“Okay, walk carefully.”

My steps were unstable as Joyce led me through an unfamiliar setting. This wasn’t exactly how I’d thought the first time I was seeing my girlfriend in a week would go but I didn’t exactly hate it.

I’d been blindfolded since I’d gotten into the car and been driven to an unknown location, so I had no idea where I was. I trusted Joyce and knew she wouldn’t do anything that would hurt me but she wasn’t beyond pulling pranks on me.

My senses were on fire as I walked and my brain was burdened by the loss of my vision. Every step we took rang in my ears as my next dominant sense. Because of the redistribution of mental energy, it took more attention than usual to keep me on the ground and I had to dedicate more energy than usual to keep myself on the ground.

I could feel Joyce’s hands, slightly smaller and less calloused than mine, tighten around mine and was suddenly filled with a trace of bitterness at my abilities. How was it that the first time I got to hold my girlfriend's hand in over a week was marred by my determination not to pull the two of us into the air?

Another unfortunate discovery I’d made was that holding onto things as I floated up only made them come up with me, and the landing was equally difficult. The many dents on the floor of my apartment and the dirty looks the landlord had given me were enough testament to how tumultuous that discovery had been.

“Okay, take the blindfold off in 10…. 9”

I gave in to her sense of theatrics and got excited as she counted down and ripped the thick strip of fabric off my face as soon as the countdown ended.

The first emotion I felt was complex. It wasn’t quite a feeling of disappointment and wasn’t quite anger but it bounced somewhere between the two and sported a few strands of confusion.

There wasn’t anything I’d particularly been looking forward to seeing but I hadn’t been expecting to be shown the inside of an apartment building that looked slightly more expensive than my current one. It somewhat reminded me of the dorms at my university but otherwise was a nice place.

“Ah… an apartment building?”

The first thing I thought was that she’d found a place for me to move but I quickly dismissed the theory. I wanted to move out of my otherwise perfect place because I needed a place that could handle my many furniture casualties. I also needed a place I wouldn’t have to worry about someone coming into the room and seeing me asleep on the ceiling.

That was a habit I’d somehow developed and hadn't been able to kick but I wasn’t sure why.

Joyce took stock of my conflicted expression and donned a familiar smile I’d come to dread. She only put on that expression when she’d successfully ‘got’ me.

“Hahaha, at least the first part passes. Follow me.”

She took me by the hand again and pulled me past the front desk and into the actual building. I hesitated because I didn’t want to trespass, but I quickly gave in and let her pull me where she wanted. Since she was walking so confidently, I doubted she wasn’t allowed to be here. She was playful but she wouldn’t put me in a difficult position for the heck of it…. Most times.

We got to the back of the building and she stopped in front of a shoddy-looking closet.

“Okay, This is really why I brought you here.”

I beat off any dirty thoughts out of my mind with a metal bat and tried to think of what she wanted to do with me in a closet in an uninhabited apartment building. Before I could come up with any theories she pulled the door open and slammed her right hand into the wall. A blue light lit up the dark space and a confirming beep showed that her handprint had been read.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds before the harsh sound of gears screeched into my ears. Because it had been so quiet around us and because the sound was so unexpected, I instinctively pulled Joyce behind me and watched in shock as the back wall folded into itself and the mops and other cleaning supplies that had depended on it flickered in and out of existence.

“Holographic mops?”

While holograms weren’t brand new technology, they were still pricey enough for it to be considered wasteful when used like that.

Joyce giggled in amusement at my reaction before trying to school her expression into one of innocence.

“We had a bit of budget left over.”

She pulled out from behind me and walked into the entrance the missing back wall had created. I was too stunned to immediately follow after her but after she’d gotten far enough, I had no other choice but to rush and catch up.

The dark wooden corridor seemed to go on forever as we walked and the heavy gears of the doors closing behind us only made it more ominous. If I hadn’t been with Joyce I would probably have tried to leave by now. As things were it was difficult enough to keep my feet on the ground.

“Calm down a bit Aaron, you’re denting my floors.”

Although she probably was annoyed about the floor, I could tell that she was more trying to calm me down with a joke.

“All that money and you couldn’t afford to light one hallway?”

“It was a stylistic choice. Ah, we’re here. You should probably squint so you don’t get blinded.”

She brushed off the design flaw and opened another door with her handprint. Just had she had suggested I squinted my eyes but that wasn’t enough to prepare me for the blinding room we stepped in.

It looked like a set from a sci-fi movie. The walls were monochrome silver, and the tables were a pristine glass and brilliant marble white. The giant room was divided into two sections by a short glass railing. The first was a study area with a coffee and snack bar while the bottom was a relaxation area with a white couch and many matching love seats and single chairs.

Large silver pipes that ran along with the ceiling stood out from the otherwise seamless room. I wanted to ask about them, but Joyce had already started the tour.

“ Since the entrance is a bit intimidating, I decided to make the first room the rest area. We wouldn’t want the kids to be too scared on their first day, right?”

I found myself nodding along before I finally caught what she said.

“The kids?”

She gave me a nice smile and without verbally answering, pointed her phone at the west-bound wall. A soft whirring sound filled the room and a projector presented four pictures on the monochrome wall.

“These are, from left to right, Destia, Archer, Tillo and Kaja. We’ve only managed to identify these four, but I suspect there are more.”

A pressure I hadn’t been aware I was carrying suddenly lifted off my shoulders and I felt much lighter.

“Aaron! You’re floating!”

I quickly fought myself back to the ground and looked at the pictures on the wall. Although they all looked young it was so reassuring to realize I wasn’t alone. That I wasn’t the only one that had gotten these strange abilities.

“So this place…”

“Is mainly for you. But I’m planning on bringing the others in soon enough. I want to make sure you’re settled first though.”

She immediately made her plans clear in a resolute tone but it only made me more thankful toward her.

“Joyce-“

Before I could thank her properly, she pushed me away and started walking toward the other side of the room.

“Come on, if this is enough to impress you then the rest of the place will floor you.”