Escape Plan
When I woke back up from the black out, I was in a box of of glass. Well, only the wall in front of me was made of glass with small on it which, I guess, were to allow me to breathe. But I could hear someone from outside.
Actually, I think that may have been their true purpose.
My vision hadn't completely returned yet, everything sounded like a distant echo and my body felt too heavy to move.
I heard Zeus's voice with the blonde doctor and Darcey. Zeus came first and asked how I was doing, to which Darcey responded positively and told him all my vitals were stable. That I was fine.
Then she proceeded to ask, "Why don't we just cure his mental condition? We have the tools. If 38 dies before the entity communicates again we could lose everything."
"No," Zeus responded. "Let him think he's hidden it from us and there's nothing we can do. A broken mind is easier to possess, this increases our chances of coming in contact with JINX. If he asks for help and we refuse we will lose his trust."
"But..."
Darcey tried to defend her point but the head scientist stopped her.
"Darcey, this is not your place." she said. "Just do as you are told."
Everything they were saying sounded like a dream, and as my body began to move I unintentionally groaned as if I was just waking up. It felt like the suckiest morning after the longest night of my life.
When I finally mustered the strength to raise my body off the ground, they were gone. I sat up straight and looked around the room while doing my best to keep my headache in check. It was basically a box of steel, the glass wall in front was the only window I had and the walls were only eight feet apart.
'Some sort of jail cell.' I thought. I've only ever heard about these. They put kids in here whose computer chips were broken, causing the to go crazy. It was a reconditioning chamber.
Just when I struggled to understand what had happened, Hope appeared in front of the glass wall and I immediately crept my way towards her. My feet were still too weak to walk. I think they had electricuted me or something...way too much.
I was on my knees against the glass wall right in front of Hope, and knelt down to meet my eyes. But her expression was worrisome. She was wearing a neck brace and had the tone of someone who had lost...hope. No pun intended.
She placed her hand against mine on the glass when I asked her if she was okay.
There was a heavy pause before she finally raises her head and asked, "Micheal, what do you think happened in the cafeteria?"
The question surprised me, and I could immediately tell where it was going but I didn't want to admit. So, I started biting my tongue for a reply.
"W-what you mean? You were attacked and...and I tried to help you."
She dropped her head and shook it slightly and said, "No, Micheal, no one attacked me but you."
I felt my heart rise up to my throat and my insides swirl up and tie in knots. I couldn't breathe.
It just didn't feel real. "N-no, I-..." It took me a while to find the words to form a proper sentence.
"I saw them, they were there and they were real and they were taking you away so I-...I-"
The words escaped me again. Then Hope corrected me.
"That's not how it happened, I left for the door and you came charging at me and kicked my knee. The other guard tried to stop you but...you killed him."
So to put it bluntly, I did react to my hallucinations. Reality got mixed with fear and I fucked up, big time. I know this is gonna sound a little insensitive but I'd pick cancer any day over this crap, because at least cancer lets the suffering end at some point. This bitch lets you live and suffer until you maybe screw with the wrong person by mistake and they unalive you...or you off yourself. Those are my options.
My head fell from her eyes as my forehead rested on the glass and hers did the same. I wanted to say I'm sorry, but somehow it just didn't feel like it would be enough.
As I drowned in dispare, I felt her finger tap on the glass over my hand. She was coding something to me. I immediately raised my head when she had finished but she was still not making eye contact, then I looked around and saw a camera on the corner of the wall behind her.
She had coded, 'You're. Not. In. Sane. Thank. You. For. Saving. Me.'
I suddenly understood. They put up to this, they were taking advantage of my insanity. To be compatible with JINX I had hide from every trace of light, and Hope was that light. She was a distraction.
But at the time I was more relieved that I hadn't hurt her.
They were listening to and watching everything we were doing so she had to keep the appearance of a wounded animal begging for mercy. But then she tapped something strange, before she just got up and left.
It was, 'I'll. Take. You. With. Me. If. You. Want. To. Come.' Pause, 'Just. You. And. Me.'
When she got up, she raised her foot slightly higher, and my eyes fell on the sole of her shoe. There was something written on it.
'ESP101.12:00.'
It was a door code and the time I would be there. Was she planning to escape? For real? No way, right? She's not that reckless.
There's no escape here. Every door needs a key card and they'll fry her brain before she even gets to the door. What is she thinking?
There was still 3 hours before they'd take me to the cafeteria at twelve. The longest three hours of my life. I couldn't stop worrying. My first thought was to stop her if I could before they killed her, but what if she had a plan.
Then they started multiplying. What if somebody knows? What if it's another set up? What if she gets caught?
I timed the seconds by snapping to keep track of time as I paced back and forth in the enclosed space, unable to calm down. I was freaking out so much that even the walls around me had began to talk, like ghosts in a haunted house.
'She's going to die.'
They said.
'You can't save her.'
'She'll never listen.'
'She wants you to choose.'
'Go.'
'Stay.'
'You have to choose.'
'Go.'
'Stay.'
'Make up your mind, Micheal.'
'Go!'
'Stay!'
'Remember your parents, Micheal! Stay for them!'
Even with with the snapping, seconds seemed longer than usual. Has time always been this slow?
By my last snap of 10800, I stopped in the middle of the room and took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds, then released it gently.
When the guard came, he found me with my head raised to the ceiling with my back turned and eyes closed. No movement, not breathing, just standing completely still.
He scanned his key card and the glass wall split in the middle. The left side half prompted outwards and slid over the right half, making a door way.
He didn't have to say anything, I immediately stepped out hoping and praying that Hope had changed her mind. Or maybe it was just one big misunderstanding and everything was actually fine. Right? Yeah.
All of that praying turned to be in vain when the alarms went off just as the guard followed behind me to the cafeteria.
'Code red! I repeat, code red! Illusion66 is unaccounted for, her microchip has been deactivated. All security personal, locate her immediately within the facility. She may be trying to escape. All other Illusionns may remain in their dorms until further notice.'
Announced a woman's voice on the speakers. And I stopped right there, dropped my shoulders and sighed deeply.
'Well shit then. I guess we're doing this.' I thought to myself.
The guard behind me tried to shove me to hurry up back to my room. As his hand touched me, I grabbed and twisted it to get him to lower his upper body then kicked his head and bashed it against the wall as soon as he did.
I then grabbed his key card and tazza and made my way to room ESP101. Darcey was watching this and she immediately asked what I was doing over the speakers.
'You chose this, 38. It's too late to quit.' she said. 'What do you think you're doing!'
I had no idea what I was doing, I was thinking Hope would tell when I saw her.
Darcey then proceeded to call for back up and a level 9 lock down. Which like a full lock down, except only the higher-ups could still access all the doors.
At this point I started praying. Please let there be a real plan, Hope.