The Inadequate Experiments: 1. White Noise [Rough Draft]

Part 3; Immunity - 16. The Boy in My Mind

“We need to talk.”

Tia turned around to face me and raised her eyebrows. “Yeah. We do.”

We were in the dining hall being served lunch. After my “episode” yesterday, Oliver and I were given the day off training. I was hoping I would never have to go to these “training” sessions. I didn’t exactly want to know what their idea of training was.

I sighed, picking an apple from the fruit section. “Come on, Tia, don’t be like that. I know I’m the reason you and Derek are here, but I really need my best friend right now.” I took a deep breath. “It… It’s my Mum,”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, Sera, I’m so sorry—”

I shook my head, “No, no, she’s fine.” I insisted. “She’s just…” I met Dr Williams’ eyes across the room. “I can’t tell you in here. Let’s go sit outside.”

Her brow furrowed and she opened her mouth as if she wanted to ask more, but she followed me nonetheless. We found an empty picnic bench in the sun outside, a fair way away from the dining hall and sat down. I turned the apple over in my hands, my appetite disappearing.

“Okay, go.” She said, almost sternly. “Explain. What’s going on? Do I have to say ‘I told you so!’ because I definitely will. Look where you’ve landed yourself! Not only that, but Derek and I are stuck here too because you refuse to follow the rules.”

I looked down at the ground, hiding my confusion. I knew it was my fault the four of us were there, but I got taken because I was sick. Something to do with Inequity and my headaches. I didn’t understand why she had said I wasn’t following the rules. I flinched as pain flashed quickly through my temple. The movement and the pain were over almost as soon as they had begun, but Tia noticed.

“Sera?” She asked cautiously. “Sera, are you okay?”

“Yeah… I… Yeah.” I shook my head as if to clear it. “I… Dr Williams said I was here because of Inequity. My headaches. That you guys are here to make sure you don’t get it too.”

She raised a single eyebrow. “Headaches?”

I nodded.

My friend shook her head, her dark curls dancing in the wind as her violet eyes turned worried. “You’re here because of Cooper, silly. Not headaches. I’ve never heard you complain about headaches at all.” She peeled the sticker off the nectarine she must have grabbed in the dining hall and stuck it on my forehead, something she made a habit of doing. “But anyway, I’m not here to drill you about Cooper. You wanted to talk about your Mum,” she pointed out, “so, talk.”

Cooper? I had heard the name before, but… I had never met anyone called Cooper. Even then, there was something there, in the back of my mind—

Sera?

The voice in my head wasn’t mine. It belonged to a boy. He sounded around my age. As his voice sounded in my mind, a sharp pain shot through my temple.

Sera, is that really you? I found a way to help you get out! Sort of. A friend of a friend told me to look for a girl called Calliope Jackson. Said she knows how to get into the Compound. Also said she was completely insane, but that’s beside the point. Anyway, downside is, we can’t find her anywhere. It’s like she’s disappeared off the face of the—

Stop! I cried. The pain was intensifying with each word the boy in my head said, and I could feel myself drifting into unconsciousness again, like I had with Oliver the day before when he had mentioned the campsite.