THE ALGORITHM

7.

There was a cloud of confusion hovering over Penny. She lay there, her eyes fluttering as she tried to gather her thoughts. She noticed the vaulted ceilings and grew timid because she knew she wasn't home. Penny had popcorn ceilings. Immediately, she sat up and grabbed her head. It felt heavy, and it pained her to move it around.

With her low eyes, she looked around the room with her blurred vision. There wasn't much she could see. Penny groaned softly as she scooted toward the edge and eventually left the bed. Instead of standing up straight, she tumbled against the hardwood floors and yelped out in pain.

This wasn't her apartment. She was slightly aware of that. She tried to pull herself up with her weak limbs but fell again. Penny's breathing grew rapid as her heart drummed from paranoia.

Slowly, she raised again and tried to open her eyes. Blurriness overtook her vision as she tried to clear it. Unfortunately, she still failed to see visibly. Penny used the little strength she had to push herself up. Her body felt wobbly from trying to stay steady. As soon as she stretched her leg out to stand firm on the floor, she lost control and tumbled over.

Thump!

Penny fell to the floor with a loud thud for the second time. Her head hit the side of the bed frame. She lay there with her eyes closed while trying to control her breathing. A ringing noise broke out, causing her to spew out a piercing scream. The sound of heavy footsteps could be heard. Penny didn't know what happened afterward since she lost consciousness.

A soft murmur pushed past her lips. Her level of awareness was low. Everything still didn't make sense to her, and she was trying to understand why she was feeling so bad. Penny licked her dry lips as she slowly moved around, trying to get herself together. Heavy footsteps could be heard on the floor.

"What the..." The person trailed off, standing near her body. "Yo, what are you doing?"

Penny moved her head and tried to open her eyes again. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her vision. A tall, strange man stood before her. Immediately, she reacted defensively and tried pushing away.

"Hey, hey. Calm down." The man pushed out calmly with his hands up.

Her breathing grew intense as she looked around, trying to make everything connect. Unfortunately, she didn't know where she was, and she didn't recognize the man standing in front of her. Penny had no choice but to react in such a cautious way.

"Hey." He called out again, stepping closer. Penny pushed back until her head hit the bedframe again. "See, you have to stay calm and be still before you give yourself a concussion. Now, I'm not here to hurt you."

Penny didn't want to believe him. She wanted to know where she was.

"Look..." The guy began. "My name is Decon, alright?"

Decon offered his name, but Penny didn't bother to answer him. She stayed silent while keeping her eyes on him. Her brain was fuzzy, and she still couldn't process what was going on.

"You were out of it when we found you." Decon continued; he leaned over again and tried to touch her forehead, but she slapped his hand away. He nodded lightly and pushed out, "Alright. I won't touch you."

Decon spread his hands and eventually reached the door. He called for someone as Penny continued to lie on the floor. She adjusted her body, lying on her side. A few footsteps neared her again.

"This is our girl, huh?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"Alright." The older woman crouched down to get to an eye level with Penny. She viewed the young girl with narrowed eyes and a pouty expression on her lips. "Hi, hun. I'm Dr. Sterling. I'm here to check on you and make sure you're okay."