Dark Room (completed)

1

Reese Campbell's morning began when a man in black knocked on the door and escorted her from her home.

Of course, she was in no position to refuse. The man was an agent for the Leadership.

And the Leadership was safe.

They had ended War. They had created peace. All was equal now, and fair.

Only, Reese did not agree.

And so, though she was admittedly nervous, she was not at all confused at having been pulled from her home. Reese even felt the familiar buzz of curiosity, a sensation she'd never seen in anyone but herself.

The gentle manner of the agent and the meant-to-be comforting pressure of his hand on her back was disquieting. It felt hostile and carefully practiced to seemingly supersede the borders of 'safe' emotion. That is what the Leadership agents were good at, manipulating emotion. It is what enabled them to bring in those who were more emotionally inclined than others. They carefully studied it, and understood it very well, but they couldn't feel emotion for themselves and were therefore blind to it.

But Reese was not.

She knew emotion, and she knew how dangerous that could be. From a young age, placed in the care of a family grouping, she had seen how her world worked and wondered why she did not work with it. But Reese was an smart girl and she carefully hid her emotion as best she could. Her intelligence is what later allowed her to graduate with honors and climb up the ranks in her local Leadership. She became assistant manager of operations and in time Leadership began to look past her emotion, though they had known from a long time it was there. Reese had not hidden well enough.

Than, two years after being hired, she had an episode. It was erratic and unpredictable, even she didn't see it coming. Years of pent up emotions were released in a fit of passion. She cried, than screamed, than pleaded to meet with the parents from her old family grouping, she had something important to tell them. But Reese was not allowed, and after several hours the feeling subsided into its neutral state. She was quietly dismissed for the day and made to take a leave of absence. Four days later, today that is, the agent arrived in her doorway.

And now she was being led into the Leadership building. Some eyes recognized her, she could tell, and looked away in shame - one of the safe emotions. Reese and the light-eyed agent stepped into the nearest elevator, she carefully watched as he pressed his thumb to a recognition pad and a holographic keyboard appeared. His fingers flew across it with familiar ease.

"This will be your pass code for the next time you come," he said in low tones, still not meeting her eyes.

She looked of over his shoulder, the keypad read 'THE' in bold letters. Than he grabbed her wrist, Reese flinched, and pulled a pen from his pocket. In blue ink he scribbled the word 'DARK' across her forearm.

"The dark?" Reese asked.

He glanced at her and continued. "Curiosity is not a safe emotion, Ms. Campbell," he put the pen away in his pocket. "Your passcode will change every day, and I will give it to you at the end of each session. Do not tell it to anyone."

Reese blinked. "But, it is on my wrist, anyone might see it."

He glanced down at her forearm pointedly. Her eyes followed to find the blue ink had completely faded. Reese drew in a sharp breath and lifted her wrist.

"How?" She wondered, brushing a finger across the surface of her skin. For a moment the word 'DARK' could be seen reappearing beneath her touch.

She looked up and met the eyes of the agent. "As I said before, Ms. Campbell," he straightened and stared straight ahead at the elevator doors. "Curiosity is not a safe emotion."

There was a pleasant ring, the sound of rushing air, and the doors slid quietly open.

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"Ms. Campbell," a lofty voice rang out. "How pleasant it is to see you again."

Reese looked around the empty, white hallway and back to the unfamiliar face of a man who looked at her with recognition. He smiled and held out his arms, as if for a physical contact of some kind. Reese frowned.

"I was under the impression that Pleasant was an unnecessary emotion."

The man raised an eyebrow slightly and lowered his arms. "And I was under the impression that you felt it either way, Ms. Campbell."

She paused, surprised, and cleared her throat. "Please, call me Reese."

He looked her up and down, then nodded. "Very well, you will call me Sir."

" 'Sir'?"

"Yes?"

She blinked again. He was being humorous, an unnecessary form of emotion. Reese smiled slightly and took her first steps forward. The doors of the elevator closed behind her and with them left the agent. The man smiled again, his warm, brown eyes crinkling.

"Follow me, Ms. Reese," He said before turning and beginning to walk down the hallway. "We have some things to discuss."

She hesitated a moment, then ran froward to walk with him. The were silent for a long while as they walked down the hallway. She almost felt compelled to speak when -

"Ms. Reese?" He asked "do you know the three safe emotions?"

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A/N: okay, so I hope you are enjoying this little short story so far. So if you liked this please vote and comment! I've had this idea for a while so I'd like to know what you think :)

-Raven