The medical room looks innocent enough upon my first examination. Five cots line the left wall. Against the right wall are a few large pieces of equipment such as X-ray machines and an MRI scanner. The back wall sports several X-ray films and MRI scans of various portions of the human body, mostly limbs and brains, although there's a good mixture of torsos thrown in. There are also tables full of medical tools that are heavily leaning towards torture devices pressed against the back wall.
"Go to a cot," Maggie instructs us. We do as she asks, Nicole and Xavier lying on two cots side by side and Deirdre settling in between Jake and me.
"Are you okay?" I whisper to her.
"I'm fine," she snaps, revealing her lie as she tells it. "Why wouldn't I be?"
I shrug, the Voice slipping into place to push all the right buttons. "Isn't it obvious? You're in last place for scoring."
"Not for long." Her young voice is laced with determination.
"You're right. I'd bet my money on Lack 'o Legs over there taking your spot."
Deirdre smiles and I feel as though I have actually done something right for once. I offer up a grin as well.
"Deirdre first," Maggie decides, and the child gets up from her cot and crosses the room to where Maggie stands by the X-ray machine.
"We're just going to X-ray you and then you're free to go," Maggie explains. "We're not expecting much."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Deirdre asks angrily, crossing her arms. "You think I'm stupid?"
I sigh slightly. "X-rays don't scan your brain, MRIs do," I hiss under my breath, and I see Jake glance warningly over at me from the other cot.
"Not at all, child. Just...underdeveloped." I wince at Maggie's heavily patronizing tone. This doesn't look like it will end well.
"I'm not being X-rayed," Deirdre announces haughtily. I know some of her frustration is spilling over from her being in last place in the Trial rankings.
"Not worth fighting, kid," I call as I stare at the ceiling. Lifting my head, I advise, "Choose your battles."
Deirdre glances at me before taking a long look at Jake. He nods encouragingly and she sighs, accepting the apron Maggie offers her.
Deirdre and Xavier only receive X-rays. Then they are allowed to leave. I hope they can find their way back to the cafeteria, or wait for us all to travel together.
"Nicole," Maggie says, "I want to take an X-ray and an MRI. Also, I believe you hurt your wrist. We can fix that quite easily."
"It's not a big deal," Nicole says as if on instinct, extracting her right wrist from within her left hand. I see that it's bruised - ugly, dark bruises that looks like someone grabbed her much too hard.
"What happened?" Jake breathes at the sight of the previously unnoticed injury. She shoots him a venomous look.
"One of your clones."
Jake closes his eyes. I watch as Nicole holds deathly still for the MRI. She truly looks vampiric with her eyes closed and unmoving.
"Jake," Maggie says as Nichole leaves. Jake stands and plods over to her. He takes a little longer to examine, and Maggie also checks his pupil dilation in addition to the other tests. Finally, she releases him, and I am left.
"Come on, Sage," Maggie says, voice unbelievably gentle. "Your turn."
I get the feeling that I will be here for a while.
Maggie X-rays me and views the results on her floppy. She then performs the MRI, takes my pulse, writes notes about my pupils and their dilation, looks in my ears, and feels my stomach. It feels like a strangely intrusive doctor's appointment, plus the X-ray and MRI.
She rests the hardened floppy on the X-ray machine as she walks over to the tables holding the medical equipment. While her back is turned, I grab it, curiosity overtaking it.
I flip through the first few scans. Deirdre...Xavier...Nicole...Jake...
Me.
The other children's brains looked fine. There was nothing out of the ordinary, although I am no brain scientist.
In my X-ray, I could clearly make out a very dark blob in the center of my brain, like a tumor. Its ropy tendrils extended into all areas.
Was this the Voice?
Did this honestly confirm the creature who had been controlling me for years? Did this solidify the fact that I am not insane?
"Sage, please put the floppy down." Maggie's voice is no longer gentle. It is cold and hard. Frightening.
"What is in my head?" I whisper. The Voice stirs, alerted to the emotions bashing against its protective wall.
"Put the floppy down."
"What is in my head?" I demand, voice rising to a scream as the emotions start to leak through. The Voice tightens like a vice.
Darkness.
*
Jake is shaking my shoulder. I know it is him from the familiar feeling of his huge hand. I rise to consciousness, blinking the last of the sleep from my eyes. The back of my head aches, most likely from where I hit it on the floor as I fell.
I forgot in my anger the Voice can hear every word I say.
"It is time for the second Trial," Maggie announces from the doorway of my bedroom as if nothing has happened. I look at her and feel nothing. I feel dead.
"Maggie carried you in here, out cold. She wouldn't tell us what happened," Jake explains in a whisper, lifting me from the bed before I can even attempt walking, as the others file out after the Albino. "What did she do to you?" His voice is trembling with anger.
"The X-ray of my brain...there was something different about it. Something wrong," I reply as fast as I can.
"What?" Jake's brow furrows in confusion.
"Do you see that?" I demand suddenly, eyes widening as I point to a plain area on the wall over his shoulder. He whirls around quickly and I break into maniac laughter. "Made you look! Made you look!"
Jake sighs deeply. I feel nothing - no guilt, no exasperation. He shouldn't push, shouldn't delve. His fault. All his fault, his fault.
I close my eyes, resting my head against his chest, and take a little nap.
When I wake again, I am curled on the floor of my changing room. What looks like an identical black bodysuit awaits me on the hanger. I hurriedly change, eager to see what the new Trial entails. Perhaps I'll get to actually kill one of my fellow teenagers this time - the real one instead of a clone.
The door to the weapon room slides open. Oh, oh, oh! This is fun. I shiver with excitement.
I strap on a belt on which are attached twin holsters. Taking out one of the handguns within the right holster, I examine it. I drop the magazine and check to make sure it is completely full. Pushing it back into place, I rack it and make sure the safety is off. "Red, you're dead," I whisper in a singsong voice, running my finger over the tiny red dot and around the trigger, already anticipating the shot and the smell of gunpowder on my fingers. After going through the same checks with the other gun, I fasten the offered sword sheath on my back, the strap crossing my torso diagonally. I pull out the sword and prick my finger with a minuscule bit of effort. Not as wickedly sharp as the last one, but it will do.
Sheathing the blade, I rest my hands on the guns and wait for the door leading to the Trial to open. Finally, it does.
Again, it is pitch black within the room beyond my weapons room. I step out into it and the room suddenly explodes with color and sound. I instinctively draw one of the handguns before I can even assess the situation, my heart already beating rapidly with adrenaline.
I am in a park, or what looks like one. A family is picnicking nearby, their little boy peeling back a patch of the artificial turf and examining with interest the cold, smooth concrete underneath. His sister attempts to climb a tree, scrabbling at the metal surface until one of the branches finally senses her attempts and bends for her - with the amount of time it took to do so, I would say that it's an older model. Other families and robots laugh, play, and chat under the metal trees and calm sky.
"Find the villain and dispose of them," a calm voice says, seemingly emanating from the deep blue sky. "You have five minutes. Go."