Kate started fiddling with the cords. Ben was standing to the side, observing, arms crossed. I wondered why those two had so much tension between them. Did they ever date? I wondered.

Kate had just connected me to three different cords and plugged them all into the monitors. The machine produced a set of beeping sounds beeping which, on top of the computer buzzing, created a cacophony.

“Oh, Kate, did you do the swab?” Ben asked, his voice polite.

“The swab!” Kate jumped and startled me. “Where’s the kit?” She stared at Ben, wide-eyed. His face blushed with pleasure, revealing freckles, and a vengeful smirk appeared on his face.

“I have it right here.” Ben extended his hand, and I saw a small box with the label ‘Testing kit.’ “I guess I’m not so useless after all?” Ben shook his head and put on rubber gloves. I gulped.

“It’s a saliva kit.” He noted, opening the box with his gloved hands.

“I need you to open your mouth and I’ll do a swab.” He took out a test tube and a long Q-Tip.

I took one look at the Q-Tip and the walls of the room merged into a tunnel. It sucked me in and pulled me inside. I was flying into the tunnel and staring at my body from the ceiling. I saw Ben sticking the Q-tip into my mouth, I saw myself agreeing, nodding, Ben doing the swipe, sticking the Q-tip into the test-tube, swirling, checking the contents, then sealing the tube. I was back in the Lab with Papa. My Papa, who was about to dump me for not being his son. I wanted to scream, but no sound came.

“There we are.” Ben said with satisfaction, stuffing the tube with the Q-tip into his pocket. “All done."

“Now we got the control sample, Rodion.”

As soon as he said my name, I was back in my body and regained control of it. It took me a moment to realize that I was no longer floating on the ceiling, observing myself, but was back in one piece. I wiped beads of cold sweat off my forehead. Neither Kate nor Ben noticed what had just happened to me.

“So, all you gotta do is just sit here and play,” Kate said, throwing a look full of disdain at Ben. “Basically, just like a regular video game. Except you’re gonna be connected to the finger monitor. It tracks a few things for us, but try not to pay attention to it. It shouldn’t prevent you from gaming, or anything. Ignore all these other cords. They are just for the first day, and we’ll get rid of them tonight.”

“So, we’re gonna leave you here on your own,” Kate announced, and the two of them left.

As soon as the door closed behind them, I put on the headphones and started playing. It was some sort of survival game and required a moderate skill level. The game was called ‘Space Cadet.’ It was about a guy who traveled to different planets and defeated monsters on each one. By defeating a monster, the guy got special powers and then could transfer them to the next planet, and so on. If he lost, he went back to the original planet, and it started all over again.

I got into it, though the game seemed primitive. The character, named Hayden, was relatable, and he even had an interesting backstory. He was trying to find his home planet, and it was only through testing each one he could determine where he belonged. Something about the game was strange, however, and awkward. After I cleared a level, it would hesitate and blink, then let me know about the points awarded. But I didn’t mind too much. I was a cool tester, and this was part of something important. I was being paid to play video games, and I would be paid a lot of money.

This went on, and when I cleared the twelfth level, the computer blinked and the screen went blank. I moved the mouse. Nothing happened. I waited for the points to be awarded, so I could keep on playing, but the screen suddenly flashed ‘The End,’ and the screen of death appeared. I pulled at one of the cords connecting me to the monitor. The machines flashed and beeped, so I stopped and sat there, staring at the screen. Nothing happened. I expected Kate or Ben to come and get me, but they didn’t.

I was suddenly extremely hungry, and I needed the bathroom. I pulled at the cords and disconnected myself. Neither Kate nor Ben mentioned the bathroom to me, but I figured one was upstairs. I climbed the steps and came face to face with the metal door. I pushed at it, but it didn’t give way. I called, but was nearly certain no one would hear me. I remembered the soundproof walls of the kitchen and cold sweat covered my body. What if they left me here to die? I pushed at the lever again. Nothing.

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The Lab was a windowless space, and no one from the outside would ever know what was happening there. How long till Sergei starts looking for me? Sometimes we wouldn’t see each other for days, given how busy Sergei was with law school. April? She was busy with school and might be a few days until she’d suspect I was in trouble.

I stared at the keypad and remembered my birthday. I’d seen Kate punch in the code. 0808. Of course! I breathed out and entered the number. The code clicked, and I was out. What was that? Why did I panic? I wiped the beads of sweat off my forehead and shook my head at my paranoia. The place was completely safe. I walked into the kitchen.

The tray with sandwiches, now half empty, was sitting on the counter and the smell of tuna was overwhelming. My stomach grumbled.

“Hello?” I called. No answer. I saw a door and pulled at it. It was the bathroom. I entered and found myself in a small space. The walls were painted a mustard shade of yellow and a towel with a yellow rubber ducky hung next to the sink.

An oval mirror hung right above the toilet. I looked at it and saw that another mirror was hanging above the sink. The two mirrors aligned, and it was like a portal within a portal. The two mirrors reflected in each other. I saw myself, my reflection fractured and averted my eyes. I turned to wash my hands and there it was, the same mirror reflection fractured and bouncing against each other. I wiped my hands on the rubber ducky towel and exited the bathroom.

“Hey, Rodion, what did you think?” Kate was standing in the kitchen now, her eyes fixed on my face.

“About what?”

“The game, of course.” Kate gave me a quizzical stare.

“Oh, it was cool.” I shrugged. “But, umm, it was a bit slow, I guess.”

“Yeah? That’s great, I’m glad you caught that. Let’s go to the living room for a debrief.” Kate led me to the couches in the living room and pointed to one of them. I saw a clipboard in her hands. “Here, have a seat. I’ll just call Ben.” She disappeared upstairs, clicking her heels.

I sat down on the plush, white leather couch. Kate came back with Ben a minute later. They sat down opposite from me and stared at me with interest. I gulped at the attention, but did my best not to show it.

“So, Rodion, how was your experience playing the game?” Kate spoke first, clicking her pen on the clipboard.

“It was cool, I guess.” I shrugged. Ben opened a laptop and started typing.

“So you said the game was slow, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Umm, well, like when I was clearing the levels, it didn’t show me the points right away.” I shared my observation. A triumphant smile flashed on Kate’s face.

“See!” She turned to Ben. “This is what I told you would happen.”

“But it’s not even the point!” He let out a deep breath. “I’m going to tell him.”

“No, Ben, not yet. I thought we agreed.” She opened her eyes wide and stuck out her head like a turtle.

“But what’s the big deal?”

“Come on!”

The two of them continued bickering for several minutes, going back and forth like that, forgetting about me. I sat in silence, waiting for them to stop. At last, there was a pause, so I cleared my throat.

“Umm, what do I do now?”

“Oh, you can go.” Ben said. “Sorry about that. We’re finished for the day.”

“Ben!” Kate looked at her watch, but he shook his head.

“Listen, there’s nothing else for him to do.” Ben rose and gestured for me to leave. I rose and Ben walked me to the front door. Kate remained seated, and I heard the clicking of her pen on her clipboard.

“See you tomorrow, same time, man,” Ben said as he opened the front door to let me out.

“See you tomorrow.” I shook his hand and stepped into the bright September afternoon.

As soon as I was outside, I called April.

“So, what was it like?” was her first question.

“It was cool.”

“Cool? Anything else?”

“Well, kinda weird. Like it’s set up like a house.”

“What kinda house?”

“Like a family home or something. But then downstairs is this lab. And then it was these two people, Kate and Ben. And no one else.” I hesitated, unsure if I should tell April that Ben and Kate were not too much older than us.

“Did you see my dad?”

“No.” It was the first time that day I remembered April’s father and the role he played in placing me at the Lab. Did he help in getting me selected? I wondered. But then I brushed the idea away.

“So, do you like it? The place?”

“Yeah. I just hope they actually pay me.”

“Why wouldn’t they?” April’s voice sounded high-pitched.

“Because it’s like all I do is play this video game. And it’s not even that hard. It’s like a lame video game.”

“A lame video game?”

“Yeah. That’s why I dunno. It just seems like something isn’t right.” Now, if I could freeze that moment in time and tell myself to stop right there. To not ignore the signals. To avoid The Lab like the plague. I wish I could turn back time. But I was too naïve and too eager to get paid. I needed the money.

“Well, I’m sure my dad wouldn’t place you somewhere that was shady.” April said, her voice reassuring.

“I know. Maybe it’s ‘cause that was just my first day.”