The room was dark and quiet, a combination that made it an ideal environment for being alone. There were no lights, no tables, or beds, just an empty vacuum of space that only paled compared to what lay outside its unremarkable walls. Unlike all the other rooms that surrounded it, where open walkways were the norm, this place had a door nestled at the entrance. There was no lock to be had. Instead of safety, the purpose seemed to just be privacy. Neil didn’t mind though. It’s not like there was anyone he didn’t want getting in.

The boy in the tattered coat let the darkness envelop him, taking in a deep, shaky breath. He rubbed his arms, feeling warm skin beneath the mass of fabric on his body. He breathed out, watching a faint cloud of cold air escape into the shadows. This only made him more uneasy, and his head twitched in a sharp, jagged motion.

Despite the nerves, Neil felt that the room was soothing him, as weird as that sounded. There was something about the sound of nothing that was relaxing, like for a moment he could forget about anything he wanted. He could forget about the silly game that he and his friends played that stirred up feelings he had long since learned not to feel, he could forget that he once had a life beyond these cold metal walls, and he could forget about how that life had gone too. But memory is a little pesky thing, as it always has a way of coming back to you, no matter the lengths you take to stop it.

Neil pushed his palms into his eyes, letting out a small scream that he was glad no one could hear.

Why did this have to happen to him? Why did he have to grab that stupid triangle? Couldn’t someone else have touched it? Couldn’t someone else have gone through those agonizing months?

His strength felt like it was leaving him, and he had to lean on the wall to keep himself from falling.

No, he wouldn’t want anyone to go through what he had. That wasn’t like him. The real question was, why was he taken here in the first place? What purpose could someone have for doing that?

How many times am I going to ask the same things? He thought, just like he had done before. Until someone gives me an answer…

Sighing, Neil regained his composure. It had been a while since he felt the need to be in this room, though he reckoned the downtime was the root of the problem. He shook his head- maybe he shouldn’t have asked for a normal day?

The doorknob shifted as he let himself out, with the door sliding open without a hint of a squeak.

“Quiet time?” He heard Sophia say.

She was standing beside him, having evidentially waited at the door for him to come out. “What are you doing?” Neil asked, although he clearly wasn’t surprised by her being there.

“The same thing I’ve done all the other times you went in there.” She replied, giving him a look. “What’s up?”

It was impossible to lie to her, she knew him too well. Any chance he had to blow the situation off had vanished a long time ago, though maybe it was for the best. “I don’t like thinking about home.”

Sophia looked confused. “I’d think that out of all of us, you’d be the one who’d miss home the most.”

“I didn’t say that I didn’t miss it, it’s just that…” He fumbled with his words. “Have you ever had something that you really wanted, but you know that when you get it, it won’t bring you the joy that you want it to?”

She thought, “yeah, I have.” Her eyes narrowed. “Is there something back on earth that you’re not looking forward to?”

Neil gave half a smile, running his fingers through his disheveled hair. “You could say that.” He shuffled his feet, clearly wanting to move on. “Where’s Tim and Alex?”

“A-man is showing him around the place, the good-old boring tour.”

“A-man?” the boy repeated, like he was sounding out the letters for the first time.

The girl clicked her tongue, “trying to figure out a good nickname for Alex. Guess that one ain’t it.”

Neil laughed and shook his head. “That would be awful.”

Suddenly, Sophia reached out and took Neil’s hand, squeezing it softly. “You know you can talk to me whenever, right? I ain’t going anywhere.”

“Thanks, but I’m good now, I swear.” Neil tried to reassure her, though he should have started with himself if he wanted her to believe that.

“Come on, let’s go find…”

“Wait!” Neil’s finger shot up into the air, his eyes going wide.

The suddenness of the reaction was enough to make the girl reach for her gun. “What is it?” The alarm in her friend’s eyes was enough to make her heart flutter.

“Can’t you hear it?” Said Neil’s breathless voice. “Can’t you hear it?”

…

Alex felt awkward as he led Timothy down the massive corridor of the Lavender. A little while after Neil had left to be on his own, Sophia had too, which made him the only one that could give the promised tour. The air in the room felt off. It would seem that the lighthearted game that he had wanted to play had brought up feelings he wasn’t anticipating. He found that he was idly twirling his tie around his fingers, his eyes cast to the floor as he tried to manage his discomfort. Once he noticed he stopped, if he was ever in a poker-face situation, he would want to get rid of those tells.

Timothy, on the other hand, didn’t seem bothered, quite the opposite. He was almost giddy as his friend took him from room to room, showing him all the things that he had missed during the brief periods he had been onboard.

There were many empty rooms, which Alex was quick to show but even quicker to leave. After all, there was nothing noteworthy in them besides a few empty containers and vacant shelves. Despite this, every time his friend saw one, he took it in with the same excitement as the last.

“This is amazing!” Timothy said, peeking his head through an open doorway. “You could fit so much stuff in here!”

“Yeah, it’s neat,” Alex replied, trying to find it in himself to act like he shared the same blissful joy. “Want to see something more interesting?”

The two walked further down the corridor until they reached a doorway with the words ‘San’ written above. Inside, Timothy could already make out what appeared to be something glistening in the dim light. He looked at his friend eagerly, standing on his toes like he was ready to start a race.

Alex clucked his tongue, bowing deeply and throwing out his arms. “After you.”

Inside, the space was decently big, with just enough room to walk between the strange machines that stood as still as statues along the wall. It was clear that they had been the source of the strange glint, with each being made of a strong glass that surely must have been the same material that the dome was constructed out of. They were round and reached up to the ceiling, with just enough room inside to fix a person.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

The structures reminded Timothy of the tube system that he saw outside of a bank one time, where money was shot through in little containers for convenience. Although with no openings at either the top or the bottom, he doubted that’s what they were for. Absentmindedly, he approached one, reaching out and touching it with the tips of his fingers. With a start, he jumped back- a painful chill shooting up his arm.

“Oh, don’t worry about that!” Alex was quick to comfort him. “They get like sometimes, everything does in here.”

The boy rubbed his hand, a smile returning to his face. “I see.” He looked around, admiring everything. “What are they?”

“I don’t know what they were meant for, but we did figure out how they worked.” He strolled over to one of the structures, reaching for a handle at the side with his hand protected by the sleeve of his jacket. With a click, the glass slid open, the half-circle door tapping lightly against the machine beside it. “Want to get in?”

Timothy’s eyes lit up. “Really?” Suddenly they dimmed as he remembered the wise advice of his paranoid friend. “But isn’t it dangerous?”

Alex shook his head. “Nope, out of everything in this place, this is probably the only thing we know how to operate for certain. Come on, get in! It won’t hurt you.”

With a nod, the boy stepped into the tube, although the memory of what happened the last time that he’d tried something Alex wanted him to do was resting in the back of his mind.

Thankfully, there was enough space inside for him to move his arms freely, which kept it from feeling like a glass coffin. At the back, there was a panel, but uncharacteristically, there were only two buttons to be pushed. One was black, whilst the other was also black, but a slightly different and lighter shade.

“I’m going to close the door now. Just hit the darker button when you’re ready,” Alex said, shutting the machine tight with a soft click.

For a moment, Timothy questioned if this was the smartest thing to do, but decided that someone else was probably better qualified to make that call.

Slowly, he nudged the button in and waited for something to happen. Almost instantly, he felt a rumble at his feet, and his matted blond hair started to stand on end. He looked around, confused, only managing to see his friend giving him a thumbs-up on the other side of the glass. Suddenly, a shock ran up his legs and through his body, filling the space with a startling blue light.

He jumped- had the voice granted him that power again?

No, this was different, it wasn’t painful at all. Only then did he notice that the blue light seemed to be jumping along his body, like a slinky going haywire down a set of stairs. It tickled a bit with every strand that touched him, and he found that he was giggling. The initial alarm had subsided, and instead, his eyes were filled with pure wonderment.

“This is amazing!” He called out, although his friend couldn’t hear a thing on the other side.

As soon as it had started, the dancing light stopped, and the door clicked open. “How was it?” Alex asked as his friend stepped out.

“That has to be the greatest thing I’ve ever done!” He cried, his hair still standing on end. “It was so cool, but what does it do?”

Alex pointed down at him, “look at your clothes.”

The boy took a second to notice, but his outfit was slightly different. The yellow of his turtleneck sweater was brighter, and his shoes seemed newer. The pieces fell together in his head- they had been cleaned.

“I know, right?” Alex said, seeing the look in his friend’s eyes. “Wish I had that back at home.”

“Me too!” Timothy said, gripping his clothes like he didn’t believe that they were there. “This would have made doing all the laundry back at the orphanage so much easier.”

Alex tilted his head. “They made you do the laundry?”

“Of course.” The reply came. “Who else would do it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe someone who worked there? It kinda seems wrong to make you do it all.”

“Oh, Mr. Graham couldn’t afford to pay anyone to do that, so he just had me do it, so he didn’t have to stretch the budget.” He said simply. “He also had me do some repairs, but unfortunately, I don’t think I learned enough to figure out how any of this stuff works.”

“That must have been rough.” Alex pointed out. “But I guess he just made the older kids help out?”

“No, just me, and I wasn’t old when I started.” Timothy rubbed his chin, thinking back. “Come to think of it, I don’t remember a time when I didn’t do those things. I just recall him handing me and hammer and saying, ‘get on with it,’ and that was that. But enough about me. What does this other button do?”

Despite his friend’s insistence, Alex wasn’t done. “That doesn’t make sense. Someone should have noticed that he was using you like that. An official, or some inspector, didn’t you try to tell anyone?”

This caught the boy off-guard, and his brow narrowed. “Using me? What do you mean? What would I tell anyone?”

Alex felt that he may have overstepped, but when he saw something off, it was in his nature to call it out. “Tim, I don’t want to make assumptions about your life, but don’t you see that something’s wrong? Everything you’ve told us about the orphanage, or what happened before you came here, isn’t good. It’s horrible, actually. You know that, don’t you?”

Timothy looked at his friend, the same smile on his face that was always there. His eyelids opened and shut slowly, and his breathing slowed. “What’s the other button do, Alex?” He repeated, turning away quickly, and gesturing towards it.

The tie around Alex’s fingers went taught. He hadn’t realized that he was doing it again. Something was off about his friend, and his mind whirled with the possibilities. He could think of several reasons, some more probable than others, but he stopped himself. Whatever Tim didn’t want to talk about wasn’t his business, and he shouldn’t push him on it. Despite this sentiment, he couldn’t help but be a little concerned.

“Sure.” The answer came after a pause. “Give me your shoe.”

Not questioning the reasons behind such a strange request, Timothy reached down at plucked his footwear off of one of his feet. Handing it politely to his friend, he watched as the boy in the suit pulled the glass door to the point where it was barely open. Then, with careful precision, he tossed the shoe into the tube at the same time as he shut the door. He heard a thud as it collided with the button, and then another as it pounded to the floor.

Immediately, the glass went dark, making it extremely difficult to see inside. From the outside, it looked like the machine was rattling, and Timothy could feel a pulse of energy beneath his unprotected foot. Abruptly, the shaking stopped, but the door did not open. Instead, from the cracks along the sides, and pouring out of the bottom, what appeared to be steam came pushing through. But, as it approached the boy, he felt it briefly touch his skin. Instead of the familiar warmness he’d expected, he felt a cool breeze chill his bones. Quickly, the cold air dissipated, and the door let out a familiar click.

Slowly, the tube opened, revealing only a single shoe and nothing else. “Catch.” Said Alex, grabbing it and tossing it over to its owner.

Timothy struggled to grab it, but not for a lack of trying. His shoe felt slippery now, and it was a fight to not let it fall through his fingers. “Umm…”

“It’s another cleaner.” Alex was quick to clarify. “Just meant for people, not fabric. It’s like a shower on steroids, although I wouldn’t recommend staying in there long yourself. It doesn’t exactly use warm water.”

Despite the assault on his shoe, Timothy looked at the machine with the same amazement. “That’s amazing! Thank you so much for showing it to me. This has been wonderful!”

“No problem.” Came the reply, although Alex took a step back, looking at his friend with a careful eye. “Tim, you know this place isn’t somewhere you want to be, right?”

“Oh, I know, it’s dangerous.” He was quick to repeat.

“Not only that, but everything else. It’s not…” Alex sighed; how could he put what he was feeling into words?

He couldn’t help but think back to how he reacted to the Lavender on the very first day he was brought here. It was a blur of confusion, fear, and nausea as he ran around demanding explanations. His world had been turned upside down, and his life had been ripped away from him. But he could tell that for his friend, this was a very different experience.

In a way, he was glad that Timothy could find some pleasure in his situation because he sure couldn’t. He wasn’t about to blame someone for making the best out of a bad situation. But he had to admit that it felt odd to have his unwilling home be goggled at like some beautiful work of art. It was as though Timothy could see past the horror that was so clearly awaiting him, picking out the bits that he liked and tossing the rest.

“Tim…”

Beeeeeeep!

Alex nearly stumbled out of his skin. What was that sound? He had never heard it before, not in all the months he had been here. Were they being attacked again?

“It sounds like it’s coming from the control room!” Timothy said with a hand cupped around his ear.

Beeeeeeep!

Well, there was nothing else they could do but follow it, so that’s what they did. Rushing out of the room, Alex had to wonder where his other friends were and if they were safe. Had they triggered something? He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he nearly didn’t notice that his friend wasn’t behind him anymore.

“Tim?”

He spotted his friend a short distance away from him, but he looked odd. It was like he was distracted, and just staring idly at a plain section of the wall. Quickly, he ran over, jostling his friend out of whatever trance he was in.

“Oh, sorry!” Said Timothy, remembering where he was. “I thought…”

“Not right now. Something’s wrong!” Alex hurried, already making a break for it down the corridor. “Come on!”