Four days had passed since I had signed the paper Ayer handed to me, and the quarantine had arrived in pace. The day before, they had told me where I needed to be and at what time, and what I needed to bring. I brought a few extra things too, just in case they'd left something out.

I remember that day I was standing in a long, long line of people in front of a huge white structure. Wider than the rest of the buildings, and from what I could tell, was just as tall. No windows, no lights, no banners. Just an empty block with dozens of doors that was ominously out of place. It was fairly far from where I'd been any time before, and though the city all looked fairly similar, the new surroundings added an unnerving feel in the air. Or maybe that was the crowd. They tended to do that.

I held my bag tighter as I looked up at the ginormous building looming over me. Groups and pairs of people were talking casually around me, unconcerned that we were about to enter what I considered a prison.

From what I'd learned in those three days, for the next 2 weeks the entire population would be held in 2-6 person apartments to prevent the spread of local diseases. We'd be provided with food, water, electricity, entertainment, and more, all for free. For everyone else this yearly ritual was normal, safe, just an average part of life, like a holiday, or a season. Maybe even better. An annual vacation where everyone could just sit back and relax for a few weeks. And maybe they were right. But no part of me trusted it.

I'd read the whole event was sponsored by a large company that worked with the planet's government in several other cases as well. Maybe times had changed more than I expected, but where I was from, big companies who hold a lot of power don't always end up having everyone's best interest in mind. The entire planet's population locked in government/company owned buildings and under complete control? I shivered at the thought of what they could do, and my nerves were spiking mercilessly.

We're gonna be locked in there, I thought. Would anyone be able to communicate with each other? What if we couldn't? What if we could? What if something happened? Would we be able to escape? They're locking us in. The actual government is locking us all in a building, and it's all sponsored by this company I don't even know, something famous, or not famous, what's the word? Popular? Whatever the industry, they must have a sort of monopoly. Wouldn't be hard with all this, I can only imagine the mysterious disappearances of rival company workers... what if they're a rival bridge company? Would they be watching me? Would they kill me? I don't know anything, but what if they thought I did? What would they do? I'd be locked in the room, I couldn't escape, and if I did they'd be able to find me because I don't know anything about this place and there's probably cameras everywhere and they'd track me down and they'd- no shut up, don't even think like that. Shut up and focus. What is wrong with you, now is not the time for this.

The whole deal shot my nerves and left them to bleed, but I knew I couldn't run from it. The entire city would be locked in there. They'd notice if I was the only person walking around the empty streets. I had no idea where I'd have been able to hide if I ran away, or what they'd have done if they found me. So I had to stand there. And be Io. And wait.

Ayer was waiting in the line with me, but they didn't say much. They were busy with some random thing they were fiddling with, I can't even remember what it was.

The line moved forward at an agonizingly slow pace, and with every step I took the building grew bigger and bigger, and I could see the tinier details in the walls and doors. Finally, after several hours, we reached the front. My bags were taken and I was instructed on how to get to my room. I paused a bit at the door before going inside, but forced myself forward anyway.

All around me were people laughing, talking, crowding in hallways carrying large bags that looked like suitcases, but with an odd touch. I had my helmet on, thank goodness, for I couldn't have stopped my eyes from dancing around in an anxious panic if I had a gun to my head.

I was never claustrophobic. I had many fears, but tight spaces were never one of them. But in that bright white building with its unnatural lights and thick crowd of people, I felt something similar to the cold of nerves begin to set in.

That building, like every other one, reached so many stories into the sky you can't see the top. The floor I was supposed to be on was on a higher level than any I'd ever been on before up to that point. I couldn't stop thinking of falling dominoes, of crumbling towers, of falling to the ground from hundreds of stories up.

I remember looking at the intercoms dotted across the ceiling, and hearing unnecessarily cheerful voices ring out over the crowd. It was a government run and company funded building. I'd been raised on warnings that companies are always trying to scam you, always looking to get something from you, always looking to trick you into doing what they want. I'd been raised on TV shows and movies as well, where the government is always plotting something, hiding the aliens or leaving people to die in the apocalypse.

I was a thousand years into the future. I can only imagine the scale of what they could do to people.

No, don't think of that. Not now, think of anything else, or think of nothing I don't care, just don't think of that. Think of... the wall. Just watch the wall. Get where you need to be. Think of that, nothing else.

I think that was the first time I zoned out. Acted on true autopilot. Let the idea of Io control my actions while I sat in the backseat of my mind over analyzing everything and trying to keep myself from spiraling further into a panic.

I didn't see the hallways I was walking through. I didn't hear the elevator music as we went up two hundred levels. I didn't think of how far away the ground was. I just did everything I could to hide the spinning in my mind, keep myself standing, keep myself moving.

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When I arrived at the "apartment" I knew was mine, I fell out of it. Sort of. I was no longer sitting in the back of my mind, but I was still Io.

What would Io do? She'd unpack, first, I think. I need to go to my room right now. That's what I'll do next.

"This is it." I heard Ayer say, and I jumped slightly at the sound, having forgotten they were there.

I'm not sure what I said in response, probably something like "Good" or "Okay," but I do remember being shocked at my own tone. I sounded like Io. Inside, I was excited. It was exactly as I wanted. Exactly how I needed it to be. If I could just hold on to that, I knew, it all wouldn't be so hard. Just hold onto it, okay? Can you do something as simple as that?

Inside the apartment was a small, neat little kitchen with a table and chairs next to it, and a little couch in the corner with a matching coffee table. On both sides of the room were stairs that lead upwards, each I figured heading to its own room.

The room was not the same clear white as the hallway, it was made of more Earthy colors, but with a gray roof that seemed to cast a shadow over everything beneath it.

I looked at the room for a few seconds, then started making my way to the set of stairs on the left. Unpack first, that's the plan. Right as I put my foot on the step though, Ayer stopped me.

"Wait up, before you head upstairs I think we should at least get our introductions out of the way. I mean, I know your name and stuff, but if we're gonna be quarantined in an apartment together with only each other to keep us from getting bored out of our minds, we should at least know each other's interests or something."

I stopped for a second, then slowly turned around and put my bags on the floor.

"Okay. I'm Io." I reach out my hand to shake theirs. "Nice to meet you."

They look at my hand and sort of laugh. "What are you doing?" They ask, and immediately I'm cursing myself out.

"A handshake. Sorry, I'm used to greeting my friends like that." I lied. "Was kind of an inside joke between us. A secret han- a, uh, a reference. A joke." As I say it I think of a dozen other things I could have said instead. Io wasn't supposed to have many friends. They were supposed to be a loner. They weren't supposed to be the joking type either. Or maybe they were, I probably wouldn't know.

They laugh again, and to my relief, let it drop. "Anyway, hello Io, I'm Ayer. I like mobile games, puzzles, and flying. I turned 24 not too long ago, my biggest hobby is learning about history and different languages, and I plan to be a full-time construction worker after I have enough hours as a bridge-builder."

I nod, choke for a sec on the flying bit, then force out my own introduction.

"I'm Io. I like reading, playing cards, and jogging. I'm..." wait, do I use my own age? I guess I have to. "Twenty one, now. No real hobbies, and no real current plans for my future." I added, fumbling through the end of what felt like a school presentation. Was there something I was missing?

It felt strange giving someone a full answer for once. It was the most I'd said to anyone since I got there, even if it was a lie.

It made me feel a little lonely.

"Well Io, it's nice to meet you. Maybe we can play cards some time over the next two weeks. I'm sure there's many games you can teach me that I don't know of, I really only play eighth games. I'll leave you alone now, see you around." They said, making a 'goodbye' motion with their hand, and walked off to grab their bags and take them to their room.

I went up to mine a few moments after, and didn't even bother unpacking before taking off my helmet and laying down on my bed, still stuck in the mistakes I'd made in what I'd said. But beyond that, something else kept going in the back of my mind.

Cards? I wondered. I didn't know any future card games. Were they the same as the ones I knew? Or would they be new ones? I usually only ever played cards with my family. But maybe learning some new games wouldn't be so bad, if I could bring them home and teach them to the others later on. I'd have the upper hand then, I'd have more practice, I may actually win more often.

Looking back, I think that was the first new thing that actually interested me.

I wish I hadn't told them that I liked cards. It didn't help anything, looking back, but at the time though, I thought it was alright. As usual though, it took no more than a few moments for the distrust to start sinking back into my mind as it always did.

I didn't trust this place. I didn't trust these people. I didn't trust anything anymore, not after the past few weeks. My tendency to distrust has grown larger than ever before, and part of me knew it would overtake me. But, in spite of that, I trusted my distrust. I trusted that it would keep me safe and defend me from the unknown dangers of this world. Cards were nothing, but this place, this quarantine, this 'grand event', could be anything. Planet-wide quarantines didn't happen in my time, it was a purely futuristic invention, and I knew absolutely nothing about it's purpose, its hidden motivations, its true effects. I had to distrust it, all of it, for I knew it'd crush me in a moment if I ever stood too close. My distrust would protect me, in the end. It would all work out, I thought.

I believed that. I really did. I thought I'd make it, somehow.

But that didn't make it any less exhausting. Or lonely. Or complicated.

And it didn't stop me from suddenly wanting to play cards, from wanting to talk to someone even if it was through Io, from wanting to be friends with Ayer.

They were nice. Calm, in a way I admired. I'd barely talked to anyone here, I'd honestly talked to Ayer more than anyone else, and the loneliness I hadn't even noticed was there had begun to grow.

But my distrust was stronger. At least it used to be.

I would continue down this path I had made for myself, for I trusted it would lead me home.

But, if only for a moment, I wanted to talk again.

If only for a moment, I didn't want to feel completely and utterly alone.

If only for a moment, I didn't want to feel silent and scared.

If only for a moment, I wanted to be myself again.

I wanted to have a friend again.

But I was stronger back then. I knew already how much I would regret it. So I hid in my room, unpacked my things, leaving nothing but my box of trinkets in my bag, and prepared myself for my first night in quarantine.