29 Alone (1/2)
Sia has been afraid to question the device further. It would be just her luck to find out that she is slowly being killed by the device that has been keeping her alive. When she gets rescued she can have a doctor examine her and solve that problem. Maybe it will be something mundane like a tumor.That is something easily fixable with the current level of medical advancements in the past ten years; as of 2018 that is. With New Cinalia set back to the 20th century, the rest of the world must have caught up in the past 16 years.
So, she focuses on broadcasting her message and preparing herself. Coldstone doesn't have anywhere for a helicopter to safely land, so Sia is preparing to travel a bit to meet her rescuers. It should be any day now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The gloomy darkness that laid at rest is kicked out of place by the dawn. A hand pulls on the shutters' string to reveal more of the colors. Violet clouds are parted out of the way by red and orange fingers. Pupils constrict as light shines into the room. The figure ambles over to every window to pull on the shutters and flood the room with sunshine.
The figure stands still and closes their eyes for a moment. The light caresses their skin and dust particles dance around their body as bright rays of light envelope them. It's a warm embrace by nature.
It opens its' eyes and tears well up, but it does not squint while looking at the dazzling view. The figure raises their hand to a pane of glass and drags a finger through the dirt on the window. After writing a few characters, its' arm drops to its' side and it takes a step back to shift its' balance as Sia wakes up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sia wakes up with the sun shining in her face. She blinks a few times.
'Why are we looking outside? Did you see something down there?'
NEGATIVE
She grabs the string to adjust the shutters and closes them.
'Well, I don't want anything seeing us. Why would you open so many of them?!'
SYNTHETIC INTELLIGENCE DEVELOPER DID NOT OPEN THE SHUTTERS TO OBSERVE THE ENVIRONMENT
She rushes over to the other window and adjusts them, so the room is dimly lit by the outside.
”Wait, then why were the shutters opened?”
INSUFFICIENT DATA
”Why didn't you just wake me up?”
SYNTHETIC INTELLIGENCE DEVELOPER DID NOT FIND IT PERTINENT TO AWAKEN SUBJECT 001
”If I'm asleep and you think my body needs to be moved…you should wake me up, okay?”
AFFIRMATIVE
”So, nothing was traveling around in the night?”
NO ORGANISMS WERE DETECTED
Sia sits at a table and puts a hand on her forehead. She rubs her palm across her forehead and over one eye then down her cheek. She repeats this motion and yawns. She runs both her hands into her hair and leans on her elbows. She groans.
”Whatever. Forget it.”
Sia holds up her head and thinks about what is in store for today. Yesterday, she had rooted through some of the documents that had been left behind on some desks. It seems like they didn't have time to shred everything before they left.
She found sheets about some people that were going to be hired by ExplorerTech and their background checks. Also, she found documents that talked about a chemical mixture called P.D.U. She couldn't really figure out what the letters stood for because a lot of the document was blacked out with marker.
There isn't much else to do. She doesn't want to travel more of the building and stumble across any new insects or worse…people. She'd rather not know if any new insects are avoiding her…or tracking her. Sia just wants to bide her time. Today isn't scheduled as an eating day, so Sia decides to ignore her hunger and research some things.
Sia lays her head on her arms and closes her eyes.
”Let's just explore immersive mode.”
~~~~~~~~~~~`````
The familiar white atmosphere comforts Sia. She looks down at her body. She is wearing her usual green jumpsuit and her feet are bare. She wiggles her toes on the white floor. The temperature here is perfect.
The doors on each side of the hallway are just as before. Sia walks down the wide hallway and looks for any doors she hasn't explored yet. It doesn't take long for her to spot a few new doors. It seems they have been randomly scattered among the doors she already explored.
Some of the doors have strange symbols on them, and others have familiar ones. For example, one door has a fish on it.
”Hmm, is this for fishing techniques?”
When she pushes the door open, it reveals a virtual ocean.
”Puter, what is this room for?”
THE CURRENT ROOM IS FOR THE STUDY OF MARINE LIFE
THE DIRECTORY HOLDS INFORMATION ON MORE THAN 3 MILLION SPECIES OF MARINE LIFE
”Why would I need this? I'm nowhere near the ocean.”
Sia leaves the room to look at more doors. She finds another door that has the symbol of a cup with a stick in it.
”Huh.”
She pushes on the door, and it reveals a green house. The room is humid and a fine sheen of sweat develops on Sia's skin. A short table with different materials sits at the entrance of the green house.
”Oh, a mortar and pestle,” Sia lowers herself to sit on the floor beside the table and touches the different objects on the table.
The green house has many different types of plant life. Species native and foreign to New Cinalia.
”What is this room for?” She asks while examining a stone bowl.
THE CURRENT ROOM TEACHES MEDICAL HERBS AND PLANTS THAT CAN BE ACQUIRED AND PREPARED TO EXTEND THE LIFE OF SUBJECT 001
”That's useful.”
Another door has a large spread hand on it. Sia pushes on the white door, but it doesn't open. She grabs the doorknob and turns it a few times. It doesn't budge.
'Is this one stuck?'
She pushes once more before looking up at the ceiling and asking, ”Uh…can I get inside here?”
NEGATIVE
”Do I need a special level for this one?”
NEGATIVE
Sia feels a headache coming on, but she ignores it. There is a door with a hospital bed and scalpel on it. Pushing at that door results in the same struggles as before.
Sia rubs her forehead and leans against the locked door. She grimaces and knocks her head back against the door frame.
”I don't even want to know, but…”
She taps her palm against her forehead.
”Just tell me. Why can't I open the door?”
OCCUPIED
That was not what she expected to hear. She drops her hand and jumps away from the door. She stares at the bottom of the door to look for a shadow or signs of movement. The bottom of the door fits firmly into the wall. The white door looks identical to all the others, excluding the different symbols.
”WHAT?! Occupied?!”