From Strange to Amazing to Fiction
By: Jacob J
Chapter One (I) (Colette's perspective)
10:30 PM
Buzz Buzz My phone was going off. Buzz Buzz It was 10:30 at night! Why is someone messaging me? Buzz Buzz I told my friends I was on vacation and that I really dont want to be bothered with messaging. Buzz Buzz By now my interest was peaked on what was so damn important. At the same time I was about to fall asleep. I reluctantly picked up my phone, whipped my eyes when they started to hurt from the brightness, and read what was sent. It was my kind of annoying friend Jacob dont get me wrong, hes a great guy but he can talk for a long time about absolutely nothing.
Jacob: Colette
Jacob: Hey
Jacob: Look I know its 10:30 at night and you dont want to talk RN but it is urgent as hell
Colette: WHAT IS SO URGENT YOU CANT WAIT UNTILL TOMMOROW
Colette: ITS THE SECOND DAY OF SPING BREAK!!1
Jacob: I know its 10:30 at night I need you to listen this is god damn important
Colette: If youre messing with me
Colette: Im not gonna be your friend anymore
Jacob: Okay
Jacob: Very simple thing I need you to do for me right now
Jacob: Stay Calm
Colette: Your messing with me arent you?
Jacob: Colette am I the type of person who would do that?
Colette: Not really I guess
Jacob: Colette can you just stay calm and not panic?
Colette: Now you have me curious.
Colette: what is it?
Tap Tap It was from the window. Little did I know that was the beginning of a new life.
Jacob: Go to your window
Jacob: And dont panic
Colette: Now Im scared and curious
Jacob: Thats a normal part of this process
I went to the window
Jacob: Good, now take a deep breath, stay ABSOLUTELY calm,
Jacob: And open the window
I opened d the window curtain first. There was a person on the side, a little to the left of it, but I could see there right arm and leg. I leaned over looked at their face and, sure enough, it was actually him. I opened the window fully. It was cold outside, I almost shivered immediately. He was wearing a black leather jacket, zipped up, some jeans clearly hand-me-downs, some sandals, and he had his normal glasses in his hand, but when I pushed the window open he put them on. His face was clearly visible, and his hair was longer then when I last saw him at school. I hated 7th grade, So much. Something was off about his appearance that I couldnt put my finger on. I was the first one to talk.
Do you come in or want me to get out?
Its 40 degrees out, take your pick.
Okay come in.
He looked over at me
I wish to alert you that you are about to let a 14 year old boy into your room when all you have on is underwear and a shirt that barely covers your belly button.
I wish to alert you that you are literally outside someones window WHEN I'M IN BRAZIL FOR SPRING BREAK, AND YOU LIVE IN TEXAS.
I walked away from the window and put on some sweat pants and a plain T-Shirt.
Okay come in
He crawled through the window. Thats when I noticed what was different. His eyes were a mix of green, red, and yellow with a spot of blue in the middle, instead of the normal brown.
Why is google chrome in your eyes?
Ill explain later.
Oh you better explain a lot of things now.
He also had Starbucks in his hand. The cup was special though, golden with a ring of what I guess was supposed to represent diamonds or something stupid like that around the top. He offered it to me.
Theres nothing in it and I havent had anything out of it, its a couple months old but its mostly been sitting in a box
Wait you mean I can have the cup?
Yeah
He handed it to me and I put it on my nightstand.
Im surprised you havent screamed yet.
What the hell do you mean?
Ill explain later.
Youre gonna be saying that a lot arent you?
Yep
I sighed.
Why did you give me the cup?
Ill explain later
WELL WHAT CAN YOU EXPLAIN NOW?!?
Why Im here
That would be lovely.
You never lose your sense of humor do you? Hmm that might be important.
What does that mean?
Ill explain later
He was looking down now, pondering. Out of nowhere I felt the uncontrollable urge to scream, scream louder than I ever had before. Scream of pure fear. I was opening my mouth when the urge stopped all at once and was replaced with a sense of calm, like I was asleep. After almost actually falling asleep, it faded into a sense of just normal security, like if my parents were holding me.
That was a close one he said almost to himself, looking directly into my eyes. His face would tell you he just saw a shark swimming toward him
Do I even want to ask?
Ill explain later.
Awesome
Look Colette this isnt exactly fun for me either.
JUST TELL ME WHATS GOING ON!
All of this Ill explain later but let me gives you the TL: DR version
Sounds great
Its your time to join the recruitment
THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN
He looked puzzled, almost astonished.
Wait you havent been told about--?
NOPE! He was near dumbfounded at my response. Well near isnt the right word. Was absolutely is a better fit
Where are your parents?
Why the fuck do you want to know?
Your parents know me form work lets say. And Im there boss. I gave them one task, to prepare you for this day.
There downstairs watching TV
I blurted out the answer, I didnt mean to, it just came out and I said it.
Follow me
He was behind me as I lead him down to where my parents were, although during that I was thinking.
WHY ARE YOU HELPING HIM!?! WHY ISN'T HE EXPLAINING ANYTHING!?!? WHAT DO MY PARENTS HAVE TO DO WITH THIS!?!? WHY ARE YOU HELPING HIM!!?!?
I lead him downstairs toward our kitchen, and stopped.
There around this corner
Again the words fell out without my consent
Thank you, stay here please, Ill be right back
He walked out and I peered around the wall I was standing behind to watch.
11:00 PM
WHY THE HELL HAVENT YOU TALKED TO HER ABOUT THIS. YOU TWO WERE ASSIGNED ONE JOB, ONE JOB ONLY, AND YOU FAILED MISERABLE. SHE DOESNT EVEN KNOW WHAT THE RECRUITMENT IS!
My father got up, he had a loud voice by default but he looked almost ashamed, not surprised some 14 year old boys was yelling at them, and spoke almost in a whisper.
We just wanted to protect her
THE FUCK YOU DID. Jacob took a deep breath. You know what? Im getting worked up over nothing. Your both demoted as of right now to maintenance of staff, your training for recruiters will end immediately, and if you are caught violating instructions again, you will have very to defend your piston with if the counsel deems your actions wrong. So dont do anything wrong and you wont get executed. I personally understand you were trying, and failing might I add, to act in her best interest, so there will be no further punishment. If you get promoted to recruiter again you will begin were you left off in training instead of going back to the beginning. Have a good night, and I hope to see you tomorrow performing your new jobs.
He walked over towards me very casually. I realized how tall he was. He was easily 6 1 but still looked like a normal 8th grader, just a really tall one. But how could he be so tall? He was only 56 last I saw him 5 days ago. But I had other things on my mind to ponder at that moment.
EXECUTED!?!
Not literally, we wipe there memories of the Recruitment clean off there minds and then they live normal lives under watch from the Recruitment
Oh
Yep
So my parents were supposed to tell me what this Recruitment thing is?
Yep
And that was there job?
Yep, among other things
He paused for a moment, and then looked towards my parents.
Im going to go get the other one and then were going back to base. Shell have her things delivered to her room tomorrow. This will be the last day that she lives here officially.
He looked back at me
You have 5 minutes to get ready, dont bother changing or getting makeup but like shoes, coats, etc. Also bring that Starbucks cup and a bag of things you want to bring to entertain yourself
I wanted to be witty. I held up my hands with my palms facing him.
All I need are my hands I said it in the most sarcastic voice possible, while at the same time making sure he knew what I was joking about
To this he paused.
Whatever floats your boat, you wont have that much privacy though.
I meant twiddling my thumbs you freakin perv I was giggling by this point desipite his serious tone
I meant what I said, and now you have 4 minutes
11:10 PM
I showed him were the front door was, wondered how he didnt see it when he climbed up to my window just a story up, and then what I can remember after opening the door was just black for a couple seconds, then I regained my vision to find a car that was not there when I had opened the door
Ill explain later
Do you need to say that so much?
Yep
Well youre not old enough to drive
He then pulled out an ID and drivers license, both of which said his birthday is 7/28/1996
Fake ID?
Not exactly, Im not as old as what it says on the card but those arent fake. Like I actually can drive and the ID is valid
Youre just full of surprises, arent you?
I dont know if to say Yep or Ill explain later
Both work
Okay
Why if you faked your birthday choose my birthday minus the year?
He unlocked the car, it was a black Ferrari, and got in the driver's seat so I rode shotgun. I was carrying a bag with stuff I wanted to bring, including the Starbucks cup he personally checked for once I was done, and I put the bag down in the back row. He started the car and backed out of the driveway
Because I didnt want to arbitrarily choose a date
You make no sense
Ill explain later
He stalked talking for a minute so I thought I might as well try to ask questions to get a little information.
So can I ask where were going?
That is something I have the time to explain
Finally?
Yep
Go ahead then
You know Zoe right? Last I recall you were eating lunch 3-ish days ago with her?
Yeah I know Zoe, she and I are like buds. You know this! You, she, and I ate lunch together 5 days ago before you like disappeared until tonight
He had been missing from school for most of the days for the last month, although he did always eat lunch with us the few times he was there. Then I realized those 3 days ago hes talking about, he wasnt at school
How did you know we were eating lunch together when you werent at school?
I read your minds
I laughed
Calm down you 13-year-old-school-girl-trying-to-be-both-the-mad-hatter-and-the-joker
Fourteen, get it right like gosh
Sorry, I honestly forgot it was negative 46 minutes after your birthday
He smiled for a second, something he hadnt done in months at least, then stopped smiling, put on his serious face, yelled at someone on the road, then started to talk to me again
We need to go pick Zoe up
Do you even know where she is?
California
Dude were in Brazil! How long is this gonna be?
--When my parents had planned a vacation they told me BRAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZIL FOR OUR VACATION!!! and then they walked out of my room they had barged into--
Were here He said back to his normal monotone voice hes had since the start of this year.
I had known Jacob for a while, 3 years actually, and for the first 2 he was a normal, cheery boy, very smart (although he truly hated people calling him smart, that was one of the few things that made him mad)), very shy but if you knew him he was a cool guy. He looked very normal with a hint of crazy, never cared how his hair looked, and his personality was a bit odd. He was friendly, he was kind and sweet, he was very quick to change his opinion if proven wrong, and was very mellow most of the time. But the monotone and his personality wasnt the most important thing right now.
How the HOW DID YOU GET FROM BRAZIL TO CALIFORNIA IN UNDER 10 MINUTES
Ill explain later
The one answer I expected and didnt want.
Look, if I explain everything right now, youre gonna campaign for the witch burning laws again and set me ablaze on a cross. Also I need you to message Zoe
Dude its 11:12 at night she wont be awake
Just message her
Why do you need me to message her? Why cant you do it?
She has me blocked.
Why?
I was running up her parents phone bill, she was getting in trouble from me talking. I offered to her parents I would buy a plan for them to use and pay for it every month, but they havent been able to find the time to make the change on all their phones. So she still blocks me when I send 100 messages in less than a month, which pretty much always happens when its close to the end of the month
Fine
So I pulled out my phone. And I was like:
Colette: Hey
Zoe: Hey
Zoe: is it important? Im trying to get to sleep; I had a little bit too much caffeine though
Jacob started talking
Tell her I need to talk to her and that it cant wait till morning and that this will all be explained in a second. Also I told you she was awake He was trying to be friendly, I was sure of it, but still had a weird robot voice
Colette: Jacob needs to talk to you
Colette: And no according to him it cant wait till morning, hell explain all of this to you (and me) in a sec, he just needs to talk to you
Zoe: Whats so important?
Colette: Its important enough that Im calling it important
Zoe: Ugh fine
I heard Jacobs phone go off.
Thanks Colette, stay here.
He got out of the car and started walking towards the house. He was looking at me while walking at their house. I blinked. He was gone. I stayed in the car and thought about what was happening. The sense of security I had slowly shrunk as time went by. I closed my eyes and when I opened them back up he was walking with Zoe towards the car. She got in the back next to my bag when I realized she was holding the same golden Starbucks cup that I got in one hand, and her own little plastic bag of stuff in the other. She had a strange expression on her face like confusion. She didnt look confused actually, but damn near sedated, although it was fading quickly. Jacob said hell explain later why, but he wasnt going to drive off for a few minutes. In the meantime he started answering questions.
Is this gonna be a long trip?
Colette, I literately got here from Brazil in 5 minutes.
Zoe started asking questions
Can we get Starbucks on the way?
Sure Zoe
When will our stuff be delivered?
After we get there? About 5 Hours
When will we get to meet everyone?
When you meet all of them
When will we meet the important people?
When you meet all of the people that work there
When are we going to meet the people Ill find interesting?
When you meet all the important people
When will we start meeting all the people?
Tomorrow
I spoke up
You realize thats in 30 minutes right?
Which is why we are gonna start going
He turned the engine on, then the next thing I knew we were at star bucks ordering grandees; Zoe and I of course used our magnificent golden cups. The cashier talked to us a little bit
Arent these things like $100?
Jacob replayed
Yep, which is why I expect them back with what we ordered in them. Thank you
He turned and walked to the table Zoe and I were sitting at.
You have a very monotone voice most of the time you know? Youre like Beep-boop imma robot, Im here to answer any of your questions beep-boop
Doesnt mean I say Beep-boop all the time Zoe beep-boop
Zoe chuckled a little. I wanted to ask him a question that had been on my mind since near the beginning of when I met him.
Why do you say our names so much?
He did say our names a lot, and it was creepy sometimes, but it was just like a thing he did. Not for any of his other friends or even some people he had been in a relationship with, just me and Zoe.
Ill expla
I get it
We heard a voice calling us
Orders done
Jacob walked over, paid, tipped, took the cups and put them on the table
Lets go
He turned and walked without letting us respond, so we got up and walked after him. We got in the car and started driving. Zoe started asking more questions
How do you know how to drive?
I took a driving class
When?
4 months ago
But arent you like 13 still?
14
Doesnt make your case any better
I lied about my age
Why?
So I could drive
Dont you have to like prove your age or something?
Yep
Then how did you
Its not important
There was silence for a moment and then out of nowhere Jacob said
Were here
Where is here exactly? I asked with a pitch of fear in my voice, not supposed to be there
We were parked in the middle of a forest, with just trees around us, Trees and dead silence.
The Recruitment
Zoe smiled Ive been so excited about this for years now! Finally I can actually meet the special people here and figure out whats special about me.
All people are special Jacob said as he turned and look at her. He repeated
All people are special and live complex lives we cant even imagine or ever fully understand
He immediately started opening the door and got out. Naturally I got out too.
I tried to hide the nervousness of my voice So where are we going? Apparently I had failed
Calm down Colette this will be fine Jacob tried to reassure me
And after he locked the car my vision blacked out again and then there was a tree in front of Jacob that had not been there before. I looked behind me to see the car gone, and to my left Zoe was putting her hand on my shoulder.
Wait so Colette you dont know whats going on?
Nope
Wait so this is the first your hearing of this?
Yeah
Oh wow thats ruff
Yeah
Well Jacobs opening the elevator right now
I looked at Jacob again and realized the monster that was the tree in front of him. It was at least 8 feet wide at its base and minimum 80 feet tall. After marveling at the one huge tree out of all the rest of the smaller trees around it I looked down again to see Jacob fiddling with his phone and tapping the tree then fiddling with his phone and tapping the tree and fiddling with his phone and tapping the tree. Then after that a slot in the base of the tree opened to reveal a speaker and a voice started to play from it.
Jacob? Who are the new recruits?
Colette and Zoe
Last names?
No, the special ones
Oh
I didnt bother asking. A huge sliding panel opened to reveal a door to an elevator and Jacob got in.
What are you guys waiting for? Come on He was trying to sound friendly I could tell but he still sounded very monotone
So thats the entrance I replied, again trying to hide the nervousness in my voice and apparently failing again.
Colette think about it, if we wanted to kill you we already would have He had the very faint beginnings of a smile
Good point I responded sarcastically
Reluctantly, and with a small friendly shove from Zoe, I got in. The door closed behind us after Zoe got in. behind me I decided to joke around and try and lighten the mood (and by that I mean make myself feel better)
Is this going to be sci-fi?
A sudden voice made me and Zoe jump a little bit
Oh you have no idea
Who are you? Zoe and I almost said at the same time.
Sorry to scare you both, I am a member of the judge counsel; we act as the bosses of everyone. In fact Im one of Jacobs few superiors in this facility.
I hope thats a complement
"Well you're the one who wont accept the promotion."
"What, you think I'm just gonna abandon my friends and get less sleep? Ridiculious" Jacob for once wasnt speaking in a monotone voice, but actually a friendly one. This is something for some reason I wanted to ask about.
Wait why all of a sudden are you not monotone?
Because of reasons
Is that a different way of saying Ill explain later?
Yep, although were actually going to learn why right now
That sounds better then Starbucks
We actually have a Starbucks facility here
Thats not explaining everything
Okay, okay, lets get started. So basically, yes this is like sci-fi and supernatural rolled into a big ball from the perspective of those who arent affected by it, but whatever we dont question here, just accept it.
This isnt a poetry class I remarked impatiently
After I said that the door in front of us opened to reveal a facility brighter than the freakin' sun.
He got out and made a witty remark that would be funny if I wasnt already so hungry for answers that I wasnt in the mood for jokes, funny cat pictures, or normal I-know-your-pissed-but-I-still-wanna-be-funny-humor.
We actually have a school here and were by it, look to your left.
Awesome, so were on a tour now?
The place did look like we needed a tour to understand it. It had white walls, ceilings, and floors, all seemingly glowing. Occasionally windows showed, although it was just windows into other rooms. We were walking down a long hallway, witch with what I could see from the few windows through the rooms, there were a lot of long narrow hallways
No were just leading you to your rooms
Okay, continue with what you were saying
Okay basically some of us are born with abilities that those not born with it can never hope to achieve. We measure these on scales, 1 being minimal abilities and 10 being unable to improve. Oh also, you can improve on your abilities from what your born with. The most common example is people being born with a 3 and improving to a 7.5 before reaching their caps. Oh by the way there are caps to how much you can improve. These vary person to person and theres no way to change them. At all. We know how to measure someones level at birth, after reaching their caps, and we also know how to find their caps. But besides that there are some other things about the scale that you need to know. First there are 2 important ones for what we do here and a third, one thats more important in people that have a 0 on the other two scales. The two we focus on are the physical and mental abilities ones, with the third one being social abilities. Social abilities, in lamest terms, determine how popular people will be or whether or not theyll be famous. Things like that. The thing about all these scales is that caps often correlate to birth levels, and by that I mean like someone with a 6 at birth has less room to grow before they reach their caps then a person with a 3, at least on average and by on average I mean 99.9998% of the time that is true. So someone with a high number at birth which is rare on its owntends to have similar levels after reaching their limit then people with a lower number at birth. And also something about that allusive 10 score. Yeah, lol no if youre not born with it you cant get it. Which is why
I blurted something out
We have 10 scores dont we? Thats why were the special ones?
Well both of you have a ten score on one scale, and then on the other scale a 5. Zoe you have mental powers that rank a 10 and Colette you have 10 on physical
I was a bit fed up with this
You expect us to A believe you and B take this in in one night
Well actually I started telling you this yesterday so youve had a night and a morning. He had a sheepish smile on his face that I hadnt seen in a year and a .
Very funny
Fine
He kept walking down the hallway without saying anything. I was starting to think about the situation i was in. I was special? That special? That I had abilities most couldnt dream of? And for physical abilities? I cant even carry a backpack without trouble if it has too many textbooks in it! It didnt make sense, I didnt know how to believe it. His voice pulled me back in reality.
Ill prove it to you in the morning Colette, it is physical abilities, you were born with a 10, and yes you are that special.
I dont want to wait until morning for more answers; and how the honest fuck did you answer questions I didnt ask?
I wasnt lying when I said I could read your thoughts
Jacob stopped talking and just kept walking. Zoe yelled something out but i wasn't really paying attention to it.
Chapter 2 (II) (Zoe's perspetive)
WAIT IS THAT A STARBUCKS?
Along this huge hallway that we were walking down was an out-of-place looking Starbucks. Jacob answered my question
Yes, I said we have a Starbucks facility here
I thought you were joking
Nope
Well, why is it here?
Because our facility kinds of own Starbucks
What?
Its weird
You call that weird
Were at your rooms
Jacob pointed to a stainless steel down a little farther down, and then proceeded to open it for us. I walked in after Colette, followed by Jacob who left it opened behind us. He then started telling us were everything is
Okay so the queens sized beds are in the back near the final row of lights [which were already on] and the bathroom. Right here is the custom lounge area with a 60 inch by 50 inch TV, 2 massaging recliners, and the menus along with the ordering machine are on the sides of the chairs. Just tap the button, tell the person what you want, and it will be there in a couple minutes at most
He walked a bit further down.
To my left is the entrance to the pool and hot tub area, and down on the other side of the room is a direct entrance to the spa area, if you ever want anything go the spa area and go to the that says Resident service and ask the person at the desk, you should have it in under 30 minutes. Oh also you have free Wi-Fi. Along with that, there are free top=of-the-line laptops under your beds, there are desk near your bed with top-of-the-line PCs and on your pillows should be top-of-the-line phones
I was confused
Why are we getting all of this?
Because we need you to be as calm as possible until youre able to control your powers, I cant forcefully relax you 24/7, I have work I need to do, and the other people who do it have to do it for ~1000 new recruits a day and there are only so many of them that can do so much.
Colette and I spoke simultaneity
WHAT
You havent noticed? I need to constantly have my mind to calming you so you dont like blow up peoples heads with your powers. Its draining, and it also reduces ones ability to express emotion which is why Ive been monotone for the last year. Ive been assigned both your recruiter and protector, and recruiters and protectors basiclly do the same job, relaxing recuits, perventing harm, etc but recruiters do what I'm doing right now which is bring you here. God damn it is draining to have two people. I have a little help from here from people whose entire job is to make new recruits relaxed, which is why I can actually talk normally. Here
What exactly do you mean protector? This was something I wasnt told about by my parents
Like I protect you from danger
What danger?
He rolled his eyes
Like things that could kill you
What things?
Youre not invincible. An anvil to the head will kill you just as certainly as the right dose of bleach poured down your throat.
Colette spoke up
How do you protect us?
Well I guess is now a good time as ever to explain my powers. Its a long list, although something to mention is that both of you are more powerful than me and when youre able to control your powers could crush me like a bug
What are your scores?
9.9 each scale we work with and 2.08 on the social scale
Then how are we more powerful then you?
The thing about 10 scores is that there weird. Like there are no in-between scores from 9.9 to 10. 9.9 is the second most powerful level possible and 10 is the most powerful. And having said that, 9.9 is about 578.4 percent weaker than 10. And 5's are only four times weaker than a 9.9's. So yeah, Im a bug compared to you.
Then why do we need protection?
Because A you dont know how to use your powers yet and B your still mortals. And 10's are VERY rare. Like we only have 15 on record including you two.
Okay so what can you do?
Well like all recruiters I have the ability to relax people mentally in exchange for lack of expression of emotion from myself, I can read peoples minds, I like all people with a 3.4 or higher in mental scorehave photographic memory, I have the rare ability to basically make people go insane or a more accurate sentence is I can pretty much become someones consensus, like control their bodies, mind, and thoughts--, I can teleport, which Colette is how why your vision blacked out and then something appeared. I basically made your mind shut down and then got whatever I needed. When I teleport I can bring whatever I wish with me, but I do need to be near it. I can also see where Im transporting to. I also have the uncanny ability to like and Im not jokinglike sort of live out my child hood fantasy of healing like wolverine. I also can basically just stop feeling pain at will, and keep in mind I can do almost all of this simultaneously and with little felt effort while Im doing it. After Im done I pretty much just kind of near pass out from exhaustion depending on how much I did, although, and its incredibly dangerous and not safe, I can basically just keep going for however long need, for a max of something like 9 days before I pass out of exhaustion, then die of dehydration unless someones helps me and gives me water within a few minutes.
That is a very long list.
Well I forgot I could have just sent that to you mentally, although that would have freaked you out
A voice inside my head started talking
Wouldnt it have been creepy if I didnt explain I could do this before I did?
Okay you can stop now Jacob
Fine
Not funny
Okay, but Im telling both of you share that ability, and also youre gonna have to get used to it, thats the most common form of long range communication here.
Speaking of long range communication, how do we talk to our friends and family back at home if we live here?
Well we thought of that. You see, the school isnt really a school, its more like a place that you go and sit in a special chair then, well a simpler explanation, have you seen the movie Avatar? The one with the blue people? You dont need to answer that, I know the answer, its basically that instead of blue people you control a fake you. It has the exact same mind and body as you except you can basically go into it whenever you want. It acts in the exact same way you would if put in the same scenarios as it, when acting independently AKA when youre not controlling it yourself, and all of what it did independently get zapped into your mind.
So you basically have a perfect copy of us?
Minus the powers
Thats creepy
We can shut it down if you wish, although youll basically end up in the scenario I was in, cant go to real school every day, people see that your missing, and either you can choose to have those people artificially relaxed or have them act as they normally would when someone goes missing.
Wait so you shut down your copy? Why? You seem to be in favor of them from the way youre talking
Because I didnt want to micromanage it, I had no time. Ever. At all. My job was watching you two and besides that I pretty much manage EVERYONE here with the exception of 18 people. We have 126,516 people who work here total, a forth of which live here
How do 126,516 people fit in this
Oh this facility is right below the earths mantle, so we have a lot of space to have 512 interconnected facilities, and also there are transport systems between all of them. We could get from here to china in 30 seconds, well actually less than that for this room because you have a direct transport system to anywhere in the world next to your bathrooms.
Why do we need that?
Because if youre needed somewhere you can get there. So do you want the bots on or not?
Colette answered first,
No, and I want people to be relaxed.
I didnt know what to say so I hesitated. Then Jacob started talking and snapped me out of my thoughts
Okay no bot and with people being relaxed, good choice Zoe.
I hadnt even made up my mind.
I knew what your answer was gonna be
I realized something at that moment
How do we know when your controlling us or not?
Now that you know what Im capable of you can kind of just shut me off out of your minds. Also do you really think Im that much of an asshole Zoe? Also if iIwas lying and was controlling you, which I'm not, theres not much you could do because I could just control you and make you think I was trusted so you might as well trust me either way
I guess so...
Well goodnight, I'm tried AF and im going to be. I'm guess you two are as well
Yeah I guess. Good night.
He started walking away and Colette and I went to our beds. Jacob stopped at the door way.
Happy birthday Colette He sounded sad, like genially sad and like he was chocking up. He walked out of the door way. I couldnt help but talk to Colette for a little bit.
Happy B-day Colette
Did Jacob sound sad to you? Like he was starting to cry?
Yeah I did notice that
Why was he crying? Thats not like him at all.
A voice in my head started talking
Its a mix of being sort of proud and understanding that a normal life wont happen for him or you two. Ever.
You can stop reading our minds Jacob
Its not Jacob talking. Im the person you meet in the elevator, name is Michael Smith.
Well can you stop please?
What you asked a question, and also Jacob warned Colette so you have a pass, but you wont have much privacy in this facility.
Well thanks, nice meeting you, can you please stop now?
Okay
I started talking to Colette again
So you got that two?
Yep
A mix of proudness and knowing that our lives can never go back to normal?
Yep.
So...
Yeah
Well goodnight I guess?
Sure
And so we went to sleep. I was holding out for tomorrow being better. I was hoping that this was a dream. That none of this was real. That this was all in my imagination. It wasnt. Like the guy said, a normal life didnt happen for him or us two. Ever.