“Is there anything else for tonight, Ms. Monroe?”
“Yes. Please call me Tori. And could I get some herbal tea bags tomorrow?”
“I can have them brought to you today if you wish.”
“No, there are some here for tonight but I don’t drink coffee and I live on water and herbal tea.”
“Noted. I’ll have housekeeping leave a selection and remove the coffee tomorrow. Take care and enjoy the rest of your evening.”
“Good night, Mike. And thanks again.”
I closed the door behind him, more than a little overwhelmed but suddenly curious about what was under the metal dome covering my dinner.
I moved the tray from the cart to the coffee table in front of a comfy couch. I grabbed the remote and flipped on the television. I didn’t pay attention to the channel. I just wanted some noise. I could flip through later. I removed the lid to my dinner and was thrilled. I had pasta with red sauce, a small salad with a side of dressing that looked to be a vinaigrette, and soft garlic bread. There was even a small dish of fruit and cheese to munch on later.
I set the fruit and cheese platter to the side and went to work on the pasta. Unbelievably, it wasn’t overcooked and mushy. The sauce was mild but tasted of slow cooking and Italian herbs. The garlic bread was heavenly. It was toasted just enough with a hint of lemon and topped with a sprinkle of browned parmesan cheese. I let the salad sit while I attacked the pasta. I was craving the robust flavors of the sauce and bread. Once I cleared the plate, I turned to my salad. As salads go, it was basic but at least it wasn’t just iceberg lettuce. It was comprised of a handful of romaine lettuce, a few carrot shreds, a couple of grape tomatoes, and some slices of cucumber and radish. In other words, standard industrial salad. I shook the dressing, added it to the salad and tossed it a bit with my fork.
It was better than I had anticipated. I finished it swiftly and cleaned the bowl with the last of my garlic bread. Sated for the first time in days, I leaned back on the couch and decided to channel surf for a while. I expected Kerstin to show up at some point but I didn’t know exactly when she would arrive. Rather than start working and get interrupted, I would wait until after she did her head shrinker thing on me.
ANOTHER HOUR PASSED after I left my dinner tray in the hallway. I was starting to wonder if it was safe to get back to writing when the door chimed. I assumed it would be Kerstin and I was right. She smiled at me as I waved her into my new temporary home.
“So, how do you like it? The rooms are pretty comfortable, right?”
“Yeah, I guess. I mean, I miss my house but this isn’t a bad place to hang out. Can you explain something to me?”
“I can try, what’s up?”
“I was told the walls are modular and they can be reconfigured. How does that work? They look like regular drywall to me.”
“Ah, of all the things you could ask me, a therapist, you ask me about construction? As it turns out, I know the answer. Go for a short walk with me while I explain?”
“Sure.” I grabbed my room key and followed Kerstin into the hallway, matching her pace as we set off.
“The majority of the lower levels are made to be flexible to change for specialized projects or to simply make being underground a bit more bearable. While the walls look like regular wallboard, they aren’t. They’re made of some kind of plastic with a metal core for structure. I don’t know all the details as I’m not an engineering person. What I do know is that if a room needs to be moved around, engineers come in with machines that allow them to remove the walls, or add in walls. Using smaller versions or larger versions of the walls means that they can reshape spaces. Of course some walls are load bearing and can’t be touched. If the need arises to blend two spaces together, I think they would have to add a doorway in some cases. Does that help?”
“Yeah, a bit. I was trying to figure it out. It sounds so science fiction. Modular apartments that can change based on needs.”
“Truthfully, a lot of modern tech is based on science fiction. Look at hand-held communicators and Star Trek PADDs. Those are nothing more than cell phones and tablet computers. Or maybe Kindles. I’m not certain about the size and amount of computing the PADDs on TV could do.”
“I never really thought about it. This has been a lot to take in. Where are we headed?” I hadn’t realized it but we had made several turns and stood before an elevator.
“I thought I would take you up to my office tonight. I think it’s time to start really talking about some of the changes you’ve been going through, how to manage them, and what they will mean to you.”
I felt my stomach drop. Then I realized that I was scared. Not just a little nervous. I was totally afraid because up until now I had been playing along. Now I was either going to start to spot the hoax or find out that this was real. To this day, I’m not certain which outcome I would have been happier about.
Chapter Nine
I KEPT QUIET until we got to Kerstin’s office and settled into seats. I chose one of her armchairs and she sat in the other one instead of behind her desk. I understood her trying to keep away from power plays and I did appreciate it even as I felt it a bit of a charade. After all, she had all the information, which automatically meant that she had more power, didn’t it?
“Before we get started, would you like anything to drink? I have bottled water, soft drinks, juice, and tea.”
“A bottle of water might be good, thanks.” I took the offered bottle as she retook her seat and I fiddled with the cap. I had accepted it for the need to have something to play with more than a need for a drink.
“Tori, I know that physically, the last few days have been stressful. That, and the information you’ve been given, has been a stressor emotionally as well. How do you think you’re doing, overall?”
“I don’t know. Is this confidential?”
“Of course, patient-therapist confidentiality is a huge deal to me and short of a direct order from the Council, or unless you present a clear and present danger to yourself or others, I don’t discuss your sessions with anybody in anything other than the broadest terms.”
“Council? Danger? Broadest terms? Meaning what exactly?”
“One question at a time. If another doctor asks how you’re doing, I might say something like, adjusting well and happy to be off Cream of Wheat.”
“I get it. Nothing too detailed.”
“Exactly. In fact, I probably wouldn’t mention the Cream of Wheat unless I was trying to distract them with humor or it was in a talk about nutrition.”
“In that case, I’ll be honest. I still don’t know if I believe what I’ve been told. How would I morph from a normal human into a person who can shape shift into an animal? A white-tailed deer? Seriously?”
“Let me ask you a question first. What did you think when you were shown the results of the tests? I believe Stacy actually showed you the sectioned off area of your stomach, yes?”
“Well, yeah, she showed me some stuff on a screen but I’m no doctor. I don’t know that it was really my stomach and I have no clue if it was sectioned or just weird looking on the screen.”
“What about this, when you’ve cleaned deer in the past, what did their stomachs look like? Compare it to the one you saw the day you cut yourself?”
“They were a bit larger and had kind of obvious sections. The one when I cut my hand was smaller and I only saw two sections.”
“Yes, just like the one Stacy showed you on the screen. I have an idea that watching a screen isn’t going to help you either. Let me ask a favor if I may?”
“You can ask. I make no promises.”
“Understood. Can we approach the next two days as if you totally believe everything and with the understanding that if I’m right, you actually need the information I will be giving you?”
“So, take a leap of faith? Just remember, I’m a writer, so I’m looking for plot holes. So far, this whole thing is stranger than fiction.”
“Uh uh. T
otal buy in for just the next two days. I need you to really focus and learn what we go over. I’ve cleared my schedule, barring any emergencies. I have other people covering my caseload so that we can expedite your education. Most of the time, my patient load consists of people raised in our ways and I see them once in a while to check in the once they start showing signs of approaching puberty. As they fully enter puberty I start working with them to teach them more of our history and refresh our laws with them before I teach them to manage their shifting. You’re starting from zero knowledge and there is a lot to know.”
“Fine. Total attention and I’ll try to believe in it. That’s the best I can do. I’ll approach it like any other project. I throw myself into my work. Deal?”
“Good. For tonight I have some basic things for you to read through. I do have to insist that the materials not be scanned and stored on your laptop or phone. I need them back at the end of the session tomorrow.”
“What if I have further questions? Why can’t I keep them?”
“I hate this part but it’s necessary. Security. You’re an unknown quantity right now. I had to fight to be allowed to let you bring these back to your room for one night without taking your electronics from you. This is serious, Tori. We can’t allow word of our population to be spread through the media until we are ready. There are government agencies involved in various ways and too much the general public would hate and fear. It’s dangerous to our young and our elderly to let the world know about them without proper planning.”
“Is that something being planned? Will we be outed at some point? Who decides something like that?”
“There is a Council of Elders. They aren’t all actually in the older population if we go strictly by age, but they are chosen from their subgroups to serve for specified terms. By subgroup, I mean various species that they shift to in animal form.”
“That’s what you meant by ‘Council’ earlier. How large is it? There’s a lot of animals in nature.”
“But not all are animals we shift to in our animal forms. We’ll be covering some of this tomorrow and some of it is in the file I’m lending to you.”
“If you cleared your schedule, what are we doing? Talking up here?”
“To start, yes. I’ll come get you after you’ve had time for breakfast. You’ll still need an escort to get around.”
“Let me guess. Security again?”
“In part, but not the way I think you are assuming. Because this is a large and complex facility it can be very easy to get lost here. In addition, there are pure humans who work here or come for various reasons, including therapy or medical treatment, who have no clue of the existence of our kind or the subterranean levels. At this point, it’s more because you could get lost and be very hard to find.”
“I have a good sense of direction. I know how to navigate.”
“Out in the woods, I would probably hope you would take the lead. This is my playground and I’m betting you can’t find your way back to your room from here tonight.”
“What’s the bet?”
“What do you want?” Kerstin smiled at me and I wondered if she knew what I would ask for already.
“I want to see someone shift into something tomorrow morning if I win tonight.”
“You really won’t let this go, will you?”
“Nope.” I can be stubborn. It’s why I can’t play poker for money anymore. I lose because I’ll throw good money after bad so I can see if I’m right.
“I can’t make a promise but I can attempt to arrange it. If I win, you follow directions and stop throwing up roadblocks. I need to teach you quickly because soon, sooner than I would be happy with to be frank, I’ll have to guide you through your First Shift.”
“What do you mean, have to guide me? You don’t shift, right?”
“Correct. I have other ways that I guide our first time shifters. We’ll cover it over the next two days. Deal?”
“Deal. Lets get this file and I will orient us back to my room.”
Here’s that part I despise. To put it bluntly, I not only lost, I was so confused by the various elevators and hallways that I couldn’t find the right section, never mind the right level or my room. I. Hate. Losing.
Once I got back, with Kerstin guiding me, I spent a couple of hours before bed reading the mysterious file that I was not able to print, copy, scan, or anything else. If it was a fake, it was the best fictional book I ever read. If it was real, I was petrified.
I STAYED AWAKE until three in the morning reading and rereading the file Kerstin had loaned me. I started to take notes but quickly decided that it would constitute a breach of her confidence. Instead, I started writing down questions. Finally, my eyes blurred to the point that I couldn’t actually see the words in front of me and I fell into bed. That’s where I was when my breakfast was delivered.
I roused myself enough to answer the door chime and let in the guy with my breakfast. I thanked him and he left. I was happy to see a cheese omelet, hash browns, toast and orange juice. Real food and it tasted as good as it looked. This was not standard issue hospital fare, and I wondered if the kitchens were kept separate between the hospital and these additional quarters. Another question on my list for Kerstin.
After breakfast I managed to get myself showered, dressed, and put in a half hour on my computer searching for signs of tampering, before the door chime sounded again. It was Kerstin. I motioned her in and closed the door behind her.
“Is my room bugged?”
“What? Good morning to you, too. The answer is no, your room isn’t bugged. We have the call bells that were pointed out to you but that’s it. We tend to trust our people.”
“I’m not one of your people. What about my computer?
“What about it?”
“Was any software or malware put on it while it was out of my hands?”
“Not to my knowledge. As far as I know, Stacy put it in her office in a locked cabinet. She did pull it out to bring it up to a full charge but her office door is always locked if she isn’t in it. Care to share what’s going through your mind?”
Damn shrinks always sound so calm and rational. I was getting frustrated but I was also afraid that either I was asking the wrong questions or the wrong person.
“You told me the file had to remain secret. How would you know if I sent an e-mail or copied it to my computer without someone tampering with it?”
“E-mail all goes through our secured servers. Its programming scans for key words and phrases. Anything heading out of the server is subject to that scrutiny and if the key words come up, it gets blocked, flagged and brought to the attention of those in charge of security. We are all subject to that however, not just you.”
“My laptop? I could copy the file, save it as an encrypted document and walk out of here with it.”
“And do what? The world would question your sanity for one thing. Besides, when you do walk out of here, you’ll be of a mind to keep our secrets since they are yours as well.”
“One more question. What about my phone? I could take pictures of the file and store them or send them via the cellular network. I get reception, I checked.”
“You do get reception but text messages have been blocked. I think if you try to send an e-mail from your phone, it will bounce. These measures were put in place when we decided to show you the file. We’ve done this before, Tori. I may not understand all the techno gibberish but we have a very good group working security for us.”
“So, I really am a prisoner here?”
“No, you’re still a trainee. Under our laws you are someone to be protected until you have been trained to control your shifting and learn our laws and social constructs.”
“I’m not happy about this you know.”
“I can tell. Can you fill me in on what happened between last evening and this morning?”
I stood and started pacing. Kerstin sat on the couch and watched me but let me work through my thoughts.
“I’m freaked. This file is either amazing speculative fiction, the work of a genius cult, or true. I don’t know which one I prefer. I do know I agreed to listen and learn but I have so many questions after going through the documents you loaned me.”
“Questions and the answers you require are part of the training we have scheduled for you, Tori. I promise you, this will make sense and you will be able to integrate your old life and your new life.”
“I’m not certain what that means. I’m not positive I’m strong enough to do this if it’s all real. Frankly, I’m terrified that this is real and I don’t know how to handle that at all.”
“We’ll handle it together. Let’s get started. Would you prefer to stay here or head to my office?”
“Can we stay here for now? I can at least not feel like a patient as much that way. It’s minimal control but it’s something at least.”
“That’s fine. I’m going to use the house phone and ask Janice to bring me a few things. Is that okay with you? She won’t stay or even have to come in the door.”
I waved my consent and went to my temporary office to grab the notepad with my scribbled questions along with a pen to write down any additional questions or things that might need clarification.
When I returned to the living room Kerstin was waiting patiently on the couch.
“Want a drink or anything? I have some snacks.”
“A bottle of water would be great. Feel free to eat or drink while we talk. There is a lot of ground to cover and I had Janice arrange for lunch to be brought here for both of us.”
I handed her a cold bottle from my hidden fridge and grabbed one for myself as well. I plopped into an armchair and waited.
“Let’s start with history and move into current day government.”
“Shifter Civics 101?” I was a smart ass and I didn’t see that changing anytime soon.
Stranger Than Fiction Page 10