Chapter 8: The Meaning of Proposition
The next day I was awoken by the same far-away maid. After many familiar tries and fails at communicating with her, I decided to take drastic measures. I leaped up from the bed when she least expected it and grabbed her by the arm. She tried to pull away but without any recognition in her eyes, as if she was controlled like a character in a video game. I stared right into her unfocused eyes and began to speak in a loud, slow voice. "I'm Raven, what's your name? Do you work for them? Were you captured by them?" The last question seemed to impact her; her eyes flickered just a small amount. Such a small movement to be exact that most people probably wouldn't have caught it. It seemed like she had overcome the controller for a split second to try to answer. I celebrated secretly at the accomplishment, to others it wouldn't have meant a thing, but I knew that whoever she was inside, I'd help her to break out. She could understand me, and now I understood her. She was one of the victims of the enemy. They had taken her mind from her, and trapped her in her own body. Just as the moment of celebration came, it left just as quickly.
Chapter 8 con.
She returned to her robotic self and repeated the message that she had said the day before. "Breakfast," then walked out of the room to some unknown place. I stared down the hallway and sadly thought of the poor girl that she might have been before. My resolution hardened as I realized this is what I'd been trying to help in the first place anyway. Finally living with, at least a temporary purpose, I strode down the imagined runway of the hallway, and into the cafeteria, where I wrapped Marge in a hug, and sat down to my daily, steaming bowl of sugary porridge. "Well, you sure are acting chipper this fine morning!" Marge exclaimed as I gulped down all that was sitting in front of me. "I think I'm on the urge of a breakthrough!" I replied as if I was some excited scientist that had just discovered the purpose of all life. Marge just smiled and backed into the kitchen to retrieve another bowl of the delicious breakfast, while I pondered all that had happened in the short days, weeks, or months that I had lived here, and fantasized what might happen in the days to follow.
Chapter 8 con.
Before I knew it, breakfast was over and I was, curiously, being led back to my room. At the end of the hall, my escorts shoved me into my room then slammed the door behind me as quickly as possible. Shortly after, I heard the unbreakable lock slide into place, trapping me in my room. By that point I knew something was seriously wrong, and I quickly turned around to face whatever was set before me. Even before I saw what was wrong, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and the fear began to course. "Haven't seen you in awhile, actually, you know, I had a dream about you last night. Wasn't exactly a good dream, but you know..." I said as naturally as I could. The evil, echoing laugh began again, and swirled into my head as an overpowering cloud. "I didn't tell you before, I don't appreciate being called Mr. Brawn-Without-Brains. My name is Thomas!" I looked up at him without fear for the first time. I expected him to act more evil, especially since the last time that we saw each other he wanted to kill me. Now he was angry about me not knowing his name?
Chapter 8 con.
"So what do you really want?" I asked, knowing that my escorts wouldn't have dumped me here just for me to here a speech about how it's not nice to call people names. "I have a proposition for you..." he whispered leaning in for the dramatic effect. "Wow!" I yelled unexpectedly, making him look at me like I had lost my mind "I didn't know you knew such big words!" I said as if I was congratulating him on winning a spelling bee. "That's not the point! Who cares if I studied a little on what I would say!? Who cares if I don't even know what it means!?" He yelled, and I could tell I had hit a major nerve. " I have a proposition for you, and you just can't refuse," At this point, his face was turning red and an evil grin started transforming his face, "As you might have noticed, our agents are not exactly what you would call..." he stopped to think, "Smart? Strong? Powerful? Superior?" I filled in for him. In response he just glared at me and gave a reluctant, "Yes... As I was saying, we don't have the best agents, so we are asking you to go out on field missions with us,"
Chapter 8 con.
I raised my eyebrows at him, what was he thinking? The enemy (TOM) must be especially weak if they can't even do their own work, dirty or other! "What's in this for me? Why are you asking me to go to the dark side?" I asked, knowing that there must be a catch. "We're not asking you to go to the dark side," He replied, now negotiating with me, "We're just asking that you accompany our agents on the smaller trips. You don't have to break the law, or go against your own people. All you need to do is become a minor agent for our society." He was almost pleading, so I decided to take some of the bait for him, now that his voice had lost any and all of it's evil edge. "Okay, I might be on board with this, as long as you can provide me with the sufficient information...AND," I said, using suspense to get my way, "And?" he urged me on,
Chapter 8 con.
"And, I need to know why you need me so badly," I finished with a knowing smile. His face sank, and he took a large breath to regain his composure, "Well," he stalled, "We might, possibly, maybe, be out of options to understand you," he finally told, and my heart leaped at how desperate they actually were. "You want to see me in action," I mused, "Sure, why not? It's better than being stuck in this boring routine everyday," At my response, his face lit up, and I almost expected him to burst out about how it would be an honor to work with me. Though he didn't, he did, however, firmly shake my hand before unlocking the door, and walking out with a skip in his step and his head held high. I rolled my eyes and couldn't help but laugh. Whatever I can do to brighten his little world, I thought. Tomorrow will be a new day, and I'll finally get some excitement.