Page 48 of Dangerous Deviance
My heart swelled. “Not at all.” My eyes widened. “Where is she?”
“Once you’re ready, I’d be happy to put you in contact.”
Once I was ready? What did that mean?
“I’m ready now,” I said, my voice meek. “Please.”
Dr. Bates paused, but by the plastic expression on his face, I knew that he had already made his decision.
“There are rules about communication between students, Ms. Jordan. I assume you read your contract?” He knew I hadn’t. I had signed as quickly as I could, so that we could get on with the tour, with everything. So I could be closer to her. “I’m afraid you’re not fully trained yet. But you will be, very soon.” He turned to the side. “Enjoy your flight toward the horizon. May you sleep well, Ms. Jordan.”
My stomach twisted in knots at those words, but I couldn’t figure out why. What was waiting at the horizon?
“Sleep well, Dr. Bates,” I said.
He closed the door behind him.
***
That night, I couldn’t sleep. A ringing sound filled the room, and when I tried to open the door to see where the noise was coming from, it was locked. That startled me. Adrenaline surged through my veins as I shook the handle as hard as I could, but the door didn’t move, as if it was cemented shut with concrete. I shouldn’t have been surprised; if the doors had been unlocked, Julie would have snuck out, maybe even come home by now. Maybe that was why they had locked me in; they thought I was going to sneak out too.
The ringing, like a sharp noise from a broken radio, grew louder the longer I was there. I went to the bathroom, sitting in the shower stall, but the sound followed me there too. I rolled up the thin towel hanging beside the door and pulled it over my ears, but I could still hear it. The ringing. It seemed like it would go on forever. I closed my eyes, letting the sound dull into the background.
But then it stopped.
I opened my eyes, looking around, waiting for it to return. But nothing happened. I closed my eyes to sleep.
Then it started again.
“What the hell?” I whimpered. I covered my ears with that towel and squeezed my eyes shut.
In the morning, a knock shook me awake. I don’t know how or when I had fallen asleep, but I didn’t feel rested. I opened the door.
“Ms. Jordan. Please get dressed,” Dr. Bates said, back to his red tie. “Your uniform is on the nightstand.”
Uniform? I hadn’t seen one the night before, but sure enough, a white shirt and white pants, resembling medical scrubs, were folded on the nightstand. I put them on in the bathroom, then followed Dr. Bates. Lines of women in white uniforms were walking into the buildings, all in a single file line, their heads held high, their mouths closed. Muscular men in white clothes with that same red logo on their shirts were distanced throughout, scrutinizing the women. And in the distance, I saw a naked woman struggling to find her footing. A man jabbed her with a long instrument, shoving her forward. They disappeared into a building.
“That woman,” I asked. “Why was she naked?”
“What woman?” Dr. Bates smiled. “We have many women here. All students of the program.”
He was avoiding the subject. “That naked one,” I answered, a little irritated. “I saw her—”
“I’m sure you saw a flash of skin, Ellie, but there isn’t any nudity at this phase.”
This phase? “What do you mean, this phase?”
But he didn’t answer. Instead, he led me through a corridor, resembling an empty school hallway, to a dark room with a single metal folding chair. Black and white videos played across the screen, blips and dots of black ink making it look like they were old footage, though there was no projector in view.
We say ‘no’ to unnecessary violence! The only acceptable violence is violence that protects our family. Here, at the Skyline Shift, family is everything. We are all family, the speaker said.Family.
“You will be quizzed,” Dr. Bates said. I opened my mouth to question him, but he shut the door. A loud click sounded as he locked me in.
Okay. Videos. A quiz. I could do that.
I watched four hours of the same video on repeat.We are all together in this, the voice said. I could hear the theme song jingle towards the end, cheery and delightful, but the tone off, like someone who wasn’t a musician had created it.We must work together.We are stronger together. Women marched across the screen, proud of themselves, of what they had accomplished, but it was always a man’s voice instructing them, lecturing the audience, teaching us, teaching me. After some deciphering, that measured, methodical cadence clicked into place; it was Dr. Bate’s voice.Together, we can defeat the enemy.A woman helping another into a bus. One woman polishing a gun, then handing it to the woman next to her. Finally, the woman aimed the gun at the camera, then the video went blank.
The dock clicked. Dr. Bates went to the back of the room and turned off the video. My stomach growled.
