We walked through the room, Callie pointing out various objects. “This is the main room. Most of us just call it the Main. We spend most of our time here, when we’re not training,” Callie explained. I looked around a bit more. The couch was light grey. It seemed very soft. There was a low coffee table, with a light stain on it. A few books were stacked on the table, as well as a notebook and a coffee mug. On the other side of the room ,there was a larger circular table with four chairs. Cards were scattered on it. A bookshelf behind the table held dozens of board games. Towards the front of the room, there were a few large mirrors on the wall, and a bit of gym equipment on the floor. The walls were all painted a bland off-white. Callie led me through another opaque door. All of the doors that I could see were made of the same material.
145Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCy0KraeZYd
In the new room, I saw dark counters and wooden cabinets. We were in the kitchen. On the right side of the room, there was the cooking part of the kitchen, with a large stove and oven, a fridge, baking and cooking supplies, everything you would expect in a kitchen. On the left, there was a large, square table with two chairs per side. “This is the kitchen. We eat all of our meals here. Breakfast is from 7:30 to 8:30, lunch is from 12:30 to 1:15, and dinner's at 6. Every day, two people are in charge of dinner. Breakfast and lunch are both buffet style, with an open kitchen, meaning you can also just make whatever you want. Two of the six who aren’t cooking dinner clean after each meal, so everyone does something in the kitchen every day.” I blinked. That was… confusing. I guess it would make more sense once I saw what was happening. I just needed some time to adjust. Callie walked over to the pantry. “This is where I keep my secret candy stash,” she whispered, pointing to a bag of flour. She tossed me a piece of candy. “Thanks,” I said. “Aren’t you worried someone will use the bag for flour, and find all the candy?” She smiled and shrugged. “Guess I need to find a better hiding spot, then!” She showed me the bathrooms, showers, and eventually our bunkroom.
145Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIWbzYEySu
There were four beds in the room, which was about the same size as my entire room on floor fifty, and the room I’d been given here. Two beds were on the ground, and the other two were built into the wall a few feet above the first two. Metal ladders connected the beds. The walls were all bright white, and looked to be made of some kind of plastic. There were fluorescent lights built into the ceiling, but they were all off. The light came from two lamps near the door, as well as strings of lights around the top bunks. The beds were all pushed against the far wall. There was a sofa and two armchairs taking up most of the leftover space, as well as a bookshelf and coffee table. On the wall opposite of the beds, there was a screen mounted on the wall. “Welcome to our bunkroom,” Callie said, spinning around. “This is going to be your bunk,” she told me, pointing to one of the top bunks. “The screen is normally showing schedules and announcements. Feel free to use any of the books, cards, notebooks, anything. We don’t really have a ton of personal items, except for the stuff in our bunks. Don’t go into anyone else’s bunk. Some people are really protective over their stuff and space. That’s pretty much it.” At that point, Athimi walked into the room.
145Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiRGImf4kL
His hair was wet. It looked longer than it had when we first met. Probably because it was wet. The neckline of his t-shirt was dotted with water, and a towel was thrown over his right shoulder. “You finished showing him around?” he asked Callie. She nodded and climbed up onto the top bunk that wasn’t mine. “Yeah. I was thinking of hanging out here until we need to prepare dinner.” She looked over at me. “Tonight, it’s Athimi and my turn to cook. You’ve probably got three days before you get thrown into helping out with schedule activities.” I took it that schedule activities were kind of like chores and training. Training for what though, I had no idea. We were just trying to get through the fence when the electricity was down. Why did it require so much preparation? “Well, Morri has decided that tomorrow we get a field day, so you should rest up for that,” Athimi told Callie, sitting on the bed below her. “Ugh,” Callie groaned. “Alright. Should we pack up now, or later, you think?” Athimi shrugged, though Callie couldn’t see him. I took the opportunity to say, “What are you talking about?”
“A field day is when we do our training outside, instead of in the gymnasium,” Athimi explained, grabbing a notebook from the stack on the built-in shelf near his bunk. I looked up at Callie. “We saw everything, didn’t we?” I didn’t mean for it to sound so accusatory. She slapped her forehead. “I knew I was forgetting something. Come on, I’ll show you real quick.” She climbed down from her bed, and we walked back into the Main.
145Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7ooDFKSdD
From there, she led me to the mirrors. Hooking her fingers around the edge of the first one, she pulled. The mirror swung away from the wall, on hinges I hadn’t seen. She stepped over the lip in the doorway and walked through. Following her, I saw nothing. Absolutely nothing. It wasn’t dark, per say. This was different from darkness. It was an absence of light. I heard Callie clap her hands twice, and cold light filled the room. I saw a room that could have been a warehouse. It was massive, like the Jiu-Jitsu room on floor fifty. Except, this room, the gymnasium, wasn’t covered in mats. Most of the floor was made of a hard rubber, except for a portion in the back. It was covered in thick, fluffy mats, very different from the martial arts mats that hugged half of the right wall of the room. The other part of the right side was filled with gymnastics equipment. What was that even for? On the left, there was even more exercise equipment, like weight racks, treadmills, and placing for weight lifting. The wall close to that part was covered in mirrors as well. The rest of the open floor space had a track. A literal track. The first thought that crossed my mind after taking in the gymnasium was not a thought of awe. It was, where did Mariah get funding for all of this? Callie looked around, proud of herself. “Now you’ve seen everything.” I smiled. “Are you sure you’re not forgetting about some massive swimming pool or something?” Her grin dropped, and she flopped her head forward with a groan. “Come on. It’s just this way. It’s not that massive, though.” I blinked. “Wait, I was joking about the pool.” She shot me a look. “I’m not.”145Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qkxgoGiIZ
