X11 - chapter 4

The boy’s smile. I saw it more and more as I lay under heavy sedation this afternoon. But more than that, I started to pick out other features. A smooth strong jaw, bright eyes, one earring in his left ear, a pendant around his neck. I still don’t know who he is. A friend, a relative, a man off the street? I don’t know, but I hope to find out.1

Chapter 42

Adam Ingram woke from his poor attempt at sleep. The curtains in his dusty bedroom were drawn but the light of morning shone coldly through the threadbare material and right onto his face. He looked over at the clock on the wall. 10am. Time for breakfast, he supposed.3

He kicked his itchy blankets away and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and settling his bare feet on the cold wooden floor. He rubbed his grey eyes and brushed the greasy blonde hair back from his head. It was a chilly morning. Maybe the radiators in Section G were having troubles again. Whatever, the cold suited him.4

He stood; stretching aching muscles and feeling the unsatisfying click of his bad knee as he crossed the room to the door. He opened it, poking his head out. The hallway was deserted. Good, he didn’t want company.5

He closed his door behind him and locked it firmly. Down the hallway he strode, still barefoot and in a mere t-shirt and shorts, along to a communal bathroom. One man was shaving at the sinks and humming a tune but all the showers were empty.   6

Adam slipped into a booth and put his clothes on one side, out of the way of the jet of lukewarm water that began his cold, youthful body. He scrubbed the dirt out of his hair and scratched the scab on his cheek. It had been obtained in a fight with a fellow inhabitant of section G. They’d gotten a lucky punch in.7

He stepped from the stall and dried himself quickly with a towel, taking care that the man shaving was not looking. He slipped his shorts back on but left his chest bare. The mark on his left pectoral was bright after his shower: SG10097C. As always, he brushed his teeth and washed his face, not so much as nodding to the man who was humming away and attacking his stubbly chin with an electric razor. Adam didn’t shave today. The day’s worth of pale stubble on his chin was hardly worth it. 8

He came out of the bathroom and trudged his way down the industrial grey and blue corridor back to his room. On the way he passed Mandy, another collector. 9

“Morning Adam,” she said. Her tone was flat, her eyes cold. Adam didn’t know much about her, except that she took her job seriously and wished him a good morning everyday for no apparent reason. He nodded to her, not uttering a word.10

Back in his room he put on some plain black trousers and a button down blue shirt after he’d changed his dubious underwear. He dried his hair with another towel he kept on the shelf of his wardrobe, unconsciously humming the same tune the shaving man had.11

He eyed the frowsty mirror above his tiny wooden desk by the window. Yes, as always he looked like some kind of wino. He blonde hair was a tousled mess, his eyes tired, his chin rough, and his clothes creased. Generally unkempt, he believed would be a good term to describe him with. It was a shame. He remembered when he thought himself quite handsome. That was back in the day though, and he didn’t think about that time anymore.12

He had more important things to worry about at the moment. Like the meeting with Dr. White he had at 11.30. He tucked his shirt into his trousers to see if it would make him look anymore presentable to a high official and decided that it made him look worse than he already did. Besides, what did he care? Nobody was bothered with what a section G person looked like really. In his line of work it was better he looked scruffy and blended in with the masses outside anyway. Yes, that’s why he had opted for this job when he’s signed up to the organisation; unlike a lot of people in the building he could actually go outside. Not for very long and always or a vile purpose, but still…the fresh air and bird song was something a lot of people in here had never experienced in their life.13

He might have smiled at this thought but he didn’t. He did not smile anymore. He thought his face would probably crack if he tried. He slipped on some old shoes and tramped back out of the room, not bothering to make his bed. As always he locked the door and made sure it was locked. He enjoyed his privacy.14

He took a different direction this time, towards the elevator banks. He zoomed up in a particularly rickety lift to the next floor. They really had to get new ones before the current ones broke completely.15

He emerged into wide passageway. The ‘Food’ was stamped onto a partially open door in front of him in big white letters. He pushed through it, running a hand through his thick hair and looking around. Not many people were getting breakfast like him – many were already at work, but he had no assignments today, just that auspicious meeting with Dr White. 16

Throwing a few food tokens on the nearest counter he grabbed a bacon sandwich and tossed it onto a paper plate. He scanned the room. There was a nice small table in the corner by the tiny windows high up in the insipid pink walls. He shuffled over to it, his baggy black trousers dragging on the floor behind him in a forlorn kind of way.17

Not much light came in the windows. Adam wished he had a paper or something to read. He used to read The Times when he went out on his assignments, just to keep up in the world. But now he knew there was no point. He didn’t want to be a part of that outside world anymore. It was far too painful. He would go out there and mingle when he needed to but other than that he would reside always in the shell he’d formed around himself over the years, hardened to the outside world, missing it no longer.18

He managed to pass the time until 11.15 in that grimy food hall. Nobody bothered him and he didn’t raise his head once from the stains on the counter top and his greasy paper plate. A few people came and went, glancing around disinterestedly, gulping down old coffee, but nobody he knew.19

He shoved his plate in a handy bin and stomped back out of the hall. It was finally time for the meeting, hooray. He grimaced in sarcasm.  20

As he went up in the lifts to the increasingly clean floors of the higher sections a few butterflies began to dance in his stomach. What could they possibly what with him? Well, his questions would be answered soon enough he supposed. He just hoped it wasn’t something bad. He didn’t know how much more bad stuff he could take in his lifetime. He was only 22, but he had seen and done many horrible things.21

He ambled to the office block in Section A, attracting amused and disgusted glances from the ever-white and clean workers from that section. He tapped in his code and slipped his card into the slot by the office block door. “Name and business?” came the voice over the intercom.22

“Adam Ingram, I have a meeting with Dr. White.” 23

There was a long pause, which probably meant the woman on the other end of the door was checking the validity of his statement. Then, “Step in and go to office room D.” 24

He did as he was told, stopped half way to hand a beefy security guy all the crap he carried in his pockets. He noticed that in the locker they were stuffed in already resided a box of Mitofane strong headache pills and a battered biro.25

The secretary outside office D let him in with a wave of her hand. She seemed to be engrossed with her computer screen to really bother with the formalities. The door to the office was unlocked so he opened it and stepped right in.26

Dr white was standing by the bookshelf at the back of the room, rearranging various volumes and chatting animatedly to a man sitting in a chair near him. Adam glared at them both. He hadn’t been told that Korchov would attend this meeting too. That meant it could only be about one thing… A nasty gnawing feeling started to chew away at his intestines and without thinking about it he turned to leave.27

“Ingram, sit.” Barked Dr White. Dr White was small and old, but carried an air of superiority. Despite his age he was perfectly upright, and maintained a full head of thick hair, even if it was slate grey. 28

Adam sat on a small plastic chair by the desk. It was uncomfortable but that was probably the point. He turned to face the two older men and frowned expectantly. “You wanted to see me?”29

“We want you to talk to X11.” Said Dr. White as he handed a thick leather-bound book to Korchov who studied it graciously.30

Adam blanched. Never did he think he would have to hear that again. Never. It took a lot to control the shaking of his limbs and the fluttery feeling in his innards. The bluntness of Dr. White’s words had sliced through his outward casual and chilly demeanour like a knife through butter. He swallowed. “I’m not on that assignment anymore. You set me free.” Free. There was a word he hadn’t used in a while.31

Korchov smiled and put the leather book in a bag by his feet. “Well you’re back on it for a temporary period of time.” he enlightened. “You will speak to the experiment, or at least see her. We want to see what happens.”32

“Was it not a success?” he asked through his constricted throat. Only one thing in the world moved him anymore, and that was the haunting thoughts of X11 that he tried desperately to free himself of. In a way he wished they had used him instead. He had offered himself in her place, to be sure. Right now he wished that he had no emotions to contend with.33

“Not in a sense.” said Dr. White. “She still feels. But we would like to run some experiments still, to test her further, see what went wrong, what needs to be improved. You, my boy, will help us.” It was a command not a request.34

Adam hid his discomfort and tried to shift into a more comfortable and assertive position in the vile plastic chair. “O-okay… I don’t…I don’t know what she’ll do though.” He stuttered. He was worried what he would do too actually, what dredging up the terrible past would do to him and to her. 35

“She probably does not remember you,” said Korchov as he accepted another book from Dr. White’s personal collection. “She suffers a great deal of memory loss at the moment, and we doubt it will return.”    36

Adam wanted to ask what the point of talking to her was if she couldn’t even remember him but refrained. No doubts the doctors had their own reasons that they’d probably never tell him.  37

They nodded at him, a signal that the meeting was already over. Dr. White looked at his watch. “Be back here at 6 o’clock tomorrow evening.” He snapped.38

Adam nodded, saying nothing. Gratefully, and with a click from his bad knee, he lifted himself off his chair and went back out of the office quickly. Hopefully they had not seen the thick sweat that had just broken out on his forehead. 39