She had been locked into the room next door but one to the room she occupied this time. Just herself and a bed in that great empty orange cube of a room. The toughened glass windows didn’t open; they merely offered a view across the scrubby lawn towards the dull grey lime trees, dissolving in the mist of the rain. Her brother had sat cross-legged on the floor, retaining an expression of acceptance on his face as he faded away.
“How can you be so calm!” He had just shrugged and smiled sadly at her.
“All things must pass, Eva,” he said, a little grin playing around his lips. “Besides, I can’t imagine what will happen to me. I’m your opposite, aren’t I? MTPH stimulates the underused parts of your personality. I’m everything you are not. Calm, positive, dull and unimaginative…”
“It’s me who’s the dull and unimaginative one,” said Eva. “Oh, what am I going to do without you?”
“You’ll make other friends. Maybe some real company will do you good, Eva.”
“No! How can you say that?”
The arguments had raged during her brother’s last few days, until he had simply faded away to leave her all on her own. The people who had shut her away insisted that he had never actually existed: he was only a hallucination, brought about by continuing exposure to MTPH. But they didn’t understand. Only someone who had taken MTPH could understand.
“They’re plotting something, Eva.”
Eva sat up in bed in her darkened room, hugging the duvet tightly around her body.
“Who’s plotting something?”
“Katie is. And Alison is, too, but not quite the same thing. Nicolas is involved, but he’s just a passenger. It’s Katie we need to watch. If only we knew who she was…”
Eva felt fear take hold of her, her stomach filling with dark dread.
“Who is that?” she whispered, her voice shaking. “Why do you keep talking to me?”
“They’re in the lounge, Eva.”
“Who are you?”
The voice went silent. Feeling rather foolish, Eva draped the duvet around herself and stumbled sleepily from her room. The corridor outside was brightly lit but deserted. The nurses’ station stood empty, a nearly full vending machine cup sat steaming on the desk. Muted music and voices could be heard from the game room. Eva headed toward the sound.
They were watching a game show. Alison and Nicolas were sprawled on two comfortable seats, holding hands, Katie sitting upright behind them on a hard plastic chair. She turned round as Eva stumbled into the room, then reached to shake Alison’s shoulder.
“Eva? What’s the matter?” said Alison, repeatedly waving the sound down. Eventually the ancient viewing screen caught the signal.
“What time is it?”
“Just after two o’clock,” said Nicolas. “What is the matter?”
“I keep hearing voices,” Eva said.
Katie and Alison exchanged glances.
“See?” Katie said. “I told you.”
“Okay, okay,” said Alison. “I’m sorry, I should have believed you. Eva, come and sit with us. I don’t want to go to sleep tonight. Katie and Nicolas are keeping me company.”
“Yes,” Nicolas said. “You can lie here on the chair next to me. You’ve got your duvet.”
“Thank you,” Eva said uncertainly. She sat down on the chair and wrapped the duvet tightly around herself. The soothing light of the viewing screen and the gentle background dialogue filled the room. It was strange, but there was something welcoming about the atmosphere of the room, filled with the silence of people who felt comfortable with each other. For the first time in weeks, months even, Eva felt as if she could relax. It didn’t matter that Nicolas and Alison were exchanging looks in some unspoken conversation. It didn’t matter that the voice had been right and they were plotting something. It was enough that the same voice had sent her to be part of this group, and that they had accepted her into their circle. Maybe tomorrow she would worry about their schemes; tonight, she felt accepted.
Eva allowed herself to drift off to sleep, snuggled tightly in her duvet.
It was a bright, sunny morning. Only a faint chill to the air hinted that autumn was approaching. Eva woke to find herself in her own bed. She had a vague memory of Alison and Katie leading her back here the night before and tenderly tucking her in. Eva got up and pulled on a loose yellow sweatshirt and grey leggings and headed for the communal kitchen to make toast for breakfast. She felt surprisingly positive this morning. Someone had left black toast crumbs in the butter, but even that couldn’t spoil her mood.
After breakfast she wandered outside, out across the scrubby grass to her circle of limes where she gazed up at the leaves. Some were already yellowing in promise of autumn. The ground was wet; it soaked through the cuffs of her leggings, yet she didn’t care.
When Nicolas suddenly poked his head out from among the trees at the other side of the clearing and beckoned her toward him, she wasn’t at all surprised. She got to her feet and followed him into the strip of woodland that separated the Center from the nearby main road. Old cans and stained fast-food wrappers littered the woodland floor. The sound of fast-moving traffic filtered through the trees. Nicolas led her to Alison and Katie, standing in a tiny clearing by a patch of nettles and a hawthorn tree. Alison nodded at Eva as she approached. Katie was staring at an old beer can, an odd expression on her face.
“Eva,” Alison said.
“Alison,” Eva replied. Alison looked at Katie and came to a decision.
“Eva. Do you know that we’re being watched?”
Eva looked at Alison and frowned. “Well, yes. Everyone is being watched. Of course I know that.”
Alison shook her head. “No. I’m not talking about Social Care. That’s just something that’s been concocted so that the people in charge can say that they’re concerned about our well-being. We point to the poor souls that have been blinded by laser weapons and they say, ‘Who, us? Why should we do that? The world is a better place thanks to us. Look at all the money we spend on Social Care.’”
“Yeah,” Nicolas said. “It’s like the way the petroleum companies used to spend money on conservation projects: a way of presenting a clean image.”
“I’m sure there’s more to Social Care than just that. Some of them really believe in what they’re doing.”
“Okay,” Alison said impatiently. “Maybe that’s true. The point is, though, there’s an awful lot of information being collected about us. Did it ever occur to you that someone, or something, is behind all that watching? It’s not just about a collection of people or computer programs watching over us for our own protection. There’s something more sinister occurring.”
Eva smiled. “I have heard it talked about. It’s just the paranoia of our times. Back in the twentieth century, people thought that they should be looking in the phone system for an evolving intelligence plotting as it listened to their conversations.”
“Did they?” Alison said, looking impressed. “I never knew that. Well, this isn’t paranoia. It’s true. Katie thinks so, and we think she’s right. Katie is always right. It’s different when you’re here in the Center, a little bit removed from the rest of the world. You get to look at things from a distance. There’s something out there watching us. And we’re not sure why.”
“It’s trying to make us do something,” Nicolas said.
The looks on the faces of the others convinced Eva that they believed what they were saying. Eva chose her words with care.
“It’s trying to make you do what?”
Alison glanced at Katie, who shook her head. Alison spoke in low tones.
“We don’t know. We think it’s trying to bring us to itself.”
Eva picked a leaf from the nearby hawthorn tree. She rolled it between her fingers, staining them green with fresh-smelling juice.