Hello World

Chapter 20 2215

"Do you know why you are in here?" Asked the guard who had entered the room, closing the door behind him. He wore a dark blue shirt, which was only a shade lighter than his pants. There was a badge pinned to his front pocket, and a gun in a holster strapped on by a black leather belt circleing his waste. I eyed it wearily.

"Because Sergeant Kalt sent me." I replied.

"Why do you think Sergeant Kalt sent you? He seems like a fair man. You must have really upset him for him to send you here."

"Because I failed my Lessons." I replied cautiously.

And what have you learned from your stay.

"That if I fail my lessons, I fail my country. And I must never fail my country," I replied, gritting my teeth. I hoped that he did not notice the resentment in my voice.

"Do you love your country?"

"Absolutely", I replied. I was shaking, I realized. Shaking not with fear, but with anger.

"You better." He said. "Officer Todd here will escort you out and you may return Home. Now I do not want to see you here again. You aint helping your country by sitting in here all day." He handed me a bottle. "Dr. Tompkins has suggested you take these." He grinned horribly as he handed me a bottled. I placed it into the pocket of my genes, vowing not to take it. "Choose not to take that, and You will damn sure regret it. But it doesn't matter to me one way or another. Now get out of my sight." He then walked.

"Follow me," said officer Todd. His voice was monotonous and he had a look of pure boredom on his face. His eyes as they followed the other officer down the hallway until he had turned a corner and disappeared. He then pulled out a pack of cigarets from his breast pocket and lit one. "I would offer one to you, but cigarets are bad. My grandfather died from lung cancer," he mumbled. "Wouldn't want you wrecking your lungs before you even made it to the border, now would we?" He seemed oblivious to the acrid smoke that was filling the hall. I couldn't help but cough as I followed him in the opposite direction of the other officer. "Got a cold kid?" he asked. He didn't seem interested in a response and I didn't give him one.

As I followed him silently down the hall, I looked around. The walls were bare, save for a couple signs and notices. I read them as I passed. All employees must wash their hand before returning to work or when switching tasks, was printed in bold lettering on a fluorescent green paper about a foot away from a hand sanitizer dispenser. Inappropriate working relations is a highly punishable offence was printed across the top of a white poster featuring a black and white picture of a face behind bars. Directly across from this was what appeared to be a short comic that appeared to have been written by hand. Its title was "Beat them before the beat you" It featured four little squares with a cartoon drawing in each one. In the first there was a small stick person sitting in a classroom and the big stick person standing at the front with an angry expression on his face. On the next the small stick person was standing, holding a chair over his head while the big stick person. The third was of the same classroom, only the large stick person had been replaced by a screen. There were several little stick people sitting at desks with huge grins on their face. The fourth was of a stick person behind bars. He appeared to be trying to shake them open as he looked outside with a malicious grin on his face towards a cross that had been planted in the ground. Beneath this, someone else had written, "Remember you pussies, prevention is the greatest cure" in blue ink. Officer Todd tore the comic off of the wall when he noticed I was staring at it. "Just the boys trying to have a little fun around here," he grunted.

He turned down another hallway and I followed him. This time, there were multiple doors on either side. Most of them were shut, but I could see vague outlines through the opaque windows. "Good morning Laura!" Officer Todd said to a young woman who was just leaving one of the little rooms. He whistled sharply, and I could see his eyes scanning over her. She smiled shyly, finished locking what I assumed to be her office, and started hurrying away. She was wearing bright blue scrub bottoms and a pink smock covered with cats. "Hey Laura, wait up!" he said. He hurried after her, seemingly oblivious to me. I I saw a large red sign that said "No Running" from the corner of my eye as I sprinted to keep up.