S.M.A.R.T. (The Subject of Mind Altering Research and Testing)

Chapter Eight

Michael waited a while alone in his room taking in the lifeless setting. A desk, a lamp to go on it, a chair, and a twin sized bed was all he had. He supposed it was better than a damp mud-cave, but it was nothing to the feel of Jane's warmth, or the sound of Sheila's laughter. Michael sat at the desk and rolled the chair back. If he rolled too far it would hit into the bed. 

The room was much too small for a grown man to live in without going batty. There was barely walking space between the desk and the bed.

There were two closets, one to the right of his bed, and the other raised out of the wall beside the door, creating a tiny foyer at the entrance to the room where there was a single coat hanger on the wall.

He got up and searched the drawers of the bed first. Not to his surprise they were filled with clothes. The first drawer he opened had four plain white t-shirts and two maroon sweaters. He put on a sweater, as the room had an Alaskan chill to it. The size was a bit big for him, but that was better than too small, he decided. It, like the room, was dull and lifeless, though he had nobody to impress, he supposed. The second drawer was full of socks and undergarments, and the third had a few pairs of tan khakis and sweat pants. I'm going to be here a while, it seems.

He closed the drawers and walked over to the first closet. The shelves were lined mostly with blank journals, and stacks of paper, and there were pens and pencils on others. The rest of the shelves were empty. The second closet had a three long-sleeved t-shirts hung on wire hangers, and a two pairs of shoes at the bottom. Michael shut the closet and went to look out into the hallway.

The hallway was short, with four rooms along it. Michael walked down the striped hall until he came to the first door. It was unlocked as the General had said.

The first room was the library. It was much bigger than his own room. The walls were ugly maroon. The shelves were thin metal things, and were full of more books than they looked to be able to hold. The books were unsorted, scattered genres, though he noticed there were a lot of scientific and linguistic textbooks. He wondered if he was expected to read all of them. With the amount there were it would take him a very long time.

Michael suddenly realized that he was likely being watched and started looking around for cameras, but there weren't any, at least none that were visible. It made him nervous. They are probably hidden, and somebody is probably watching me right now. Or maybe they knew I'd find them and destroy them so they didn't bother. They can't really hurt me, after all. If they did they'd have to kill me. I'm their "subject". They can't damage me. They are trying to make this nice and comfortable so I don't do something that warrants them having to. The doctors were right.

Michael searched the whole library room. He was looking for a door, or some hidden passage, but he didn't find one. The room was locked down tight. It did not even have windows. He suspected none of the other rooms would either, and he was right.

He checked the exercise room, which had a shower and a sauna. He was amazed at the effort they had gone to making this feel less than it was - a prison. A different man under different circumstances might have actually enjoyed their stay. He wished somebody else was in his place, somebody who wanted to be there.

The third room was a pantry filled with snacks and canned food. More damned canned food. There was coffee and tea - lots of it, though he had no way to make it. There were filters, but no machine.  There were cases of water and, powdered drinks, bottled soda and boxed juice. There was even a fridge to chill them. It was filled with water too. Michael left the pantry room and checked the last door. Maybe the next room will be an espresso bar. What next? They are really trying to schmooze me over.