Artificially Intelligent

Chapter 2

        I'm standing in a dazed panic. How does he know my name? How do I know his name? Why is this happening? What's happening? Is this another dream?

        Realization comes to hit me right between the eyes and crush my skull. I know why I know him. He was the one from those weird nightmares. How? How did he get inside my head? What does he want?

        Mr. Tape breaks the silence and scatters my thoughts, "Come with us, Arsenic." Who am I to refuse? I follow Mr. Tape and Stanly Umbra up the stairs, muttering a silent apology to Bindy as we leave her in the hollow cube, more commonly referred to as the basement.

        We arrive at Mr. Tape's office and keep going. We pass the administration office. We pass the stairs, the abandoned science lab E950, and wind up outside. We keep walking. Where are we going?

        Stanly stops us when we get to an old shed. It looks as though it's been here a while, but I've never seen it. He tells Mr. Tape to go home, so I check the time. It's already 5:43! Gosh, my dad must be worried. I decide to call him.

        "Hi dad."

        "Hey!"

        "I'm going to be going home with Bindy tonight." Why did I lie? I don't have any reason. Do I?

        "Okay, see ya later!"

        "Bye," I hang up.

        Stanly and I walk into the shed. It's surprisingly clean inside. Dare I say, it's almost like an office? We sit at a table, and I answer his questions. "Is he interviewing me for a scholarship or something?" I wonder. Finally, he says, "So, how does tungsten and tupazium biparedite react to, say, a neurogenic general anesthetic?"

        I stare at him and then reluctantly tell him, "That's an oddly specific question, but they don't react to them, no...Why?"

        "No reason," he says and turns to what looks like an oversized oxygen tank. He puts on a gas mask and turns a nob.

        As the gas infiltrates the room and intrudes into my lungs, I feel my muscles relax. My eyes feel glossy and close half way. I feel light headed and pass out.

        Before I'm completely unconscious, I hear around five new voices talking. Then, everything fades to black.