10. The Septar

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Gaius

I accidentally kicked a few small pebbles out of my path as I made my way down the long, rocky road that led to the institution. If we were to escape, it would not be through the front. I looked back over my shoulder and saw the machines attached to the gate. The humans would have the gates closed before we could even make it halfway down the stretched driveway.

There were bushes on either side of the path, making me feel confined and uncomfortable. I sighed and increased my speed.

I did not like leaving Tane with that boy. He was not the best choice for aid in our purpose. He held no brawn, no special physical attributes, no intelligence level above any average human his age. He had only a good heart to accompany his normality.

Knowing Tane, that was what she'd been first drawn to.

Tane. She was lost without me. She was wounded more than just physically. I saw into her when I'd first arrived in Charlie's fenced area. She had missed me a substantial amount and I her. I could not stop my smile then, though the circumstances presently required a different expression.

I smoothed my face into a more solemn and attentive countenance as I moved into the asylum. There were so many sounds and noises, not just the ones that the worker humans could hear. I could hear the voices the insane heard. I could hear the noises they believed to be real because they were real in their heads. I shook my head; it was very loud.

Almost immediately, I came to a large white desk with a large white woman sitting behind it. Well, she herself was not white but the dress and the hat she wore were. I could not see color but her skin fell into the white side of it—although her skin was more tinted than her attire.

"Good day, ma'am," I greeted, keeping my voice pleasant and soft. I heard her appraise me in her mind; my dark hair, my light eyes. Were my eyes green? It had been years since I'd seen my face. I did not remember if I had liked green when I was a citizen of Earth. The woman seemed to favor them. I heard this as she smiled at me, tapping her pencil, eraser-side, on the desk in front of her. Her eyes were dark and happy, but tired.

"Well, hi there, sugar." She stuck the pencil into her hair, just above her ear and just below her hat. "What can I do for you?"

I couldn't say anything just yet. I did not know how much she knew, though the technology in front of her held much information. I'd heard humans talk about these devices, and had a faint remembrance of one at home on Earth. A computer. It was thin and black and separated from a small board of English letters on tiny squares. Earth was odd and so much more complicated than Fismuth.

The woman had to go to the bathroom rather badly.

"I would like to know when your visitation hours are, ma'am." I had heard humans referring to women as ‘ma’am’ out of courtesy. I hoped I was not incorrect.

As I spoke, the woman reached into one of the drawers behind the desk and pulled out a thin strip of shining something. She peeled away the shiny material and revealed a much duller rectangle that she then inserted into her mouth and began to chew. I scrunched up my nose.

"Oh, you want some?" she asked, and my curiosity took over. I nodded. "Here ya go. It's nothing special, just original flavor."

She smiled at me as she leaned over the desk to hand me a piece. I copied her movements and peeled the outer layer away. But then what was I to do with it? The woman had not eaten it. I held it awkwardly, and stared at the duller material.

"Here," she prompted, holding her hand out for the more exciting outer layer. I handed it to her and smiled at the piece I was supposed to eat.

I got half-way to putting it to my mouth before she stopped me.

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