Tahiti (Boy x Boy)

Part Two

A couple of hours later and a few more evaluations complete, Dr. West had made quite a bit of headway with her progress. The boiling pot inside of her simmered down a tad bit, but heavy remnants of the steam were still prevalent. Luckily, a distraction came her way when a young woman approached her in the hallway.

"Dr. West?" she asked, hoping she was speaking to the right person.

"Oh, hello," the doctor pushed her hair back. "Yes, it is me. How can I help you?"

"I'm Corrinne," she extended her arm in a pleasant greeting. "We spoke over the phone last week. I'm here to assist the patients." As if her glowing smile wasn't enough, her youthful, shiny skin presented a radiant glow that illuminated the entire room in good feelings.

"Yes, yes, I remember now," the woman nodded her head. "I am very grateful that you're willing to help." She attempted to smile, but the effort must have been futile as Corrinne could see through her act.

"Are you okay, Doctor?" she asked, tilting her head. The girl was as empathetic as she was energetic; a rare breed considering the current state of the population. While most everyone was under extreme trauma, there were a few lucky individuals who were resilient enough to not be mentally destroyed. Corrinne was one of those lucky individuals.

"Yes. Everything is fine, honey," Dr. West falsely reassured, this time putting more effort into her demeanor and making it look like she was truly okay in order to avoid having to relive the confrontation she was involved with a little earlier. Whether or not it worked, the woman was unaware, because before the discussion could go any further, she invited Corinne to join her in the control room to explain the basics of being an assistant at the facility.

The control room was the most in-tact and most furnished room in the entire building. It had no light and was instead illuminated by a red lava lamp in the corner. The "lava" didn't move around that much since it was quite old, so it was essentially just a red lamp. On one wall was a table with a control panel, with switches to each alarm in the entire facility. Surveillance wasn't possible to install, so instead the staff had to rely on blinking lights next to the switch to alert them of an intrusion or an emergency.

Several filing cabinets were placed around the room, all stuffed with important documents. Research, patient logs, and legal documents. Notebooks, news articles, pictures, and medical equipment cluttered the rest of the room, but the space was optimal enough for the staff to function properly.

"Wow," was Corrinne's initial reaction as her head turned to a different angle of the room every few seconds. "You guys really have a history with this project."

"Indeed we do," Dr. West remarked while glazing her eyes over the control panel, making sure the alarms were still in order. "But, I know how to give you the short version of it."

Corrinne chuckled; the sounds of her laughter bounced off the wall. "I suppose I should know about the Tahiti experiment before helping out around here. I knew that this place was like a hospital, but what exactly are we testing with this experiment?"

The woman turned to the younger one. "The Tahiti experiment is a form of rehabilitation for survivors of the apocalypse. In the race to rebuild society, the government doesn't want the remaining population to be too devastated to ever move forward," Dr. West explained. She used nothing but the solid truth. "Unfortunately, so long as the majority of our world's population, or what's left of it, is traumatized from watching the world crumble before them, that will happen."

"Well, of course," Corrinne agreed. "Many people almost lost their lives, and those who didn't saw many others die. Mix that with the world being destroyed and you have a recipe for disaster."