Peter pulled up to a large building with big glass windows. He got out of the car and helped me out of the passenger side. "This is our first stop." He said as he escorted me to the glass doors that swished open automatically as we got there. The front room was big with nothing but a large desk in it with one person sitting at it staring at a screen.
"Oh Peter we weren't expecting you today." The woman had a pleasant voice and smiled when she looked up at Peter.
"I have a short meeting downstairs today Alice." Peter replied with an even bigger smile.
Alice glanced over at me then looked back at Peter. "Oh I see...well there is the access card." Alice placed a plastic card on the desk.
Peter took the card and smiled in thanks.
"I thought we were going shopping." I said quietly.
"Oh we are going shopping." Peter assured me as we walked to the large gold doors of the elevator. Peter scanned the card and the elevator doors opened. He scanned it again and the doors shut and there was a feeling of going down. After a few minutes the elevator stopped with a shutter and a jerk so that I had to grab on to the wall to keep from falling over, then the doors opened again. This time into a dimly lit hallway. I took the sunglasses off so that I could see better. This looked nothing like the buildings we had passed to get here. I started feeling scared and backed up into the corner of the elevator, not wanting to go any farther. This reminded me of when they took me away. I didn't want to get locked away again.
I whimpered in fear as Peter walked over to me and took my hand. "Don't worry Nine, we won't be here for long and then we can go shopping for anything you want." Peter said gently as he pulled me out of the elevator and the doors closed behind us. I was trapped now...there was no way to escape. My heart was pounding in my chest and I started shaking.
Peter urged me to follow him down the hallway to a set of double doors at the end. He opened the doors to the darker interior of the room and when he did I could hear a strange tap-tap-tapping sound. It wasn't until I stepped into the room and let my eyes adjust to the dark that I realized it was the sound of people typing on computers. It was a large room with a table and chairs on one side and a giant computer lab that would make any tech geek squeal in delight. These computers were different than anything I remembered seeing before. There were no large monitors and towers...only small keyboards and what looked like projections on a very thin screen.
A man with short dark hair and glasses noticed us and came over with a smile. "This must be Nine." He said in a cultured voice, as he got closer to us. "It's nice to finally meet you my dear."
I must have looked very confused because Peter started to explain how this person knew who I was.
"We are trying to find out everything that happened in that room where we found you. We think you can help us uncover some of those details." Peter started to ramble as the floodgate between his brain and his mouth spilled over the edge. He was very nervous and I couldn't understand why. It wasn't until they brought me over to a monitor and started showing me the pictures that I found that I understood what they were asking me to do. They wanted me to remember everything that happened to me. I was not ready to go back to that horrible place and I had a strong desire to bolt for the door. That's why Peter wanted to explain things before they showed me. "I don't understand what you are planning to gain from this...but I know I don't want to remember anything that happened there..." I started backing away from the monitor.
"Please help us Nine..." Peter begged me as he saw me shuffling closer to the exit. "Why should I?!" There were tears slowly trickling down my face. All I wanted to do was go back to Cate...back to my room...to a place where I felt safe.
"If we tell you why we need your help will you stay?"
"Tell me first then I'll decide if I stay...but you have to stay away from me." I whispered. They led me to the table that was tucked into the corner of the room and asked me to sit. I went around and sat so that my back was to the wall and I could see everyone in the room. Peter sighed and sat down beside me, making sure that he did not touch me as he did. The man with the glasses whom I learned was named Riley, sat across from us. He steepled his fingers and rested his elbows on the table as he thought of how much he was going to tell me.