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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/RandomAppalachian468 on 2024-02-19 22:20:13.

[Part 15]

I sat at my writing desk and stared at the blank sheet of paper in front of me.

As part of my agreement with Mr. Koranti, I had to write a letter to the authorities at New Wilderness encouraging them to surrender, in exchange for safe passage out of the ‘red zone’ as the interior of Barron County was known. I’d been upgraded from my cubicle to a separate room on the fifth floor, a well-furnished place with big windows and furniture done all in modern pastels of white, gray, and beige. However, the windows were bulletproof, thick enough that I had no chance of breaking through them, and I knew for a fact that the ELSAR staff were watching me 24/7. I spotted tiny holes drilled in the otherwise brand-new walls in oddball places, found little microphones in a vase of fake flowers, and discovered a plastic chip on the back of my neck after my first shower, likely some sort of tracking device. Every day a ‘maid’ came through to clean, though I could tell from how she worked that it was more of a controlled search. Some requests I made were filled with great flair; I received all sorts of writing things, pens, pencils, paper, and even paint. But anything that I could have used to hurt myself or someone else was tightly controlled; my pencils couldn’t get too sharp or they’d take them, my shaving razor was given to me only during shower time, which was the same time every day at 0600, and was confiscated right after. They had cameras watching the bathroom too, but I didn’t care anymore. After all, I’d already promised my life away. What did it matter who saw me naked?

I turned my head to look out my window and sighed at the mid-day view of Black Oak.

Just to get out, smell the trees, walk on real dirt . . . will I ever do that again?

Looking back at my barren letter, I chewed my lower lip, and tried to think of what to say. ELSAR high command would read it before they sent it out, and I didn’t want to give them any more of an advantage than necessary, but I had to write something. While I grappled with some bland diplomatic slop to write down for Sean, my mind conjured up a barrage of things my fingers itched to scratch down.

Dear Chris. I know you kissed Jamie, Peter and I both saw you. I thought you liked me. Guess I should have dated the pirate, even if he smells like beer, he’s more honest than you.

I shut my eyes, and tried to breathe slow, but the thoughts kept coming, like an avalanche of pent-up fury.

Dear Jamie. You lying, two-faced whore. You kissed him You KISSED him, even though you knew he was mine! I hope you get eaten by a Birch Crawler just like your loser brother . . .

“Stop it.” Gritting my teeth, I hissed angrily at myself, and shook my head. “That’s too far. You need to calm down.”

I pushed off from the desk and walked to a compact acoustic booth in the corner of my room. Since they never let me go out (they said it was to keep me as healthy as possible, but I knew it was to keep me from trying to escape) ELSAR had given me a special treadmill in my room, so my muscles stayed in good condition. The device came equipped with a virtual reality headset, and variable-terrain rollers under the main belt to simulate sticks, rocks, and bumps in the earth. Each had some kind of porous cloth over it, allowing for the simulation of trees, bushes, and even buildings by touch, the material hardening or shaping via electrical current. Nothing compared to the serene beauty of a real forest, it was at least enough to keep my stress levels at bay, and so I stepped inside.

With the door shut, I slid the bulky plastic headset on and tightened the Velcro straps around my head. “Forest walk, one mile.”

A loading screen appeared before my eyes, with a flying bird logo and the words ‘Black Wing Software Inc.’ I had a feeling it was one of the many ‘faces’ Mr. Koranti reported his organization wore, a mid-tier technology company that developed games, computer programs, and other harmless things to keep the public eye off target. Now that I thought about it, I’d seen a few obscure games offered by this company before, to include an upcoming fantasy one that had looked promising.

Of course, the appeal wore off now that I had everything at my fingertips but freedom.

My dim surroundings lit up, and a bright green forest came into focus, with sunlight filtering through the oak leaves overhead, and birds chirping in the branches. A cool breeze caressed my face, and even though I knew that it was generated by small electric fans within the booth, it was still a nice touch. Of course, it didn’t smell like the real thing; even this level of technology could only accomplish so much. Soft, crumbly earth squished under my sock feet, but since it wasn’t real, I walked on through the mud without a care.

I had no particular direction that I intended to go. The forest map in this program lay the same each time, though it dropped you in different locations at every new start. Always I had the same routine; walk for a little while, find a ‘log’ and sit down. At that point, I usually cried, screamed, or swore at the top of my lungs, raging at everyone and anyone. ELSAR monitored the virtual reality servers, so I knew they were listening in, but so what? If they didn’t like it, they could just take my treadmill away.

Trudging through the woods, I did my best not to think about Chris or Jamie, but my heart panged deep in my chest at how close it all looked to the woods around New Wilderness.

I spotted a nice smooth chunk of granite, and settled myself down, leaning back against it so the yellow dapples of sunlight trickled my upturned face. Part of me wanted to launch into another shouting-fit, but I didn’t have the mental strength. Being angry made my head throb, and I always felt worse afterwards.

“I love you.” Lying on my back I whispered the words just loud enough so I could hear them above the rustling of leaves in the treetops, the shushing of the wind, and the songs of birds. Even if it was coming from me, just imagining the words in Chris’s voice was too intoxicating to pass up. We’d never said such things to each other yet, but I wanted to hear it now more than ever. I’d thought about trying to sneak it into my note, to tell him how I felt in some clever hidden code, but I knew ELSAR would use it as fuel against him if they found out.

Besides, I wasn’t sure if I should feel that way now, all things considered.

“Hannah?”

I jolted upright and gasped out a frightened yelp.

No one stood to my left, save for a little red cardinal perched on a stump.

“Hannah Brun?”

My eyes widened, and I stared at the bird.

Am I going crazy? Is this thing broken? Maybe I should take the headset off.

The bird ruffled its feathers in the way any other might have and cocked its scarlet head to look at me through one dark eye. “Look, we don’t have much time. I know you can hear me. Are you Hannah Brun, yes or no?”

A woman’s voice, one I didn’t recognize, flowed out of the bird’s beak like some kind of speaker, and I folded my arms over my chest with a nervous shrug. “Yeah. That’s me. Who are you?”

Everything went black, and soft dirt hardened into the standard floor of the VR booth beneath my feet.

I reached to unstrap the headset, and heard the door slam open, as rough hands grabbed me from behind.

They dragged me into the room, and the headset fell away to reveal several gray uniforms of guards, but with a green shield on their shoulders marked ‘Auxiliary Corps’.

“Tear the place apart.” A girl walked in through the open door of my room, her dark hair tied back in a practical military bun, both chestnut-brown eyes focused on me with a cold glint. “Fredricks, tap into her mainframe and get a fix on that third-party IP address. I want to know where it came from before tech support gets their greasy fingers on things. Benson, bring me every scrap of paper you can find.”

Confused, I blinked at the two guards who had my arms pinned, the others rifling through my room like they were on a hunt for something important. Curtains were ripped down, pillows sliced open, the rug torn up. My dresser had every drawer thrown to the ground, all my clothes pawed through. They all had closed-cropped hair, the boys shaved almost bald, the few girls with short ponytails or buns. Most looked no older than myself, but wore hard, dangerous glares or sneers, pistols on their belts, and gleaming new submachine guns on their shoulders. One female guard shoved her hands through my pockets and along my body with uncaring roughness, and the first girl who had spoken laced her hands behind her back in stern impatience.

“Who were you talking to?” She wore two black bars on the collar of her uniform, which I guessed to be the marks of an officer, and from the way the others waited on her command, that had to be the case. But something else about her sparked an image in my head, a flicker of memory, and my guts sank.

I knew her.

I’d shot one of her squad members in the southlands . . . and she’d been there to see it.

She isn’t going to kill me, is she? No way they’d let her do that. I agreed to their terms, I’ve done everything they asked, they’re supposed to protect me.

Swallowing a lump of fear, I remembered how she’d come mere feet from stabbing me at the coal barge and shook my head. “I-I don’t know...

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