Free Awake by Egan Yip Page B

coolly, “Whatever.”
    They went inside. It was much warmer in
there, close to the comfort of normal room temperature. The first
area they saw was a large office full of cubicles arranged like a
rat maze. There were dead ends everywhere. The partitions nearly
ten feet high, it was impossible to see across the room. Finding
their way through would be a matter of trial and error.
    Kevin stopped to peer inside one of the
cubicles. No one was around. It didn’t look like an ordinary
cubicle, like the ones he had seen on TV. Three flat computer
screens were attached to the walls, providing the user with a
screen at every turn of his head. The screens were showing a
screensaver, which displayed cuddly baby pandas. The place looked
like a giant mess, charts and graphs scattered across the desk.
Stacks of reports towered over, almost about to topple.
    “I don’t think anyone’s here,” said Tom.
    “I think you’re right.”
    “We can still—” Tom abruptly tilted his
head.
    Kevin asked, “Something wrong?”
    “Did you hear that?”
    “Hear what?”
    “A sound…like a soft growl or howl or
something…”
    Kevin ran his eyes across the room in
silence. “Nothing.”
    “I could’ve sworn—”
    An eerie gurgle softly penetrated the walls
of the office. Though soft, it was long and pronounced, like a pot
of water boiling over. They only heard it for a fleeting
moment.
    Kevin smiled. “It’s probably Andrew…or his
stomach.”
    Tom said, “I bet he’s trying to scare
us.”
    Snooping around, they didn’t find much of
interest. The only thing that stuck out was the set of white double
doors at the end of the office area. These doors led to another
area of the facility, one that resembled a hospital ward. One side
was a solid white wall, but the other was a wall of thick glass, or
some other form of transparent material. The two teens gawked in
wonder. Behind the glass were several rows of beds with people
resting on them.
    Tom threw himself onto the glass, pressing
his face against it. “What the heck is this? A morgue? Holy
crap…it’s creepy.” He counted the beds. “There are fifty beds in
there!”
    Kevin stared at a bed. He noticed a subtle
movement from the person. “They’re not dead. Only asleep. A
policeman told me that the most important people were moved to
facilities where they could be looked after. Maybe this is one of
them.”
    While they stood in wonder, a loud scuffle
came their way. They turned their heads in unison. A small silver
sphere, the size of a basketball, was rolling towards them. Once it
drew near, it came to a halt.
    “Hello.” To their surprise, the sphere
produced a monotone vocalization.
    “Oh,” said Tom, seeming uninterested, “a
talking ball. Hello.”
    “I am not just a talking ball,” said the
sphere irritably. “I am the robotic assistant of Doctor H.E.
William. Please follow me. I will show you the way to his
office.”
    “Why? What’s in his office?” asked
Kevin.
    “Information about his research and his last
message for mankind.”
    Kevin frowned. “His last message? So
he’s…”
    The round robot moved back and forth to
demonstrate a nod. “Yes, he has fallen asleep.”
    “The last message….” Kevin sighed. “I wonder
if there’s anyone still awake out there.”
    The doctor’s office was at the end of the
corridor. It was an odd office to be sure. Kevin could pretty much
sum up the entire room in one word: books. Large bookshelves
covered the walls, absolutely overflowing with books, so much so
that heaps of books littered the floor.
    The books appeared to be used for much more
than just reading. Books were neatly put together in the center of
the room in the likeness of a table, and right next to it was a
stack of books that resembled a cushion for sitting. On one side,
the books were used in the construction of a simple couch, though
it looked rather unpleasant to use since all the books were
hardcover. Lastly, with a little imagination,