Jason Luthor - Floor 21

My attention is grabbed by the floating images above, which suddenly show an image of a man. He’s an older guy but pretty handsome, with these real strong jawbones and, I dunno, this aura that puts a shiver down your back. More than anything it’s his silver eyes that get to you. They shine out of his face, and you feel as if he really is looking at you. Then he fades out and the word “AUTHORITY” suddenly scrolls by. It fades into white and gets replaced by an image of those blue pills. A voice, the same that makes the morning announcements, suddenly fills the air.

“Don’t forget. When you’re feeling stressed or tense, Authority is here for you. Need to put your mind at ease from the grind of daily living? Don’t forget your Voluptas is always available from multiple locations throughout every wing. Voluptas. Just a daily will do you.”

Then the pill fades into white, and the commercials resume. Voluptas. So, they take it to deal with stress.

Stress? They’re living in paradise. What could stress you out here?

It’s a dang slap in the face that these people think they’re stressed. Yeah, I’m still pissed about it.

So as I’m crawling around on my stomach, I start to get a new scent. This one’s not like what I smelled around the pool. It’s really different, actually. It’s sweet, and fresh.

It just might be the best dang thing I’ve ever smelled in my life.

Yeah, so I’m excited. I start to push forward a little faster ’cause I want to see where this smell is coming from, and ahead of me I see a grate in the vents. A lot of light is coming in, so I slide up to the edges to get a look outside.

What the heck, man? Are you for freaking for real?

They’ve got a forest. Inside the Tower!

Well, forest might be a bit too strong of a way to put it, but they’ve got a lot of trees. I’m not talking, like, those pathetic things on the lower floors that look like they’re struggling just to stand up. These are tall, strong oaks with broad arms and thick chests. The color on their leaves, oh my God, I can’t even describe it. I’ve never seen green that’s so… that’s so… green! From where I am, I can see over most of the room—I’d guess you’d call it more of a park—and at the center is this water fountain with a bunch of benches around it. The roof is a lot like the pool room, with “glass” that looks onto blue skies. I think the roof might be one gigantic television or something.

There’s more than a few people sitting around the fountain, all adults. No kids, which is weird, you know? I’d figure they’d be the ones that’d want to be here most. Still, as I’m watching, something’s just a bit… off. All the people sitting around here look happy, just… a bit too happy. They’re laughing, but they’ve practically been laughing since I got here. It’s weird. Soon one of the men gets up off the bench and starts, like, prancing around the fountain. The best word I can use here is manic. They’re all laughing like idiots, but this guy’s something else. He’s jumping on the edge of the fountain, nearly screaming his laughs as he looks up at the roof. His feet slide along the moist stone edges he’s standing on, and he tips and rocks for a second, throwing his hands into the air as he teeters at the edge of falling in. He’s almost literally laughing his head off as he plunges into the water.

This fountain… it’s not deep.

Guy comes up, holding his head kinda funny, and I can’t see too close but I can tell he’s bleeding. Must’ve hit himself on the stone at some point. Everyone’s closing in around him, reaching out to him like they’re concerned, but they never stop laughing. Suddenly a bunch of footsteps are interrupting the trickling of the fountain. It’s the sound of heavy boots, and I can guess just by the sound who they are. The green and white environment is suddenly filled by black armored guys that move toward the bleeding man. The guy’s friends around him start throwing themselves at Security, lunging at them and trying to prevent them from taking away the wounded guy.

This bunch of Security, though. They’re different.

They’re huge.

So, Allison’s dad. Big, muscly guy. Same thing with Tommy, who’s most def a future Security member. The guys I’m seeing right now are something else. They’re all seven feet tall and wide as mountains. Also? You can’t see any of their faces. They all have, like, gas masks on. That usually only happens at nighttime on the lower floors, so this is weird. All they have to do is shrug, and they’re throwing these people off, tossing them into the grass like they’re throwing out dead leaves.

Then they wrap their giant hands around the bleeding dude and haul him out, practically yanking his arm from its socket when they do.

Nobody ever stops laughing.

When I start thinking about Stella, I get really uncomfortable. Just, I don’t know what was going on with her and George, but things didn’t seem right. At first he looked like he was going to hit her unless she took that Voluptas stuff, but I’m not sure whether you’d want to get slapped or take a pill that jacks with your brain. My stomach starts to knot up, and I start to shiver. It takes me a second to calm down, because I’d hate to live in a world where how I feel is supposed to be treated with just a pill. What’s the point of living if you’re supposed to forget how you feel?

I’m still shaking as I take the next turn, moving toward what sounds like fingers typing away at keyboards. I’m looking for anything that might be, I dunno, scientific, so I try to find my way to the sound. Slowly I come to a vent overlooking what seems to be a really sterile, white room. There are a bunch of computers on one side, and there’s a guy strapped to a chair in the middle. He’s got restraints over his wrists and around his ankles, and his mouth is covered with a black band. Guy looks like total crap. He’s sweating, like, almost as bad as I am.

There’s another guy at the door. Judging by the tactical vest and the rifle he’s holding, he’s Security. As if the gas mask and his giant stature didn’t give him away. Finally, there’s one last guy. He’s some thin, scrawny-looking dude, like he grew up tall but never put on any weight. Anyway, he’s got a lab coat on, so I’m guessing he’s in the Science department. Didn’t realize that Science got to come up to Floor 1. I’m not saying they don’t; I’m just saying how the hell am I supposed to know how this works?

Whatever. Point is, I’m watching this Science guy walking between the computers, then checking the man’s restraints. He starts to talk. “Begin recording. Doctor Rivera, Tower Date 515.14.21. I am currently receiving a patient into custody to begin Reinforcement. The patient is from Floor 7 and has been tried and found guilty of spreading rumors of Angels in violation of the Speech Code. Security apprehended the patient on Floor 14, presumably trying to evade detection. Trial was held yesterday and concluded within two hours. Recommended sentencing is Reinforcement. Recording pause.” This guy, Rivera, looks up at the Security dude. “What Reinforcement’s done without Creep, though, right?”

The Security officer grunts and laughs, the two of them chuckling as the doctor returns to the side of the “patient.” Whatever the hell that means. “Recording resume. The patient in question will receive an injection from Creep samples retrieved from Floor 15. This makes the sample of moderate strength. Anticipated reaction is that the patient will incur euphoric and moderately strong hallucinogenic reactions. Once the Creep has bonded with his brain, he will, of course, produce an elevated degree of endorphins and dopamine over the course of the next year. This will make him happier and more compliant though, as always, the chemical changes to his brain place him at risk of death. However, in cases where Creep strains of this variety have been used, death occurs in less than twenty percent of all patients.”