Imaginary - Book 2 - Chapter 39 - Procedures (Patreon)

“Don’t move! Identify yourself!” someone snapped as soon as I stepped through the door. I turned towards the reception desk to see the speaker, and immediately froze. There were a handful of security guards crouched behind the reception desk at the end of the hall, but instead of focusing on their faces my eyes naturally migrated to the weapons in their hands. 

The weapons which were currently pointed directly at me.

“I uhhh… I-I’m supposed to be here!” I stuttered, trying to fight the instinct to duck back into the stairway to hide. I was pretty sure that if I did, I’d probably end up getting myself shot. “My name’s Tamera Monroe; I was escorted here with my friend by the special response team.”

“Alright. In that case walk forward, slowly, keeping your hands where we can see them. You’ll need to scan your tracker on the access panel half way down the hall so we can see the security alert,” the man ordered. 

I took a couple hesitant steps forward, my eyes never leaving the rifles pointed my direction, before Hawkins stepped into the hallway behind me. “That’s not necessary; You should be able to confirm my identity from that last access request,” she declared. “Lower your weapons, what are you thinking pointing automatic weapons at a student?”

“We were told, in no uncertain terms, that we had to confirm the identity of everyone that tries to enter this area. Since the fugitive is capable of creating realistic illusions he might attempt to sneak in disguised as someone else,” the guard replied.

“He may be able to hide his identity, or create a simulacrum, but he wouldn’t be able to steal my credentials,” Hawkins declared, raising a hand and rolling down her sleeve, revealing what appeared to be a variation of the tracker that I was wearing. “My credentials would have been disabled if I died, for safety reasons. Now, what do the logs say?”

One of the security guards lowered their weapon, then spent a few seconds doing something on the computer next to them, before turning back to the rest of the security team and nodding. When he did, they all lowered their weapons.

“Sorry ma’am, I know one of your teammates just came through here a minute ago, but we have to follow procedure,” the security team leader announced.

“It’s fine, I understand, but I think you scared the shit out of the girl,” Hawkins replied. 

“In that case, I apologize, Ms Monroe,” the security team leader declared. “We didn’t mean any disrespect.”

I blinked in surprise. I never expected him to apologize after the welcome I’d received, but then again, I guess they were just doing their jobs.

“Uhhh… am I allowed to enter the clinic?” I asked. 

“Of course, once you scan your tracker, so we can confirm your identity,” he replied. “While I trust Ms Hawkins, we still need to follow procedure.”

I slowly approached one of the doors spaced along the hallway and passed my tracker across the access panel. When it beeped the guard at the computer typed something in, then turned to the team leader and nodded.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” the team leader declared. “Jones here will escort you to the waiting room within the clinic proper; Since both the doctor and her assistant are currently occupied trying to stabilize a patient, I’d like to ask you to avoid moving around so you don’t disturb them.”

“You’re not going to assign someone to sit and watch me while I’m in there?” I asked, slightly confused. 

He shook his head. “This is the only way into the clinic proper, and my team has been assigned to prevent unauthorized access. The medical staff will join you once they finish with the patient,” he replied. “Did you need someone to stay with you?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be watching over you until the field agents come with the rest of your friends. Once they do, I’ll head back to my team,” Hawkins said.

“Oh joy, I get to sit alone with the person that one day may practice murdering me,” I muttered under my breath.

“What was that?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Nothing, I was just talking to myself,” I said, before trudging towards the door to the clinic. “Oh, and don’t worry about sending someone to escort me to the lounge. I’ve been to the clinic often enough to be intimately familiar with the layout; I know the way.”

The guard leader nodded, and tapped one of the other guards crouching at the desk on the back, and a second later the clinic door buzzed and clicked open. I snatched the handle and pulled it open before the lock reengaged, before nodding at the security team. “Thanks.”

“Just doing our jobs,” the team leader declared. “Have a good day.”

I gave him a pained smile before stepping through the door. I knew he probably had no clue what had happened to Kira and I, and he was just being polite, but it still felt a little insulting after everything I’d gone through over the last hour. 

As soon as Hawkins grabbed the door I rushed down the short hallway, pushed into the small waiting room, and promptly collapsed face down on the couch. 

I’d managed to keep it together until this point, mostly because I hadn’t had enough time to actually process everything that had happened, but now that I’d finally arrived in a safe place my everything hit me at once.

I couldn’t decide if I wanted to scream, cry, or pass out. 

After a moment of processing I finally rolled onto my side, clutched a pillow to my chest, and started sobbing. 

“Hey kid, you okay?” Hawkins asked, from the doorway.

“No! Some lunatic tried to kill me and maimed one of my friends! If Tyberius had shown up even a moment later, I’d be dead right now!” I exclaimed. 

“Yeah, but you're not, so be thankful,” Hawkins replied. “Things could be worse.”

I lifted my head and stared at the woman through my watery eyes. “I’m guessing you don’t have to console civilians that often,” I said, barely holding back a sob.

“I’m usually too busy dealing with the cause of the problem, it’s the field agents that deal with the civilians,” Hawkins replied. “Don’t get me wrong, I sympathize, but I’m not great at dealing with the victims and aftermath of these situations.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell,” I muttered, letting my head collapse back on the couch. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but your technique sucks, and you should probably take some training before you try to console someone again.”

“My technique might suck, but you have to admit that I did manage to distract you from your troubles, even for a moment,” she said.

I shook my head, but didn’t even bother to look at her this time. “You know, the more I talk to you, the less I like you,” I muttered.

“Like I told you before, I get that a lot,” she replied. 

I didn’t have a clue if she was being serious or not, but her attitude was really starting to get to me, which only resulted in me having to deal with irritation and anger in addition to everything else. 

“Look, I appreciate that you escorted me all this way, but despite what it might have seemed when I was talking to the security team earlier, I don’t need someone to babysit me,” I said sitting up, and shooting her a dirty look. “Especially if you’re going to stand there and give me completely unreasonable advice while I’m trying to process everything that happened. I’d like to have a chance to get it all out, so I’m a little more composed when the rest of my friends arrive.”

“If that’s what you want, then don’t let me stop you,” she replied. 

I stared at her for a minute, hoping she’d get the message and step outside, or leave entirely, but she just stood there, casually leaning against the wall. After everything I’d been through today I just didn’t want to spend any more energy on the woman, so I just shook my head and laid back down on the couch.

“That’s clenched it,” I muttered into the pillow. “I hate you.”