Chapter 3

I began by letting Scruffy do some research. Of course, I couldn’t tell him the details about the nightmares or what had happened to me, so it took him a while to figure out that I wanted to know more about the Chrono-Dimensional Anomalies.

I sighed when I heard it. I had no clue what it even meant, but Scruffy ensured me that this was what I was looking for. Maybe he wasn’t so useless, after all, I thought as I watched him scanning the internet with the light in his eyes.

I even smiled at seeing him happy again. I guess it meant a lot to him to be able to help me. Even the old models had quantum chips that were supposed to imitate emotions, so maybe I had been too hard on him?, I thought, but stopped myself before any serious guilt about it arose in me. I really needed to stay calm and cool, and getting emotional in the Cage was the last thing you wanted to do.

Later that day, I went to see Ms. Avery, and as Scruffy had predicted, I got a whole package of Stoppers without any questions. She didn't look well, and I could see she was sad, but even so, an entire package? Even I was surprised, until I remembered that it was Rina that Ms Avery was concerned about. This realisation hit harder than I had expected, and I was absolutely not prepared for it. Tears filled my eyes, and I ran into the bathroom and lit a cigarette, hoping it would calm my emotions. I couldn’t afford to feel like this and risk attracting the Snatchers. Especially now when Rina was here, and I tried to find a way to help her…

That’s when it hit me. It was so obvious that I started to laugh. In those dreams, I had let my guard down, and with it, made a pact with her and began to care for someone for the first time. It explained everything I felt and why I was so concerned about someone else than myself.

I washed my face with cold water and took a deep breath. There was no point in blaming myself, but even so, I was still angry with what I had done. But then, how could I have known that she was real, and I would meet her one day? Now my life depended on her, and I knew I would not survive it if something happened to her, and I would be left heartbroken and alone. If that’s where I was going, there was no way the C.A.G.E. could protect me from the Snatchers.

I realised I needed a plan even more urgently than before, and I knew I didn't have much time to come up with one. All I knew was that no matter what, I had to stay calm and control my emotions, especially once the sun went down. I ran to my room.

“I found it, Monica” Scruffy said happily as he saw me. “There’s a lot of research about it, and I catalogued it according to your inquiry.”

He beeped with joy and then looked at me concerned.

“Did something happen?”, he asked.

I shook my head.

“I am fine!”

“Monica…” he said quietly, and his eyes dimmed, sending a pang of guilt through my chest.

I patted his head and tried to smile.

“You did a good job, Scruffy. I have another task for you.”

He was easy to distract, so he looked at me attentively as I explained what I wanted to know.

I don’t know how well Scruffy prepared me in the following two days, but at least I managed to control my fear well enough to still be alive in the morning. That’s when I saw Ms Avery leading Rina to the room at the end of the corridor.

Room 17.

I shivered. It had a bad reputation, and no one who had lived in the Cage for long enough wanted to stay there, even if it offered you a rare opportunity to be on your own without an annoying roommate. They thought the room was cursed and living there would bring bad luck on you. That’s because in most cases, when the Snatchers did get into the Cage, it happened in that room.

Some even speculated that there was a bug in the C.A.G.E. and that the Engine sometimes omitted the room from its protection, but I’d found out that the truth was much simpler. Ripper told me that the room was soundproof, and so they put all the newcomers there, them being the most susceptible to the Snatchers, to prevent an outbreak of panic when the Snatchers came for them. Brutal but effective, I had thought back then, but now when I saw Rina being placed there, I knew the staff didn’t give her much of a chance to survive the upcoming night. The realisation sent chills up my spine and I waited impatiently for her to come into the common area where I would have a chance to talk to her and start my plan.

Out of habit, I distracted myself from what I felt and almost didn’t notice her coming. I was listening fascinatedly to Scruffy as he explained to me what those Chrono-Dimensional Anomalies were. Only when he tried to explain to me the physics behind them did I get bored and I turned my head away from the display. That’s when I noticed her sitting alone in the corner, looking sad and lonely.

Of course, as a newcomer assigned to room 17, it meant everybody avoided her. Even the youngest of the kids here knew it was better not to get attached to someone who might be gone soon. I took a deep breath and walked up to her, trying to stay calm. It was already unusual that I would interact with a newcomer, and I didn’t want to bring any more attention to it.

She recognised me and smiled brightly when I sat down next to her, suddenly not so sure about my plan any longer. What if I made a fool of myself?, I thought. What if Scruffy had told me rubbish? How is a ComfortBear supposed to know how to take care of someone, anyway?

But I knew it was too late to pull back and if I wanted to survive the upcoming days I needed to trust his advice. So I tried to smile as I looked at her, and said,

“How are you?”

She looked at them, then turned and wrote on her tablet,

“I am happy to meet you again”

“Me too” I said quietly, finding a strange comfort in her presence. It almost felt like in our dream, but this time it was me who would help us survive. I took her hand in mine and whispered,

“This place is not fully safe, but don’t worry, I know how to keep us safe”

She looked at me surprised and wrote,

“Like in the dream?”

I nodded.

“So we will be friends here too?”, she wrote.

“Of course, Rina”, I said softly and put my arm around her, feeling happy that for the first time in my life I wasn’t alone, and I was safe from the Snatchers.