Who's Watching?

[troubled sleep]

Alright , here goes one of my many odd attempts to write something other than humor! Constructive critisism is more than welcome, as are all other comments, even if it's only to tell me that this is the worst story you have ever had the displeasure of reading, and that you would be forever indebted if I would leave the site on the first avaliable plane out.

 

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Have you ever wondered whose watching? No, I don’t mean extraterrestrials or the ninth grade coordinator who seems to be standing behind you every time you turn around. What I do mean are video cameras. Globed in tinted black, they follow our every move in movie theaters, shopping malls, schools, and the local 7-11. Everyone who cares to look up knows about them, and many have formed their own explinations at why they think they’re there...but no one ever seems to ask themselves what exactly is behind the plastic and wires.

So...who is it? Who or what watches our lives play out each day, as though they were watching a tv sitcom? Is it just a cold unfeeling computer just going about its business processing data to be locked away with all the rest of the hours and hours of video no one will watch? Or is it something, or rather someone, more? Someone trapped in a world of their own creating, watching always watching in the one place where scenes of drama and annoyance are played out each day and become the memories that last with us a lifetime. Somewhere like...high school.

 

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The Original IsoLab charter was simple enough: To study the behaviors of average high school students in an average high school, in an average American city. A worthy goal it seems, as the teenage brain is something that is so often misunderstood. It had been a thing brewing in the minds of scientists for years...yet while studies were conducted in that time, the subjects always knew they were being watched, and so that tended to skew the results. And so you have the more difficult goal of the IsoLab project: To study these subjects without their knowing. The answer was, of course, to surveillance cameras hidden in the walls and ceilings, leaving just a few exposed to insure the general goodwill of the public. This continued wonderfully, and many very revealing studies were made and published in some of the lesser known journals. All was going according to plan. But the problem is, that those people who were originally watching, had not anticipated someone to wonder who was watching, and later lead the oddest bunch of people up and after them. So it came as a total shock when those scientists working on the project found their jobs hostilely taken over by a group of Orchestra students. Negotiations commenced at once, and the students, led by the then senior Christina Albertson, complied to be isolated from the rest of the world in the IsoLab. Of course, they didn’t want to comply with anything else or, being teenagers, make it look like they had ever complied in the first place. So they locked themselves in ahead of schedule, breaking contact with everyone and therefore taking over the school in a backwards sort of way

-An excerpt from “IsoLab-The fatal flaw” by the original Lab inhabitants.

*

Things were going well for Christina Albertson. Of course, she was still in the ‘IsoLab’, as she had been for the past several years, but it wasn’t really all that bad, after all Mike was still here. Though, she grudgingly admitted that Mike had been spending an awful lot of time with Lisa lately. But that wasn't the point; the point was that everyone seemed basically happy, to her at least. Sure, they could be just putting on a happy face in her presence, but that didn’t bother her. In fact, it flattered her. It only proved that she was a worthy leader of the group, self appointed or no, and while she didn’t do too much as far as the behavioral studies went, she never had been too good at that anyway. She was thinking these very thoughts as she brushed her hair, as long and golden as ever, when Lisa Kynes entered the room with a small knock.

 

‘Yes Lisa?’ she said without turning away from her mirror.

 

Lisa took this as permission to enter the room, and so stepped in and walked over to where Christina was sitting.

 

’How are things down stairs?’ Christina said, not waiting for an answer to her first question. By this time she had successfully bound her hair up in its customary knot and was turned in her chair to face Lisa.

 

‘Fine, as always. The originals should be fairly happy with the things we’re getting.’

 

The originals. The name given to those scientists who had once occupied these very rooms...until of course they(headed by Christina ,of course) had taken over.

 

‘Thats nice, I suppose. Though I’m guessing that is not what you came to talk about.’ was Christina’s reply. Lisa shrugged at the truthfulness of this statement and said in her ever faltering, even after all these years, straight Kansas accent:

 

‘Its Mary. I’m worried, she’s more...well, moodier than usual. Won’t even talk to me and just spends all her time staring into the view screens watching what’s going on below.’

‘Yes?’

 

‘And frankly, I think she wants to go back.’ Lisa said this with utmost care, revealing to Christina at once that this statement had been planned and picked over by the other all the long walk down the corridor.

 

“Yes, I had noticed this as well...” Christina said, beginning with a flat out lie, “Though I hadn’t heard anything of her wanting to go back down.” Her last statement had been truthful, but that wasn’t the point. The point was now what Lisa could tell her on the matter.

 

“Well, I think she does very much...its obvious. and I think that’s why she hasn’t shown up to any of the scheduled practices...or any of the masses on Sundays.” A great note of concern was evident in Lisa’s mention of the Sunday church services they managed to wire up to one of the monitors in the viewing room every Sunday, a thing that was very important in Lisa‘s view of life, her being a devout catholic and all.

 

“Really? How strange...like I said, I hadn’t know of this until now, and I thank you for bringing it to my attention, and I know that I shall have to look into it before the day is out.” Christina said in her trademark ‘responsible leader’ voice.

 

“Yes, I would like it very much if you would talk to her.” said a very relieved Lisa.

 

“Alright than I shall do that.”

 

“Thank you,” Lisa said her smile broadening. It was then she happened to glance at her watch, “Oh! I’ve got to go! I promised I'd help Stevan...he is trying to fix one of the cameras...Bye then!” and with that, she was gone.

 

As soon as Lisa’s footfalls could no longer heard in the nearby hall, Christina turned back to her mirror. She truthfully hadn’t know that Mary was having these...issues. But then, when was Mary not having issues? In a way this whole IsoLab thing and figuring out what was watching them through the surveillance cameras had been her idea. But of course she hadn’t been willing to take responsibility for it, and that was where she had had to come in and bear the burden of the leader. She frowned at the remembrance of the day she had self appointed herself to her current position. A strange memory, and with one memory came another, and she suddenly recalled Mary saying something about how every group had to have its nonconformist, and that word described Mary exactly. But then...maybe she would go and talk to the girl...after all, it had been some time since she had gone down to the viewing room.

 

 

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[troubled sleep]

And now for what one may or may not refer to as Chapter Two.

 

 

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Mary always told people, myself included, that she absolutely hated Christina for her blatant perfection and just overall snobiness. This could easily believed, especially because it well known(or rather became known eventually) that Christina had never liked her either and both shared the mutual belief that they were on opposite ends of the spectrum. But in the years that have followed, I’ve thought about both of their testimonies...and I can’t help but wonder if maybe its not so much that they hated each other because they were different, but because they were slightly similar and that thought terrified them. Granted, they had their obvious differences...but all the same, perhaps they simply created those differences simply because neither wanted to concede.

-From An Observantee’s Observations and Speculations on the IsoLab project by Caitlin Carmichael.

 

*

 

The viewing room was her sanctuary. Plain and simple. It was a sad thing, she knew, but as she glanced about at the half finished books and writing notebooks strewn about the room Mary Robins knew that this was as close to a home as she had these days. Her gaze flickered down for a moment at a monitor; school would be starting up soon, in fact the first bell would sound any minute. When the bell rang, it meant not only that the students below would be called into their classrooms, it meant that she would have to begin taking notes, begin watching their every move. But there was one person in particular she was looking for today...one person who might be able to...

 

“Mary, are you there?” a small voice said, appearing to come out of the pile of books stacked in front of her. She frowned for a moment and scanned the pile before reaching in and pulling out a small two way radio.

 

“I’m here, sorry, I was zoning out for a minute.”

 

“As usual,” the voice replied

 

“Very funny Lisa. Now tell me what you guys have done.”

 

“We’re replacing the front lens right now, it was cracked in more than one place, so I’m guessing that caused the fuzziness.” a new voice with a slight Puerto Rican accent added.

 

“Great, Stephan. Now hurry up, the bells about to ring and I still haven’t got any semblance of a picture.” Mary replied as she brought up the view from camera 45I, the one currently being fixed. The cameras were never turned off, so even now she could see a silhouette of two figures bent over the camera.

 

“Ok, we’re putting it back now.” came the voice of Lisa after a few moments of crackling silence. Soon the silhouettes blinked out and were replaced by a few of an out of focus hallway.

 

“Ok, give me manual, I’ll fix it.” Mary said over the radio as she lifted a panel to pull out what appeared to be a small joy sick which apparently controlled the focus of this camera..

 

“You know...I went to see Christina today....” Lisa said cautiously over the radio.

 

“Really; and what does out oh-so-respected ‘leader’ have to say?” Mary replied as she twisted the joy stick this was and that.

 

“Mary, don’t be mean. She’s not that bad, you just never give her a chance.”

 

“Oh shut up Lisa, you’re starting to sound like Mike.”

 

Silence crackling over the radio frequency greeted her comment, though she was sure she heard Stephan laughing in the background.

 

“So...I told her about how you get...depressed. And she agreed with me that it is a problem...and she said she was going to come and talk to you. I think that we can all help you if-” Lisa said after a while.

 

“What?!?” Mary cried, dropping the radio and immediately switching the camera to outside view. Sure enough, there stood Christina, poised to open the door any second.

 

“Spare me,” she said hastily picking the radio back up, “The oh-so-respected one is here. And thank you I don’t wish to become another mindless member of Christina’s following.”

 

“I am not a mindles-”

 

“Mary out.” She with a tone of finality before killing her end of the frequency and tossed the radio back into its customary spot amongst the mess.

 

It was then a beeping came from the door.

 

“Come.” she said, causing the door to swing open and Christina to walk confidently in, stopping only to quirk an eyebrow at the messy state of the room.

 

“Mary.”

 

“Christina.”

 

It was an odd greeting, since it neither person’s tone held any emotion whatsoever, but it was they’re customary one. It had been ever since Christina had appointed herself the ‘leader’ of their little group, despite the fact that Mary had openly denounced the whole idea.

 

“Maggie? Would you mind leaving the room for a moment? I need to talk to Mary.” Christina said to a limp figure sitting in a chair just a few feet away. Maggie didn’t respond, much to Christina’s annoyance, so she repeated her words. Still no response. It was then she turned back to face Mary who was suppressing a laugh.

 

“She brought her headphones in again. She can’t hear you. See?” Mary said pointing to the tell-tale strip of plastic running across the top of Maggie’s head to either ear. She then ripped a small piece of paper out of a spiral notebook next to her and scribbled a note that read as follows: Maggie-Christina’s being annoying, wants you to leave for a minute. Go change your CD or something.-Mary

 

She then slid the note over to the other, who read it quickly and wrenched her head phone’s off and greatly upsetting her short brown hair, the Mariah Carey song still blaring.

 

“You could have said something!” She said pushing the chair back and starting to walk towards the door. Mary shrugged at her comment and affixed her gaze on Christina.

 

“You wanted to talk to me?” She said, her voice unnaturally cold.

 

“Yes, I heard an odd rumor today.”

 

“Really? I congratulate you on learning how to extract information so well. It was Lisa this time, was it not?” Mary replied flatly.

 

“Yes, and she came to see me herself. She’s worried about you.”

 

“That's understandable, she usually is. But you’re not” Silence greeted Mary’s reply, and it lingered in the room for some moments.

 

“You know, if you’d just stop fighting this would all be a whole lot easier.”

 

“If I just stopped fighting? I’d probably end up committing suicide or some such nonsense. Besides, what’s to fight?”

 

Christina stared coldly down at Mary, but her glare was greeted by a gaze which seemed very amused, as though the whole conversation was terribly funny.

 

“I heard you’re trying to get out.” This frank reply form Christina made her jump with surprise, and ‘Oh my god...has she found out?’ went racing across Mary’s mind. But it was quickly followed by :‘No...her expression is too questioning...besides she would have gone ahead and killed me already if she knew.’ so she began to relax enough to reply.

 

“And if I do indeed want to leave?”

 

“So you do!”

 

“I never said that exactly now did I. Now answer my question.”

 

“You can’t leave, you know that as well as I do.”

 

“Kayla got out.”

 

 

Now it was Christina’s turn to be caught off guard. In the second year of their occupation of the IsoLab, Kayla, formerly a freshman, had mysteriously disappeared, leading everyone still in the lab, and those who happened to know about the facility in the first place, to believe that she had found a way out of the isolation. But there was no solid proof of this, and Christina was a woman of facts.

 

“There’s no proof. For all we know she just...hung herself in a closet or something!”

 

“And you accuse me of being morbid.” Mary replied with a mirthless laugh.

 

“You know what I mean!”

 

“Yes, I do, actually. And for the record, I am not suicidal, I was slightly off to begin with, being crazy has never been a crime, and besides I’ve found insanity to be a wonderful companion.” Mary retorted quickly.

 

“Why are you always like this!” an exasperated Christina replied.

 

“What now?” Mary’s face once again held an expression of supreme amusement.

 

“Trust me, ‘you would cry too if it happened to you’.”

 

“Now thats just a stupid quote.”

 

“Maybe, maybe not.”

 

“Because it has happened to me. We’re all in this together, have been since the beginning.”

 

“So you think. And that is your fatal flaw. Leave me, I have things to do before the bell rings.” Mary said, turning back to the monitor in front of her.

 

“Not until I get a straight answer.”

 

“You’ll be here forever then.”

 

“You’re always contradicting me!”

 

“Deepest apologies. But what else am I supposed to do with my spare time?”

 

“Heres an idea! Come to practices for once, we need a cellist!”

 

 

“You know I gave that up.”

 

“I don’t care, I don’t want you just lying about all the time,” Christina said, her voice returning to its state of the ‘oh-so-respected leader’, “So, you’re going to help everyone out.”

 

“I am now?”

 

“Yes, I’ll have a full schedule printed up tomorrow. Enjoy your last day of freedom.”

 

and with that, Christina Albertson exited the room leaving Mary to shake her head and return to the monitor in front of her.

 

“Wha’d I miss?” Maggie said as she walked back into the room to take her customary place in a chair.

 

“Sure.” Maggie replied, tucking her headphones back behind her ears and allowing Mariah Carey to drown out the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She did indeed take a walk, but not until after she had pulled a few wires here and there to place some cameras in neutral and pilfering a small view screen from the viewing room. As she left, her gaze swept over the room with an odd kind of finality, as though saying goodbye before she turned into the hallway.

 

All along the walls there were murals, one hall painted by everyone in the IsoLab. This particular one was Hiroko’s, and was rather surrealistic and supposed to be relaxing, but Mary found it only that more stressful. This hallways were wide and open, and Hiroko often went about touching up her hall’s murals, and above all, Mary could not been seen.

 

She made it to her room undetected, and quickly shut and locked the door. But it wasn’t until she had over-ridden the cameras in and around the main living area of her rooms that she began to pack up a grey messenger style bag laying across a small chair with the stolen viewer and a brand new laptop given to her by the others for her birthday with a bit of their combined bribe money. After adding a few other things she set the bag down on the floor, and lifted a carpet to reveal a slightly loose floorboard. And since they were above the main school, if all went according to plan she would be able to drop down from the ceiling in some discrete corner of the school. Unless, of course, she was found out.

 

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((((More is hopefully on the way...))

[autumn_sun]

YAY!! you posted it!! =D Go Sam-san! [is that right?]