Imagination And A Monster Chapter Eight

The study is to monitor brain activity among meteor dreamers, so you don’t expect it to be too exciting. Leone tells you it’s probably not going to be too exciting, and you’ll take their word for it. You don’t have any other frame of reference, after all.

Arden’s nice enough to accompany you to the lab again, on the day your two week stay starts. 

“Thanks,” you say, hefting your small bag up your shoulder.

“If you have cool stories after this, tell me,” Arden says, and you can’t help but huff out a laugh. 

"It's not gonna be evil experiment level, trust me, " you say. "I think."

"That's what they want you to think, and it's working," Arden says. 

You swap numbers. It’s the effort in trying to make friends that counts, right? And Arden’s been nothing but supportive and respectful to you, in all the years you’ve known each other. You’re going back to an empty dorm after this too, so you might as well make sure you have a way to stay in contact while you can. 

You bid each other goodbye after, and you wish Arden good luck, just in general. Growing up sucks. Your roommates have to make it in life, somehow, even if you’re a mess.

But you’re still doing something though, aren’t you? 

You’ll split the money into rent and groceries after this, save up a little, maybe open a savings account with a bank that allows low deposits, because at least a little interest might go a long way, if you don’t spend your money all at once. You can send your mother some cash too, to help with her expenses. 

“Hey!”

You blink, turning to the doors sliding open to let Leone and Cameron in.

“Hey,” you say, raising a hand in response to Leone waving. 

“Excited?” Leone asks, as both of them come to a stop in front of you.

“Uh,” you say, “Not sure how to feel.”

“There’s nothing to be excited about,” Cameron says, although it’s more directed at Leone than you.

“Eh, meeting new people can be fun,” Leone says.

“I hate meeting new people,” Cameron says. 

It’s blunt enough that you can’t help but snort, immediately slapping a hand over your mouth.

“Dude,” Leone says, berating. 

Cameron sighs. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do, actually,” you say. You hate meeting new people in crowded spaces with a vengeance. Meeting others through mutual acquaintances is fine. Large gatherings all at once are a nightmare. “Too many eyes.”

“Mm.”

Leone’s shoulders relax in relief. “Ah.” They smile. “I’m glad.”

“Don’t start apologizing on my behalf,” Cameron says. 

“Wasn’t going to,” Leone says, and you find yourself smiling again, at their easy camaraderie. “You can do that yourself, asshole.” They stick their tongue out. 

“I can’t see you, dipshit.”

“Who said I did anything?” they say, but with a smile on their face. They turn back to you. “Do you know where your rooms are yet?”

“Floor 4, right?” You’d gotten the information in an email. You were all staying at Floor 4, since the area was built for stay-in volunteers of studies like this. You had a list of restricted areas (laboratories, staff-only storage rooms, offices), and a list of non-restricted areas (which was basically just the parking lot and the main hall) and a schedule, in case anyone wanted to stretch their legs and wander around the parking lot. Leaving the premises was restricted, of course, as the company would be liable if anything happened to anyone while they were supposed to be volunteering for the lab, and some specific diet effects were going to be monitored anyway so all the food that everyone was going to be eating is going to be provided by the lab.

“Yeah, you know how to get there?” 

“No,” you say, with relief in your voice as you had been worrying about having to ask the receptionist for directions. 

“Let’s go, then,” Leone says.

You follow after both of them as they make their way to the elevator, tucked into one of the hallways to the right - not the same hallway you’d been led down the last time you’d been here, so thank god they’d offered to help. 

It’s a short ride up to the fourth floor, and all three of you step out and make your way to a receptionist’s desk.

Leone greets the receptionist with a smile. “Hey, volunteers Cameron and uh - “ Leone turns back to you.

You give them your last name.

“Meteor dreamers,” Leone says, to the receptionist, who nods and taps away at her keyboard to check for information, and nodding again.

“You two can either wait here for more people to arrive - you’re early - “ the receptionist motions to the waiting area beside her desk - “Or you can sit in the hall.” She motions to the room right across you, visible through the glass walls and doors. It's a conference hall, with chairs lined up, and a projector and a podium up front. “Orientation starts in an hour.”

“Told you it wasn’t a good idea to be early,” Cameron mutters.

“You, Aliénor, know the drill. You’re not allowed inside since you’re not a volunteer,” the receptionist says.

“Yes ma’am.” Leone throws her a salute. 

“Fuck’s sake, what are they gonna do - steal chairs?” Cameron asks.

The receptionist sighs, with a familiarity that tells you this isn’t the first time this has happened. “Lab policy, Mr. Cameron.”

Leone just laughs, again. They laugh a lot when they’re nervous, you note. 

“Cam, it’s fine,” they say, gently putting a hand over his arm - the one not holding his walking stick. “You know they have to stay vigilant because of the raids.”

The man just grunts, making his way over to the waiting area seats, Leone trailing after him. 

There’s a story there, you think, but it’s not your place to ask. So you don’t. Instead you just sit next to Leone. 

“Arden’s moved out, yeah?” they ask. 

“Yeah,” you say. “Or - well, the dorm’s gonna be empty when I go back, anyway.”

“Campus let you have an extension?”

“I explained the situation,” you say. “They’re essentially just holding on to my stuff, at Student Affairs’. Gotta open the dorms for the summer students, after all.”

“Ah.” Leone nods. “That’s good. Your apartment?”

“Hopefully it’s still gonna be available after this.”

“You’re volunteering for rent money?” Cameron asks. 

You blink up at him, not having expected him to say anything. “Yeah,” you say.

“Trying-to-afford-rent gang unite,” Leone says, jokingly holding out a fist towards you. You bump it gently. “Except Cameron, he’s loaded.”

“What?” you ask, except it comes out as a disbelieving laugh. 

“With anger, “ Cameron says.

Leone holds down a snicker. You see Cameron trying not to smile at his own joke.

“Are you two frequent volunteers here?” you ask, and motion your head towards the receptionist. “She seems to know you.”

“Kinda,” Leone says. “Someone had to fund my ramen habit throughout college.”

Cameron just shrugs. 

“Does it pay this well all the time?” you ask.

“Not really, depends on the study,” Leone says. “But since meteor dreamers are a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon, of course they’re gonna shill out.”

“Gonna keep my eye out in case they need a meteor dreamer again, then,” you say. 

“It’d definitely be a good side gig,” Leone says.

“Makes me wonder where it’s gonna go, though,” you say. “If it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing and assuming it’s not genetic, it’d just die out with us, wouldn’t it?”

“I guess,” Leone says. “But I think people are just curious.”

“And we’ve got the rest of our lives to live,” Cameron says. “Even if it’s just for the next fifty years, it’s still fifty years. If they can make sleeping pills to help with the nightmares, why not?”

“Yeah, I guess,” you say. 

You’ve never thought about not having the nightmares anymore, since you’ve mostly gotten numb to them, whenever you had them. You wouldn’t be surprised if there were those of you who haven’t, though. 

“Is it really just boring?” you ask. “The study?”

“Mostly,” Cameron says. 

“You’ve done this before?”

“A few times,” he says. “Smaller scale studies.”

“Ah.” You nod. “Good to know, then.”

“It’s mostly just going about your day, eating certain foods, sleeping with things sticking to your head, I think,” Leone says. “You’ll be fine.”

You nod again. 

The three of you wait there for the rest of the hour, although more and more people arrive as the minutes tick by. Some of them look familiar, from the interviews days prior, while a couple of faces are new. Most of them stay out with you in the waiting area, but around fifteen minutes to orientation, most of them move to wait in the conference hall. 

Cameron unfolds his walking stick and stands, Leone right after him. You take that as your cue to as well. 

“Don’t burn the apartment while I’m gone,” Cameron says, to Leone.

“I’m taking your dog and running away,” Leone says.

“Try it, see what happens,” Cameron says, although he’s smiling.

“I’ll succeed, is what’s gonna happen,” Leone says, already starting down the hallway for the elevator. “Take care, you two!”

“Thanks,” you say, waving them goodbye. Cameron just nods, muttering a, “Bye.”

You turn to the room across from you, staring at it, even as you hear the clicking of Cameron’s walking stick. This all feels strange, feels new, feels important, somehow, even though you know that this is just going to be a distant memory in the future. That one day, you’re going to recall how you paid rent by volunteering for a laboratory study, and that’s about it. 

Still, it’s like someone’s staring at you, looking over your shoulder, looking for you. 

You swat at the back of your neck, like it’s going to get rid of the feeling. It doesn’t, of course. 

Sighing, you follow Cameron into the conference hall.