Saven Deception by Siobhan Davis

hidden injury. Afterward, she takes blood and runs a battery of other tests.
Her facial expression never changes as she taps away on her digipad, and I’ve
no idea if I’m flunking or not. I’m sick at the prospect of being kicked out
before I’ve even sampled a different life.
    The doctor secures a small circular black
disc to my inner left wrist. No explanation is offered up and I dare not ask. I
quell my rising nausea.
    “Follow me, Ms. Owens,” she says, striding
briskly toward the door.
    We step out into a white-walled corridor.
At the end of the passageway, she stops in front of silver double doors and
scans her wrist at the keypad on the wall. “This is the sanitization area. The
nurse will explain the procedure.”
    The doors glide open and she walks away.
    I step into the room and give my details
to the nurse. She explains about the sanitizing procedure and leads me to one
of the chambers. Once she has set the timer, I hop in and stand motionless as
the unit moves through the various sequences. After I’m cleaned, a fine layer
of sanitizing spray coats my skin from head to toe. When it’s sunk into my
skin, the door unlocks automatically and I get out.
    ***
    I’ve dried my hair and now I’m dressed in the short-sleeved
white shirt, black cargo pants, and black sneakers that were left out for me.
    Scouring the space in front of me, I try
to get a fix on Jenna. Her dry laugh rings out as she saunters through the room
as naked as the day she was born. She’s chatting to another girl as if it’s
nothing out of the ordinary.
    Focusing on her face, I raise my hand and
catch her attention. She waggles her fingers as she makes a beeline for me,
snatching a towel from an overhead cabinet on her way. I’m in awe of her
confidence and her zest for life. I wish I could throw off my inhibitions as
easily, but it’s baby steps for me.
    She plonks down on the bench beside me.
“So, we both made it.” She elbows me jovially in the ribs. Her impressive boobs
are at my eye level, and it’s impossible not to look.
    “I’ve got it going on, huh?” she says,
pouting seductively.
    I crack out a grin. I’ve never met anyone
like Jenna before. She’s a welcome breath of fresh air, a glimmer of light
amidst the darkness. The more time I spend in her company, the more I seem to
relax. I fervently hope we get to stay together for the duration of “The
Experimento.”
    ***
    Ten minutes later, we’re standing in the corridor with the
rest of our group waiting for Vin to make a move. “Right, gang,” he says
decisively. “We’re up. Enjoy your last few minutes of fresh air. Follow me.”
    I squeeze into the first elevator with
Jenna and we travel deep into the building. As the door glides open, I step out
on wobbly limbs. We are far underground and the air is frigid. I shiver.
    Vin tries to hide his grin as he surveys
the disorientated faces in front of him. Once our entire group is lined up, he
escorts us down the length of the corridor, through one set of metallic double
doors, and out into a seemingly never-ending passageway. A heavy concrete wall
spans the corridor on my right, and on my left is a succession of numbered
entrances with wide, white-painted corrugated steel shutters. Each shutter is
numbered in big, bold, red lettering.
    Rounding a corner at the end, we progress
another hundred yards before stopping. “This is us,” he simply states. He
inserts a code in the wall-mounted keypad, and the creaky steel shutter slowly
rises.
    My breath hitches as I wait to catch a
first glimpse of our new home.
    My feet squelch on the tiled floor as I
follow Vin into an empty, square room with a thick, frosted glass wall at the
far end. Jenna and I exchange excited looks.
    Vin presses a red button on the wall. A
tinny clanging sound rings out as the shutter seals into place, confining us.
“Welcome to our Mock-Up Facility.”
    The glass doors glide open revealing a
spacious, lavishly furnished living room. Ten large