The Perfect Machine: Kingdom Of Glass (GxG

46. She just needs a bit of a nudge

I look around the lounge to see a few familiar faces. Harry and Mary are playing air hockey. I don't think I have seen them smile and laugh as much before. The condition of the government makes it hard for us to find happiness. Yet sometimes, between the cracks, we will find our moments in life. It's not often, but once it's there, you need to keep it close and lock it in your heart. Because those seconds or minutes might be the only light in sight.

"Have you seen Harlow or Arthur?" I ask as they stop the game from giving me their attention.

"I haven't seen Harlow since yesterday and Arthur after he left for the lab after breakfast," She shrugs. I sigh in defeat as I drop into the chair behind me.

"Is there something wrong?" Mary asks, sitting beside me, and Harry waits eagerly for his mother to return to the game.

"I just want to talk to Harlow," I say.

"I know where the lab is," Harry tells us, and we stare at him with our mouths open.

"How do you know that?" Mary frowns.

"I accidentally stumbled across it," He shrugs innocently and Mary lies her hand over her face.

"Can you take me there?" I ask as I got back up on my feet.

"Of course," He smiles.

I follow after him.

"You won't go without me, young man," Mary says, catching up with us. We pass hallway after hallway, and it feels like it's never-ending. It feels like we are walking through an endless metal box with doors leading onto the next one. Finally, we stand in front of a very sealed cold metal door.

"I think I got it from here," I grin, and they decide to go back to their game. I bang on the door a few times before it opens.

"Hi," I say to Arthur, but then I see the distress all over his face and the sweat pouring down his forehead.

"What's wrong?" I ask, feeling the tiny hairs on the back of my neck raise.

"Nothing," He says on the way to shut the door.

"Is it Harlow?" I wonder. He doesn't respond, so I force myself past the door. I search around and only to see Landon rushing around the computers. A loud noise to my left made me leap in my place. The door is being rapidly banged on. I swallow hard, then eventually make my way over there, feeling as though time has stopped.

I gaze through the tiny window. Harlow is pounding on the walls as much as she can. Her hands are bleeding from fractures on her skin. She turns quickly and her eyes catch mine for a brief second. Then she runs for the entrance, and I stumble backwards until I crash to the ground as she strikes the door over and over again. It's so loud it could have been mistaken for a bomb going off.

Arthur takes me by the shoulder and pushes me up to my feet. I walk away from the door with him to Landon.

"What's going on?" I ask. My hands are shaking in apprehension as I wait for answers from the two older men.

"She was asleep and then all of a sudden she turned," Arthur's voice trembles.

"And?" I raise my voice with rage and fear.

"I've got a camera in there to watch her every move," Landon says, stressing back and forth.

"I measure everything, River- Heartbeat, body temperature, and neural oscillation," He says, and I watch him bewildered.

"Neural, what now?" I yell as I lift my hands in the air.

"Oh, um, brainwaves," Landon explains, and I sigh, not getting anything about what's going on.

"I'm getting so much info. It's amazing," Landon says excitedly. I squeeze my hands into fists and marched over to him to stand next to his stupid machine.

"That is a person in there. A person with feelings who is about to die. Don't take this as another scientific experiment because I swear if you don't save her. I'm going to put an end to you," I stare right into his eyes. He stays silent and he swallows hard.

"Y-Yes, I'm sorry, I should have a better understanding of your situation," He trembles as his eyes widen with unease.

"But this is a good thing," He gestures to the screen.

"I can see what's going on in her head when this happens," Landon says. I close my eyes in uncertainty. Harlow is in pain and there is nothing we can do to ease it for her. She is not herself anymore.

"How long has she been like this?" I ask as I turn to Arthur, who bites his lip.

"Maybe an hour," He shrugs as he shrinks into his chair.

"She's never been like this for so long," I say. They both watch me in silence with unease written in their eyes as we all gaze at each other.

"Well, has she ever been trapped in a room like that before in that state?" Landon asks. I pause for a second to recall every time she turns.

"No," I say, still stuck in my mind. "Normally, when she turns around, she's not alone," I rethought. "The last time she switched, Arthur shot her in the leg," I told him and he seems fascinated. "Should we let her out?" I wonder.

"No!" They both shout at the same time and I jumped in my place.

"She can't be like that anymore. She is bleeding, for heaven's sake," I tell them directly.

"Any ideas?" Landon looks at both of us as if we have the answers.

"I can shoot her again?" Arthur suggests with a shrug.

"No," I shake my head in disgust.

"What have you done the other times?" Arthur wonders. Well, it was luck most of the time, once it was a kiss, and once I screamed at her right in her face. I don't know what to say because I don't know the answer to that. I don't know how to pull her out of herself.

"She just turned," I sighed. I don't know what to say.

"From the details I've learned from the computer, she has no recollection. Harlow doesn't know where she is. She doesn't know who she is even," Cowan tells us, and it scares me to hear that.

"And she wouldn't know any of us?" Arthur asks and Landon nods sadly.

"I don't believe it," I say out of the blue.

"River, that's the information I'm receiving," Landon looks at me with pity.

"No, there's something that has to trigger her to switch back," I suggest, thinking hard to figure it out.

"A sound?" Landon asked.

"What kind of sound?" I wonder I don't remember any noise that could turn her back to normal.

"Is there anything else in your data that could support us?" Arthur sighs as we keep listening to Harlow's banging on the walls and on the door to get out. Landon goes over his screen again, clicking and scanning, while I'm staring at the very door where Harlow is trapped. She is locked in her own body and her own mind.

"No," I say, moving to the entrance.

"She's in there, and I know it," I say, taking off my jacket, and stare through the window. Harlow hits the back wall instantly with all her might to get out of there.

"River, you can't go in there!" Arthur hurries over to me and stops me by the shoulder.

"Harlow's in there and I know it. She's just stuck," I say as I push myself out of his grip.

"Shejust needs a bit of a nudge,"