Who: August & Rae. Where: The third floor, and then...? When: Around 11:30 a.m.
Even though August had explained away his "dismissal" of Madison by claiming that he was going to seek out the local nurse -- the woman Madison had named Cecilia -- it still took him a good while to work up the nerve to leave his room. The watchful eye of the camera overhead unnerved him to no end, so he hid in the bathroom for 20 minutes until he felt too foolish to continue doing so. That, and his stomach was starting to growl.
"Traitor," he grumbled at it. He'd spent some time responding to messages on the network; the computer was an old piece of machinery, something he'd only ever seen in pictures in history books. The programming was an old interface as well, and he briefly thought about attempting to fiddle with it -- maybe in a more desperate moment. August was certain that, after all the trouble they'd gone through to get him here, they wouldn't make it that easy for him to figure out how to escape. He put a hand to the back of his neck, rubbing at the lump therein. It made him jump to touch it again, and he forced his hand away.
Turning toward the door, he eyed the potentially defensive obstruction for a moment before lurching toward it and pulling it wide. Just as the bathroom door had unveiled, there was nothing uncommon beyond its sturdy surface. Just a hallway, leading to further rooms. If he was going to be stuck here for awhile, he would be better off knowing the lay of the land. The map that both Madison and Jack had shown him didn't show the mansion's layout, so that left him with a single option -- exploration.
Stepping out the door started with a careful toe pressed to the floorboards. Nothing gave, so he progressed further, glancing around. Madison's room was the one next to his. This Rae person -- another new entry to this experiment, if her response to his network post was anything to be believed -- was further down the hall. August kept the going slow; there was no telling who or what he might encounter. Glancing to his right, he saw a plethora of games that made him pause. He finally shook his head, moving on.
His left had another empty bedroom, and the door next to that was closed. He didn't feel curious enough to tempt fate, so he pressed forward to the theater that was next to the game room. Looking away from that, he counted another six rooms with their doors closed. It certainly wasn't terribly clear where he'd find this Rae.
Footsteps sounded in the stairwell: heavy boots that clunked on each riser, marking every step. Rae ascended the stairs to find a young man -- quite young indeed, if appearances could be believed -- apparently searching for someone. She smiled softly, passing the open door to the theater in her approach.
"August?" she asked. "I'm Rae. The other new person?" She crossed over to him, one hand outstretched in greeting. "I was really glad to see your post on the network. This is all weird enough, without being the only new one on top of that."
August had started at the sound of footsteps tromping up the stairs, and his hand poised itself near his throat for his own protection as Rae approached him. Once she stopped, he took a step back, eyes glancing down toward her outstretched hand. He did not take it. Rae quirked a brow but said nothing, letting her hand fall to her side.
"Yeah, that's me. August. Um." He pushed his hand down, forcing both into his pockets. "Weird doesn't even start... I mean, I've read some crazy things on the internet, but this… this definitely takes the cake." She nodded, a tiny smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. He studied her for a moment, gaze focusing on her face as though scrutinizing her for some tell-tale detail that would tell him something about her he could discern in no other way. "What were you doing before… you know, before you ended up here?"
"I'd gone out for a hike," she said. "Just a short one. My day had been pretty long and busy. Meetings, conference calls, a fundraiser luncheon... I really just wanted to go lie down and read a bit." She shook her head. The silver chain at her chest winked in the overhead lights, a tiny star in the relative dark of the hallway. "So much for that. What about you?"
He nodded along as Rae explained her circumstances, as though he were sifting through the words for the one magical one that might explain all of this.
"Fundraiser? Are you a politician?" August cocked his head. "I was...I was just taking out the trash."
"Not really," Rae began.
He suddenly glanced around, but didn't immediately see any cameras like the ones embedded in the ceiling of his bedroom. That didn't mean they weren't there. "Do you wanna...we can take this outside. Or, well..." He glanced down at his feet, wiggling his toes within the bunny slippers. "Let's just...we can walk." It gave him some sense of comfort that maybe it would make it difficult for whoever was listening in to follow the conversation.
Rae looked down to his footwear, blinking doeishly at the unexpected sight. She smiled. "Sure," she said. "I actually haven't looked around outside yet. Might be nice to take a look out there, see what we've really gotten ourselves into. I saw a pool out back, so that's something." She nodded to indicate one fuzzy slipper. "Are you going to be comfortable in those, though? We might be able to find something else around..."
"No, no," he replied, waving his hands in the air and shaking his head. "Just...around. Inside the mansion. These aren't really made for outdoors." He encouraged her to follow him by starting off, walking toward a set of stairs and suddenly balking. He turned and headed toward the game room instead. "Where did you come from?" He queried over his shoulder.
"Raleigh," she said. She fell into step alongside him, her gaze sweeping from him to the path beyond and back. She had seen the game room in passing, all its bright lights and sparkling surfaces polished to a fine shine, but she had not yet gone inside. She almost smiled as they reached the door, then stepped aside to allow him to enter first. "And you?"
August glanced around, first at Rae, and then just inside the doorway. He didn't see any other obvious cameras, much like before, which only served to unsettle him further. Still, he moved into the game space, gaze taking in the screens and devices on tap for whoever might be bored. His fingers tapped his thigh, and before he realized what he was doing, his hand was at his throat again, cupping his Adam's apple.
"Tallahassee," he finally replied, not looking back to Rae. He moved a little further into the space, allowing her entrance if she so chose. "Nothing similar there, either, but it's a little small of a sample size to pull a conclusion from." He rolled his lips over his teeth, snagging at the skin. Finally, he glanced back at the woman he'd been conversing with. "For being kidnapped, you seem to be taking this relatively well."
"Oh, not at all," she said. "I'm just used to having to come off as unruffled when I'd really prefer to be tearing something down one brick at a time." She grinned; the look gave her chiseled features a decidedly wolfish cast. It softened quickly. She moved to one bank of arcade games, running her hand along the top of one black vinyl seat.
"I've been told there's a group who will be testing the fence for areas we might be able to get through. I plan to help with that. I don't buy this idea that there's no way to break out of here." She looked over one shoulder, back to her companion. "You should come with us," she said. "The more eyes, the better."
August couldn't stop his hand from going to the back of his neck at her suggestion. The lump somehow felt bigger, if such a thing were possible, and he shuddered.
"No," he blurted out, almost a confession rather than a denial. "You don't know about...what they did to us?" His words shrank to a hiss, eyes growing wider.
Her brow furrowed. "What do you mean, what they did?" she asked. "You mean the chip?" She mirrored his motion, fingers brushing over the mark at her nape. "Apparently some think there may be a hole in the fence. Holes plural, maybe. Places we can slip through without triggering anything. Maybe we can find 'em."
August's hands came down and he waved them with his palms facing in Rae's direction; his head followed the motion. "No. No thank you. It's...it's already bad enough that it's there. I don't need confirmation on how it works, too."
He let his hands drop to his sides and he narrowed his eyes at Rae. "People who do this kind of thing, they're not just going to let us find an escape route. These others, these people have been here for months. You really think anyone who's going to kidnap and trap people in a place like this is going to leave holes?
"And if they did," he continued, the paranoia only growing in his throat, contracting it, "you think they wouldn't do so without a reason?"
A crease marred Rae's brow. "That's a fatalistic way of looking at things," she said. "And besides, even Saw gave people an out if they wanted it. Maybe it's just a matter of being determined enough to find it." A smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. "And I doubt it'll be that bad. We have to at least try. If you don't want to go, I understand. I'll tell you what we find, okay?" Her head canted slightly, sincere reassurance gleaming in her eyes. "If I find a way free, I'm not going to leave anyone behind. I can promise you that."
August's mouth twisted into a frown, but he offered a begrudged nod. It was only fair.
"If you do, but I'm not going to hold out hope. This is all just..." He waved his hands in the air, turning around a little to glare at the game selection with a newly oversuspicious gaze. "Too unreal."
He finally came back to Rae. "When is this experiment happening?"
"No idea yet," she said. "I guess I've gotta ask more pointed questions than I've been doing. Hinting around doesn't seem to be getting anywhere." She chuckled. "I prefer to take the measure of things before I just insert myself into them, but… we do what we must in these new, trying times, don't we?"
She looked around, tracking August's appraisal of their surroundings. "What's your plan in all this? If you don't want to go out with us, I mean. What's your play? Planning on sitting around, getting used to it like the rest of them seem to?"
Even as she explained, he couldn't stop glancing around. He took Rae's questions pointedly, frowning in response. "This isn't something you get used to. I... I don't know yet," he finally conceded, putting a hand to his throat again in a defensive gesture. He willed himself from allowing the fingertips to slow around his neck and touch the implant again. August pulled his hand away, giving himself the willies just thinking about the thing that someone had put inside him, invading the highest notion of personal privacy.
"Some better shoes would probably help." He looked down at his bunny slippers again, wiggling his toes to make the rabbits' faces move up and down. "And the camera... Maybe something about that. The one in my room. You have one in yours, too?"
"Yeah. I think they're everywhere, more or less. Have you tried taking it down yet?" She smirked. "Somehow I feel confident it wouldn't work, but I guess it's worth a shot." She gestured down to his slippers. "Replacing those is probably a higher priority, though. I've read there's a place in town. Maybe someone would let you borrow some til you can dip down there and get a replacement."
His head bobbed, though he felt less than generous toward the other people in the house at that moment. Rae was new, yes, and thus a lower probability of being a spy -- unless the whole 'new' shtick was in and of itself a ruse, but August's head was spinning in so many circles that he had to stop himself somewhere -- but the fact that all of this was evening happening superseded the majority of theories in his head.
His stomach grumbled again; he put a hand to it, and frowned. Glancing over at Rae, he offered a minimal shrug. "I think I might try for some food, provided it's not poisoned or laced with drugs or something. I wouldn't be surprised if this place did something like that." August swallowed. "I have this thing...with stairs. Sometimes it helps if someone's walking in front of me. Assuming, you know," he waved one hand in the air, as though he were trying to be casual about the request. "You don't have anything else to do."
Rae smiled softly. "Not a damn thing," she said. "And I could use a bite to eat. If you want, I'll even try everything first. Your official food tester." She winked at him, then turned to head back toward the stairs. "Maybe we can find some packaged stuff. Surely that won't have been tampered with."
"Processed? Do you have any idea what the government is putting in that stuff?" Reassured by the prospect of a new line of conversation, August led them back toward the doorway and into the hall, headed hesitantly for the stairs. He felt marginally better than he had when he'd first woken up in this strange place, but it was perhaps too soon to tell if he would actually relax in his new environment.