Who: Madison When: Early morning Where: Fourth floor
The entire idea this morning was to continue to torment their meanwhile-elected Security Chief Owen with more little reminders of the one life he couldn't save, the one that would always hang over him no matter how many others he saved out there and in here. Madison had gotten up bright and early, showered and dressed, and had eaten a quick breakfast, intending to take her strong latte upstairs to the Crafts Room with her.
Before simply walking into the room, however, Madison was obviously attracted to the statue that had hitherto sat in the empty white room no one knew the use for, and was now standing in the doorway. She had seen it on the feeds, but hadn't yet come to see it live. It wasn't as though she stopped near it so much as slowed down while walking past. All the same, her hands trembled and a bit of the latte spilled out onto her fingers when she heard a sound akin to someone clearing their throat. Madison wasn't stupid. Despite her mild mental issue she could very well distinguish reality from illusion and this hadn't been an illusion, it had happened. And when she'd stopped, it happened again. It sounded like some man trying to talk while strong whiskey burnt his throat; she knew the sound quite well from her bartending days.
And then, clear as a cloudy day, there it was: "Madison."
Looking around, Madison verified that there was no one else in the hallway at the moment. No one was murmuring her voice, no one could be calling her and yet...
"Madison."
Only then did she slowly approach the statue, only one or two steps closer and that was it. The latte was drying and making her fingers sticky but she could take care of that later. She stared at the statue for now, and heard a muffled knocking sound that, good actor though she was, iced her veins all the same. Madison swallowed, wobbling slightly in place as reality asserted itself in her brain. Before it could call her name again and set her off running, Madison moved closer to the statue and attempted to stave off any thoughts that an emaciated midget might be trapped within it.
A beat, and then Madison looked around again. Still no one.
"Y-yes?" She replied, fully aware even in her tone that this was genuinely stupid. So silly. What a joke.
"Change is coming." It said. Well, "said". The statue didn't move its lips and though Madison attempted to look around it she couldn't see a speaker. Still, it was taller than her like most things were, and she'd heard it clearly from above, from its face. She looked up, heart racing, and waited. It said nothing else. She waited a little longer, then exhaled. Something told her this had nothing to do with the Obama campaign, nor was it a play on the Game of Thrones catchphrase. She wondered, couldn't help it really, what kind of change it was promising. She also wondered why the creepy and suddenly upright statue had to be the herald of this change. Finally, Madison hoped that whatever it was, it benefited her.
Turning around, Madison decided to put her nefarious plans on hold. As she descended the stairs, she also wondered if it was too late to turn this latte into a strong Irish Coffee. She was going to try anyway.