Who: Kate and open When: 9:30-ish am Where: Kitchen What: Time for the welcome wagon
Kate was used to waking up quickly in the mornings, fairly alert and ready to hit the ground running, so this slow swim towards consciousness was a new and uncomfortable sensation. She finally wrestled herself awake, taking a few minutes to lay where she was and get her gears turning through the unusual grogginess. She hadn't felt like that since having her wisdom teeth out, which was an uncomfortable thought on its own. Had she been drugged? She pushed herself into a roll to the edge of the bed and upright, wincing slightly at a tug in her arm. An IV? Rising adrenaline was helping burn off whatever she'd been injected with, but not fast enough for her liking.
With a deep breath, Kate carefully removed the IV and slid out of bed, palms on the mattress to steady herself. The box near the bed caught her attention first, and she was relieved to see her clothing (though it didn't quite balance out the squick factor of waking up in a hospital gown. Maybe if she'd been in a hospital it would have made more sense but this clearly wasn't, not even a nice private room, and she didn't like the vulnerability she was feeling.) Kate dressed as quickly as her messed-up balance and reaction times could manage, feeling each piece settle into place like armor. She was a little steadier by the time she finished, but that didn't mean she wasn't one more nasty surprise from a total screaming fit.
The computer was last on her list of things to check (she'd seen out the window, it looked deserted. what was she going to do, call an Uber?) after the locked door and the bathroom, but she eventually got there. (For the record, she did try to set up an Uber but of course there was no internet. Of course.) There was a lot of yelling about some sort of survey, and a recommendation to get out of the house. Well, that sounded grand to Kate, and she posted a brief request for information. She didn't want to wait for answers, though - who knew who was really responding on the other end of the machine? She wanted to ask questions of a real person.
It was with relief that she found the door unlocked when she tried it the second time. Kate left the room feeling a bit like a newborn foal - all shaky legs and weak knees - and made her way downstairs in search of another face. Hopefully a friendly one. A friendly one with answers.