The Experiment by Cassidy Shay (top non fiction books of all time TXT) 📕

pregnancy, but I worry that those will be my only friends.
“Nonsense. You’ll make tons of friends. Just you wait.” The voice is coming from the corner, and it’s Jack. “You’ve always been a fun person to be around. I highly doubt that you’ll let that trait face away with your old appearance.”
He disappears then, and I feel tears running down my cheeks. “I miss you,” I say to Jack. I know he wasn’t really there, but saying something to him makes me feel much better.
That night, Mathew comes into the room with a strange look on his face. “Pen- Meagan, you wouldn’t believe the looks and comments I’ve been getting today.” Puzzled, I look at him with a frown on my face. “They think I’m some kind of hero or something just because I’m going to be a dad. Most of the guys here have kids, but for some reason I’m special. It’s not even my kid!”
“Calm down, Mathew,” I say, and pat the bed. “Come sit down. You’ve been working all day and need some rest.” He walks to the bed and looks into my eyes.
“How are you feeling today? The baby still in there?” I nod.
“Yes she is. I don’t know how I can be so positive about it, but I know she is. I just have a feeling, you know?” Now it’s his turn to nod. “But I have felt like puking all day. And my body feels so heavy, like my blood is made of lead. My head hurts, and I can hardly move. I hope this doesn’t last long, because it doesn’t feel great.”
We talk for a little while longer, but then we both go to sleep. Throughout the day, I develop a high fever, and as we go to bed, I shiver. Mathew climbs under the covers and wraps his arm around me. Instantly, I am warm.
“Thank you,” I murmur, and then drop off to a dark place full of sleep.
The next two weeks are much like the first day. The days are passed with reading, card games, and visits from various nurses and doctors. For the most part, it is Dr. Pender who comes to check on me. Sometimes, though, it is someone who I’ve never seen before.
I also pass the days talking to Collin and Jack, and cowering in the presence of Carl. Although a part of my mind knows that they aren’t really there, it feels so real. After a couple days, the hallucinations become so common that I am never alone.
On the last day of my confinement, Dr. Pender comes in to lead me to an examination room. “You won’t see much, but with the data from the ultrasound we’ll be able to tell several things about the pregnancy.”
Now I’m lying on the table as she puts some kind of blue gel on my stomach. “Here’s the camera, and you’ll want to watch the monitor.” She was right about one thing. I don’t see much. Still, it’s amazing to see someone that I created, someone that’s growing inside me, depending on me.
“Alright, that’s it,” she says after making a few notes and explaining certain things to me. “Your baby has a strong enough foundation now, so you don’t need to be on bed rest all day anymore. You need to take it easy, though, because it’s still risky. I want you in your room early each night, and you need to be resting ever moment that you can.” I nod. “You’re free to go. Can you find your way back?”
“I’ll figure it out,” I tell her, and head out the door. I’m in the hallway where all the doctors’ offices are, where you go when you’re sick. I see the end of the hallway a few doors down, but I don’t get there.
As I’m passing one of the doors, a teenage boy comes out and runs into me. “Ow!” I shout, and then stand, robbed of my ability to move or speak.
“Watch it! She’s got a baby to take care of!” says Dr. Pender, leaning her head out the doorway. I reach out to touch him, to make sure he’s not a hallucination. When my hand doesn’t go right through his arm, I know that he’s really there, and I gasp.
“Jack,” I whisper.
Before he registers that I said his name, I step around him and swiftly walk down the remainder of the hallway. As soon as I round the corner at the end, I press my back against the wall. A few minutes pass and Jack walks out of the hallway.
“How do you know me?” he asks. I shut my eyes, hoping that he is only a hallucination that will be gone when my eyelids part. I open my eyes, but he’s still there. I just shrug and once again move around him and walk away. When I look back at the spot where he’d been, I don’t see him.
I go to the cafeteria to get some lunch, and I end up sitting by myself. Well, I’m by myself for a while, until some girl walks up and sits next to me.
“Hi,” she says, and plops her tray down. “I’m Sarah. You’re… is it Meagan or Penny?” I reply that my name is Meagan, and she continues her introduction. “I just wanted to tell you how much I admire you. Trying to escape the Academy? No one’s even attempted it before you came along. And then signing your whole life away, willingly, just so you can see your beloved one last time?” She giggles. “It’s so amazing! And now you’re carrying the child of your second husband! How do you do it all?”
“Well,” I say, not quite sure what to make of all this. “I don’t know. I just do, I guess. Now… how did you get this information? I wasn’t aware that my whole life had become everyone else’s business.” I had hoped that my past would be kept confidential, because I didn’t want to be treated differently or anything.
She seemed to read my mind and recognize my fear. “Oh, don’t worry. Not everyone knows your story. But Mathew’s my cousin, and so he’s told me all about you. He’s actually really worried about this baby. He keeps telling me that it’s super important to you.” She shrugs. “But I’m hoping that you being out here means that things are going well, right?”
“Yes, actually,” I answer. “Things are perfect. From what they could tell, things are exactly as they should be.” I didn’t actually know that as a fact, but I hoped that I was right.
I finish my pasta and throw away my tray. Sarah follows me out of the cafeteria. “How old are you?” I ask her.
“I’m fourteen. A little small for my age, but so are you. I have a feeling that we’ll be good friends.” It’s strange, but I feel the same way. Although she seems a little bit impulsive and exhausting, something about her intrigues me. And since she’s Mathew’s cousin, she’ll probably be around quite a bit anyway, so I might as well learn to like her.
We go to my room and for a little while, we just talk. After a couple hours, Sarah has to go do some things for her assignment, and I am once again alone. I decide that I’ve spent enough time by myself in the past two weeks, so I go to the rec room.
That’s another thing that surprised me. On Floor One, there’s not a single space dedicated to recreation, and the only assignments you are given last a few seconds. There’s nothing to do but sit and talk. On Floor Six, there’s a whole room dedicated to recreational activities. There’s TV’s, computers, and even a work-out section. Because I’m an Azulate, I’m not allowed to use the computer. I can play video games, work out, or watch TV. There are also board games, and plenty of other activities, but my favorite thing to do is sit and watch.
Sometimes, people will do crazy things if they think that no one is watching them. Because of this, sitting quietly in a corner while they carry on with their day provides me with plenty of entertainment. For the last couple weeks, though, I haven’t been able to do this. I walk into the rec room and go to my corner, where there’s a bean bag chair. I plop down and begin my observations.
One person is sitting on the couch, flipping channels on the TV. With his other hand, he’s searching for something up his nose. Gross. There’s a lady on the couch next to him, looking at the man with a disgusted expression. There’s a scientist at one of the tables, writing furiously in a notebook. He’s caught my interest, so I keep my eyes on him.
Every few seconds, he looks up to make sure no one is reading what he’s writing. He makes a special effort to cover it up. Because of this, I know it must be important. But if he’s so secretive about it, who not write the report in some office where no one else is around?
I watch him for a few hours, and the pen only stops when he must turn the page. Eventually, the number of people narrows as everyone heads to the cafeteria for dinner. After the last person leaves, I start to stand up, but sit back down when two men come in. I stay silent, hoping that they won’t notice me.
“…can’t believe we forgot about it. How does an entire team of scientists forget about this type of thing?” one of them mumbles. He takes a couple more steps and I realize that he’s the warden.
“Sir,” starts the man in the lab coat, “what are you talking about? There’s nothing that we forgot. This experiment was well thought-out and planned, and with the weddings, we killed two birds with one stone.” He looks confident, but his voice gives away his doubt. “What could we possible have forgotten?”
The scientist who I have been watching speaks up. “Every five years, we put a certain chemical into the food that makes all the females completely barren and unable to conceive.”
The Warden, being the man in charge, steps in. “All of the females that are married and are trying to have kids are completely unable to do so. We were supposed to put the chemical in tomorrow, which is how we remembered this. We will inform all those couples that they are unable to conceive, and we’ll just marry off the ones who haven’t had the chemical when they’re old enough.” He paces around the room, waving his arms in the air as if it will help convey the message to the scientist.
“But, sir, there’s still a problem,” says my scientist. It becomes a little clearer to me why he was writing for so long. He was probably doing calculations, not writing reports. He hesitates for a moment, then plows on as the warden looks at him with a murderous gaze. “The girl that tried to escape. She’s conceived three times. Taking the chemical into consideration, that’s physically impossible. And considering the fact that she was still able to stand after three pregnancies in one week, I’d say we’re dealing with something that we’ve never dreamed of seeing. Her body must have built immunity to the chemical instantly. Could this be a sign?”
“Dr. Jones,” starts the warden, “you are a scientist with years of schooling and education behind you. You are not a psychic. Do you really believe that there’s a sign? It must have been something in her immune system or something. It’s not a sign