3 Thank God it's Monday (2 page)

G
iselle opened her eyes. She was in a bright room with dark
windows. She looked down at herself. A white sheet hung loosely over her naked
body. She fought a panic that rose in her chest at her unusual surroundings. A
low groan began to escape from her chest. She realized she was going to scream.

“Help!” she cried.

Her arms were strapped into the chair she was in. She could
feel a strap around her breasts, and ones around her ankles and wrists. She was
immobilized except for her neck.

She turned her head to see the room more clearly. A table,
more chairs. Several bottles that looked like medicine. Several of these
bottles had labels, but she could not read them. The windows were dark because
it was night outside. She could see the lights from other buildings nearby.

Where am I?
She wondered.

Her head throbbed and she had a metallic taste in her mouth.
She was thirsty and the taste almost drove her mad. The thought of being
restrained made her angry. She had no idea where she could be. She tried to
remember.

Her brain did not return any information. She knew who she
was. She was not suffering from amnesia.

“Help!” she cried again without hope.

She was sure no one heard. Or if they did, they would put a
note in her file and wait for her to behave erratically before charging in and
administering some drug or chiding her for digging grooves into the padded
armrest with her nails.

She rolled her head to loosen the muscles in her neck. She
popped her back and shoulder and tried to get comfortable in the chair. She had
been here for some time, it seemed. Her back and bottom were stiff and sore.

“Can someone bring me some water at least?” she asked in as
reasonable manner as she could. She hoped someone would hear. She had so many
questions. Where was she? Why was she here? Who was the no good son of a—

The door opened and Gary Forsythe walked through. He shut it
behind him and locked it. He carried a clipboard and a plastic cup. His glasses
were slightly askew and his hair looked like he had been napping. A fair amount
of stubble dusted his chin and jaw. Under different circumstances this rugged
look would actually make him more attractive, she thought. Under these specific
circumstances, she gritted her teeth so hard that her jaw hurt.

He looked at her almost apologetically. He raised his
eyebrows and the cup.

“You asked for some water?” he asked as he came closer.

She wanted to jump out of the chair and claw out his eyes. Something
about the way he hesitated told her that she was telegraphing her intent.

“I want to know where I am and why,” she said slowly. It
took a monumental effort not to scream and yell. She wanted to murder this
twerp.

“Of course,” he said.

“I am only being reasonable, I think.”

He came closer. He held out the cup to her lips as he neared.
She could smell his body and the food he had recently consumed. He smelled like
onions and grease, she decided. She sipped the water he offered. The water was
tepid. Nevertheless, it was a delight as it wet her mouth and throat. She felt
her empty stomach clench in response.
When was the last time I ate?
She
wondered.

She looked over the rim of the cup. He was watching her
drink with his mouth open, carefully trying not to spill the water. She lifted
her chin and pushed the cup away with her lips to signal that she had enough. It
was all she could do to stop herself from darting forward and biting his
fingers.

“There. Is that better?”

She turned her head and looked at him askance.

“You actually care how I feel? I don’t know, Gary. It seems
to me this would be an awful way to get a woman in bed. A little too kinky for
me.”

Gary blushed.

“It’s not like that. You are a patient.”

“A patient that needs to be strapped to a chair? I think you
are mixing up your sexual fantasies Gary. Either you want the nurse and patient
or you want the bondage.”

He shook his head.

Gary was an easy target to wheedle. She understood that he
was strongly attracted to her and in some ways that left him vulnerable to her.
She had that advantage with many men. It gave her confidence and she always
managed to use her gifts to manipulate them. This usually gave her pleasure. Not
many men were immune to her raw animal magnetism and superior sexuality. Except
for Monday.

Monday!  Did he have something to do with this? As Gary
struggled with his desire and guilt, she tried to remember the last time she
had seen Jake.

She remembered a boat, a rough sweater, and rough waters. She
remembered enjoying the sun and the salt and the sight of Jake’s lean jaw and
easy demeanor. Where was that? When was that?

“Giselle, I need to tell you something.”

She shook her head and tried to shrug. It was difficult to
pull off with the effect she wanted since her arms and chest were strapped down.
All she managed was a little jerk of her narrow shoulders.

“I am a captive audience. Literally,” she said, her voice
dripping sarcasm and irony.

He sighed.

“Yeah. Well, see. For the past two years you have been
subjected to tests.”

“Like being in the company of fools like you?” she joked.

“You are a guinea pig. My guinea pig, to be exact. Others
have been indoctrinated as well. Most of the subjects do not respond well to
the drugs. Or maybe it is the psychological strain or a rejection of the binary
codes...”

“Wait. You are babbling. Drugs? Psychological strain? What
are you trying to tell me, Gary?”

He shrugged and sighed.

“Something that I have told you now forty-five times in two
years. Mostly out of guilt.” Gary looked back toward the door and lowered his
voice. “To be honest, I am beginning to suspect that my apologies played a part
in your rogue behavior.”

“Oh, darling, you have not begun to see rogue behavior. Let
me out of this chair and I will show you,” she said. Her voice was calm and a
devilish grin spread across her face as she imagined her nails sinking into
Gary’s eyes.

“I understand your anger and frustration. It is out of
character for you. You are usually calculating and cold, manipulative and
distant. The programing is changing your personality slowly but perceptibly. I
have noted this in my reports and I am preparing a study designed to document
this phenomenon,” he shrugged and shook his head, a look of disappointment
painted across his forehead. “Not that it matters. I just want to say to you
that all that I do here I do for science. Not for some political reason. Not
for the Consortium. Not even for me, really. What you are becoming is an act of
science.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about, Gary. Frankly, I
don’t care. You can apologize or make your confessional, say your Hail Mary’s,
or throw yourself on a sword for all I care. Just. Get. Me. Out.”

“I would love to, actually. You are essentially the third
subject we recruited and the first to be indoctrinated in the second wave. That
makes you special. But, your subconscious has rejected something in your
programming. We cannot find its source. My colleagues believe you have been
cross-programmed and the psychological scarring is rejecting subsets of the
code we implanted. Codes that are at the core of the control we have over your
memories and your emotions.”

“What the Hell are you saying?”

He blinked rapidly and hugged the clipboard across his chest.
His eyes were flitting around the room like he was trying to decide how to
respond.

“Are you high?” she asked.

“Of course not. It’s just that the outburst just now is
another side effect, you see? You are normally calm. Almost placid, really. You
have not been the same since we asked you to kill Jake.”

“Me? Kill Jake Monday?” She almost laughed out loud.

Gary nodded sadly.

“He was resisting the programming. He would go off the grid
for days. The only thing that worked was the memory scour. The drugs only made
his instincts more acute. His abilities were off the charts.”

“I would have liked to witness that,” she quipped.

Gary gave her a disapproving look.

“Perhaps this is why it failed. You were attracted to him. We
thought it would be the other way around.”

“If Jake was a subject as well, then why did you want him
killed?”

Gary smirked.

“We needed a test. We needed to see if we could program one
subject to kill and the other to save. In our computer simulations, the
diagnosis was that the murderer would prevail. Of course, it would change
everything. Then, New Year’s Day happens and our study is broken.”

“How does Sinegem fit into this?”

“This was your father’s idea. He wanted to take hostile
corporate mergers and acquisitions to another level. Part of your success came
from the ruthlessness and cold calculation that we programmed into you. It was
part of your original DNA and experience, but we honed it and made it sharper,
made you almost a machine. You were your father’s pride and joy, a perfect
weapon in corporate espionage.”

“Glad to know I could finally please Eilif. But, what I do
not understand is that you said you have apologized to me over forty times,”
she said, looking down at her straps and the chair. “Am I always strapped in
here when you apologize?”

“It is for your own safety. I am afraid some of the mental
probes and cortex stimulations send the subjects into uncontrollable physical
gyrations due to overstimulation and innervation of the brain stem. Besides,
the restraints come in handy during the psychological deconstruction. Early
subjects were left unrestrained and managed self-strangulation and other
physical attacks.”

“Yeah. I could see that happening,” she said testily.

He looked at his watch.

“I am afraid our time is up. As you have probably already
deduced, you will not be able to remember any of this.” Gary rested the
clipboard on the table and she noted a red “X” at the top of the page. He
leaned closer to her and his voice became a whisper. “I have been asked to
terminate you, Giselle,” he admitted. He checked the doorway again. “They will
never know that I saved you instead. Your father has compensated me for my
loyalty already. I have no need for a world without a government, without
money, without hope.”

Her mouth was dry again. Dry from fear. She felt her lips
part and watched as Gary’s eyes searched hers.

“I love you, Giselle. I always have. I want you to know, I
have never taken advantage of you,” he said, his breathing ragged. She felt his
body against her knee.

“Alright. Good to know. What are you planning to do, Gary?”

He sighed and stepped back, obviously conflicted.

“Die, probably. The only subjects left for me to study are
Lars and Violet. They are off the grid. They have been ever since Jake escaped.
I tried to get Jake to eliminate them and he resisted. They are in Colorado
somewhere now. And they are aware of the programming. It was a mistake to allow
them to become so close. I see that now.”

“Who are Lars and Violet? I don’t understand, Gary. Help me
to understand.”

Gary looked at her as though she were a botched experiment. A
mixture of disappointment and remorse was displayed in his gaze.

“I am sorry Giselle. You are a failed experiment. You are my
failure though,” he came forward again, his eyes brimming with tears. He took
her hands in his and kneaded her knuckles. He looked up at her again. “You are
so perfect,” he said, swallowing.

She shook her head.

“No.”

“I will not hurt you,” he said. “They will take my research
and create an army of assassins, spies, and media plants. They can take my
research. They can collect Lars and Violet. They can even hunt down Monday and
kill him for all I care. But, they cannot have you.”

His jaw worked and Giselle could see that he was emotionally
unstable. This did not come as a surprise.

“Who will take your research?” she asked. “Is my father behind
this, too?”

He smiled sadly and shook his head.

“No. I have to do this now. Please forgive me. I am only
protecting you.”

She tried to stall.

“I have to know who is responsible. After doing this to me,
you owe me at least that much!” she pleaded. She thought about bringing up the
crying ploy but she was aware that he would see through the ruse. He evidently
knew her techniques.

He looked at her thoughtfully. She could see now that he was
truly insane.

“You have met him once, you know? In France. You came back
and told me all about him. It was the first time I had heard of him, although
you did not tell me his name. He is the one that has suddenly changed this game
we have been playing.”

She shook her head, not recalling the man of which he spoke.

“I don’t know who you mean. I...” Gary put a finger to her
lips. His finger was soft, his touch gentle. She could feel him recoil when he
touched her.

“Shh. You will not remember that. I erased it from your
memory.” His face bore the signs of worry and regret. “He will over reach his
goal. Do not worry. He thinks he is invulnerable. He is powerful, to be sure.” He
bit his lower lip and closed his eyes. “I want to repay him for shutting down
my lab and asking for your termination. I cannot forgive or forget that.”

“But, what if they find out?”

He shook his head.

“They do not know how I feel about you. And Eilif has
assured me that he can hide you away easily enough. You will recover soon. I
will come to you and help to erase some of the programming. Then, you will be
free.”

“Why not now? Let me out and we can be together. We can run
away and my father will protect us. He can hide us both away,” she suggested,
her voice a rush with the intensity of her effort.