章節 24: Have You Lost It?

"I am on the ground floor now, Zak. Where did he say the dining room is?" Lillian pursed her lips together and spoke into the phone's speaker. She was standing right outside the elevator doors, waiting for the program to give her a response.

It had barely taken her half an hour to bathe and change into a fresh pair of clothes. She was shocked to see the number of clothes which were shoved into the built-in closet. At the same time, she was glad to see that none of the clothes were too revealing and were decent enough for her to walk around the base in them.

The decision of staying back there wasn't an easy one for her to make. She didn't want to spend her life stuck in an orphanage where she would have to follow the same routine every day while keeping her spirits high. Just like the rest of the lot, she would have spent her days thinking that one day an elderly couple might arrive and adopt her as her own.

She also had the chance to just say yes and he would have been the one arranging for a family for her, one which would love her as her own. It was tempting enough for her to agree with him. She knew it would have only taken a single yes from her side, but she couldn't bring herself to do so.

Her heart wasn't satisfied with the idea of her spending her life peacefully while someone else did her job. It was only right on her part to look for the people behind her abduction, or at the least help the man in doing so. It was only fair.

"He didn't, Miss." Zak's voice came through the other end of the phone. She was holding it close to her ear as she waited for his reply.

"He should have." She frowned as she took a pause. "Can you guide me to the dining room, please? I am famished."

"Sure, Miss." Zak replied in his same dull voice.

She nodded her head as she recalled the programs saying that he will keep an eye on her even when she is out of the room. Though she did realize that Zak was merely whispering next to her ear through the phone, she was still wondering as to why it was conversing with her since it wasn't allowed to do that outside of the room.

"It's done." She heard the same robotic voice once again as the phone's screen changed to a black and white map of the ground floor. "Sorry, it took me some time to find a simple one for you. The red blinking dot is you. You can just follow the green line. If the path turns red, it means that you are straying away from the right corridor."

"Thanks, Zak." She mumbled and did as she was asked to.

'Was Zak looking down on my intelligence when he said that he was looking for a simple map?' She thought to herself and frowned. She wanted to confirm her doubts, but decided to keep her mouth shut for the time being. She had had a first hand experience earlier of how cheek the program can be. She wondered who designed it.

Five minutes later, she found herself standing in the doorway of a wide hall. The room was brightly lit despite it being the noon time. But it was rational since she had found no window so far which opened to the outside, allowing natural light to warm up the place. She wondered why.

"You must be Lillian." A female voice was heard which pulled her attention to her right.

Her eyes landed on a woman's figure who was clad in a black uniform just like the men from the previous day, only hers was tailored to fit her body. She was holding a lollipop close to her mouth, her lips curled up in a mocking smile.

"Yes?" Lillian mumbled softly as she eyed stared at the woman in confusion. She couldn't recall seeing her before. Not that she had met everyone in this building, but she assumed that there were only men here. It looked like she was wrong.

"Almost everyone's talking about you. You are like a celebrity of the base." The woman hissed, her lips curling up in a sinister smile.

Lillian just stared back at the woman, utterly lost. She saw the lady sticking her tongue out as she licked the side of the lollip. Her eyes never rested as she eyed Lillian from head to toe.

"I don't think that I know you, Miss." Lillian spoke up politely. "And I have no idea what you are talking about."

"You will understand it soon enough, little lady. May I ask what you are doing down here?" The woman asked.

"I was supposed to have my breakfast, but it looks like I have missed it." Lillian replied as she moved her eyes to the empty wooden tables which were lined along the length of the hall. "I will just wait for lunch to be served. She added, turning her attention back to the woman.

"Have you lost it?" The woman scoffed. "You'll get the chefs of this place killed like this. Just go to the kitchen and ask for your breakfast." She shook her head seeing the girl so clueless about how the place ran.

Due to the weird hours of their training and missions which were assigned to each of them, everyone of them had their own schedule and routine. For the same reason, the kitchen was ordered to be stacked with food all the time. This was the only leniency which the Boss had bestowed on them.

"Umm…" Lillian scratched the back of her head and meekly thanked her for her help. "Thank you for your help, Miss."

The woman just nodded her head before sticking the lollipop in her mouth. Before Lillian could say anything else, she walked out of the dining hall without looking back for even once.