20. Priority

                                    

                                          
I didn't recognise the lab. It was different from how I remembered it being. It was brighter, more makeshift than it was designed to be, more than it had been before. 
                          
Fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling at irregularly spaced intervals, illuminating the workbenches below. There were people that I didn't recognise, most of whom I'd never seen before and some whose faces were only familiar at a glance. 
                          
They all worked, huddled over their benches, not paying attention to the new individual who was being led through their workspace with Pilot following close behind. 
                          
Mike led me to the back of the room, where a separate office area had been set up. It was cramped, like everything else in EDIN but somehow, they'd made it work.
                          
"What is this?" I asked Mike who seemed to be hiding his excitement as he stood in the middle of the room. There was a white desk and two chairs on either side of it.
                          
"I think you knew this was coming, Ben, but we need some samples," he replied, glancing behind me to Pilot. "You can leave us now."
                          
Pilot shifted but finally nodded, glaring down at me. "I'm still watching."
                          
I mimicked a halo on top of my head. "Best behaviour."
                          
The door clicked shut as Pilot stepped out of the room but it didn't make me feel any more comfortable. Chris had already been sent away back to the room until further instruction. 
                          
For now, I was on my own. 
                          
A second after Pilot had disappeared, the door opened again except this time Julia crossed the threshold and closed it behind her. She smiled but ducked her head guiltily as she maneuvered herself to the corner of the room.
                          
"Sorry I'm late," she raised an apologetic hand before she began rummaging through the drawers of the desk.
                          
Mike turned to face me, pulling over a tray of needles and syringes. The metal tools clattered against each other and the sound was enough to put me on edge. I'd started to think that they hadn't let Chris come along for a reason.
                          
"You're not going to like the sound of this, Ben," he said. 
                          
"What is it?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
                          
"We need to make sure you're immune to the Infection."
                          
I rolled my eyes. "Fantastic." There was a pause when Mike's expression didn't change. "Wait... You just need a blood sample, right?" 
                          
Mike pushed out his bottom lip and Julia remained silent. "We could do it that way..."
                          
"Or?" I pushed. "What's the other way?" 
                          
"Well..."
                          
Julia moved towards the tray of medical equipment as Mike met my eyes. 
                          
"You're kidding, right?" I tried to shrug off the anxiety that had begun to creep in with the realisation of what I'd been led into. "What happened to normal procedures?" 
                          
Mike directed me to sit in one of the chairs and I followed with unease. Julia seemed to step into action with my compliance. She pulled a strap around my arm, a blood pressure monitor. She pressed down on the Velcro and took a step back. Her hands were covered by a pair of blue gloves which I hadn't even seen her put on. 
                          
"Mike, come on," I tried to plead while failing to hide the agitation that had crept into my voice. "Is this really necessary? I'm sure a blood test would suffice."
                          
There was a pause and almost a look of sympathy in his pupils but it was gone quicker than it had appeared, like a flash of lightning on a dark night.