“We can bring you anything you like to keep you entertained.” That was the dark one with warm brown skin, black hair, and blacker eyes. He, too, looked like he’d rather poke his eyes out than actually speak to me.
“I want to go for a walk.”
“Can’t.” The red one.
“Treadmill, if you feel the need to move.”
Treadmill? “What’s that?”
They glanced at each other.
I could tell they weren’t related to each other, but they acted like Roran and Rilen.
“It’s an exercise machine that allows you to walk in place.”
“That sounds boring.”
The dark one—I thought his name was Crow—nodded. “Most people listen to music or watch TV while they’re on it.”
TV was interesting, but some of the things shown on it were unintelligent or…just strange. That didn’t interest me because if I watched television, I wanted to sit and watch it. Some of the documentaries were fascinating. They helped me understand this strange world.
“If I said yes to the treadmill, would you bring it here?”
“Those are the orders. You’re under guard here, in your room,” the red one answered, and I realized I couldn’t keep calling himthe red one. I wracked my brain for his name and finally came up with Phoenix.
“Then, please. And music? What do you have?”
Crow sneered. “I’ll bring you an iPod filled with all kinds of music. I suspect you’ll be all about the classical, but no reason not to try it all out.”
I nodded. “Please, then. I’m going stir crazy. And do you have books?”
“There’s a tablet—Oh.” Phoenix glowered. “I’ll show you how to use that while Crow gets your treadmill arranged.”
Crow nodded after they stared at each other in that creepy not-twins-but-super-close way. He walked off, and Phoenix backed me into the room.
Damn.
Phoenix spent the next half an hour showing me how to use the tablet and… I was fascinated.
“So you have all this information at your fingertips?”
“Yes, but just be careful when you’re reading anything historical. There’s a lot of misinformation out there, and some websites flat out lie.”
“Why… would they lie about history?”
He raised an eyebrow. “History belongs to the victor. It’s only in hindsight we discover the value of the conquered.”
How many victors did this world have? We had landed in the middle of a war, so it made me think there were many conflicts.
“Well, I would just like to read some books.”
He tapped on the screen, on what looked like a little tree, and a whole little library appeared. “These are all the books on this device. You can search for more if you like, by category.”
The door opened, and Rilen and Roran walked in, ahead of a crew of maintenance men with Crow.
A few gestures and the men were dropping something in the corner, doing things—hooking it up?—and they were on their way.
Crow held out a device to Rilen. “You know how to use this?”
