Extroperfect: Eight's Beginning

Extroperfect: Eight’s Beginning

By

Allen Hudson

Notice

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are entirely fictitious. Any resemblance to persons, events or locations is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2019 by Allen Hudson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission of the copyright owner(s) except for the use of quotations in a book review.

Edition: First Edition November 2019

ISBN(e-book): 978-1-79471-663-6

Published by Lulu

lulu.com

Author e-mail for business inquires:

AllenHudsonBusiness@gmail.com

Extroperfect Map:

*Wings E, F, G, H, M & L require travelling through stairways and hallways to gain entry to main wings.

Wing A: Class A Men’s Dormitory

Wing B: Class A Women’s Dormitory

Wing C: Class B Men’s Dormitory

Wing D: Class B Women’s Dormitory

Wing E: Class C Men’s Dormitory

Wing F: Class C Women’s Dormitory

Wing G: Class D Men’s Dormitory

Wing H: Class D Women’s Dormitory

Wing I: Class E Men’s Dormitory

Wing J: Class E Women’s Dormitory

Wing K: Under Maintenance

Wing L: Class F Dormitory

Wing M: Class G Dormitory

Wing P: Medical Care

Wing Q: 24 Hr. Emergency Medical Care

Wing R: Corporate Support Wing

Wing S: Tutoring Wing

Wing T: Undisclosed

Wing U: Evaluation Room

Wing V: Game Wing

Wing W: Extroperfect Store

Wing X: Corporate Wing

Wing Y: Education Wing

Wing Z: Conference Area & Visitor’s Hotel

From the Extroperfect Brochure

Extroperfect Mission Statement

Extroperfect 3.1 is focused on servicing our clients with therapy through specialized therapy and processes. We are committed to using the most advanced A.I. on the market while utilizing the newest studies in human behavior and childhood development. Extroperfect creates a safe haven for our clients until they have fulfilled our evaluation criteria.

Extroperfect Hierarchy

As Extroperfect fills its low-skilled, entry-level administrative and sales roles with clients to achieve low operating cost, the simplest hierarchy of Extroperfect employees is as follows:

Chief Executive Officer

Executive Officers

Directors

Clients

About Us

Extroperfect Corporate is overseen by the federal government. Chief Executive Officer William Green has led Extroperfect for eight months and has overseen the conversion from Extroperfect 1.0 to versions 2.0 and 3.0. He has implemented various new controls over Extroperfect, adding 24-hour care to the state-of-the-art medical center. Under President Green’s care, Extroperfect has accelerated its recovery time by 3% while increasing public approval ratings by 10%. Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President Opal Chance has reduced operating costs by almost 5% in her first year at the company, and she has personally overseen training in client awareness programs.

Why Extroperfect?

Our program is like a family. We treat our clients like they are our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. Extroperfect keeps their facilities in low staff-to-client ratios to keep a personal feeling. All our directors and staff are trained in 90-day courses on how to best service our customers, and they must take a 30-day refresher course every year to keep educated on the latest in behavioral therapies. We strive to have every customer satisfied with our specialized services. Enroll your family member today; government subsidies and donor-funded scholarships may make the program cost nothing to you and your family!

I

Welcome to a whole new you!

We’re here to help. We’re here to restore you to what you should have been. The educational system doesn’t work to socialize everyone. Researchers in 2050 found that almost 2% of students leave the educational system without the social skills to operate in society.

We’re here to help. Our program is called Extroperfect! We’re ready to make you into the proper individuals in society. Most of our clients only go through therapy for less than a year. You’ll be excited to see where our program takes you. Before you know it, you’ll be laughing through life with more friends than you know what to do with!

I stared up at the screen. My vision was a little fuzzy. I could make out the words on the screen, and the voiceover sounded clear as crystal. Everything else around me gradually filled in, and I was able to perfectly see my surroundings in the next few seconds.

The room looked old, but the technology was new. The linoleum floor had moldy spots in the corners, and the paneling was cracked and splintered in many places. The screens giving the message were dusted and cleaned; not one finger print or water mark smudged that plastic. There were no windows in the room, but there was one steel door.

Four other people were in the room. All of them looked groggy and tired like me. They were sizing up their surroundings.

That was when a group of people entered. Five people in uniform made a crooked pentagon shape around a central figure. The five in uniform wore black pants and a gray dress shirt. The dress shirt had Extroperfect embroidered under the single pocket on the shirts. They had leather belts with bats and a leather pouch attached.

The central figure was the strangest. The woman wore such heavy makeup that she hardly looked human. Her tiny face and ivory foundation made her appear doll-like. Her eyebrows were drawn in black, and her eyeshadow glimmered a dandelion yellow. Her chin rested high up, and she gave off airs of importance and prestige. Her brown hair was curled all the way down to her shoulders.

The woman began to clap. Her squad joined her, banging their hands together loudly. When the applause stopped, the squad put their right hands up in a salute. They put their other hand over their heart.

Welcome, I am so happy that you chose us to help you through this process, the woman said. My name is Daffodil, and I’m a director of Extroperfect. We’re here to help! Now, our staff will sort you into your respective rooms. I’m sure all of you will do well. My staff members will help you get situated. Best of luck to recovery! She gave a bright smile, then left the room.

One staff member approached me. What’s your name? He pulled out a tablet computer and started typing information into forms.

Uh, I think it’s….

I stopped myself. I heard the person next to me say that they couldn’t remember their name. Perhaps it would be best to play dumb.

I stared at the ground, trying to recall my name. It’s on the tip of my tongue. I sighed. I don’t remember.

Very well, the interrogator said. We’ll call you Eight. He quickly typed in a few letters. What’s your hometown?

Honestly, I didn’t remember. My name had come back to me easily, because it was familiar. Few other things did. I didn’t remember how many siblings I had, and I didn’t remember how old I was. I must have had amnesia. I don’t remember that either. I don’t remember much about myself in general.

Good, the chemicals worked, the interrogator said. Now, do you feel any discomfort? He waved his index finger back and forth in front of my face. Any physical injuries from the trip over? We already know about your pre-existing conditions.

I’m very tired and feel like I could fall over any time.

Yeah, that’s normal. Well, I’ll take you to Wing C. It’s the men’s dorm for Group B.

I looked around me. The four who had been with me had varying reactions. One of them had tried to fight, and the interrogator had him in a headlock. Another one of them shook uncontrollably as if suffering a minor anxiety attack. The other two seemed to be talking calmly.

The interrogator tugged at my sleeve. Come on. The sooner we get you checked in, the sooner this will start making sense. He stopped suddenly. Unless I’m making you uncomfortable. Do you not trust me?

Oh, continue on, I said. I’m following right behind.

Hmm, the interrogator sounded. Looks like we’re going to Wing E. Men’s dorm for Group C.

As we walked down blank hallways with white walls and white tiles, the staff member questioned me about things. What did I think of the hallway? How was I feeling about the whole experience? Was I worried about where I was? What did I think of Daffodil? He bombarded me with so many questions that I had difficulty finding answers. The interrogation went on throughout the halls, and the staff member made notes of what I said in his tablet computer.

I wondered how long these halls went on. It seemed like the staff member had taken me in circles to confuse me. I’d seen the same room at least three times over the journey.

Eventually, we went down a hall with a door at the end. The white door read: Wing G: Men’s; Group D.

Group D now? I asked. That’s still a passing grade, right?

Yes, of course it is, the interrogator said. We just group people as we observe them. I feel that your therapy will be best with the rest of Group D. He pulled a card key from pocket and handed it to me. Here, it’s your room card key. The room number is on it. Everyone in there should help you out. Off you go. Though I wasn’t resisting, he took my arm and forced me into the room.

I walked into the room, and the door made a locking sound when it closed.

The first room in the wing looked like a living area. There were three couches along the walls. To the left, there was a hall and an office space next to the hall. No one sat in the office, but a couple of people sat on the couches talking.

Oh, you must be Eight, one of them said. I’m Wade, and that’s Cloak. How did you manage to get sorted into Group D without a name?

I remembered my name, I said. But Eight works fine. He was going to put me in Group B first.

Oh, that’s unlucky, Wade said. Well, you’ll find your room down the hall. But I wouldn’t recommend spending much time in it. It looks good if you have a lot of words on your voice recorder.

Voice recorder?

Cloak tapped the chain around his neck. Instead of a jewel or other adornment, there was a micro-sized black device in the middle. It tracks how many words you use. They think, if you use a lot of words, you are more social and extroverted.

I’ve guessed that Extroperfect is some treatment for being quiet and introverted, I said. Am I right?

You’re right, Wade said. But—

A wailing scream sounded in the distance. I jumped in fright. Wade and Cloak seemed unfazed by it. They simply readjusted their resting position on the couch.

But you’ll see, Cloak said. If you have any questions, I guess we’ll answer them. It makes us look more social. His voice changed a robotic, insincere tone. If you attend all the activities, you’ll be out in no time. He gave the same cheesy smile that the staff had.

I nodded. There was only one way to figure out this place: experience. I walked down the halls. There were doors on the sides of the hall like a hotel had. They started at G1 and continued. G20 was on my card key. I made my way into a second sitting room. There was no one there. Another office area was off to the side of the room. I went past the sitting room and ventured into another hall. It was there where I found G20.

G20 looked like a cheap hotel room. The bed was big and took up most of the room. There were some flyers and bulletins on the end table. An empty minifridge and a desk were there. The carpet looked old, and the room had a musty smell. There was a small bathroom with white tile. The mirror in the bathroom wasn’t that big.

However, there were strange circles on the walls. They looked like they may open for something. I wasn’t sure, and they weren’t in my power to open. The only switch in the room was for the lights.

I sat on the bed and took out a brochure. On the front, the Extroperfect logo was placed over a group of smiling people in a park. On the inside of the brochure, there was a lonely person on one side of the flap and a smiling person on the other side. On the back, there was a bunch of information about how to apply for a family member today.

So, a family member must have put me here. If I found out who, I would destroy them. It could have been my mother. It could have been my grandmother. It could have been anyone.

As I was sitting there for a while, I started hearing a beep. The intervals between beeps became less as time passed. I was eventually able to locate it. There was a chain around my neck, and the micro-sized black device. Cloak and Wade thought it was a voice recorder. That was as likely as anything else.

The device spoke to me through a poor-sounding speaker. WARNING: TWO UNIQUE VOICE IDENTIFIERS MUST BE HEARD TO AVOID PENALTY!

I ran out of the room quickly, my heart racing. I was in a new place, and I would obey anything a computerized voice told me. I found Wade and Cloak in their same place. Wade spoke directly into the black device, and it stopped beeping.

Thank goodness, I said as I fell back one of the couches. Relief flooded over me. I felt my tense muscles relax.

Yeah, we take shifts out here in case someone needs two voices, Wade said. It’s Cloak’s shift, but I’m keeping him company. It’s good practice for the cameras.

I looked around. In the corners of the room, there were cameras pointed at different spots of the room.