Young Writers Society

Aurora looked up from her jigsaw puzzle as Haldane's tutting got louder. They were the only two in the small, low-ceilinged room. It had smooth grey walls and a white linoleum floor. Aurora preferred the soft carpet of the zoo's lounge, but at least it wasn't metal like the others had to put up with. She looked up at the screen Haldane's screwed up eyes were directed towards, a small flatscreen mounted high up one wall, at her friends asleep on that cold metal with its tight-knit pattern of bumps.

Except they weren't all asleep. Chip was standing, Aurora could see in the clinical, light green of night-vision footage. He raised his hand slowly, and before long had approached another figure. This one Aurora hadn't noticed enter the room, but she saw now that it was MacLean.

"What's the matter, Miss Haldane?" Aurora called up.

Haldane glanced down at her and rolled here eyes. "Seriously, Aurora, can you concentrate on nothing?"

Aurora looked down at her jigsaw puzzle. "Well, you wanted to know if I think like a human... humans get distracted, right?"

Haldane shook her head with a sigh. "Well, maybe you can focus on this. Come watch the screen and let me know if your headset beeps."

Aurora glanced upwards at the rim of the big clunky metal dish that sat lopsided on her head. It was measuring something to do with brainwaves, and it hurt when it tried to modify them. She did her best to concentrate on the screen. There was no sound, which was odd.

"Okay, well, that's Chip," Aurora said, "And that's MacLean. They're... chatting?"

"Yes, well observed," Haldane said. But something in the way she left that hanging in the air for a moment told Aurora this was more of Haldane's truly biting sarcasm. Haldane went on, "She was only meant to go in to check on them. Normally Fred Crothers does it, but it's his night off. Now, Aurora, what do you see?"

Aurora stretched her neck as far as she could, but she was still miles away from the screen. She wasn't Chip; her hind legs weren't her friends. She screwed her eyes up and mentally zoomed in as far as she could on MacLean, who was crouching down very close to Chip. Her lips were curled up in an ugly, nasty way, and her words were coming out slow, as if she had to force each one painfully past her lips. It was like she was spitting them.

"She looks like she's saying some very mean things to my friend," Aurora muttered.

Haldane nodded. "And that's my problem. I don't need another Crothers going in and breaking the audio of the CCTV just to verbally abuse my test subjects."

Aurora trembled at the thought of Crothers, the glee in his eye as he turned the dials on her headset up higher and higher, so that her brainwaves got clearer and clearer on the display on the side. That hurt too. But it wasn't like Haldane had ever put much effort into stopping him.

"I'm going to turn the sound up," Haldane said. "Just to see if the CCTV only got turned way down, instead of malfunctioning entirely.”

As the volume increased, unfortunately, MacLean had just opened the door to leave the room.

What Aurora did hear was MacLean’s footsteps, right then, a ways away down the corridor, swiftly approaching. Haldane looked down at her and pointed stiffly towards the puzzle, then stalked out the room. For a moment, Aurora considered doing what she was told, but remembered again that they were trying to figure out if she thought like a human, and it wasn't as if humans ever did what they were told.

She padded forward as quietly as she could on her big soft paws until she was right up against the thick wooden door. She wondered if Haldane could see where she ought to have been from the little window about two thirds of the way up, but at the very least Aurora was far too low for her actual whereabouts to be spotted.

Haldane had already begun berating MacLean. "I'd fire him if I could one of these days, but you and I both know I'd have to pay him off to get rid of him. And I'd have to pay a lot. I'm talking half the worth of this entire place."

MacLean sighed loudly. "Look, I don't like the guy either. But what does this have to do with me?"

Haldane scoffed. "Oh, come on. Going in there just to antagonise the poor monkey? Frederick all over. You don't have to be him just because you want his job."

MacLean was silent for a moment, and when she did speak it was quiet, almost stuttering. "I, um... yes. I just, I would give anything for what he has. Is it - I mean - I think it's fair. Fair to assume that I'd have to prove I'm tough. You know, not going to be stopped by - by cute faces?"

"You wouldn't have made it anywhere near this far if cute faces could stop you doing your job!" Haldane snapped. "We both know that! Go check on Aurora, now! And I don't want to see any more of that needless aggression."

Aurora sat there smiling for a moment, wondering if maybe Haldane wasn't all that bad. But then MacLean's footsteps snapped her out of it and she sprang away from the door, back to the jigsaw puzzle. As the door swung slowly open, Aurora realised that this jigsaw was actually the most interesting thing she'd ever seen and she couldn't possibly look up from it to see who had come in.

"Good evening, Aurora," MacLean said.

Aurora sighed, wondering if she'd even slightly fooled MacLean with her puzzle fascination. She looked up. "Hi, Tracy. How can I help you? Should I start running just now or...? I'm currently trying staying up all night to see how my sleep cycle compares with a human's so I have all the time in the world to run."

Aurora winced as she heard how bitter her voice came out, but MacLean was the one modelling herself on her tormentor. What, was she trying to make up for keeping Aurora's secret before? Trying to prove to the company she had what it took? Pathetic.

MacLean gingerly eased the door shut, her body stiff with tension until it finally clicked closed. Then she spun round to Aurora and whispered, "I don't have much time. And I don't think trying to look like I'm threatening you is going to get anywhere this time. Take this, film what happens to you, and Patrick and I will take care of the rest."

She rushed forward to Aurora and slid a tiny black disc under the lid of her jigsaw puzzle. Then she moved the pieces back and forth around the big wooden board Aurora had been building on, which Aurora supposed probably was what someone would do if they were checking a jigsaw puzzle was functioning properly.

Her jaw was still hanging open as a moment later MacLean shot to her feet and nodded curtly at her, then strode out the door. Aurora had no idea if her brain chemistry worked like a human's, but she hoped to God that she made more sense than one.