// THE LABORATORY //


I have no scratch-mark tallies to mark my days in captivity.

I have only the bing-bong tone that warns me of an impending delivery of food. I think longingly for my window and the bright track the sun made across the sky to mark the passage of time.

I’ve lost count of the days. I wasn’t accustomed to counting. I could conjure the number if I focused, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to separate meaningless blocks of time.


Today’s meal is a sandwich. A sandwich and an apple.

I did not like eating apples. The uneven cut of my teeth against the flesh of the apple reminds me of the snaggletooth grin I wear on my face day in and day out. There is no escaping that face, and even less so when I’m forced to rip apart a piece of fruit.

Like an animal.

AUTUMN

I’M SORRY TO SAY THAT THE DOCTOR WON’T BE AVAILABLE TODAY.

OR TOMORROW, FOR THAT MATTER.

KEVIN

WHY WON’T THE DOCTOR BE AVAILABLE TODAY?

AUTUMN

TODAY IS SATURDAY.

KEVIN

TOMORROW IS THE DAY OF REST.

YOU’RE TELLING ME THE DOCTOR TAKES OFF TWO DAYS A WEEK?

I THOUGHT THIS WAS HIS HOME.

AUTUMN

IT IS HIS HOME.

IT IS CUSTOMARY FOR MORTALS TO WORK MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.

THEY…TAKE THE OTHER TWO DAYS TO REST AND RECOOPERATE.

KEVIN

THEN WHY ARE YOU HERE?

AUTUMN

I TOOK OFF A FEW DAYS DURING THE WEEK.

KEVIN

I SEE.


She has increasingly seemed exasperated during our visits. Truth be told, I’d rather have busied myself talking against the Doctor, but if she was to be believed, that would not be an option for today.

AUTUMN

HAVE YOU BEEN ENJOYING YOURSELF IN THE LIBRARY?

KEVIN

I HAVE.

DO YOU?


I had named her Autumn Forte. I do not think she had ever stopped to tell me her birthname.

AUTUMN

THE DOCTOR’S LIBRARY IS MOSTLY FOR VISITING GUESTS AND –

KEVIN

PRISONERS?


She takes great pause, frustrated that I’ve interrupted her words.

AUTUMN

I WAS GOING TO SAY “SCHOLARS”.

KEVIN

“SCHOLARS”. CONVENIENT.

I SUPPOSE IT’S NOT EVERY DAY YOU HAVE A MONSTER COOPED UP IN YOUR BASEMENT.

AUTUMN

WE DON’T THINK YOU’RE A MONSTER, KEVIN.

KEVIN

THERE IS NO DEBATING THE TRUTH.

AUTUMN

I’M SORRY YOU FEEL THAT WAY.


Her manner of speech is careful yet unfeeling, like she were speaking to an irreverent child.

AUTUMN

IS IT JUST YOUR TEETH?


I consider baring my teeth to her but think better of it.

AUTUMN

THE DOCTOR MAY BE ABLE TO FIX YOUR TEETH, YOU KNOW.

HE’S CAPABLE OF FIXING A GREAT DEAL OF THINGS.

PLENTY OF MORTALS ARE BORN WITH CROOKED TEETH.

IT’S CONSIDERED A VERY MINOR BIRTH DEFECT.

KEVIN

“A BIRTH DEFECT”.

AUTUMN

YES. IT’S A TERM MORTALS USE TO DESCRIBE SMALL THINGS THAT MAY BE SLIGHTLY DEVIATED FROM THE NORMAL DISTRIBUTION OF REPRESENTATION.

LITTLE MORE THAN MOLES OR BIRTHMARKS IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS.

YOU’RE STILL ABLE TO CHEW AND DIGEST FOOD.

KEVIN

I JUST HAVE A FEW EXTRA CANINES TO GO AROUND.

AUTUMN

I’LL TALK TO THE DOCTOR ABOUT YOUR REQUEST.

KEVIN

I’VE MADE NO SUCH REQUEST.

AUTUMN

DO THEY PAIN YOU?

KEVIN

PAIN ME?


She tended to take a deep breath before launching into exposition.

AUTUMN

MORTALS CAN ALSO BE BORN WITH EXTRA TEETH, MORE THAN THEIR JAWS CAN HANDLE.

ALTHOUGH THEY’RE USUALLY A BACK SET OF MOLARS. THEY ERUPT FROM THE GUMS IN THE EARLY TWENTIES, A LITTLE EARLY FOR YOU BASED ON YOUR AGE, BUT –

PEOPLE OFTEN REPORT PAIN AND DISCOMFORT WHEN THESE TEETH BREAK FORTH FROM THE GUM.

KEVIN

I’VE HAD MY TEETH SINCE I WAS YOUNG.

THEY’VE NEVER HURT ME.

AUTUMN

YOU’RE LUCKY.

MY WISDOM TEETH HURT A GREAT DEAL WHEN THEY CAME IN.

KEVIN

I DON’T HAVE WISDOM TEETH.

THESE ARE MY TEETH. NOT AN EXTRA SET OF MOLARS.

AUTUMN

I’M NOT SAYING THEY’RE NOT YOUR TEETH.

JUST THAT THERE ARE A FEW MORE OF THEM THAN YOUR MOUTH CAN REASONABLY ACCOMMODATE.

KEVIN

IT’S NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS.


I would not speak in such a manner to my mother and father but I was not with my mother and father and so what did I care about feigning a genteel manner?

AUTUMN

I HAD MY WISDOM TEETH REMOVED.

PERHAPS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER –

KEVIN

I’M NOT GOING IN FOR BODY MODIFICATIONS.


The mood is somber with my refusal.

KEVIN

I SUPPOSE THIS MEANS NO VISIT TO THE LIBRARY TODAY.

AUTUMN

THE ROOM WON’T BE OPEN.

KEVIN

AND YOU DON’T HAVE A KEY?


I had the overwhelming sense that she could get the key easily if she so desired. But she was unwilling to do this for me.

AUTUMN

NO, I CAN’T OPEN THE DOOR.

KEVIN

SO WEEKENDS ARE TV TIME, THEN.

AUTUMN

IF THAT’S HOW YOU’D LIKE TO SPEND YOUR TIME.


Her blasé attitude suddenly struck a nerve.

KEVIN

HOW ELSE AM I TO SPEND MY TIME?


The cell bore no pen, no paper, no writing desk. I had no Sun by which to measure my days. There was nothing one might call a toy.

AUTUMN

THERE ARE A LOT OF CHANNELS ON THE TELEVISION.

KEVIN

NOT ENOUGH.

AND FAR TOO MANY COMMERCIALS.

AUTUMN

WELL, THAT WE CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT.

IT IS THE STANDARD FEED FOR THIS LOCATION.

KEVIN

WHERE AM I?

AUTUMN

YOU’RE IN NEW JERSEY.


I had never been outside Queens in all my life.

AUTUMN

WE CAME VIA THE G.W.B.


I was unfamiliar with the abbreviation.

KEVIN

EXCUSE ME?

AUTUMN

G.W.B.:

GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE.

YOU DON’T GET OUT MUCH, DO YOU?


I did not need the casual judgement. She was aware of my living arrangement before I had been taken captive. I took her commentary as some kind of cruel joke.

I did not know how she was aware, and it still puzzled me. Had they stared inside my window and seen me sitting upon my bed, reading, day in and day out?

Did they know my parents? Were my parents…famous?

KEVIN

ARE YOU A MORTAL?


She did not like my question but it was she who was locked in with me.

AUTUMN

I AM A MORTAL.

A MUNDANE, SOME OF YOUR KIND CALL US.


The word bore a smoother mouthfeel but it felt more insulting.

The power this woman wielded over me with her unseen keyring felt anything but mundane.

KEVIN

WHY ARE YOU HERE?

AUTUMN

I WORK FOR THE DOCTOR TRELAINE.


Suddenly, I had the feeling that we were both captives, in our own ways.