Love of a Thousand Colors

Episode 15

"Another dream of yours?" I asked and she nodded. A man stood behind an office desk saw us and made his way towards us.

The place hums with the busy noises from the line and welding machines while car parts are being assembled together. The smell of oil, steel, and fire filled my nose making the surreal situation more authentic this time. Workers and engineers got their hands busy with the production, not giving us any attention. Quality control staff sat on chairs and inspect each component carefully, then adjusting sections, every now and then if they found some imperfections. I saw a beautiful finished product at the end of the production line and a worker drives it outside to the warehouse.

The man looked at me and the girl, "Good thing you're already here. We have to ask you for the design of the eco sports car we asked you to make. Will you be able to do it now?" He asked very politely. The girl beside me nodded, looking very unhappy. He gave a bigger smile and tapped her on the shoulder. 

I studied her face and I saw a fleeting flash of anger. I was about to shoot a question when she grabbed the edge of a metal ladder from the wall, steadied it, and climbed up. She didn't even ask me to go with her, but I followed her nonetheless. I fear I might get hit with a crane or get burnt with molten steel or sparks from the assembly line. We're still casually dressed, so we are not at all safe from the dangers coming from this kind of environment. "Are you going to do it? I think this is not real, you know?" Subtly reminding her of our earlier ordeal.

She pulled out a netbook in between the hollow space under the desk. She opened a locker and pulled two protective suits and threw one at me. "I know the guy. He's not the same as the nameless teacher we dealt with," She opened a 3D rendering app and scrutinized her design. It was a beautiful dark green ocean color sports car, with several abstract golden waves on the side. She uploaded the file on a shared folder and hastily climbed down and walked briskly towards the guy who talked to us a while ago. From my angle, I could see the guy playing some games, then switching it to his email before we stepped into his work station.

If she knows the guy, then perhaps we can leave already and go our merry way. I mean she just got hospitalized, I'm sure she has to meet deadlines but they don't have to be too inconsiderate, do they? I'll ask her to contact her dad so he can fetch her and explain our sudden disappearance. I'll call Israel too and tell him what happened. He must be worried and might postpone his search for my sister. My eyes wander around, searching for this car plant's name and general location. There are no signages in sight. My hands held onto a railing and I stretched my neck looking for some company logo or any brand, but I got nothing.

"Hey, I uploaded it. Have you seen it?" She asked. She twitches her fingers underneath the guy's office table. She tries her best to look composed but she's definitely anxious to hear this person's feedback. I snickered and she glared at me.

The man gave her a surprised look, "You don't have to send it to me. Just forward it to the supervisor." He said, still maintaining that polite and cheery personality. He's all smiles but it looks shallow and pretentious to me.

"Alright," Was all she said and we went back to her computer and uploaded it to a different folder.

"Do you think you should contact your father and tell him that we're here? He must be worried sick." I told her, recalling how her old man emotionally suffered when he thought she's slipping away. But she said she'll do it later, once her design's got approved, then we can go home. She said it'll be easy peasy.

I conceded since her work is good enough to get a two thumb's up. She knocked on the plastic door twice and we heard the person inside telling us to come in. We entered the office with the smaller room space and there we were welcomed by a middle-aged guy with a protruding beer belly.

"My draft is done. What do you think?" She asked. She speaks warmly to this person, compared to the one inside the cubicle. Is it because he's of higher rank? That would suck, I mean. I dislike people who treat others base on their ranking.

He opened the file and clearly he's impressed. He asked if her immediate boss already checked it, she said he told her that she can go straight to him. The man became disappointed but didn't comment any further. The supervisor asked if it's possible to make readjustments in the interior so it could accommodate two passengers instead of one. That's one major modification, I might say. But the girl beside me didn't show any apprehension nor dismay, she accepted the task wholeheartedly.

"We have to contact your dad. Are you seriously going to do this now?!" I asked her. I only decided to help her because her dad's a mess and we escaped that dreaded exam facilitator. I added that my sister would be expecting me to rescue her and Israel is helping me do that. But she brushed my comments off and told me I have to wait. "No, we can't delay it anymore! If you won't contact your dad, I'm calling Israel!"

I can't believe how selfish she is. No wonder her dad is furious. She has her hands full but she forgot her family that greatly cares for her. I took out my phone and dialed Israel's number, it kept on ringing but there was no answer. I waited for him to answer while the girl is fixing and modifying the interior and exterior of the car so it can carry 3 people over. She works really fast. It's as if she has done this many times before. She is indeed a highly skilled person.

It's already 10 o'clock in the evening and we haven't eaten anything nor have taken a rest. It's surprising how this girl has the energy to do this stuff seeing that she looks lethargic and pale.

I wonder why Israel is unable to take my calls. After what seems hours of tinkering and outlining, she's now ready to resubmit her work. I sent many messages to Israel telling him that we're at the girl's automotive company. I added on the message to inform her father as well, adding that I'm now in good terms with her dad prior to our disappearance. The old man isn't so bad and just being a father. 'More details to follow', I ended.

She's now done and her eyes are drooping. I'm afraid she might pass out any time. Maybe there's a clinic and a nurse here on standby. I cross my fingers.

On our way to the supervisor's office, the girl's boss whistled and waved his hands to get our attention. I saw her clenching her fist and reluctantly comes over to her boss' desk.

"Did you make some changes with the design? Why didn't tell me before going to the supervisor's office?" He asked, making his disappointment very obvious. "Could you tell me what the revisions were and what's your new design looks like?" Her enthusiasm went down the drain and she slowly went back to her station to send the same file to her boss.

Once she's done, we get back to her boss and explained the changes made and he seems to disagree with most of them. She twitches her fingers again and hangs her head back the moment the man was't looking. It appears she won't be able to finish anytime soon. Her boss sent her away, still smiling but a little forceful on his instructions to apply the changes he recommended.

We went back to her space and she slumped her self on her desk. I gave her a look saying 'I told you so' and 'We should've left' but she's determined to do what's asked of her. I shook my head in disbelief. "I'll leave here, with or without you. Good luck trying to finish all that." I said. I climbed down and tried to ask the nearest worker for the exit. "Hello, can you show me where the exit is?" He ignored me and continued his work. I tapped his shoulder, hoping to get his attention, but he didn't bother answering or looking at me even for a second. I let out a sharp exhale. There's another guy a few feet from us and he's moving a wired machine towards the car's body to attach a door. I asked him the same question but he didn't answer. 'What's wrong with these people?!'

I turned around and accidentally bumped on a worker pulling an empty cart. I fell on my back and he ignored me. He nearly stepped on my leg before I was able to pull away and stand up. These people are despicable, I thought. But, what if...

My heart raced wildly in my chest, I stared at the girl going to and fro from her cubicle to her boss and supervisor's offices. The possibility that this is another illusion escaped from her gifted mind, again.

"This is a dream!" I shouted from the lower floor. "It's another nightmare! Gosh, why didn't I notice it sooner?" I said, but she continued doing her work. Now, how would I pull her away from this nightmare!

I went up to her office and boy, she looks tired. I think more exhausted than when she was taking that mountain of tests. I snapped my fingers in front of her face. She finally faced me and damn the dark circles around her eyes are getting darker and deeper. She's losing weight, too.

"Stop it! This place isn't real, the workers aren't real and so are those figures pretending to be your bosses," I shouted. It's not funny anymore. Why does it keep on happening? I thought we already found the cure and we solved her issue.

"Are you sure? Because that's how they really are in real life. I'm always torn between whom to follow and what to do. They are pretty real to me." She said, her voice sounds a bit hoarse. It's her fatigue catching up and her health failing.

I slammed my hand on the desk. "Are you dumb? Do you think they'd allow a stranger like me to be here? Are people suppose to ignore young girls working in places like this? Do you have to do your internship so late at night? Seriously?!" Should I slap her silly? Would that make her come back to her normal self?

Her window is filled with files of almost the same name. These are the files of all the work she has done and none has been finalized. I looked at her boss from afar and the office of her supervisor. There's another enclosed office there, but strangely though, nobody has come in or out of it yet. And the weird thing is that, despite the fact that it's lighted by a bright incandescent light, the lower half of the office is covered in darkness as can be seen from the opening of a small window.