The Lab Remembers

The room was white, a camera in each corner, the table bolted to the floor, a steel door with no handle. Your typical interrogation room, she's worked in plenty of those. Though usually, Aria would be the one interviewing the subject. Not the one handcuffed to the table. 'This cannot be happening, I cannot believe that I'm going to die like this.' Horror stories have been whispered about this place. They never let anyone who has seen past the elevator down live. You either get employed by them or work for them, then you die hopefully it's not bloody. The door opened and Aria looked up to see two people enter the room, one in black tactical gear with a gun, the other a man in a lab coat holding a folder. He sat in the chair opposite her and flipped open the folder. "Dr. Aria Bell, Pharmaceutical Scientist. Specializing in paralytic and memory altering medicine. Employed by the Gemini Institute for..." he paused to flip to another page "6 years.." "7 years, I started there in 2007." She interrupted, the man looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. "I see..." He made a note and continued on, "Graduated from some university in the midwest with a 3.9 GPA, Doctorate in Pharmacology and Masters in both Bioengineering and Chemistry." He looked up with a stone face, "Have we missed anything, Dr. Bell?" "No. You have the important information Mr...?" "My name in none of your concern. After the Gemini Institute was...bought out you and a few of your colleagues still came in to work. Why is that?" Aria raised an eyebrow, "Why? We didn't know, nobody told us that the Institute was going to be..bought out. It didn't help that your agents had our supervisors on the ground, dead." She glanced up at the individual with the gun, "Why am I here? I thought that when places were...bought out, everyone was killed." The man flipped a couple more pages into her folder, "Not everyone Doctor. Only the ones we don't have an interest in, your qualifications have promise here. As do a few of your colleagues, my employers would like it if you all came to join our Foundation." He looked up still stone faced, "Compensation, housing, healthcare, and more. All you have to do is continue with your work on memory serums with our researchers here." Aria blinked, they wanted her to work here. "A job?" "More like an eternal research opportunity. Unlike the ex-Gemini Institute, this isn't something you can walk out of." She noticed the tactical figure shift slightly. "Some of your ex-colleagues have refused, their loyalty was...admirable I must admit. But, misguided. Do not make the same mistake Doctor." He fell silent, Aria's head spun. If she stays, she can keep working on her research. If not... "How long do I have to decide?" She asked after a minute. "You have until I leave this room, then this Agent here will finish it." Heh, figures it would be a do or die thing. "Considerate, then again that's the nature of this stuff." For the first time the man gave a hint of a smile. "Indeed. Have you reached an answer, Doctor?" Aria nodded, "I have...when do I start?" "Immediately." He stood taking the file and watching as the Agent unlocked her handcuffs. "Someone will be with you shortly to begin your intake paperwork. Welcome to the Foundation Dr. Bell." The two left the room and the door closed with a click.