Arrival and the Lecture Hall

6:45 PM

Kelly woke as the car popped over a bump. She opened her eyes and could see them pulling inside what looked like an indoor parking garage. It looked a bit different than others she'd seen. This one had a 15-foot ceiling and a concrete floor with painted parking spots. It looked to her like someone had taken an old warehouse and converted it for parking. Meredith pulled into a spot on the far side near a set of double doors. She looked over her shoulder to tell the brunette they'd arrived and just smiled as she saw Kelly awake and sitting up. "Welcome to the complex!" the blonde said cheerily. "This is where we rent a bit of room for active cognitive training. I know it doesn't look like much but the rent is very reasonable." Meredith offered matter of factly. "Come on" the blonde coaxed as she unbelted and climbed out of the car. Kelly yawned once more and did the same, ready to get started on her therapy.

Meredith pulled out her cell phone, input the code and the double doors opened of their own accord. The ladies stepped through the entryway and started walking down a long corridor. Kelly looked around the boring hallway and seeing only a couple of side doors leading down to what appeared to be an elevator. Another couple of button pushes on the phone triggered the big metal elevator doors to slide open and they entered. The walls inside the lift appeared to be stainless steel with a wooden rail waist high for passengers to hold on to. The blonde worked her phone again and the doors shut. Kelly could feel the elevator moving but wasn't sure which direction. She pulled her own phone out but got no service. The girl looked over at the secretary who smiled and said "Yes. Cell access is very hit and miss here sadly. Thankfully I can use the building wifi and my token app to control the doors and such. We're almost there, just a couple more minutes". The blonde smiled as she spoke, calming the coed's nerves a bit.

6:50 PM

They stepped out of the elevator into another bland hall like the one from before. There were white walls with wood paneling and low pile brown carpeting on the floor. She saw several doors on the right side but they stopped at the only one on the left Kelly could see. Meredith pulled out her phone again and commanded it to open. The door swung inward to reveal a small office with a desk and several chairs. As they walked in, Dr. Valentine entered the room from a door to the side and greeted them. The doctor was wearing a boring gray pencil skirt and a white button-up dress shirt which struck Kelly as just too bland for a pretty Asian woman like the doctor but assumed it was just the professional dress code. She took both of the college girl's hands, looked her up and down for a second, and offered a wide grin. "Meredith you have worked wonders as normal!". The stylist smirked, "Remember that when you see the bill".

Dr. Valentine asked if Kelly would like a drink. "I'd love one. Maybe some fruit juice or just water if that's available" she replied hopefully. With that Meredith excused herself and went through the same door the doctor had entered by, returning a moment later with a glass of light brown liquid. "Apple juice" the secretary stated as she handed it to the brunette, then turned and left again. The doctor pointed to a seat and Kelly sat putting the glass on the edge of the desk. The therapist reached into a desk drawer, pulled out a pill bottle, and offered one to Kelly. "Just a light anti-anxiety medication dear. We'll start with a little, and as the session goes on I can adjust from there" the doctor said with a smile as the coed took the capsule and swallowed it down with the juice. "I doubt you'll even notice anything with so low a dosage," Valentine said matter of factly. "I have your presentation loaded on the computer and we'll be able to start soon. I just need you to remain here while I attend to the last few details. In the corner of the desk is the call box, if you need anything just hit the button and speak". The therapist took and squeezed the girl's hand for a second, "Don't worry sweetie. We're almost ready". She stood, smiled, and walked out through a different door leaving Kelly to stew for a bit. The coed passed the time going over the presentation that she'd loaded on her phone.

7:10 PM

Kelly heard a beep from the call box on the desk a split second before the doctor's voice. "Kelly? Please come in here, please. We are ready" the therapist quickly announced and she saw the door slowly open. The brunette walked into this new space and looked around. She saw a room that was about 10 x 20 feet. The side walls were plain white with no decorations of any sort. The closest and furthest ones appeared to be made of some sort of mirrored glass. The closest wall was covered in flat LCD screens starting from about waist high to the ceiling and the far one just had one large screen mounted off to her right that was about three foot by four foot. Under that screen was a raised platform with a desk and a podium on it. The desk had a pitcher of water and a glass on top. The rest of the room had three rows of folding chairs set up with four across bringing the total to twelve. It looked like a high tech mini-lecture hall to the nervous student.

The therapist handed the girl a remote. "Ok Kelly, this is the deal. You are going to give your presentation quite a few tries tonight from that desk and podium set up. The remote will control the slides on the big monitor up there. Your job is to just stay calm and complete your lecture successfully. I will introduce complications and such occasionally but you just need to stick to the material. At times things may happen that make no sense to you, seem unnecessary, or are very distracting. Keep in mind I am the expert and have scripted what will happen precisely. Do you understand"? Dr. Valentine said this with a commanding edge to her voice that seemed to demand obedience and Kelly nodded feeling the weight of her authority. "Good," the doctor said, "let's make sure you understand how the remote works". She led the coed up to the platform and they went over everything that the girl needed to successfully complete her work.