Sammie left early for work this time. Thankfully she didn't run into anything strange or dangerous. She made it a half hour early to work and grabbed everyone's coffee orders, getting them ready asap.

Arin didn't say anything but she could tell he was pleased with the improvement.

He didn't have her cleaning anything today but instead, he had her proofreading his paperwork for him. It was a step up. As she read his papers, she was learning things and picking things up here and there.

The next few days were more or less the same.

Either cleaning or proofreading.

After a couple of weeks, she was everyone's favorite intern. She made quick friends with some of the other scientists and even though Arin was her boss, she could tell he was quickly warming up to her.

It was lunchtime when Sammie went to the cafeteria. She got everyone's orders including hers and delivered it to them. They each thanked her quietly and she was going to go sit at her own table with her own meal.

Until Arin cleared his throat, "Why don't you have a seat with us today?"

Sammie's heart jumped in her throat, "Really?!"

Arin closed his eyes, "Don't make me regret it"

Sammie shut her mouth and sat next to him with her own tray of food in hand.

Arin snorted, "I see you're finally taking advantage of the cafeteria, huh? Slices of steak and scallops? Knew we'd be rubbing off on ya"

Sammie just grinned and dug in.

One of the other scientists, Danny, motioned to Arin with a fork, "We still doing karaoke tonight with the girls?"

Arin scoffed, "Dude. . . You're blasting my image in front of the intern"

Danny just waved it off, "Pretty sure she already knows you're lame. Right, kid?"

Sammie gulped and chuckled nervously, "Who? Doctor Arin? Nah!"

Arin just stared at her, ". . . . that wasn't very convincing"

Sammie wanted to change the subject, "Anyway. . . ."

Another scientists, Courtney, snorted, "Nice save." she then addressed the others, "But seriously, it's gonna be the weekend! You need to relax a little Arin"

"Try telling the boss that" he sighed, "He's convinced he's found something"

Danny sighed, "About the eyeball again?"

Arin nodded. He was tired of that little green blob already, "Yes. The eyeball again"

"Found what?" Sammie asked, "Something that's connected to it? Like another sentient body part without a brain?"

"We really shouldn't be talking about this in front of the intern" Arin shut it down, "She doesn't have clearance"

Dan shrugged, "Everyone here knows about it. It's not a secret"

"Plus I've already seen it" Sammie pointed out, "What's the harm?"

"The harm is that I should have never shown you the damn thing in the first place" Arin admitted, "I honestly just wanted to scare you out of here but when I saw how fascinated you were by it instead. . . well, let's just say I realized I fucked up. What if you WERE scared by it and decided you didn't want to work here? You might tell other companies and people and boom! Our whole operation is blown and you're in jail"

Sammie blinked, "Wouldn't it all be your fault, though?"

"Who says I wouldn't ALSO be in jail?" he pointed out.

Sammie just shrugged, "Well. . .. it didn't turn out that way so there's nothing to worry about!"

Arin turned to her, "Just whatever you do, you cannot let the boss find out I did that. Got it? If you tell anyone else not sitting at this table, I'll take away your pay"

"Hey!" she whined.

Arin was serious and she groaned, "I wouldn't anyway! I don't even know what he looks like!"

Shayne, who had been quiet before eating his Salmon, put down his fork and sighed, "You don't even know . . . what the BOSS looks like? He's literally on TV all the time and on the side of buses"

Sammie shrugged, "I don't watch commercials at home. . . and I don't look at buses"

The table went quiet.

Danny cleared his throat, "So that conversation was awkward! Sammie, you wanna come out with us tonight for karaoke?"

She was flabbergasted, honestly, "What? Really? You sure?"

She looked to Arin for confirmation and he just shrugged, "I don't care"

Sammie grinned, "Then yeah! I'd love to! Where do you guys go for it?"

"It's here" Courtney answered her, "We have a little set up in Arin's private lab. Every other weekend night on payday we do karaoke. Arin and Danny's wives come, too. Oh and in case you didn't know, Shayne and I are married. Arin's wife is Suzy. She's in the anomaly division, too, but she deals with editing out public documents and footage. She usually eats lunch at her desk"

Arin nodded, "Yup"

Sammie actually did know that already but it was nice to know that they were all trusting her and treating her like a friend so soon.

She was excited for tonight.

The end of the day came fast and really, Sammie was pretty tired but she couldn't sleep! She had to stay awake for Karaoke night!

She found herself soon at Arin's private lab where they already were setting things up. Sammie greeted them all including Suzy and Dan's wife, Ashley.

The night very quickly turned into a big blur as they all started drinking.

They couldn't sing anymore so they decided to play a game instead.

Truth or Dare.

Arin had really loosened up with some beer in his system and was laughing, "Alright! Alright. . . Dan! I dare you. . . . to kiss Schneep's favorite coffee mug! Go to the break room right now and do it!"

"But how would you know if I did it?" he argued.

"Good point" Arin grabbed another beer, "Field trip"

"Baby no" Suzy groaned, "I think it's time for bed"

"What? It's only . . . two in the morning. It's fine. It's Saturday now, babe" he pecked her cheek.

"I'm sure Sammie's really tired and wants to get home" Suzy suggested.

Sammie snorted and giggled, "I'm just a little sleepy! I live across town but I forgot my bike! Are buses working right now? Do they work at nighty-night time?"

Shayne grinned, "Oh my god, she's plastered."

Courtney took her shoulder, "Maybe you should stay here for tonight, Sammie. That's why we have rooms here for ourselves in case we need them. You know where yours is?"

Sammie shook her head, "Nah, I ain't ever seen it"

Arin pointed at her, "See? Perfect opportunity. On the way, Dan can kiss Schneep's coffee mug"

"Dude, whatever"

"Well, I'm going to bed" Suzy sighed, "See you guys tomorrow"

"Me too" muttered Ashely, "Good night! Don't stay up too late, Danny"

Arin shoved Dan and Sammie out the door with Courtney and Shayne behind them.

The women's private rooms were in the opposite direction but they all wanted to see the dare through first. They all went into the breakroom, ignoring the sober night guards they happened to walk by.

Arin tried his best to appear sober, "Sup Jim? Long night tonight?"

One of the guards had scoffed at him, "My name's Gary"

"Whatever"

They finally reached the breakroom and Arin looked around cautiously before grabbing a plain white looking coffee mug on the top shelf, "He interchanges this one with his other since he drinks so much coffee" he explained and handed it to Dan, "Whelp. . . a dare's a dare"

"You're so fucking stupid" Dan took the mug from him and kissed it just on the rim.

"HA!" Arin found it hilarious, "Got your germs all over it"

Courtney rolled her eyes, "Whelp, this was fun and all-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Arin pointed to Sammie, "It was Sammie's turn! In the circle, Sammie was gonna be next! Dan, tell her truther or dare"

Dan blinked. He was still drunk but also very tired, ". . . you mean truth or dare?"

"Yeah whatever"

". . .. . I don't wanna"

"I don't wanna end it like this, though! It's such a lame dare!"

"You're the one that thought of it!"

"I know" Arin pouted.

Sammie shrugged, "I'm still game. . let's do one!"

"YES!"

Danny groaned, "Ugh! I don't wanna! Arin, do it for me!"

"Okay"

Shayne raised his hand up, "Sorry but I'm out for tonight. Courtney and I got a brunch to go to in the morning"

"Lucky" Dan groaned.

"Yeah, yeah, see ya. Night. Whatever" Drunk Arin was eager to think of something glorious for the last truth or dare.

Now it was just Dan and Arin left and they stumbled out of the breakroom.

"Uuuuummmmm" Sammie wondered, "I'll pick dare!"

Arin sipped on his mobile beer, "Hm. . . kay. . ." they walked a few more paces until he got a brilliant idea, "I got it. . . I dare you . . .. to spend the rest of the night in eyeball room!"

Dan blinked, "Wait, what? Pretty sure that's not allowed, Arin"

"It's fine!" Arin argued, "She's not scared, right? It's just an eyeball like she said. It's literally done NOTHING while it's been here." he laughed, "Come on, let's go"

"I can do that!" Drunk Sammie was dumb Sammie.

"Arin-" Dan tried to stop it.

They were already at the sealed door. Arin cleared his throat and straightened himself up. He flashed his ID, "We need in here. The intern will be doing important research for the evening so she probably won't leave until morning"

The guard didn't seem to care and shrugged, "Fine." he opened the door.

Dan looked nervous but it was all going so smoothly.

Sammie wobbled in the lab drowsily and pointed right at the eyeball, "There it is!"

"Yep" Arin nodded, "Have fun. If you leave before dawn, you lose the game"

"Arin, I don't know about this" Dan tried again.

"It's fine, Dan" Arin groaned, "She's perfectly safe. The eyeball is the least dangerous moving thing we have in this place. The dumb thing can't do shit, okay? Plus we gots cameras! It's all good!"

Danny sighed, "Fine, whatever. Sammie, don't feel like you HAVE to stay, okay?"

Sammie was already spinning around in an office chair.

She halted it and held her stomach, "Fuck. . . I think I'm gonna throw up"

Arin laughed at her, "Hah! You're as green as the eyeball now!"

Dan was over it. He told Sammie goodnight and led Arin out of the room.

The sealed door shut tight and just like that, she was all by herself.

Very drunk.

Sammie glanced over at the eyeball who stared at her curiously, "Sup. . . I don't know if you can understand me or not. . . maybe you can't. . . maybe not. That's cool. I'm just gonna chill here for the night. 'Kay?"

Still, the eyeball just stared at her.

"Cool" she took that as a yes.

Suddenly, her stomach lurched again and she rushed to the trash can, puking her guts out.

"Ugh. . . that sucked" she didn't feel like getting off the floor so she crawled over to the chair.

She still couldn't get herself up on it, though.

"Fuck it. . . floor's nice and cool" she flopped on her back on the floor and sighed, "Ugh, that's nice"

Her words were met with silence.

She hated that.

"I'm never drinking again. Okay eyeball? You make sure I never drink again"

It didn't respond to her, of course.

"Man, I wish you could talk. . . it'd make things a lot easier, huh?"

There was silence for a bit. She felt herself drifting off. She was going to pass out.

Until . . .

Suddenly, there was a swishing noise.

Like something was moving violently in water.

Sammie opened her eyes back up again and looked up at the tank.

She squinted and stared at it.

The eyeball was movie, swimming around quickly in a tight circle.

"Wha?" it was an odd sight, "What you doing little eyeball?"

She forced herself to stand up, using the tank as leverage to keep herself up.

The eyeball suddenly stopped swimming and stared at her again. It's pupil dilated the 'tail' wiggled.

"You seem. . . excited? A funny little eyeball. . .. man, I hate calling you 'eyeball'. Let's think of a name for ya. Huh? Would you like that?"

She didn't expect to get an answer.

But she did.

The eyeball moved its 'body' up and down and it was nodding.

Sammie's eyes widened, "Wait. . . did you actually just. . . respond to me? Are you . . .communicating?!"

Maybe it was the shock or maybe it was because she puked but she was sobering up FAST!

The eyeball nodded again and she practically gasped for air, "Holy SHIT!" She nearly fell over but stabilized herself, "I mean. . . okay. . . . uh. . .. "

This was huge. So figured it was. Arin had said the eyeball hadn't been communicating. It was sentient but it hadn't responded to anyone talking to it! It didn't communicate to anyone else!

"Uh . ..uh. . .. name!" Sammie tried to put her thoughts together, "What about. . . I don't know"

She wasn't very creative at the moment, "Sam?"

Apparently, the eyeball liked it, though and bounced up and down in the liquid-filled tank. It swam around in a circle like a dog as if it were happy.

Its pupil dilated and restricted in a strange way that she assumed was a way of conveying emotion.

Before she could even THINK about grabbing a notepad to start writing all of this down, though. . ..

She passed out, falling to the floor.

She didn't dream that night. Maybe she was too drunk to dream.

When Sammie woke up, someone was patting her face.

"Hey! Hey, kid, you okay?!"

Sammie blinked, "Ugh. . . fuck? Wha?" her head was PULSATING.

"There she is" she didn't recognize this man standing over her. He had short hair and glasses and wore a lab coat like the other scientists but she didn't remember seeing him anywhere.

Behind him were Arin and Dan looking . . ..well. . .. . nervous.

Sammie rubbed her head, "What's going on? What happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell ME that" the man snorted, helping her up on her feet.

"Who are you?"

The man rolled his eyes, "Oh for heavenly. . . . I'm Henrik Von Scheeplestein! Head of Operations of Iris! Your CEO and Boss, young lady! How do you not know who I am?!"

Sammie gulped, "Oh"

"Oh" Henrik repeated, "Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

Now SHE was nervous, "N . . . no? Not really. I don't remember a lot from last night"

Arin covered his face with his hands.

Dan swallowed, "We saw. . . on the cameras. The video feed" he nodded to the eyeball in the tank.

Sammie glanced to the eyeball, "Oh. . . yeah. . . Arin dared me to stay in here last night"

Henrik nodded, "And you did. . .."

She realized she might be in trouble, "I'm. . .I'm sorry, sir. It was a dumb mistake. We were all drunk and-"

"And you achieved communication with an anomaly that's been here for months without interacting with anyone. Except for you. What did you say to it?"

He seemed more interested than anything now.

Sammie swallowed, "I don't . . really remember"

Henrik smirked, "Figured not. . . you asked it to talk to you. It responded. You asked if it wanted a name. It responded and CONFIRMED. You named it and it EXPRESSED JOY!" He clapped his hands, "Do you realize what this means!?"

"Not really, no"

Henrik nodded to the eyeball, "The eyeball . .. or as you have named it, Sam, has refused to communicate with any of us. Even now, it only has its eye for YOU."

Sammie wasn't sure she knew what that meant.

Henrik continued, "From now on, you will focus your time to researching little Sam. Forget your previous intern duties. This is your intern duty now. Do you understand?"

Was this really happening?

Henrik grinned, "You'll put your degree to good use from now on. I look forward to seeing what you find out, Ms. Smith"

Admittedly, Sammie still felt hungover as hell but. . . .

Did she just kind of get a promotion?

What do you guys think so far? I'm trying to move things along but I don't want to rush anything. World building is important and I'm liking how this one is fleshing out :) What do you guys think?