I got a free laptop from a company called MindGroo. I think I just fell right into their trap [4]

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
I was inside the MindGroo company building. This whole time I thought it would end if I finally made it inside. But sitting in this peculiar office I realized that I had fallen right into their trap.
​
--
"Jamie open up, I need you" I heard Connie's voice through the door.
Jonah and I shot each other a look. I had brought him to my place after we both almost got killed. For some reason MindGroo seemed to have chosen me as someone who deserved to be protected, even if I didn't really understand why at that point. All I kept thinking was that it couldn't possibly have something to do with some irrelevant answers I gave in a survey.
"Jamie please, I think they are after me"
We stayed silent.
"I think they want to kill me" she sounded out of breath. "Just like they did with Miranda"
Jonah was clenching his fist.
"Baby please I miss you"
We heard the sound of a soft cry from behind the door.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I got sucked into this" she mumbled "you know how much you mean to me. You've always been more than a friend you know that." She paused "Jamie I would never hurt you. Not like Madeleine did. I'm always here for you"
My heart started racing. I hadn't heard her name in years. Hearing it come from Connie's mouth sent a shiver down my spine.
They could have planted all sorts of information into my phone, put up surveillance in my house and all around it, gotten the school up against me. But how did they find out about Madeleine?
I was fuming. I got up, ready to slam the door open but Jonah held me back.
"It's not real, Jamie. Don't listen to her"
He was right. We had been observing as many of the people in town as we could. The word had spread that I was a snake and while many didn't know what that meant, they all knew it was something to be afraid of. It's funny how people see the world. They will believe with all their heart that they are special and more important than others but at the same time blindly follow some made up elite. It's happened often in the past and it is what was happening to the lost people of Rochefort. The space in their brains that was filled with an identity, with morals and thoughts had been replaced by the goal of their respective group. Thinking beyond that had become impossible for them. If they had to kill a mouse they would, if they had to obey some snake they would not even hesitate to question why.
The news about principal Maryland had made the rounds. The first bird that died and their Grooler informed them about the person that instigated that murder. Jamie Jones.
They wouldn't hurt me, of that I was sure. They also wouldn't simply break into my home. It wasn't me who they were after. It was Jonah. They were running out of mice and their thirst for blood was growing more and more by the minute. While nobody knew what class Jonah even belonged to, they all knew that he was a traitor for not participating and that couldn't be worth more than a pathetic mouse. Slowly more and more people started approaching. They all stood outside, sometimes they would shout or say something but they never tried to break in.
​
--
I didn't know how much time had passed. I had lost all sense of what time even was.
We had been going through different scenarios and tried to plan out our next steps. Hiding forever was no option, neither was talking to the town's people. When we discussed the subject of leaving town, Jonah made more than clear that it was no option for him.
"They have Miranda. I know she's inside there."
"You are only telling me now? What the hell?" I shouted as I got up from the chair I was sitting in "are there other mice as well?"
He shook his head.
"Pretty sure the other people that disappeared are not alive anymore." He took a big gulp out of the whiskey that he found on my shelf and continued "I picked up some rumours at the pub. I deeply hope it's not true but I mean you've seen the ****ing madness out there."
I was speechless. Thinking about the fact that those poor children that I used to teach were dead, probably murdered by their own friends and neighbors made me feel sick.
"And Miranda?" I asked carefully.
His lips formed into a bittersweet smile.
"She's at the company. That's what the MindGroo psychopath told me when he paid me a visit the other day. He showed me some video material of her locked in a tiny room. And made clear that she would die if I left town. Not that I was planning to anyway. This town is my home and I will not let those bastards take it away from us."
I nodded. Jonah had always been a strange guy but I admired how authentic he always seemed even if he usually kept to himself.
We talked for a while longer until he eventually passed out on my sofa. I thought about going to sleep as well but I couldn't. A million thoughts were racing through my head. And the crowd was still outside. I had no idea how we could ever get out of here without them noticing us.
​
I was interrupted by the sound of my GrooGuy.
Wonderful evening to you Jamie!
We are so thrilled to see that you are using your new Groo products. We have a hunch that you are enjoying the benefits of our high tech products and couldn't be prouder. Of course we can't look right into your head just yet so it would be lovely if you could just fill in this quick survey on the GrooGuy!
I hadn't noticed before but the way the messages were worded and the way the Groo people talked to me there was something about it. Naturally it sounded really odd, not the way people usually speak, but there was something about it that felt painfully familiar.
I didn't wake up Jonah, I didn't think it through, I simply opened the survey. This was one of the questions it asked me:
You recently used a terrific function of your GrooGuy, the decision app! We got notified that you made sure a bird was squished as if it was nothing more than a nasty little mouse. How did that make you feel?
(1) Absolutely brilliant. I would rather have more decisions to make though. I get bored easily.
(2) Fantastic. There are too many of those annoying birds around. Execution was done perfectly.
(3) Not great. I wish I could have turned that bird's neck myself.
I wasn't surprised by these types of questions anymore. The bad part was what came later on. It was a personal questionnaire. Each question could only be answered with yes or no.
1) Has a person ever made your heart ache so much that you wished they didn't exist?
2)Have you ever felt the need to run and never stop until you forget what a horrible person you are?
3)Have you been afraid to get too close to someone because you know what you are capable of?
4)Did you at least feel a little bad for poor Madeleine? For her broken bones and deformed face?
My entire body was shaking. Tears shot to my eyes. I had feared it but now it was clear, they knew everything. I have no idea how they got the information as I never told anyone but somehow they knew. I felt the dread in my stomach grow. That's why their communication felt so familiar. They were trying to copy Madeleine. She always had a bit of an eccentric side to her and sometimes it felt like you were transformed back to the 50s when talking to her. She was from some strange place I had never heard of before and her bringing up had been a bit unusual as she said. I didn't mind it though, she was different and I liked that. I thought her ways were cute. At least when things were still good between us.
Thank you for completing the survey Jamie! We believe that it would be better if we discussed everything in more detail personally. A car is on its way to your home right now.
I knew I had to go along. I didn't care about the consequences anymore. If anything I only cared about getting Jonah and Miranda out safely.
The car was there not 5 minutes later. I woke up Jonah and tried to explain as much as I could but it wasn't much. Before we could plan out our next steps, the doorbell rang. I went to the window and saw that the crowd of people was still there but they had walked to the other side of the street. They weren't doing anything, just staring.
With a mixed feeling of dread and fear I opened the door to welcome the shiny guy who was smiling as always.
"Wonderful evening to you *******" I said and his smile grew even bigger.
"Would you please follow me to the car?" He asked. As if I had a choice.
Jonah appeared behind me.
"He can come too." He turned his gaze towards Jonah "I guess that's what you want? See your friend?"
--
"I swear this is the dumbest thing we've ever done Jamie. We are letting them take us to hell"
"We crossed that point a while ago, Jonah. All of Rochefort is hell".
I wish I could tell you what happened next. All I know is that I was sitting inside an office building, my hands were cuffed to a table. The room looked modern with lots of bright colours and furniture that looked like it was designed by the most creative people on earth. Everything seemed wrong but so right at the same time.
I was still trying to come to my senses as I realized that there was a woman in the room with me. A young woman. Not older than 25. With long brown hair and a friendly smile on her face. Not like the MindGroo people but genuinely friendly. It felt so out of place.
"Welcome to MindGroo, Jamie! Can I offer you something to drink? Maybe a glass of fresh, sparkling Arandale?"
My eyes grew wide. I felt like I was sent to some different universe.
"Who the hell are you?" I said while trying to pull my hands free but failed.
"You can just call me Eliza. I'm kind of the boss here" she giggled "Although you didn't mean me specifically did you?"
I couldn't process the situation. It was not right. This girl or woman couldn't possibly be behind this mind****. I wanted to shout or at least ask questions but my mind felt empty. It was hard to process any of that was going on.
Finally I whispered "Jonah?"
"Oh don't worry about your friend. He's fine. We'd still like him to complete the survey so he was brought into one of our testing rooms."
"Testing rooms? What the hell? Who are you people? What do you want from Rochefort?"
"Jamie, Jamie calm down a little, yeah? I can't answer so many questions at once. And actually you little sneaky snake, I am supposed to interview you, not the other way round!" She laughed.
"Alright let's start with the most thrilling subject. Why did you kill Madeleine?" She didn't even flinch as she said those words. She even kept smiling.
"I- I didn't."
"Oh yes honey you did. You pushed her from the cliff and she fell and fell and fell. You still have nightmares about this, don't you?"
"It was an accident" I whispered.
Her friendly smile vanished and she hit her fists on the table and her green eyes lit up. Then she seemed to get control back and calmly said "You've lied enough now."
"The reason you wouldn't leave or act out on MindGroo weren't the incriminating pictures of children on your phone. Maybe you could have even proved that you were innocent, simply being framed. Except you know that you're not innocent. And if any investigation ever started, everyone would find out about your dirty little secret. About how all of your friends knew that things weren't going well between Madeleine and you. How she was about to leave you and for your best friend out of all people! And how both of you went on that little trip and only you came back."
"It was an accident." I whispered again.
"If it was an accident why did you leave your entire life behind to come and live in a ****hole like Rochefort?" She sighed "You could have decided to sell the house and start your life somewhere nice. Instead you took an unsatisfying job at an awful school where you hate your boss. Well hated, I guess that situation played out well for you."
She was trying to break me and I think she was succeeding.
"The few friends you have here mean nothing to you, you wouldn't dare to get too close. You live your life of vain telling yourself you are happy. But we both know that you're not. You are bored."
I looked at the ground, tears filling my eyes.
"Oh sweetie don't cry. What you did wasn't bad! You are special. Better than most people on this planet."
"Because I'm a snake?" I spoke towards the ground.
She laughed. "Whatever you want to call it, you are part of the elite. The birds or mice or whatever they think they are don't matter. In the end they are all simply rats in our cage. What matters is how we use them to fulfill the right purpose. To achieve the change that this godforsaken earth so desperately needs."
"Are you ****ing insane? What is this place" I had to laugh. This couldn't be real. What had my life become in the last days? Or were it weeks?
The woman started walking towards the door.
"I know it's a lot to swallow and I'm not great at explaining. We used to have a researcher who took care of these things but, well, we kind of separated. Long story" She rolled her eyes.
She winked at me once more and added "I have to get going now but I'll be sending in my interns soon."


Source.