Chapter 13 - (part eleven -- continued)

Lina brightened.

"Well?" said Daesti, tentatively.

"You know where everything is," said Lina. "Your room's exactly the same as mine. You can barely stretch your arms around here without touching food."

"But I'm all settled in," said Daesti in her most pathetic voice. "I really want a bowl of ice cream."

"Sorry, can't help you," said Lina. "I'm all out."

"You mean you haven't discovered the soft-serve dispensers? To the right of the sink."

To Lina's astonishment, there were in fact two nozzles there above the counter. "I don't know what's more ridiculous..." she said. "..that there are soft-serve ice cream dispensers in our rooms, or that you actually expect me to dispense it for you."

"I guess someone doesn't care about getting out of here."

"Have it your way," grumbled Lina, as she took a bowl from one of the cabinets, filled it with vanilla ice cream, and reluctantly handed it to Daesti.

"No, bigger," said Daesti. "Like a serving bowl."

"A serving bowl? Have you gone insane?!"

"If by 'insane' you mean 'good at finding a way to escape,' then maybe."

Lina found a larger bowl, then hesitated. "Listen to me," she said in a measured tone, after considering the matter. "I am going to hand you a serving bowl full of ice cream. Think about that for a second: An entire serving bowl full of ice cream. Which you cannot possibly finish. But this absolutely, positively has to be your last hurrah. Every extra kilogram is just going to weigh you down."

"Fine, fine," said Daesti. "Then I might as well make this count." She managed to wrest herself off the chaise, entered the kitchenette, and began to rifle through the cabinets, where she found several packages of assorted candies, tore them open, and dumped them over the ice cream. Then she grabbed an oversized spoon from one of the drawers, took her loving cup of a sundae in both hands, and settled down again on the chaise. Immediately she began to tuck in. She gestured discreetly towards the vidscreen and Lina knew that she meant to turn up the volume loud as a foil against eavesdropping.

"Let's talk," Daesti mumbled through a mouthful of ice cream and candy.

"Let's," said Lina with piqued interest, a bit put off nonetheless by the gluttonous spectacle, though some small part of her she was morbidly curious to see whether little Daesti could actually polish off the whole thing.

"I think I've worked out a rough route out of here. It may take time."

"How long?"

"A few weeks."

"Weeks?! We don't have weeks!"

"We don't have a choice!"

"Do you realize how fat you will end up in a few weeks?"

"Do you want to hear this plan or not?" asked Daesti, popping another spoonful of the gooey concotion into her mouth.

"Fine," said Lina. "But keep talking. While you eat, if you have to."

They discussed at length their provisional plan of action and broached the topics of ventilation shafts and air ducts and hallways and elevators and conveyor systems and bots of various sorts and many other considerations, giving due recognition of course to the placement of security cameras and guards, lines of sight thereof, and alarms. Their plan was haphazard and nearly unworkable in its present incarnation, but they began to feel confident that if they could stall for a few more weeks, they could suss out the details as they went along.

As the conversation began to slow, Daesti began to gulp the creamy, candy-studded concoction more spiritedly and greedily.

"Daesti! Come up for air!" Lina admonished her.

When Daesti finally had gobbled down the contents of the immense bowl, she took a few deep breaths before erupting into a short fit of hiccups. Lina just stared at her wide-eyed.

Daesti looked down at her stomach, now undeniably bulging, and gasped.

"Lina..." beckoned Daesti very deliberately. "What just happened? Did I just...could I possibly have...did I just finish that whole thing?" She let the spoon drop into the bowl with a clatter.

Lina nodded, gaping, but after a few moments her expression changed to one of concern. "Are you alright?" she asked Daesti soothingly.

Daesti groaned. "I'm so bloated," she said, as she let one hand fall to her stomach. In the other hand she still held the empty bowl, which she now feebly pushed into Lina's hands.

"Get this junk away from me," Daesti pleaded. "It's messing with me. I'm sorry. You were so right. We've got to get out of here."

"I'm the one who should be sorry," said Lina. "I didn't realize how much this food has a hold over you. You really can't help yourself anymore, can you?"

But now Mim was approaching the doorway. She did not knock or otherwise signal her presence before entering.

"What are you girls up to?" she asked, mock-accusingly, as she strode into the room. "Ah, enjoying the snacks, I see. Wonderful!" She smiled and glanced around. "Well, girls, consider this lockdown. Ms. Derecho, you'll need to return to your own room now."

Lina and Daesti hugged. "Are you going to be all right?" asked Lina.

Daesti nodded.

Mim interrupted. "What's the matter, dear? Tummyache? We have something for that. I'll give you some medicine that'll fix you right up. Come along, now." Mim led Daesti out of the room. "Good night, Lina," Mim called out, looking back from the doorway with what Lina interpreted as a knowing glare. "Get some rest, please. You've had a long day."

Lina turned off the vidscreen and watched as Mim escorted Daesti past her glass wall towards Daesti's room next door.

Lina's mind was racing. She resumed her nervous pacing and tried to iron out the details of their escape.