Chapter 8 - (part seven)

The officer motioned to Daesti and Lina, and they sauntered down the aisle of the amphitheater, in no particular hurry to rejoin her.

Lina could hardly contain her impulse to bolt; she looked to Daesti for a cue, some signal to make a break for it, but none was forthcoming. In any event, the police station seemed not the best place to attempt such a maneuver. Of course, there were other significant obstacles to the prospect of escape--not the least of which was the impoundment of the Luna Moth.

"Well, ladies," the officer sighed. "Are you ready for the Fattenarium?" Daesti and Lina looked at each other but offered no reply. They all understood that it was an entirely rhetorical question.

"I'm sorry to have to do this..." announced the officer. With surprising swiftness, she firmly grasped their wrists in turn and clicked energy restraints on them. "But we can't trust you just yet."

Although the two detainees certainly would have seized any opportunity to escape that might have presented itself, they were nevertheless chagrined by this seemingly gratuitous exercise of authority--the only exercise that the citizens of this city seemed to know. It was as though they were made to feel like misbehaving youngsters held in thrall to codes and rules they did not understand or agree with and to which they would never willingly submit.

The officer led them out of the station, loaded them into the same vehicle that had brought them there, and transported them a modest distance to a great dome-like structure in the center of a wide circular plaza. This building was the much-vaunted Fattenarium.

As they proceeded up the main entryway, groups of obese pedestrians in garish garments stopped to stare at them, whispering amongst themselves--just as had occurred when Lina and Daesti arrived in Fatropolis.

"Again with the gawking!" grumbled Lina.

"Well, we probably look as odd to them as they do to us," said Daesti. "And we are on their turf, after all."

"Don't take it personally," said the officer. "Lots of Fatropolitans have never seen a skinny in their entire lives, at least not in the flesh."

They entered an opulently decorated main lobby, replete with marble floors, frosted skylights, gilded moldings, and classically styled sculptures of tremendously overweight men and women. Throngs of huge people slowly milled about inside the lobby in the course of their errands.

"You'll see more of this beautiful building when you're given your tour," said 773961. "But your first stop will be the administrative office of GAINPOUNDS."

The officer ushered them aboard an elevator.

"GAINPOUNDS?" asked Lina,with her usual incredulity.

"That's the Governmental Authority for the Implementation of Nourishment and Promotion of Obesity in the Underfed through Nuturance and Dietary Services."

"Wow, you have an acronym for everything here, don't you?" Daesti quipped.

The elevator ascended and opened up into a waiting area, and they all stepped out. A matronly woman with salt-and-pepper hair was waiting for them. She was dressed in a crisp white uniform over which was a dark blue tunic embroidered with depictions of utensils and steaming plates of food. The woman had a stately bearing, despite her absurd apparel.

The officer nodded to the woman. "Good afternoon, Ms. Gâteau. Our two detainees, as we discussed. I believe you have all their information."

"Well!" said the woman enthusiastically, beaming and opening her arms wide upon seeing Lina and Daesti. "I am so excited to finally meet you! I must say, it is my absolute pleasure to have you here! My name's Mimolette Gâteau, but everyone calls me Mim, and so should you." She spoke with a bit of a drawl, and her voice was booming and warmly authoritative.

The officer removed the restraints from Daesti and Lina. "Mim is the Executive Director of GAINPOUNDS. And she's Fatropolis's best encourager, hands down. She'll help you with your transition until you're big enough to leave the Fattenarium. But don't you ladies worry...she'll take good care of you."

Mim nodded smilingly to the officer. "Thank you so much for delivering these two lovely but criminally thin young ladies to me, Pamela," said Mim, addressing the officer by name. "I'll take it from here."

"Good luck!" said 773961, waving to Daesti and Lina. "We'll all be anxious to see how you come out."

"They'll be just as roly-poly as you please when you see them next," promised Mim.

Already Mim was appraising the two charges so newly in her care. "Oh my!" she exclaimed, shaking her head and tsk-tsking. "You girls are looking positively scrawny...clearly malnourished! But we'll fix all that! It's what we do best here! Anyway...now you know who I am. Please, introduce yourselves!"

Daesti nervously stepped forward. "I'm Daesti Derecho."

"Daesti...so good to meet you! My, you are a tiny thing, aren't you! But you're going to make a darling fatty! That much I can tell already."

Daesti smirked surreptitiously, and in mockery of Mim, made a haughty face at Lina, who normally would have appreciated the humor. At this moment, however, Lina was in no mood for joking. Already she felt herself inexplicably admonished by this Mim, though Lina knew that she herself and Daesti had done nothing wrong. Lina was boiling and wanted desperately to voice her protest about all of the events that had led her and Daesti here: their arrest on bogus charges; the scanning and measuring; their being made to surrender their belongings and their ship. It was all Lina could do not to give Mim a piece of her mind. But somehow Lina could not even bring herself to look Mim in the eye.

Mim approached approached and gently raised her chin. "And how about you, sweetie?"

"Lina," said the lithe blonde sullenly, her bright blue eyes downcast. "Lazuli."

"Lina! You are just a wisp, aren't you! But you'll be a whopping young lass when all is said and done." Mim winked. "Welcome, both of you! I can see we have our work cut out for us. Let's not waste any more time, then! You'll be spending all your time in this building until you reach regulation weight, so I'd better let you have a look of the place. First, let me show you to your rooms."