What Are The Odds?

Inside the box she was nothing. She was not dangerous, she was not cruel, she did not speak much. The woman maintained a silent, bored demeanor inside her plexiglass prison. But if she were allowed outside, the world would fall to its knees before her. She was not but a human girl (as far as they knew) in her mid twenties, but had been in that box for nearly two decades. What could a child have done to earn a punishment so horrendous?

***

Flanked by guards on each side, a young man in his early thirties was escorted by the head of the Keep down to the third sublevel, carved deep into the mountainside. The Keep was a super max facility used only for the most dangerous of people.  The young man was a new dignitary who has just recieve clearance to learn of, and explore, it.  He learned there were only three people inside it thus far,  and he had known of two of them.  One,  a mass murdering, cannibalistic sociopath who had almost committed the worst genocide since Hitlers reign of terror. Two, a scientist who had neared completion on a bio weapon strong enough to wipe out whole countries with side effects that could ruin the rest of the third world.  And the third he was on his way to meet, never having heard of such a person.

Just outside the heavy door, the entourage paused. "Do not go within three feet of the glass,  and if she chooses to speak to you, do not disclose any information about yourself at all.  Not your name, occupation, martial status, nothing. Not a single detail. Understood?"

Confused, but intrigued, the man nodded.  "Of course."

The door opened to reveal a blank metal wall; turning to the others his brow furrowed, but he was edged forward. So, in he stepped. The door behind him closed, and a loud buzzer sounded, a soft hissing following shortly after. It took him a moment to realize that the hissing was a door in front of him sliding open. It had been so deeply embedded in the wall that it took several seconds to open up enough where he could walk through. The security on this prisoner was higher than that of the other two, and he couldn't help but feel giddy.

Stepping into the dimly lit room he noticed the plexiglass prison was barely bigger than a 10x10, and had writing in large, bolded letters that said:  CAUTION: MAINTAIN A DISTANCE OF 3 FEET AT ALL TIMES.

He moved further into the room, stopping just before the thick white line that had been painted across the floor, exactly three feet from the glass. The only furniture inside was a mattress, and on it, a lump. He assumed the lump was the girl, but glanced up at the camera with a raised eyebrow. When he turned back to the glass, he jumped, feeling his heart pound rapidly in his chest. Right up against the glass was the girl. How had she moved so fast? And so quietly.

The first thing he noticed about her was how clear her eyes were. They were a smokey grey, light, but bright, piercing. They were set deep in her skull, outlined by dark circles, making the color of her hues that much brighter. Her hair was to her lower back, a dirty blonde shade, in slight waves, like a pale waterfall, rolling down her spine. Her eyes seemed to bore through him, and involuntarily a shudder rolled through his body.

"Hello." He greeted, but was met with complete silence, and a dead stare.

Slowly her head inclined slightly to the right, her gaze moving from his face to his feet and back up again. Her eyebrow lifted just slightly, and she stepped closer to the glass. It took a large amount of control for him not to step back. For some reason her presence was weighing heavily on the room, and it put him on edge. She had barely moved and still hadn't spoke aloud. Not once. But he found himself unnerved by her, wanting to leave that room, and never turn back. He couldn't though. He had a bit to prove.

"Why are you scared?" Her voice startled him, not expecting her to speak at all. It was soft, almost childlike and innocent.

"I'm not-"

He was cut off abruptly by her tsk'ing at him, her head tilting to the side once more. "Don't lie. Your heartbeat is erratic, you are frightened."

The dignitary frowned, but did not deny it. How could she possibly know that his heart was beating so fast? He was caught speechless before this young woman; he couldn't deny that he was unnerved.

"Will you be my friend?"

"What?" The man frowned, confusion etched across his face. Did he hear what he thought he did?

"No one wants to be my friend. I don't have any." Again she repeated her question.

"I don't think that's appropriate." He replied, still confused. Why would she want a friend?

She sighed heavily and stepped back from the glass. "That's disappointing. I had really hoped.." She trailed off, turning only her eyes to the camera in the room. "Want to play a game with me?"

"A... game?"

"Yes. How fast can I get the guards in here. It's a fun game, I promise." A small smile appeared on her lips. To her it was an innocent expression; to him it was sinister. "I'll ask a question first: do you know why I'm in here?"

"N.. no. Why don't you tell me?" He took a single step closer, and her smile widened a fraction.

"You'll know soon enough. I say the guards will be here in less than a minute. What's your guess?" Again, she approached the glass, this time almost touching it.

"I.. I don't know..." To say he was confused would be an understatement. Why would she want the guards in there? She wasn't a threat. She was trapped behind thick plexiglass, it's not like she could hurt him.

Right?

"What is the probability of that door getting jammed?" Her arm lifted, pointing a single finger at the metal sliding door behind him.

"Probably zero. I'd assume they take care of it." What was with the questions? He thought she barely spoke.

"Tsk, tsk. You know what they say about assuming?" The hiss from the door beginning to open began to echo in the room, and this time, her smile got darker. "I'd say about seventy five percent." The door opened a crack before the gears ground to a halt.

Seconds passed feeling like an eternity to the two standing in the room. The dignitary felt like his heart was going to burst from his chest with the way it was beating. How had she done that?

"Now... what's the probability of you having a heart attack?" She pressed her hand against the glass, her tangled locks falling in her eyes.

Before he could find out, he was grabbed and yanked back through the door, watching as it slid closed. He had been so focused on her he hadn't heard the door open fully. As the door slid closed, her laughter bounced off the concrete walls; it was a sound he wouldn't soon forget.