Dr. NoSleep

A small blessing was that there weren't as many high thinkers in their society as there were drones.

A lesser man might crumble against them, turn himself in, give them what they want, in exchange for whatever mercy he imagined they offered.

But a well-prepared man?

An entirely different story altogether.

It'd be a hell of a fight when it finally happened, but he knew he'd at least go out swinging.

All you can do, he thought, the cigarette filter falling from his lips.

The moment they came in, he'd beep, beep, beep.

The sound caught his attention more than the cigarette embers burning his bare feet.

He had spent long enough in this room, this private sanctuary, that he had catalogued all the noises down to their most reasonable sources.

The sound of pipes settling, the squeak of bed springs when he sat down, even down to knowing whether what was walking by his room was human or not by the weight and rhythm of their steps.

This electronic beeping had, then, taken him almost completely by surprise.

He scanned the room like a starving barn owl until he deduced that the gasping electric melody came from the hotel phone beside the bed.

The receiver hummed loudly, shrieking and infantile for his attention.

Didn't I unplug the phone?

He thought, a half-memory of doing so swimming around.

Too hard to remember if he had or hadn't.

But for it to be ringing like this meant he had either made a mistake or... He grabbed the phone from the receiver.

Hello?

The voice on the other end was a woman.

At least, he assumed it was a woman.