The lights went up in the room. The floor was covered with black and white tiles. On one wall were shelves full of beauty products and on the other were a set of chairs that had mannequins sitting in them, with large dryer helmets sitting atop their heads. In the center of the room was a single salon chair with weird looking arm rests, with waffle-iron like attachments on the front of the rests, and similar looking attachments on the footrest. It also had a large dryer helmet attached to the top of the chair.
"What the?" Evan asked as he stepped into the room. He turned behind him as the door shut, seeing that there was a mock storefront with a window and a painting of a street outside.
"Enrichment and recreation activities are important for remaining content and happy in the face of this crisis. Any attempts at regaining normalcy will help you and your spouse until the bunker can be safely unlocked." the chipper recording said.
Evan sort of got the idea. Make the people here feel like life carries on so that they don't spend too much time depressed about the nuclear Armageddon. Which would be fine... if he was Adam and was probably sitting at a bar on in an office. He didn't want a salon visit. It was bad enough that he had to wear the clothes.
"Please sit in the chair, remove footwear, and place extremities into the appropriate areas." the voice said.
"I'm not really in the mood today. Can I just go see Adam?" Evan asked.
"Please sit in the chair, remove footwear, and place extremities into the appropriate areas." the voice repeated.
Evan sighed and sat down into the chair, taking the Mary-Janes off and placing them beside the chair. He sat back and rested his arms in the arm rest and placed his foot into the footrests. The open parts of the rests clamped shut over his hands and feet. The helmet descended from the chair and placed itself over his head. He felt a vacuum begin sucking his hair up into it as the chair began to vibrate. Evan felt pressure on his fingers and toes as he tried to look at what was going on.
The wall of chairs with mannequins slid out from the wall and rotated to join with Evan's chair. The mannequins were sort of animatronic, moving slightly, idly flipping through magazines.
"So Mrs. Smith, how are things at home? How's the husband?" a voice asked.
Evan ignored it as he tried to ignore what was happening.
"Answer the question. Polite conversation is good for mental health." the chipper woman's voice stated.
"Uh... good?" Evan asked.
"Great! Planning any additions soon?" the animatronic asked.
"Jeez, this place is pushy." Evan said. "Even if I was a woman..."
The vibrating stopped and the helmet ascended. A mirror rose out from the floor to allow Evan to see just what the machine had done to him. What he saw was a short, curly, bob haircut. He reached to touch it, but his hands were still held secure in the attachments. They slowly popped open, revealing almond shaped nails painted a bright red. Evan didn't even know how to react when the feet attachments opened, revealing a matching pedicure.
"Oh my god..." Evan whined.
"Isn't it great to get pampered? Please place footwear back on and enter the next room." the chipper voice said.
Evan grabbed the mary-janes and put them back on, before quickly leaving the salon room, though he had a sinking feeling he'd be back there. The next room was:  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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