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Day 5, Quadrant 9
12:15pm, Q9 time
Isolation wing, room 349

Hide, hide! Hali's brain screamed as she sensed the gun-toting women coming closer down the hall. Frantic, she crawled under the bed and lay shivering in terror. "They won't come in," she whispered to herself. "They're guards or something; they won't find me."

Her cheek flat to the metal floor, she closed her eyes to see through the walls with her mind. One of the women turned to face the hall, her gun shouldered and ready to fire. The other stopped just in front of Hali's door and touched a key panel. The cell door slid open with a hydraulic hiss. In spite of - perhaps because of - her fear, Hali had to choke back a hysterical laugh. I feel like I'm in a horror movie.

The taller woman now stood in her doorway, rifle strapped to her shoulder and arms akimbo. "Come out or I can drag you. No one has to get hurt here."

Trust no one, the teenager reminded herself. My own professor drugged me and let these guys take me. No one wants to help me. She clenched her fists, swallowing her fear. I have to help myself now.

Slowly, trying not to startle the guards, she crawled out from under the bed. "What do you want?" she demanded, her voice definitely not as brave and tough as she wanted.

The taller guard smiled. "See, not so hard? We're gonna take you for a walk. You'll be put in a room and some doctors will look at you through a window. Okay?" Her voice was an odd mixture of gravelly and calm.

Hali nodded to show she understood. Doctors? her mind raced, trying to fill in some blanks. Like a hospital? A hospital where the nurses carry guns? She gulped as she stood up. An insane asylum? A prison? She tried not to flinch as the guard swung her large rifle over her shoulder. While they weren't aiming at her, the firearms were a hateful reminder of her loss of freedom. "So what is this place?" she asked quietly.

The guard at the door chuckled. "The docs call it Azurema's hope for survival. You know, save the planet, restore the country and all that. But you can just call it Shedan." She used the name of a nation that had once slaughtered millions in a war with Azurema hundreds of years ago.

The taller guard sighed as if annoyed and directed Hali to walk down the corridor. As they went, one guard in front of her and one behind, they passed dozens of doors, all marked like hers was but with different numbers. There must be hundreds of cells, Hali thought in shock. Hundreds of people. She was so absorbed in staring at the cells they passed and wondering who was inside that she was startled when the forward guard stopped and opened a larger door.

"Inside," she ordered, gesturing for Hali to obey.

Cautiously, probing with her inner vision as she went, the blonde stepped into the much larger room. Behind her, she saw the door shut and lock. The women walked away. She was alone in this strange silver room that looked vaguely like a giant tiled cube. No, not alone. She was still unsure of how her sight worked but she thought she had glimpsed....

She couldn't see quite as far in here; her sight seemed to dim when she was standing up. But she was almost sure there were people in a box in one of the walls. A viewing room of some sort? Hali glanced up to see a large two-way mirror mounted on one wall. It's not a prison or a hospital, she realized. It's a lab, and I'm the rat.

Day 2: Arida, The Convent
Allee's last post | Xandria's last post

"Morning," Xandria said, glad for the distraction. She smiled limply at Allee, then took another bite. "Glad to see you're safe and in one piece. I guess everyone else got here safely, right? Everything is ok?"

"Yeah." Allee ran a hand through her ruffled brown hair, letting out a weary sigh. "Yeah. I'm fine. Alive, at least, but exhausted." She brushed a finger across her tired eyes. "What's for breakfast?"

She sat down at the table next to Xandria and glanced over at her friend. They'd been through so much in these few days. Allee studied Xandria's movements, noting her limp smile, unable to be 100% sure that something was wrong. Something seems off... but... I don't know. Maybe she's just tired, Allee thought as one of the nuns placed a plate of breakfast and a glass of orange juice next to her.

Allee lifted the glass of orange juice and took a swig, feeling the acidic drink wash down her throat. She took another, and pondered life, realizing how close she'd come to dying.

She felt immense relief that she hadn't. Even with their situation so dire, life was still worth living, and she was thankful that it hadn't been taken away from her. Still... she had no idea how she'd make it through these next few days.

Allee set her glass down on the table and looked over at Xandria again. "What about you? Are you all right?" She spoke in hushed tones so that Xandria could answer confidentially if she wished. "What happened to you yesterday?"

Burg- Day 4
Lawrence Manor

That party had taken more out of him then Hunter had thought. Either that or his body was still getting used to what had happened to it.

He came into the kitchen working out a variety of kinks in his shoulders and back. Clean jeans and a white T-shirt were worn in lieu of the dress clothes he had worn the night before.

"Morning Jennings, sorry about coming down so late." Josh said, spreading grape jelly on a piece of toast and taking a bite.

Day 2
Arida
The Convent

"Oh, not much..." Xandria said, looking down at her plate and playing with her food. "Got into the woods and got a bit turned around...then my foot got caught in the mud when it started raining, and I kind of twisted it. So I found a quiet spot, and we curled up and stayed there overnight. What about you? Looks like you got in safely...how are all the kids?"

Burg, Day 4
Lawrence Manor

"Good morning, mr. Hunter." The butler said with a slight nod as he continued gathering and washing the morning dishes. "Master Lawrence has gone into town, or what's left of it, to a business meeting."

After putting away a stack of plates, Jennings poured a small cup of coffee and handed it to the younger man.

"Miss Browning is still here, though. I think she is in the gardens practicing yoga or the like."

Day 2: Arida, The Convent
"Hmm." Allee pressed her lips together in a line. "Is your ankle okay? Perhaps we should seek medical attention?"

She stared at her plate, pushing the food around with her fork. "Yeah. The kids are fine." Barely, she added silently, the gang member's face flashing into her memory. She blinked the vivid picture away, hoping she could just forget about it.

She stood slightly and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, pressing a few buttons. The screen remained dead. "Blast," she muttered, slamming the phone down on the table. "Technology's still down." She studied her hands in her lap, unable to keep from fidgeting. "And we're still in the dark."

If only this was just some nightmare, some horrid dream that would end soon. She closed her eyes, wishing that morning would come.

Burg- Day 4
Lawrence Manor

Josh nodded his thanks for the drink and mused over it for a second.

"Would you happen to have any spare poles lying about? I wouldn't need a very long one. Say four, five feet at the longest."

Day 2
Arida
The Convent

Xandria shook her head, not wanting anyone to look at her any closer than absolutely necessary.

"Nah...It'll be fine. I think I might lay down for a nap, though. Spending the whole night sitting in mud and leaning against a tree isn't too restful," she said, smiling ruefully and standing. "I'll see you later...hopefully your network comes back up soon."

Xandria slowly walked back to the room that she and Allee were sharing. She changed quickly, then lay down on her bed, studying the lines of sunlight peaking through the slats on the window. The bright bars of light gave her the chills. She'd heard people talking about arrests of mutants the day before...what if they chose to arrest her? What sort of prison would they put her in?

After tossing and turning for what seemed like ages, Xandria finally gave up on sleeping. She knew what she had to do. She quickly sorted through her things, leaving behind anything that could identify her. Finally, Xandria opened her door and began walking resolutely toward the river. She tried to avoid any of the people who had taken refuge in the convent, and successfully reached the banks about fifteen minutes later. She stood there for a few moments, gazing at her reflection, pondering the strange circumstances that had brought her to this point of desperation. Then she took a deep breath, and jumped.

Day 2
Arida
The Convent
Allee frowned as Xandria avoided her gaze. Was it just the long day yesterday, or was something else wrong? She couldn't tell, and before she could analyze her friend further, Xandria was standing and telling her she'd be taking a nap.

"I hope so too." Allee managed a half-smile. "Sleep well; sweet dreams."

She watched Xandria retreat into the hall, then tried to muster up the desire to take a bit of egg. But somehow, she wasn't hungry.

A nap wasn't a bad idea, actually. She took her half-eaten plate and dumped into the sink, filled with soapy water, feeling a twinge of guilt that she'd be leaving the nuns to clean up her plate. But right now, she didn't have much of a desire to do anything. Much less wash dishes.

She crawled up into bed, pulling the scratchy blue blanket over her, then rested her head on her hand and stared at the white wall. She thought over the day yesterday, trying to erase the memories from her mind.

The white wall wasn't a particularly interesting subject to look at, and her eyelids started to sag. In a few minutes, she was asleep.

Burg: Day 4
Embassy Hotel

"You see, our system of command relies on our officers having more power then the lower ranking men. For example, if a mutant-private in our Army suddenly discovered that he was able to defy orders with impunity. We'd have anarchy on our hands, because the Army simply cannot stop some of the more powerful mutants. We don't have the funding, or the correct training. So my father was looking for a solution to a problem that is popping up quite frequently within the ranks now-a-days. The fact that you aren't making a cure is no problem, because a controllable is much more valuable than any regular soldier."

She made that entire paragraph up, because in reality, her father was a bigoted old man who viewed the mutants as freaks. Ranking them along side Pencil Pushers and Bureaucrats, he would put up with them if they turned out to be useful... And she wasn't so sure she could be useful.

Day 2: Arida
The Convent
Riah was torn. She was sure that Xandria and Allee were very nice people, but she did want to do what she saw as her civic duty. Reporting the disturbing things she had seen to the authorities, she decided, was definitely within those boundaries.

She slipped out the backdoor of the convent and took a deep breath. "Okay," she whispered. "Let's get this done and over with." And then she took off at a brisk walk, heading to the police station.

In the police station
Riah shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously. She was sure that this was the right thing to do, but that knowledge didn't make the fact that she was reporting her best friend's cousin and friend to the police because they were mutants. Granted, she wasn't entire sure that Allee was one of them too, but she wasn't going to take any chances.

She smiled nervously at the officer who had come to the front desk. He looked her up and down and crossed his arms as if he wasn't happy with what he saw.

"Look it, miss," he said gruffly. "We're spread thin right now, trying to contain the panic levels. We can't be bothered just because your smartphone doesn't work anymore." He turned to leave.

"No, no. Wait," said Riah, talking fast so that he would listen. "You don't understand. I wanted to report something. It sounds completely insane, but I saw this girl change into a fish last night. That's not exactly normal and I thought you might want to know. I think her friend changes too, but I don't know."

The officer chewed on his bottom lip and narrowed his eyes at her. "Names?"

"Xandria and Allee. They're at the convent right no--"

He didn't wait for her to finish. He just spoke into his walkee talkee, calling for reinforcements, and took off out the door.

Burg: Day 4
Embassy Hotel

"I see," Tamara said, swirling her tea in its cup. "Unfortunately, as your father could probably guess, our research is at such an early stage right now that it is better to...."

Tamara paused and squinted at Kat just slightly.

"That isn't why you are really asking, is it?" Tamara asked, the corners of her mouth pulling back into a small smile. "You have another reason, and it isn't because your father sent you at all. I wonder if he even knows you're here at all."

Burg: Day 4
Lawrence Manor

Jennings cocked an eyebrow slightly at the request for a pole. "If we have any spares, they would be in the garden shed behind the manor."

The older gentleman finished putting away the dishes and prepared to go about his other duties. "Do try and not damage any of the estate. It's survived this long even with Master Lawrence about..."

Jennings smiled, then left the kitchen.

Josh thanked Jennings and finished his coffee before heading out to find the shed. Lucky it did not take him very long, whoever had designed the place had used their head and placed the garden shed behind the garden. Once inside he located a pole about four and a half feet long that fitted his needs quite nicely.

With his new piece of wood in his hands, Josh made his way into an area of the garden that was covered in neatly trimmed grass. After taking a few practice swings, he settled down in a basic kendo pose and started swinging downward repeatedly.

Swing, step back, swing, step back, swing, step back, swing, step back

Day 2
Arida, the Convent
Crash!

The deafening noise of splintering glass woke Allee from her nightmare, pulling her into a living nightmare instead. She jerked straight upright, light filling her vision, along with a thousand pieces of glass.

All exploding in her direction.

She instinctively covered her face with her arms and dove into the bed, but it was too late. She could feel the glass hitting her face, her arms, and every other bit of her that was exposed.

She closed her eyes, but it wasn't enough to block out the events that were currently happening. She wished she could disappear. Forget about all this.

What happened to the window? Was it another supernova? That wasn't an impossibility, she'd certainly wager. She wasn't overly familiar with supernovas as this was her first one, but with other natural disasters, such as earthquakes, there tended to be aftershocks.

She should know, she'd lived through several.

But no aftershock could have prepared her for this.

Finally, the chinking sound of the glass falling to the concrete floor stopped, and Allee wondered if it was safe to sit up. After a few minutes, she decided to risk it.

And that's when her living nightmare got ten times worse.