Not all that has beauty is beautiful.
They were just kids, without a care in the world. Life was normal, maybe not great, but not nearly as bad as it is now.
They're parents are dead; they've been labeled an orphan. The state orphanage has top praise and is a beautiful house. A trampoline in the yard, birds singing in the trees, and a happy old woman running the place. You'd think a kid would be happy, right?
Wrong. That woman, Ms. Sterp, may seem old and jolly, and the house may look joyous, but never judge a book by its cover.
The house is a dump on the inside. Bare of furniture except for in Ms. Sterp's room. Spiders and other bugs parade around, and no food to be found other than expired Ramen. The old stove barely works and the pot is corroded from rust. The kids are all forced to sleep in the same room.
Every day these kids wait hand and foot on Ms. Sterp, and every night she takes them one by one down into the basement.
To say that getting struck by lightning would hurt less than what she does to them is an understatement. And clearly she's been working on this for years. The poking, proding, serums, shocks, and tests last for what seems like eternity but is actually an hour per kid.
Why she does this they don't know. They try and keep calm, but strang things are beginning to happen. They lost everything, but and now Ms. Sterp claims she's giving them a life they could only wish for.
Some kids think she's a lunatic, some try to fight, and others stay quiet. But what will they do when they find out she's forcing their brains to reconfigure and give them powers? And why did Ms. Sterp do this?