The Darkest Minds

[AmethystWallflower]

During the entire duration of her stay here at Camp Paradise, Seanix had the same scene play over in her head almost each night. It was a group of undistinguishable men and women, all in their fifties or so, all in suits that made them look like a single multi-headed beast. Each body blending and mixing with the ones on either side of it and it curled around an overly large table; a map of the United States printed neatly over its surface. The rest of the room was left in black, but faint beeps and whirs of machines could be heard from behind the beast. When her dream shifted to focus on the conversation rather than the beast's awful grey, hunched form, Seanix could hear cackling and laughter that dripped with so much fear and anxiety you could almost see it puddle on the dirt smeared floor beneath the feet she always imagined bare and gnarled. They were always discussing the name of her camp. Planning when it would birth and what it would grow into with enough money and fear to nurture it. Several names were always tossed around between the heads, spat out and swallowed between pointed, jagged, and yellowed teeth. Camp Wonderful, Camp Wonderland, Camp Blissful, but they always came back to Camp Paradise. It was like the name was a joke to them, laughing when all agreed upon the camp's title. It would be Paradise to them, the government, because all the freak children would be locked away, hidden from the rest of the country like the mistake would just be forgotten, grow old and die, while they did their best to bring the country out of the wreck they drove it into.

Seanix always woke when the beast had decided on the name of her home with a shrill laugh, always woke with her chocolate brown hair stuck to her face and neck with sweat. That dream, no - that nightmare, began her first night at Camp Paradise. After hours of sitting on a bus, hours of standing in a line waiting for whatever horrors or tests the people in black attire steering her and the group of kids she was herded with towards. Finally, after what felt like days trapped in the same night, Seanix had been granted the sweet gift of a small, warm, ash gray room with a one-way mirror. A single steel table with a matching pair of chairs on either side sat in the very center. Seanix had been guided to one of the chairs and instructed to plant her ass in the seat facing the fucking mirror and to not move, to not even breathe loud enough for them to hear. She remembered cementing herself in that chair and being alone for what had to of been at least three hours and sobbing as quietly as she could. Eventually a tall, thin woman with the face that Seanix remembered resembled a type of bird she saw once, came and sat in the opposing chair. It was several long minutes before the Crow Woman spoke, and when she did, it was the most seemingly generic questions that somehow determined what ability she had. Then, after a pause and Seanix's soft crying finally came to an end, she was asked to show them what it was she could do, exactly. Panic had welled up in her chest, gripping her heart with its invisible claws. She rattled off something she had accidentally heard her father say recently. She was only ten then, but with her father being an Accountant she had figured the string of numbers and how they had fit together seemed like something a ten-year old shouldn't know.

Whether it was due to Seanix being one of the last kids to be registered and sorted and the Crow Woman was exhausted and sloppy, or she really could pull off being something other than what she was, because she was escorted out of the room, into another where she was stripped of the pink and white polka-dot pajamas and dirty powder blue slippers she had been wearing, was roughly bathed and put into a green sweat shirt and sweat pants. Thick, blocky black letters had already been pressed to the back of the shirt near the hem at the bottom; like she had been assigned to the fitting, not the other way around. The rest of the night passed in a rush of blurs, eventually she had landed in the top bunk in the middle of a small building with a group of girls that wore matching green sweat suits.

Seanix knew what she was at the time, she hadn't realized there had already been a label created for it, though. She did know, however, that the kids that openly expressed their abilities on the black clad figures, influencing them into opening fire on their squad members then turning the gun on themselves or walking by an officer smoking a cigarette and a boy using the cherry of the cigarette to cause the man to actually burst into flames, those would be the kids that were treated the worst, the ones to be made an example of to get the rest of the kids to hunch their shoulders and whimper to themselves. Eventually, those kids, the Oranges and Reds, disappeared from the camp completely. The staff never spoke about what happened to them, but they never came back and the staff seemed that much happier about it, so most everyone accepted they were dead. She would never speak of what she could do. Not to anyone.

Now, ten years later, Seanix was still in the same camp, wearing the same green clothing, suffering the same tortures she had since the very beginning. The only difference - about five years back the staff had installed a sort of White Noise that blasted over the intercoms. It was a noise frequency that the scientists at Camp Paradise had somehow found that only the Psy children were able to hear. It was a crippling noise, causing pain to rip through the skull, tear at the back of the eyes, send anyone to their knees and bring them near to blacking out. The head would get fuzzy and a child was barely able to breathe, let alone use their ability. Among what seemed to be hundreds of rules and thousands of cameras, the use of an ability was strictly forbidden. This was a rehabilitation camp after all, and they were supposed to be suppressing them to the point that they shrank away to nothing and they were considered cured. Of course, that wasn't happening. There was no cure.

Tonight was no different. It was a few hours before the sun would rise, maybe just after one in the morning, cloudy grey eyes stared up at the ceiling, but not really looking at it. Seanix was awake, covered in sweat, hair sticking to every bare piece of skin and the thin sheet they were allowed this time of year had been thrown off and bunched at her feet, threatening to slip off the edge. It took her a moment to steady her heartbeat and catch her breath before she used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe the sweat from her forehead. She had always wondered why it was that particular dream that had infected her every night. So many other things could be in its place, yet they weren't. She was partially thankful for it, but it didn't lessen the hate and anxiety the grey beast caused in her chest and head.

With both hands, she cleared away each strand of hair from her face and did her best to dry the sweat from her cheeks. She ended up wiping her palms on the top of her mattress before turning over on top her stomach to strain her eyes to see out the tiny barred window two beds over from her. The girl beneath the window slept with her mouth wide open and the blanket hanging over the side, creating a curtain hiding the girl underneath. It remained this way until the sun fully rose into the sky and the staff dressed in black marched their way to every door to wake each cabin for breakfast. This routine had never changed, she was ready for them by the time they burst through the door, startling more than have the girls awake. She rolled herself over the side of her bunk and landed with a soft thud next to the girl emerging from her own bunk beneath her. They made eye contact for just a moment before both pairs of eyes were and the floor, searching for nothing. They made dual lines that marched out of the cabin towards the mess hall.

The group of girls made it just over halfway to the large building before they were forced to the ground by the White Noise. It took no time at all for each and every body in a colored outfit to hit the floor from either going weak in the knees at hearing the noise, or passing out from the pain of it. Seanix's eyes were squeezed shut, her mind only focusing on making sure her lungs pumped air in and out. Pain gripped every nerve throughout her entire body, ceasing any and all potential attempts at using her ability. She barely felt the hands that ripped her up from the ground and away from the double line of green plastered to the concrete. Her hands remained tightly clamped over her ears as she was forced to move, her eyes stayed shut. If it weren't for the force of the person moving her, Seanix would have collapsed. When the shoving finally stopped, the noise was muffled enough for her to stand on her own, but the pain in her head was bringing spots to her vision each time she attempted to open her eyes. It was several minutes before the White Noise was shut off and Seanix recovered enough to hold a semi-decent conversation. Although usually expected to immediately rise and move on from the noise like it had never happened, it was actually quite difficult and took several hours to recover from it. Her movements would be sluggish, and it would take longer for her to properly process things, but Seanix could open her eyes without feeling like she suddenly needed to vomit.

The face before her swam slightly before becoming steady, the face of a young man in all black, the storage closest he had pulled them into slowly coming into focus. Confusion and panic made its way to the surface as she stumbled, pressing her back against the wall. His hand flew to cover her mouth, seeing her want to scream. "I'm not with the camp." His voiced was hushed but it was urgent. "I'm getting you out of here, but you need to stay calm." He paused for a second to risk removing his hand. "And quiet." Seanix bit her lip until she could taste blood, but stayed silent. "I'm going to tranq you." He quickly reached in his pocket to retrieve a syringe that was filled with a small amount f dark blue liquid. "It's going to bring you to a death-like state and I'm going to move you out of here like a goddamn corpse. Fool proof." A cocky grin was plastered on his face like he had spent days practicing it in the mirror.

Several emotions consumed Seanix. Disbelief was definitely among the top three. Why would this man, who obviously worked for the government – why else would he be wearing the uniform of the keepers - be risking not only is job but his life to get her out of the camp? Pure fear wasn't far behind. How was she to trust this man? She didn't recognize him, and she had grown to know every face of every employee here during her 10-year stay.

Before Seanix had a chance to protest being put into such a state, he jammed the needle into her arm, through the fabric of her long sleeve, and injected her with the dark blue serum. Within thirty seconds the pain in her head fizzled away along with any feeling she had at all. She looked down at her hands, the action seemed to be in slow motion, then up to her captor. She opened her mouth to say something, she didn't know what, but instead his face faded to black and she collapsed in his barely prepared arms. "Jesus, that worked faster than they said..." He grumbled under his breath as he lifted Seanix up and gentle laid her over his shoulder.

She was distantly aware of the fact she was laid flat yet moving. She couldn't move her arms or legs even if she wanted to, and it was like her eyes were cemented shut. She imaged herself screaming for help, but she couldn't find her voice, it was lost in the muffled noises of the world around her. This was nothing like what she expected death to be. This was not serene or peaceful, she never saw a white light, but there was no pain either, no movement, no breathing, nothing. Seanix drifted in this limbo for what felt like days rather than the hours it had been, and when feeling and movement began to slowly return, so did the panic. Shat wasn't dead, but where was she? It took several minutes for her eyes to fully process the room she was in, and less time than that to take notice she was the only person in it. She had been a patient at the mediocre infirmary Camp Paradise had, and this was not it. Her brain struggled to determined what was more unnatural, the fact that she was left alone unattended, or that she wasn't strapped to the bed as a safety precaution at being in a foreign place. When the panic and migraine came back too quickly, the ability to move her arms and legs faster than molasses failed to even come close. The amount of effort it took for Seanix to sit herself up and move one of her legs off the mattress left her nearly panting, her head hanging and her eyes going to the floor as her lungs shook off the last of the drug-induced fatigue.

 

[Erka]

Evan had started out as a fairly normal, however rich kid in the big city, spending most of his time playing whatever new video game he liked when he wasn't in school. Then, when he was ten, the flu struck and killed many of his classmates. He was scared, and even after he got sick and then recovered it didn't seem to be over. With little explanation his father had packed up the family and moved them out to a small town, while many of Evan's remaining classmates seemed to disappear.

Once in his new home, Evan continued in his ways and grew older, having a nearly normal childhood as he played outside more and read more books. The only abnormal thing about that time was what he could do; an ability his parents knew about and encouraged but stressed to him to never let anyone else find out. Even could not only read minds but also influence them, a skill his father let him practice and learn to control on himself while teaching him a set of "rules" for the ability.

The first of these rules, of course, was to never let anyone find out, as it would bring trouble of a kind Evan's father never really described in detail to the family. Another was to only use the mind control part of the ability in emergencies because it was dangerous. Evan accepted and followed these rules, and for years everything seemed fine while his father secretly paid off anyone who might have found out to be quiet and leave the family alone.

At eighteen years old, Evan took up the job of babysitting a young girl in the neighborhood, both to earn money and to make sure the child who he'd seen grow from a baby would be alright when her parents weren't home. She became sick, and he cared for her without much thought to it as her parents went to work. When she recovered, however, she was different; still the same sweet kid he'd been taking care of, only now she seemed to be able to move things simply with her mind. He should have noticed sooner, taught her to hide it as he did, but he didn't. Her ability was discovered during a fight with her parents, and the locals were scared.

The next day, he was called to babysit the girl as usual, and that's when they showed up. The men in all black, coming for the little girl. They'd tried to act kind, but Evan didn't trust them, so he did the only thing he could; he took the girl and ran, knowing his family would be worried and upset, but they'd forgive him far sooner than he'd ever forgive himself if those men hurt the girl while she was under his care.

Her name was Lilly, and now, two years later, she was still with him, still on the run. He'd investigated and found out who the men in black were and about the camps, and now he'd found them a place to stay while he investigated a group called the "Saviors" who apparently got people out of those camps. His investigation had quickly turned into tentative involvement after a chance encounter with the group leader. He'd agreed to sneak into the camp, disguised as one of the government men, and get someone out. He got the feeling it was a test, and he was determined to pass.

On the day of the mission, he dressed in the black government type clothes he had been given, made sure the syringe of tranquilizer was in place in his pocket, and said goodbye to Lilly -making sure she knew not to leave their current home unless he never returned- before leaving. The Savior people gave him transport to the camp, and from there he got inside fairly easily, blending in with the other workers. For some reason he'd also been given ear plugs, so while wearing them he had to use his ability as a sort of second rate hearing. As the camp came to life for the morning, he watched the people moving about and picked his target; a girl dressed in green, walking with a group of others. Like everyone here, she looked quite unwell. It was almost sickening.

Right when he was about to spring into action, he found out quite suddenly what the ear plugs were for. The sound, which seemed to be playing over speakers in the camp, was awful. Even with the earplugs, it was almost unbearable, but without them it seemed even worse as the group of people dressed in green crumpled to the ground. Evan winced, spending a few moments getting used to the sound before he put his plan into action.

He moved quickly, grabbing the girl and moving her to a closet where they weren't likely to be seen. She seemed to have recovered a bit but still didn't seem well, which he figured was to his advantage. He covered her mouth, making sure she wouldn't scream and get them both caught."I'm not with the camp." He said quietly "I'm getting you out of here, but you need to stay calm." He removed his hand from her mouth, still being cautious but deciding he could risk at least that much. "And quiet." The girl didn't look happy, but stayed silent. "I'm going to tranq you." He quickly reached in his pocket to retrieve the syringe, showing her for a second. "It's going to bring you to a death-like state and I'm going to move you out of here like a goddamn corpse. Fool proof." A cocky grin was plastered on his face like he had spent days practicing it in the mirror, because he had. He hoped confidence would be helpful in this situation despite his internal nervousness. He jabbed the girl quickly, injecting the tranquilizer and then waiting for it to take effect.

It was surprisingly fast, within minutes the girl collapsed into his arms, even her breathing reduced enough to be nearly undetectable. "Jesus, that worked faster than they said..." He grumbled under his breath as he carried her out of the closet, moving mostly unnoticed out of the camp. Even the workers seemed to keep their distance when they saw he was carrying what appeared to be a corpse, and in short time he was out of the camp, back in the van the Saviors used for transport. He laid the girl down and settled in to ride back to base, where he went to let Lilly know he was still alive and uncaptured before going to check on the girl; he figured she'd be well enough recovered by then.

He went to the area that served as the base hospital, where he knew she'd been taken, and asked someone there about the girl he'd saved. He was told a room number and the worker moved on, busy as usual, as he found the room and knocked on the door. It was probably unusual to do this, but he figured following up and giving the girl someone to help her get used to this place would be much kinder than just leaving her alone in a building filled mostly with what he considered to be shifty characters; there was a reason why he kept Lilly a secret, and they were it.

He just hoped the girl wouldn't hate him for knocking her out to bring her here..

 

[AmethystWallflower]

After letting the wave of nausea wash over her like a quick fever, then exhaling through her nose as it dissipated into nothing with a tense of the throat and soft shake of her head, Seanix slid herself to the ground, the black soles of her shoes touching softly on the tile. Her ankles were better prepared to carry her weight now, but her head still swam. It couldn't have been more than 2 hours after the White Noise reverberated throughout the camp, undetectable to the adults, yet she could swear she could still hear the ringing in her ears. Seanix had gotten a good idea of how long it would typically take for her system to recover and she thanked whatever gods existed that she was rounding the end of it, but the effects of the drug that man had injected her with was still lingering in her muscles and she felt heavier than usual. Just as she felt steady enough to push herself off the bed and stand on her own completely, Seanix was startled backwards. It was a mixture of fear and confusion laced with remnants of controlled panic; the same controlled panic that helped her survive Camp Paradise when the keepers become over-worked, tired and violent, the same controlled panic that more than likely saved her life the night she was registered into the camp.

Ten years of drilled in actions forced Seanix's eyes to go from looking Evan in the face, to going to the ground. In the camp, it was typically never a good outcome when a Psy Child looked a keeper in the eye. Look at them, fine, but make legitimate eye contact with an adult and it earned yelling, threats and sometimes a newly acquired bruise by the end of the hour. She had obviously totally forgotten the brief words he had given her before drugging her and taken him as a younger staff member of the camp. Her eyebrows drew together as she searched the ground for nothing - something wasn't right here. She was one of the first children transported to Camp Paradise, and per the kids that came in the following years hers was the first and perceived to the worst to the unlucky few who knew about it, yet she had never been in this infirmary and she had never seen that boy's face until today.

Slow, Seanix risked taking her eyes off the ground and found his face again. Her eyes showed something other than what her demeanor expressed. While she excreted fear, self-pity and a hollowed will to live, her eyes burned with the opposite. She squared her shoulders, her oh so heavy shoulders, and turned to him. She wasn't going to thank him, not until she understood what exactly had happened; but if he wasn't an adult with a camp, then she wasn't going to whimper at his feet and hope not to piss anyone off. Seanix was going to be a Green that could stand on her own two feet. At least she was going to try.

"Where am I?" Her voice cracked slightly and was barely above a whisper, like she hadn't spoken in weeks and she was almost afraid to still. She bit the lower corner of her lip and narrowed her eyes on him, stopping her weak swaying by placing a hand on the edge of the bed to steady herself. "Why did you inject me with that stuff?" She absentmindedly rubbed her arm at the spot of injection with her free hand.

 

[Erka]

While at home, Evan had also changed out of the black clothing he'd been wearing, instead now wearing jeans and a t-shirt, making himself look much more normal and non-threatening, since he doubted she'd really want to see that uniform ever again. He knew he sure wouldn't if he were in her place, and anyway Lilly didn't like it either.

He looked somewhat concerned as he entered the room and saw her. The girl still looked unwell, and she didn't look too happy either, but he supposed that was only to be expected after what she'd been through. Besides the camp, which seemed pretty awful on its own, he also doubted being drugged was all that much fun either.

"Sorry about that, it was just the best way to get you out without a fuss. I didn't want us getting caught." He said, and looked around a bit as if he himself was still determining where exactly they were. "We're in the hospital area of the base of a group that calls themselves the Saviors, apparently they help kids like us get out of those camps. I work with them because I want to help as well." He told her.

For a moment he seemed to think before he spoke again, "I didn't introduce myself before, my apologies but we were in a bit of a hurry. My name is Evan. What's yours?" He said. As he spoke to her he actually seemed curious, wanting to know more about this girl he'd just rescued.

 

[AmethystWallflower]

Seanix took in every word he said with a massive chunk of salt. The keepers at the camp had a little game they liked to play from time to time – they would create little hopeful rumors that would spread throughout the camp like wild fire, and when the bubble of hope would start to spill over they would cut it down with wicked smiles. This had to be one of those games; but the keepers never went as far as actually taking a kid somewhere to give their rumors just that much more validity. At least not that she was aware of. It was then she noticed he was no longer in the solid black uniform. How had she missed the lack of black when he first entered?

She had more questions than she knew what to do with. As the fog in her head let go of its final tendrils that were wrapped around her mind, Seanix was able to sort through the questions. Organizing them from what she felt would be most important to the ones she could live never knowing the answers to. It took all her willpower not to thrust each of the questions at him at once, and she eventually settled on her name, "Seanix." Her hand fell away from the bed and fell at her side, the strength in her legs fully returned.

He had said kids like 'us'. "What color are you?" The question was matter-of-fact. She had always known what each kid was by the color of the clothes they wore, yet he was standing in front of her in average clothing looking like he was ready to go somewhere. She looked down at her own green sweatshirt. It was dirty in the front, probably due to when she hit the ground that morning from the White Noise and later being dragged up from the ground by Evan. She looked back up to him, "And who are the Saviors?"

 

[Erka]

"I'm not lying to you, and I don't really work for the government. I dressed like them to get into that place, but as you can see I've changed now. I didn't figure you'd be happy to see that uniform again, probably ever." He said, replying to some of her thoughts as if she were saying them out loud. He could tell she had a lot of questions and didn't really trust him yet, and he didn't really blame her for that.

Evan had to think for a moment, remembering the rumors he'd heard of the abilities being color coded. It was an odd concept to him, but with a little effort he remembered what each color meant. "I think you'd say I'm an orange. I read minds." He answered, "I'm still investigating them myself, but it seems they're mostly a group against the government and that's why they help out kids like us. I've met the leader, he's a good man, but I'm honestly not sure about the rest. I only work with them because I'm pretty sure I'd never be able to do anything about the camps on my own." He told her, deciding that being completely honest was best.

"Green was the ones that can do something with technology, right?" He asked as he looked at the green clothing she wore, having caught on quickly that that was the reason for the differently colored outfits in the camp. He assumed she'd be given something else to wear soon enough, but for now she was left with the somewhat dirty outfit that seemed to be her only possession.

 

[AmethystWallflower]

Seanix was immediately taken back by how forward Evan was with his color outside a camp. She was even more shocked at the color itself. The last she saw of an Orange was nearly two years ago, seconds before the White Noise tore through the camp. The girl ran right past by every adult that was within 6 feet of her the moment her cabin was outside, they just stilled and dropped their weapons to their sides, somehow not able to fully let go of them. It took all of a minute, maybe seventy seconds, before the Orange blur of a twelve-year old was subdued along with every other colored youth. She had gone down with a gut-wrenching scream that was simultaneous with Seanix hitting the cement. That happened to be one of the times Seanix blacked out and woke up along with about a dozen other kids in the infirmary. It had become quickly apparent that the adults in charge of the noise determined the situation was severe enough to up the amps of the noise and only a fraction of the campers held on to their consciousness. That Orange was never seen again, and neither was her cabin. The rest of the camp took immediate notice that the remaining Orange cabins became vacant not long after, as well. Everyone knew that if the girl had just stayed in her line, kept her head down like the calmer colors, then they would still be there instead of who-knew-where – if they were even alive at all. To the remaining colors, a single girl damned her entire color and it struck fear into them. It was a full 2 weeks before the White Noise was heard again when a Blue was caught practicing late at night.

She nodded her head at his assumption at her color's meaning, but immediately guarded herself at the indication of his. She was even slightly afraid of him, her second-hand experiences of the color were never positive. Seanix had to stop from reminding herself that she was considered just as dangerous as he was. Instead, she did her best to put up a wall in her mind. With the lack of knowledge and practice of how to guard her mind against unwanted attacks the best she could produce in her mind's eye was a flimsy white sheet that could be pushed aside easily. Her jaw clenched, her eyes searched the room behind him for signs of danger, but found none. This was simply a hospital room, filled with medical utensils, and she seemed to be just another patient here for a check-up. The entire thing didn't sit very well with Seanix.

She opened her mouth as if to speak, but snapped it shut as the door behind Evan burst open. An older man that looked to be roughly in his late fifties filled the doorway so much so that if you were standing on either side of him you wouldn't be able to see through the open doorway unless you could somehow see over his head. Even then, it was still a stretch. The man was huge. Despite his size being near monstrous and intimidating, his face was warm and full of life. The bundle of clothing didn't go unnoticed by Seanix, either. They seemed to be softer colors than the bright forest green she wore, and most of all they looked and smelled clean. Seanix had to stop herself from sticking her nose in the air to better smell the detergent that was already wafting from the man's arms. It distantly reminded her of a home she hadn't seen in ten years.

"Welcome!" The man boomed like a megaphone from behind Evan, his smile broadening as he spoke to Seanix. "I hope you are recovering well. I must apologize for the method of your extraction. Not only was it invasive, but it was a little over the top. It was necessary, of course." The older man walked passed Evan, resting a grateful palm on his shoulder as he did, giving it a light squeeze. His voice quieter as he inclined his head to the young man "Thank you, son." Turning to Seanix again, the smile somehow seeming bigger and more full of teeth than before, he held out the clothing to her. She took them with cautious and slow hands, bringing them close to her chest like they were more than cloth. "You can call me Henry, if you'd like. You're Seanix Everstone, right?" She did nothing to confirm his statement and he rolled right over it with a casual wave of his hand, the smile never faltering. "Well, Miss Everstone, welcome to The Saviors." He opened his arms out to his sides, as if he were presenting the infirmary has his base.

 

[Erka]

"Don't worry, I won't mind control you or anything. I mean, I can, but I won't; it's pretty rude." Evan said, watching her. He could tell she was afraid because of his ability, as well as what he could tell was a pretty awful experience in that camp, and he didn't want her to be. While his ability had been encouraged and practiced and had grown quite strong, his father had also made sure to make clear to him the ethics of his ability; mind reading was a bit invasive but okay, but mind controlling people was simply not okay in cases other than emergencies. So far he was a pro at mind reading, fairly good the few times he'd had to control people, and now he was working on being able to communicate through minds -essentially the reverse of reading them- he figured it'd be possible, and he'd made some progress already, but he found specific words harder to get across than simply compelling someone to do something. He contemplated trying to do that with her when he heard someone else open the door, but decided she'd probably been freaked out enough for one day.

He turned a bit when he heard Henry's voice, glad it was him. He trusted the older man and respected him greatly; his ability coming in handy especially for figuring out who he could trust, so he'd known almost immediately that despite the shifty nature of many of his followers, Henry was at least a good man. He smiled when the man thanked him for his work, feeling proud that he'd succeeded without any issues, though he remained quiet and let Henry talk to Seanix uninterrupted for now.

 

[AmethystWallflower]

The promise Evan made didn't help Seanix to feel any better if she was being honest with herself. Sure, he said he wasn't going to invade her mind or control her, but she just couldn't let go of the last images of a fleeing Orange. Then a thought struck her like a stray rock hitting her in the forehead – he could have used his ability back at the camp and didn't. He could have influenced every single person in that camp, Psy or not, to allow the pair to just walk right out. Instead, he took the old-fashioned route and went undercover for who knows how long. Just to get a thought-to-be Green out. Even more questions bubble up to the surface of her mind. Why just one kid? Why a green? Why her? Questions she bit her lip against to save for a better time.

Henry's arms dropped to his sides, abandoning the overly welcome gesture, but still not that toothy grin. He picked up on the still quiet and withdrawn nature Seanix exuded and clapped Evan on the back with an unrealized force. "You don't need to be shy here, sweetheart!" Seanix cringed at the sudden nickname. "Evan here is a good kid and there are a handful of others like you around here somewhere." Seanix couldn't help but feel like this guy was playing Mother Hen to a bunch of damaged Psy kids as he launched himself into a practiced speech that he must have reiterated to every kid brought here. He seemed all too happy to rattle off the layout of the place, and any details she might need to know. The speech felt like a soft introduction, maybe not slower, to the Saviors. It sounded like she had already been accepted into the fold of things, yet she had only been there a matter of hours, most of which she spent unconscious. How was this man so willing to trust a girl who had barely been out of a camp for more than twelve hours with what sounded like the entire layout of the base? Again, this whole introduction had to be practiced, she thought.

When Henry was done speaking he pointed over to the restroom across the room. "I can't imagine wanting to spend another second in those wretched clothes!" He actually sounded exasperated. "Take all the time you need, sweetheart, and if Evan here didn't mind," Henry looked between the two youths, "let you stretch your legs a bit. Maybe get some decent food in your belly." He rubbed his own stomach, as if he were commenting on his own hunger rather than hers, and gave a hearty chuckle. He was really implying a joke about the slop at Camp Paradise and when Seanix didn't show any signs of amusement, he quickly apologized. "Right; too soon for jokes."

"Sir," A tiny woman only a fraction bigger than Seanix herself, appeared in the doorway. She wore an immaculate military outfit. Complete with metals of what Seanix could only assume was served war-time, clipboard cradled in the crook of her right arm, hair pulled back into a tight dirty blond bun at the back of her head, and an expression that reminded Seanix of the keepers at Camp Paradise. A chill involuntarily ran down her spine and she had to repress the urge to shiver from it.

Henry turned at the woman's stern acknowledgment and it seemed he didn't need to be told what she was there for, because he turned back to Seanix, his smile gone. The next words came in a sigh and Henry became obviously more serious than he was just moments prior, "Well, it seems the time for grand introductions has past. Seanix, I do sincerely hope you grow to feel comfortable here and I am truly sorry for your experiences, dear." He wanted to reach out and gently pat her shoulder to further try and make her feel secure, but thought better of it and grinned down at her instead, "You really are safe here." He then turned to Evan, his voice low, the words meant only for him. "Watch the girl for me. She seems a little shell-shocked, still. When you feel the time is right, take her to the Training Quarters and test her ability. See what her skill set is, if any, and see how developed they are." He pat Evan on the shoulder a last time, giving it another gentle squeeze, before straightening and walking after the tiny military woman.

Seanix wasted no time at all. She walked over to the bathroom and quickly locked herself inside. Her head was spinning so fast she was becoming dizzy. She could feel the cold wood through the forest green sweatshirt and leaned her head back against it. It felt like several minutes before she re-opened her eyes and actually looked at the restroom she was in. Compared to Camp Paradise, this was gorgeous, and the fact that there weren't other girls in there already openly showering made it even more luxurious to her. For the first time since she had woken, Seanix could feel the tightness in her chest loosen just a fraction. Maybe she was safe here. Eventually she pushed herself off the door, stripped, showered and put on the new clothes provided for her. Looking at herself in the mirror she couldn't recognize the girl she saw. Her hair was just as short as every other girl at the camp, but her face was different. It wasn't the same face she saw the last time she looked in the mirror. This face was older, paler, and she didn't recognize the hollow eyes that stared back at her. Had it really been 10 years since she saw her own reflection? It brought tears to her eyes as she touched her cheeks, warm from the hot shower, with her fingertips. She could barely remember wearing blue jeans like this; she could barely remember ever wearing any color other than green, and they fit so well, obviously not meant to be the only outfit given to her to be grown into. She was no longer the scared ten-year old she saw last. It took another several minutes to compose herself enough to come out of the bathroom, and when she did the remaining steam rolled out from the top of the doorway. She felt the need to explain why she was in the bathroom for close to 45 minutes, "I haven't had hot water in a long time…"

 

[Erka]

"Yes, sir." Evan replied in the same quiet tone, though as he spoke he wondered if the formality was actually needed. Henry never really seemed to him to be the type for it, but then again Evan had decided to copy how most of the others here spoke to him, at least for now. He didn't like the idea of training a soldier, which to him was what Henry's request sounded like, but he figured it would be quite a while before they got to that point; he was sure it would take a while for Seanix to recover from both the camp and the shock of being brought here. Once Henry and the woman he didn't recognize left, he waited quietly for Seanix to be done in the bathroom.

"Yeah, I figured as much. You want to go get some food?" He said once she came out of the bathroom. She looked much better already, even though she still looked rather unwell -only time could really fix that. He figured she hadn't had decent food in just as long, remembering being surprised and concerned by how much lighter she was than he had expected when he picked her up to take her out of the camp, so it would be good to take her to go get some. Besides, he hadn't eaten all day either and he was hungry too.

 

[AmethystWallflower]

Ooc; I hope you don't mind me leading them both to the mess hall and sitting down with food. I can change it if you'd like me to. I just didn't think we needed to do a post each on just walking lol

Seanix nodded her head at the notion of getting something in her stomach, which made a gurgle of its own. As Evan led her down to the mess hall, her eyes scanned her surrounding area. It was an old habit to memorize every single detail as she passed it, looking for an escape that more than likely wasn't there at all. It was a common practice among the kids in Camp Paradise the first couple of years and one that stuck like super glue even when escape was proven impossible time and time again; searching every corner, wall panel and ceiling tile for any slip up in their containment. It was typically only the Oranges, Reds and the occasional Yellow that attempted to cause a mass 'jail-break' of the camp; influencing the Keepers, setting fire to a cabin, or causing an electrical outage of some degree. Of course, none of them ever succeeded and the instigators were taken, never to be seen again. Seanix and the few girls that spoke to each other in her Green cabin were convinced it because of those strong-will kids that the White Noise was developed. An involuntary shiver ran up her spine at the memory and she shook her head gently to rid herself of it.

Now, Seanix sat at a bench table that resembled the ones at her school cafeteria. Her back was stiff and she was hesitant on digging into the plate of food sitting in front of her. It was hard to not to notice the emptiness of the table her and Evan sat at, all the tables were near over-crowded with adults squeezing in with each other in an obvious effort to stay away from the kids. Finally, she reached over and took the utensil in her hand and began slowly eating. "It doesn't appear they like us very much here." She spoke around a mouthful of chicken flavored rice.

 

[Erka]

[That's fine. Only, your post only shows up if I highlight it.]

"Yeah, many of them are just here because they don't like the government. They're at least fearful of us, so they probably don't like us all that much." Evan agreed, sitting next to her to eat his food. He knew several people around here who would sit with him, but apparently they were busy doing something else. "Not all of them are like that." He said, trying to be reassuring.

[Sorry if this is too short, I wanted to reply before my longer classes started.

 

[AmethystWallflower]

That was a bit of information that held more important than it portrayed. Many of the adults being here for no other reason than having no better option at oppressing the government. During that short meal-time it became painfully obvious that not many of these people shared Henry's overly-caring and nurturing outlook over the Psy children. A twinge of worry made itself apparent in her chest and wrapped around her heart like a clawed hand, but it felt familiar to have so many eyes stare with distrust, even hate. Adding fear to those emotions created a dangerous cocktail that made someone unpredictable when even thought to be threatened. Seanix made an effort to avoid eye contact with anyone who wished to; they were only hoping to make eye with the pair to make sure they saw the disgust in their faces.

As bland as the food was, it was still better than anything she was given in the last decade. It had been joked about that the Camp's food was just slop that was barely filled with vitamins and nutrients to keep the kids alive but never grow to their full potential and taste like complete shit. Seanix had to practice self-control and not shovel what looked to be a military meal down her throat without tasting any of it. Her fingers wrapped around a can of Coke and she had to remind herself she wasn't dreaming as the pressure was released as the tab was popped open and the hiss went into the air. Seanix could actually remember the last time she had the dark liquid – the night before she was taken. Taking a drink that was bigger than she was expecting herself, she set the half-empty can down and belched, her hand flying to cover her mouth, "Excuse me."

The room was dark with only the desk lamp lit for illumination. The yellow light spilled over dozens of manila folders with varying name titles and locations on their index margins. Camp Wisdom. Camp Springs. Camp Gold. The names went on in neat, bold, typed script. Camp Paradise had a folder its own as well, but it lay open atop the others with its insides spilled out over the majority of the desk. Thick, burly arms arched over them, supporting the worried face of Henry. "You're absolutely sure?" His eyes searched through the text of each sheet of paper before shoving them back together and opening another folder, sprawling out its pages in the same fashion. "All of them are being removed and relocated now? Paradise doesn't have the space for it." The worry that was plain on his face matched the tone of his voice. He couldn't understand why the Yellows from nearly every camp were being scheduled to be rounded up and taken to Paradise, the most dangerous of the Camps.
"Yes sir, but there are not many remaining in Camp Wisdom. It's mostly Greens and Blues-"
Henry cut the woman off before she was able to continue, "What do you mean you there aren't many left in Wisdom?" He slammed his palms down on the desk and pushed himself away from the desk to stand; the lamp rattling slightly and the woman took a half-step back. He pointed down at the folder that was now open on his desk, "According to the file I have, Paradise has a full roster and relocation isn't possible. Not only that, but Wisdom is full of kids, too. Nothing in my notes tells me that kids have been dying there!"

The woman realized the mistake in her verbal report and began frantically searching for the proper words to say, fumbling through the paperwork on the clipboard in her hands. She was beat to the punch when she was ordered to leave. Once she was gone, Henry collapsed back in his chair and rubbed his big hands over his face. As he sat in the silence of the darkened office he made the mental note to change secretaries. He was a smart man and that young woman's slip up about Wisdom's numbers made his budding suspicions that some of his followers weren't as righteous as he had hoped sprout to ugly little flowers.

Leaning forward again, Henry looked over the list of children that were to be relocated and hoped they were all alive, and then wondered how many actually were. His heart went out to them; a large finger found the small thumbnail of a young Yellow that was scheduled to be relocated. She looked so much like his young niece with the big green eyes, freckles that he could barely see in such a small photo, and a lopsided smile. By the looks of the smile a school photo must have been used. Henry hadn't seen a Psy child smile in years.

Besides the obvious forced welcome most of the adults exuded, Seanix did feel a bit welcome here. She was allowed to walk freely at Evan's side instead of a doubled line of the same gendered color. She was able to look everyone in the face, if she truly wished, without being threatened or literally smashed in the face. It took most of the tour for her to get used to, but by the end of it Seanix abandoned the scared, hunched shoulders to walk straight and without fear. By the next morning she had tucked away the experiences she bore on her sleeve and adopted a slightly calmer demeanor to outwardly express – the need to be on constant edge gone. When she made it to the mess hall that morning to eat another bland, but wonderful meal, Seanix wasn't bothered at the fact she was alone again at the table. This time, the Red in her recognized the fear and grinned back at it.

It didn't take long, however, for a geeky looking kid to waddle up to her table, slap his overgrown plate of food down and sit across from her. The chubby kid grinned and held out his round hand for Seanix to shake. "I'm Corey!"

 

[Erka]

Evan responded to the glares and looks of disgust with a challenging look of his own, as to date no one had actually tried to attack him. While he hadn't exactly been there long, he was pretty sure they were all secretly afraid of his ability, and his challenging look only made them more scared that he would use it, which was fine with him. Eventually the adults ignored them, leaving them to eat in peace. He was understanding and didn't comment on her poor table manners, knowing this had to be the first even decent food she'd had in a very long time. Considering that, he decided that he'd bring her something actually good at some point, rather than the "just okay" food that was served here.

Evan spent the rest of the day walking around with her, showing her the different areas of the base and telling her anything she might want to know, as well as who she could trust based on what thoughts he had heard. He was glad to see her looking much less defeated and scared by the end of the day, when he left her at her sleeping quarters with the promise that he'd meet her the next morning. He still felt responsible for her, somewhat protective really.

The next morning, as promised, he had arrived at her door and walked with her to the mess hall for breakfast, not trusting many of the people there not to hurt her if given the chance. He sat next to her at their empty table to eat, glaring back at a few of the adults that dared glare or give them foul looks again, though he seemed a bit happier when Corey arrived. He'd met him already and he was one of the relatively few people here who were actually nice. "Hey, Corey." He said in greeting.

 

[AmethystWallflower]

Day two was already proving itself to be off-putting. Seanix slept no better here than she had at Paradise. This time the same nightmare-ish grey creature went from talking among itself to aiming its attention to Seanix - chasing after her with its several clawed hands reaching out, thick, sticky slime dripped from the many fanged mouths, all its eyes beady and focused on her. When she woke that morning her legs felt as though she had been running all night and she was covered in sweat. Another long hot shower relaxed her tense muscles from her sleep, and as she stood staring at her naked body, barely holding any fat or sun-collected color.

Seanix vowed that morning to be the thing that the grey monster in her nightmare wanted to keep her from being. Soft finger tips traced the outline of each of her ribs down to top of her hip bones. She could feel her fingertips growing hot as she thought about the keepers and the difference between them and the adults here. Flashes of kids being forced to the ground by a noise only they could hear, batons being smashed into the fasces and bodies of kids to make them compliant, seeing a kid one day then never again – she had to stop herself from reliving everything right there in the bathroom. By the time she pulled herself from the downward spiral of remembrance Seanix's fingers were glowing red from heat and she sucked in a breath at the sight of them. Shaking her hand in an effort to rapidly cool them off did nothing, only taking several deep breaths and calming her enraged heartbeat brought the temperature down from nearly bursting to flames to a normal range.

She didn't expect a whole lot from this place, which was reinforced by the night before, but she didn't exactly have standards to judge it by, either. The best she had were memories of old movies, and those were fuzzy at best. The most she was hoping for was to be left alone, but that was brought to an abrupt halt when the pudgy teenager sat himself down in front of her. Before now, all Seanix had seen of the workforce here were adults in varying military outfits and business attire, Henry with his stern looking secretary, and Evan. Among those, Seanix could count the friendly faces she encountered on a single hand. One woman in particular and her team of six were especially kind to Seanix the previous night, but none of them were currently around now. Amanda Reed and her Team of Legends, she had introduced them with a broad smile and a tone that exuded pride. Seanix wondered where they were and was slightly disappointed at the absence.

Seanix stared at the chubby hand for a moment that seemed to stretch on forever, and when she didn't reach out for it Corey shrugged it off like it was nothing and proceeded to shovel food into his mouth. Her immediate reaction to his hand was to shrink away like he was made of poison, but his reaction to her rejection was to reach for his fork and deliver a wide smile to Evan. A delicate eyebrow rose as she watched him, not saying a word. Corey immediately proved to be a chatter-box of a kid. In a matter of minutes he had listed off every psy kid in the compound, what their ability was, how old they were and what he thought their favorite color might be. Seanix wouldn't have been able to get a word in edge-wise even if she had tried.

Between slow bites of bland oatmeal she stole looks over at Evan. Seanix was nearly amazed at how composed he was, even for an Orange. While the Reds were more out-spoken about their tempers, Oranges were typically just as angry but it was harbored inside them and leaked out their eyes. When she looked at Evan's she didn't see the same type of anger and hate, she saw drive and control. Eventually she stopped glancing over to him and openly stared – which lasted all of forty-five seconds before she was startled from the opposite direction.

Large hands had planted themselves between the three trays of food, and judging by the exasperated look Corey had and his lack of continuous conversation, the man attached to them was not a friendly. She followed the sea of arm hair up to the grotesque face of a man who was clearly upset. "It seems we have another mouth to feed." His eyes scanned over Seanix from her ass to the top of her head, the scowl he wore showed a silver tooth in the bottom row, just slightly off center. The overpowering stench of cheap liquor wafted to her like a thick fog. "What color are you, sweetheart." A meaty finger lifted off the table to jab Seanix in the shoulder and she could feel heat rise and fill her stomach and chest like bile.
"Come on, back off Bruce." Corey's voice was low and mousey, but Bruce didn't fail in hearing it. "She's just out of a camp, and don't you think it's a bit early for drinking?" Seanix could see the Yellow's attempt at taking the edge off the situation but she also saw how it made it worse.
"Just out of a camp, eh?" Bruce drew his face up close to Seanix and looked her in the eye. "In my opinion, she should have been left there. I thought the mission was to drop of you off, Evan," without moving his face, Bruce looked around Seanix to Evan, hoping for some sort of reaction. Bruce seemed pleased with himself, because his smile broadened and his friends laughed and howled behind him. When he focused back on Seanix, she could feel the heat in her cheek and her hands had gone numb. Bruce was just like the keepers, mean and cruel, nasty and lower than scum. His sole purpose for standing there hovering over the trio was to taught and degrade them for show of his boozing friends.

Seanix didn't really know what the protocol here for a situation like this was, but she knew that white noise wasn't going to be a problem. She counted her breathing, deep breathes in and calming ones out. She never had to practice calming her temper before, the white noise and fear had always done that for her; but here… this place was different. This was just a group of vigilante adults with no better hobby. The thoughts of pretending to be a complaint Green faded away with every nasty word and insult Bruce hurled at them, and before she knew it Seanix was on her feet centimeters from Bruce's shocked but amused face. She hadn't noticed, but as she lost feeling in her hands, they had taken on the same glowing red temperature her finger had in the bathroom only a couple hours before.

Corey had apparently watched the events unfold in slow motion, because as Seanix lifted her smoldering hand to press it against the drunk's chest, he bravely launched up and pulled her away from him. Bruce had apparently missed his close encounter with a life-threatening burn, laughing while Corey led her outside for Evan to handle. It all had escalated so quickly that he barely caught the whispers of the shady looking group collected at the door. They had been watching the trio since they first entered the mess hall for breakfast and the current altercation seemed to put a spike in their flurried conversation.
"...He's too soft…"
"…He's lost sight of what really needs to be done here…"
"…Henry just isn't fit anymore…"
Corey sucked in a breath, shielding Seanix from the watching eyes of the remaining adults was hard enough when her hand glowed a cherry red, but not dropping her and running back to tell Evan what he just heard was even harder. He risked a quick glance over his shoulder before disappearing down a secluded hallway. He spun on her when he was sure no one was going to follow them out, "You're a Red!? Jesus freaking Christ!" His hands flew to the top of his head and he began pacing in circles. "Your file said Green! You could have blown us all up in there! And did you hear them back there!? Jesus Christ..."

Seanix said nothing as she stood there, doing her best to cool the palm of her hand. "Don't say anything."

 

[Erka]

Evan sat and talked with Corey while he ate, seeming to see him as a friend. He was a good kid and one of the few Evan trusted in this place. For the most part they talked about things going on, people they both knew, hence the descriptions of all of the other psy kids around -though it was probably for the most part for her benefit since he knew at least most of them by now, though not so much information as Corey did.

He meanwhile noticed Seanix staring at him, which he didn't mind or comment on but still wondered why she did. He would usually be able to tell, but in a crowded room like this one it was difficult to pick out one mind to read out of the buzz of so many around him; that being only a large part of the reason he hated crowds and would generally be eating his food back at his place with Lilly if it wasn't for Seanix.

When Bruce had approached them he'd tried to stop the situation. He'd noticed him coming over and given him the same glare he gave all the hostile adults, but that had only made him come over faster and put his hands down in a threatening manner on their tables. Soon enough his friends joined in too, and Evan switched from challenging them to trying to get them to leave his little group alone, trying to talk them into going away. It didn't work, of course, and he was as shocked as any to see Seanix try to attack the man with the brightly glowing hands of a fire starter, otherwise known as a red by the color based classifications -one of the two that actually made sense to him.

As Corey dragged her away to calm her down, he was left in the middle of a horde of rowdy, aggressive men that seemed to hate him, and them all, just for existing. It was certainly not the best situation of his life, and nothing he said seemed to help as things only escalated further, to the point where he was sure Bruce or one of the others was going to physically attack him. Having no other option, he went about influencing the men, pushing them to simply calm down and go away. As they did so and went back to their food, he ran outside to meet with Corey and Seanix, wanting to make sure they were okay and also get out of the mess hall before something happened on a larger scale -surely more people than just their little group had noticed Seanix's nearly flaming hand.

 

[AmethystWallflower]

If Evan hadn't rounded the corner when he did, Corey might have worn an actual circle into the cement from his frantic pacing. He turned his back on Seanix and closed the remaining space between himself and Evan, his voice forced into a whisper that threatened to become panicked yelling at any point. "Tell me you saw the same thing I did!?" The Yellow's hands were clutched to his chest as if he were finally realizing he touched the same arm that nearly burst into flames. His head shook as he spoke, frizzy brown curls jerked back and forth with the motion, "Her file said she was a Green, and her file was copied from Paradise." He risked a look back over his shoulder at her, afraid that if he spoke too loud she might hear and become angered again. This was obviously the Yellow's first encounter with a Red and Seanix couldn't understand the immediate fear despite the calm disposition just a few minutes prior.

When Corey looked back to Evan, it was obvious his mind's focus was shifted. However, panic was still prominent in the teenagers face. He reached out for Evan's arm with a pudgy hand and steered him further away from Seanix and the entry to the mess hall; his voice dropping even lower than it had before but this time with seemingly more control. "I heard a group by the door say some things when I took her away…" Corey struggled to get the correct words out, "Bad things about Henry…"

The way Corey had come to look at Evan in the last few months was something like a Super Hero – him being an Orange that had total control might as well have been a cape tied around his neck that gave him the ability to fly. If ever given the chance the fourteen year old would follow him around like a love-sick puppy. So when Seanix nearly engulfed Bruce in flames and he heard things that made him think of assassination, his anxiety went through the roof and he went to the only reliable source he knew of besides Henry himself. "Most of the adults don't like us as it is and they never liked the idea of bringing more out of the camps…" He looked over his shoulder at Seanix again and dropped his hands, "But if words gets out he actually brought a Red here, things could get even worse for us." The poor kid was so filled with anxiety he was nearly bouncing on his feet and tiny sparks were threatening to jump from his fingertips. "We should go find Henry."

 

[Erka]

"Yeah, I guess she was hiding. I didn't see any reds or oranges in the camp, so they must have been killed off or something. She's lucky they thought she was a green." Evan said, not seeming scared of her, though the reactions of the other adults made him worried. The adults already hated them, and he could only assume her nearly burning one of them would only make it worse; his calming effect didn't last forever.

He was more troubled about the rest of what Corey had to say, as he followed him away from the mess hall entrance. "We should definitely warn him, about what happened here and whatever you heard. What exactly were they saying?" Evan said. It was no doubt that this would make things worse for Henry, since scared people were even angrier and more violent, but he needed to know what they were already saying and how dangerous things might already be.

As he spoke with Corey he looked over at Seanix, wanting to make sure she was alright and calmed down again. He knew she must have been pretty upset when her hand lit up, and now he was sure she was afraid of what would happen to her after the other adults found out what she could do, especially after whatever might have happened to the reds and oranges at the camp.

 

[AmethystWallflower]

Evan's influencing calmed the majority of the violence that was bubbling just beneath the surface, but it barely brushed the furthest minds of the ones less vocal about the situation. When the youths had all left the mess hall one of the rougher looking women from the huddled group stood and went to Bruce, fury evident in the way her square jaw clenched and the vein in her forehead pulsed. She stopped at the end of Bruce's table, not saying a word as he and his comrades shoveled food down their throats like nothing had just happened. She was actually amazed that it took Bruce more than a moment to notice her standing there. She reached over and snapped her fingers inches away from his face, and he jumped as if he had been startled.

Finally Bruce registered Melinda standing there in her angry silence and raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you, Sweetheart?" In the same drunken manner as he had done just moments before, he looked Melinda up and down in a way that would have made her skin crawl if she wasn't so in tuned to her fury.

She reached over and with a heavy forefinger flicked him in the forehead. "Yes, you can asshole." By this point the rest of Bruce's table had slowed their eating to a near stop and was now watching her, all seeming to slowly come out of the hazy influence left behind by Evan. "Do you not remember what just happened?" Melinda was nearly hissing through her teeth and her eyes cast over the group of confused faces. "Henry brought a Red into the base and she nearly burned you alive." When her eyes fell back on Bruce he had a matching vein pulsing in his forehead. Melinda continued, driving the dagger deeper into Bruce's mind, "The Orange influenced all of you morons to back down before leaving."

The heads of some of the others began to shake, not willing to believe a kid controlled their minds enough to back down from a situation they all knew would have gone another route. One by one they all grew into their anger and forgot about the half-eaten meals in front of them. Bruce was the first to reluctantly accept what Melinda was saying. "It was only a matter of time before Henry fucked up bad enough… Allowing a Red to come here…" Bruce pushed away from the table and stood. "She could burn this entire place to the ground and with the Orange protecting her now there would be no stopping her." His hands clenched into tight, white-knuckled fists. "I think it's time for a change in leadership." Bruce met Melinda's eyes and they shared a wicked smile while the rest of the mess hall voiced their mutual opinion.

It took longer than anticipated for Seanix to fully recover from the slip in temper. It was painfully obvious that the Corey and Evan were going to look at her differently, but there was no going back now. After several minutes of clenching and unclenching her fist she felt more relaxed and collected. She approached the boys and looked at either of them; she had to admit to herself, knowing that she no longer had to pretend to be a Green was like taking off a costume that didn't fit correctly. "I think we should get moving boys."

Corey rattled off the quips of speech he had heard and who exactly he thought had said them, the boy was brilliantly perceptive to his surroundings, and in a matter of moments he was out of breath and looking back at Seanix. He held up his hands at chest level and his face took on a look of slight sadness. "Look, Sean, if you need another minute or two we can go back to the dorms or something. Evan could maybe influence some of the more violent adults if they got persistent so you can recover." Seanix shook her head while Corey tried to think of ways to help her current situation not realizing she had overcome it herself.

"I'm alright, I swear." She rolled her shoulders and rubbed her hands together before showing them both to the boys, palms up. The skin was slightly pink, but the glowing red that hand consumed her entire hand had faded as if it had never happened at all. "I'm usually stopped with the White Noise or batons." Her hands dropped to her sides and she looked past the boys. "I think you guys should lead the way before they recover in there."

"Oh, right." The Yellow nodded before taking off down the hall towards Henry's office.

As the trio approached Henry's office Corey couldn't help but notice that his usual secretary was absent. With a hitch in his breath he slowed his pace and looked back to Evan and Seanix. "His secretary isn't here. She's always with him. Evan, I think maybe you should make sure that he's really in there?" Corey took a step back from where he stood and slightly to the left, leaving the path to the door open for Evan. "You can check for that somehow, right?" He sounded hopeful.

 

[Erka]

Evan didn't seem to think any different of her; having lived apart from most people for most the time since he'd gained his abilities, he hadn't adopted the preconceptions of people with certain abilities -like hers- as many others had. To him it was simply something she could do. It was dangerous, sure, but so were most of the abilities in one capacity or another; she could burn people, 'yellows' like Corey could electrocute people and destroy electronics, blues like Lily could manipulate objects -weapons included- without touching them, greens could do a multitude of things with electronics, and he thought of oranges like himself to be the most dangerous. Mind reading and especially control was very invasive and dangerous, and unless you knew what to look for you might not even know it's happening. At least hers was easily visible when she used it. He had noticed already that she never used her "green" ability, which made a lot of sense now, and he wondered what she could do with this one -if she could do anything with it at will at all. He wanted to ask her, perhaps even help her to make use of the ability for more than threatening violent idiots, but that was an issue for another time. They had to go warn Henry.

Once they were out he'd relaxed control on the people in the mess hall, and talk was quickly spreading among them about the kids with abilities, and the Red who had nearly burned a man, and Henry. Most of the talk was negative, and some of them were pretty violent on their ideas of what to do; kill the girl, kill Henry, kill all the kids like them. Their ideas ranged from efficient and dutiful extermination of what they saw as a kind of danger or disease, to more personal, violent, torture based methods for killing their targets. Others remained silent, either less zealous in their feelings or disagreeing completely but not up for a fight with so many people involved.

Evan walked with the others to go warn Henry, making sure to calm any aggressive adults they might encounter as the rumors and plotting were bound to spread from the mess hall to the rest of the base fairly quickly, and what followed after that he was sure he didn't want to be involved in. He was nervous and wanted to go get Lily as well, even though no one else besides Henry even knew where he lived.

It wasn't all that long before they got to where Henry usually worked, and Evan thought the lack of the usual secretary was odd as well. He hadn't trusted the woman, or really even interacted with her much, but it was odd to not see her there. "Yeah, he's here." Evan responded. They were in range for him to get a reading on Henry's thoughts, and it didn't seem like he was aware of the growing danger in his own base.