The Periodic Experiment

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The16thPun

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Steven clapped his hands together to remove the chalk as he walked into position beneath the pressure pump. He cracked the joints in his neck as was his habit before doing something he was excited about. "Ahlright docter, I'm in position, ready when you are" He called out to the observation booth with a thumbs up, and then place his palms flat upon the pump.

Every so often the scientist like to pull them all into a special chamber test them to see how their abilities were coming along, their limits and how they did under various circumstances. For instance being in the cold inhibited his maximum potential lift, but the heat, to a certain point (under 98 degrees Fahrenheit), accelerated it. It had to be in a special chamber cause some of the other had weird fucking abilities that you needed special stuff to test. Steven wasn't entirely sure why it wasn't more rigorous, and well, scheduled. Their entire lives were regimented to a T, so why this was just a 'sometime each month' sort of affair was beyond him. But I'm not being paid to run the show here he thought to himself briefly. If he was they'd be taking field trips outside. Another curiosity that Steven observed was that this was one of two instances when they were all not only allowed, but encouraged to be in the same room as each other. It was actually unofficially mandatory to attend and watch your, what were they to each other? Colleagues? Classmates? Friends? Anyway, the others watched.

He heard a loud muffled clunk as he heard the machine engage and whirring as the hydraulics began to press down on him. Lets do this. He thought to himself. His first test was always strength, basically he stood under an industrial hydraulic press and had to push back against the force until he couldn't anymore. The machine made slow progress so that they could record all the data. Because the machine went so slowly, it was always a minute or two before Steven even noticed the fucking thing was on. At about the 3 minute mark was when he became active in using his muscle to combat the pressure

"Steven, would you like us to call out the benchmarks of the weight?"​
He heard the scientists voice over a muffled speaker "That'd be swell pops!" he called out. The scientist HATED when Steven called him 'pops' but since the scientist had never given anyone anything to call him something, anything else really. So to his face he was pops, daddio, padre, dad or father. In between the others though he was 'Dr. Science'. Funny I know, Steven was still proud he'd come up with it personally.

"300 lbs of force...

400...

500...

600..

700..

710... Come now Steven, nearing your mark..." He called out to encourage Steven. "710, 715, 720, 725, 730..." That was it! He'd passed his record by a pound! Alright time to crank it up he thought, committing to beat his old record by at least 100 lbs. Toward the end Steven was fairly sure that had he been able to scream loud enough, he'd have deafened everyone in the vicinity cause this was fucking difficult. When Steven Finally collapsed, his skin had long since instinctively turned to metal, and he had set a new record. 840 lbs. Hell yeah. The pump had a safety feature so that Steven didn't get crushed after he collapsed. He got up slowly, resting on all four to catch his breath, then getting up and shouting out "HELL YEAH BITCH!" with a punch to the air. Steven wasn't usually a meat head like that, but when he set a new record, he couldn't help it.

"Very Well Steven, get ready for phase two of your test." called out the scientists voice.

Fuck me... Steven swore under his breath as men came in with various guns. Phase 2 always sucked, basically he got shot a few times to see what his skin could take.

"9mm 10 yards" BANG called out grunt #1
Ow.
"9mm, 5 yards" BANG called the same voice
Asshole.
".357 15 yards, BANG 10 yards, BANG 5 years"
That's a new addit... BANG FUCKING OW YOU AHSSHAT. The last shot had physically transferred enough kinetic energy to make Steven fall down, now Steven was strong enough to have not fallen over, he just wasn't expecting it. He got up slowly knowing the test wasn't done with, he just wasn't excited to keep being shot. Eventually they went through the 5 different caliber hand guns, and the 3 rifles and Steven reverted to his regular skin. He grabbed his shirt and waited over by the vitals monitor to be debriefed and disconnected.

"Good job Steven!" The doctor in charge told him as walked back into the observation deck that was raised several feet above the testing area. The Scientist came out the double doors to the right that led to the observation lab. He was wearing a white lab coat, the scientist was a Caucasian male, mid 40's about 5'10" and 190 lbs. His hair was a orangish blond that had started to grey around the temples, and he always kept it combed back. His face was a near perfect oval with flat ears and a short nose. He had brown eyes and always looked completely in control of the situation.

"Who'd like to go next?" he asked beaming with excitement.​
 
It was examination day. Nikolai's least favorite day of the month, by far. The young man contemplated not showing up, like he usually did, but he ultimately decided that trying to hide out again wasn't worth the trouble. They'd just track him down and he'd be forced into that stupid white-washed room once again. Bringing along one of his bigger novels, Nikolai made his way to the waiting area and then plopped down on the small sofa, not bothering to make conversation with his other 'brothers and sisters'.

Currently Steven was under fire, literally, as several varying caliber weapons were fired off at his chest. After about thirty more seconds Steven crumpled and the test was completed. The ever-cheerful Doctor pushed his way into the room through the swinging double doors. "Who'd like to go next?" he'd asked, the elated tone of his voice making Nikolai shutter. He acted like this was just a big game and he treated them all as if they were toys or small children. Things to be played with and then discarded when deemed no longer useful. It was utterly disgusting and Nikolai's resentment toward all of these men, these 'scientists', only grew stronger as each day passed. He couldn't help but mistrust them all. Nikolai wasn't a fool; he knew that something about this entire situation was strange and everything within him yearned to find out the truth.

Nikolai scoffed in reply to the Doctor and didn't bother to glance up from his book. No way was he going to volunteer himself. He hated doing this at all, let alone in front of everyone. Nikolai always went last- even if that was usually do to them having to track him down.


(( Steven and Nikolai are going to be such polar opposites, it's not even funny. xD ))
 
Syven sat in a small corner of the room, she ignored the gunfire coming from the chamber. She supposed that one of them around this place must have a power that can resist gunfire or something, the tests were never too dangerous, it was probably because how valuable the children were in this place. There was a young man with a thick book sitting in the small sofa that Syven was leaning against, she never really sat on the seats, most of the times she just sat on the floor with her tablet. Well, this most of the time she is speaking of is about an hour or two per month, since most of the time she just hangs out in her room with a unholy tangle of wires, cables, screens and other random shitz. This was almost the only time she comes out of that room for something other than "I ran out out of food", but she always drag about three months worthy of food into her room every time she comes out.

The examination wasn't something too horrible for Syven, she didn't have any kick ass powers that look like that they should be in a comic book, so she never really stressed out over the whole thing. Although one thing was weird, always weird, to her. The place she was in was obviously not something normal people should be living in, and these powers that she and others have are defiantly special also. She has always managed to reroute the WiFi in her room so she can have more access to the outside. She learned, she knows that there are cites, oceans, and fields outside of this box that they were all trapped in. She even came over one experiment called Mary's Room, it felt similar to the condition that she was in right now. But what could she do, not much. All the computers used for research was kept far away from her, even if she got there all of the scientist will shoo her way, since she "accidentally" deleted all of the previous research profiles a couple of years back.

Some double doors opened, and out came the cheerful voice of the Doctor. "Who'd like to go next?" The young man sitting on the sofa shifted a little inwards, it seems like that he doesn't want to go. Syven was alright with the tests, her powers are pretty much invisible to people's eyes, and the test usually just takes her a few minuet if not seconds. She was just a weirdo who can talk to electronics, not like anyone would want to see that rather than checking out super strength, epic armor creating, elemental manipulation, and so on and so on. She was just so bland on the outside, no excitement, no awesomeness, no nothing, just a bunch of signals that she couldn't even see herself floating all over the place.

Syven looked down into her tablet once more, (while enhancing the WIFI signal that's coming from the room next door, )and let out a sign.

"Ah, whatever."

((If Steven and Nikolai are polar opposites then Syven here is probably floating around in space XD))
 
I watched silently from my little corner of the room. Steven always seemed to enjoy these tests. Like it was some sort of game. It wasn't. It was life or death. He could actually get really hurt in there if something ever went wrong. Which it rarely did. So for the most part he was safe. But still, it wasn't a game. It was a test. A test of how well we can control ourselves and our "powers". When Steven's test concluded and He finally came back I figured it was best to get the ball rolling and get it done with sooner rather then later. I mean why avoid the inevitable? Holding Up my hand I gave the doc a polite smile saying "I'll go." And just like that the doctor's smile vanished. I'd never seen that before, and it worried me a little.

"Ahh, Subject one. Please right this way."

I followed suit silently slipping my hoodie off and tossing onto the coach next to Nikolai. As he lead me into the test chamber He held out a tray for my shirt and my gloves as he had always done and as I always did I slipped the elbow length gloves off along with my shirt and tossed them on the tray. I knew by now to always wear a sports bra underneath so I was plenty prepared to lose my shirt. Before He left however The doctor gave me a worried look and said

"Please do what they ask of you today."

Now that puzzled me. I'd never done anything to the contrary. So why would I know? Of course those thought's were washed away when The pair of doors at the opposite end of the room opened and they sy started wheeling in carts. The first held a block of solid oak on it. The second, A solid block of ice. Then came a block of Iron, then steel, then Titanium. Same old tests. The titanium was new though. I shrugged that thought off as The voice of one of the Doctor's chimed in over the speakers. I didn't recognize his voice.

"Hello Subject one. I am Dr. Page. I will be conducting today's test. Now would you please approach the block of wood and touch it?" Yep same test. I quickly stepped up to the block of wood and placed my right index finger on the center of it and just like that it burst into flames. "Very good, Now could you do the same with the Ice?" God was he actually going to walk me through this? I've done this a hundreed times. I quickly stepped up to the block Of Ice and began to run my hands around it watching as it evaporated instantly into steam. I quickly sculpted a wheel out of the ice and using my fingers made two eye holes and a smie in it."Very Good Subject one, Now the Iron."

He was going to walk me through it. I always hated this. Iron left me smelling like blood. Or maybe it was just faze two of the test. Either way I still hated it. Stepping up to the block of Iron I placed my hand to it and in a total of two seconds it went red hot and began to melt at my touch into a pool of smouldering Iron. "Very Good. Would you please . . ." Before he could finish speaking I had already melted the titanium and lit the small plant on fire. There was no way I was listening to him walk me through all of this.

There was a puase of silence before his voice came back over the speakers sounding a little displeased saying "Please do not rush the test Subject One. Now Onto phaze two." At this point the skylight usually opened up. But this time it didn't Instead a guard came in lead by a husky on a leash and let it saunter on up to me. I had to raise my hands to avoid touching the poor thing lest I hurt it. It was so playfull and loving though. I wanted so much to just pet it and give it a playfull hug but I couldn't not without my gloves. that's when His voice came back over the speakers saying "Now Subject One. Place your hands on the dog."

What! They wanted me to kill it? No they wanted to see a live controlled performance of what had happenned three years ago! I stopped dead in my tracks and looked down at the loving pooch, and while I wanted to do what they told me to. I couldn't. I couldn't kill the poor thing. Finally after a few long silent moments I spoke up.

"I won't Do it. I'm not going to kill it!" The room was silent for a few moments before the mans voice finally came back, sounding very displeased

"Very well."

The dog was then quickly lead back out of the room against it's wishes and was quickly replaced by an armed gaurd carrying a handgun in one hand and a knife in the other. This was the worst part. "Onto phaze three." As soon as the skylight opened up and I felt the sun hit my skin I could feel the energy begin to build in me. It was nice. But cut short when The guard stepped and up and slammed the knife into my gut, burying it to the hilt, and with a quick jerk broke it off leaving it inside me. I nearly caved in on myself having been caught off guard and dropped to the floor hard. I heard that mans voice over the speakers again but was too stunned to make out what he said. It didn't matter though I knew what they wanted. I quickly forced myself to roll over onto my hands and knees and brought one of my hands to where I'd been stabbed and let the energy do it's thing.

As soon as my hands began to transfer the energy to the knife It quickly began to superheat and melt inside of me and I couldn't fight back the anguished cry of pain that escaped my lips. Still I had to stay focused and looking down at my hand I saw the llast of the scoulding hot metal dip down form between my fingers. Just like that I collapsed and rolled over onto my back and let the sun shine down on the wound and just like that It began to close up. I laid there for four minutes silent as I waited for the wound to heal, all the while all I could here was the guard whisteling the tune to the Andy Griffith Show. At six minutes the pain stopped and slowly but surely I got to my feet ready for what was coming next this time. The guard stepped up to me and placing the barrel of his 9mm pistol to my shoulder blade he fired. The round went clean through and ricoched of the back. This time I managed to contain my pained cry and keep it to a barely audibl groan. I stood there silently waiting as the sunlight did It's thing. and sure enough three minutes later the trhough and through bullet wound had closed up. Eventually the doctor from before came back out with my clothes and the dog from earlier. I was hesitent at first but after I'd gotten my shit and my gloves back on he offered a gentle smile and held the leash out to me saying

"You did just fine. Take the dog. He's Theraputic."

I was hesitent at first but when He kept holding it out I eventually took the leash and Giving the doog a playfull head Rub I followed him back to the waiting room. I just wanted to sit down. Once we'd gotten back to the waiting room I lead the dog over ignoring everyone including the doctor and plopped down on the coach next to Nikolai letting the dog jump up and lay it's head in my lap. I had to admit. The dog was pretty theraputic.
 
When Subject One ((I'm totally about to think up some nickname. Yup yup yup. Lol ), who Nikolai often addressed as Pluto ((Heh, get it? xD)) volunteered to go next he looked up from his novel, interested. The Doctor had sounded different just now and Nikolai knew that different meant something bad and he was anxious to see what was going to happen once Subject One started her exam. The girl stripped down and then entered the room. At first the test proceeded as normal, but then, after the brutal assault that comprised phase two, a therapy dog was brought inside. Nikolai sat up, his book almost falling out of his lap.

"Oh, no," he thought, knowing immediately what it meant when something living was brought inside that chamber.....it meant you were supposed to make it un-living.

After a few tense moments, the girl firmly refused, holding her hands up way out of reach of the curious husky. She emerged after a disapproving speech from one of the Doctors and then was handed the dog. She grudgingly accepted the lead and walked over to the sofa, plopping down next to him. Nikolai readjusted the book in his lap before glancing over at the girl who was lovingly stroking the dog. "Are you okay, Pluto?" he asked quietly, returning his gaze to his book as he waited for an answer.

If Nikolai felt particularly bad for anyone in this place, it was Subject One. They treated her the worst out of all of them and had essentially isolated her to the point that she was utterly alone. "That was worse than usual, yeah? The bastards get more daring every month it seems."
 
When the boy on the sofa suddenly stood up for almost no reason, Syven also turned her head to see what's going on. When she saw the dog she knew, they were going to make someone kill. Killing another creature, to some it was worst than having to go though danger themselves, there are people who can never over come the guilt.

When the girl, Subject 1 was her name? The Doctor rarely gave such weird names, but she was pretty special, stepped out of the chamber with the husky dog, the boy on the sofa went to greet her. But Syven focused on a different thing.

They're pushing our limits further and further. Who knows what would happen next? Maybe someone would lose control of third power and blow up or something, but no matter what, it isn't good. Syven was curious, her powers couldn't kill, nor are they protective and will result in her being put in danger. She was also one of the youngest subject who can use their powers on such a level, if someone needs to find out what's going on, it was her.

"I'll be next." She said as she stood up, throwing the tablet and her headphones to the boy on the sofa.
"Nikolai? Is it? Watch my stuff for a sec, okay?"

When she stepped into the chamber, everything appeared normal. A standard commercial computer model was sitting on a table in the center of the room. This was what she hade usually done the other times, hacking a standard model. It normally only takes less than 0.3 seconds, that's why she never really cared about the tests. They couldn't afford better computers,since they are rendered unusable after each test. The Doctor's voice came though the speakers. "Now now, do what you do."

Syven blinked a few times, resting her eyes. Then she went up to the computer and placed her hand on it, which she didn't do that often. Almost in a insane the screen was unlocked, then it turned black completely. Syven slowly bend down and and pulled a hard drive from inside of the machine, she gently raised it up for the cameras to see. Then she let go, the small disk landed on the ground and pulverized into dust. She had completely destroyed the system inside out, and she did it faster than usual, showing that she knows what's going to happen.

The sound of clapping came those the speakers, "well, well, that was under 0.2 seconds, a new record for you." Syven ignored the praise, it was just an excuse to throw her into something horrible.

"I see that you've been handling your skills quiet nicely, you know, this is a power for people who can properly use it. No no no, I don't mean just any computer geek, you need the brains to be totally compatible." The Doctor continued on, "Get to the point..." Syven raised her head and looked at the speakers, having the urge to pulverize the whole system.

"Wow, your in a rush, but I guess I'll have to tell you anyways." The Doctor continued as the chamber began to change shape. It has now turned into a smaller room, with the air vents and passage doorways all sealed. A port opened on the ceiling, and a few drops of water dripped down from it.

The classic escape thingy? Syven though to herself, as the Doctor continued on. "Ok, this is going to be simple, you have seven minutes to hack open that drain on the ground, or else..."

"...I'm gonna drown." Syven yawned a bit, looking quiet bored. She has already scanned the area around her, the drain was only a decoy, while the true system is in the port that pours the water in. One of her abilities was also to sense the signals around her, but she likes to keep her secrets.

"Very well, let's get started then." The speakers went off after a thump in the background, as the water started flowing though the port, and into the room.

The rest was just like any old scene from a adventure story, the struggle, the despair, the ideas, and of corse finishing at the last second, was all implanted into this carefully tweaked act that Syven came up with. She first started by checking the port, realizing that it had no working system in it and was only a decoration, after dawdling in the room for a few minuets she looked up at the port as if she made a discovery, and ended it from there. Now she knows that her top priority is to look like that she is weaker then she actually is , so these tests don't go haywire.

Another clap came thought the speakers as she blew her hair and clothing dry with the large blow dryer that she turned on with her powers without permission. "Not bad, your a bit sharper than I thought, it's quiet nice to have a child like you with this ability, who knows, you can take over the world with it."

Syven yawned once more, and rubbed the black circles under her eyes. "Kay cool, I'm leaving now." She stepped out of the chamber, leaving a small trail of water on the carpet. Turning to Nikolai she ruffled her damp short hair a few times. "Thanks man, I'm just going to pick my stuff now, good luck on your test. Boy, that was way more intense than usual."

((Man. That was getting way too long, so I sort of rushed the end, but there's probably gonna be tins of puzzles and stuff that I'm trying to do, Syven's character is just so good for that type of stuff XD))
 
James was leaning against the wall by the entrance to the testing area with his arms crossed. Although he appeared to be calm, closer inspection would reveal that he had his hands clenched. Every time he heard a gunshot, James couldn't help but blink. He was enraged, but letting everyone know that wouldn't help anyone. It was better to just do what the Professor wanted and just be done with it. When Subject One, James wasn't too sure what to call her and at this point just resorted to just saying "Hey" when he addressed her, came out James was felt quite a bit of relief. He heard a gunshot... and there was only one reason as to why guns were ever used here. So, he couldn't help, but assume the worst.

It was time for some one else to go. James decided that he would volunteer since everyone was likely tense after hearing the shots. After all, there was no reason to shoot him, so he didn't worry. James walked into the chamber. What he saw was a simple set up. There was a small piece of electrical tape on the middle of the floor. Then on the other side of the room was an exposed cable. The speakers came to life. "Hello James, I hope we can work together this time." James replied "Hello, Professor." trying to be cordial, but intentially ignoring the rest of what he said. The speakers continued "Step on to the designated area." James complied as he walked onto the tape while taking off his leather gloves and rolling his sleeves. The Professor then said "Okay, today. We're going test out your electromagnetic attration at a distance." James looked at one of the cameras in the room and said "Professor... I've never done that before." only to hear "Just try your best." James sighed.

He lifted his right arm and reached towards the cable that was still 20 meters away. Then he tried to imagine literally pulling the electricity with his hands. Seconds passed with no result. The speakers then said "You're not giving it your best. These results are... dissapointing. In fact, I might have to conduct additional tests to make up for this." James thought "Well... that's not good news. Are they going to put me through another stress test?" "Guard, fetch Subject One for further testing. Let us see how she fares against blunt force trauma." James turned to the guard and yelled "NO!" A bright light filled the room for half a second and then it was pitch black. James heard the Guard fumble in the darkness. He had taken out his flashlight and pointed it at James along with his pistol. James glared at the guard. Anyone in the room could feel the murderous intent radiating from him. After a few tense moments, the light came back on. The guard put away his flashlight and lowered his pistol... but did not put it back into the holster. The speaker came alive again and said "You see? All I want is your best. Now was that so hard? Looks like I underestimated you. You overloaded the primary circuit! We're on our back up power in that room now. These are the results that I want." followed by a chuckle. "Now then, go ahead and discharge." James walked over to the usual pole that led down deep into the Earth and touched it. Somewhere, kilimeters down in the ground was a sizable explosion due to the sudden discharge of energy. Without a word, James then continued to the exit. As he walked by the guard, James gave one more cold glance at the guard who visibly stiffened. When he returned to the waiting room, James quietly returned to his original spot.
 
Genie had grown up with these people, so it frustrated her that she still felt so uneasy around them. They had been children, bad things had happened and it wasn't like she was the only one here to make mistakes growing up. There hadn't been a how to guide on how to control you mutant super powers, still she couldn't quell the unease, perhaps it wasn't just about the others being here though, perhaps it was about what was coming up. She had never liked tests, the pressure to perform well almost always resulted in her performing less than satisfactory and even with private practice she didn't exhibit the same level of self control as many of the others had.

There was little to do but wait and waiting made her nervous, slipping her headphones back over her ears she clicked play on the old fashioned CD player, they weren't allowed anything too modern here, which suited her just fine, she listened to the needle skip and bounce as it had a tendency to do and settled herself against a back wall, slightly away from the others and watched. The tests looked painful and exhausting and she couldn't help but cringe for her fellow test subjects, unaware of her nose scrunching or her lips pulling back in a grimace as they stumbled or tripped. Despite the sweat on their brow and the gritted teeth, to her, they made it look easy, natural even.

Shaken from her idle thoughts that kept her panic at bay by a nod from one of the scientist's she sighed faintly. Hesitant a moment she slipped the headphones from her ears, "Genie, your next." She had been afraid of that, her eyes turned down to the CD player, taking a long moment to turn the machine off and unhook it from herself. Curling her head phone leads around it she made her slow way towards the man holding the clip board. She didn't want to do this, she really really didn't want to do this.

Carefully placing the CD player down she also removed her watch and necklace, "Do you want the shot Genie?" The man asked her, passionate eyes glanced up to the scientist's face, she guessed out in public no one would really be able to tell that he spent his days with kids who had super powers. Of course she wanted the shot, why wouldn't she want the shot? Though she was sure the one watching over these experiments, the man who found them all and took them in, would mark her down if she took it. So, not without fear, she shook her head quietly and made her way to the iron door, the scientist followed and turned towards the observation window, "Now, all you have to do is get to the other end of the course without, you know, dying."

Genie nodded lightly, they'd done this course a lot, to test her endurance, her speed and to help her gain control of her ability. The man put a hand on her shoulder and opened the door, giving her a gentle shove inside before shutting and spinning the lock. She flinched at the sound of the dead bolt closing but forced herself not to look back, instead focusing on what was before her as a set of obstacles were moved into place on electric arms, guillotines and whirling blades, small tight tubes and a maze and right at the end a hoop, she didn't like that hoop. It was thanks to that hoop she knew she could be set on fire if she wasn't careful, though they hadn't made her go through it since, well, not on fire of course.

There was a blue spark and she more noticeably flinched, taking half a step backwards as the hoop ignited in one corner, the flames spreading quickly across the shape and dancing readily before her. Stunned into stillness she stood there gazing at the amber orange glow and while she stared she realised that the fire while potentially large problem was actually secondary to her far more pressing problem. She couldn't shift her clothes, in fact she couldn't shift anything that wasn't organic, she was about to be naked in front of her peers. It was as if every nightmare had coalesced into one pool of ultimate despair.

"Whenever you are ready Genie." Came the voice of one of the researchers over the tannoy, she didn't have the luxury of time to worry about her modesty, or the fire, if she didn't start soon she would be considered a failure and she couldn't go through intensive training again. With a deep breath she forced herself to relax and closed her eyes, "Cut off the Sound to the room." The clip board scientist said to the one by the controls, the other complying more or less straight away without question.

The change wasn't easy, it wasn't simply a matter of one minute solid the next gas, she was literally ripping her cells to the base level and in a sense rewriting them and as such it was not without its drawbacks. First she had to convert her internal organs and, from practise, her vocal box, without it even as she started to scream there was nothing but silence. The pain was blinding, that's what the shot was for, it was to numb her enough to do it without feeling much at all, of course it made her slower and more sluggish which was not what she needed right now. She felt tears sting her cheeks but as with any time she cried the water soon evaporated in a fine trail of mist.

She clutched her sides, effectively holding herself up as she worked on converting her innards to gas, everything on the inside had to be gas before the skin could go. It was dangerous to do it any other way, one could lose parts of themselves otherwise and when it came to putting oneself back together it could be fatal if parts were missing. She'd got it slightly wrong once and spent two weeks in the infirmary recovering. The first outward sign of the transformation was the hair, starting from the tips it was as if an artist were rubbing out a sketch, parts disappear and other parts remained until she stood without a single strand of hair and finally, starting from her fingers and toes her skin disappeared.

From the outsiders perspective it took a matter of seconds but for Genie it had felt like minutes, with a quiet flump her now bodiless clothes hit the floor of the chamber, ever so briefly the outline of a vague woman like shape could be seen, like vapour rising off a mug of hot tea before this too lost cohesion and started to move. She would be hard to follow with the eyes merely because she was hard to see at all unless the light bounced off her in just the right way and only then a flimpse could be seen and nothing more.

The first obstacle was easy enough, it was a line of lasers close to the ceiling, the lasers at different heights and angles would be triggered if she so much as brushed them and she'd automatically lose. She was far more agile than a normal person while like this so she weaved like a fish in a stream, slipping between the lasers without a single one being set off. Then, close to the floor was a pipe, it was no more than an inch across, thick and heavy and she navigated it with ease coming towards the middle of the room where a giant set of three fans turned in a slow, lazy manner. Fans were trickier, the wind they generated was something she had to fight against and in this state she didn't have the weight to fight strong gusts.

Luckily these weren't strong gusts, twisting herself through the fan's blades she narrowly missed the last of the three and hung briefly on the other side to catch a breath that, in this form, she really didn't need. The guillotine was next, a row of sharp, fast moving blades that both generated wind and could cut her in half if she wasn't careful, so close together that pausing in between was impossible so she waited for her opportunity and slipped through quickly.

There were a few other obstacles that she managed with little to no bother until it came to that flaming hoop. The Flames had grown larger the closer she had gotten and now that there was nothing between it and her they licked towards her like clawed, grasping hands. She was terrified but once through the hoop she'd be done, the scientist in charge of her had said all there was to it was being calm and keeping herself together, well, as much as she could. He'd told her that she didn't really set on fire, just feed it and she'd only be burned if she believed she would be. Of course that was easy for him to say, he wasn't made of Oxygen like she was, still, what choice did she have? The longer she stayed like this the greater the risk to her own health and wellbeing and the more chance she'd have of having to undergo intensive training again.

The flames of the ring near tripled in size as Genie passed through, the edges of her invisible form being picked out by the flames that still clung to her. Making her final descent easier to see, she landed in a crouched position and immediately began to smother the flames which flickered and eventually died. Her concentration was then poured into bringing herself back, first her skin to contain the gases and then gradually the rest, again the process only took a few seconds, her hair the last thing to materialise and while the odd traces of soot clung to her and she had a small cut on her cheek she was largely unharmed. Despite this she sunk to her knees, promptly shivering and clutching her own arms amply covering what little modesty she had at that moment.

A door her side opened and in swept a scientist, wrapping his lab coat about her shoulders and handing her a tall glass of pink water, a mixture of water and glucose to rehydrate her after her transformation. The scientist wrapped an arm about her middle, helping her to her feet though it was clear he held most of her weight and balance and offered the glass up to her lips, her hands shook fiercely and she took a small sip of the water before the tannoy pinged once again. "Now, kill the pig and you are done."

This time she did look back, snapping her gaze to where she assumed the man on the microphone would be standing, he couldn't be serious, could he? Though the kind scientist that helped her up let her go, forcing her to stand on her own steam as he half walked, half dragged a large sow into the room. Genie looked from the pig to the man in the room with her, her eyes must of pleaded the words she couldn't say herself and he gave a queer half smile, "I suggested the pig, they originally wanted you to subdue Stephen but considering the past there I thought this was kinder."

It was a warped sense of kinder though, to kill an animal rather than face the man she nearly killed almost ten years ago now. She wasn't as unstable as she was back then, she could control it to an extent but whenever she was near Stephen she panicked. The scientists knew just which parts of her psyche to exploit, she was still mortified by what she'd almost done, even though she knew now there was little she could have done to stop it.

Slowly she slipped her arms into the lab coat and fastened the first few buttons so she didn't need to hold it closed, it was far too large for her but she hardly cared. Facing the pig she extended a hand, hesitating a moment but a glance to the scientist in her peripheral vision was enough to sway her, closing her eyes so she didn't have to see what she was about to do she focused on the breath of the pig. The sound of a pig suffocating was awful and she stopped at one point unable to bare the squealing anymore, "I can't it doesn't feel right." She pleaded, only to have to continue a second later at the urging of the scientist. Eventually the heavy sound of a pig hitting the deck rang in her ears and a moment later it was silent. Tears ran down her cheeks but got mere inches before they simply evaporated, slowly opening her eyes she looked at what she'd done and went pale.

The scientist congratulated her and offered to help her out of the room, handing her the glass, which she sipped from absently, she allowed herself to be guided from the room, what had she done? Once back in the room with the others she accepted her now neatly folded clothes which rested beneath her CD Player, watch and necklace. Pinning the bundle to her chest with one arm, the other hand still occupied with the glucose drink she made her way to the back of the room, not daring to look up to see the reaction on her peers faces. Reaching the back wall she leaned heavily against it and took a longer drink of the fluid, it was going to be a long morning.
 
One more day in the test chamber.

One more day where he is supposed to show how much he can control his powers.

Which means barely, right now.

Kinetic, he can manage - throw a baseball extremely hard, not budge against physical assault, no problem. He still hasn't dared to try the bullets, though.

Then comes thermal. He tries so hard - but thermal energy is fickle, and Janus always fails his thermal tests. Always goes too far - supracool water to the point of explosive ice, then boil it all at the cost of a frozen table. "It's okay", the scientist says. Janus doesn't believe him. He hates him. So much.

Electricity control. He's supposed to stop a party popper from detonating because of a legitimate bomb detonator. Hard concentration. Tears a few wires out. Waits. The party popper does not go off. He succeeded. "Congrats", says the scientist. Janus loves him so much.

And finally, radiation. The hardest. Janus and radiation almost always disagree because radiation is a weednozzle. A disobedient nipple-twisting weednozzle. He's given a light source, and he's supposed to ignite a piece of paper across the room. Janus finds he has an easier time making drawings on the wall with the light - light likes to keep moving. The scientist sighs - but Janus doesn't care. He's drawing. And he hates the scientist. And loves him. But mostly hates. Janus finally manages to focus for long enough to burn the paper.

He tenses up. Janus knows that part of the testing involves his reflexes. And it pays off - he broke a mechanical baseball bat aimed at his midsection, which nets a contented chuckle from the scientist. He will probably kill him some day. Probably.

He's offered a handshake on the way out. He declines. Janus is escorted back to the room, where he sits at his usual corner, covering himself with his two blankets, nodding to everyone in the room before zoning off, obtaining a thousand yard stare. "So cold..."
 
Kaoru tried to calm herself as she was mindlessly shaking her right leg partially out of boredom and partially out of fear. She could barely pay attention to the other people in the waiting room. She normally would turn to secretly observing the other subjects to try to give her mind something to be curious about, but when it was a day like today, she could only focus on her panic. Her hair and eyes were already faintly glowing from her stress.

Even though her mind was clouded, she could still make out some of what the other subjects had to do, and there seemed to be more killing this time around. Kaoru had never killed anything in her life, or at least from what she could remember, she hadn't. They weren't necessarily allowed to kill anything in this secret place anyways, unless, of course, it was a day like today. Even then, barely any of the subjects were forced to kill anything. It was definitely strange.

Her head flicked to the entrance of the testing chamber and she snapped out of her thoughts when someone, Janus, came back out of the room. A scientist came out directly after, holding a clipboard, as he moved his eyes around the room until he stopped at Kaoru. She knew by the way he impatiently looked at her that it was her turn.

She gulped, trying to not let her hair and eyes glow even more uncontrollable than they already had been. The man guided her into the room and the door tightly shut. Kaoru walked forward onto a matted area as the other man walked into a different room so they could observe her from a higher point with tinted glass shielding them.

A different scientist that was gathered in the room above spoke through the speakers, "Phase 1."

The first test was always the simplest, she just had to see how strong enough her light could become by using it on different machines that the scientists made.

All of the lights were immediately turned off, no light was filtered in from anywhere, it was darker than the back of your eyelids. The man spoke from the speakers once more, "Start."

A square metal machine which showed "S" -meaning "sight"- on a small screen was brought up from the floor. All she had to do was get 10 of these metal boxes which measured the light coming from her to show "B" - meaning "blind"- however, these boxes increased in light resistance each time, meaning that she would have to use more energy on every box. She could faint if she used too much inner strength. She knew exactly what to do as she started to focus on her hair, which made her hair and eyes light up in a neon yellow color. She didn't have to use much power to blind the first machine, it showed "B" in less than two seconds.

The man called out from the speakers again as the box went into the floor, "1.79 seconds." Another machine came up from where the other machine previously went down, in which she used the same strategy, and the scientist called out again, "2.01 seconds." Each time the metal box went away into the floor and out came a stronger, more resistant one. It took her longer and longer on each box and she had to use more energy. By the final 10th box, she was almost ready to pass out.

"Last one, Kaoru." The scientist announced. Kaoru was breathing heavily, slightly slouched over. The final machine came up from the floor in front of her, and she balled her fists and tightly closed her eyes as she focused as much energy as she could to go to her hair, and the entire room was lit up with her bright white light. From what was once completely pitch-black was now like the surface of the sun.

She opened her eyes, instantly taken aback at the light room. Her energy immediately fizzed out and darkness returned. After a couple seconds of suspense, the scientist hesitantly spoke from the speakers, "4.56 seconds. That is 1.25 seconds less than your last record of 5.81 seconds."

Kaoru wanted to congratulate herself, but by this point she was having trouble breathing and thinking clearly, she barely had any energy left to feel happy for herself. It was always the same: the toughest part of her tests were always after the finished the tests.

The lights turned back on and the room was back to normal again as the man walked back down from the separate room, bringing a glass of water and a loaf of bread with him. "You have three minutes to get as much power back as you can." She nodded, sitting down and eating the bread. As long as she had some food and water (like she currently did), then it wouldn't be too tough for her to get at least half of her energy back.

She quickly gulfed down the bread and water, feeling partially refreshed. It should be enough to get her through her second test, which was the same every time.

"Alright, Kaoru." The scientists were back up in the separate room, speaking through the speakers again. "Phase 2 is a bit different this time."

Kaoru immediately tensed up, trying to swallow the last bit of bread. She stood up, prepared to hear how her second test would be different. Normally her second test would involve all of the lights being switch off while the walls played violent and horrifying scenes over and over again with distracting sounds in the background, while she had to blind a strong machine with the extra emotional pressure. Her emotional state affected 99% of how strong her neon light would be. If she was too emotionally unstable, then she would faint before she could affect anything.

"This test will not only determine your emotional strength like it normally does, but now it will involve your physical strength as well." The scientist continued. "Just use your gut to make it through this phase."

"Wait!" She protested, her voice slightly scratchy, "I'm not good at fighting! How will I know what to do if you don't-" Her panicked voice was immediately cut off by the sounds of gunfire, sirens, trucks, and bombs making her eardrums beat wildly and her heart to skip a beat in surprise. Her immediate reaction was to hurl herself to the ground in a crouching position, making her look like a fool as she sat there with her eyes tightly shut and hands over her ears. Realizing her wrong reaction, she opened her eyes in a panic, seeing the walls dance with holographic pictures of blood, war, and vicious animals. So far, it was just like how phase 2 always went.

She stood back up, being more prepared this time. A knife was dropped from the ceiling, making her flinch a bit, before she quickly picked up the knife in a confused panic. She drowned out the sounds as she was partially lost in all the scenes on the walls; they showed pictures of things she had never seen before, her curiosity got the best of her as the absentmindedly stared at all the walls, lost in thought of what those bloody pictures were showing. It was nothing like how they were down here, which she was partially thankful for. Even though those people being shown were doing horrifying acts of violence against other, they weren't being held in a small area and they weren't being watched and tested by intimidating scientists, what on Earth was going on with them? Is that what goes on in the world without them?

Her mesmerized and slightly terrified expression was broken short by an insanely strong pounce on her back. She was thrown to the floor, grunting in pain. While she was still on the ground, she flipped onto her back, staring horrifyingly at the large beast that was in front of her.

A 5 foot tall vicious dog was staring right back at her, showing his need to kill through his eyes and the white foam that was seeping down out of his mouth. He was leaning back in an attack stance, letting its muscles move through its body as it heavily breathed. Maybe "dog" wasn't the correct classification, this thing wasn't normal in any way, it was corrupted.

She widened her eyes and leaped to the side as the dog hurled back at her, nearly ripping her arm off. Trying to not pay attention to the distracting sounds and pictures on the walls, she stood up tall, moving all of her energy towards her hair as it went into a large neon light, partially as strong as her light in phase 1. She gripped the knife tighter as a tear ran down her face when she realized what they were making her do. She tried to maintain her balance as her energy was quickly slipping away through her glowing hair and eyes, she couldn't see much from the light from the walls and her hair blinding the whole area, but beneath the horrific noises she could hear the dog faintly whimper, most likely from not being able to see anything.

She took that as her chance to lunge for it, having no choice but to sink her knife into its chest. Both of her eyes had tears running out of them so she threw the dog, leaving the knife in it, instantly wanting it all to end. She was backing up against the wall, not seeing anything, as she tried to not let her crying be too loud as she shut her eyes, waiting for the sounds to stop. She was shaking in fear at what she had done, that dog was most definitely dead.

"Kaoru." She could hear in the distance. "Kaoru, phase 2 is over." With that, she immediately opened her eyes and let out a panicked gasp. The scientist was in front of her again, holding out a towel and another plate of bread and water. "You completed phase 2 in 27.23 seconds." The scientist didn't even seem affected by her frightened state, he was acting like this was all expected.

She wiped her face and sniffled as she angrily grabbed the towel and plate from him, partially shoving him aside as she stepped back into the waiting room. Thankfully, she didn't have to use too much energy when blinding the dog, but she was definitely emotionally tired. She stared at the floor as she went back to her seat in the corner and crowded away from all the other subjects as she wrapped the towel around her and gulped down her food.
 
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Nikolai believe it or not was the first guy I actually liked out of the bunch. From day one when they introduced me as simply Subject Zero, he immediately gave me the nickname "Pluto". It was nice to have a real name. Even if it was just a joke. Sure enough when I sat down he had something to say about my trial. "Are you okay, Pluto?" The truth was I wasn't. I'd only ever killed one living breathing thing. A scientist. That was three years ago. There was an incident with one of the scientists, I wasn't wearing my gloves, I touched him and he . . . he just atomized as they called it. Apparently I dispersed enough energy into him that his cellular structure couldn't hold together. The worst part was . . . only part of him was atomized. His right arm and half of his upper torso just turned into ash right there and he just dropped. But the worst part was the blood. He just bled everywhere. Of course none of the others ever found out because it happened in isolation ward. But still, the fact that they wanted me to do it again just chilled me to my bone. The pain of getting stabbed and shot and having molten steel dribble out of my body was nothing compared to how I felt when they told me to kill this loving dog.

I gave him half a glance before giving into my need to reassure him that things were Ok and said "I'm good." I wasn't but for his sake I was. I scratched the loveable husky behind his ears again before finally slipping my jacket back on and stood up, making my way back to my dark little corner of the room. I preferred to watch from the sidelines anyways. It had been one year sense they allowed me to stay with the re of the subjects and still I had a hard time getting along. It wasn't that They were bad people. Well most of them, it was just . . . I had a difficult time trusting anyone anymore. I'd been cooped up for so long and the only people I'd ever known either wanted to hurt me, or use me. So could I be blamed for not trusting people. Nikolai was the only one I'd really started to trust. Him and one other person . . .
 
Syven watched as Subject 1 walked slowly back to the corner opposite of hers, and sat down. She always saw her in a corner, not even doing really anything. Pluto? Was that her nick name? Syven can defiantly agree on the fact that Pluto is a much better name than Subject 1, it just seemed more human on a lot of levels. The dog that she brought with her rested at her feet, while she stroked its head occasionally.

It was good that she didn't kill the dog, or at least Syven thought so. As she said, there are people who would rather die than harm other creatures, Syven wasn't one of them, but she couldn't really kill anything with her powers anyways. Sometimes Syven dosent know that if she's lucky or unlucky. Her physical body wasn't changed much, other than the dark blue shade of her hair, and she was never requied to kill anything, nor was she stressed about controlling her powers. She felt sort of sorry for Subject 1, perhaps she would rather call her Pluto. If Pluto ever went out of control with her power, it would probably mean vaporizing the whole area, while Syven would likely just render the electronics unusable. It was a no brainer to know that Syven is much weaker than her, and likely weaker than everyone in this room, but more emotionally stable than most people in the room also.

Was she really the weakest? A drop of water from the test dropped down from her hair, the blower dryers weren't really blow dryers, so it didn't do such a good job. Syven looked across the room again at were Pulto was sitting, she had a idea in mind, it might be dangerous, but Syven knew that Pluto wouldn't let it become dangerous. After a second she got up and walked across the room, she sat down against the wall and rubbed the Husky's head. She then turned to Pluto and tried to smile, Syven didn't have the best looking smiles, but a small one would do in a situation like this.

"Hey there, um...I'm kind of damp right now, you know, the test where they tried to drown me. Your the only person with a heat generating ability here...so is it ok if you, like, dry me off a bit."

Syven was pretty sure that she can't control, or wasn't confindent enough to vaporize water off of a human being, but after seeing her in a corner all the time, and rarely talking for a whole year, even a computer nerd who steps out of her room once a month like Syven was curious. Besides, Syven didn't like being damp either.

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The files. About two and a half years ago Syven has once noticed a file when she was dwadling around the document room, it contained information about a girl atomized a scientist. She didn't have time to see the girl's name or face before she was dragged away from the room, but knowing about the power itself will make it easy to find the person.

"Plutonium..."
 
What, the actual fuck. Steven was livid. The tests were never this deadly. Well, actually come to think of it, Steven hadn't been there for testing day for a few weeks in a row. He did his test and then was asked to go somewhere with someone. Move flats in the kitchen, Flip a forklift back upright, break down a door to a room someone had locked their keys in. Steven was recalling the excuses and come to think of it, they were some fucking lame ass excuses. Steven watched in mounting horror and anger as his...colleagues(?) were beaten, stabbed, shot, brought to tears, stabbed, shot again, emotionally broken and killed two animals almost 3. Which Pluto, I guess her name was, cause he refused to ever call her Subject 1 had his respect for that one. That Husky was cute as fucking shit. What the hell, this isn't right. I need to talk to Science about this. He thought to himself as one of the last test subjects entered the room. He wasn't sure who, maybe Carbon. And that was another thing! Except for Genie, he didn't know ANYONE'S fucking name! He just called them all by their element or something. Furthermore, he was vaguely sure he'd never actually seen Pluto before, and he had literally been here longer than anyone else.

Now Steven didn't so much care that he'd been lied to, he was pretty easy to lie to and he knew it was a weakness of his. Naivety. What he cared about was that the others were being treated like fucking animals. No, diseased animals, with the plague, and they were on fire. Steven wasn't particularly protective of anyone in the room. The only person he'd ever been super close to was Genie, and they didn't talk anymore on account of her almost killing him years ago. He'd gotten over it and attempted to reconnect, but to no avail. It wasn't protection that drove him, cause honestly he was better friends with the staff than he was with the others. It was the lack of human decency. Honestly, the staff were all really cool people, but they were being heartless, test after test. Steven wouldn't stand to see anyone treated like this. An epiphany hit Steven like a bomb. The people I should be close with aren't the staff. He realized just how naive he had really been. They were all kept from each other for a reason. They were being trained for something, he didn't know what, but it couldn't be good.

Steven was mad, and embarrassed. Not with the assistants, the [BCOLOR=transparent]DOCTORS[BCOLOR=transparent][/BCOLOR][/BCOLOR], scientists or even Thee Scientist. He was angry with himself. It wasn't in Steven to hate or hold grudges. Most negative feelings he ever had were just aimed at himself for a week or two before he got over it. But this one would stick How could he have been so stupid? CLEARLY they were being mistreated. They had NEVER been allowed outside, they were all CONSTANTLY supervised, they weren't allowed to see each other or form bonds and they were constantly honing their abilites.

A scientist stepped in with a tray full of empty [BCOLOR=transparent]GLASSES[BCOLOR=transparent][/BCOLOR][/BCOLOR] and a few pitchers of water. Steven leaned forward from the wall he had been leaning on with little thrust. Jason. The scientist with the pitchers looked up, with a smile. I need to see the scientist. Now. His voice let everyone in the room know he was not fucking around. Most people hadn't ever even seen Steven get angry. He was always the happiest, most outgoing person there was. the assistant replied jovially, "Steven you know the scientist doesn't like being int..." I. Don't. Care. What he likes. Tell him its and emergency. Steven took a big commanding step forward, turning to metal as he did. Call it an emergency. He rolled his neck, cracking the joints in it. The assistant friendly look turned to fear and alarm as he rushed back trough the double doors. Steven reverted back to flash, but stood up straighter clenched his fists and stuck out his chest bit to prepare for the confrontation. He only had to wait a moment or two before the Scientist came out.

"Steven you know that tests aren't to be interrupted" he looked rather annoyed
The fuck is going on here? The scientist looked confused and taken aback.
"What do you mean?"
Did i fockin' stutter old man? He remained silent for a second then recomposed himself putting a smile on his face.
"Steven Im sure whatever your upset about is just a misunderstanding with a rational explanation."
Yah ya fockin' hope so! The fuck is going on! Since when were our damn tests this fockin' deadly!? "Steven.." the scientist tried to interject but Steven just kept going.
Since when the hell did our tests mean we got the ever lovin' piss kicked out of us!? Is this why you've been pulling from the testing chamber for the past 3 month for shite reasons? So I wouldn't see this? Ya tried to fokin drown silicon and almost did, you fukin stabbed Pluto, then shot the poor lass THEN ya tried to get her to kill the cutest damn pup ya've ever laid eyes on! His arm swung wide behind him to gesture to where he was pretty sure Pluto was sitting. He thought he heard one of his comrades stand up behind him.
Sit your ass back down. He called out. He didn't want someone else getting in trouble, but mostly he was furious and was being selfish in his desire to argue with Scientist alone.
Ya almost kill Genie with yer damned course ending in her almost settin' 'erself on fire then you had her kill a pig for absolutely no Fokin reason! Hm I wonder if the girl with oxygen powers can kill people by drawing it all out of their lungs?! MAKES FUCKING SENSE! "Steven, really now..." the scientist tried to interject, but he'd made the mistake of letting Steven build up some momentum.
Was that really a hypothesis you needed to test? He asked sarcastically and quite rhetorically
You set a goddamn attack dog on a girl with NO combat experience or deadly potential! You try to beat up Silver and I can't Imagine what you've got planned for Carbon! Steven finished, panting and looking positively murderous. The doctor was looking back at him with a face like a stone. He approached Steven and put his right hand on Steven's left shoulder.
"Steven you need to calm down. Or I'll have to subdue you." Steven's eyes followed his hand as until it rested on his shoulder. He looked at the hand with disdain and disgust. Steven drew up his right hand shoved the hand off his shoulder. He took a step back, turning to iron.
This ends. Now. Steven's knuckles would be white, if they weren't currently iron. The two guards who'd been watching the doors to the lab drew their weapons. Few of the guards actually carried firearms, in the even they were needed, it was a prime directive to not kill the experiment, just subdue them. But the tranquilizer darts that worked on the rest of the experiments wouldn't pierce his skin when it was Iron, which it currently was, so they drew their Tasers. A low whizzing sound was made a the stun guns were turned on. Two small red dots appeared roughly in the center of Stevens chest.
"Steven," the scientist stated "You need to calm down, or I will make you."

The three on one stood there for minutes just eyeing each other. The Scientist and Steven were burning into each others eyes, the guards looked shocked and terrified. The air was nearly tangible. None of them had EVER seen Steven angry, and that included all of the other experiments. Well Genie saw him throw a tantrum once at the age of 12 cause he was upset about not being allowed outside on his birthday, but that was hardly same. The point was, Steven was the most jovial, outgoing, and approachable person in the room, no one had ever really seen him angry, till now.

The showdown continued for another minute before Stevens skin became flesh again. He made for the left side of the couch which was now vacant since Carbon was still in the middle of his test. Steven's eyes met with Pluto's dog, who immediately whimpered and got off the couch. Steven whistled at Pluto and made eye contact. He flicked his eyes to the right, trying to inform her that it would be in her immediate best interest to get off the couch as well. He reached the left arm of the couch and grabbed it with his right arm, reaching across his body and his right foot forward. It looked like he was going to pivot and sit. He didn't.

There was a loud crunch as Steven used his strength to rip through the fabric and into the wood that supported the arm rest. His skin became Iron as he shifted his weight from his front foot to his back foot, swinging the couch in an arch and releasing it at the doctor and his guards. The doctor had been expecting it, and the guards were para-military, so all three were able to dive out of the way. The couch sailed over them by inches and went through the giant bay window. The sound of shattering glass pierced the air as the couch went careening through the air and hit the back wall of the test chamber, breaking into several pieces. In hindsight it was pure luck that it didn't injure Carbon somehow. Steven knew what was coming, but it didn't make it any easier. Two red dots re-appeared on his chest as he braced for it. Bracing didn't help. He kept his skin iron, hoping it would deflect incoming electrodes, in fact it just made him more conductive. The guards fired from their position on the floor and the air was filled with a terrifying, sharp crackle as the Taser poured the voltage into his chest. Steven dropped like a bag of hammers, and made a similar noise when he hit the ground. He convulsed like he was having a seizure. His skin started to flicker back and forth between flesh and iron. He tried to scream but the voltage had his jaws clamped shut. So it just sort of made a muffled...noise.

When they stopped he was heaving on the ground with occasional spams. 4 more guards immediately rushed in with impressive looking assault rifles and pointed them at the other subjects as to encourage to stay the fuck still. One of the Taser guard approached me and drew a special pair of handcuffs. They were made of reinforced titanium, and almost comically large so he couldn't just break them. He cuffed one arm behind his back when Steven tried to get up. The second Taser guard pulled his trigger, sending more charge into Steven, and dropping him again. The other cuff was placed on his other wrist same as the first and he was escorted to a room in the isolation ward.

The scientist stood up and dusted himself off, looking around the room. He cleared his throat.
"Carbon will be fetched and you will all be led back to your rooms. Those of you who had yet to test will do so at a later time. Alone. I would advise against trying anything smart. Deadly force is authorized." He turned and walked back into the lab, followed by Taser guard #1. When everyone was back in their room safely and locked inside, there was a small meeting held and it was decided that all of the the freaks would be confined to their rooms for 24 hours. No exception, their food would be brought to them. The security around here was phenomenal. Each room's locks were curtailed to their occupant. For instances, Iron's door was just a super thick, heavy metal motherfucker that couldn't be broken open, while Lithium's was locked with a few very large, high quality pad locks that she couldn't hack.

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Steven was led to a nice comfy, cold steel cell the size of a fucking closet with a wooden bed and a tin crapper in the corner. A doctor was sent over to see if the Tasers had effected Steven's vitals in a permanent way. Electricity could be deadly to him in particular. He was kept there for 72 hours, meals were brought to him, and when he was released, he was officially on managements shit-list.


I know a lot happened just there and I didn't give you much chance to address it all, being confined to your rooms and all. Just go with it. Your next post may be shorter than normal, but try to cover 72 hours with it. I went to isolation for 3 days, so you wont see Iron again till lunch on the 3rd day. I know that's a lot of time to cover, but I believe in you all! Increased reaction together, or no interaction whatsoever due to fear?! You show me, you got this!

Carbon: Your post should be a bit longer than others since you have most of your test to go through, then it getting interrupted by a flying sofa.
 
Genie couldn't stand this, while she chose not to see what was happening in the room she could hear it and it was horrible. For years now she'd suspected something was wrong here, that they were being trained for something, why else would they be tested and confined? Perhaps it was for the military, or a private army, ultimately though they were weapons and she'd known it. Of course, where else would someone like her be of any use?

It was Steven's voice that bought her head up for the first time since the test, her own head tilted faintly to one side and her lower lip immediately worried by her canine. She'd only ever seen him angry the once, on his birthday when he was thirteen, no, twelve. Like before she stood watching his back, his shoulders tense, they'd been friends before, he'd been her only friend actually. He'd introduced her to the other's Sulfur and Boron had been there too, she didn't like to think where they were now. His voice was as hard as the iron his skin turned to and she knew nothing good was about to happen. She wanted to call out to him, to try and calm him and avoid what was bound to happen but fear froze her voice and glued her to the floor.

She flinched when Steven started to shout, it was true these tests were crueler than usual, whatever they were being trained for was reaching the next stage. When he mentioned her her cheeks flushed faintly, she wasn't going to mention the reason, it had been a choice of the pig or him. She'd nearly killed him once before without trying, she couldn't do that to him again, she'd never killed before and never wanted to again but the pig wasn't Steven.

His anger carried on growing like a charging bull, now that he was on a roll she didn't think there was any stopping him. When the guards drew on him her hands covered her mouth and her eyes widened in fear, she knew how dangerous electricity was for Steven but she doubted he'd back down from such a threat. To her surprise he seemingly did and she allowed herself to relax a little, perhaps he'd grown up some while she wasn't looking.

Of course she should have known better, as the glass smashed from the impact of the sofa and the red dots appeared over his chest she finally managed to call out his name in no more than a whisper. Though as the guards filled him with electricity she dropped the glass and took a step forward, her hair danced about her head the tips flickering as gas. "Stop, please, you're killing him!" She pleaded, stress and fear caused her to lose her concentration, the oxygen in the room erratic. "Well, you'd know all about that wouldn't you?" The Scientist uttered with the kind of cold composure she knew him for. It still stung though and it was effective in the fact she was silenced completely.

The air shifted in the room and her eyes filled with tears, Steven was a nice man, kind and amiable but even still, how could anyone forgive another person for nearly killing them? "We just know when to stop. Sedate her." The scientist uttered, brushing down his coat and he watched as one of the scientist's placed a medical gun to her neck and injected the sedative straight into her blood stream. The affect was almost instantaneous, she looked both shocked and confused, her vision swam and she fell. Caught only by the scientist to save her from hitting the deck and carried from the room as the guards escorted the rest back to their private rooms.
 
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I watched silently. My eye's never leaving the test chamber. One after the other I witnessed the tests. One after the other I saw how they were pushed to there limits, and I felt guilty. After the dog, they'd taken it easy on me. Even I recognized that. In all those years of solitude they'd beaten me far worse. Stretched my healing to it's limits. They hadn't even bothered testing me against temperatures. Was the whole point of my test to see If I would kill? I felt weak. I couldn't kill a dog, and yet the other's managed to bring themselves to do it. Then came my distraction. In all honesty I was thank full for it.

"Hey there, um...I'm kind of damp right now, you know, the test where they tried to drown me. Your the only person with a heat generating ability here...so is it ok if you, like, dry me off a bit."
​
She was almost as adorable as the dog. I offered her a small smile before slipping the glove off of my left hand saying "I actually control radiation. But I'll see what I can do." For a moment I was hesitant. I didn't want a repeat of my prior incident with the scientist. But I mustered what courage I had and gave it a shot. Thankfully I didn't need to actually make physical contact and as I began to wave my hand slowly over her body the water began to evaporate instantaneously. A few moments later I was finished, her hair was a little frizzy but dry at least. Slipping the glove back on I was actually smiling now. I couldn't beleave that it had actually worked.

My thought's were cut short however as Steven quickly became upset. I watched as he nearly blew up on the scientists. Oddly enough I found myself agreeing with him. Now did I think he needed to throw a fucking coach? No. But it got his point across. Then, my god they tazed him. I might not have known much about him but from his adverse reaction It was easy to tell that tazers were adversely effective against him. Almost lethal for that matter. Of course I knew not to step out of line. Learned that lesson long ago.

That's when I noticed the girl who had turned herself to air . . . Genie. I had to fight everything inside of me to get between her and the guards, and even more so to stop myself from hitting the scientist. I might not have known these people very well, but I'd be damned if I was going to stay silent and let anyone else get hurt. I handed the leash off to the girl they'd tried to drown and stepped forward slipping my gloves off saying "Hey doc. Let's make a deal. I'll do any test you'll have me do. Whatever you want. No objections. On one condition though." That got his attention pretty quickly and as he turned to face me I noticed the hesitation in his eye's when He noticed my gloves were off, and just as quickly I saw a spark of an idea. Then came that smile. That same smile they gave me anytime they wanted to push me. . . hard. He offered a cold smile and eye'd me over silently before finally saying

"And what pray tell might this condition be?"

I took one last look around the room before returning my cold gaze to the doc saying "You escort everyone else to there rooms without causing them any pain or discomfort." The doctor chuckled for a split second before offering up a toothy grin saying

"You have yourself a deal. However if they step out of line or threaten us we will act accordingly."

I scoffed at that before slipping my gloves back on and starting for the exit stopping at the doors to turn back and look at the other's and say "Guy's just go to your rooms and don't give them any trouble." God I hoped they didn't start anything. I didn't want to be throwing my neck on the line for them to turn around and get themselves tazed like iron man over there. I took one last moment to steal a glance at my newly acquired and then handed off husky who was now watching me, with what could only be described as the saddest eye's I've ever seen, before leaving under armed escort. ​
 
Her dreams were strange, like something from another life, she was small, holding onto two large hands, one was young and belonged to an average looking woman who smiled down at her kindly in such a way it seemed to radiate light. It would be while she was wondering if this person was an angel that a hearty, warm laugh sounded at her other side and she would look over to a man with a handsome face, half hidden by stubble. She felt content, happy even and so safe with these two strangers.

Waking up was always hard, her head felt thick form the sedative and her mouth was dry. The scientists had thought a head it seemed, a glass of water, a glucose tablet, her favourite sandwich -tuna humous and grated cheese- had been cut into triangles and rested on the bed side table. As well as a new pair of headphones, it took her a moment to figure out why they would be there, she must have dropped the CD player when they sedated her, the Player was robust and built to last but the headphones could easily have been stepped on in the confusion.

Her limbs felt as heavy as lead as she pushed herself up slowly, rearranging the faux fur throw that had been tossed over her when she'd been bought in. With pillows behind her and her head against the wall she fought the fog from her eyes and focused on the door. There was no point in trying to get up and test it, she knew it would be locked, she couldn't feel the flow of air at its edges, it had been deadlocked.

She had lost half a day judging by the clock, which would explain why she was so hungry, she hadn't had breakfast that morning. Still, hydration was more important, so dropping the tablet in the water she took the glass and leaned back. Her cheek still stung from the cut she received but with a quick touch she was aware it had been cleaned and a plaster affixed over the damaged area. With the day to herself she drank and ate and after a little while felt a lot less foggy than when she had first woken. Opening her new headphones she quickly put her hands on her Player and stuck it on, finding her clothes meant slipping out of bed and she was careful to test her feet and ankles before she dared to stand on her own steam, still dressed in the borrowed lab coat she found her clothes neatly folded on a chair, even her underwear. "That's a little excessive." She commented to herself, the idea of any of the researchers or guards folding her knickers was somewhere between creepy and gross.

Shrugging it off she dumped the lot into a laundry basket and pulled out a fresh dress from her drawer, spotting the present she'd made Steven for his twelve birthday, it wasn't anything impressive for she wasn't incredibly artistic. It had taken her over a year to get the courage to make it and months of mental scolding to get ready to give it to him. When she saw him get so angry though she lost her nerve and had hidden it away here, never quite having the heart to throw it away. It'd be ridiculous to even think about giving it to him now, even if she wasn't so used to avoiding him that she could manage to get the courage to walk up and offer it to him. Picking out fresh underwear and some thick black tights -after checking all her toes were indeed still there- she slipped on her new clothes and folded the lab coat neatly onto the chair in the corner of her room.

There was nothing left to do but make the most of the day, so she brushed her hair, idly noting she'd lost a centimetre of it's length, probably due to her outburst in the testing chamber. There was always a risk bits of her wouldn't come back if they turned to oxygen, especially if she wasn't concentrating on it at the time. So it hardly surprised her that it was missing, luckily though it seemed rather evenly missing so it didn't look noticeable. There was no greater relief for her when she became corporeal again to see ten little toes and eight fingers, two thumbs and a long shock of pale blonde hair. Once her hair was tied back in a french plait, neat and out of the way she slipped her finger down the spine of her stack of books and plucked out the first one that appealed to her. The curious case of Dr, Jekyll, she loved the classics and this, along with Frankenstein, was one of her all time favourites. Both stories appealed on a personal level, experiments gone wrong and the consequences of the scientist's actions, though the endings always left her chest tight and her heart breaking, not just for the 'monster' but for herself and her peers too.

Flopping back on her bed and cranking the music up she wiled the afternoon and evening away with books, music and the odd nap. By the time the evening meal was bought into her room she had quite forgotten the events that had lead to their confinement. Rudely reminded when she was ordered to stand with her hands on the wall and a tazer pointed at her back. She complied of course and waited for the door to slam shut and dead lock once again before moving, she noticed the lab coat had been taken, as had her lunches dirty dishes, in it's place a jug of water, a teapot with the sweet smell of darjeeling permeating from the spout and a salmon steak surrounded by fresh green vegetables and lightly roasted potatoes.

If it weren't for the experiments, torture, fear and general prison like feel of this place it probably wouldn't have been so bad. They were fed good healthy food, usually fish over other meats for it's healthy properties, she was sure they were on the 'Mediterranean' diet but she didn't mind, she quite liked fish. Sitting on her chair with the plate in her lap she ate and quietly wondered about how the others would be getting on. Pluto had the dog, so she would be okay, Silicon would probably be bored if they'd stripped her computers away, Neon would likely be okay, scared but she seemed a really strong person, Carbon too, though he'd likely be annoyed. She was sure, in fact, that most of them would be okay really, as long as they remained calm and did as they were told. So it was only Steven she worried about, while the Scientist said they'd use lethal force she still doubted that, while she knew he wasn't bluffing about hurting them to kill them would be counter productive. They'd go for non lethal shots first, probably only lethal as a last resort, hopefully Steven had calmed down, hopefully they weren't punishing him too much and hopefully this horrid nightmare would be over soon.

It was that thought that bought her back to her dream which briefly replayed in her mind, no doubt it was just some strange kind of safety mechanism she had unconsciously had thought up to keep her from losing her mind here. A sort of natural sedative that placated her enough to stop her from raging or bursting into tears and not wanting to leave this room. Once dinner was done and she'd cleaned herself up best that she was able she brushed her teeth, using some of the water from the jug, changed into a nightshirt and settled into bed with another book, a brief history of time by Stephen Hawkings. It was a hard but rewarding read and she only managed a few pages in one sitting usually, it was the perfect thing to help her get back off and into a more natural sleep.

When she woke up this time there wasn't that thickness there had been before and she noticed the change in the room, the air current was flowing and she could feel the draft from below her door. With a faint, brief shadow of a smile she got herself up, dressed and made herself presentable, slipping into the same dress from yesterday and a pair of shoes she gathered the dirty dishes from the night before and with her headphones draped about her neck and her Player fastened to her belt she tried the door. It swung open easily and she slipped out of the room, closing it quietly behind her. She wasn't too surprised to see a chaperon appear before she'd left the dormitory area, they'd all be being watched for a while, more so than usual.

He didn't speak the whole way to the kitchen, or while she washed the dishes and crockery, or while she dried them and put them away. He didn't speak as she helped herself to a halved pink grapefruit which she drizzled with a little honey or when she made herself a drink of water and he continued to follow her silently until she reached a table and sat herself down. He was breathing through his nose, no doubt under some strange belief that that would somehow negate her abilities should she decide to try and kill him. She broke the tension of the grapefruit with her spoon and scooped out it's flesh.
"You know, holding your breath like that wouldn't save you if I wanted to hurt you." The scientist looked mortified and a little afraid, she however continued to look at her grapefruit, biting into the bitter fruit and enjoying the combination of sweet and bitter on her tongue. "While I would be punished severely for hurting you they probably wouldn't kill me." The guy's hand slipped to his pocket, to where no doubt he had something that made him feel safe, a walky talky, a tranquillizer, maybe even a real gun. "But I don't have any reason to risk it, do I? So, can you stop this." She gestured with her spoon to the man in general, "It's hard enough most of the others like me here avoid talking to me, I don't need to feel any more alone."

The scientist seemed to contemplate this before relaxing a little, "They just want me to check on you. How are you feeling?" Genie raised her eyes and offered a smile as bitter sweet as her breakfast, "I have been better, though if you mean physically I am okay. You should know that though."
"At the moment we're more interested in your emotional well being, with your...tendencies to lose control when your emotions are influx we've been asked to keep an eye on you, we don't want you..." He didn't know a way to put it delicately it seemed.
"Killing everyone." She filled in for him.
"That's about the long and short of it yes."
"I'm fine."
"I guess you are...well then, excuse me." With that the scientist got up and left, though he didn't go too far away, no doubt he was on babysitting duties this breakfast time and he probably had to 'check' the others too.
 
When the Doctor appeared in the double doors this time, Nikolai didn't bother looking up as he closed his book and set it on the small wooden table at the end of the couch. He stood quietly and made his way over to the doors. The scientist opened his mouth to say something but Nikolai shot him a glare that promptly stopped the words before they came. He didn't need to be told it was his turn to go; he'd done this enough to know. Besides, everyone else had already gone. He stepped passed the man in the white coat and entered the large white room, trying not to think about the upcoming events as he was sure they'd be horrible and probably emotionally traumatizing- and that was putting it nicely.

The room appeared normal, and Nikolai wanted to be able to breathe a sigh of relief but judging from the others' tests, things only started to go downhill during the second half of the exam. He approached the long sterling silver table that held the normal items: different species of plants which ranged from the small potted variety to a large exotic palm on the end. Without waiting for direction, Nikolai stepped up to the first plant and simply touched one of the leaves. Almost instantly the entire plant turned into a small pile of ash-white dust, all of the life giving structure having been stripped. He followed the same procedure for the next three plants, each one ending up in a similar pile of dust.

The scientists behind the plated glass had remained silent and Nikolai was thankful for that small victory. Obviously they had finally realized he didn't need to be coached anymore. Nikolai had finished with all of the normal plants and had now turned his attention to the one that was supposed to offer the most challenge. He inwardly scoffed, knowing that the size of the object didn't effect his ability in any measurable way. Lifting a hand, Nikolai pressed his palm to the rough bark and then withdrew it as the tree collapsed in on itself. A small cloud of thin material flew into the air and Nikolai waved his hand to clear the space around him.

When the scientists didn't immediately announce the start of phase two, Nikolai felt a pang of worry shoot through him. Something was wrong. Whether it was something he had done or something else completely, Nikolai didn't know, but he could sense that something was happening. Loud shouting erupted from the waiting room and Nikolai turned to glance at the window, even though he couldn't see through it since it was essentially a one way mirror. The feeling of being trapped inside this test room didn't sit well with him and Nikolai grew more and more uneasy as the minutes dragged by.

Once the commotion had seemingly stopped, the Doctor's voice crackled over the intercom. "That was perfect, Nikolai," the voice said, sounding distracted. Had they even been watching his test? Nikolai was starting to think that they hadn't, which was also worrying. Something really, really, obscene must have just happened if the doctor couldn't even focus on his precious subject's testing. "We can start phase two now."

Nikolai never got to find out what nasty turn his test was going to take, though, as more noise erupted from the waiting room. This time it didn't stop, however, as the small two person sofa came flying through the bay window. Eyes widening in shock and slight fear, Nikolai jumped out of the way right before the sofa landed with a thud beside him. "What the hell?!" he shouted, stepping away from the table. He was almost across the room to the now broken window when several guards swarmed him. "Hey, get your hands off of me," he demanded, shoving one of the guards on the shoulder hard enough to send him tumbling backwards. Nikolai didn't get another chance to defend himself before he felt the all-too-familiar pain of a tranquilizer being injected to the back of his neck. As the world around him grew fuzzy and distant, Nikolai could just barely make out Genie's voice yelling something about not hurting Steven. Before he could put the pieces together Nikolai went completely limp, losing consciousness.

When his eyes finally opened, Nikolai sat up with a jolt, glancing around wildly in the darkness. It took a moment for his mind and body to register that he was fine and in his room; the effects of the tranquilizer, however brief, always seemed to have adverse effects on Nikolai. One of which being a bone-splitting headache. He glanced at the electric clock on his dresser and the red letters flashed, showing 11:40. His room was still pitch black, but that gave no inclination to whether it was day or night as his room contained no windows. He didn't know for sure how long he'd been out but he guess it had been about twelve hours. So it was nighttime, he guessed as he finally stood up and turned on the lights.

There was a tray containing a small glass of water, three white pills, and what remained of his book sitting on his dresser and Nikolai exhaled with slight relief. "At least they remembered this time," he thought, scooping up the medicine gratefully. After downing the water Nikolai turned his attention to the tattered and trampled leather bound book. It had been in almost perfect condition before testing and now it was literally falling apart at the seems. With a sigh and a frown, Nikolai gently set the remains back on the dresser and instead turned his attention to figuring out what had happened earlier. The only bit of information he had to go off of was Steven's name, which honestly didn't help much since Nikolai knew nothing about the other man except that he was always too nice and too friendly with the staff.

Nikolai only grew more confused as he tried to fit the puzzle together and he eventually gave up, returning to his bed. The next few hours passed slowly and around six o'clock his door opened and two guards entered, one carrying a breakfast tray and the other a tranquilizer gun. Nikolai wasn't shocked when he was forced to stand facing away from them, hands in the air and the gun placed on the back of his neck. Obviously the scientists weren't too happy about the little incident in the exam room. The guards left before Nikolai could even ask how long he'd be trapped in his room.

Breakfast was the same as always; a large orange and a small bowl of oatmeal. Nikolai didn't have the biggest appetite and this plain meal was just enough to fill him up. After he'd eaten, he changed clothes and brushed his teeth before settling back down in his armchair. Knowing that he probably wasn't going to be let out for at least another another day, Nikolai grabbed two of his favorite books, Call of the Wild and Treasure Island. The next several hours passed in relative silence as Nikolai read book after book, the only interruptions coming in the form of the guard visits. When breakfast wasn't brought to his room the next morning, Nikolai approached the door, not really expecting it to be unlocked. To his surprise, it knob turned easily and the door creaked open. His time in confinement was finally finished.

Nikolai wasted no time before heading out into the quiet hallway. It was so silent that Nikolai could only guess that no one else was awake yet. That or everyone else was just too scared to leave their rooms. Nikolai had only made it down the hall before he realized he was being shadowed. "I guess whatever happened really spooked them all," he thought, ignoring the silent guard as he made his way to the kitchen. When he reached the cafeteria he realized his assumption earlier had been wrong: someone else was awake. After grabbing two ripe plums and a glass of water, Nikolai joined Genie at the dining table. "So, what happened the yesterday?" Nikolai asked, looking at Genie. "It must have been bad, whatever it was, if we had to be kept in our rooms for so long."
 
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At first, you could feel the tension in the room. Kaoru, just like everybody else, knew all of these people very well, even if they never had an in-depth conversation before. The aura growing in the room definitely wasn't settling and she knew that at least one of the people in the waiting room was not going to let the scientists get off the hook with their new violent tests.

Then, just like a ticking time bomb, another scientist came out of the room and that's when Steven exploded in a rage. Kaoru straightened herself up and stiffened, "No more loud noises... please...!" Her head was already thumping in pain from the last explosion of sound from her test, and Steven -who had one of the strongest voices out of the whole bunch- wasn't helping. Even though she knew that he was just sticking up for not only himself, but also for everyone else in the room that had outrageous tests, he normally never became this angry. There was no telling how far he would push it.

Kaoru became more worried as Steven started to raise his voice, her hair and eyes became brighter from her changing emotions and she was almost ready to blind everyone in the room to make it stop. She held her hand over her ears, trying to let her ears have a break, but it was no good when a couch was sent flying through the testing room window. Her eyes widened in anger, despite her having no combat experience, she still felt the insane need to try to tackle him to the ground. What the hell was he doing?! Thankfully she had enough knowledge to know that neon wouldn't stand a chance against iron and just tried to brace herself for the inevitable tazor that would come upon Steven. Of course, she wanted to scream at the scientists and have the strength that Genie had to be able to try and defy them, but she was only good as a human torch. All of her zoning-out and curiosity put a damper on her braveness.

The two red dots appeared on Steven's iron chest and Kaoru frantically made the decision to try and blind everyone - what else could she do? Her hair and eyes were starting to glow even stronger, not enough to completely fill the room with yellow neon light, but enough to get the attention of another scientist. In one second, the scientist was speed walking towards her as she frantically tried to brighten up to highest light before he reached her, but their focus was cut short as Steven was hurled to the ground in a spasm. Kaoru knew it was coming, the scientist were too stubborn to get anything through their ignorant heads. Both her and the scientist looked back at Steven, her hair immediately dulled from the break in her concentration. Kaoru was ready to scream at the scientists, backing up Steven, but it seemed like she was constantly being cut off today as Subject 1 - or 'Pluto' as everyone nicknamed her - starting talking, "Guy's just go to your rooms and don't give them any trouble." Kaoru was confused as she looked over at Pluto, seeing her slip her gloves back on. Kaoru smirked thinking about how Pluto most likely made a deal with the scientists, using her power from her hands as a threat. After all, she always was powerful but caring; Plutonium was definitely interesting. However, her smirk instantly vanished once she saw armed guards escorting her away, with Pluto not giving any resistance. Did she really just offer herself up for the rest of us? "Subject One- I mean... Pluto! What did you just-" Kaoru started to protest, but she was cut off yet again by a guard shoving a tazer into her back. The tazer wasn't on, but the guard could easily power it up in one second if he'd like to, "Shut up, Neon. You heard was Plutonium said, don't give us any trouble. If you try to blind me then I swear to my boss that I will make this tazer hurt so much that you won't be able to walk again." With that, Kaoru shut up, letting him guide her to her room with the tazer constantly poking her back.

---------------
​
Kaoru grunted as she lifted herself up from the bed, massaging her temples as a headache set on. She always got a headache like the one she was having now whenever she fainted from using too much energy. The last thing she remembered was being walked out of the waiting room with a tazer pointing into her back, she never even fully made it to her room before her mind went blank. Putting two and two together, she figured that using all that energy from her hair glowing must've been too much, she must've passed out.

She looked around the room, not bothering to use her neon light to see as she squinted in the dark room. She woke up at midnight. She scooted herself off of her bed and went to the door, she pushed and pulled on it, but it wouldn't budge. "You have got to be kidding me... they locked us in here?" She mentally groaned. Of course those scientist would be even ruder and lock them in for who knows how long. She looked around some more and her eyes settled on a plate next to her bed that she didn't see before. Deciding to take the risk of passing out again, she carefully lit up her hair and eyes ever so slightly just to get a better view of what was left beside her bed. She grabbed a lock of her glowing hair and moved her head with it as she used the light to read the book titles that were left for her: Cosmos by Carl Sagan and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. That should be enough to keep her entertained for a while; She always was a book fanatic. Next to the books was a plate of food that had an apple, a protein bar, and water which was perfect to energize her back up again. She took the first book and the apple and sat at the edge of her bed, reading herself to sleep to try to make the days go by faster.

Each day was the same: Wake up (but this time it was at a normal morning time), see what new things were left by her bed, and read for a bit until she fell asleep. She probably got 15 hours of sleep each day while being held in there. And for one of the first times, she missed seeing everyone else. They were all like brothers and sisters, each with their own strength and weakness, but all facing the same problem. Even if she still felt slightly awkward around them, she always wondered if it would even be worth getting out of here if they had a chance of never seeing each other again. She suspected that she was probably the only one who even cared about keeping in contact, anyways.

For the past two days she tried to open the door, sometimes when she got bored reading, she would push and pull on the door, even sometimes trying to chisel her way out. Only once was she ever scolded by a scientist to stop. On the third day, however, she went to try to open the door again, expecting to feel depressed and exhausted after she couldn't open the door, but this was not the case: The door opened smoothly, creaking more than usual from her other attempts to escape, and ahead no guards stopped her. Some were casually walking around, but they payed no attention to her as she sprinted for the kitchen, wanting more than anything to eat fresh food. Back when she was locked up in her room, they were bringing her older and older food each day; The kitchen was the only thing she could think about right now. Fresh fruit made her mouth water just by thinking about it.

She ran into the kitchen, not bothering to see if anyone else was around as she looked throughout all the shelves and tables, grabbing a plum, a loaf of bread, some water, a banana, grapefruit, cooked oatmeal, and an orange. She wasn't even sure if they were allowed to take all this stuff but she didn't care. She just wanted to eat to her heart's content.

She turned around, ready to make her towards the dinner table with all of her food bundled up in her arms, before she awkwardly paused when she saw Genie and Nikolai sitting at the table, starting a conversation. She quietly made her way over the table as well, hoping they didn't see her grab almost every food possible, and sat down a couple seats away from them and tried not to be too much of a bother to the conversation.
 
Genie's eyes flicked from her breakfast as a shadow fell over the table, thinking it to be one of the researchers with follow up questions she looked relaxed and rather calm. Of course the natural grace and gentle femininity washed out of her when she saw not a scientist in a lab coat but Carbon pull out the stool in front of her. Her eyes briefly widened and she swallowed what fear she could as she watched him sit himself at the table. It had been a long time since anyone had come so close to her willingly, or, was it more, it had been a long time since she let anyone so close to her willingly? "C-ca..." No, that wasn't his name, that was his element, they all had names, real names and she had taken the time to learn them all, her eyes remained on him as she sifted through her memories to find his. When had he gotten so big? Had everyone grown while she was locked in her self created isolation? "Nikolai." She finally spoke, a small grin, sweet perhaps, flitted at her lips corners, a small amount of pride blossoming from remembering his name. Her voice was like her element, soft and unassuming with the twang of an English accent catching on certain letters.

He had asked about before and her brows furrowed faintly, she broke her gaze with him and glanced back to her grapefruit, "I...well." All she had to do was hold onto it, like holding a spoon or bowl only she had to hold oxygen itself and still answer his questions. "That is..." Another shadow flitted nearby and again her eyes rose to catch Kaoru rummaging through the food cupboards. Honestly it was probably best that Kaoru explained it all, she was much more relaxed and comfortable around people. Though deep down, she wanted this, to have a conversation with someone like her, not the researchers, not answering test questions but a real conversation, a real connection.

She released a slow breath and forced her eyes back up to Nikolai, a flush spread over her cheeks, it had been so long since she'd really looked someone in the face for any length of time that it felt alien and weird. "Just after you went in, Steven, that is...Iron, he got angry. He never gets angry really, I've only ever seen it once before, on his birthday, they wouldn't let him go outside you see and that's all he wanted and so..." Realising she was babbling she looked back to the spoon in her hand, focusing herself on the feel of the metal warming at her fingertips. "He didn't like how the tests were getting more...dangerous. He thought it was unnecessary and the things they were making us do. He's hard to stop when he gets mad, you just have to let him pour it all out but I've never seen him that angry. The scientist told him to calm down but he wouldn't, I doubt he could really. So the scientist called in guards to make him back down, they had tazer's with them. I thought he had calmed down but he threw a sofa at them, it went through the wind- oh goodness, you were in there." She had only just remembered, covering her mouth with one hand as a fine mist seeped from her lips. "Are you okay? He didn't mean to hurt you, he's not like that..."

Glancing down to the spoon again she hesitantly took another spoon of the grapefruit, distracting herself from her worry and her nervousness, "They electrocuted him, they knew it was dangerous but they did it anyway. When he was down they just kept... they bought armed guards into the room, they...sedated me, I was losing my control so it was the safest way, I don't remember much more except that we were all told to do anything stupid...and they'd been given authority to use lethal force if necessary." Glancing up she briefly searched Nikolai's face for something, by the time her story reached it's conclusion Kaoru too had joined them and she smiled nervously at the other girl, "The researcher there is to keep an eye on us, probably for a few days to make sure our emotional levels haven't be adversely affected by what we've seen....and what we've done. The solitary was probably also for our own safety too." She was rather impressed with herself, albeit silently, she was talking to not one but two of her fellow prisoners? And so far, aside a little mist she had yet to lose her control, though she was holding that spoon awfully tight. "I...I hope that was of some help, I guess I babble when I talk. Are you okay though?" Genie took another look at Nikolai's face, searching for any 'obvious' signs of trauma, physical or emotional before her gaze shifted to Kaoru, her eyes again searching for any tell tale signs of injury. "B-both of you?"
 
As Nikolai listened to Genie's story, he noted how anxious she seemed. The spoon in her hand was almost bending under her tight grasp and Nikolai found himself feeling unexpectedly guilty for causing her so much nervousness. He pushed that feeling away, though, knowing that she just wasn't used to holding any thing even remotely close to a normal conversation. Much less with someone her own age. Nikolai's eyebrows raised ever so slightly when Genie revealed that Steven had been the source of the commotion yesterday. From what Nikolai knew of Steven, he was a pretty laid back guy. The sudden rage seemed very out of character, but Nikolai decided he really couldn't know that for sure. He never really made an effort to speak with any of the other 'experiments', so the most knowledge he had about anyone in here was their name and the element they controlled.

Another person entered the room and Nikolai followed Genie's gaze to see Kaoru take a seat a little ways down the table. Nikolai didn't know much about her, either, as she was almost as reclusive as he was, and he guessed she didn't want anything to do with the conversation as she kept her distance. He turned his attention back to Genie to see a thin white trail of mist escape her lips. She had a shocked expression on her face and it took Nikolai a moment to figure out why. She'd gotten to the part in her story that Nikolai knew all about- the flying couch.

Her sudden reaction when she realized that Nikolai had been in the room when the couch came soaring in shocked him. Did she actually care? It seemed like she was showing genuine concern for him. "That's....different," he thought, shifting in his chair. No one had ever expressed concern for him, not even once....granted that had something to do with his own attitude but still, the feeling was oddly welcome. "Yeah, I was in there," he confirmed, taking a bite of his plum. "I dodged the couch, thankfully. No harm done." Nikolai offered a small smile, before finishing off one of his plums. "Glad I'm not the only one who got tranquilized. Do those things give you headaches too?" Nikolai surprised himself when he continued talking, the words he spoke not staying inside his head like he had wanted them to.

"Uh, sorry Genie," Nikolai murmured, not sure why he was apologizing. He let the conversation drop, feeling only slightly awkward as he finished his breakfast. He didn't get up from the table when he finished, not wanting to go back to his room for once. Actually, the only thing he really wanted right now was to see the sun. They'd all been trapped in this stuffy research building for days and Nikolai didn't think they'd be going on any kind of excursion anytime soon, not after what had just happened with Steven. Nikolai sighed heavily, feeling rather miserable. Normally he'd just pull on of his usual disappearing acts but somehow that didn't seem like the smartest idea right now. He might not care about the rules of this place but he'd be dammed if he would purposely make things worse for everyone else by doing something stupid. Instead of excusing himself, Nikolai groped for another topic of conversation. "I'm sorry about your test, Genie. Those people really are monsters for forcing you to do that."
 
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