The Specials: Main Thread

He looked at her now that she had moved away from him, and despite every fiber of his body telling him to leave, he drew closer once more, grabbing her by both wrists and pinning her to the door of her own room. "You can't stop now, otherwise it will look suspicious" he whispered into her ear. He hated it. Everything was for show, and nothing meant anything. It was to avoid shit like that, this is why he kept his head down, this is why he approached everything with a half-ass apathy. To have hope, it's as suffocating as it is to despair. Here she was, talking about hope, talking about trying to escape, talking about shit that would not work.

"I get it. I wouldn't mind living a free life, and doing something, anything, other than this. However, at the same time, I am just as comfortable here. I don't want to try and get out of it will compromise the present. It either has to work, or I won't do it at all" he said. He leaned in as if going for another kiss, his lips but an inch away from her own.

"But, you can't always get what you want."

She gasped as the man pinned her wrists to the wall, that familiar feeling rising in her chest. The same feeling she'd pushed back so many other times before. The excitement that wanted to jump from her chest. Adrenaline choking her at new turn of events. She swallowed as blue eyes met his darker ones, "I'm not content to live a half life like you. I want my freedom to live because I want a happy normal family one day." Her whisper was broken now, not so fierce. "I may not get what I want now; but I can start a trend. That will one day get another generation of graduates what they want." She closed her eyes, her fervent need for him to understand was wearing off. She was giving up.

But she was still very aware of how close he was to her. How helpless she was in his grasp. How small she was in front of him. It did something to her that rarely happened here. The last time it was a misplaced excitement, when she was drug off to the labs that first time by big men in smart white coats. Handsome cruel men. She shook the image from her head then, and, a gentle shiver ran up her spin. When she opened her blue eyes again, staring into his dark ones. She didn't know what possessed her to move- but she leaned forward. And she pressed her lips against his.

He let her lips rest gently against his, unsure of what to make of the situation. Future generations of their kind? With the chance of even more generations after that? How many untold lives could be saved, how many would stem from such a singular event? Her aspirations were noble, even if they were selfish, centered upon her own wishes for a family. It was everything he was not. He wanted to care, he wanted to get his hopes up, but that way lead to disappointment. He pulled away from her lips, deciding it was better for her moral and conscience to be done with him. He had to end it now, and he knew exactly how to do it. He regret the after taste it would leave, but it was for the betterment of the two of them. He knew what to say.

"You done?" he said, tone neutral, as if the act meant nothing. His body language continued to be stiff, before he let go of her wrists, letting them hang on their own.

Faria felt him pull away. Instinctually she knew what it meant. She may not have known him for long, though, she knew him well enough. The feeling in the back of her chest that pressed up to the back of her throat turned sour when he released her wrists, which she let drop down to her sides. Absently she glanced up to the camera, and a faint ironic smile painted itself onto her lips. "Yes. I'm done." She answered him, gently biting her lower lip as she turned away from him.

The woman motioned to the door, "Goodnight." She'd completely given up on him now. And somehow that hurt more than she was willing to admit. Which was strange to her. As if... Somehow... He would have been the one to understand? How wrong she'd been. Even if her motives were selfish. She wanted the generations to come to know normalcy. "Thankyou... For listening." Somehow emotionally spent and crushed- she collapsed onto her bed. Kicking her heels off; and deciding to stare blankly at the ceiling until he left. Maybe this odd roller coaster of emotions was due to the lack of closeness she felt to anyone else? The woman had no clue what to attribute it to.

Words. Such power to give hope, and to crush dreams. Everything was such a bother in this facility, every action, every word, holding more weight in the absence of all else. He knew full well what his words would do, and in a twisted mentality that gave so little care for the world he was stuck in, he thought that in the long run they would do more good than harm. She was a dreamer that wanted happy future, he was a pragmatist content in the now. No good would come from the two teaming up. None could could come from such a unlikely pair. It, however, didn't make it any easier to see her crushed. He wanted to distance himself from her, but not crush her dreams.

"An infinity of lives..." he blurted out. He wanted to convince her to keep going, but he also didn't want to. If she got in trouble, it would eat at what little conscience he had left. If she got out, it would eat at his conscience as well. Why couldn't she just accept the things as they were, whatever fate had in mind with them. "If you save even one person, you save an infinite amount of people. If one person got out, you would have saved the person they, that they would be, and all people the could have been. You also save any kid they have, and their children's children. You would have saved an infinity of lives."

That was all he managed to say. He turned his back on her, making his way to the door. With a strong snap of the wrist he opened the door, and almost passed through it, his and holding tightly against the metal frame of the door. He turned, looking at her, hesitating, a deep breath taken into his lungs. He wanted to say more, but shook his head, and walked out from under the door frame, the door closing behind him.

When he was finally gone, she released a short sigh, and swallowed. This wasn't something she could undertake alone. The woman rolled onto her side and silent tears fell. "An infinity of lives...." The phrase echoed in her mind. The phrase shook her. Although... She could not. Could never. Take on a task like this alone. Alone. That one word summed up her whole life here. For once she noticed someone new, who wasn't involved in all the typical drama that used to happen here.

For once she met someone handsome and detached. And he was... More detached than she thought. She sniffed her tears away, and let herself fall into a sickly unconsciousness. Highly aware of how lonely this life would prove to be. If she didn't at least... Try.

Dark dreams returned to her...

She was a small child again, rolling over in a pool of blood. Unaware and unknowing- she'd killed the only two people who cared for her. Despite how twisted their love was. She'd done it in a fit of mixed emotions, sadness, rage, fright, survival. Flashes came back to her, the blue in her eyes sparking to life as blow after blow landed on her small frame. The smell of alcohol coming thick from her father's strong silhouette. Then he was limp, red tendrils floating through the air as she made fists with her hands. Then the shrieks of her mother, Monster. She'd screamed over and over again as she found a solid object, and the attacks began again as dark blood splattered to the floor. Again she was afraid for her own life, sad that they didn't show love like all the families on the Television. Angry that she wasn't accepted as part of the family. Then that familiar feeling rose in her small chest. That burning will to survive. She must survive! Then her neck and back stifened taking blows harder from the bat; her loose hands once again balling slowly into fists- pulling toward her chest. Then- suddenly- all was still. There were no more blows. From beneath blood drenched hair the young girl peered up with icy blue eyes as her mother crumpled to the floor. Her hands released, relaxed. And she cried. Rolling around in the blood of her haphazardly put together parents.

Faria grasped at her neck, choking on air as she sat bolt upright in bed. What time was it? She hadn't had that dream since her first night in this place. She hadn't... Why was she dreaming about blood? That was a once in a lifetime occurrence. When they tried her and tested her she couldn't recreate that aspect of herself in the labs. Before her first class. When they were perfecting their system. She coughed and hacked and fresh tears stung her eyes. She glanced at the alarm clock- 11:00 AM in bright red digital lettering. Her breath caught. The color of blood. She shook her head and stripped herself of her clothes from the day before.

Then she replaced them with a gym Tshirt and shorts. Running shoes. And she walked coolly down the corridors to the gym. To the small room where all the cardio machines were. She climbed onto a treadmill and began to run. mindless. no music today. She needed to run this all off.

Dante simply watched the girl go, smiling slightly despite the speech she had just given him.

"You and the Doctor will get along better than you think." He muttered. Unbeknownst to her, the Doctor used people in much the same way- playing upon their desire to be approved by the genius and intimidated by his knowledge. People just accepted that Archon was always right.

His phone buzzed, the sender appearing without a name, just a black silouhette on a white background of a suited man. The Shadow. Archon's cover.

"Pills in the top drawer of front desk. Cal has recieved some too. Watching her using hacked cameras. Don't trust her. Take two pills and deliver them to the graduate block using your powers. Will reroute cameras and program them not to see you. Deliver to F. Demuse."

Jason quickly typed a response.

"Understood." And, as usual, the messages vanished from his phone as he sent it. He quickly retrieved the pills, slipped one of the three in his mouth, and slowly felt power return to his limbs and torso. He resisted the urge to teleport across the room. Or out of here. No. He had a job.

He began to make his way to one of the few rooms without cameras- the small study rooms. They were tiny and quiet and no doubt bugged, but no cameras. And as soon as he was inside, he teleported. A flash of purple light, and he was gone.

And he instantly reappeared in Faria's room. Empty. He placed the small silver box, with two pills in it, on the bed, with a note:

"One pill per morning. Removes power suppressant for 24 hours if taken afterward. Use them well. More permanent vaccine to come. The School must fall. Destroy this note.

Yours, The Šhadow."

And then he flashed purple again, waited several minutes, and stepped out of the study room. And off to English.

Marcos's body tensed as he heard Archon speak to him, all of his suspicions had been answered with this conversation. Unfortunately this only flooded his mind with much more questions, those would have to wait for later. The only thing left was to either trust this doctor or continue as just another student in this school. What exactly was Dr. Archon planning? Was it worth it to learn this plan of his and take part of it?

"How exactly would I prove I'm loyal to you?"

He laid in bed. He hadn't moved since crawling back into the squeaking frame of the bed nearly twelve hours ago. Instead, he laid with his back against the messy sheets of his, completely still, and focused singularly on the ceiling tiles above. His eyes were reddened at the edges, stinging with the dryness one would expect that such inactivity would bring, and instead, chose to blink a number of times in quick successions. It didn't help. Why would it? His mind was racing at a hundred miles an hour, his brain trying to make amends with the actions he had decided to commit. The facility wasn't large. It was not like he could go on avoiding her. Eventually they would meet again. Yet... Then what? He didn't want to be involved with anything that could ruin whatever little "quality of life" that he had left, any semblance of dignity that he could have had. To get out of here? Yes, that would be nice. To actually feel sunshine against in place of blue lights that fought depression, to feel the cool wind on a body again instead of rancid rececyled air that was either too hot or too cold.

He stretched out an arm, hand extended towards the ceiling. He rotated it ever so slightly, wrist turning with a bit of a pop from the stiff posture he had held all night. What was there left to do? She had confided in him, which meant that if anything were to happen to her, there would be a chance that he would be implicated in some way. Then what? He wanted to remain neutral on the topic, to not give it any more thought. Yet, that wasn't possible, was it? She had dragged him into it, whether she meant to or not, and he couldn't exactly shy away knowing what he did. Then... there was the kiss. He brought the outstretched hand back to his face, running the back of his index across his lips in a lateral motion. The smoothness of his lips tingled at the sensation of his own finger tracing their lines, remembering the softness of her lips against his.

No. He stopped thinking about it right away. No, that kiss meant nothing. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to think about the way her pulse had raced through the wrist of hers that he held. Nor the soft touch of her hips wrapped around his waist. Especially not the kiss. She had said it herself, she didn't care for relationships, she didn't care for sex. He took the look of her eyes, the warmth of her skin, and pushed it deep inside himself, drowning out it's memory with a force of will. There was no need to get attached to the person.

He had turned his head, the simple green lights of the digital clock reflecting back against strained eyes, the lines blurred. Time had past, minute by minute, hour by hour, but it did not pass him by fast. It was only eleven in the morning. He brushed at the corner of his eyes, gunk resting near the bridge of his nose from dried eyes. People had been walking back and forth past his closed door all morning, but he had no inclination to go out there, to bother continuing to live a lie. He just wanted to stay in bed, and let life pass him by.

Yet, he couldn't. It was moments such as these where the mind was able to wander, and his was no different, thinking about all the possibilities. Life? Kids? Freedom? Death? Isolation? Subjugation? He kept battling the voice of reason and the voice of impulsive wants. It was no good. Sweat continued to bead on his forehead, his body, like the morning before, stuck to the sheets sweating once more. It was no good. He might as well take out his frustration in exercising.

He had gathered a simple rag, not even bothering to change into fresh clothes in the state he was already in. He could change after a shower, or so he rationalized with himself. He was lethargic, unfocused, and indifferent. He just moved as an excuse. Before long, he walked into the room where it had all started the day before, hoping full well she would avoid it after what happened yesterday. Ducking in through the door, it was her once more, on the treadmill next to the bike he intended to use. It wasn't worth it, he would come some other time. Not even bothering to make his presence known, he begun to turn away from the doorway.

Archon smirked slightly. "A few ways. Feed me information. What the students say and believe, what you hear from other teachers. Secondly, don't inform anyone of this talk. I'll be keeping tabs on you." He said simply, taking a seat at his computer. "That is all. Unless you have other questions or things you'd like me to address?" He offered, giving the young student a glance.

Dante moved down the halls toward the English wing, hoping that the student teacher wouldn't get on him for being late.

"No, that's all I needed to know." Marcos replied. Of course that wasn't true, there was plenty of stuff that he still wanted to know. But at least now he was sure that he would know more as long as he kept talking to Archon and following at least some of his instructions.

"I'll see you later Dr. Archon." With that Marcos left the office and classroom to roam the halls in search of his next class, which happened to be trigonometry. It was a certain that his stay at this school was not one that he had anticipated.

Faria felt his eyes on her; and when she looked up he was turning away. Her life moved in slow motion for that second. She kinda wanted to walk up to him, make him understand her. Make him realize this wasn't okay. There was a life outside that he could lead apart from this one. She'd been running for 30 minutes, close to four miles. Her goal for the day.

The young woman was still reluctant to approach him again. "Hey, you can have the gym. I'm done." She called out to him with a flat tone. Cautious. There wasn't much else she could say right now. The girl could dance in her room if she felt like she needed more workout time. When the treadmill came to a stop after her ending the workout routine- she slowly stepped down and sauntered over his direction. "Sorry." She said, about to pass the man. Her arm brushed against his as she attempted to step around him. It sent an electric buzz up her arm.

She couldn't deny that he was attractive and after yesterday she wanted him on her side more. He was a special and smart, they shared a connection she hadn't shared with anyone here. "Have a nice day."

It has only been a few days since the semester had started, yet it felt like years to Reem. Students walked by her like zombies as she strolled the school hallways, having just finished another boring lecture and was now heading back to her dorm. Her brain was thinking of the school structure, how it is built and how the security is maintained in school grounds. What were the motives of them building this school and what was really going on the outside world? She couldn't hold these thoughts, and it seemed only logical that many people shared her questions.

So she decided to take a detour and head to Dr. Archon's office instead. She knocked on his door and bit on her lips as she awaited his response.

Dr. Archon slipped the book on genetic mutations causing seemingly-unexplainable powers into a drawer before opening the door. "Good morning, Reem, what can I do for you?" he said with a small smile, stepping aside and gesturing for her to come in. When the door clicked shut behind them, he used the mental computer he had within him to activate the anti-microphone devices hidden around the office. He couldn't take a chance of having a bugged student come and ask him vital questions. Granted, if a student reported what he was saying or doing, then they would have some issues.

"Something on your mind?" He asked, moving behind the desk and sitting back down, retrieving the large blueprint from a shelf and unrolling it on his desk, the paper revealing a complex molecular map. In reality, it was the chemical map of the counter-serum for the drugs given to the students. He just had to find a way to make it permenant.

"Yes, actually" Reem said biting her lips as she stepped closer. "Don't swear.. don't swear.." her brain firmly warned her. "What the fuck are we doing here?" she bluntly said, and anyone can sense she was disappointed with herself soon afterwords. "Idiot" her brain reprimanded her. With a tone of regret, she tried to correct herself quickly "I mean, err.. As far as I know, generations have graduated from this school. Did they really need all this education to learn how to hide their abilities? Why are we all locked up in here?" She said, her tone slowly changing from angry to desperate. She got closer to Nero, and sat on the chair opposite to him. "I feel lost. I can't stand it that whenever I try to sleep, I feel watched. I feel all my teachers, except you, want me to fail my classes and spend more time here" she said looking down then admitting "I don't think is an educational institution". She raised her eyes to meet his, and awaited a response.

Nero raised an eyebrow at her curse, only further embarassing the girl. "What you are doing here, officially, is being educated outside of society so that you might be taught to be integrated once more. It's also a tactic to try and get you to work with the government and become... weaponized." he said softly. "But I think you know that isn't the entire story... But I need to know that I can trust you." He said, taking a pencil and tracing over some of the lines on the huge, complex diagram. "I can't ignore the possibility that you might have been sent here because the administration may suspect me." he said, giving her an intense glance before muttering some.

"Two hundred and eighty five micrograms... half-life of... hm." He considered. "No, that won't work out." He set the pencil aside. "Unfortunately, I don't have the power to know if you are telling me the truth. And..." He quickly consulted the downloaded version of the student profiles he had in his head. "Yours is self-duplication. An interesting power... Could be useful..." It occurred to him suddenly that he had said "I don't have the power..." Such a phrase could be understood as "I have powers, just not that one." Damn. He needed to be more careful.

A confused and startled look appeared on Reem's face as she tried to comprehend Dr. Archon's words and hints. He seemed like he was hiding something that was very important, something that Reem really should know. He also seemed worried that he might get in bad trouble if anyone uncovers his secret. "Suspect you for what?" Reem asked, demanding an answer. She took two steps closer till she was only a feet away from her professor. Her hands held his elbows as she begged "Tell me how to prove to you that I'm trustworthy. Please, I need to know" she said begging for her professor to tell her what he knows. She was prepared to get on her knees for this.

Archon bit his lip slightly. "I'm going to just try and trust you." He breathed, considering her slowly. "Suspect me for working against them. Are you familiar with the rumor of the Shadow?" He said, referencing his mysterious cover, the hacker that could never be caught. "Well, I will admit that I'm a likely candidate, considering my genius status." he chuckled. "I can tell that you really want to know this. Something tells me to trust you." he said softly, scrawling a note in his unique lettering next to one of the chemical bonds on the chart.

"I'll put it this way. Before you were sent here, how many people have you heard of that have come out of this school and gone on into life?" He said, setting the pencil aside and looking right at her, his eyes locked with hers. Her hands on his elbows, a soft hum of energy and electricity buzzing on his skin.

Reem listened carefully as Archon slowly unfolded his true self. Her eyes widened in a combination of shock and admiration. "I can't think of one.." she answered Nero's question almost instantly. Her imagination went wild in pursuit of possible explanations, and truthfully it was easy to imagine that this school was nothing more than prison for students to waste time in before they are exterminated. "Oh my god.. it's not a school, is it? It's just a.. fucking prison" she said, the F bomb easily escaping her lingual filters. "Oh shit.. It all makes sense now" she exclaimed as she threw herself at the chair in Nero's office, sighing and nearly panicking as thoughts of her dying alone raced inside her head. "Dr. Archon, what's going to happen to us?" She said looking straight into his eyes for hope.

Nero nodded slowly as she came to the right conclusion. "I'm working on a plan to get some of the alumni on our side and causing a distraction. Then a group of students, freed fromt he drug keeping their powers at bay, and myself will storm the control center near the center of the 'school'. From there, it's simple enough to deactivate the security measures and freed the rest of the alumni, who we will have supplied with the necessary cure for the restriction serum." Nero explained.

"Nothing will happen to us, if we making things happen." he said simply. "We simply need to control our own fates. For now, I don't think anyone suspects me, and they should recieve no reason to." He said, tapping his fingers lightly, eyes sliding down the page before him.

"Aha! Perhaps adding a bond here..." he breathed, making another notation.

"Count me in" she immediately said after Dr. Archon slowly unfolded his plans to her. "How do I get my powers back? I've skipped two or three syringes by the way. Is there anything I need to do to get them back?" She asked curiously. "I just want to help, Dr. Archon. Your cause is mine. Use me however you may please" she added, her voice showing signs of insecurity and fright. Nero's calmness made him seem absolutely certain of his plans success. It was as if was already winning, and just needed time for everything to come into place. "I really hope he knows what's he doing" she thought to herself. Even if he didn't, she reasoned that helping him in his plan seemed better than simply sitting around awaiting the prison doors to be sealed.