Troy P.O.V

Date: October 4, 2238

"You got it, Jax!" I encouraged him as we jogged side by side on treadmills. Our speed and movements synchronized as our sneaker-clad feet pounded viciously against the belt. "Only sixty seconds left. Keep going. Don't slow down!"

When working out with Jax, I discovered early on that the best motivation was doing the exercise with him instead of barking commands on the sidelines. It made the time pass faster too. But mostly, it seemed that him seeing someone else complete the tasks and knowing he wasn't alone gave him that extra push.

"How much longer?" Jax panted out in between breaths, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Thirty seconds," I replied after checking the timer displayed on the screen. "You got this, Jax!"

"Argh! Why is time moving so slowly?" He growled as his chest rapidly rose and fell beneath his white t-shirt with each breath.

"Time!" I yelled, stopping my treadmill and turning to face him.

"Oh, Thank god!" He groaned, stopping his machine and collapsing against the handles.

"Stop being dramatic. You only ran for fifteen minutes. That was just a warm-up to get you ready for the workout."

"Fuck me." He breathed out, grabbing his metal water bottle and chugging half its contents. After he drank his fill, he looked over at me. "This wouldn't be so bad usually, but with only three hours of sleep...ugh!"

"Three hours? What were you up doing?"

"I was..." his eyes flicked to the guy on the other side of the room, fiddling with the settings on the recumbent bike before he lowered his voice. "You know."

It took me a minute before realization dawned on me. "Ew. Are you telling me you were stroking one out all night?! Cause bro, I re-"

"No! Not that." He stepped closer and continued to whisper. "I was going through the footage I recorded on Family Day. You know to help us."

"Oh. Well, did you find anything?"

"Not really, but I'll wait until we meet with Nova to tell you everything."

I nodded. "Alright."

Jax grabbed his towel off the handle before we walked toward the weights.

"Hey," I called, slowing my footsteps as we neared the guy. "I meant to ask you this earlier, but where did you get the glasses? I know it's not any of my business, but..."

"The technology department. I test out different gadgets for them."

I raised one eyebrow. "We have a technology department?"

"Yeah... kind of. There are only four members. And it's down in the basement under the garage, but... yeah."

"The basement?"

"Yeah." He dabbed his towel across his forehead. "By the way, Amber offered to let you and Nova go down there if you needed some quiet time away from the people harassing you about Family Day."

"That's cool. I'll tell Nova about it." I tilted my head as the corners of my lips curled upward. "So Amber, huh? You want to tell me about her?"

"There's nothing to tell." He muttered, switching his bottle from hand to hand.

"Bullshit!" I chuckled. "I don't think you're spending time down in a basement just for some gadgets?"

He went silent and looked off to the side for a minute before looking back at me. "What about you?"

"What about me?" I shot back.

"What's going on with you and Nova?"

"Nothing..." I replied, letting my words hang in the air. "Yet."

"You two are idiots." The guy on the bike spoke. His head down with his maroon cap pulled low. "I'm surprised that any girl is interested in you."

"Wh-" Jax stopped when the guy lifted his head, one corner of his lips curled upward in a smirk. "Fucking hell, Maverick. Why didn't you say it was you?"

He shrugged, gripping the soaked white towel around his neck as his legs pumped furiously. "You boys looked busy. So I didn't want to disturb you."

Jax slowly nodded.

"Hey, yo. Forget all that. I don't know why you're so surprised when I dated Karla."

"Who's Karla?" Jax asked.

"His cousin."

In an instant, Maverick stopped pedaling, dismounted the bike, and crossed over to me.

Shit. I'd fucked up. A pang of regret churned my stomach, but it was too late to recall my words.

Although me and Karla had an amicable split that didn't mean he liked having it thrown in his face that we'd dated. No one would.

Sweat poured down his face glistening in the lights, but Maverick didn't move to wipe it away, his attention firmly on me. "I d-"

"All students report to the main gym or the infirmary for a medical exam." A robotic female voice came from the speaker, interrupting him.

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By the time Jax and I reached the first floor, there were already two long lines leading from the gym and infirmary. We quickly fell in line behind the others in the queue for the infirmary as more students flooded through both entrances.

It was the shorter of the two lines. So hopefully, our wait wouldn't be long.

"Interrogations? Medical exams? What else are they going to do to us?" Nova grumbled as she came up behind us.

I shrugged and leaned against the wall. "Don't know. But I'm over it already."

"Me too," Jax said.

I leaned down and lowered my voice so only they could hear. "Maybe once you tell us the news of what you discovered on the recording, it'll improve things."

He sighed and lightly shook his head. "Don't count on it, Bro."

"Why? Is it bad?" Nova asked.

"I'll leave that up to you two to decide."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Well," He took a deep breath and glanced over his shoulder before looking back at us. "It turns out when Nova had my glasses at Family Day. They were still recording when Ms. Jacobs got attacked."

"Nova, you recorded Ms. Jacobs getting attacked!" Larry yelled, appearing out of nowhere by her side.

Everyone fell silent, but Larry's words rang loud and clear throughout the hallway drawing the eyes of everyone within hearing range our way. Just as the whispers began to spread like wildfire down the line, the girl in front of me fell back. I grabbed her and gently lowered her to the ground.

"Is that Cindy?" Nova asked as her head lolled to the side with her eyes closed.

As I was about to answer, Sergeant Carter and Mr. Lennox came over with guards following them.

"What happened?" Sergeant Carter questioned.

"I don't know. She just fainted."

"Dr. Walters!" He shouted down the hall. "Dr. W-"

She stepped halfway out the infirmary door, peering out into the hall. But as soon as her eyes landed on Cindy, she rushed toward us. The guards kept everyone back as she and a man dressed in blue scrubs passed through.

"What happened?" She asked, bending down beside Cindy and pressing two fingers against her neck.

"She fainted," I said while she continued to check her over.

"Do you think she's..." Mr. Lennox's voice faded, but everyone knew the underlying question.

"No." She turned to her colleague. "But bring her into the contamination room just to be sure."

The man nodded before scooping Cindy off the floor and carrying her down the hall.

I went to follow, but Dr. Walters grabbed my arm, stopping me. "Uh-uh, you in here." She sternly said, pointing at the infirmary.

"But what ab-"

"Don't worry about here. Nurse Brad will look after her."

I looked at the Nurse carrying Cindy's limp body away once more before reluctantly heading inside. Dr. Walter's followed me in and slammed the door shut behind her. The sound echoed through the room as she whipped around to face me.

"Did she scratch you?!" She demanded, loud enough for everyone waiting outside to hear.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

She still seemed apprehensive until I held my arms up for her to see for herself. Only once she concluded her examination did she let out a relieved breath.

"Good, good." She said. "We don't need another incident on our hands. But just to be sure, I'm gonna need a blood sample for testing."

I softly groaned. "Is that really necessary, Doc?"

"Yes." She immediately replied, dragging a small cart full of medical supplies over to her. "Those were the original plans before... you know...yeah. So take a seat for me."

I slowly sit on the nearest bed, rumpling the cool white sheets.

"This won't take long." She assured me with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. It was apparent that she was already battling exhaustion and stress even though she still had over a hundred more students to examine. "And as an added precaution until your results come back, I want you to report to me if you experience any changes in appearance or behavior."

"Like what? Jagged teeth and claws?"

"Yes," She pushed back a lock of blonde hair that escaped the low bun at her nape and peered at me over the rim of her glasses. "But also hair loss, skin discoloration, a lack of appetite or unusual cravings."

"Yes, ma'am."

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