(Author's note: the story is back in Amber's Point Of View)

My finger squeezes the trigger just as I drop the gun, having snapped out of my trance.

What just ha—

I've no time to react before the bullet zips past Xavier and lodges itself into someone.

I stop short. My world freezes in that second, everything around me ice-cold and foreign. As if in slow-motion, I watch as he drops to the ground.

Chance.

"Chance!" I yell, running towards him, but something ice-cold grabs my arm and stops me, pulling me back with such a force that I cry out.

"Where do you think you're going?" Xavier's father sneers, his voice sharp and unforgiving.

I almost don't comprehend what he says. My world is dried of its color, everything emotionless and dry and cold.

He can't die.

He cannot die, no matter what happens.

And then Xavier's father starts firing, the sharp blast catching me by surprise and I almost fall if not for the fact that I'm currently trapped in a metal grip. Xavier and Dakota duck, and the bullets whiz past them at the speed of light, but don't injure them.

Xavier's father doesn't give up and continues to shoot, and I almost ask them to run, but the selfish part of me disagrees. If they leave, I will not be able to escape, and who knows what will happen. I don't want to be turned against them like just now, and after that incident I know it's highly possible.

Scarlet liquid flows from Chance's chest, and it's so hard to tear my eyes away from him.

And then all of a sudden I'm let go of, and Xavier's father takes a shot with both of his hands. I scramble towards Chance, my heart pounding, tears starting to burn my eyes.

"Xavier!" Someone yells, and then there's a blur of brown hair before both Dakota and Xavier fall to the ground, hard.

Xavier's up in an instant, bent over Dakota. She's shot. His hands are on her shoulders as I reach Chance, grabbing his hand. His breathing is shallow, and his face pale.

He is going to die, and there is nothing you can do to help him. You useless person.

And then Xavier shoots towards his father, and I turn in time to see him push the man to the ground, cursing at him.

Chance manages to choke out my name, breathlessly. I whip around again, and press a finger to his lips.

"Don't—" my voice brakes, and I gently press my lips to his cheek. "I'm sorry."

There's no time left.

"Lockdown mode activated." A robotic voice rings out, and I turn around to see Xavier's father disappear through a wall. When Xavier tries to get through it, he smashed his shoulder against the now-solid cement.

He curses loudly.

Loud scraping sounds from all around us as metal plates zoom towards the ground from the ceiling, covering and locking us inside.

"We need to get out," Xavier yells at me, "get escape routes."

I look over at Chance, who's barely holding on.

"I'm sorry," I whisper again, my tears falling over and over again. "I'm so sorry."

I ignore the fact that my throat has constricted and I can barely breathe, and kiss Chance on the cheek for what seems like the last time.

This is all Edit's fault.

Climbing to my feet, I start to help Xavier look for holes anywhere, but to no avail. I kick at the walls and pound at the metal plates, but nothing budges. I don't stop. I hit and hit and hit until I have bruises and blood is pouring down the sides of my hands. For the sake of Dakota and Chance, I don't stop.

"Amber!" Xavier yells, and I spin around, my heart pumping.

He throws me a plastic block. As I catch it, I realise that it can be bended and squashed, and many icons are on it.

"It's a HealPad. Dakota needs it." He says.

"What about Chance?" I ask.

Xavier doesn't reply, his face stony.

"What. About. Chance?" I repeat, emphasizing each word.

"I don't know about you, Evans, but Dakota is my everything, and yes, I'm selfish, yes, I'm evil, yes, I'm cruel and stupid as heck, but I don't really care about your precious Chance right now, because if my Dakota is going to die, I will hate you forever." Xavier spits venomously.

In a war, people die.

Rage builds up within me, and I scream back at him, "So what? So Chance doesn't matter to me? So Chance is someone who I'll just let die?  When you're like this, Xavier, you're just like your father."

And then green letters spill in my vision.

RELAPSE ACTIVATED
3
2

No. No, no, no. I calm myself down, determined to not relapse. In my last rational thought, I drop the HealPad and kick it towards Xavier.

Then it begins.

"Who are you?" Master asks.

"I am Avelyn Version 8.3 and I am a loyal servant of Edit. Nothing will stand in my way."

Nothing will stand in my way.

Fueled by this thought, I run towards the traitor, anger and bitterness consuming my body. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.

I picture the Asian girl. Stupid person who claims herself as the daughter of the creators of Edit. She's not worth Xavier's time.

Why am I even bothering about Xavier? He's supposed to be a traitor.

Because you're in love with him. You've been ever since you met him, Avelyn.

Focus.

I bring up my hand, grabbing the strongest laser and walk towards Xavier with slow, predatory steps. Tension builds up in the pit of my stomach.

Will you hurt someone you love, Avelyn?

Will you be that cruel, that heartless, to kill him?

And so instead, I decide to smash it against the wall, and as if in slow-motion, pieces of the wall shatter and fly towards me. I fall, my world spinning and turning and just...broken, somehow.

And then my vision goes dark.

————

When I awaken, I'm in a dark room, so dark that I can't even see my fingers. My heart starts to thrum, faster and faster and faster, until I'm so afraid, so insecure, like those days before without Chance.

Chance. Where is he now? Is he still alive?

Does he know who I am?

The real question that I need to ask myself is whether I know who I am. It's been so confusing, the "relapses" and people calling me Avelyn and Master and this weird feeling towards Xavier...

What's going on?

I know that I love Chance, and only Chance, but in the "Avelyn" state, which I've only known for a few minutes, I'm attracted to Xavier.

Who is Avelyn? Who are the people around me?

And not for the first time, I begin to doubt. I doubt the people and my family and my friends. Maybe they have motives or agendas behind befriending me. It's happened so many times...it's not impossible.

Why does everything have to be so confusing?

The door creaks open, bright light pouring into the room, and I start, curling up into a ball.

"Amber?" Someone familiar calls, and I  look up.

It's Xavier.

He flips a switch on a wall, and lights flood the room. I wince a little, but slowly get used to it.

"Where am I?" I ask immediately.

Xavier sits on a chair near my bed.

"Well, after you blasted that wall open with your laser, we escaped, and now we're back in the dorms. But we're just taking safety precautions here, don't get insulted or whatever, but you're in the quarantine room. There's a risk of getting caught, but we're not ready to attack yet."

"How is Chance?" I ask hurriedly, "and Dakota," I add quickly.

"They're safe for now, and they're people looking after them. Chance's condition is a little unstable, but he should be alright. And you've blown up your shoulder with that blast, by the way, and your hip and leg is badly injured. You're on bed rest until further notice." Xavier says.

"Xavier..." I hesitate.

"What?" He cocks an eyebrow. "If it's about the HealPad, I'm not saying sorry."

If not for the fact that half my body feels like it's been thrown into an inferno, I'd punch him. I make a mental note to talk to Dakota about her boyfriend's terrible attitude.

"No, it's not about that," I say, doing my best to control my anger. "It's about Avelyn."

Xavier stiffens, his face turning stony. "What about her?"

"Who is she? When I get mad or...I don't know what, I have relapses and I see these weird memories that pop into my head and I don't know what happened and I'm so confused and scared and—"

"Stop." Xavier cuts me off, and my mouth is left hanging open, before I awkwardly close it.

Xavier takes a deep breath. "Where am I even supposed to start?" He sighs, shaking his head.

I almost make a sarcastic remark, just to annoy him or test for his reaction, but I decide not to do it.

"Avelyn is you, in a way," Xavier scratches the nape of his neck. "When I first met her, she was this little munchkin, only up to my waist." Xavier chuckles at the memory.

"She wasn't afraid of anything, but she hated seeing me get hurt. She listened to me, to my father—"Xavier makes a face, "—and she was the most adorable creature in the universe."

"Then she was sent away to the Inner Cities, and I was brought to the Black Hole. I never saw her again, and I was glad when each day passes without any news of her. You know, how no news is good news?" Xavier doesn't wait for my reply; and then I realise its a rheotherical question.

Well done.

"So, I met Dakota, who'd been brought in later on, and I realized, after she opened up to me," he cracks a grin, "that we were in the same boat. Both our parents took us to the Black Hole to be used as weapons."

"Even Avelyn?" I ask, and it feels so weird because I'm supposed to be Avelyn.

"Yeah," Xavier bites his lip, before continuing, "so Avelyn could only be contacted, or rather, located when she had relapses."

"Like just now," I state, my heart starting to pick up speed again. Who knows where I was?

Xavier nods, his eyes serious. "But it won't set anything off yet, though, because he trapped us there. It wouldn't be a surprise. Right now, you need to keep your emotions in check."

"What did they do to you and Dakota?" I ask, my voice barely over a whisper.

"They froze us at age eighteen, and installed a tracker into us." He points at the back of his neck. "Mine doesn't work that well nowadays, though, because of this bad fall I had in the Black Hole."

"What about Dakota?"

"I don't think she's very valuable to them anymore now, and there's no doubt that Edit's going to get all its resources to stop us now, so we could blow up at any time." Xavier laughs humourlessly.

"Blow up?"

"The trackers are little bombs, to put it simply." Xavier replies.

"Oh." I don't know what else to say.

"Anything else? If not I need to get back to Dakota." Xavier clasps his hands in between his legs.

"Yeah, there's one more thing..." I pause, licking my lips. "Did Avelyn ever have a...an attraction to you?"

"Attraction?" Xavier laughs, "no, that's impossible!" Then he pauses, pulling his brows together. "Has there been an issue?"

"I..." I stammer, my tongue suddenly in knots. "I...my...when...when I'm Avelyn, or however that works, I notice she has some weird hate towards Dakota."

"Dakota?" Xavier blinks. "What's wrong with Dakota?"

"Exactly," I say, "I don't know. And I—or Avelyn—didn't shoot you because there was this little voice in my head telling me not to kill you because I...she..."

"Loved him?" Both Xavier and I turn towards the door.

And standing there is Dakota.

Hello! This chapter is dedicated to AidanGoh , amoschung and chua_zy for their awesomeness.

xoxo
-NeverEverGiveUp-