The room she awoke in was bright and surgical.

 The smell of blood and antiseptic churned her stomach. She groaned as she rolled to her side and realised in horror she was connected to half a dozen UV lines. 

She winced as she ripped them from her arms and tore up the bedsheets to cover each wound, now weeping blood. "Ah shit." She sat on the torn bed as a dizzy spell hit her.

"Hera." A chastising voice sounded over the room's intercom. "You're going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that."

She looked at her arms littered with bruises and wondered how many times she had pulled them out before this.

A brief look around the room showed no apparent doors or windows. The walls were thickly padded, and cameras perched in each corner. A pile of fresh linen clothes was sitting on a chair next to her bed, and she quickly changed out of the bloodstained scrubs. Behind her, she heard a person enter with a trolley and turned to see an array of fruits, bread, spreads, and a smoothie. 

"We didn't know what you liked, so I brought you everything we have." She recognised the voice from earlier and was surprised to see a beautiful older woman. Her hair was long with dark curls, and her face looked vaguely familiar. Her eyes held an unbearable sadness while her mouth lifted in a half-smile. "It's nice to officially meet you, love. I've heard a bit about you from some of the other residents." She smiled genuinely, then. "Eat up, and I'll try to answer questions you have. "

Hera was too hungry to be suspicious and dug in, getting mild heartburn. "Where are we?" she asked between mouthfuls.

"We are on a very large ship in the middle of the ocean." The woman replied carefully, causing Hera to frown.

"Is this where Panacea takes all the evolved they kidnap?"

"Some."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Jane, and I'm here to... look after you." Hera's furrowed brow and silence caused the further response. "Well, I requested to take care of you."

"You're leaving me with more questions than answers here, lady." She huffed. "Where's Theo?"

Jane's demeanour shifted immediately. "Teddy? Oh, he's with Azrail." Her eyes darkened. 

Hera was shocked to hear the pet name Jean had used for Theo multiple times. Who is this woman? "Who are they to each other?"

Jane abruptly stood and began to wheel the trolley out, holding all the discarded IVs. "Wait, you don't have to answer that. Please wait!" The thickly padded door opened and closed behind her leaving Hera alone. 

"For fuck sake..." She looked around again and grumbled. There was nothing in here to do anything with. She sat on the cold floor cross-legged and centred herself. The slight thrum of energy tickled her palms, and she was relieved her abilities were still there. She had feared it may have died forever back with her Aunt. The memory was so unbearable to recall she had to shut it down before she imploded. 

Her energy jumped from hand to hand, and she tentatively sent it out. But unfortunately, she was still too sapped, and she barely reached the padded walls. A sigh escaped her lips, and Hera thought about Juno, her twin, and wondered if they were still around.

  I'm here. She jumped slightly at the voice.

 "Shit." 

Her eyes burned, and tears fell, but she felt comforted. 

We need to get out of here. Juno remarked. 

"I know." 

Someone is trying to get in your head. I'm getting tired.

"Could it be Azrail?" Hera whispered back.

Most likely.

"How am I supposed to get away? We're on a ship..."

Find Theo. Juno's voice was clear and determined.

"He betrayed us, Juno. He lied and got Jackie killed."

You don't really believe that, do you?

Hera swallowed the lump in her throat before continuing. "He still betrayed us."

Not without cause.

Hera just shook her head sadly. "Wishful thinking."

Static and microphone feedback assaulted her ears suddenly. "Who are you talking to, girl?" Azrail's unmistakable voice ground out over the intercom.

"Myself." She shouted back. Not exactly a lie. "Fuck off."

She could hear his tongue click over the speakers. "Mind your manners."

"Whatever," she replied, standing up. "Can I come out now?"

An awful grating laugh filled the space. "Sadly, you cannot be trusted outside of this room. It's designed specifically to stop your powers getting out of hand."

"So a Chamber then."

"Exactly."

"Well, can I talk to Jane again?"

"I'm afraid she is needing some... re-education."

The intercom went dead, and Hera tried to piece everything together in her head.

...

The hours dragged on, and with each meal, Hera felt markedly stronger. Jane barely spoke to her as she brought in the food trays, and Hera was getting frustrated. The only marker for the time was getting food from Jane, so she thought the least she could do was make small talk. She had received five meals from Jane so far, so she assumed it had been at least two days. 

Azrail had been radio silent, and Hera thought even his stupid voice would be a reprieve from the endless silence and loneliness. Instead, the solitude triggered her anxiety and memories around her past that felt a lifetime ago. Perhaps this would have been her existence if she had never found her place in the community. She was stuck inside some padded asylum. This could have been her miserable life if she had never found her dad or friends like Jean and Zeke or even Theo. 

Grief snaked around her soul when she thought of him. 

Azrail's puppet.

He looked so different around Azrail, nothing like the man she had wanted to give herself entirely to. Her body still heated up thinking about their time together in the Chamber, and she felt immeasurable guilt. He's the reason Jackie's dead; she wanted to scream. Hera had to blame him so she could hate him because she knew she didn't hate him at all, and that felt like a betrayal to her Aunt's memory. She tossed and turned in her bed, trying to rid herself of her feelings, but she couldn't. 

"Fuck off." She whispered to herself. "Stupid fucking brain."

"Do you need something?" Hera shot up in a panic at the voice. She realised quickly it belonged to Jane and had come out of the intercom, so she laid back and closed her eyes angrily. Just another one of Azrails fucking puppets. "Not from you." She shouted to the ceiling.

"Are you hungry?" She carried on as if she hadn't heard. "It will be time for breakfast in three hours..."

Hera groaned and rolled onto her stomach, shoving her face into her pillow. Why wouldn't she go away?

"I can bring you some water if you are dehydrated."

Jane's persistence was infuriating Hera, and she opted for screaming as loud as she could into her pillow.

"Screaming will only make your voice hoarse. I will bring you some water." The door opened a few moments later and caught Hera mid-scream. "What do you want from me?" Jane was right. Hera's voice was now scratchy and sore from the dramatics.

She held a full glass of water in her outstretched hand and smiled robotically. Hera frowned while noting she looked slightly dishevelled. Her hair was mussed, and her makeup was smudged. "Are you okay?" Hera muttered while retrieving the glass. Jane smiled wider, but her eyes remained sad.

"I have wanted to talk to you again, but I had to wait for you to ask the right question." She finished, and Hera was dumbfounded. She almost asked what she was talking about but thought better of it. "Where are we?"

"A ship in the middle of the ocean." She replied without a thought behind her eyes. She looked programmed.

"How big is the ship?"

"This vessel is approximately one thousand feet long and one hundred thousand tonnes."

"Where am I located?"

"This room is located in the centre of the ship." Her responses were so well-rehearsed she barely even blinked.

"If I do everything you ask of me, can you let my people be free?"

Jane's head tilted quizzically. "Azrail needs you. All of you." She gulped briefly and took the empty glass from Hera's hand to refill it.

"Do you and Azrail live here?" Hera was trying desperately to uncover any useful information from the exchange, but Jane's brainwashing was deep.

"I am always here. Azrail goes where he pleases." Hera's eyes widened slightly at Jane's informal tone.

"When will he leave again?" Hera immediately realised her mistake as Jane snatched the glass and ran out of the room.

"I'm sorry! Goddammit!" She cried hoarsely. "Come back." Tears fell from her cheeks. She didn't want to be alone anymore, and she feared her lack of discretion could have put Jane in danger. Her fear amplified when breakfast time came and went.

She called out a few times and cradled her growling stomach. She was fucking starving. To her dismay, nobody replied, and she sat on the floor, resting her head in her palms.

...

Jane came in much later with lunch and sat as Hera ate. "I'm sorry for earlier. I don't know what came over me," she said with her fake smile.

"It's okay. I'm sorry for asking the wrong question." Hera took a few more mouthfuls of her sandwich and asked, "Where is Theo?"

"He is currently working with Azrail and will soon be sent on another mission," Hera noted to herself the change in the script.

"Can I see him?"

"Impossible."

"What if I see him with you here at the same time to supervise?" Hera initially believed the question to be innocent but panicked as she saw Jane's eyes swimming with unshed tears. She gulped down another bite while changing the topic, "When do you plan on killing me?" Her hunger had overridden her desire to be tactful with the questions, but to her relief, Jane answered quickly this time, her tears long gone.

"You need to be fully recovered before your stem cells can be harvested to get the best modifications from your evolution." She sounded robotic once more.

"That's a mouthful," Hera replied with a raised brow. "How do they do it?"

Jane swallows deeply, "My ability allows me to remove the brain stem intact." Hera was shocked. She couldn't believe this person could be killing so many of her kind. It just didn't make sense. A stupid but potentially brilliant plan fluttered in Hera's mind. Time to practice my acting skills, she thought nervously.

 "You're a monster." She cried hysterically. 

She hoped her demeanour would avoid raising suspicion of Jane to anyone watching the cameras.

Jane stood up to leave, but Hera grabbed her wrist, twisting until it was behind her back. She kicked her legs and held her down on the floor while forcing Juno's shield around her. The resistance was intense, and she knew she couldn't hold it long. 

"Who is Theo to you?" She whispered in her ear fiercely. 

Tears spilt from Jane's eyes, and her smile beamed, "My baby." She rasped out, coughing violently to cover up the words as agents streamed in the room, kicking Hera off Jane. The shield snapped back violently, and Hera was left so tired. She curled in a ball as everyone streamed out and reeled with the new information.

"Well, that was interesting." Azrail's voice filled the padded room instilling Hera with fear.