"So Roman is cooperating now huh?" The administrator asks me as she hooks me up to the chair.

I shrug. "They locked us in a room together all night and we are... on good terms for now."

"Well I need you to decide whether you want me to help Roman or not." She says finally.

"I dont know. If those images mean anything, he could be plotting against me." I admit.

"Keep your enemies closer remember? Even if there is something shady going on, we need to be three steps ahead. I say we should help him. Just stop flirting with him." She says.

I scoff. "Im not flirting, that's him."

"Oh that's not you swooning when he compliments you? Melting when you lock eyes with him? Face it, you like him and he's got some kind of hold on you. Whether he is your saving grace or your downfall you will never get rid of him now. Might as well tolerate him." She says, raising her eyebrow.

I roll my eyes. "Let's just get this over with. We aren't getting anywhere talking about him."

I feel the liquid course through my body and I am falling... falling for a while.

I finally stop falling. I am sitting in my principal's office.

"Angel you are doing so well, why wouldn't you want to be on the Honor's Society?" My principal asks.

I dont understand. What does this have to do with me living in Cali? This was way before we decided to even move out here. I hear the principal on the phone, just as it happened, but I listen more carefully this time.

"Well she is special. Like nothing I have ever seen before. If we could harness it, she could be the most important person for this whole 'program'." He says into the phone.

I know program is a metaphor for the Revolution now. I just didnt know it then. If I had known it then, I probably would not have agreed to be on the Honor's Society. The chair disappears underneath me and I am on stage, giving my famous "Life Lessons" speech. It isnt about the lessons Ive learned in life, since I havent learned many at that point, but it is about allowing life to show you things that will lead to better decisions. I tap the microphone and everyone is still. Oddly still. So still it makes my skin crawl. Their faces are blank, but their eyes focus on me. Nothing in their eyes, as if they are already dead and Im giving them some eulogy.

"Umm.." My voice cracks as I try to speak into the microphone. 

This is too creepy. I put my hand over my eyes, blocking the bright spotlight from my vision and I see a woman at the back of the auditorium. She is clapping. Only, I cant hear it, but I see her clapping. She wears a sarcastic smile and I instantly know her. Was she there for my speech? Was she there the whole time?

"Hey! Listen to me! She is the enemy! You all are in danger now run!" I yell into the microphone.

It falls on deaf ears. Everyone is just as still as the moment before. 

"What is wrong with them?" I whisper into the microphone.

"They are blinded. As they should be. They are alive, but they are not awake. This is the right way. This is how the world was supposed to work all along." My kidnapper smiles, haunting me in my dreams.

"Why are you doing this to them?" I ask, feeling myself become weaker and weaker with every approaching step she takes.

She pushes the microphone to the ground, stepping on stage in my face. She is much bigger in my nightmares. More sinister.

"Because they dont matter. See how easily they are manipulated? How easily they are broken? That is exactly why we got you and Roman. We can use you two for the greater good. It may be hard, but in the end, you both will know that this was all for the best."

She pushes me gently, but I fall back with such a force that I jolt out of the simulation. I open my eyes and no one is there. The administrator is gone. I am still strapped in the seat. I jerk and struggle, trying to free myself, but it is no use. I sigh deeply and keep myself from freaking out. I may not be able to break out of this chair, but I can control my sanity. That's the one thing I will not allow them to take from me. I breathe in and out, steadying my heartbeat.

The door opens slowly and a dark figure enters the red room. My vision instantly goes blurry for no apparent reason. I struggle to find something familiar with this figure. I feel myself sharing a breath with the figure until my oxygen is cut off by... lips.

My mouth is invaded and instead of struggling, I just allow it to happen. I dont know why I allow it to happen. I dont know why I dont want to fight. The invader breaks the kiss and my vision has completely gone. As I take a much needed deep breath, terror fills me as a voice touches my ears.

"Im sorry..."

A shot of pain pulls me out of the simulation for good and I take heavy breaths, trying to calm down. I look over at the administrator and she is looking at me wide-eyed.

"We can wait a few days before we do this again Angel." She says, sympathy all over her face.

"We dont have to." I say, still controlling my breathing.

She unhooks me from the chair, even though she doesnt have to since Im willingly doing this with her, and I sit up. I try to empty my mind of any thoughts, trying not to think about what I just saw, heard, felt, experienced. I dont want to psyche myself out. Plus, she did say that it isnt 100% accurate that these things Im seeing will happen.

"Every day I can see your trust for him diminishing." She says.

"I dont need to trust him, I just need to know if he will be of any use to us. Its not like he is really going to betray me. You said it yourself." I say, getting off of the chair.

"I said that yesterday. Today is different. That looked more like foreshadowing. A warning." She has a scared look in her eye. "Maybe we shouldnt be doing this."

I look at her more intensely than I have ever looked at anyone. "We are doing this. My mother is somewhere in this building being tortured. Innocent people are being held against their will because of the cruelty and delusion of some woman. If we can do anything to get these people to safety, then we will do that WITHOUT HESITATION." My voice is even, stern.

I dont think Ive been more assertive in my life. She nods silently and I leave the room. My guards help me walk, with my kane, into the dining hall for lunch. I look around and I dont see Mom. I sigh as I take my seat, the menu popping up on the table. I choose the chicken noodle soup and crackers. I feel on my stitches in my head. As much as I want to rip her throat out, I dont want my kidnapper to keep torturing me. I have got to stop drawing attention to myself, but I need Roman to do the same or we're both fucked. Roman slowly, painfully takes his seat across from me at the table. He looks down at the menu and clicks on the hamburger and fries option. I look up at him and he just keeps his head down.

"Are you okay Roman?" I ask, knowing the answer, but feeling the need to show him that I am genuinely concerned about him.

"Yea." He says slowly.

"You're lying." I whisper. "You dont have to lie to me."

"I am okay Angel. I get to sit next to the prettiest girl in this compound and eat lunch with her while having 'inappropriate' conversations into a computer screen. Everything is okay." He says, almost sounding genuine.

"Roman. You can barely walk." I remind him.

"Same with you, but you seem better today." He adds. "Why are you so concerned about me?"

"Because I can be. And because I feel somewhat guilty for what has been happening to you." I admit.

I really do, even if I feel like he is a danger to me, his punishments have been due to his unyielding affection towards me, which, of course, is forbidden here.

"You dont have to feel guilty. I brought all of this on myself. Im tired of being made an example of though..." he admits, his demeanor has changed drastically in these last few days of torture.

"I know. Finally you will stop sacrificing yourself to get a point across! We cant fight them with fire Roman. We are smarter than that. You know they could break us *snaps* like that." I say quietly.

*INAPPROPRIATE CONVERSATION*

I sigh and my ribs ache. I slide my hand over my ribs, gently massaging them. I cant take much more torture either.

"Am I in any of your simulations?" I ask him shyly, hoping he says no.

"Yes. All of them." He answers, looking into my eyes.

The cut on his lip has scabbed over and the rest of the bruises on his face are healing quickly. I cant believe he mustered up the nerve to actually comb his hair today. It looks fabulous. I blush, not because I believe his simulations are intimate, but because I think it's kinda cute we are 'dreaming' about each other. Well, maybe in a more natural setting, it would be cute. My simulations of him are all horror-filled. I can only imagine what his are like. For some reason, Im hoping they are pleasant.

*INAPPROPRIATE CONVERSATION.  FINAL WARNING*

I run my fingers through my tangled hair. We need to get alone again to talk, but they are not gonna allow us to be locked in a room again for a night unless we do something stupid. Im positive we are done being rebellious. If only for a day. 

"Roman. We need to give them a reason to put us back together." I say just above a whisper.

We both look at the computer screen and it didnt register what I said. We look into each other's eyes at the same moment and he nods. The robots bring us our food and Roman cuts his eye at one of his three security guards watching us. The other innocents are eating with their heads down, but I notice that they glance over at us, nervously. Maybe waiting for us to do something stupid, or do something right and break them out of here. Either way, they will have to wait a little longer for both. I blow the spoon with my soup on it and take a few bites. The food is actually really good here. As I am finishing my soup, Roman takes a few bites out of his hamburger and eats all of his fries. He breathes out.

"Sorry." He says.

Before I can process why he apologized, he gets up suddenly and comes over to my side of the table. He grabs my face with one large hand and kisses me deeply. My heart beat picks up and I can feel my muscles tense up. After a split second, my body relaxes and I am actually enjoying the kiss. He rubs my face gently and before he can do any more, the guards grab him. The computer in the table is screaming at us.

*EXTREMELY INAPPROPRIATE CONTACT. INCIDENT REPORTED IN RECORD*

I catch my breath and for the first time since Ive been kidnapped, I smile. What a kiss. He winks at me as they muscle him out of the dining hall. My guard grabs me roughly and drags me out of the other door. He pins me against the wall, his hands on either side of my head.

"What the hell do you think you're doing??" he almost yells in my face.

"What are you talking about? I didnt do anything! He kissed me!" I yell back.

"Do you want them to kill you? Do you two really love this torture? Huh! What is wrong with you? You arent getting anywhere pushing against them! You need to work with them or at least *he lowers his voice* make it seem like you're on their side." He gives me a look, making sure I understand.

I nod. I understand. He is on our side. So we have to play their game. He walks me into my room and I sit on my bed. After having to sleep on the ground last night, I miss my bed. The curtain is pulled back and I close my eyes. I dont miss this.

I can hear the screams of the innocents suffering when I awake. I was able to tune it out while I was drifting off to sleep because I was so exhausted, but they haunt me as I am adjusting to wakefulness. For some reason, I feel like Im off-balance. I move my arms around and it feels like something is tugging at them, slowing the motion down. Then I feel it on my fingers.

Water.

My eyes open and the scene is terrifying. At first glance, I could be looking out of the large window through my bedroom, but after my attempt at stretching, I realize I am submerged in water. I instantly panick and look all around. I stop thrashing after a minute and put my hand up to the glass chamber I am suspended inside. If I am  submerged in water, why am I breathing? Why arent my lungs burning from the overabundance of water filling them up? I feel on my face and there is an oxygen mask covering my mouth and nose. I look at the bottom of the chamber and the tube from my mask runs out of the chamber and into a large oxygen machine sitting next to my chamber. I look down and my usual white jumpsuit is replaced with tighter, waterproof clothing. There is also some kind of goggles covering my eyes. Clear enough that I wouldn't know I was wearing any. I spin my body in the water, not knowing why I am here. Is this another punishment.?I freeze when I look to my left.

Roman.

He is still asleep, floating in the water chamber next to our oxygen machine. I hit the glass, hoping that it will break, but mostly hoping that he will hear me and wake up. Nothing happens. I bang over and over and realize that this glass isnt going to break and Roman is not waking up anytime soon. I look around the room. There is nothing in this room. Just one door behind us. It is white, as usual. there is one camera all the way on the ceiling. It is large, noticeable. A red light blinks from the camera and I take a deep breath as I feel myself falling, just like in my simulation, but this time it is forreal. The bottom drops out of the chamber and I hit the ground hard, but not as hard as i would have thought. I remove the goggles and oxygen mask from my face and gasp for air. I am soaked. I look tomy left and Roman is catching his breath, in a suit similar to mine. I just stare at him, the suit outlining every muscle and line in his body. I look away and into the camera. I walk around the large, empty room and when Roman can stand up, he walks over to me.

"Angel.." He says worriedly.

"Roman. You're walking!" I touch his face. "All of your bruises are healed and ..." I look down. "I can walk. I dont feel any pain!" I say unbelievably.

"Angel. What are we doing here?" he says too calmly.

"I wish I knew." I say.

We hear a loud screech and cover our ears.

"You are here because you two are causing problems for us. Granted, we cant keep you two from liking each other, but we can find a way to keep you focused on why you're even here. This isnt a punishment. It is a test. The liquid in the chambers have healed your wounds and injuries.. temporarily. If you can find your way out and back to the far side of the building, you can continue your training as usual. If you cannot, you will just be stuck here. I have faith in you so I know you will find your way back. Here's a tip, dont try to lock lips that much in here, as the hours go by, the oxygen in the room diminishes fractionally until there is no air left for the both of you so I suggest you escape as quickly as possible. Go." Her voice is ominous, evil.

While I am still in shock Roman grabs my hand and we run through the door.

~~~.~~~