I wake up early in the morning, surprisingly well rested and in my bed. Covering my mouth to muffle my yawn, I sit up and stretch momentarily. I blink a few times when I look forward at the open connecting door. All of my worries from yesterday then flood my mind, causing me to scramble out of my bed and rushing into Fitz's room.

When I see that Fitz's bed looks like he hasn't slept in it for awhile, my heart deflates incredibly. The corners of my lips weighing down in a melancholy frown, I slowly turn around and reluctantly walk towards the bathroom to brush my teeth. Fitz? I try transmitting as I brush my teeth. When I hear no response, I sigh and spit the toothpaste out of my mouth more bitterly than I had intended.

After changing, I exit the bathroom and near my vanity desk. Grabbing my brush, I stare down at my lap and absentmindedly free my hair from all of my tangles. I sigh, my body feeling at least three times heavier than last night. I finish my hair and almost slam the brush down on my desk in sheer anger. I wasn't going to feel so deprived this quickly. It has been a few hours, but still.

Groaning, I glance up at my reflection. My blond hair makes my brown eyes pop out more, especially with my hair being down. I'm genuinely shocked that I don't have very noticeable bags underneath my eyes. Then my eyes dart to my forehead and widen considerably at the bruise that wasn't there before. When did I- I begin to think to myself when I remember falling onto the ground from my drowsiness. I finger the blue-black spot on my forehead, hissing slightly when I receive sharp pain in return.

Sighing, I try to style my hair so that the bruise isn't visible unless someone really looked at me. After a couple of moments, I leave my hair down, but I purposely use some of my blond locks to hide the injury. Knowing that there isn't a better hairdo that'll cover my bruise, I stand up and grab my keycard before walking out of my room.

Instead of going to the conference room, though, I make a detour and head towards the laboratory instead. Plastering a fake smile on my face, I straighten up and knock on the metal doors three times. At the third knock, the left door opens to reveal Steven's perky face. "Sophie!" he exclaims happily. "What a-" He finally notices my bruise and pauses. Clearing his throat, he says, "Come on in."

After I step inside, Steven calls for Caroline. A moment later, he yells out, "And bring some of our bruise ointment!"

Caroline walks into the laboratory a few seconds later with a container of a white substance. She then looks at me and says, "Oh- so that's why! Makes sense!"

I sigh as the chemist rushes over to me. "I thought I hid the bruise rather decently," I comment, watching as Caroline brushes my hair away from my bruise. When she accidentally touches my bruise, I wince noticeably. The chemist sighs and puts the salve on my bruise, careful to not touch my blond hair. Wrinkling my nose at the putrid smell, I step back and ask, "What is that?!"

Caroline giggles before applying more of the horrible-smelling ointment to her bruise. "Wait at least five minutes before wiping it off with cold water," she instructs before washing her own hands. "And you do not want to know what's in there." After she dries her hands off, Caroline nears me again and asks, "How did you get your bruise?"

I rub the back of my neck sheepishly. "I was looking for Fitz again, but I was so tired that I fell asleep on the ground," I explain before I can think my response through. "I must've hit my head on the ground first."

The chemist and forensic pathologist nod at my explanation. Suddenly, Steven frowns. "Wait- did you sleep on the floor the entire time?" he asks.

I shake my head. "I actually woke up in my bed," I admit, not missing how Steven shows his shock. Shrugging halfheartedly, I say, "I must've sleepwalked back to my bed." Noticing the clock, I say, "I should probably wash this off and go eat breakfast."

Walking with me to the sink, Caroline hands me a damp cloth. Sighing, she leans in and whispers, "Are you sure that it wasn't Fitz who brought you back to your bed?"

I feel my body going rigid at the mention of the missing Percipient. My face falls even more. I force my voice to not break in any way as I say, "I don't know... I tried transmitting to him again before falling asleep. He didn't reply."

Caroline's expression softens considerably as she takes the cloth away from me. "He still isn't here?" she asks gently.

I shake my head. "I'm going to look again, though," I say with all the determination that I can muster up. "I'll also ask Mr. Wallace for anything he might know."

She nods. Patting my shoulder, Caroline smiles at me sadly before I leave the laboratory. Hoping that my bruise is either gone or not as visible, I open the conference room and plaster a smile on my face at the two girls. As I get my own food, I ask solemnly, "Still not here?"

Audrey nods angrily, "Where could that idiot have gone?"

"I don't know," Laurel and I both say. We look at one another, then at Audrey. Laurel then asks, "Did you oversleep or something, Sophie?"

I hesitate before saying, "I- um. I just went to visit Caroline and Steven." They nod and I add, "I said that I'd start looking again, so I should probably get started down."

Surprisingly, the female Sovereign is the one who stops me before I can get up. "Eat your breakfast before you go, Sophie," she says. "Otherwise, you'd feel even worse than you most likely do." I raise an eyebrow at how direct and spot on she is, but I still sit down at eat.

Then I'd start searching.

...

I had finished looking in Fitz's room for the third time. I decide to help Audrey in searching in Donovan's room. The first thing that I notice is on his desk, it looks like the male Sovereign had been building some random gadgets for the past few days. The tools are still there, as well as some unfinished gadgets.

But that's just it. Only the unfinished gadgets are still here. Whatever gadgets that Donovan had finished... were gone.

"Where did Donovan get this stuff?" Audrey asks, her face twisting slightly to show her confusion.

I don't answer her question. Instead, I slowly near Donovan's desk and finally notice the plethora of closed drawers. With a grim face, I slowly open the first drawer to see some screwdrivers, wrenches, and other tools. Sighing in exasperation, I close that drawer and open the one above it. I only see a large box of labeled metal, neatly separated by the specific type.

After closing the second drawer, I look back at the female Sovereign. "It's obvious that they aren't here," I comment bitterly. Glancing at the third drawer, I muse, "But maybe there's a clue that may tell us where the went. Can you check your room for anything?"

Audrey's eyes widen at my request. "My room?" she asks. "Why would he go into my room before disappearing?"

I shrug. "It... doesn't seem like the three of them would just," I pause, thinking of my reasoning. "Well, do you think that they'd suddenly leave without telling us? It seems so unlike them..."

The female Sovereign nods solemnly. "It does," she says softly, surprising me. Turning around, the female Sovereign adds, "Let's hope they left something."

Nodding grimly, I turn back to the third drawer and open it. My eyes widen when I see an assortment of small, red-violet crystals- which I quickly realized was saridian- that are about the size of the tzanion ammunition for a prostrator. I notice that the saridian is arranged to say "Goodbye". I manage to call out, "I think I found something here!" before I'm hit with a sudden calmness... Drowsiness is a better word to describe it.

Confused at the sudden numbness, I force myself to stay upright as the female Sovereign rushes into the room. "What'd you find?" Audrey asks as she comes around to me. The female Sovereign then notices what the arranged crystals say. Her breathing hitched, Audrey swallows morosely. Letting out a shaky breath, Audrey reaches forward gingerly to touch Donovan's message to her.

That is, before her arm abrupt drops to her side.

Audrey lets out a small shriek. "Why is my arm looking like a noodle?!" she shouts. "And I can't move it..!"

That when I make the connecting that if there's a lot of saridian, then it'll temporarily numb your nerves. I can feel my own nerves' connection to my brain thinning out slowly. Almost tripping over my legs, I reach forward and grab Audrey, yanking the both of us away from the open drawer. "It's saridian," I tell her as I stand myself up again. Carefully inching towards the drawer, I use my foot to kick the drawer closed, not minding the loud noise following my action.

When I turn around, I see Audrey shaking her arm, which seems to be in her control again. Grumbling under her breath, the female Sovereign asks, "Is it just me or am I starting to not wonder where they are as much?"

I shrug. "I don't think he knows that saridian is, so... just you."

Groaning, Audrey and I then go into her room to resume our search. The same search that's been leading to dead ends.