It doesn't take Sophie that long to fall asleep in my arms, her panicking heart finally calming down. I smile softly and brush a bit of her blond hair away from her closed eyes. Stifling a yawn myself, I shift around to carry the female Percipient as slow as I can. I pray that I don't wait her up by mistake as I maneuver my way towards the elevator.

Just as I manage to press the button to call an elevator, the metal doors on my left open with a ding, revealing the male Sovereign and Altruistic. Their eyes widen at the sight of me awake and the sight of me cradling a sleeping Percipient.

"Um-" Benen begins to say. The male Altruistic is interrupted when Donovan quickly says, "Just come in." He then steps aside for me to come in with Sophie. Once the elevator closes again, Benen presses the button for Level 8. "When did you wake up?" he asks.

"And why did you suddenly decide to carry Sophie?" Donovan adds.

I sigh in defeat despite the smile I'm wearing. "I woke up when everything was set up back to their original position," I explain. "Mr. Wallace explained what happened, but I didn't move because Sophie was sleeping." I leave out the part of me embracing her, but of course, Benen notices.

"And..?" he merely asks, doing his best to raise an eyebrow like I do when I'm skeptical.

Stifling a groan, I say, "...I didn't move because Sophie was sleeping, and I was...hugging her..." I make sure to lower my voice considerably. Fortunately, neither of them heard it, since they look at me as if I said nothing. I silently thank the elevator for reaching Level 8 before either of them can open their mouths.

"I'm actually going to go to my room," Donovan says after I step out of the elevator. "It's about 11 PM right now, you know."

Slightly astonished at how much time has passed since the scanner incident, I nod in comprehension. "Goodnight then, Donovan. See you tomorrow?"

The male Sovereign nods just before the elevator doors close. When I turn around, I see that Benen has also gotten out of the elevator. "I don't think you'd be able to open the door yourself," he says, chuckling softly at my face of realization. Instead, the male Altruistic takes my key card and opens my bedroom door, moving aside so I can enter with the sleeping Percipient.

Nodding thankfully, I walk over to Sophie's room and make sure to not bump into anything because of the lack of light. When I notice that I'm besides the bed, I gently lay Sophie down, wrapping her up in her covers. Gently moving some hair away from her face, I smile down at her before leaving the room, closing the connecting door ever so softly behind me.

Benen smirks at me when I look up again. "Can I ask why you were hugging her?" he asks, smirking more and remind me of Donovan.

I groan verbally, facepalming myself. "You heard that?" I ask the Altruistic, regret evident in my voice. I sigh when Benen nods, a goofy grin dancing across his face. Sighing even louder, I say, "From what Mr. Wallace told me, Sophie went through a lot- you all did. She fell asleep in my arms." When he raises an eyebrow at me, I resist the urge to glare at him.

Instead, Benen shrugs. "Sure, sure," he merely says. Walking over to the doors, the male Altruistic calls over his shoulder, "I should probably be going- I told Laurel that I'd met her in a few minutes."

I smirk. "Are you ever going to ask her?" I ask, raising an eyebrow all-knowingly.

Despite his dark blush, Benen smiles crookedly. "Maybe," he says. "Hopefully."

I can't but say afterwards, "Definitely."

...

Where is he?

He looks around. Darkness. Blackness. Emptiness. Anything that one could use to describe his surroundings, they're correct. The boy looks down, and he can't even see his hands. "What's going on..?" he says. He knows that he said it- he heard himself say it. But it disappears almost instantly after it's said, like magic.

The boy manages to take only one step before he hears the echoes of someone walking. He assumes that the walking is coming towards him by how the sound becomes slightly louder with every second. Eyes widening, the teal-eyed boy turns around on his heel and runs through the darkness.

Suddenly, a teal thread circles around the boy. Before he can grab it, the piece of thread shoots forward, illuminating a path dim enough for only him to see. The boy realizes that he's picking up his pace, and soon enough, he sprinting as fast as he can. Sure, following a thread sounds insipid to people, but if it's taking him away from the thing that's making noise, then so be it.

He'll chase the thread.

After a few minutes, the thread of teal abruptly halts in its tracks, surprising the boy so much that when he halts, his momentum causes him to trip over his own two feet. Before he can fall, though, the teal thread wraps around his leg tightly. It doesn't hesitate to lift the teal-eyed boy into the air, despite his screams.

"Hello?" a melodious voice sounds, which the teal-eyed boy recognizes as the teal-eyed girl. "Are you alright?"

The boy opens his mouth to say something, but suddenly remembers the scattered papers. Eyes widening, he struggles in midair. When her footsteps echo closer, he struggles more, becoming more panicked and desperate to land on the ground.

A pair of scissors appears besides him, attempting to snip the thread in half. The first few attempts don't work, making the boy even more stressed. Especially when he hears the girl shout, "Hello? Are you still there?"

Finally, after her voice echoes into nothing, the scissors actually cuts the thread entirely, dropping him. The thread's glow dies into nothingness. He doesn't hesitate to scramble to his feet and dash blindingly into the darkness.

Away from wherever he came from. And away from the teal-eyed girl so the same thing doesn't happen again.

He got lost once already.