The first thing I notice is a teal and brown scale laying on my chest. After I sit up, I then notice that the doors to the second room in the laboratory and the doors to the actual laboratory are completely broken, as if something large crashed into them.

"Glad to know you're awake." I turn around to see Caroline walking towards me with a smile. Before she can see the scale, I wrap my fingers around it and sit up, my curled fist at my side. When I look up again, Caroline gives me some water. "You were passed out for almost a day."

I manage to not do a spit-take and swallow some more water. "A day?" I finally choke out. "What happened?" I hand the water bottle back to the chemist, making sure that the scale is still out of her sight.

"You suddenly came in here," Caroline says, making me furrow my eyebrows in confusion. "But you were laying on the table unconscious. You seemed to be extremely exhausted, but I don't know why..."

"Where's Fitz?" I suddenly ask, looking at the two pairs of broken doors.

"He's actually the same as you," Caroline admits, causing me to look at her in shock. "The only thing is, I think that he's still asleep." She steps through the open space of the other room before coming out again. "Yep, he's asleep," she confirms. "Steven's watching over him, so you don't have to worry."

I smile gratefully. Standing up, I instantly feel a wave of lightheadedness, but I don't say anything. Instead, I say, "I think I feel better, thanks to you. Can I go to my room?" She nods, and I don't hesitate to rush outside.

Before I can reach the elevator, I hear Donovan and Benen shout behind me, "Sophie! Where are you going?" When I turn around, Donovan adds, "Aren't you supposed to be in the conference room? Fitz told us that Mr. Wallace called for the two of you."

"Yeah," Benen voices. Looking around, the male Altruistic frowns. "Where is Fitz, now that you mention him?"

"He's sleeping in the laboratory," I explain. "I don't know what happened, but he's really exhausted. Apparently, he still hasn't woken up yet." Shaking my head, I ask, "And Mr. Wallace is asking for us?"

Donovan nods. "That's what Fitz said, so..." The male Sovereign shrugs before walking towards the elevators with Benen.

I reach for the door handle to the conference room, but remember that I still have the unique scale. Slipping it into my pocket, I swing the doors open and step inside. "Mr. Wallace..!" I shout, listening to the echo of my voice. "I'm here!"

Mr. Wallace comes out, confusion on his face. I notice that he's limping, but I manage to stay quiet. "What are you doing here again?" he practically hisses at me, making me furrow my eyebrows at him. "You already came- you don't have to be here anymore..!"

My eyes widen and I slowly back away, suddenly feeling like it's not safe to be in the same room as him. As nonchalantly as I can, I let myself out of the conference room. Once away from Mr. Wallace, I turn towards the elevators and rush towards them. Luckily, the elevator on the left opens up immediately, allowing me to go to Level 8 as fast as I can.

When the elevator opens again, I dash down the hallway as if Mr. Wallace is still behind me. Not even five minutes pass since I slam the door closed when I hear knocking. Taking a few steps away from the door, I shout, "Who is it?" I find myself tightening my grip on the scale that I found as I wait for an answer.

"It's Laurel!"

A smile breaking out on my face, I tuck the scale away and open the door, revealing the female Altruistic. Inviting her inside, I ask, "What's up?"

"Audrey went to see Mr. Wallace a few minutes ago," Laurel explains. "So I decided to see you instead!" She smiles at me. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing much," I say, purposely leaving out the part that I woke up in the laboratory. "I just came back to my room from the conference room." Remembering that Audrey went to go see the middle aged man, I ask why.

"I don't know," Laurel admits. "But hopefully, it won't take too long. In the meantime..." Laurel exits out of the room for a moment before bringing back a pillow and a blanket. "I'm just going to set up."

"For what?" I ask, even the the answer so obvious. I reprend a sigh and watch as Laurel grabs a pillow and the blanket off of my bed. After voicing my sigh, I help her set up my sleeping area next to hers.

After the two of us have set up, Laurel motions for me to sit down. Once I do, Laurel leans closer and says, "I heard that Mr. Wallace tried to attack you and Fitz for finding information about Fitton. Is that true?"

I nod. "Why?"

"Because now..." Laurel opens my laptop. "We're going to do some research on Jacob instead."

...

For some reason, after almost an hour, the female Altruistic and I only find the information that I found with Fitz earlier- that Fitton's back in Washington. Otherwise, it's said that Jacob's gone silent again, and he's refusing to speak with any media outlet, which doesn't help our cause.

Before we can vent our frustration verbally, obnoxiously loud knocking echoes impatiently at my door, making me realize that it's Audrey. After letting the female Sovereign in, I watch as she sets her her sleeping area next to ours. "What'd Mr. Wallace want?" Laurel asks before I can myself.

Audrey finishes setting everything up before looking at the two of us. "He said that he called me down by accident," she says, frowning. "It was weird." Groaning, she adds, "He should know how much I hate it when people waste my time..!"

I can't help but scoff, "You and me both, Audrey." Pointing to the now closed laptop, I explain irritatedly how the only thing we could find was how Jacob revealed that Fitton's in Washington, and how Fitz and I already found that a few hours back. "Other than that, he's been silent," I finish with a huff. "And Fitton hasn't done anything to make anyone aware of his presence!"

"Wait- does anyone know who he is?" Audrey suddenly asks, raising an eyebrow at the two of us.

Laurel frowns. "No, they don't..." she finally murmurs. "No one revealed that Fitton is Arien's killer, right?" She opens the laptop and types a few words inside. Frowning more, the female Altruistic says, "Nope. He's still 'dead', according to the Internet."

I furrow my eyebrows. "I think you're looking at an old article," I tell her. Taking the laptop, I exit out of the website and click the article that reads "Is Fitton Galster Secretly Alive? Who is he?". Pointing to the screen, I announce, "This one's more recent. The media's now suspecting that his 'death' was a ruse and that he's alive. They're also trying to find out who he is."

Audrey comes over and sits behind the two of us. Narrowing her eyes at my laptop, the female Sovereign says, "It also looks like this specific article connected him to Arien. And I think that they're pinpointing him as the suspect..."

My eyes at this. "Oh wow- they are," I finally mutter, genuinely surprised at this. Looking at the other two, I ask, "Do you think they'll find evidence that he did kill Arien and Susan?"

Audrey scoffs. "Did we find any evidence that he killed them?" she asks, staring at me.

"Not Arien exactly," I admit reluctantly. "But Susan, yes. Fitz sensed his thoughts and he was hiding in the shadows of the conference room while we found her," I add, involuntarily shuddering at the photo. "That's got to be susceptible."

Laurel's eyes suddenly soften considerably. "Is that why you were crying into Fitz's arms that day? Because you and Fitz saw him in the corner?"

I nod, forcing myself to keep my expression as neutral as I can. "It's scary," I say quietly. "Knowing that we were so close to him. And also knowing that Fitz and Donovan were in a hideout that belonged to him..?" I shudder again, but I don't miss how Audrey slightly tenses when we're remembering how Fitz and Donovan suddenly went to infiltrate a hideout.

Waving the sudden tension away with my hand, I clear my throat loudly. "Anyways," I say, obviously switching the topic. "Should we try searching for other articles about this?"

"Doesn't he have to go to court or something?" Audrey asks. "Maybe there's something about that."

Laurel frowns, "Did he get sentenced to prison yet?"

I quickly search up Jacob's court date up. "It's in about two weeks," I say. "But for now, Jacob has evidence against him. He's sure to be locked up for awhile."

Audrey's eyes widen. "Wait- do they know that he kidnapped the two of you?" she suddenly asks, looking at the two of us.

I shake my eyes slowly. "I don't think so..." I say. "Why?"

The female Sovereign suddenly looks very sympathetic towards Laurel and me. "Because that means that he won't be staying in jail as long as he should be," Audrey explains. "If we want him to actually stay in jail for the time he deserves, the two of you are going to have to-"

Suddenly, the door slams open to reveal a heavily breathing Mr. Wallace. My eyes widening, I throw Mr. Wallace into the wall behind him as Laurel closes the laptop hastily. Grunting slightly, the middle aged man slowly stands up and glares at the three of us, his eyes lingering on us as if we were criminals ourselves. Fed up with Mr. Wallace interrupting our research twice, I use my telekinesis to slam the door loudly in his face, making sure that it's locked.

After a moment of tense silence passes between the three of us, Audrey whistles loudly at what just happened. "Did that happen with the two of you?" she asks, glancing over at me.

I nod. "That time, Mr. Wallace tried to hit me with nebmentia-"

I suddenly pause, a memory resurfacing again. I find myself looking over at Fitz, who's surprised that I came to the conference room. And when I look forward, Mr. Wallace is shooting nebmentia at me. I tried to block it, but the nebmentia wouldn't budge.

And then Fitz grabbed the nebmentia and went flying.

The room then turned white, and I fainted. But not after I saw more of the teal-brown scales that I have in my pocket.

I shake my head and blink rapidly when I see Audrey snapping her fingers right in front of my face. "You were saying something?" Audrey asks, concern and slight annoyance in her voice.

I'm about to say that it's nothing, but I decide against it. "Fitz took the nebmentia and went flying," I say, walking over to the door. Swinging it open, I'm slightly surprised that Mr. Wallace managed to leave without making any noise, but I snap out of it quickly. Walking down the hallway, I vaguely tell the Altruistic and Sovereign, "I remember why Fitz is still sleeping in the laboratory."