Recap: The research facility has been on lockdown because of the mysterious threat. Saorise and Ryder are still rattled, but they're at school. Chael is undergoing tests.

Year XX71: Month III, Day 11

  --3:00 PM--

After two days of lockdown, Steven opened parts of the labs and facility floors back up again. After lunch, Deryn and I met up with the doctors to continue their research for the Valkyrie Project. Since the regular rooms we tested in were down, Ms. Raxyn and her flock moved us to a new room on the third floor.

With one glance, I could tell why Steven hadn't bothered to keep it locked down. Besides the machines the doctors brought, the place was empty. Deryn, the doctors, and I stood in the center of the white room for the next phase of the experiment.

"Ms. Crane, please hold Chael's arm," Ms. Raxyn said.

"Yes, ma'am." Wrapping her hand around my wrist, she pulled my arm up for the doctor. "May I ask what you're doing?"

Ms. Raxyn explained while she searched for something in the storage compartment of one of the machines. "We are testing the new serum. Cyrus, the pan, please." Without looking at either of us, she continued her instructions. "Oh, and please have him sit down."

After sharing a glance, Deryn and I dropped down to the floor with her still holding my arm up.

"I think you'd better prepare yourself," Deryn murmured.

"Why?"

"They're probably going to test your electricity levels again, spike them or something." Her hand shifted around to support my arm. "My resistance is better than the others in the experiment. Besides you, though."

"Mr. Vanel is pretty strong too," I replied.

Deryn smiled slightly. "He is, but his forte isn't resisting electricity. And he's out today."

With a fluid movement, Cyrus the assistant slid the pan under my arm. He took a piece of cotton with antiseptic and wiped my forearm clean instead of the usual spot on my shoulder.

"How come you're changing spots?" I asked.

"Different procedure." With another cloth, he wiped a spot on my shoulder too.

As I sucked in another breath, I prepared for more than one needle. The stupid things didn't hurt, but the way they jabbed into my skin . . .

"Give him the painkiller." Ms. Raxyn pulled out a knife and placed it on the top of the machine. "Get the serum ready."

Locking onto the knife on the machine, I asked, "What is that for?"

"To injure you." Ms. Raxyn wiped the knife clean. "It will be a small cut on your forearm. We will then inject you with the serum to see if we can stimulate your nanobytes to increase cell regeneration and close the wound."

My arm tensed when I realized what she said. The doctors were going to cut me instead of just pricking me with a needle. Great.

Deryn turned to face the doctor. "What if the serum doesn't work?"

"A small cut, Ms. Crane," Ms. Raxyn replied. "We know the serum works. We are testing to what extent it works."

The grip around my arm tightened. "With their luck, it won't work very well," Deryn muttered.

With that lovely thought in my head, I stilled as the doctors connect me to their machines. The metal circles cooled spots on my arm.

After Ms. Raxyn walked with the knife, Deryn held my arm up. My hand closed into a fist as I prepared for the cut.

"Relax your arm," Ms. Raxyn said. "Cyrus, the painkiller."

Without any warning, the man jabbed the needle into my shoulder.

"I'm going to make the cut now."

Pushing the blade on my forearm, she sliced into my skin. I flexed my hand right after the cut as if to release any pain from the injury. While there was a slight throb trailing after the cut, it didn't hurt as much as I thought.

There was a slight pressure on my shoulder again, probably a doctor with another shot.

The red line swelled and dripped down my arm to form drops on the pan. While Ms. Raxyn timed my bleeding with a datapad, I merely gazed at the liquid that was supposed to alert me of pain, but I felt--

"Ow!" My fist clenched when the first sting hit my arm.

"We deactivated the painkiller to clear your blood of any other factors. As of now, your nanobytes should be stimulating your bloodstream to remove the drug." Ms. Raxyn tapped her screen twice. "It will take a minute."

"That looks painful." Deryn's eyes narrowed at the sight of my arm.

"Well, you're not wrong," I replied.

"You also shock a little bit when you're surprised." Deryn raised my arm slightly. "Came out of nowhere."

"I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Didn't even feel it. Just saw it," she replied.

With another two taps, Ms. Raxyn took the syringe on the machine and injected me right above the wound. A burning sensation coupled with the stinging from the wound made my fist clench once again.

"What does it feel like?" Cyrus the helper asked.

"It's burning."

"Anything else?"

"Well, it hurts too."

We all froze into our positions--Ms. Raxyn hovering over me with her datapad, the doctors and Cyrus messing with the machines, an unnerved Deryn gripping my arm.

The red line dripping down my arm thinned down to a trickle.

"Time is five minutes," Ms. Raxyn said.

Cyrus the helper marked it down.

When the blood stopped flowing from my room, Ms. Raxyn broke the humming of the machines again. "Time is ten minutes."

"The nanobytes are no longer responding to the drug," replied one of the doctors by the machines.

"Total time is fifteen minutes." Ms. Raxyn grabbed a sterile cloth and another needle from the storage compartment. Without batting an eye, she wiped away the rest of the blood on my arm. The alcohol stung the remnants of the wound which had turned into a thin scratch.

"It worked," I said, marveling at the slice in my arm that had turned into a long paper cut. "How?"

"The drug stimulates your nanobytes, which in turn stimulates the cells to close the wound. Normally, the process would've taken days." Ms. Raxyn smiled. "But it seems we've managed to cut down the time."

"It didn't heal completely though," Deryn murmured. Her hand stayed gripped on my arm as she examined the scratch.

"Yes. Which is why we need to run our second test for more statistics." Ms. Raxyn took away the pan and had her assistant replace it with a clean one. "Chael, please hold her arm."

"Wait, me too?" Widening her eyes, Deryn let go of my arm.

"Yes, you too." Ms. Raxyn faced her like she was talking to a disobedient child. "You and Chael are younger, so your nanobytes have a better chance of correcting any side effects. We need to test both of you. Multiple times."

As the doctors prepared Deryn's arm for her stabbing and slicing, I figured I'd give her a few encouraging words to calm the surprised look on her face.

"It doesn't hurt too bad."

Her reply came in the form of a raised eyebrow followed by a sigh.

.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Last shot for the day." Ms. Raxyn held up a syringe filled with a bright green liquid then stuck it in our arms. "You're free to go."

"Thank you," I said.

After Deryn said her goodbyes, we left the doctors and their machines behind. Three new injuries dotted my body--two on my right arm and one on my left.

"I knew they were testing on regeneration, but I didn't think they'd cut us," Deryn said. Her arm was decorated just like mine, aside from the bandages wrapping the wounds. The potion hadn't worked on her as well as on me.

I opened the door leading to the fourth floor. With feet thumping on the steps, I said, "I agree that's it wasn't that great, but how else were they gonna test it?"

"On people with actual injuries," Deryn said. "Thanks."

The door shut behind us. "No problem. She did say that it needed our nanobytes to work though," I said.

"I guess. A few other things are a little off too," Deryn said, mumbling the last part.

"Like what?"

"Nothing. I'm probably overthinking." Deryn led me down to the end of the hall and turned right. "How've your classes been going? And your training and whatnot?"

"Classes are going well. I do some work with Mr. Alan when he gets on break," I said.

"Quite the smart one." Deryn raised her mouth into a smile. "And your computer?"

"Non-fried," I said. "Though exploding with little rings every night after my friend discovered he could contact me again. I haven't responded yet though."

Back at home, Steven got his old computer for me to use for school since mine was, well, gone. The first thing I did was check my e-mail. Out of all the unread messages littering the page, about ten were from two friends asking where I had gone.

To one, I replied that stuff came up and I'd be finishing my classes online. He stopped asking after two short responses.

To the other, I told him something happened with my family. Five messages and two inspiring quotes later, he filled me in on what happened at school and inquired about my family.

I didn't exactly answer him about that last part.

"Have you been too busy to reply? We can go to the computer room instead," Deryn said.

"No, I'd rather get some practice in." My shoulders slouched forward in time with the slowing of my pace. "I just don't know how to tell him, you know? 'Hey, my parents were murdered by some psychos, but what'd you eat for lunch?'"

When Deryn stopped walking in front of me, I noticed I had stopped too.

Her face lowered--eyelids shielding her different colored eyes, the corners of her smile falling into a frown, her head tilting forward in a sad bow. "I'm sorry about your parents. It must be horrible."

"I'm fine," I mumbled. With the corners of my mouth rising into a halfhearted smile, I forced out the next words. "You don't have to worry about me."

Deryn raised her head to meet my eyes. "I'm your friend, aren't I? It'd be pretty awful if I didn't feel sad with you."

"Thanks," I said. "But really, don't worry about it."

"I can't really help it, but okay." With a slight, struggling smile to match my own, she said, "Now, how about that training?"

As Deryn opened the door to the sparring room, I scouted out my surroundings. With a few paces, I grabbed one of the swords leaning on a wall. The metal weighed down my hand--much heavier than the ones Dad hid around our old house.

Deryn grabbed her own sword and pointed it at me. "These ones are blunted, so there's no edge. Still, be careful."

Over the next hour, Deryn crossed blades with me. Most of it was me learning how to fight with the sword as a weapon instead of a giant rod of electrifying death.

"You're better than you make yourself to be." Deryn hit my sword. "That, or I'm a good teacher." With the tip pointed at me, she cocked her head and grinned.

"I think it's a bit of both." I returned the smile and swung my blade again. "But if we were unarmed, I think I'd win."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. My mom taught me martial arts," I said, "It's not like I'm useless."

"I know." Deryn hit my blade, hard, and knocked it out of my grip. "But who's going to win? The man with the sword or the man with nothing?"

With my hand opening as it registered that the sword was gone, I said, "Point taken, but you can't carry a sword everywhere. A gun would be better anyway."

"Yeah, but swords are better for conduction and zapping stuff in the air. Was your mom an Oriental?" Deryn asked.

"Yeah." I picked up my blade and faced her. "But my dad named us, so you can't really tell from our names."

"I can tell from your face though," she replied.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

In turn, Deryn rolled her eyes, still keeping a smile on her face. "Yes, really."

After a few more rounds of schooling me in the art of sword-fighting, Deryn knocked away my weapon one last time. "Okay, very basic, but keep a grip on that thing. Don't let go," she said.

"Yeah, I got that now," I mumbled.

Lowering her sword, she asked, "Want to be done now?"

"One more round?"

Deryn sighed. "You sure? I mean, you've been doing a lot. Rest is pretty important."

"Please? I mean, if you still have time," I said.

Deryn huffed out a breath as she thought about my request. Taking out her phone, Deryn tapped on the screen a few times, probably to check her schedule.

"I guess I can do a few more rounds," she said, "But only a few. Just because the Lieutenant's out, doesn't mean I have all day."

"Thank you," I said.

"Let's work more on the basics then," she replied.

A few rounds later, I let my arm fall to my side while keeping my grip on the weapon. My breathing was heavy like after a practice with Mr. Alan, but there wasn't that exhilarating feeling buzzing in my arms.

Without the nanobytes active, the exercise was fun, but flat-out tiring.

"Keep going?" Deryn held her sword up. With her chest heaving as much as mine, I could tell she was tired too.

"I think I'm done for the day," I said. "Here, let me take that." After Deryn handed me her sword, I put both of them back against the wall.

"So we're done now?" Deryn asked.

"Yeah. Thank you." I walked to the door and opened it for her. "After you."

Deryn stayed where she was and waved her hand. "It's no bother. I had fun." After her statement, she did a curtsy and exited the room. "Thank you, milord."

"Um, you're welcome," I said. Milord?

We walked to the stairwell in silence. It wasn't weird. In fact, the rhythm of our feet was kind of cool. Right after I took ten steps down the empty hall and turned the corner, I bumped my shoulder on the wall.

I paused and rubbed my sore spot. "Ouch."

"Wow, you walked into the wall." Deryn held back a smile. "You okay?"

After rubbing the pain away, I looked away from my shoulder. "I'm fine, just bumped into it."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the black plane of glass covering the corner. Against the white walls, the security camera really stood out. Whoever was doing security right now got a nice glimpse of me running into a wall. Great. The black lens seemed to mock me.

My eyes narrowed as I noticed something else. "Why's the lens cracked?"

"Hmm?" With eyes narrowing as she noticed the veins in the glass, Deryn said, "Why--"

A series of clicks traveled down the hallway then past us into the rest of floor. As Deryn cursed under her breath, three men burst out of a room in the middle of the hall.

All dressed in black, the group disappeared as one sparked and blew out the lights.

.-.-.-.-.

A/N: Oh goodness, I've been away for quite awhile. I apologize for that. For those who are interested, the status of the book is going to stay "On Hiatus" for a while since I don't know if I can follow a regular update schedule.

Again, my apologies.

.-.-.-.-.

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