"There's as many atoms in a single molecule of your DNA as there are stars in the typical galaxy. We are, each of us, a little universe."
~Neil deGrasse Tyson

Lilly

"Okay, you ready? You understand everything?" Caleb asked, placing his hands on my shoulder.

"I'm good. Let's do this. I want to see you in action," I replied, attempting what I hoped was an encouraging smile.

"Take this. It'll prevent him from trying to get inside your head. It's not fail-proof, so there's a chance, however unlikely, that he could get inside your head. If he does, an alarm will go off, and we'll be on him in an instant." He handed me a metal band that I place on my head. It slid down, stopping halfway down my forehead. Announcing I was ready, the rest of the team put their own bands on. A guard opened the door for us.

Whatever I was expecting, whatever scenario I'd thought of what this would be like... it was not this. As Taylor Swift once sang, this guy was tall and handsome as hell. He had a supermodel's looks and was as tall as Caleb (who, mind you, is six-foot-two).

"Caleb Queen. Long time no see. You got tall," the guy said. "Also past that awkward, gangly stage. How long did that last? Twenty-five years?"

"There's a reason it's been a long time, Shane. I was hoping it'd be even longer, but unfortunately, I've never been a lucky person. Let me see your ankle bracelet." Shane lifted his leg up onto the table. He watched with an avid curiosity until he realized I stood beside Caleb. His attention shifted to me immediately.

He gave me an inquisitive smile, a hidden emotion behind it. Although unable to place, it didn't give me a good feeling whatsoever. It was as if he was scrutinizing every part of my being to figure out who I was, what I was, and what I could do.

"Who's your friend?" Shane inquired.

"No one you need concern yourself with. She'd squash you like a bug," Caleb replied shortly.

"I'm going to be out of here soon, my friend. I feel like I should know your partner in crime."

"Firstly, you are not my friend. Second, when you get out, you're going to stay away from her, or you'll have me to deal with."

"What exactly are you going to do? It's not like you have powers to stop me."

"See," Caleb said, taking off the ankle bracelet and walking away casually. "The thing about being a supergenius about all you superpowered people is that I know what makes each of you tick. I know how to stop any and all of you that cross my path. There's a reason I was put on this task."

"So why is she here?" Shane asked, nodding at me. "What is her superpower? Because I don't think you'd bring someone here who couldn't take me on if need be. Not that she's going to need to worry about that, but I know you're not stupid."

"I'm new," I said. "I'm curious about Caleb's job."

"Are you now? What's your name, angel?"

"Lilly."

"You're the prettiest face I've ever seen."

"Thank you," I responded shyly.

"All right, I'm going to do some tweaking on the new one, and then you should be all set. The one on your ankle now is shot. It died when I was messing with it. Lilly, will you be all right staying here and watching him?"

I nodded. "I'll be fine. How bad can it be?"

Caleb jogged out of the room to the lab inside the max security prison. I leaned against the door, taking in my surroundings of the cell. It was surprisingly nice. The bed didn't sag in the middle, the sheets appeared relatively clean, and the furniture was hardly damaged. The floors were almost spotless, and there was a pleasant, albeit small, window to look outside. There wasn't much to see, but it allowed enough sunlight to brighten the room.

"You're an inquisitive person. You like to learn new things, Miss Lilly," Shane said.

"What gave it away? Me being here or my roaming eyes?" I countered.

"Your eyes. Everything you watch, you take it in to understand what's going on. You like to know everything about everyone. I guess being a newbie from Earth, you'd be curious about our kind in general."

"How'd you know I'm from Earth? No offense, you've been locked in this cell for a quite a while."

"Because the people that come visit me are friends with Caleb. If Caleb had a friend who looked like you, you could bet I'd hear about it, and I haven't. So, what's your power? Cryokinesis? Pyrokinesis? Speedster?"

"If I was a speedster, I'd be locked up here, not visiting."

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"No."

"You have trouble trusting people."

"I'll give you that one."

"Let me ask you something: what made you so non-altruistic?"

"Because humans are innately selfish, and I believe that when they say something is for the greater good, it stems from the belief that it will help them later in life, whether they recognize that or not. It's not that I don't trust people. It's that I don't trust their motivations."

"What do you not trust about me?" Shane queried, bracing himself on the table and giving me such a longing, hungry gaze that I suddenly felt very conscious of the fact I was alone with him.

"I know your story. I know what you did. I heard about why you did it. I know about your powers. You're a powerful superhuman, Shane, and you abused your power. So no, I don't trust you."

"If you don't trust me, dear, then pray tell, why have you gotten so close to me?"

"What are you-"

"What the hell are you doing here?!" a voice demanded as someone ripped me away from Shane. I found myself staring down Chad Calhoun, who was visibly seething with rage. "I'm going to ask you again: what the hell are you doing here with my brother?"

"I came with Caleb," I responded as calmly as I could. Shane, I could handle. Chad, I could handle. Having the two of them in the same room made me wary because I had a feeling if Chad was angry enough, he could kick my powerless ass, and Shane would sit back and enjoy the show.

"Why did Caleb bring you here? Is he stupid?"

"Don't insult Caleb. He's smarter than anyone in this room."

"Obviously not if he brought you here. You don't even have powers to defend yourself!" Chad snapped, and I groaned internally. There goes that secret...

"Ah, so that's why you wouldn't tell me your power. Do you know what it is yet?" Shane asked.

"Not yet, but Caleb's working on it. He'll figure it out."

"Out. Get out of this room."

"I'm not leaving you in the room with him when his ankle bracelet is off."

"His ankle bracelet is- oh, this is just great. You're stupider than I thought!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down!" Caleb exclaimed, sliding into the room. "Lilly's not stupid, I'm not stupid, you're not stupid, no one's stupid. Maybe Shane, but I won't get into that."

"I appreciate that," Shane remarked nonchalantly.

"What in god's name were you thinking bringing her here?" Chad growled.

"I'll answer your question once I get this ankle bracelet on. Just chill, man," Caleb replied.

"I'll chill when she's out of here."

Although Chad couldn't see Caleb's face, I could. Caleb rolled his eyes, and by the smirk on Shane's face, he saw it too.

"Okay, it's on and active. Now, Chad, let's go talk about this calmly. In another room. Where crazy can't hear us," Caleb said, jabbing his thumb at Shane. The three of us exited the room, heading to a destination unknown. On the way, we passed multiple cells, each enclosing a prisoner. Some merely sat there, others stared at us as we passed, some shouted obscenities at us. Not all were in English, but it wasn't hard to figure out whatever they were saying wasn't friendly.

Once in a private room, Chad let loose on his fury. "What were you thinking bringing her here?! She's brand new to this world, has absolutely no powers, has no idea what the hell she's doing in there-"

"I knew what I was doing in there," I interrupted, trying not to sound too offended. "I knew it exactly what I was getting myself into."

"Do you know what my brother has done?"

"I do. I read the case file, and Caleb debriefed me on everything."

"Then why were you getting so damn close to him? Why were you letting him get into your head?"

"Because that was the plan."

"Excuse me? What plan?" Chad looked over at Caleb for an explanation.

"I placed a device on his ankle bracelet to monitor the wavelengths he was using to try and control Lilly's mind. I knew he would go for her if he knew she was new. Shane's smart. He knew she wasn't from here the moment she stepped into that room. Not only was I measuring how strong he is at mind control to make sure the new ankle bracelet can handle him in public, but I also created a new device with Felicity that would help the security guards with the other mind control inmates and other superhumans here that can cause havoc in peoples' minds," Caleb explained. "Lilly's job was to make Shane think he was getting into her head so he would try as hard as he could to get past the new device and into Lilly's head. Her getting close to him was all an act... right?"

Caleb turned to me expectantly. I said, "Yes, definitely an act."

"If your device didn't work, Lilly could've gone haywire on all of us. Why didn't you use someone with powers?" Chad pointed out.

"We thought it'd be better that I do it for the exact reason that I don't have powers. If Shane got into my mind, I could do a lot less damage than someone with powers," I argued.

"I asked him, not you," Chad snapped.

"Hey, easy. All she wants to do is help," Caleb said. "Give her a break."

"You don't get it! You've put her on his list. The moment Shane gets released, he's going to make a beeline for her because he thinks she's vulnerable. He won't stop trying to get into her mind, ankle bracelet or not."

"It's not like he's getting out any time soon."

"Esmeralda didn't tell you?"

Caleb frowned. "Tell me what...?"

"Shane's getting out today."

"What?!"

"You finished his ankle bracelet and found out it works. Your device was the only thing Esmeralda was waiting for before she let him out."

"Why didn't she tell me? I would've taken a hell of a lot longer! It's not like your brother is my favorite person, you know. I'd much rather see him in here than out there."

"Forget it. I'll try and get his mind off of her, so he stays away. And you-" Chad pointed his finger at me- "stay away from my brother."

With that said, Chad stalked out the door. I stared after him, muttering, "I'm staying away from both of you."

"You okay?" Caleb asked, coming to stand beside me.

"Yeah, just trying to figure out why he hates me so much."

"He hates everyone. He's already done it to Vivienne."

"What did he say to Viv?" I demanded.

"He tried to stop her from being friends with him. I'll tell you later. Why don't I give you a tour of this place and explain some of these people's powers? I saw you eyeing the cells. It'd be a good learning experience."

"Can we call them superhumans? Because superpowered people is a mouthful," I said, amused.

Caleb chuckled. "Superhumans it is. Come on. Let's get going."