We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that we used when we created them. ~ Albert Einstein

          Bennett kept his eyes fixed on the spot on his arm where the plate was disassembled and displaying his vien so that they could inject their serum into his bloodstream. Growing up he was always warned against vaccinations or injections of any sort without closure of what they were. In the vision of anyone born after the Vax Outbreak, injections, pills etc. were seen as a potential threat, yet here he was--16 years into his cautious life--getting himself injected with an unknown substance.

          He watched his metalloid muscle flex as he tightened his fist. Usually they'd tie a ribbon around the area which the arteries gave off blood flow but  in his case they were going to simple apply direct pressure on to his vein. He tightened his teeth as the needle went into his vein and he felt the liquid pooling unnaturally into his system. From outside the vein it looked like a plague dissolving into his blood. He couldn't feel anything different. He felt the same as he did before the injection. When he walked out everything was just the same, no one was dropping as he walked near them, more importantly, he wasn't dropping. 

          When he got to the schooling building he noticed no-one was wearing protective suits, he assumed they all had been injected already. Donella was among them and she came over as he entered. She had a few papers in her hand.

          She handed the papers to him, "Homework."

          Bennet took the papers then his body froze suddenly. His mind went into a flurry of panic before he realized his joint was jammed. He gingerly fixed it as Donella looked at him, confused. To him it seemed she didn't have any emotion towards people outside her family other than curiosity or confusion. She didn't ask if he was OK, she simply just watched.

          "What was that?"

          "My joint got stuck." He said cautiously.

          It wasn't normal for him to verbalize about his abnormal body to anyone really. "Like how my hip jams?" She asked.

          "Sure?" He wasn't sure.

          "My hip, the joint easily shatters or falls out of place." She clarified.

          "Why don't you wear a brace?"

          He didn't understand why not. Everyone that had a hip disfigurement wore one. He wasn't even sure why Donella had gone to his school for the disabled. Technically, she was grouped with type 2020 disability which meant she could go to a normal school and be just fine. Then again, he wasn't considered 'disabled' either so he couldn't judge.

          The two of them looked up as a loud bell rang and the two of them nodded uncomfortably. Donella pointed her thumb behind her, "Gotta' go then."

          He watched as she half-limped away. He looked around at the schooling building. Children were being grouped by teachers and staff and soon he was guided to his group by a staff member. He passed by Donella's group, which was a group of kids on crutches--she being the odd one out.

          He was in a group with a bunch of kids that kept having apparent ticks. Some of their faces scrunched or twitched at random intervals, others straight up lost the use of their arms or mouths. He clamped his biomechanical arms to his sides to avoid being nudged around the twitching limbs.

          Each group began moving in an as orderly fashion as possible for a bunch of disabled children. Bennet lost sight of Donella during the movement and was suddenly in a sterilized room. Each child walked in and was individually ran through a cleansing station. 

          Bennet grimaced as the ice-cold air blew through his clothes then hissed as it switched to broiling air. The system repeated before spraying him with a spray that had a non-existent smell. After the entire process he was then led out to his seat by following the path. He walked straight into a glass box that held a desk, chair and writing utensils. He saw that there were other similar set-ups around him. The teacher was beyond the cells and in his protected area where he paced in front of a whiteboard.

          "Welcome." The teacher greeted.

          Bennet zoned out and began to wonder about things that were now catching up. He briefly thought of why they hadn't been apart from each other before but quickly moved on after acknowledging the preposterousness of a bunch of children walking in glass boxes. The thought blossomed into an imagination of children desperately trying not to crash, some failing and causing a chain reaction of shattering glass and cries and whatnot.

          The image quickly faded as his mind returned to a injection.  Nothing was happening different so far but he was just waiting for it. None of the other children--dedicatedly scribbling down notes--seemed to have a problem with getting injected despite growing up all their lives being told that is what made them twisted and broken. The thought wouldn't go away. It was constantly nagging all over his mimic of a body, every fiber of his being was fighting to find the slightest proof that these people's injections were killing him.

          "Class dismissed."

          Bennet hadn't paid any attention and it seemed like a blink of an eye when the teacher dismissed them. He looked up at the board and made sure to have his brain look over all of the impossible equations on it to remember. It was an attempt to have something actually useful to do while sitting through his next class; Parenting.

          He stood still in the middle of his sectioned off area of the dorm. He averted all his attention to what was going on inside his body. He could feel his blood like normal without anything different. Two of his dorm mates looked at him weird from the other sides of the glass. He hadn't bothered pulling the curtains because if he was going to die, he wanted their to be at least witnesses to it. His parents weren't here or anyone he knew, better these people than no-one.

          "You cool?" One of them asked. Their voices through the comms were distant and hazy.

          Bennet sank onto his bed and removed his jacket, he wore a short sleeve, red shirt which allowed his silver arms to hang exposed. He was relieved the boys didn't take a dramatic note to it. He proceeded to taking off his socks.

          "I'm fine."

          The younger boy to his left made an awkward sound as Bennet unbuckled his belt. 

          "It's fine, I don't have defined genitalia." Bennet joked as he closed his curtains.

          He actually didn't have defined genitalia; it was more of a flatness with a slit, there was no definition or resemblance to either sex's genitalia. This did make it tricky to use the bathroom--different tricky, before he was tied to a larger monitor and setback by his majorly flawed body design now it was better but still tricky.

          Bennet laid back in his bed after he changed. He could hear faint grumbling from the boy to his left. That side had no other person other than him and Bennet's curtain was ruining his signal which meant he had no-one to speak with.

          Bennet continued to stare at the ceiling until they boy to his left began banging on the other side. He got up to open his curtain and found the boy on the other side writhing in pain on the other side of the glass. He tried to stepped back but his joint caught and he ended up tripping a falling. The boy wasn't Stroking but he was in such an elevated state of pain for someone who was just fine a few moments before.

          "Are you OK?" He asked.

          The boy shook his head and grimaced in pain. Bennet got up and opened the curtain to see the other children, they were fine as they pressed themselves against their glass to see into the squirming boy's section. The younger boy went to his emergency button and pressed it. A few moments after multiple people came and collected the boy. After he was gone another set of people came to get Bennet and the others.

          He was taken into a check-up room, not unlike the one he had been in when he got his injection. He allowed them to prod with him until they were content. As long as they weren't pumping him with foreign substances. They left him in the room and he sat up. They left his file on the table, which probably wasn't meant for him. 

          He slid himself off of the exam table and walked, barefoot, over to the counter. After glancing out of the window on the door, he opened the file. The first paper showed a detailed analysis of his artificial body and the second extended to even his non-artificial parts. He continued to flip through the thick report until he came to a diagram of a virus. He looked out the window again then quickly ripped out the paper and three of the ones following it from the staple. He removed his monitor on his arm and folded the papers neatly into the excavation and placed the monitor on top of it.

          Bennet had just enough time to replace himself on the bed when the doctor walked back in. He nodded at the man as he looked suspiciously at the file and back at Bennet. "You are excused, you will be brought to your quarters."

          He got off the bed again and turned to the doctor, "Is there--by any chance--cameras in our dormitories?" He asked quickly.

          "For your safety, yes."

          He didn't want to sound too prying or suspicious, "Okay, just wanted to know incase I have a breakdown or stroke or something--then someone can know if I do, just saying."

         Bennet looked around his room for a camera, if they were there they were not visible. He suspected they could even see him if his curtain was closed, and maybe even in the freaking bathroom. He wasn't sure if taking part of his file was illegal but he was counting on either cameras being flawed in placement or what he's doing to be okay.

          There wasn't anything to really cover him so he just half-hid himself under the covers before removing the papers. He looked at the last paper with the analysis conclusion:

Stroke Epidemic Study: Wenmore, Bennet...............................PG. 5

     Mr. Wenmore's status is clearly elevating the virus. In order to live in our environment Bennet's minimally exposed organs and other components releases Particle 2 which react to Particle 1 (Dormant Stroke Virus) and doubles it causing a reaction. The serum (Revamp) we gave him has two functions, stop him from giving off these particles and keep him alive. He can only go so long on the Revamp.
     The only cautions we can go to at the time is to keep him completely isolated from the other children. Until we can get more insight on the virus and it's specific cause and full effect, all proceedings are to stay constant.

     Signed: Dr. Henry Abbot
                      Dr. Morgan Greene

He reread it again then folded it back up and looked at the other papers. As he unfolded page four a secondary note fell out. It was a page which seemed to have been a legal pad. There was an informal note scrawled along it in lilting, messy handwriting. It read:

Get me the Wenmore kid's file. Return the note so I can get rid of it. ~ A

          Bennet had to read it over to understand the scribble. His eyes lingered on the 'A' he thought about the first signature on page 5, 'Abbot'. He quickly stuffed the papers in their hiding spot as a man walked up to the glass doors. He fixed it under the covers as the man peered from outside before turning on the intercoms.

          "How're we doing?" He asked.

          "Great." Bennet smiled.