An hour later, he found himself in a bedroom that seemed to be small, but didn't feel so and gave him a cold feeling-for the 4th time. He kept finding himself there, not finding out how he had gotten himself there-not remembering that Lewis had dragged him there while he had been dazed at the sight of the other Prods.
He wondered if this world was a dream once more. Then, the one he had lived before had to be the fake one. But that could never be possible, since the events of that 'fake' life were very interconnected deeply with this 'real' one. So that just wasn't possible.
His thoughts flashed to the Martyr, then Andrew. His eyes still clenched shut and his respiratory system sped up wildly with the thought, but the idea of suiciding as he had thought of at the desert didn't recur to him yet. Getting to this new Utopia obviously was doing much better work than the stars and moonas a sedative for him-but it was merely a sedative. Not an eternal cure of those terrible memories.
Still. Forget it all for now, he told himself.
He was going to enjoy the moment. Well, he just had to.

He was in another one of his dozing phases when the door he had never knew existed-though Lewis had pulled him through it while he was in his observing, dreamy state-swung open. Fuck, should stop drifting off, Alex thought as he threw himself to his feet from the top of a bed, and tried to blink his eyes rapidly as possible and ruffle back his hair into shape when David came in, cheeks puffed up red. The man didn't even tend to realize that the boy had been asleep and instead waved his file at him.
"They think you're a major, having defeated the efficiency of the Muter, Alex. Now, you gotta leave this apartment Lewis got you to, since the Raiders spend their lives in another part of the city, and their duty for today's gonna end soon, so better follow me now so I can lead you to them before they get home themselves," The Asian rapped about at the speed of Alex's blinking eyes, then grabbed the boy's wrist in a flash. "Although you've been here for only a week and awake for 48 hours only, I'm damned proud of you. Well, let me remind you that those others might be annoying-and be sure to use your abilities wisely-" Alex finally stared at the man in the eye.
"David," He said. "-but I bet they're still-" The minor let himself stop slowly.
"David Park. Shit. You're wasting time," David paused, out of breath. "Fuck. True, true. Lewis is attending a meeting discussing attack techniques, so he won't be able to celebrate you well today, but he still gave me a thumbs-up as I told him," The man said one last time before Alex could ask, then yanked Alex out of the room and house with one pull.
Alex was a good emotion hider, and while his emotion on the outside stayed calm and annoyed at the silliness by his companion, his tongue was rolling of enthusiasm inside his mouth and his hands were rubbing each other gingerly in his mind.

David Park led him onto an old SUV parked on the side of the road and they got in. Alex watched as the man grabbed the steering wheel and started talking to it right away.
"Connect Thomas," He murmured at it. The wheel replied.
"Tomas on the Western city of-"
"Shit. The Thomas with an h, you wheel. He isn't a superficial major to goof around on that mundane, already-discovered street,"
"Thomas with an h near the border. Connect?"
"Yep," Immediately, beeps rang as the wheel connected the 'Thomas with an h' to itself and David readily showed Alex Mars his impatience by drumming his feet and thumb on the ground and wheel.
It was after 15 beeps that a shorter beep rang and a new static silence came.
"Jesus, why didn't you get the call already, Thomas, if you were already in your car?" David nearly screamed at the wheel, then jerked his foot to jerk the car itself forward onto the main road and started driving like hell. Alex could still only watch in observation and curiosity of who was on the other side of the phone. "I was too lazy to get it right away. Let me guess the reason you called, Park. It can't be a new major-did Lew and his teams finally develop a device to scan every part of the city at once to save our energy?" The boy on the other side had a higher-than-average tone and a speed that excelled even that of David's previous rap. The words flowed into Mars' ears easily and he got it all, thankfully.
"No. try again. By the way, I'm going to go to you, so spit out your location," David said, voice rising in intensity as he barely skimmed past another car.
"Fuck. I hate your hasty and childish games, Dave. Did you finally make the computer program you said you were working on?"
"Hell, no. It's a new major, Tom!"
Alex grabbed the handlebar on his door and gagged at the window since he couldn't bear to watch as David announced his arrival as if he had just been delivered at the hospital and was being announced as a proper male being out in the real world.
He heard the other boy chuckle, then clap his hands and whoop, apparently to the others around him to spread the news. After a few seconds, the boy shot back his rapping-speed words one last time.
"Just bring him in, Dave, and leave. We're going to take on matters from now on properly. We can't lose this chance after months,"
Then the wheel emitted another short beep, and Thomas with an h was gone.
Alex finally loosened his grip on the door handle and let prepared-ness take over him instead of annoyance and embarrassment. So this was one of the few bad things of being the Rebels-any Prod could be embarrassed by another person, who was also definitely going to be a Prod and had the equal capabilities-like David and himself. Thus, he wouldn't be able to brag his great amount of knowledge, nor speed of action, for it was already a very basic thing here.
Still, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages yet.

The man drove the car to the edges of the city, and Mars watched silently as more underdeveloped and deserted, concrete land stretched as they went further. He saw upturned single tires and worthless old Fords with their hoods rusting with red and half-torn away houses and their remnants. It was as if the people here had been forced to flee from some hurricane or aliens, who unfortunately must have also been eliminated from the bad climate of the Canadian city they had just conquered.
"Do you know what exactly happened here before the Rebels was established?" He asked out of curiosity. David paused his words until he barely let the tires skim the edges of a giant empty porthole in the middle of the old asphalt road, then answered. "The weather, desertification, continued erosion from acid rains, overpopulation, little harvest, and a huge hurricane to top it off... I would be surprised if they hadn't left yet. Laypeople can't be that firm to survive all those hardships for too long,"
"Oh," Alex said with nothing coming to his mind otherwise to reply to the man.
After minutes of silence and the endless view of the grey ground and sky, David halted the car suddenly, eyes skimming all over the edges of his window. "Their car should be here," "Um, they have a car?" "Yeah, of course. This city is so big for us to conquer-though one of them don't need the speed of the car to slow him down," "Woah. Speed," Alex murmured. Just then, David pointed out his window. "Oh, there it is. Their Bugatti Chiron," "Shit. The most expensive sports car decades ago-which only makes it more expensive today since it is barely being manufactured," Alex reported it straight from his encyclopedic brain. David groaned. "Wish I was a major to have all those knowledge-and the fortune to have found it on the streets," The man paused before opening the lock of the doors. "You can go now, Alex,"
"Thanks for the ride," He said before yanking the door open and stepping toward the Chiron.

The first impression he had about them was...rock music. That was all. And to be specific, rock music booming like hell from inside the car.
He saw 2 massive guys inside the car's driver and passenger seat, both of them crouched over the radio, grinning, bobbing their shoulders and heads up and down to the music. Just then, one of them raised his head to him, and Alex realized that they were both just teens like him-though a bit oversized, obviously. The guy turned off the radio and threw the door open carelessly and jumped out with strange lightness compared to his bulk. With every part of him neat and tall, the boy grinned very wide, teeth and gums showing, as if posing for an ad for good dental care or something. Then he held out his hand to Alex Mars.
"I'm Thomas with an h," Gee, they all don't have or have abandoned their back names, Alex thought.
"Um, Alex Mars," The boy gave him a smirk as an addition to his already grinning mouth and shook his hand in the typical guy-style. "Welcome to the Raiders, Alex," "Everywhere I go, I'm hearing 'welcome' today," Alex said. Thomas chortled a rough, deep laugh from the pit of his throat, eyes wandering back to the car and his other friend, who was observing the dialogue between the two carefully. "You're funny, Alex. By the way, I am the leader of the pack for this month-we kind of have matches for fun and choose the leader each month. Our own tradition. And this is Miles. Obey, you subordinate, and say hey to Alex," The other boy, an African American with dark eyes, merely smirked at Alex. "Hey," He said. Even before Alex could 'hey' back, Thomas grabbed his shoulder and steered him to the back seat of the sports car.
"We're so glad to have another Raider and comrade, Alex. we were about to head back to our house. The girls already went there on the Ford, so no need to be curious about how few we have in numbers-though the boys plus the girls weren't enough, after all," "Um, so there are 4 of you guys?" "Were, Alex. Now, there are 5 of us guys," Thomas pointed at Alex, and he shrugged. Thomas grinned once more, then oriented his pointing finger at the door of the seat. "Get in, Alex," Thomas seemed to be set at showing who the boss was clearly-this guy must have been the leader for some while now, Alex guessed before opening the sleek door of the sports car and plopping down inside. He immediately smelled in the fresh leather seat and sighed out at the gleaming window of the car. Meanwhile, Thomas got in and clicked the radio back on, and there was a hilarious moment for once as the singer screamed shrilly at the top of his voice for 3 seconds into the silent car before the other one, Miles turned it down low. Alex's ears were already numb and echoing around, and he worried if he would later steel an image for himself to the Raiders that he was deaf instead of being able to hear extra well.
Thomas hit the pedal and shot the car onto the main road with an expertise that couldn't be imitated by laypeople. I should invent some new words to fit the world full of Prods, Alex thought as the boy turned the car around in a beautiful curve, sending dirt all over the road in front of the car neatly. This's gonna be called Prodriving, he thought as Thomas jerked back to the road and sped it through the city, which was getting greener and sprinkled with random Rebels who had ventured far enough.
"So, what can you do?" Mile's thick voice prodded his thoughts. Alex turned back to find the massive boy staring at him with his dark brown pair of eyes, hand clenching the chair softly(though he was too strong to not leave the piece unshattered, of course. Alex decided to ignore that possibility for a moment to answer). "I want to beat a drumroll from the anticipation, but my hands are occupied. No one, even Prods, can clap with one hand," Thomas said in his extra fast rapping voice. Miles chuckled, before looking back at Alex.
Alex Mars' heart now pumped with excitement and the astonishment as he knew that it was his second time in his life to spill the beans about his Prodigy identity to another sane human being-the first had been the Martyr.
"I got good hearing," He finally said after 3 seconds, which was the same as eternity for Prods. He examined slowly Mile's face and his hand clenched on the seat and the silhouette of Thomas's face. Miles seemed to be deep in thought, hand slowly unclenching from the seat-it was thankfully in one piece-then moved his index and middle finger to tap his ear. "You can hear stuff well? I mean, explain, Alex. What's your range of hearing?" He demanded.
Alex couldn't hide a frown when he noticed Mile's lips curl up a millimeter at the edges.
-He was smirking.
"I can hear people 1 and a half minutes away before they emerge," Even as Alex heard the words coming out of his own mouth, he felt silly-he had hearing as his ability and only hear stuff 1 and a half minutes away?! Jesus. His identity as a major was absurd. Something fake. David must have made it up to trick him.
It seemed as if Miles had thought up of the same notion as him. The massive guy frowned and bit his lips to stop a giggle from escaping.
"Ah, I see," He choked up, then scowled from a lightning-speed punch that came from the side from Thomas with an h.
"Thought you had occupied hands," Miles growled to Thomas. Thomas put his hands back on the wheel. "I also just found out I can drive with my feet only," He said, and Alex felt a bit of relief from the help offered. One thing for sure as Thomas and Miles started punching each other back, the car swaying here and there consequently: Miles wasn't going to be the most preferable person in the world for him among his new group of Raiders.

Eventually, Thomas parked in front of a 3-story-building which was located on a street which was shared by numerous smaller houses, but obviously deserted. Alex observed it closely that the house was designed in the most simple way, with rectangular and elongated white windows spanning the entire length of the place with a white, non-elaborate fence surrounding it. There were open curtains all along the long window on the second floor, he noticed subtly before Miles got off quickly, swooping his massive form out, even before Thomas yanked the key out of the ignition. Thomas leaned onto his seat and sighed.
"You guys always fight like that?" Alex Mars asked, a bit depressed at the thought that he might have caused trouble on the very first day as a new Raider. 
Thomas shook his head. "Nah. Miles' always so stubborn and selfish. You just gotta get used to it. But when you do satisfy him, he might get a bit gentler than right now. Sorry for the fuss, Alex,"
Before Alex could think of words to say out of his mouth, which he only usually took less than two seconds to respond, Thomas was out of the car with his blinding speed. "Gee," Alex said to the empty car. He was going to need a great deal of time to get used to this sophisticated new life. After gathering his thoughts and swearing not to let Miles or any other Raider inside the house underestimate him just as Miles had had, he got out himself with the fastest speed he could muster and walked after Thomas, who was walking after Miles on a neat path to the porch of the house.
Miles banged opened the door with great force, which made the door shut close in front of Thomas' nose, as if saying to all in the vicinity that he would never lose his selfishness. Thomas rapped swears before yanking open the door a bit more gently so that it shut only half-way close in front of Alex's nose.

Thomas led him into the house, which also had a very simplistic interior just as its exterior. Neat, shining pieces of hardware and a series of hi-tech speakers and objects Mars wasn't sure of what to call, lined plastic and metal desks in a huge living room, which had one long couch, a tea table, a huge TV and nothing else. In the kitchen next to the living room was a small white fridge and more hi-tech appliances that belonged to the kitchen. And in the path between the kitchen and the living room was a wooden set of staircases leading to the second floor.
"We Raiders hated being confined in those normal apartments that the other Prods stay, so we moved here ourselves. All those gadgets are what we gleaned from all over the deserted parts of this Canadian town," Thomas explained, opening the fridge's tiny door and pulling out a water bottle and gulped the contents down his throat. "Oh, and we each all have rooms on the 2nd floor," Thomas streaked to the stairs in a second, water in his bottle sloshing inside, and started to climb. Alex followed silently, then something that David had said in his car occurred to him suddenly.
"Your ability is being able to run fast? I mean, extra-fast even among the Prods?" Thomas gave him a thumbs-up. "Hell, yeah," "Bet that's gonna be useful in running away or combat," Alex commented. Not that he wished he had the ability. His ears were enough for now.
"I also think hearing might help you hide from enemies and assaulting-at the right time," Woah, this Thomas is much more better than Miles, Alex thought.
They reached the top of the stairs and Alex saw a long, grey hallway with doors lined up. "Um, the 2 others are the girls. They are both horribly unique and don't have too many useful abilities in daily life. Anyway," Thomas hollered to the rows of rooms. "Hey, Melanie, Lyra! We're back with the new fella. Just don't annoy him," Then to Alex, "See for yourself," Thomas said, waving dismissively at 2 rooms at the end. "I am going to calm Miles down. Again-just like always. Shit, he is a shitty guy who makes shitty situations and causes me to solve those shitty situations in the most shitty ways possible." Thomas zapped away to the 1st room and closed the door, though Alex could still hear what was going on inside with his ears. Miles and Thomas were now speaking softly, and one sentence after, Miles groaned. Getting more depressed by the situation he had managed to induce, Alex walked down the hall himself, looking for the other Raiders.
A girl stepped out of the last room, staring at the room the other boys were staying in annoyance and sighed when louder sounds of yelling and swearing seeped out of the room before turning her eyes to Alex Mars. She had blonde hair and blue eyes which glimmered in the dark. After examining him quickly, the girl grinned brightly all of a sudden, then waved him over.
"Are you the new one?" She asked, seeming too pleased to meet him. Alex Mars smelled perfume in her. "Uh-huh," "Oh, then, sorry for all the fuss. The two always fight," "Seems like I am the reason this time, though," Alex Mars muttered, and the girl gave him an apologetic glance. But before she could comfort nor rant about how stupid or silly Thomas and Miles were, Alex continued.
"So where's my room?" He asked-he was a bit tired. The girl mouthed an 'oh', then waved to any room behind her. "Anywhere. By the way, I'm Melanie. No back name, as you may have already noticed as distinct in us. So can I ask what you're name is?" This girl has just led a very normal introductory conversation now, Alex noticed. But, she had said her words in a way that made him feel as if he was some kind of prey to her, talking over-sweetly at him. Also, she smiled widely once more as she waited for his response, which made the impression that she liked to exaggerate or help too much usually more stronger in Alex's mind.
"Alex Mars," Alex said for the third time outside of the desert. "It's a cool name. Do you still prefer to have your back name attached, though?" Alex sighed, eyeing a random room. This girl was a real chatter. "Yes. But why do you guys abandon your back names?" Melanie's form stiffened, showing that she was depressed a bit.
"Um, all of our lives before were... plain horrible, weren't they? And those back names remind us all of those pasts. So we only use our first names, simply since there can be a million Lewis-es and Thomas-es and Melanie-s in this world world-you get the idea, don't you? That's it," Melanie finished with a shrug.
"Oh," Alex immediately thought of his own past. Yes, it had been horribly tragically gruesome-ly terrible when Fawkes had killed his best friend in front of his eyes and implemented their policy of rooting out different and special people directly on him. But...
A 'but' always existed in his thoughts.
-His life before hadn't been entirely hell.
He had had his parents and the Martyr to help him get through all of it. And he had loved his house and street and town. He now just couldn't let go of the world of his own Prod rules that he had made during his lifetime until then.
He didn't abhor his past. He was always going to be an Alex who had the name Mars uniquely and cool-ly as the back name.
"I guess I'm not gonna abandon my name yet," Alex shrugged back, and walked off into the room next to Melanie's even before she could nod or shake her head at him. He knew he had another Raider to meet, but he needed rest and peace for now. The boys' argument on him and Melanie's active chatty attitude already had leaked his energy all out.
He found his new room small, cozy, and sharing the long window. It also had a tiny bookshelf that was empty and a single bed that must have already existed for the Canadian residents years ago, before they had to leave from the climate or aliens, anything. Now, he fell on it, sprawled, and sighed.
He knew nothing seriously optimistic nor pessimistic had happened, but he simply felt a bit more... well, pessimistic.