(Noah's pov)

"I feel bad for having to put her back under," Macie said, staring down at the sleeping form known as Scarlet.

"I do too, but you know Mother wouldn't be too happy if she found out we let her just keep running around," I stated, looking down at Scarlet.

We've come across a lot of her kind before, but Scarlet was different from the others we've encountered. She's the only one who has ever can out of the simulation before.

Well, at least the only one who has ever woken up more than once.

"Why do you think she keeps waking up?" Macie asked.

"No idea, Mother said she has a high tolerance to the gas we usually give them."

"Maybe the sedatives are just wearing off."

"Maybe," I mumbled, mainly to myself.

There was a knock on the door, before it opened, revealing Jeremy standing there, along with Mother.

They walked into the room, revealing Jeremy's bruised up face.

"How did a girl this small do that to someone as big as you?" Macie asked, in an amused tone.

Jeremy and Macie have never really gotten along I'd go as far as saying that they hate each other.

With a burning passion may I add.

Jeremy's face twisted into a scowl as Macie smiled sweetly at him. I must admit, I also wondered how Scarlet was able to beat his ass.

Mother turned her attention towards him, also giving him a questioning look. Jeremy made this annoyed sound before speaking.

"She's stronger than she looks," he said in an embarrassed tone.

"She must be if she did that to you," Mother stated, pointing towards his face.

"Didn't you come here because you had something to tell them?" Jeremy asked, glaring at her.

"Ah yes, I had almost forgotten."

Macie and I shared a look before she continued.

"Scarlet isn't the only one who has been waking up. That boy named Asher has also woken up, granted it was just the one time, but he has started to show signs of waking up again," Mother stated.

"So they're both fighting the simulation then," Jeremy said, staring down at Scarlet.

"Fascinating," Macie mumbled to herself.

"Have you found out why they keep waking up?" I asked.

"Sadly no, at first I thought it was due to a high tolerance to the sedatives, but I'm not too sure of it now."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I thought that the sedatives were just wearing off faster than they should, but after running a few tests on them, I saw that that wasn't the case. The sedatives are still in them, at very high levels may I add, but their brain activity is high, higher than they should be."

"Do you think that has anything to do with it?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, but at the moment it's the only lead we have. I honestly can't tell you why they keep waking up," Mother said.

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Jeremy asked.

"Just keep an eye on them, if they wake up then try and put them back to sleep. We'll continue to monitor, and run some more tests on them, see if we can find anything." Mother sighed, she looked tired, but then again, we've never dealt with anything like this before.

We've never encountered anyone like this before. Out of all of the other test subjects we've had in the past, these two were, well were different. That's the only way I knew how to describe them, was different.

If I was being completely honest, they both fascinated me. Usually, when we had test subjects, we never had chances to interact with them.

It honestly surprised me when Macie and I had our first encounter with Scarlet. It was surprising because I didn't expect her to be like us.

I mean there were a few differences between us like they had warm skin where we were like ice. They had eyes, and they weren't stuck with these stupid curse marks like we were.

But other than that, we weren't any different than them. Our kind didn't have a name, we just kind of existed. Honestly, I don't even know anything about who my past self was.

All I know is what Mother and the others had told me. We weren't born like this, we were created, and I couldn't even tell you who had created us.

Had I been like Scarlet at one point? Had I been just some normal teenager?

It was questions I had always wanted to be answered, but never received answers to. Had we all been in these same rooms at one point?

Sedated and put into a fake, created world they had made out of bits and pieces of our memories.

"Noah?"

Looking over at Macie, I see she has a concerned look on her face.

"Yes?" I ask.

"You ok? You looked kind of upset for a minute."

"I'm fine, just thinking is all," I said, trying to rest her mind at ease.

Macie seems like the carefree type, but she's not, she's far from it. She worries a lot, especially about me. Macie and I had been friends in our past life, that much I did know.

I may not be able to remember anything, but Macie was someone I just couldn't forget. We both were in each other's simulated world, also mother had informed us that we had been close friends in our previous lives.

That was the only thing that Mother had told us about our past selves. It was kind of comforting, knowing we've been so close for so long. But it was also upsetting that we couldn't remember that time we had shared together.

"Thinking about?" Macie asked.

Looking around the room, I see that Jeremy and Mother had left. When did they leave? Had I really been that deep in thought?

I moved closer to Macie, that way I could tell her without anyone being able to hear. It was a big no-no to talk about things like this here, we both could get I to some serious trouble for even bringing up the subject.

"Do you think we were like they are?" I asked her in a hushed tone.

"I think we were," she replied, a small smile graced her lips as she moved in closer to me.

"I like to think we were. When I sit and think about what our past selves were probably like. I like to think we had nice families, went to school like all of the other kids, had our little group we probably hung out with. Just you know normal stuff," she said, her smile slowly fading.

"That sounds nice."

Macie hung her head as her expression saddened. I hoped our human selves did have an amazing life like that, but if our past lives were anything like our simulation world then I'm not too sure.

Macie and my simulation world's were practically identical. We both had been in orphanages, my parents had died, while Macie's just didn't want her anymore, so they dumped her off at the front steps of the run-down orphanage.

"Noah?"

"Hm?"

"Is it a bad thing that I feel really bad for what we're doing to them," Macie whispered out.

"No." Macie looks up at me, nervously biting her bottom lip.

"I feel the same way," I mumbled out.

I felt bad because I was so worried that they were going to end up like us.

"We should probably quit talking about this. We can't risk anybody hearing us," Macie said, standing from her chair.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Come on, we have stuff to do." Macie walked over to me, grabbing ahold of my arm, dragging me out of the room.

"What things?"

"You didn't hear what Mother said earlier?"

"N-No," I stuttered out.

"Seriously Noah." Macie sighed in annoyance before she started to fill me in on what I had missed earlier.

"Mother and Jeremy had informed us that we need to check on them more often to make sure they are still in the simulation. Oh, and she also wants to know why the disposal room was unlocked."

Hearing Macie say that name sent chills up my spine. The disposal room was a place you didn't want to be sent to. It's where they kept all of the failed experiments, the poor souls who couldn't handle the transition.

The ones who wouldn't be able to experience life anymore, the ones who were just thrown into a dark empty room. Waiting there until someone finally decided to get rid of them, then start the process over with the new batch that came in.

"I don't know why the door was unlocked," I said.

I don't even know why Mother was asking me, she'd know more about why the stupid door was unlocked than I would. We weren't allowed to go in there, honestly, the day we found Scarlet in there was the first time I had ever been in there.

I felt like I could still smell that God awful rotting smell that filled that room. My stomach was in knots just thinking about that room.

"I bet you Jeremy probably left it unlocked," Macie said.

"Yeah probably," I said, closing Scarlet's door before locking it.

"Now we have to go check on Asher and make sure he's still asleep, then we have a few chores to do."

We walked down the hall, taking a right before we found his room number.

I pulled the keys from my pocket, inserting the key into the lock, turning the key until I heard the door unlock. Pulling the key from the lock, I twisted the handle, opening the door only to see a very awake Asher searching through cabinets. Trying to find something that will help him escape.

I'm guessing he heard the door open because he spun around with a very confused, and frightened look on his face.

"Oh boy," Macie said.

"Who the fuck are you," Asher yelled out as he pressed himself against the wall, trying to get as much distance between us.

"Ok let's just calm down," I said, walking into the room.

Big mistake, big, big mistake on my part. The moment I stepped into the room, Asher went from scared and confused, to angry. I didn't even have time to register what was happening.

One moment I was standing there, then next I was being tackled, slammed against the hard concrete floor.

I honestly couldn't tell you what happened after that, it was as if my body had gone completely numb. My hearing was going in and out, I could hear what sounded like a scream come from Macie.

I wanted to get up and help her, I desperately wanted to, but my body just wouldn't move. I could feel myself fading, my body felt lighter, as my mind went blank.

Was I dying?

That was the last thought to enter my mind before the quietness overtook me.