"Cassandra, Brianna, this is your new home." Kimberly broke the silence, and Cassie shifted her gaze from where it had been fixed for the last ten minutes. The roof of the car wasn't all that interesting, anyway.

When Cassie and Brie looked out of their windows, what they saw was underwhelming. There was merely a building, not unlike the ones Cassie had been around all of her life. Apart from having a larger width to it, there was not much that set it apart from every other school, cinema, or apartment building Cassie had seen. The two differences, and it seemed there were only two, were the lack of windows and the startling singularity. There was only the one building, nothing else in sight as far as Cassie could see. It looked as though a construction team had started to build a city before suddenly getting bored and giving up.

"We have to go to the garage, but I thought you might like a view," Kimberly said, a hint of amusement in her voice, before driving on.

Cassie wasn't sure what to think. Kimberly seemed genuinely happy to be back at this remote building, right in the middle of nowhere, and seemed to think that Cassie and Brie ought to be happy as well. At the same time, Cassie would take the chance in an instant to run as far as she could, even if it were into the unknown land outside. Kimberly had come and basically kidnapped the girls without either permission or warning, at least from Cassie.

Brie sat stiffly upright, shooting a worried look to Cassie. Cassie understood how she felt entirely. Both adrenaline and the hope of getting away wearing off as they reached their destination, Cassie was beginning to wonder what would happen. What if she never saw her brother again? What if she never saw Rachel?

Cassie forced herself not to hold her breath in anticipation as she stared out of the window. They didn't go far, driving around to the back of the building. Brie grabbed onto Cassie's wrist tightly and pointed at the ground a few yards away from the car window. The girls stared, wide-eyed, as a ramp slowly opened from the ground. It formed an entrance that they went through, Kimberly driving down the path like it was the most normal thing someone could possibly do.

"Okay, starting to think that she was telling the truth about being related to the Counterparts Program," Cassie whispered frantically into Brie's ear, the other girl still staring out of the car with a face like someone who was being abducted by aliens. Honestly, that wasn't too far off from the truth.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Brie asked. She pulled her gaze from the dark room they were entering.

"I dunno what exactly, but Kimberly said that she was with something related to the CP stuff. And nobody but them would get something like this!" Cassie pointed around the area that Kimberly called "the garage", which was stocked with cars and vans of all sizes and kinds. "What do you think this place is?"

Cassie wasn't talking about the room full of vehicles, and Brie seemed to understand that, shaking her head. "I don't know, Cassie. I have no clue."

Kimberly parked in a slot between a black classic car and a white compact, both cars that almost no one used anymore, and hadn't in years. Really, people hadn't used cars regularly in years. She turned around to talk to Cassie and Brie through the mesh divider.

"I thought you might believe me," she said as the expressions on Cassie's and Brie's faces changed from distrust to curiosity and awe. "I'm going to come get you out, but you have to promise not to go running around. In a little while, I'll show you a playground that you can run around for as long as you want. For now, though, if you scratch one of the cars, Miss Benn will kill me."

Cassie and Brie stayed where they were as Kimberly got out and opened the door on Brie's side. Both girls clambered out as quickly as they could, Cassie holding onto the bag she kept by her feet.

The garage was huge—absolutely immense. It had to cover half of the area of the building itself, which left Cassie to wonder what was in the other half. And then there were all of the stories above that, which were equally a mystery. And where was the playground that Kimberly was talking about?

"Echo!" Cassie looked over to see Brie grinning shyly as the word reverberated through the area.

"ECHO!" Cassie copied the nervous girl, smiling widely over to Brie.

Kimberly interrupted them before they could continue. "Ladies, we need to head inside."

Cassie looked at where Kimberly was walking. "What do you mean? We're inside and there aren't any doors anywhere—oh," Cassie said, noticing a shiny silver door some feet away. She fell silent and refrained from shouting "echo" into the room again.

Brie stood as close as she could to Cassie while they waited. Kimberly kept a close eye on the girls as she typed a string of digits into keyboard next the elevator doors. Cassie lost track of the numbers after the first few, though she wished desperately that she had the memory to keep track of them all. Maybe that would be the key to getting out of this place, when they were given an opportunity. The cars and echoes might have distracted her for the moment, but Cassie wasn't dumb. This could go downhill fast. Brie began breathing quicker as the elevator doors opened, revealing a completely ordinary elevator box. Cassie grabbed Brie's hand and pulled her alongside into the elevator.

"We're fine." Cassie tried to keep Brie calm as the elevator doors closed. The other girl looked over at Cassie in disbelief, shaking her head.

"It's too real," Brie whispered, almost soundlessly, into Cassie's ear. Cassie nodded. They could pretend they would escape before. Now that ability was gone. They were trapped, descending toward the unknown and possibly deadly in a small metal box.

...wait, why was it descending? Cassie glanced over to Kimberly, but she was simply staring blandly at the wall.

"Why are we going down?" Cassie mouthed to Brie, who furrowed her brow and looked at the ceiling of the elevator. They had been traveling for about two minutes when the box finally stopped moving.

Kimberly stepped out into the hallway the doors opened to, and motioned for Brie and Cassie to follow. Cassie did so, but Brie only moved when Cassie pulled on her arm again. "Come on, Brie. You gotta keep up."

"Cassandra, Brianna, you'll be meeting a very important woman soon. One of the people who runs this facility wants to speak with you. Her name is Miss Benn." Kimberly spoke quickly as they all rushed through hallways, making their way around the winding paths. "Be polite to her and she will do the same for you. So please be polite to her."

"You still haven't told us anything at all!" Cassie scoffed. It was ridiculous to have them meet with someone when they knew nothing. She didn't even know why they were meeting!

"It will be explained." Cassie frowned at Kimberly, who opened a door for the indignant girl and her shaking friend.

The room was a deep blue, with a desk on one side and a table with four chairs in the center. Kimberly left them there, off to wherever it was she was needed with no regard that Cassie had no clue what was happening. The room was empty apart from the furniture, no Miss Benn there to talk to them. Cassie tried the door Kimberly had left, but found it disappointingly locked.

"Locked. We can't get out there," Cassie told Brie, looking around the room for another option. There were no windows, so no potential there.

"Are we sure we want to run? It'll probably just wind up worse if we run away," Brie murmured, wringing her hands. "After all, Kimberly said that she was from the Counterparts Program, right? They're trying to help us."

"She said 'something like the Counterparts Program'. That's not the same. Here, let's try the other door," Cassie argued, running over to a door that was next to the wooden desk.

When she turned the handle on this door, it moved. Not actually expecting this to work, Cassie fell through the doorway in an attempt to body-slam the door. She would have tumbled to the floor had she not bumped into a woman mid-fall.

"You would be Miss Gilligan?"

Cassie scrambled back to her feet, staring at the person in front of her. A woman in a suit was looking at Cassie expectantly, but Cassie could only squeak. Then the girl ran to hide behind where Brie was standing.

The woman ignored Cassie's behavior and continued speaking, talking instead to Brie. "And you are Miss Calighan."

"Yes. I'm Brianna." Brie took a seat when she was asked. Cassie sat down next to her.

"Oh, right. Yeah, I'm Cassandra," Cassie added, recovering majorly from the shock of barreling into the lady in her escape attempt.

"And I am Miss Benn. Pleasure to meet you." Miss Benn smiled slightly to the girls, both of whom looked like they were expecting a premature death. The woman in front of them was significantly taller than either of the kids, and on top of that she had an aura of authority. Not comforting traits.

"Ladies, please calm down. I hope that in a few minutes you might understand better what is going on." Cassie and Brie both remained silent as Miss Benn spoke, their eyes trained on the woman.

Cassie squinted at Miss Benn before asking her, "Okay, so can we ask you questions? Like, right now?" Brie just nodded in support of the suggestion, remaining silent next to Cassie's left shoulder.

"How about I tell you what I was planning to, and then you may ask any other inquiries you have?" Miss Benn suggested. Cassie was going to challenge her, but the woman didn't seem to be asking a question, even though she phrased it as one. Cassie nodded hesitantly.

"This facility is known as the Specialties Project. You have no doubt never heard of it before. You're here because your counterparts tests showed you have advanced abilities." Brie's eyes widened and Cassie squirmed in her seat, but neither of them interrupted Miss Benn.

"This is a very secretive location, so we were unable to just send you a letter in the post. I hope that you might understand why this was our only course of action," Miss Benn finished, and Cassie stopped squirming for a moment. "You may now ask any questions you might have. I can't promise I can answer them, though."

Then, Cassie finally burst out, "Wait, so, woah! Like, superpowers?"

"That is not quite a question," Miss Benn informed her irritably, turning to where Brie was sitting. Cassie frowned. "Do you have any actual questions?"

Brie looked over to Cassie frantically, who just shrugged. "Umm... well, our parents... or our friends... how are we supposed to contact them?"

"Now there's a good question! I suppose you wouldn't have had much of a chance to talk with one another, or you would have noticed that both of you are without permanent guardians." Cassie raised an eyebrow. She had, in fact, had the chance to speak with Brie a bit. "You will also find that the other children are in the same situation," Miss Benn said, and Brie nodded slightly. "Since you don't have family outside, we're able to watch over you here without you missing your parents."

Cassie cocked her head slightly as Miss Benn spoke. She did have family outside of the compound. Not parents, but family. She hadn't said anything about Joshua, but Cassie had expected the woman would know about her twin. Maybe not though, and Cassie wasn't going to run about telling what few secrets she did have.

"Can I go now? I have an actual question." Cassie cocked her head and Miss Benn looked over.

"Yes, you may."

Cassie grinned and nodded, then pointed to the door they came from. "Okay, so. When we first came in you said that we were brought because we have 'abilities'. Can you please oh please tell us what our abilities are? Because that sounds a lot similar to superpowers and I want to know my superpower now please."

Brie's eyes widened where she sat, as though the thought of their powers was just coming back to her. Miss Benn opened her mouth to speak before closing it again.

Cassie asked, "What?" but did not receive an answer. Instead, the headmistress turned and approached her desk. Cassie looked around herself in a panic, searching for a way to get out. What if Miss Benn was actually a murderer and Cassie had asked one too many questions? Looking back a few moments later, Cassie realized that wouldn't have made much sense. Still, it seemed a valid concern at the moment.

Miss Benn continued to look through one of her desk drawers, searching for something in the files there. Finally, she pulled out two sheets of laminated paper. Miss Benn returned to the girls, the taller of whom appeared once again to be in genuine fear for her life.

"Calm down, Cassandra," Miss Benn told Cassie, who continued to shift her gaze from the papers to Miss Benn's face. "I was planning on giving you the information you requested, so you may wish to be a touch more courteous."

Cassie stopped frowning at that, holding up her hands and smiling apologetically. The sooner she could get Miss Benn to give her the sheet with the info, the better. Seriously, though. Who would keep information away from someone about their very own superpower?

"First of all, they are not superpowers."

Cassie looked up from where she had fixed her gaze submissively at the table top. Okay, that was weird.

"The abilities which you possess are known as 'specialties', which also happens to be the name adopted for those who possess the abilities. These powers are not something to be joked around with. Although I am certain you will find that you are able to reach further achievements through use of these gifts, you must be cautious."

With great power comes great responsibility. Cassie remembered that phrase from an old comic book she had read online. So, basically, these specialties were exactly like superpowers. Even Uncle Ben agreed.

"So, what's mine?" Cassie asked, leaning onto the table in front of her.

Instead of a direct answer, Miss Benn gave each of the girls one of the laminated papers. "These are the traits which have already been confirmed as belonging to specialties within this facility."

Cassie grabbed the paper excitedly and began scanning it in the hope she could identify which she had. Instead, she found the list itself a terrifying read. The specialties stretched down two columns on the page and continued a good way down the back. On top of a list that Cassie could only understand half of, some of the abilities did not sound appealing in the least.

For every "super strength" there was an "ability to control own heart" and for every "invisibility" there was a "creation of deadly poison". Cassie stared down at the paper before gulping and peering back up at Miss Benn.

"I... which ones do we have?"