Everyone's eyes went wide as Schlatt's face remained unchanged. Had he really just said that everyone was going to die? George looked at Wilbur incredulously, whipping his head around to Dream who looked just as confused.

"Just kidding you idiots! None of you are dying. Don't be so gullible." Schlatt added, bursting into laughter. When nobody else in the audience joined in, he continued. "Anyway, here's the game plan. Every day, two groups will be tested on. So, starting tomorrow, it will be groups A1 and B1. The next day, it will be groups A2 and B2. Then A3 and B3, and so on and so forth.  The tests will be individual ones to start, so each group member will be escorted to the lab one by one throughout the day. The tests will not be harmful or painful in any way. They are just used to monitor brain activity and things like that. We can't be sure as to how long this will take, so we don't know how long you'll be here. But don't worry, you'll be in good hands. Any questions?"

Dream raised his hand, and George shot him a look that said "Are you crazy?" before grabbing his arm and trying to pull it back down. But it was too late.

"Yes, blondie in the green shirt. What's your name?" Schlatt asked, pointing right at Dream.

"I'm Dream."

At this, Schlatt's face dropped completely. The change in emotion only lasted a second before he regained his composure, but George still saw it.

"Isn't it kind of... illegal... to hold a bunch of kids hostage and run all types of tests on them without their permission? Not to mention the way you drugged all of us in order to get us in here. Sounds like a federal court case to me."

A few people in the crowd including Karl and Tubbo audibly gasped at Dream's boldness. Schlatt was already an intimidating guy, and to question his authority while having no idea what he was capable of seemed like a really stupid idea. George smacked Dream on the arm, silently scolding him for being so impulsive.

"Well, Dream, I'll have you know that this experiment was approved by the president himself, which may come as a surprise to you but I'm afraid that it's completely true. He practically begged me to do anything that I could to find a cure to the disease. So that's what I'm doing. Anything else from you, pipsqueak?" Schlatt spat, leaning forward onto his podium while keeping eye contact with Dream.

"I don't think anyone's used the word 'pipsqueak' in like, 40 years."  Dream said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back into his chair. George's eyes widened as he stared at the taller boy. What is he doing? He's going to get himself in trouble.

"Dream if you don't shut up right now-" George started to whisper before he was cut off.

"You got something to say about this, little one?" Schlatt asked, nodding his head towards George.

"Uh, me? Um, no sir. I was- no. No, I don't." He stuttered, afraid to say the wrong thing and set the other man off.

"That's what I thought. Get your friend in line before I do it myself." He responded, finally pulling his eyes away from the two of them. "Anyone else?"

The room fell completely silent.

"Perfect. While a group is testing, everyone else has the freedom to do what they want. There's a community room with a TV and some other activities to keep you occupied, we have a recreational yard where you can go play sports or some shit. We also have classes that you all are obligated to go to, since most of you would be in school right now if you weren't here. You'll have two a day, each an hour long. They're included in your schedule that you should have received from the person in charge of your group. That should be it. Now get out of my sight."

Everyone quickly stood up, filing out of the rows of chairs and into the hallway. Once they were out of the room, George grabbed Dream's arm and pulled him to the side.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to get yourself in trouble?" George snapped.

"Aw, does Georgie care about me?" Dream asked, a small smirk forming on his face.

"I- you- oh my god shut up. I'm trying to keep our group off of Schlatt's shit list." George responded, turning and walking off towards the rooms.

"Calm your tits. It was a valid question." Dream replied, falling into step beside George.

"You basically insulted the man in front of an entire room full of people. He looked like he wanted to kill you."

"I don't give a shit if he wants to kill me. I could take him."

"Dream, don't talk like that. You're being stupid."

"What, you don't think I could? I may look skinny but these clothes don't do me any justice. I could beat his ass."

"Yeah, I'm sure." George said with an eye roll.

"You're not one to talk. I could literally bench press you. You could pull a muscle picking up a glass of milk."

"Whatever, Dream. I don't care anymore."

"Aw, someone's butthurt. What's wrong wittle baby? Did Dream make you feel self-conscious?" Dream asked in a high pitched voice, a huge frown on his face.

"Oh my god, do you ever shut up?"

"Depends. Do you ever grow?"

"You're an asshole."

"You're a pussy."

"What the fuck? Where did that even come from?" George asked, looking up at Dream with an annoyed glance.

"It kind of just radiates off of you. You give off major pussy energy."

Dream wheezed as George shoved him, making him collide with the wall of the hallway. He quickly regained his composure, walking up to George and wrapping his arms around his waist, picking him up from behind.

George thrashed around in his arms, trying to escape his grip. "Let go of me you freak!" He yelled, kicking him in the shin.

"Apologize." Dream said, continuing to walk towards their room with George still in his arms.

"For what?" George asked, trying to pull Dream's arms apart.

"Don't play dumb. Say sorry for pushing me."

"Are you being serious? I barely even touched you. Stop being an idiot."

"Oh, now I'm an idiot? Okay." Dream said, loosening his grip for just a second. He quickly spun George around so that they were face to face, and he threw him over his shoulder, holding his legs so that he wouldn't fall.

"Dream!" George yelled, hitting his fists against the taller boy's back. "What is wrong with you?"

"This is your fault, Georgie. Now shut up. We're almost back."

They made the right turn at the intersection of the hallway and soon enough they were standing in front of their door. Dream pulled the door open and carried George inside, finally setting him down on his bed.

"Fuck you." George said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What time?" Dream responded, taking a seat next to him.

George scoffed before standing up and climbing the ladder to his own bunk. Sapnap and Karl were sitting on Karl's bed, holding a big piece of paper and looking at the other two boys with smiles on their faces.

"Don't even say anything or I swear to god I'll scream." George said to them.

"I'd like to hear that." Dream responded from underneath him.

"Dream, please just shut the fuck up for five minutes. Five minutes. Please. It's all I ask." George sighed, flopping down onto his back and putting an arm over his face in frustration.

"Fine. But only because you asked so nicely."

"Anywayyyy... Quackity gave us our schedule. So apparently today is Monday, which means our test day is on Thursday. Our classes are at 11 and 3 every day with groups B2 and B6. Breakfast is at 8 every morning, lunch is at 12:30 every afternoon, and dinner is at 7 every night. Besides that we can pretty much do whatever we want." Sapnap explained, reading off of the piece of paper Karl was holding.

"I actually don't remember asking." George said, rolling onto his side.

Dream let out a low chuckle as Sapnap rolled his eyes. "Just because you're mad at your little boy toy doesn't mean you can take it out on me." Sapnap responded.

"What time is it? Is there a clock in here or something?" Karl asked, easily changing the subject.

They all looked around and spotted a small analog clock hanging above the door.

"Can... uhh... can anyone read that?" Sapnap asked.

"It says 10:02 you nimrod." Karl said playfully.

"So we have class in an hour?" George asked.

"Yup."

"Cool. I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me up when we have to leave." George grunted, rolling onto his other side, facing the fall. After a few minutes of listening to Karl and Sapnap's hushed conversation, he fell asleep.

45 minutes later George was being shaken awake by Karl. He groaned, rolling into his back to see the other boy above him.

"Okay, I get it." He complained, sitting up and pushing Karl away.

"Come on sleepyhead. Get up." He giggled, hopping down from George's bunk. George followed slowly after, rubbing his eyes in the process.

There was a knock at the door before it swung open, Quackity walking into the room.

"Dude, you shouldn't just barge in here. What if one of us was naked?" Sapnap asked, climbing down from his own bunk.

"Would me seeing you naked be such a bad thing?" He asked, smirking as he took a seat on Karl's empty bed. "You guys ready for your first class?"

"Just about. Do you know if Wilbur's group is one of the ones we have classes with?" George asked, leaning against the bunk ladder.

"Hm, you're with groups B2 and B6, right? Yes, Wilbur's group is B2." Quackity responded.

"Cool." George said nonchalantly, trying to hide his excitement. Not only was he happy to see Wilbur again, but he was looking forward to talking to Ranboo more. He wanted to know why he felt so attached to him.

"Can we go? I'm tired of sitting around." Dream asked, standing up and walking towards the door. Everyone else followed him out into the hallway, Quackity slipping to the front so that he could lead the boys to the classroom.

When they arrived, the other two groups were already there. There were fourteen desks set up in a circle, all facing inwards. Eight were already occupied. George recognized Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo and Wilbur sitting around the circle, but there were four other people that he hadn't met yet.

"Welcome group B4! Please take a seat." Said a woman in a white lab coat. Quackity and Techno were sitting in wooden chairs at the front of the room, probably to observe. George took a seat next to Wilbur, Dream sat next to George, Karl sat next to Dream and Sapnap took a seat next to Karl.

"Alright boys, you're going to go around in a circle and introduce yourselves to start off. I'm Cara, I'm in charge of group B6. How about you start," The woman said, pointing to Sapnap, "and we'll go around clockwise."

Sapnap nodded and stood up. "I'm Sapnap. Uh, I'm 17. That's all I got."

"That was great, Sapnap, thank you." The woman said, gesturing to Karl for him to go next. So they went around the circle, George already knowing everyone's names, until the boy sitting next to Tommy stood up. He had tan skin and black hair. His eyes were a dark brown, darker than George's, and he wore a bright blue T-shirt and gray sweatpants.

"I'm Skeppy." The boy said, looking around the circle. "I'm 18." He sat back down, looking at the boy to his left.

He stood up, and George saw that he was tall. Not as tall as Dream, but close to it. He wore glasses and a red long sleeve shirt. "My name is Daryll, but please call me Bad. It's short for BadBoyHalo, which is my nickname. I'm 19. It's so nice to meet you all!" He said, waving to everyone in the circle and sitting back down.

Next up was the boy next to Bad. He had brunette hair and he wore a beige long sleeve. "Hi. I'm Antfrost, but you can call me Ant. I'm 17." When he sat down, the last boy didn't stand. He looked at Ant with an almost pleading expression before Ant stood back up. "Oh! I forgot, sorry Cal. This is Callahan. He's a selective mute and he's 18."

Ant sat once again, and Cara clapped her hands together. "Great! Now that we know everyone, I'm going to divide you into smaller groups based on your age. This is because the level you're at academically is most likely determined by your age. So: Wilbur, George and Bad, if you guys could move your desks together over there, please. Karl, Callahan and Skeppy, go over there, Dream, Ant and Sapnap move to that corner, and Ranboo, Tubbo and Tommy you can push your desks together right here."

Everyone did as they were told, and Cara began handing out packets and pencils. "This is what we'll be working out of for the next few weeks. You can keep them in here so they don't get lost. The first five pages are very simple, so fill them out now."

After about 30 minutes of working, George put his pencil down. He had finished before everyone else, so he just put his head down onto the desk and waited. After about 20 more minutes, everyone else was done, and Cara collected the packets and pencils and put them on a shelf on the side of the room. "Great job today, guys. Today was just an introduction, but moving forward we'll have more collaborative things to do. You are dismissed. See you at 3:00!"

With that, everyone got up and exited the room, Dream and George at the back of the group. Once they were in the hallway, Dream grabbed George's collar and shoved him up against the wall.

"What the hell was that, Georgie?"

AN: HEY GUYS I'M BACK WHATS UP i'm so sorry this chapter took so long ugh it was so hard to write. i might start taking a little longer for the uploads tho; i've realized that every time i publish a chapter i end up going back and editing things even tho i already put it out, so i'm gonna have my friend look over upcoming chapters with me to help with grammar and other things.

also sorry there was so much dialogue in this chapter, i know it seems like there's not really a plot rn but dont worry shit hits the fan next chapter i PROMISE. plus this chapter was obvi a bit longer than the other ones, so lmk which one you like better. This one is 2.6k words, and the other ones are all around 2k.

anyway here's a late night upload, next chapter should be out tmr or the next day. sorry for leaving y'all on that cliffhanger for so long heh,, also WTF THANK YOU FOR ALMOST 900 READS YOU GUYS ARE ACTUALLY INSANE BYE. this story went from #90 in the dystopian genre to #64 in less than a day bruh thank you all so much for the love on this shit i love you all so much and i wish i could give all of you a big hug. ok bye now, remember to drink water and stay safe <3

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