Chapter Two: The Institute

Skye was too shocked to speak. She didn't even react when the Eraser pushed her off him and stood up, shaking his head and brushing himself down. Hope and suspicion clouded her mind. Panic and want pushed at her from all sides, making it hard for her to breathe. She opened her mouth to spit a fiery comeback in his direction, but all the could manage was;

"How?" The boy leaned against a nearby tree, his eyes alert and focused on her,

"The Institute still has DNA samples of Experiment 1927 sub-division MIND--or, Arcane as you called her. New technology allows us to take the DNA and clone it, the using growth manipulators, we can speed Arcane's aging process so that she is the approximate age as she would be now." He said, sounding as if he had practiced the speech a thousand times. Skye shifted into a more comfortable position on the ground, mulling his proposition over. The mere thought of seeing Arcane again in the flesh made her heart ache, even with Dark, it just wasn't the same. Wait a sec... she thought, anger and suspicion growing, The Institute didn't just hand out favors like this...

"What's the catch?" Skye growled suspiciously. The boy shrugged,

"Like I know or care?" He said in a bored tone. Skye fumed silently.
God this boy was a twit. The gave a frustrated sigh, "So are you comin' or not? The Institute is pre-tty far away, and I'm the one without wings here." Skye rolled her eyes and gave a piercing whistle, making up her mind.
Dark just wasn't gonna like it.

-+-

Dark landed on a nearby branch minutes later, during which the boy, and Skye kept to their own thoughts. Skye quickly hid her grin at Dark's confused look (which consisted of a tilt of the head and squawk). Well wouldn't you be confused if you saw your friend standing calmly next to a live Eraser?!? Skye communicated to Dark that she had taken the Eraser hostage when he tried to sneak up on her, and that he was going to lead them to The Institute. Which wasn't the exact situation, but close enough for Skye to feel minimal guilt about not telling Dark the whole truth. Skye nodded to the boy when she was done, "We're ready."

"Well it's about time..." he muttered bitterly, and took off into the woods, Skye close at his heels, and Dark in the sky.

-+-

The first rest that the three took was, from what Skye could tell, mid-Pennsylvania. After two hours of running, Skye and given up and taken to the sky. She wasn't surprised that the boy had only gotten tired just now, he was after all an Eraser, he was built for this kind of off-road running thing, and she was well, an experiment. The two camped in a clearing while Dark set off to hunt again. The day was just coming to and end--the clouds turning deep purples and bright pinks--when the boy got a fire going. He got out two burritos from his back pocket and handed one to her. It bothered Skye that; a) The burritos had been there, next to his butt, for quite some time, and b) That he had assumed that she would have come along with him, but she didn't muse over those facts too long.

She was too hungry.

Once Skye had taken a few bites, she took a second to check her companion out. His golden eyes stared into the fire, captivated by the dancing flames. He wasn't bad looking, but then again, most Erasers had those model looks. He managed to pull off the "sweet-and-innocent" boy look, even though he had clearly toned muscles under his tan skin. His dirty-blonde hair was spiked in all directions, giving off the impression that he had recently stuck his finger in an electrical socket. He caught her looking at him and narrowed his eyes, "What?"

"What's your name anyway?" Skye asked him, managing to sound nonchalant.

"Experiment 1026E of litter G." he replied, taking a huge bite out of his burrito.

"EWW! They breed you all in LITTERS NOW?????" Skye squeaked, thoroughly disgusted.

"No, I wasn't born there at all." the boy said defensively. Skye paused, then motioned for him to go on. "When I turned 15, I ran away from home, found this guy, showed me The Institute, told me I could get strong fast, BOOM, I'm an Eraser." He replied, unsheathing his claws to demonstrate. Skye noticed the hint of pain in his vocals as he spoke, even though he tried to hide it,

"You know Erasers don't live for very long..." She trailed off quietly. He shook his head,

"The newest breed, my breed, we're supposed to live up to 20 years longer than the average Eraser..." He trailed off, "But even if that wasn't so, it wouldn't matter, it's not like I have much to live for these days anyway." With that, he turned his back to her, effectively ending the conversation. Skye sighed,

"Can I ask you one more question?" Skye pleaded.

The boy shrugged, "There's no way to shut you up so, go ahead."

Skye rolled her eyes, "What is the name you go by? 'Cause I know it's not Experiment 10-whatever." The boy paused and turned to face her,

"If I told you that, I'd have to kill you."