Chapter 2

He really had to get in this building, to fulfil his mission here. Being in this community of humans made him feel really uncomfortable. Of course, this was his first mission.

Don't worry, their security isn't that good, the voice had said. Is this why it was so hard just get to this building? This tiny, one-roomed building was his objective, and it was entirely made of some sort of metal. He looked around.. Nobody to be seen. All he had to do was dig, since his objective was going to be underground.

"Sorry, your records are far too horrid for me to accept you here." I gaped at him. "You seemed like a nice man, up until that very last statement. Could you make an exception?" I was really pushing my luck, I know. But when you've gone through what I have, it'd be no surprise to try anything to be employed.

"Who said you'd have to be employed as a human?"

Okay, now that I couldn't get a job, the heat must have gotten to my head. I'm told I'm hot-headed, but I always thought they were joking or at least using a figure of speech. This was seriously freaking me out. I staggered a bit, realizing I was thinking too hard somehow, and just fell. I could only tell I was falling because of the ground hitting me hard on the head. "Aaliyah? Don't you dare..." I couldn't make out the last part of what he said. I felt too exhausted to do anything. I needed to rest.

As he dug, he dodged quite a bit of debris. It was a long way down, but eventually he reached a large row of perfectly carved wooden planks. Apparently this part of their building wasn't very protected.

As I woke up, I felt dizzy. It was probably from the fall and hitting my head. I assumed I hit my head, because I woke up in a completely different place. The ceiling had disappeared! I turned to my side to assess the situation, because you don't move in your sleep on your own unless you sleepwalk and I never was much of a sleepwalker.

As I turned to my side, I noticed I was in some sort of giant floating bubble. I couldn't move very well, so I just decided to stare. I could see through the bubble as if it were invisible, but I knew it was there. This was making me slightly on edge. Why would I be put in a bubble? Who made the bubble? Where was I?

"You are the next person chosen to test a new theory."

Not only did that voice really scare me, but what it said made it worse. A theory? I just couldn't understand.

/

He hit a conclusion that these are probably what held up the dirt. So he just cut a small circle using small spikes coming out of his hands, and hopped inside. There were gigantic tubs, filled with water. They were being filled and emptied with some sort of chemical (supposedly cleaning it, judging from the signs all over the place).

"Pour the contents of the vial into one of those machines."

So he looked for the nearest container. It was pretty high up, but with his wings it wasn't much of a problem. He flew up and read the label: "Water cleaner." Well, that was obvious. Unless all the others weren't cleaning the water.

He popped a vial from his boot, and poured a pure black liquid into the cleaning device. He watched as it completely overrode the chemical and only the black liquid remained. Now he could go home. Finally.

As I woke up, I felt as if my whole body were in-cased in a big tub of gelatin. Looking around, I noticed something. I was in a bubble. The bubble was almost completely invisible but at the same time it blurred my vision. I had no idea where I was.

A red-haired man was looking at me. He was among the few things I could see through the bubble. The only noticeable thing he has was his bright, red hair. It was going down to his knees! His right arm was indicating a tall, slim man who had red claws that looked like they were sharp enough to cut, yet gentle enough to maneuver practically anything with utmost care. Then I noticed his eyes. They were pitch-black, blacker than my coffee maker back home. If those two things weren't weird enough, coming out of his back were what I would call two thin and translucent wings. I didn't want to mess with him.

"I would like you to meet Scy. He is going to be your brother and instructor, and will help introduce you to your new life." Of course, I had no idea what he was talking about. Not that I had enough time to contemplate anything at the moment, because my bubble has popped. I fell into what seems to look like a gigantic pool filled with black liquid. I instantly felt it seep into my brain as water would a sponge. It flowed through my nose and ears at first, then I felt it course through my whole body. I began to feel disoriented and decided to black out again. I sure loved doing that.

"Don't worry, Scy. She won't be harmed. She's only going to be a bit disoriented and probably lose a bit of her balance for the next few days. It's nothing to worry about." Why did he not believe him? He remembered when this happened to him; he probably acted the same way if he wasn't freaking out tenfold. Just watching her suffocate as he has, it made him regret listening to that voice. Not that I had a choice anyway.

I woke up again. I really didn't want to, but I couldn't exactly sleep when I wanted to, did I? At this rate, I was going to have to be completely nocturnal. I was in a room that looked a lot like the inside of a tent. I could hear voices outside, so I decided not to move.

"So, when do you think she's going to wake up?" It was the voice of the man who was designated as Scy who tried to drown me in what I assumed could only be some kind of drug. Oddly enough, though, I wasn't afraid or mad at him.

"I don't know, but when she does you'll probably have to teach her how to fight and carry out missions like you. If she slows you down, well, that won't necessarily be a good thing." Now, that was the voice I didn't like. The voice of the oddly haired person.

"They're wondering when you're going to wake up. You should probably walk outside and tell them you're awake." As if that voice was my mother. I'm not listening to anything that might kill me.

It realized I wasn't moving, so it added: "Okay, how about this. You go outside, and tell them you're up. You won't die, I promise." This stabbed my curiosity with an arrow aimed dead center. I didn't know why, but somehow I felt I could trust this voice.

I went outside (quietly) and hid behind a tree, which was somehow placed directly in front of the tent door. They obviously didn't go camping very often. I took a peek to the side of the tree to find Scy looking straight at me.