She opened her eyes slowly, the bright lights from the ceiling making her squint. Everything was fuzzy, and she had a hard time distinguishing the lights from the ceiling. That was, until the lights were blocked out by the shadow of someone leaning over her.
It was the dark haired boy. The one the guard had been strangling. He was alive! Wasn't he? Or maybe she was dead…
He watched her for a little while before nodding to himself, most likely deciding she was, in fact, conscious. He then called to the other; "Hey! She's alright."
Now, her view was obstructed by another person; the dark skinned one with the marks on his arms. Slowly, this one reached down to her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" he gently tried propping her up. "Can you sit up?"
Pushing his arm away, she shakily rose to her feet. She took a few weak, staggering steps before collapsing. The one with the marks caught her before she completely hit the floor.
"Hey," the smaller one spoke, "Take it easy."
She sat on the floor, looking up at the other two. They both sat in front of her.
"I believe… introductions are in order?" The taller one with marks spoke.
"Or something like that, though we," The smaller one laughed, gesturing to himself and the girl, "Are already fairly acquainted." He stopped, thinking. "However, on another note, the first five digits of our codes are all the same? What are the chances of that?" He turned to her. "What do you think?"
She nodded, wishing she could answer. She opened her mouth, then closed it. It was no use.
The two saw her attempt. They looked at each other, then back at her.
"You… can't speak. Okay." He turned to the dark skinned one. "You could've told me."
"It slipped my mind. I am sorry."
"Uh-huh. It slipped your mind." He stopped. "She… can't speak. Wait. So, how come you screamed at those guards?"
"Yes. How was that possible?"
She shook her head, then shrugged.
"You don't know. Not helpful."
She sighed, leaning back against the wall.
The two others started talking between themselves.
"What do you think happened?" The smaller one asked.
"I am not sure. I can't even be sure that I heard it. It could have been in my head."
She watched them talk. What was it that she wanted to say? Somehow she had forgotten something she realized back when she first woke up. What…?
She breathed out, wishing desperately to be able to speak.
She needed their attention. She needed to ask something.
She hit the floor with her hand. The slap echoed through the halls.
They both turned. "What?"
She sighed, then started. She pointed to the smaller one first, then held up three fingers. She pointed to the other, and then held up five. She pointed to herself, and held up six. Then, she held up one, then two, then four fingers, and then shrugged.
"What are you…"
"I get it!" the smaller one shouted. "You," he pointed to her, "are six. We are three and five. What about one, two, and four? Is there a seven? Eight? How many of us are there that have these codes?"
She nodded vigorously.
"But," the smaller one looked contemplative, "How could we find out? It's not like they've got a list or anything…"
"Or do they?" Somehow, the one with the marks had stood up, checked a guard, and found a small computerized device, all while the smaller one was talking. "These guards patrol these hallways. The hallways are… nondescript. They're all the same. The guards would most likely have a map and a list of inmates, and they'd keep such information near them at all times." He poked at the device. "Except, I don't know how to use these…"
"Let me see." The dark haired one took the device. He smiled as he worked away on breaking the security code. "Really, these guys need to up the ante. A child could break into these things." A list popped up on the screen. "Bingo!"
"But… how?"
"Hell if I know. It just, well, came to me." He slid his finger along the screen. "AS, BS, CS, ha, here we go, DS."
In front of them was a page with a list of codes
Group DS
Chambers: 130-135
Captivity: 278 days
DS-S001
DS-S002
DS-S003
DS-S004
DS-S005
DS-S006
"So, there are only six of us. I guess." He narrowed his eyes at the few words at the top of the screen. "Captivity? 278 days?" He shook his head. "It feels like we've been here so much longer."
"I cannot remember not being here." Out of curiosity, the taller one pressed his finger where his code was on the screen.
The layout of the screen went blank, then another page popped up.
DS-S005
Name: Kaldur'ahm
Codename: Aqualad
Age: 17
Sex: Male
Regular meals
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Storage 64, Vault 7, File A-16
The last lines were censored.
"Kaldur'ahm? Aqualad? Regular meals? What the hell…" The short one shook his head.
"What of the other ones?" the taller one, Kaldur'ahm, took the device from him and pressed another button. The menu they had seen before came up. Kaldur'ahm pressed another code, DS-S003.
DS-S003
Name: Richard Grayson
Codename: Robin
Age: 13
Sex: Male
Regular meals.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The censored lines were much shorter this time.
"You," Kaldur'ahm showed the device to him.
He looked over the information. "Richard… my name is Richard." He couldn't help smiling to himself.
The girl pointed to a section of the file. Her finger indicated the "Regular meals". She held up her hands in a questioning motion.
"Hm?" Richard broke out of his thoughts to answer her. "Oh. Meals. Yeah, I get two meals a day. So does… Kal… dur'ahm. Right?" Kaldur'ahm nodded.
She snatched the device from Richard and found her own file. She needed to see if her meal regulations were the same. Richard and Kaldur'ahm looked over her shoulders.
Name: M'gann M'orzz
Codename: Miss Martian
Age: 16
Sex: Female
One meal a day (Extra meal given to DS-S002)
Failed surgery had consequences: meant to remove ability to XXXXXXXXXX. Instead, removed ability to speak.
* Note from the head scientist: consequence not a problem. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
No measures to be taken to fix verbal issue.
When they finished reading the file, their reactions were clear on their faces.
Kaldur'ahm looked shocked.
Richard looked angry.
The girl… M'gann, she looked horrified.
Kaldur'ahm lay a comforting hand on her shoulder, trying to hide his own disgust. She needed guidance now. Even though he felt anger build up inside of him at the thought of someone purposefully taking away a vital ability, speech, he knew he should keep calm.
Richard could tell. He could tell that Kaldur'ahm was just as angry as he was. Richard took a deep breath. He should follow Kaldur'ahm's lead, keep calm. Not let on his emotions.
M'gann was nearly shaking. She struggled with herself, trying to keep from breaking down.
She set the device down and leaned back, closing her eyes. She focused on keeping her breathing even.
It didn't work.