Wu woke up to a chill prickling his spine, making him shiver. The surface below him was no longer the cold and wooden table that it had once been, but now a soft and cushioned bed with a warm sheet.

It was still dark outside, as it always was; Wu would have to get used to this.

Slowly, Wu stood on his feet, breathing heavily as he did so; he had only done this a few times. Leaning on the wall for support, Wu stumbled to across the hall to the door.

It was even colder here than it was inside the empty cabin. Everything was eerily quiet, except for distant howling in the forest, which undoubtedly came from Misako's family, the Turans.

As Wu studied his surroundings, he could hear a loud yet dull clanging, as if a bag of metal was being dragged.

And then he saw it: a small figure, with long shadows of talons protruding from the hands that dragged behind a burlap bag, which Wu could tell was filled with metal.

Curiosity got the better of him. He followed the figure.

He followed it, stumbling on his bare feet, into the forest. It was extremely thick here, with trees crowded so closely together that Wu had to thin out his body to squeeze through.

When it seemed to have been hours that had passed, Wu saw the figure stop, and drop the bag of metal.

It was standing in front of a box-shaped structure, almost like a small house.

The figure went up to the structure, and tapped the door quickly three times. It leaned close to the door, then whispered something into the keyhole of the door. Wu watched carefully, narrowing his eyes.

Suddenly a burst of white light came from the small house, and a few feet of its surrounds glowed brightly. Wu shielded his eyes, then looked again.

The figure had walked through the door, taking the bag along. The white light had subsided, and now was a consistent, dull glow bleeding from the windows down the walls.

Wu came to the door, and caught it just before it closed. He peeked in.

In the small house was a white room; white ceilings, walls, and floors. It was huge inside, with the consistent bright white glow as the light. The figure, still hidden beneath the cloak, was standing in the middle of the room. The bag of metal had been dumped out to reveal clumps of silver.

It was then that Wu's eyes had finally adjusted. In the room was a thick, white tarp, one that camouflaged with the rest of the room.

The figure went up to tarp, and pulled it away. Wu couldn't help but widen his eyes.

Underneath the tarp was a boy, composed purely of metal parts. It closely resembled that of a teenager, right down the height and build that it had. It was obviously unfinished, with only one arm from its socket, and the metal bars and gears still visible beneath unapplied skin.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

The figure hadn't even turned around.

"Yeah." said Wu. "Yeah, it is. Did you make it, Misako?"

Misako removed her hood and her cloak, and hung it up on a coat rack, which had appeared mysteriously as of from thin air.

"All by myself." said Misako. "I've been working on this for two years. Got the spare parts from the junk the Turans throw out."

Wu walked toward the metal boy, staring into its dull eyes that bore into him blankly. Its metal was gleaming silver, shining through the light of the bunker.

"It's not going to bite you." said Misako, almost amusingly. "It's just a boy."

Wu walked toward it, inspecting it with heightened interest and admiration. It truly looked like a human made out of metal.

"It's not finished yet." Misako said. "I plan to add in many weapons and updates into his system. When I'm finished with him, this machine will be unstoppable."

Wu turned to Misako, tearing his eyes away from the mechanical boy.

"Misako, what is this for?" Wu asked. "Why would you go through all of this trouble?"

Misako turned to look at him. Her eyes were almost sad, glossed over in a silent gloom.

"I built this the same reason I brought you back." said Misako. "This will be just as vital as you in returning my son Kai to me."

Misako turned away from Wu, who stood in silence.

"This machine will give me power over anybody that tries to stop me." Misako said softly. "This machine will pave the way for me and my army, and you will give me your smarts, your intelligence, your wits. Nothing could stop us then."


Danielle couldn't concentrate. She didn't know why.

It'd been a few days since she had tried out for the cheerleading team. But something had changed, and she was afraid she knew why.

Danielle couldn't stop thinking about Brian. She had always felt flattered when he flirted with her, but she'd never felt like it'd mean anything. But with him...it was different than it was with Jay.

Unlike Brian, Jay almost never told her she was beautiful. Danielle had just always assumed it was something that went without saying to him. But with Brian, he always made sure to tell her, and he made her tingle and smile in a way that Jay couldn't. And Danielle couldn't help but daydream about falling into Brian's arms, and wrapping her hands around his shoulders while he held her.

What is wrong with you? Danielle kept asking herself. I thought you liked Jay. Now you're thinking of cheating on him?

It's not cheating if you're not doing anything. It's just an innocent thought.

This made Danielle think. Was that true?

No! Stop it! she scolded herself. Control yourself. Jay is your boyfriend. It's good with him.

But what about when he was talking to Nya at the cheerleading tryouts? Did you see how they looked at each other?

This time, Danielle didn't have time to think, for then a voice called to her.

"Danielle, sit up! No daydreaming in class!"

Danielle bolted up at this, nearly knocking over her papers in the corner of her desk. Blinking rapidly to alert herself, Danielle glanced around, and then remembered that she was daydreaming in the middle of Spanish class. Students sniggered audibly, while most just looked at her.

Danielle met the teacher's eye, which was narrowed sternly.

"Sorry..." Danielle said meekly.

The teacher didn't reply. Instead, she turned back to the board and resumed the lesson.

Danielle sighed, and then felt a light touch on her arm. She looked, and there was Brian, staring at her, but not like the teacher had.

"You okay?" Brian whispered. Unable to speak, Danielle nodded. It was as if she'd lost the ability to talk.

Brian half smiled at her, then immediately turned his attention away, to continue doodling in his notebook.

Danielle turned away, and sunk back into her thoughts. Everything drowned away into unimportant emptiness, and Danielle found her guilt begin to shy away as the image of Brian came into her mind.

"Nothing's going to happen" she thought blissfully to herself. "Don't worry..."

YOU DARE CHEAT ON JAY, DANIELLE? -_-

DRAMA WILL PICK UP SOON, GUYS. THANKS FOR READING!

RandomDragon: THANKS SO MUCH! I'VE MISSED RECEIVING REVIEWS WHEN I WAS MY HIATUS. HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER!

THANKS ALL. NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE UP AROUND THIS TIME TOMORROW. PLEASE REVIEW!

-KTH1