Wow, out of ideas… anyway, hopefully this works….

I slipped into and out of memories while in the all-consuming darkness. I realized that I was returning to the real world, and tried to grasp the thoughts. Reaching… but the more I moved towards reality, the more the memories moved away. Giving up, I let myself awake.

I sat up. I was in a cot of some kind. There was an IV hooked up to my arm, letting me know that something was up. I looked around. It was a relatively normal doctor-ish room, complete with those curtains and complex charts everywhere. I looked at myself. Quickly realizing I was naked, I drew the covers up to my chin as I heard footsteps come towards my cot.

"How's it going?" Another girl walked in. She couldn't be that old, maybe twenty, but was dressed in full scrubs. She had long black hair, and appeared to be of mixed race. I enviously noted the lack of creepy additions. Despite meeting Ryan and Adrian, I was still a freak. "I'm doctor Tumni."

"Hi…" I was confused. This was the first person that had greeted me with some form of respect. I wondered if it had all been a dream. Then, I flexed my wings and realized that reality had an annoying way of crashing down on you.

"You're probably wondering where you are." Tumni put down the pad she was holding, drew up a chair, and sat down. "You're in the VICETC ward. We call it the Ticward."

"The… Ticward?" I was confused. People, not creepy VICE people, had nicknames. This person was normal. And she had said "we!" There may be a normal soul in this place yet! She laughed.

"Yeah, it was random. I'm really the only one here. I get deliveries every now and then, but for now, it's only me." My heart sank. Still, I needed information

"What happened?"

"You, quite literally, pushed your body past its limit. We had to bring you back over the course of days. This IV was keeping you alive for a while. I just haven't disconnected it yet, you just finished the treatment." She came over and started bustling around with the needle. I wondered if there had been some kind of sedative in that thing. It would explain the sudden waking.

"Wait." She looked up after bandaging my arm. She was good. "I… flew?" She laughed again.

"Yes, you flew. And quite well I might add. Ryan and Adrian never even could go above ten feet. But you flew up the whole wall." She leaned in close. "If you ask me, Commander pushes you guys way too much. He also yells way too much." I stifled a laugh, realizing we were probably under some form of surveillance.

"Have you checked his blood pressure recently?" I whispered back. We both shared a secret laugh, and then she excused herself. I lay back down. This was awesome! Maybe, I did have a chance meeting people. She seemed happy and normal enough. Tumni reentered the room.

"Here's your clothes. Sorry, I had to take them off." I didn't delve into it. She probably didn't want to. Tumni seemed out of place, like a flower in the middle of a blood soaked field. "Well, for now you can go." I put on the clothes and stood up. Surprisingly, I didn't feel any ill effects. I turned to Tumni.

"Thank you so much."

"No problem. Feel free to come by anytime!" I left, realizing I had no idea where to go. Flipping around, I started. Ryan was standing right there.

"Tumni is a good person." He pushed off the wall and walked over. "Also the only normal human in this place. I wonder what her story is?" He gestured. "This way. C'mon." I followed him. As we walked, he filled me in on everything he and Adrian hand found out.

The VICETC was very expansive. The obstacle course had only been part of it, and showed nothing of the true size. There was even a swimming pool, an outdoor arena that no one was allowed in, and more "access restricted" areas than they could count. I had been out for six days. During that time, Commander (no one knew his real name) had introduced them to where they would be spending most of their time. The gym, swimming pool, and obstacle course were the main ones.

"And get this." Ryan stopped by a set of three doors. He opened one. "Number one, no privacy. Even our rooms are unlocked. Number two, we have a task force." I walked in. Adrian was sitting on the bed. I joined him, and Ryan did too.

"Yeah, they're here to train with us." Adrian scoffed. "At least, that's the bull Commander feeds us."

"They're probably here to watch us." Ryan turned to me. "We have to be perfect. Anytime we mess up, something unseen shocks us. Even in our rooms. I tried breaking out of my window. I was knocked out for two hours as a reward."

"Great." I groaned and lay back. Ryan and Adrian joined me. "You know, this is going to be the longest twelve months ever."

"No kidding." Adrian responded. Ryan remained unusually silent. I turned to him.

"Right?"

"Oh, yeah." He shot a quick smile in my direction, and went back to staring at the ceiling. "As much as I wish that is true, I have a feeling it will only get worse from here." He was right. I looked at the ceiling.

"Well, at the very least, we have each other." Adrian joked. I took him seriously.

"Yeah…"

Wheeee… yet another chapter pumped out last minute. Peace, H45 oh yeah, REVIEW! (By the way, thanks for all the support so far, from FF and from FB. Thanks. You've kept this interesting.)