Chapter 10: The Machine

"I'm going to find her, I will. I will. What does she look like again?"

"African, short, frizzy hair – Iggy, I've been through this enough already, we're not going to find her, we don't even know who she is!"

Ever since I'd told them about the dream, Iggy had been dead set on finding the other girl, the curly haired one. Fang was more my side – I think we both remembered when a certain someone ran off and into the School – out of the rooms the white coats kept us in, that is. The screams still haunted me… even now.

Security had been strangely lax around here, as I had noticed since Iggy's… 'Sudden departure'. There weren't any white coats keeping us under lock and key, and Erasers guarding the front door. Actually it had been ages since I'd been experimented on at all… ever since I'd grown my wings actually. I chose not to think that the School was changing (becoming a nicer, better place) but that there were different forces at work here. Was it a coincidence that since Dr Martinez started working here all these things started happening? It seemed suspicious…

The very person I'd just been thinking about suddenly appeared behind me. I gave a start, ignoring Fang's raised eyebrow – I know I'd been really jumpy lately, but with what had happened in my life so far, you can give me credit for that.

"Who are you trying to find?" She asked. Giving Iggy a quick 'I told you so look' before remembering he couldn't see it, I turned round to face Dr Martinez.

"It was nothing, miss."

"As I told you, my name is Valencia. And it didn't sound like nothing. What are you lot up to?" She looked questionably at all three of us.

None of us responded (I had a very good poker face – great for telling lies with the utmost sincerity – Fang was being emotionless as usual, and seeing as Iggy couldn't even see her suspicious glare, there was no need to worry about him spilling).

Leaning in, Dr Martinez whispered;

"This wouldn't be about the you-know-what that we discussed when we first met, right?" He gaze made it very clear about what unforgettable words she was suggesting to us.

I immediately started shaking my head frantically so that she would stop talking before some white coats would come and take us away – who knows who could be listening in right now?

She just chuckled.

"Don't worry about it – I control all the monitoring devices now, so you can be sure that no one is hearing or listening to us right now. You remember Steve right? So now, I basically have some higher standing with the maintenance guys, quite useful actually." She winked at us.

At our unchanging expressions, she sighed.

"How can I prove this to you… that I want to help… Ah ha!" Dr Martinez started to search her pockets, there were quite a few considering the huge white scrubs she was wearing.

Finally she produced something long and sharp, now chipped with damage. It was a grey/ white rather like ivory. It was on a long chord of string. A very familiar chord of string…

I gasped.

"My fang!" I lunged forwards and almost wrestled it out of her grasp. With the real Fang back with me, I had almost forgotten it, but now I remembered how much sentiment this object held to me.

Iggy looked confused.

Fang just looked surprised I still had it – or, used to still have it, seeing as I had just gotten it back. It had been years since he had given the fang to me. I rolled my eyes a little, signalling that I wasn't likely to just throw it away. That Eraser fang had too much history and meaning. To both of us.

"But wait… how did you get it back? The last time I had it, syrin-"

Dr Martinez coughed loudly, stopping my words.

"So, do you believe me now?"

I nodded eagerly, slinging my beloved fang back around my neck; where it belonged. It clinked along with the needle filled with poison; so both now rested near my heart. A saviour and a redemption…

"But… what does that fang have to do with anything?" Iggy asked, feeling out of place. "It's just a tooth!"

I glared at him, whereas he just looked unknowingly at me – unknowingly, that is, how much he had just offended me.

"Then I guess you can tell me who you wish to find."

I bit my lip while looking towards Fang and Iggy for help. Fang just had a 'you're the leader, so you know what to do' it was very frustrating and unhelpful. Fang nudged Iggy a little to see if he approved too. He obviously wasn't getting the message of our question, so I decided for him – after all, he was the one who wanted to go after the girl the most.

"We were just wondering… do you know if there are any more… like us." I shook my wings for emphasis. Alright, it wasn't quite telling the exact truth, I doubt I could ever do that to a white coat, no matter who they were or how trustworthy they were (and Dr Martinez was the most trustworthy white coat I was ever going to get). There were just too many wounds inflicted (mentally, psychologically and physically). So the scars made it almost impossible to do so. But that was the closest to truth I could get.

"Of course! Only natural you would want to find out more about your kind." Dr Martinez said thoughtfully.

"There is only one more that I am aware of right now, and she is in the same Sector as you guys are".

Iggy glanced over in my general direction with a triumphant look on his face.

"There could well be more in the institute, but this experiment is the only one I am aware of. However, being avian human isn't what she is known for."

"What is she known for the?" I asked hesitantly, almost afraid of the answer. What if she turned out to be a monster? Like the Erasers?

"She is known for being the very first ever natural lodestone."

"A natural what?" Asked Iggy.

"In simple terms, she is a magnet. A genetic magnet, born that way to attract metals. And nothing short of the most powerful magnet in the world. Right here in this institute."

"So… is she a machine then?" I breathed.

"In some ways, yes. A living breathing, magnet-machine."

"What's her name?" Asked Iggy quietly.

"Well, her proper industrial name is:

'NATURAL URACIL DUDUCTIONAL GRAVITATIONAL ELECTROMAGNET'

But we call her Nudge for short."

A/N Pretty cool, huh? It took me ages to come up with what NUDGE stood for, so sorry if you research it and it makes no sense – the 'U' was really hard, so I just googled chemicals starting with 'u' and I got uracil ;)

I hope you guys got why Nudge is a 'magnet-machine' otherwise, you're not proper MR fans! Jk ;)

But yeah, this chapter was basically just a little filler; the real stuff comes next :)

Thank you for all those who reviewed, they made my day!

10+ - I'll update today!

8 -I'll update tomorrow

6 - I'll update in a week

4 - I'll update in a month

2 - I'll update in a year

0 - …Never?

AnonymousAutherx