Chapter 18

A smile. A perfect smile on a perfect face, paired with such melodious laughter of the best kind.

"Mi neniam vidis okulojn kiel via," he said, looking deeply into violet eyes.

He shifted Sam in his lap to hold her closer, and leaned back to bring them both more into the shade cast by a tree in the Outside. The sun was high but the light wasn't harsh. It was warm but it wasn't hot. There was wind but it was gentle. The grass was the softest grass he'd ever had the pleasure of sitting on.

"Ili estas malofta koloro," she replied.

He ran his fingers through her silky hair. "Ili estas belaj."

Silence. Bliss. Tranquility.

"Vi estas bela," he added.

Happiness radiating from the girl in his lap. His heart fluttering. Her warmth against his chest. The wind making the light shadows of the leaves dance over them both in the sun.

But the best thing was being this close to her, in this serene environment, where he didn't have to worry about scientists or trainers or punishments. There was no fear here. He didn't have to do anything he didn't want to and he could do anything he did want to. He wasn't held back by those accursed rings and he could speak. She could speak his language. There was no communication barrier anymore. Everything was so…perfect.

He sighed and rested his head on Sam's, never wanting to let go. Always wanting to stay with her. Always wanting her to stay with him. Always wanting to feel this happiness from her. Always wanting his life to be this way. He wanted this more than he'd ever wanted anything before. It felt like too much to ask, it felt like it was too good to be true…but it was true.

He gasped and sat up, looking himself over. There were his rings in both hands and both feet, glimmering in the darkness. No voice, again. Perfection never did last forever, did it? But the dream was peaceful. That was something to be thankful for.

It had been quite some time more since he'd felt this…thing towards, or about, or for, or whatever, Sam. At first he thought it was something weird that would go away but no. Every single day he spent with her made this thing inside more intense. More powerful. Maybe it was a new instinct. Maybe that was why he was simply incapable of controlling it—then again…he never tried. He didn't want to. He liked feeling this thing. He liked having it inside him. He never wanted this thing to go away.

Tucker seemed to have noticed this. He would often give him strange looks, like he was confused about something but was on the verge of figuring it out. He dearly hoped Tucker could tell him what was going on. It was a blessing to feel but it was torture to not know. It was even worse that someone else knew but didn't know he didn't know so never told him.

He got up and shrugged his blanket off. Sam had long ago decided against letting him keep sleeping the way he was used to, and one night threw a blanket over him, gave him a pillow, and forced him to lay down and sleep like she did. Only once had she tried to get him to sleep in the bed but it felt wrong. He wouldn't do it. She backed off and let him keep sleeping in the corner of her room, where he'd become accustomed to the tighter space. She probably didn't understand this but it also gave him a feeling of security—he wasn't completely out in the open and in a way it felt more sheltering than a bed. Now perhaps if it was under the bed, he could handle it. But for now, he much preferred the floor.

Sighing quietly, he made his way over to her. She was at peace, her chest steadily rising and falling as she slept. No scary dreams, as far as he could tell. But…there was still an air of unease. Dark as it was, he could still make out objects and the room still had depth. Nothing moved or looked out of the ordinary but somehow it felt…dangerous.

No. Perhaps that went too far. He didn't see or hear anything. So what was making his skin crawl like this? The air was chilly. Every muscle in his body was tense. His hair stood on end. It was exactly the kind of feeling he had when hearing those metal doors open, and footsteps following. It was torture, waiting for them…wondering what they would do next…hoping he would be able to endure it once more…and trying to assure himself that he would.

He gasped and shuddered. A blue gas had escaped his mouth. He hadn't once seen any English-speaker do that. It was true he'd been subject to preparation and execution of Project Level Up, but Project Level Up had failed. Was it safe to assume that despite the accident, he'd been mistaken about that failure? The slime that had stuck to him after the explosion, could it be that his skin had absorbed that through the needle marks? Had he finished the project himself simply by staying with Sam and resting, allowing his body to not only restore itself, but also allowing the mixture on his skin to alter him in some way?

He took a deep breath and shook those questions out of his head. Whatever had happened all that time ago, this clearly had a connection to it—he was on the road to becoming the final result of Project Level Up. He had special abilities that he hadn't possessed until the explosion, but instead of dwelling on what they were and why they presented themselves now of all times, he chose to focus solely on what his body was reacting to.

There was something very wrong here but Sam wasn't able to sense it even though it was intense enough to wake him up. It was almost like he was being drawn towards something but couldn't pinpoint where he was supposed to go.

Would it be wiser to wake Sam? Would she know what to do? Would she know what it was?

No. It would be best to leave her be. Nothing was happening—there. The energy in the room was beginning to concentrate itself directly below the floor. This wasn't just some unsettled feeling, there was something there. He was sensing the presence of some other being. He immediately identified it as nonhuman, something he shouldn't have been able to do.

The energy began moving, becoming more and more concentrated as it did. His eyes followed this, as though he was attempting to track it. Whatever it was, it hadn't made it into Sam's room. Yet.

…It was just behind the wall now. Something clicked inside him, some unspoken command that compelled him to violently shake Sam awake.

Protektu ŝin.

The moment she sat up he wrapped both his arms around her and squeezed.

"Ow! Dan—"

He jerked her out of bed and threw her against the door.

Forigu ŝin de ĉi tie.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

He used his body to pin her against the door while he frantically tried to turn the knob. She could yell and scream all she wanted later, for now he had to get her out of here. Without fingers, though, this door wasn't going to open.

"Stop!" she wheezed. "You're hurting me!"

If he could get this door open she would be pushed through in an instant, and out of this danger he kept sensing. Why wasn't she able to sense it? Did she really not feel threatened? Didn't she feel like she should run? She should run. If he could tell her to run…if only she knew what was going on.

The knob still wasn't turning and the foreign presence was only intensifying—it was like he was picking up a distinct signal that no human was capable of emitting. The signal was imbued with negativity. The stronger it got the more compelled he felt to go towards it.

He tried once again to speak—to scream—so he could tell her to leave this place. Perhaps she would be confused about it but she had to leave for her own safety, something he couldn't guarantee her if she remained here. His voice failed him again and all he produced was a mere huff.

Forkuri!

Finally all the energy was directly behind him. His body acted on its own accord and he stopped fiddling with the doorknob to turn around. A new being of the Outside materialized in front of him. This wasn't like the Outside animals Sam talked about. It looked generically human but it wasn't. There was an enormous difference but aside from its energy and greenish skin, he shouldn't have been able to know this. But maybe Sam would get away now that she saw what he'd been sensing.

She should've escaped. She should've run. Instead she simply sighed, seemingly in attempts to regain her composure and keep calm.

"Daniel, listen, if you had a bad dream or something, I understand. I know you're upset, and that's okay, but we don't panic and do whatever this is. Alright? Do you understand all that?"

He wanted so badly to react, to let his body take control and beat this thing down. But Sam was completely unfazed by what she was seeing. She wasn't upset in the slightest—he shouldn't be upset either. He was though, and he couldn't calm himself down no matter what. If this thing was so harmless then why did he sense its acrimony?

He focused on maintaining control of himself and slowly spread his arms out in front of Sam. His mind wasn't telling him to protect her because of how he felt, it was telling him to protect her because she was human. Subconsciously he knew he could die at the mercy of this beast, and maybe he was simply following instinct, but the thought of humans being harmed by this thing was enraging.

He took a quick look into the thing's eyes.

"Daniel, what's going on with your hair?" Sam asked behind him.

It was only because he heard his name that he was able to suppress the urge to attack it. But…it was difficult. Why was he bottling up so much aggression right now? Where did it all come from? He'd never had a violent disposition. He'd always been so gentle and cooperative. He'd never wished any harm on anyone, no matter who it was. So why now? Why did he want to take this thing out so much?

The thing wasn't even moving. It was analyzing him. It was waiting for him to make the first move. It was seeing what he would do before taking any action of its own.

Sed mi ne devus sciu ĉi tion… Do kiel mi?

A hand extended to him, but what came halfway was a metal blade conjoined by what appeared to be a stretchy rope of muscular flesh. It was nearly slow-motion, but he managed to pull Sam to the floor with him and dodge the strike. It barely grazed the door before snapping back to its proper place, already returning to a regular human hand and arm.

"Daniel!" Sam growled.

What was wrong with her? Couldn't she see what was right in front of her? Didn't she realize that this thing had nearly killed them both? Did she not see its arm turn into a blade?

Whatever the case, he chose to ignore her agitation and focus on this creature. The intent to kill was clear and this this time he had no doubts—it had to be destroyed.

A/N

Knock yourselves out translating the Esperanto if you want (I already know you do it anyway) but it's not very important.

For those who don't know, all this Esperanto came from Google Translate. I tried to make it as accurate as I could so I apologize to all who notice this language may not be entirely accurate.

I also apologize for the delayed update. Honestly I had the idea and I wanted to get to it sooner but either I was busy or when I did have the time, I had no clue how to actually write this out. Keep in mind, my main character can't speak and furthermore doesn't understand English. It's really hard to write that way. It's also not easy to keep up the pacing.

*There has been a few months' long time skip here. I can't make that clear at all since Danny doesn't know how to tell time or anything, and can't read any calendars or track dates.