Riloquice squinted at the vivid whites and blues of the computer screen. She scrolled down the list of mutants held at the institute. Over a hundred. A lot more than they had been expecting at any rate, plans were going to have to be changed. Every name made her more determined to get these kids out, however difficult it would be.

Finally she left the computer chair and waited for the printer to process the details they would need. Monk would deal with the paperwork after that.

The situation for mutants was about to get worse; the government was calling for compulsive registration for mutants. Up till now it had been only families who didn't want their children if they were mutants, and were happy enough for them to be carted away where it wasn't their problem anymore. There were thousands of these families, but now there was going to be thousands and thousands more mutants put on the lists by families who would still want them. It was inevitable, but no one at Asilo had allowed themselves to suspect that it might come this soon. It would be this foolish optimism that would be Asilo's downfall, and it would be this belief in a better tomorrow that would pick them up time and again to fight for another day, to make a difference.

Things had to be speeded up now, there was no time for going over everything in meticulous detail, they'd just have to play it by ear.

Kate sat, bored as hell, on the floor leaning back on her bed.

'Trapped inside this cheap hotel,

Bored as hell, turning the channels round,

In my head, from my bed.'

Disconnected song lyrics from somewhere in the past came swimming up, she couldn't remember exactly what they were. She sighed heavily and slumped down even further in the way that only teenagers can, wishing she had her CDs and something to play them on. There was no music here. And there was definitely no TV either.

The only sounds they could hear in their cell were the rhythmic, muffled clumping of people walking around on the floor above them. Gecko, flicking cards from one hand to another, and Grey, clicking the little penknife he carried open and shut, open and shut, the heavy heartbeat of institute A2GOY.

Kate drew out her little claws and absently scratched at the concrete, infinitesimal specks of grey flicking out of the appearing grooves. It caught Gecko's attention. She hadn't seen the claws before.

Kate looked up as Gecko drew nearer. She wasn't sure if Gecko was still angry with her for hitting her. She wasn't sure if she herself was still angry at Gecko. Gecko's eyes met hers, questioning. Gecko tentatively took one of Kate's hands, turning it over to see the claws. Kate looked at her. She looked – impressed?

"What else can you do?" She asked. Kate decided to not be angry at Gecko. If Gecko was making an effort to be anything like friends, Kate was more than willing to forget her pride. She didn't want to be lonely on top of being stuck in this place.

"My senses are better, and I can see in the dark and stuff." Kate replied, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "What about you?"

"Well, I've already...er...shown you the poison spit thing." Gecko smiled apologetically. "And my hands can excrete a kind of liquid that lets me stick to things like walls. Handy, when I can use it." Not much use now. The drugs effectively made that power all but useless.

Kate nodded, and then asked about Spat.

Hearing his name, Spat leant over the edge of his bed, dark eyebrows raised in a question.

"Fel wants to know what your gift is." Gecko and Spat smiled at each other.

Spat turned to Kate, the smile replaced with a frown of concentration. He put his right hand out, palm facing her, and asked her to do the same. She did so expectantly, her claws now gone. Slowly, and He moved his hand forward.

Kate suddenly felt his hand on hers, fingers misaligned, palms touching. He was on the other side of the room, their hands were metres apart, and yet they were undisputedly touching. Kate could feel the warmth of his skin and their fingers intertwining slightly.

Spat gritted his teeth, it was hard work using his power under the restrictions put in place by the institute. He let his breath leave his lungs in a rush, and the connection was lost.

Kate moved her hand forward, almost expecting to feel his hand again, but it was gone. Her eyes were wide with awe. How was that possible? The smell of Grey approaching gave her a reality check. How was any of this possible? This was way above her, she was tired.

Grey ducked to get onto his bed and was fidgeting to get sat comfortably when Kate's voice cut into his thoughts.

"What's your power Grey?"

He looked up, surprised at her newfound boldness. It took a moment for her specific question to sink in. He looked blankly at her for a second. She was talking to him. She wanted to get to know him possibly. His mouth opened but no words found their way out. What should he say?

The decision was taken out of his hands when Gecko, tired of waiting for him to explain said.

"He can levitate."

"Oh, uh, cool." Was the only reply that Kate gave them, and he was quickly forgotten again.

Grey stared blankly around the room as the three of them sat together.

It seemed that they were all best of friends now. Well, all except him of course. He kicked himself mentally. Just because Fel asked him one question didn't mean that she wanted to be his friend or anything. Who would want to be his friend?

Kate sat outside the shower blocks clutching a bundle of towels and clean clothes to her chest, and listened to the spray of the shower. The splashing stopped and after a while a dripping Grey appeared, drizzles of water trickling from his sopping hair and down his face. He shivered, his clothes already soaked through, and shuffled past her in the corridor. He turned his back to her and walked back to their dorm, his bare feet slapping on the cold ground and leaving perfect footprints in his wake.

Kate pushed open the door with a foot, her arms full, and entered the misty shower room. They all got an opportunity to use the showers once a week. The rota had been devised by the institute's occupants. The guards of the institute couldn't care less if it was fair who got clean, but they did, so they made a list, and stuck to it.

She closed the door, wishing there was a lock, stripped and stood beneath the shower head. She smiled. She hated feeling dirty and couldn't wait to be refreshed by the streams of water. Her hand found the slippery button and she was hit by what felt like a bucket of ice.

Squeaking, she jumped out of the shower, spraying water droplets everywhere. It was freezing.

After a minute or two of standing hunched in the corner, shivering violently and clutching her upper arms she decided she would have to just get it over with. She forced herself to put her legs in, washing them as quickly as she could with a small, dishevelled bar of soap that refused to lather.

Finally getting the rest of her body clean, she turned the shower off and stood shaking, wrapped in a thin towel. She dressed hurriedly and scampered back to her cell.

"Fel..." Came Gecko's voice from over Kate's shoulder as she rearranged her few belongings. She responded almost immediately to a name she swore would never be hers.

"Yeah?" She said absently.

"Tomorrow morning you have to go see the medics. Routine stuff, we were asked to give you the message."

"Oh, ok. What kind of stuff?" Kate didn't like the sound of it.

"I can't remember what they do really." Said Gecko, the lie falling easily. "We all survived anyway." She added, trying to lighten the atmosphere so she could change the subject.

Monk frowned down at the paper he was reading. Mutant rights were indeed diminishing, they would have to move in soon, he just hoped that they would be ready.