Alex tried to open his eyes but succeeded with only one. He could barely see for the room no lights save for the crack under the door. However, he knew that bars surrounded him. A cage. A very small cage. Only long enough for his legs to stretch out and only tall enough for him to sit up straight. Alex breathed in deep. Wide open spaces, wide-open spaces, he thought. Man, I hate small places, man, I hate small places.

He rolled his head to the side and a moan escaped his lips. His neck burned, but then again so did his head, and arms and legs, and back, and other places he did not even know he could hurt in. He raised a hand up to wipe the blood from his mouth, but it could not reach the distance. Alex looked down to see thick handcuffs around his wrists attached to the bars of the cell. Chains surrounded his ankles as well.

"Wide open spaces," Alex mumbled again. He flinched at the annoying dripping sound that echoed off in a corner somewhere. "Somebody get me out of here," he begged the darkness.

Light spilled across the floor as the large metal door edged open. Red fingernails slid around the edge of the door. Alex knew those fingers, they belonged to Karma. He groaned as Karma shut the door behind her. The bulb beside the door blinked on with a click. A luminous smile stretched across her face and she walked towards the cage like a model.

"Hello Alex. Glad to see me?" She asked.

"Where am I?" His voice seemed quiet as it tried to make it through his swollen lips.

Karma bent down next to the cage and slid her hands through the bars onto his leg. "The basement of The Mercury room," she said and ran a finger down his cheek. The open skin burned at the touch of her flesh and Alex shuddered.

"What am I doing here?" He croaked. "I mean, what happened?"

Karma laughed. It floated out like water over pebbles in a stream. She glided her finger under his chin, but he still did not look at her. He could not have if he had wanted to, his neck hurt too much. "You've heard of Dr. Miller, haven't you?"

Alex nodded slightly. "Yeah, seen him on TV."

"Would you like to guess what Paul did?" Karma asked. She continued to glide a long nail under his chin and along his neck.

Alex tried to push her hand away but his hand would not reach so he moved his head to the side.

"Aw, Alex," Karma whined. "Don't be that way. Don't you want to guess?"

Alex continued to stare straight ahead.

"Well, you're no fun," she complained.

"Paul's sold us all out to him," Alex said. "For experiments." He looked at her for the first time. The slight movement sent sharp waves of pain through his neck. "He'll do anything to win, won't he Karma?"

"Oooo, aren't you the smart one?" She smiled her perfect smile.

"But he didn't get everyone did he." Alex said.

Karmas smiled faded and she stood, turning from him for a moment. "No, he didn't." She turned back around and sunk down next to him again. "But he will. He's got power over your friends now. Soon, he'll have them all in the lab, under a microscope."

Alex looked away again and shivered in the darkness. "Then, why am I here and not in the lab?"

Karma smiled again and took hold of his chin to shake it. "Now we're getting to the good questions." She said. "Why do you think you are here?"

Alex thought for a moment. The last year slipped by him through his mind. "Well, let's go down the list of things I did to tick y'all off personally. First and foremost, I helped Dakota escape, I turned you down, and my sarcastic comments have driven you to the point of insanity." He looked at her again. "Did I miss anything?"

"No, that about summed it up." Karma stood and opened the cell door with a key that hung around her neck. She shut the door behind her and strattled Alex's legs. Her long fingernails pushed away a brown strand of hair that had fallen on his forehead.
Alex could not read her expression. He had never seen it before on her face. He tried to read her mind but for some reason could not. "Why can't I use my powers?" Alex asked.

Karma touched his temple, but her fingers did not touch the skin. A tiny circular disk had been attached there. "This disk controls your powers. Paul can turn them on and off whenever he wants too. If he wishes, you can be as helpless as a vermin."

A wave of heat passed over Alex's body and he suddenly had a hard time breathing. The walls of the cage pressed in closer. I can't get out, he thought. I can't get out. "Can't get out," he said aloud.

"What?" Karma asked.

"Why...why are you doing this? Why..."Darkness fell on him.