Well, I'm back once more! Sorry again about the wait times; I've been preoccupied with soaking in the hot tub after work, and midterm exams for school. Also, I've been trying to sign up on AO3 to post my current stories on their site and reach an even bigger audience, but lo and behold, a bunch of stupid, fucking spammers have to ruin everyone's experience! Oh well... I can wait. In the meantime, I present you all with a new chapter!

Kira awoke to find that she could not see. Shifting her head around, she realized she had some sort of eyemask on her face. She scrunched her face to move it onto her forehead, and after doing so, noticed that she was in some sort of metallic-looking room. She noticed that she had some sort of breathing apparatus on her face, and that she was being held to a gel-padded table, that molded to her body, by some sort of synthetic cover. There appeared to be a silenced vital signs monitor right next to her.

It took a bit of effort, given that Kira was still a bit drowsy after having just woke up, but she got her arms from the strange cover. As she pulled the breathing apparatus off her face, she felt it pull a tube going down her throat, causing her to gag a bit. She pulled at it until it came out at about eighteen inches. She assumed it went down into her stomach as a means of giving her nutrients.

"...Agh..." she uttered, feeling a bit lightheaded. "...wh... where am I...?"

It was only a few moments before Kira noticed that she was naked. She had absolutely no article of clothing; it was just her and nothing more sandwiched between the cover and gel padding. With a bit of work, she pulled herself out of the table and synthetic cover and onto her feet on the floor, and removed the wireless vitals sensors from her wrists, ankles, and upper stomach.

Covering her breasts with one hand, and her crotch with the other, Kira decided to check the cabinets in the room for anything that she might be able to use. After a bit of search of the bins of medical instruments, she eventually found a plush blanket made for a Queen-size bed. She wrapped herself in it to use as a makeshift cover, and then she tried to remember what was happening before she ended up here. It was not easy, since her memory was a bit hazy...

"What was I doing before I blacked out...?" she pondered, just before standing bolt upright. "...Oh! Kai! Aster! We were trying to access the SUBCON supercomputer!"

With only the blanket to cover herself, Kira left the room to find herself in a massive hallway, with fairly dim, fluorescent lighting. She set off down the hallway, slowly since she was still disoriented. The place, wherever or whatever it was, seemed to be abandoned.

"Hello? Anyone?" Kira called out.

Curious, she decided to check around the rooms to see if she could find a way out of the building that she was in. It definitely did not look like the supercomputer laboratory they were in seemingly a few hours ago (from her perspective). Most of them were locked... but she eventually found one room that was unlocked, so she immediately went inside, but noticed it was dark.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Kira happened to make out some sort of dim, cyan lights filling the room, about a meter off of the floor. She saw several transparent capsules, possibly hundreds of them. Each one held a person laying under the same type of synthetic covers that Kira had found herself under, along with an eyemask and breathing apparatus with the feeding tube. They all appeared to also have earplugs. It seemed like they were being kept in some sort of hibernation.

"Wh-what is this...?" Kira asked. "...What's going on here...?"

She assumed that someone was performing some sort of illegal experiment or something, but she was not entirely sure.

"Kira?" came a voice from the hallway.

Kira looked back to see where it was coming from, and to her relief, she saw...

"Kai!" she said.

Kai was in very much the same condition as her; he was wearing nothing but a blanket, and was presumably nude under the only visible cover.

"Thank God we're okay!" Kira said. "Do you know where we are?"

"I was about to ask you that." Kai answered.

"Have you seen Aster anywhere?" Kira asked.

Kai shook his head. "No, haven't seen him. Sugarcube, either..."

"Well... we need to find them, and fast!" Kira said. "What if Dr. Meyers kidnapped them again?"

Kai thought for a moment. "...I'm not sure how he would go about containing them, seeing as to how he's a wanted fugitive. But..."

He looked at the blanket he was wearing.

"...we need to find some real clothes, and get out of this weird place before anything else." he finished.

Kira nodded. "You're right. Wearing nothing but a blanket feels... awkward."

With that, the two set off down the hallway, moving as quickly as they could. Sooner than later, however, they happened to come across another person. It appeared to be a custodian mopping the floor of the hallway, a bucket of cleaning solution near him. This put the two of them on the spot at first... but Kai decided to make an approach. If he would try to run, they could probably both subdue him.

"Hey..." Kai spoke up.

The janitor looked over at him.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Kai..." Kai introduced himself.

"And you are...?" the janitor said to Kira.

"...Kira." she answered.

"And I am...?" the janitor asked.

Kira and Kai looked at each other... and then they looked at the janitor's name tag, which read "Josh".

"You're Josh..." Kai said.

"Oh..." Josh said. "...and you are...?"

Kai rasped and shook his head.

"Listen, we're in a bit of a problem here." he said. "Did you see two men pass through here earlier?"

"Why? Did they have balloons?" Josh asked.

"Uh... what's that gotta do with anything?" Kira asked.

She pulled Kai off to the side for a moment.

"Is this guy for real right now?" Kira asked.

"I don't know..." Kai said. "...but I don't like it. If Dr. Meyers has done something to him... this could spell trouble for the rest of the people he could potentially kidnap. He could be brainwashed for all we know."

Kira shrugged. "That... or the dude's just a complete, frickin' retard. Or both."

"You must be from Rome!" Josh said. "I like your togas!"

Kira and Kai looked at their current "garments".

"Uh... these aren't togas." Kai said. "They're just blankets... and we're not from Rome. We're university students, and interns for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation."

"Ah! That's my favorite drink!" Josh said.

Kai looked back at Kira.

"...We need to get out of here. I don't think this guy can help us." Kai said.

"Well... what are we gonna do once we get out to find Aster and Sugarcube?" Kira asked.

"I don't know..." Kai said. "...but we'll figure something out. Besides, I'm sure they would do anything to try and escape from him, especially since he can't possibly have a Queen that can control their minds."

They looked back at Josh, who had returned to cleaning.

"If you'll pardon us, Josh..." Kira said. "...we'll just be going."

The janitor looked up at them, looking a little confused.

"Hey!" Josh said. "Who are you kids? And what are you doing in my chocolate factory?"

Kira looked back at Kai.

"...He's absolutely crazy." she said.

"We're wasting our time with him..." Kai said. "...we gotta find Aster and Sugarcube!"

So, the two continued through the maze of hallways, checking some rooms along the way. Eventually, they came across a locker room, where they found a dispenser machine that appeared to give some sort of issued clothing, according to the signs on them.

They immediately went over to the machines, and enabled the touchscreen interfaces.

"Okay, let's see... I know I'm 32-36..." Kai mumbled as he enabled the machine to dispense a pair of pants.

"I think I'm a size 'small'..." Kira said to no one in particular when selecting a top size.

Both sets of clothing looked identical. Fortunately, they also had access to undergarments, socks, and boots as well. Granted, the apparel looked very synthetic, almost like some sort of slim-fit Kevlar armor.

"Granted, this might be stealing, and it might not be what people wear in public..." Kai said, lacing up his boots. "...but it's better than nothing."

"Definitely." Kira said.

After suiting up, they left the room, and after one more stretch of corridor, they came to the front lobby of the same building that they had been in earlier. The same one with the supercomputer they found.

"So... we were just on the upper levels of the same building." Kai said. "I wonder if we can access the security footage to see what Meyers..."

"But... didn't SORIA jam the cameras?" Kira asked.

Kai clenched his fists. "Damn... you're right."

"Well, let's just hope Aster and Sugarcube are still around here somewhere!" Kira said.

"Right." Kai nodded.

He began to check around the surrounding region. He bent low to examine the floor, and rubbed his hand across the walls. Kira was a bit confused.

"Kai... what are you doing? Aren't we gonna look for them?" she asked.

"That's what I am doing." Kai responded. "Never hurts to look for clues."

He continued to look back in the direction of where the stairwell to the computer mainframe was, and sure enough...

"AH!" Kai said. "Here's something!"

He knelt down to examine some lines of depression in the floor, stroking his finger through it.

"What is it?" Kira asked.

"...Corrosion." Kai answered. "I imagine Aster or Sugarcube must've regained consciousness, and cut themselves to leave a trail of blood."

He looked off in the direction it was heading.

"...Hopefully, it doesn't lead out of the building." Kai finished.

"But... why would he leave them here?" Kira asked. "Wouldn't the staff of this place find them?"

Kai sighed. "I wish I knew what was going on here, but right now... we just need to find our mates, get our asses out of here, and tell SORIA and Sam what we found. Hopefully, we can get WY to secure this place without disclosing any confidential information we know." he said.

Kira nodded. "But I imagine it'll be tricky..."

"Yeah..." Kai remarked. "...anyways, let's quit wasting time! We gotta move!"

With that, they set off down the hallway, keeping an eye on the corroded trail in the tiles of the floor...

Well, something is definitely not right here. What could be going on? Anyways, I hope the chapters are providing enough suspense and mystery to keep you all hooked! I'll get back to you all real soon! Keep holding on...