Just some things you oughta know.. (...) means that someone's thinking...Typically this tends to be Sydney.

I'm going to respond to some of your reviews at the end of the chapter.

Thank you all SO much for reviewing. Pretender fans are loyal ones...and I hope I don't disappoint.

Don't forget to review!!

-The Blind Apprentice

Chapter Two:

Elizabeth walked with Bryan out of the Infirmary and down a dark hallway. This place was scary, it didn't have any windows and the walls were dark and the floor was a dark shiny color. The lights were flat-paneled florescent lights that were at 45 degree angles at all four corners of the hallway. There was no sound, the space was quiet, it was an almost unhealthy quiet. Not even the sound of exhaust fans could be heard, or the sound of Bryan's footsteps.

Bryan took her down the hallway for a while then turned a knob on a door. This door didn't look different from any other door but inside the room, she thought she had never seen so many colors.

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The room itself was just as bland as the corridor had been, with blue industrial-style carpet. The walls were a dark blue-grey color with florescent lights in the ceiling. In the room however, were a multitude of things.

There were mats on the floor, one had a scene of a town from an aerial view with roads and houses all drawn in cartoon with bright colors. In the middle of that mat was a plastic tub with cars in it. On another mat, was a hop scotch game done in vibrant colors. In a tub against the wall, were an assortment of balls and soft toys. In another tub against the wall were blocks. These were standard one-inch wooden blocks with colored letters and numbers on them. In the final tub was an assortment of legos, with a table for building legos in the center of the room with three brightly colored plastic chairs sitting around the table. The only unusual thing in this room was a mirror against one wall.

Elizabeth gawked at the sight of so many toys. She didn't know what to play with first! She looked up at Bryan who was still holding her hand. "Well, go on!" he gave her a nudge in the direction of the toys.

As the two had entered the Playroom, all of the lights and security cameras had turned on. These were not there to prevent people from stealing, instead they were for observation.

Bryan left her to the toys and returned a few moments later, to find her playing with the legos on the lego table. She looked up as he entered the room with a brightly colored yellow bowl with oatmeal in it. He sat the oatmeal and a spoon down on the table, and then left the room again. The girl pulled the bowl toward her and started to eat.

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Once she had finished, Bryan returned and took the bowl from her. He was under strict orders not to speak to her, so when she asked him where her mommy and daddy were, he ignored her and left the room with the empty bowl. She looked hurt, but once again turned to the toys.

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Four hours later, she had built a castle with the legos, driven the cars around on the mat, played hop scotch for about twenty minutes, and was bouncing a ball when the door opened.

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Dr. Sydney Greene had observed the child playing for the last forty-five minutes, taking down everything he observed on a yellow legal pad.

He decided that the child started to look bored, so he decided to make his entrance.

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Before he had entered the observation room, he looked over the notes her 'teacher' had made while she had been at school.

"…She shows intelligence not usual for the typical four-year-old… She shows more of an aptitude for drawing; however has the capacity to count to fifty at such an early age… Her vision impairment doesn't seem to hinder her understanding of basic colors, shapes, and numbers… Her mild manner and her eagerness to please, in my opinion makes her a candidate for consideration to the Pretender Project… In conclusion, I recommend that Dr. Greene work with her, due to his history involving children with such impairments. I also agree with her earlier teachers that she should learn Braille rather then trying to use her vision for reading. It seems to be too much of a strain for her to read with her vision. I believe that her learning of Braille would facilitate for ease of her learning how to read and understand mathematics..."

"…She shows difficulty balancing while standing, walking and running... According to her parents, teaching her how to walk was a matter of tricking her mind into thinking that she was holding her parents' hands. Spoons were used to get her to walk… I recommend teaching her to use her kinesthetic abilities to balance... It is believed that her vision is hindering her ability to balance herself..."

Sydney thought about that. (Would the lack of vision make things easier for her? No! That is something Raines would do…not you! But still… Ah well, I think it's time to introduce myself…)

Author's Note: Thank you all SO much for your kind reviews. I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. The next two are short as well, but chapter Six so far is seven pages.

To one of my reviewers. You made me laugh, my apologies for giving you nightmares. (Whispers in their ear) If you'd be interested to know, it kinda scared me too.

Thank you all so much again, I can't thank you enough! Please offer criticism, suggestions, whatever you wish. And all of your suggestions and ideas for titles are greatly appreciated and you've got me thinking. I'll hopefully have a title in the next couple of days.

I just got home from school for Spring Break and have a paper and a model to build for classes next week, so I'll upload again hopefully in a few days. But thank you again!

-The Blind Apprentice