Okay… my first chapter didn't do so well review-wise, but I'm going to carry on anyway. Here's Chapter Two.

My dad left after that, so I was alone with the files. Unable to hide my curiosity any longer, I ripped open the folder and pulled out a thick pile of papers.

I'd read a lot of new refugees' files before, so I knew how they were formatted, and this one looked pretty much the first page just had his number: Refugee 29945. After that was the second page, the one with all the physical information, which I scanned quickly. Gender: Male (I already knew that), Name: Unknown, Age: Unknown but around 17, Height: 5' 8", Weight: 124, Life Form Type: Unknown but has human appearance, Hair Color: Brown, Eye Color: Hazel, DOB: Unknown, Place of Birth: Unknown, Guardian(s): Unknown, Place of Residence: Unknown, Date Found: 7/23/12.

Wow, I've never seen that many unknowns before, I thought. Usually refugees get debriefed the instant they get here. There's normally still a few unknowns until we run at least a couple of tests, but seven? The biggest I can ever remember is three. This was over twice that. That was a bit weird…

I pushed that thought away for a minute and turned to the next page. It as the description of how they found him. This was always my favorite page, definitely the most interesting. This account was written by Dr. Archie Hooper, one of our top clearance personnel, the one who found him, probably. I started to read.

On the night of July 23rd, 2012, I received a message from the Head of the Los Angeles Police Department informing me that they had discovered a boy about seventeen years old wandering the streets, and when they tried to talk to him he didn't respond, and then when they tried to grab him and take him into custody, but they found they couldn't touch him. We dispatched six personnel immediately, and they were able to get him back to ASSULF Headquarters without physical contact.

The report ended there, but I was still confused. What the heck was this? They couldn't touch him. What did that mean? Why couldn't they? And sure, this was weird, but how was it so much different from anything we'd seen before? None of this added up. And I should know. After science and P.E., math is my best subject.

I scanned the rest of the papers, but none of it was really very informative. Actually, it wasn't informative at all.

Time to go get more answers. From a much better source.

~XXX~

I slowly made my way through the labyrinth of concrete corridors, looking for my dad. I didn't get out of Room 200786 very much, so I had some trouble navigating my way through. But finally, after nearly an hour of wrong turns and dead ends, I opened the door to Room 456001 and found him leaning over Dr. Amélie Swan's shoulder, both of their eyes fixed on the computer screen in front of her.

Room 456001 looked very similar and yet very different from Room 200786. The white concrete walls and floor looked a twin to the room I'd come from, but this one's walls were covered in computer screens, not lab equipment.

"Hey Daddy," I said, my voice sounding extra loud in this room.

They both started and whirled around when I spoke.

"Oh, hello Mikayla," my dad said. "You need something?"

I nodded. "I want to find out more about the new refugee," I said. "That folder didn't really give me any information."

Dr. Amélie frowned at me. "I'm not sure if your status if high enough-"

"Amélie, she's been working here for four years," my dad reminded her. "In fact, just the other day Dr. Watson was talking to me about promoting her."

"Really?" I said. A promotion? That would be… awesome!

She pursed her lips, then sighed tiredly and said, "alright then." She turned back to her computer and clicked on a file, which immediately popped open. She started taking with her back still to me. "One of the things that's so unusual about this refugee is that since he was delivered here about three hours ago, he hasn't said a word."

"He hasn't?" I said, surprised. "That's not normal, is it?"

Dr. Amélie shook her head emphatically. "Not as long as I've worked here. The new refugees always talk a lot, admittedly not always in English, but still they are rather chatty. And even the ones that aren't always answer our questions. And it's not just that he hasn't talked, either. Since he got here, he hasn't moved or shown any signs of life at all. He just sits in the corner of the room, his eyes closed, not moving a muscle."

I frowned. "Is he even still alive?"

She nodded. "I think so. But he isn't keen to show it."
"But when they found him, he was walking around, wasn't he? And they were able to bring him here, he was moving then, right?"

"That's the funny part, I don't know how that all works out. He was walking around, but just staring straight ahead. He was moving, but more like a zombie. He still wasn't showing any signs of life. He didn't talk then either."

This still didn't add up. "Have you run any tests yet?"
"Not yet. We're waiting for him to move, talk, do something."

I nodded. But something else was still bothering me. "And in the report it said no one could touch him. What does that mean?"

She pursed her lips again. "They can touch him. It's not impossible to do so. Bu so far everyone who has touched him has… died."

I staggered back. "Died? What… how?"

"Electrocuted is our best guess. We're not positive though. I don't know why that's happening… that's expressly why they wanted us to bring him here."

I could feel a lump rising in my throat. "How… how many people have… ddd… died?"

She bowed her head reverently. "Six."

"Six? But that's crazy! He's dangerous, that's what he is!" I exclaimed.

She nodded sadly. "That he is."

"Where did you out him?" I asked, my voice shaking now.

"He's down in Sublevel Eight with guards outside and video cameras inside," she said.

Sublevel Eight. We only have nine sublevels, and they're all for the most dangerous or interesting life forms. If he was down that deep… Either that, or the first seven were full.

I gestured to the computers all around us. "If there are cameras down there, then can you show him to me on these screens?"

She nodded. "Yes, of course."

"Can I see him?" I asked.

She nodded again, then typed in a code and the screen on the wall above her came to life. It showed the interior of a dark stone room that kind of looked like a big prison cell. It was completely empty, except for the figure of boy leaning against one wall. It was so dark in the room that I couldn't see the boy really, except for his faint outline.

"Okay," I said quietly. "Okay." I couldn't think of anything else to say.

~XXX~

"Good morning daddy, good morning Dr. Amélie," I said, swinging open the door of Room 456001 and entering.

"Good morning Mikayla," they chorused back.

"Any progress on the new refugee?" I asked. It had been a week since he'd been brought here, and nothing had happened yet. He still hadn't talked, moved, or done anything at all. I knew the doctors were getting seriously concerned by now.

"No, not yet," my dad said. "Leave us alone, Mikayla. I'm sure you have chores to do."

He was right, of course. But I didn't want to do them. It wasn't really fair, I was the one who'd gotten us here in the first place, with my ridiculously high science IQ. And now I was the one filing papers.

I was so lost in my angry thoughts that I didn't even realize where I was going until I got there and looked up, shocked. Instead of going up the stairs to Room 100007, where I got my assignments, my feet had taken me down the stairs, all the way down to Sublevel Eight.

I was now standing in an extremely drafty hallway, facing a door with the words Highest Clearance Personnel Only in big black letters. Strangely enough, there were no guards around. None at all.

An idea suddenly occurred to me. What if the door was unlocked? Could i just turn the knob and go in? I could see the new refugee up close.

He's killed six people already, the annoying voice in my head reminded me.

But I ignored it. I didn't really care right now. I was feeling reckless, and I was going to do it. I grabbed the knob and started to turn it, praying the door was unlocked. I could feel it started to give way… it was unlocked! I turned it more and started to push on the door….

Cliffie! Mwhahahaha! (OMG, now I feel like my brother Gabe). The more reviews I get on this one, the faster I'll post Chapter 3! So review.