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*Well, the O/C contest is officially closed. The five winners are, in order of acceptance:

-CherrieKittie, with her O/C of Shadowtail Sayu

-SapphireMC with her O/C of Sapphire Brooks

-Night the Hedgehog 97 with Morgan "SJ" Jones

-SapphireMC again with her O/C of Alix North (I asked her to make this one...)

-Wolfstar with his O/C of Wolf Star

If you won the O/C contest, could you please send me a description on your O/C's past (with the exception of SapphireMC)? Thank you!

ONCE AGAIN, THE CONTEST IS CLOSED...for now.

*I am looking for beta readers, so if you want to help me with EO, then by all means, PM me

*I hope you like this chapter, and don't forget to review!

Let the story commence!

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[~(|)~]

I watch sadly as Shadowtail walks out of the heavy iron door. I wish I didn't have to lie to her about my past, with Crystal and SJ and-I almost yell out again. I have almost broken my vow, the one that I would rather take on a hundred Factions than break. the one we all made, to protectour project, Experiment was where I met them, my four best-THIS HAS GOT TO STOP! Somehow, I need to pull myself together, or else I may just end up breaking the fourth wall...maybe Shadowtail can help me.

I am momentarily surprised at how stiff my joints have become from sitting on that floor for so long, almost like I've become the Tin Man. I am also caught off guard by the walk to the door. Has it been that long since I last moved? I don't think so...but maybe, if I was three days without food without realizing it.

When I reach the door, I give it a gentle tap. "Shadowtail? You there?"

The reply comes instantaneously. Her bautiful face presses up against the small window my captors have allowed me, and I am left wondering. Something is different. Her hair looks a little more rumpled, but that's not it...then I realize: Her eyes. they're grey, almost white. What's wrong with her?! "Shadowtail? It's me, Orkiz! Your friend?" Something can't be right. I start to get even more worried, untill her eyes return to normal, and she looks at me sleepily. "Shadowtail? What's wrong?"

"Orkiz? They dragged me away to a basement room! There was blood on the floor and ceiling, and corpses on the walls, and you could smell the death in there, and i-i-it was so h-horrible! Then they chained me up righ next to a skeleton, a-and it t-t-tried to grab its bow, and then they injected me with something,and I was so MAD, so mad that they would stoop that low...and then I blacked out! I woke up, and they said to give you this, so I took it, and then they started calling me names! After that, I don't know...I think I fainted again," she said, passing a small package through the bars to me.

Well, things just went from bad to worse. The Faction uses Corruption now, apparently, on its more dangerous prisoner's guards. Corruption is a virus that alters the infected's brain, and at times when feeling an emotion rearely felt, the subject passes into a state known by the same name as the virus, where they become more agile, faster, aggressive, and much harder to kill. Occasionally, it has been used as a warfare weapon, to convert troops into near-immortal killing machines. "That's so bad! But, hey, maybe you could get someone in here to hang out with me, and we could help you with it," I tell her, ripping the box open to find a cake.

"With what?"

"That was called Corruption. You are permanently infected with a mind-altering virus, and we could help with rehab." I take a bite of cake. It's pretty good, but it still tastes somewhat sweet...too sweet...

"..." She was struck speechless as my words sunk in, then, all of a sudden, when I was getting my hopes down, she blurted, "Yeah! The Fifth Leader just told me to try and figure out if I could take care of another prisoner, anyways." This is great! Someone to talk to, and I can help Shadowtail with her Corruption. She'll never be cured, but she can at least learn to control it...

"Oh, and by the way, Orkiz, your next interrogation session is tomorrow. Please try and tell them what they want! I don't want you to die!"

CRASH. You can almost hear the sound of my spirits dropping. I guess I can figure out a plan tomorrow, though, right? I mean, what's the hurry? I'll just sleep on it...The world spins into blackness, and I hear Shadowtail yelling my name. What is going on?

[~(|)~]