Chapter Nine: Cerebral

Later that night, after it was time for lights out, I found myself having a hard time trying to sleep. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was that was keeping me from closing my eyes, or maybe my mind was too active to allow me to fall asleep. One thing I was certain of is that I didn’t want to be on bad terms with anyone here. I wasn’t aiming to make an enemy out of Dame regardless if it had been her fault or not. I couldn’t get my head around how rude she acted towards me. I couldn’t stop thinking about her abilities either. To see someone capable of creating what she did, I was in awe of it. 

We didn’t see her for the rest of the day when she left with Donald. Daisuke was content with only spending time with his brother. At least something good came from Dame’s arrival. A huge part of me was counting on Donald to steer Dame’s impression of me, but the likelihood of his success was slim to none. I was holding out for hope despite the situation. My fingers were crossed that she would run into Hector along the way, and maybe Hector would brag about me to her. I was at a loss as to why I felt the need to change her opinion. I didn’t think I was boring. Perhaps, it was the first time I received any such negative review of my abilities since everyone else was so astonished with me. Perhaps, part of me didn’t like the change. Didn’t like a disturbance in the balance I made here between myself and the other savants. Perhaps. 

Her eyes truly were infatuating, however.

I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling through what little light I had from the window nearby. I was getting restless. My brain was cluttered. What was my life right now? It was almost like I was living out a comic book story. A work of fiction. Fantasy. I was in a storyline where all of this was suppose to be only imagination. I decided that the next time someone said something couldn’t possibly happen to them, I was going to punch them. Hard. Into the next dimension. I might even decide to rip the fabrics of space and time while I was at it. Why? Simply because I was that person. I never once gave this life a thought due to the fact that it was impossible. Now, here I am. Desley Morgan whisked away to a secret facility that trains superheroes. We weren’t really heroes though. Hector didn’t want to feed an ego by calling us that. Hence, savant. 

After several more turns and frustrated sighs, I decided to get up and go to the bathroom to soothe a scrape on my elbow from the day’s earlier activities. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and slipped my feet into a pair of slippers. Considering how late it was, I wasn’t going to bother throwing on a robe over my sweatpants and shirt. Bed hair and all, I shuffled out of my room and gently closed the door. The corridor was dimly lit, providing enough light for me to not trip over anything. The commons area was nearly pitch black, however, except for the soft glow coming from the bathrooms on both sides. I hung a left at the end of the corridor and followed the glow coming from the girls’ restroom. 

My slippers met the tile, and I groggily shuffled over to the row of sinks, picking a random facet to wash my elbow under. I adjusted the knobs so that the water wasn’t too cold nor too hot to the touch. Then, I eased my elbow under the running water and found instant relief to the irritation. I left it under the facet for several minutes, allowing myself to get lost in my own thoughts again. I wanted to tell Hector about the incident in the arena and my discovery, but I knew it would result in more testing. More testing meant more monitoring. I wasn’t feeling for all of that. Still, I was impressed with myself for splitting the ten ton block. It was by accident, but at least I knew I had stronger capabilities than I initially thought. I smiled to myself. 

Amidst my mental pats on the back, I heard the turn of a page at the other end of the bathroom. I pulled my elbow out from under the facet and straightened up. Leaning over to see who was in the bathroom with me, I thought it might had been Dahlia on one of her late night antics of following vibrations around the building. I knew that Dorian liked to hide in the bathrooms whenever he had a bad dream in hopes that I would find him and invite the small child to stay with me. A number of ideas came to mind, but I was thoroughly surprised that it had been none of them. When I leaned over far enough to her face, I saw that it was Dame. Dame was sitting in the corner and reading a book in a pair of cotton shorts and her night shirt. She seemed unbothered by me, her head resting in her hand as she read silently. I observed her for a moment, wondering if she even noticed I was there considering she hadn’t insulted me yet. 

“Are you done staring yet? You’re distracting me.” Dame said without look up from her book. 

The snotty tones in her voice reminded me as to why I didn’t like her. “Yeah, my apologies. Just didn’t expect to come across someone reading in the bathroom at almost three in the morning.” 

“And?” 

“Whatever floats your boat, I guess.” I turned off the running water from the sink. 

Dame turned another page in her book. “Not that you would get it. You’d actually have to have brains to get it.” 

“I have to have brains to understand why someone is reading a book in the bathroom and not her own room?” I held my hands up. “Pardon me for not knowing bathrooms were trendy.”

“Looking both ways before you cross the road is pretty trendy, too.” Dame mocked me. 

I narrowed my eyes at her. I wanted to shoot off another remark to her in retaliation, but instead, I calmed myself and took a deep breath. “Look, I know we got off to a bad start. If you’re willing, we can start fresh. I think we just got off on the wrong foot, is all. We’ve all had a bad run of some sort, and I think that’s what makes us all alike despite our differences. Why should we be any different?” I tried to smile at her. 

Dame closed her book and slowly turned to look at me, cocking her head back. “Why did the dumbass cross the road?”

“Don’t do this.” My smile became crooked. 

“She never did because she got hit by the car since she didn’t look both ways because you’re a freakin’ moron.” Dame stood up. “And now you’re in my space, trying to relate to me through your mommy issues, which I want no part of.” 

“Hey, I wasn’t trying to offend.” 

“You think, that just because you blew up your best friend and your mom left you, we can somehow find common ground. As if you and I can be on the same level. Please.” Dame started to leave the bathroom, knocking into my shoulder as she walked past me. “You got it lucky. Your issues are practically nothing.”

I couldn’t utter a word to her. No witty comeback or remark would surface from my thoughts. Honestly, I was more disturbed by her knowing so much about me already. 

Dame stopped for a moment before she came to the exit. “And you and I are nothing alike.”

I turned around to watch her leave the bathroom, myself being by my lonesome once more. My head buzzed with the second engagement I had with the girl everyone kept hush about. It was obvious to me that she was a bitter person. Being bitter towards me wasn’t what bothered me though. How she was bitter and the words she chose were what got under my skin. I left the bathroom with moderate caution, peeping my head out first to make sure Dame was already down the girls’ corridor. I proceeded with walking past the commons area, and I tiptoed once I reached the start of the rooms. My feet didn’t make a single noise when I came close to Dame’s room. The corridor was so quiet, I didn’t want her hear me and bite my head off again for being too loud. Although it grabbed my attention, I didn’t dare investigate the light shuffling behind her door. Instead, I went straight to my room and closed the door behind me. 

Falling asleep didn’t come easy since there was an unsettling feeling in my chest from the conversation I had with Dame. Eventually, though, I was able to close my eyes and drift off into slumber. Ever since the car accident, I had the same dream reoccurring almost every night. In my dream, I was standing on a beach with red sand. The water was dark and murky, and there was always something wondrous and beautiful taking place in the sky. Thousands of colorful streams were going in waves to a structure forming in the distance. I was standing alone to watch this phenomenon take place in the dimming sky, the stars clearer than I’ve ever seen them. Then, I would hear a voice calling my name from behind me. I would turn around to see who it was, but that’s when I would wake up. 

In the morning, I nearly rolled over and fell out of my bed. I was groggy, and the noise coming from the others in the commons area was enough to make me want to jump out the window. It was too early for such racket. I dragged myself out of bed, easing my feet into my slippers again. There was a presence outside of my door, and I knew because I could feel their energy. This was probably a new ability I was slowly developing. It was unrecognizable, however. I stood up and approached my door, opening it slightly to peep outside into the corridor. There was nothing. No one. Curious, I opened my door completely. I didn’t see anyone despite the energy I felt, but my confusion left me as soon as I looked down to see Dorian staring up at me with his big, blue eyes. 

The child wouldn’t take his eyes off of me, his face brightening when our eyes met. He held his hands together, still dressed in his pajamas and his hair a mess, and rocked back and forth on his heels. I held the door open as I looked down at him, tilting my head to one side in question as to why he was waiting outside of my room. Dorian put his hands behind his back now and cocked his head in the opposite direction of mine. This was something the boy enjoyed doing. If I raised my right hand, he would raise his left. If I closed my left eye, he would close his right. It was odd, and I never quite understood why he did this, but he was nevertheless amused by performing this small antic. 

“Flowers, aye?” I lifted my eyebrow. 

Dorian smiled up at me.

“What do you want flowers for?” I asked him. 

Dorian continued to smile at me. 

“That’s not until a few days away though, bud.” 

His smile turned into a grin.

I sighed. “Okay, go get dressed. I’ll take you to go get flowers in a little bit.”

Dorian hopped in excitement and left my door, running down the corridor to the commons area. 

“But make sure you tell Hector!” I shouted to the boy. 

Hector was seated in front of his computer, mauling over the data and analysis before him. He was confused and without an answer for the first time. The man adjusted his glasses and twirled his fingers across the keyboard, sifting through the numbers and files to compare the data to previous observations. Nothing. No conclusion. No answers. What bothered him was the possibility that the numbers could be a repeat of an earlier patient. He couldn’t be for certain. 

Abby approached Hector at his computer. “Sir, have you found anything yet?”

“I’m working on it. Desley’s brain wave patterns are in perfect frequency with her psychoanalysis. It’s phenomenal, but it’s also concerning.” Hector said.

“What do you mean?”

“Desley’s results are starting to appear similar.”

Abby glanced over Hector’s shoulder at the data displayed on the computer. “Similar�"to patient 27?”

“It’s a very close match, but I can’t be sure of it without knowing the percentage of her neural capacity. I could make a guess that her neural capacity is a little over twenty percent, but that wouldn’t make any sense with her recent development in the arena.”

“The steel block? I know what you mean.” Abby clasped her hands behind her back. “Electromagnetic pulses were strong enough to disrupt the security camera feed outside of the barrier. As fascinating as it is, Hector, that’s a lot of power we’re dealing with. Those barriers are designed to handle any form of energy, and she was pushing the limits of it.” 

Hector pulled up the footage from the security cameras and watched the incident again, making careful observations of everything that was going on. Abby stood silently behind him. There was a point in the footage that Hector made a note of, something that caught his attention and heightened his fascination with his newest savant. He slowed down the frames when he knew he was coming up on it. It was hard to catch with the footage becoming disfigured, but Hector found what he was looking for as he went frame-by-frame. 

“There!” Hector stopped the footage on a particular frame and pointed at the screen. “See how the space around Desley slowly becomes more distorted the closer her hands get?”

Abby leaned in for a closer look. “Yes, what is that suppose to mean?”

“I’m not positive on this, but I would almost assume that she is bending the matter around her.” Hector looked at Abby. 

Abby’s mouth slowly began to gape open when she heard his words. Her eyes widened, and so many thoughts barreled through her mind that she wasn’t able to formulate a reply right away. The assistant’s gaze passed back and forth between Hector and the monitor. It became hard to judge Hector’s feelings on this theory, his face stoic with a hint of concern. However, his eyes were aflame with excitement behind his glasses. 

“Is that even possible?” Abby asked, breaking the silence. 

Hector looked away from the woman and pushed his glasses closer to his face. He reached for the power switch on the monitor and turned it off, getting up from his seat shortly after. Abby was waiting on an answer. Hector moved away from his assistant and started making his way towards the lab exit. 

“Hector!” Abby raised her voice at him, knowing what this information could mean. “Is that even possible?”

Hector stopped and sighed. “Anything is possible with this child. You’ve seen the other videos. So, what’s there to question?” 

“Are we going to inform the committee of this?” 

“No. We don’t know anything, and I don’t want Eden’s high rollers getting involved yet.” Hector started walking for the exit again. “Desley is only a child, Abby.” 

Abby watched Hector leave, a cold sweat accumulating at the edge of her brow. This had been a discovery for Hector, but for Abby, it meant danger for everyone in the facility. The woman tightened her hand into a fist to contain the nervous energy rising inside of her. 

“We’re not dealing with just a child, Hector.” She said to herself. “We’re dealing with a god among ants.”

Dorian held my hand as we made our way around the city of Jordan, myself being thankful that the bus ride was over. I looked down at the boy occasionally to see the bright and happy smile he carried on his face, which seemed to make others smile as well. It was probably a long while since Dorian had left the building. Hector was so protective of him. At the same time, the boy loved to wander away from me. His curiosity of everything was staggering, and it would often lead me to paranoia whenever I had to take my eyes off of him for a minute. So, he had to always hold my hand if we went anywhere. That was the rule set in place. I couldn’t blame Dorian for being curious. He practically grew up inside a lab. It’s all he really knew. I also felt in him that he just enjoyed the abundance of life outside. 

Making our way down one of the streets, I saw a movie poster of a sequel to the movie Thomas and I last watched together. There wasn’t a day where I didn’t think about him or my mother. There wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t have a knot in my stomach from missing them. I didn’t receive much news about Thomas or how he was doing in the hospital. The last update Hector gave me was that Thomas had began speaking again. No complete sentences, but he was able to say certain words. He wasn’t able to move much though, and there was very little hope that he would walk again. As far as my mother went, I never heard anything about her. 

I felt Dorian stop walking suddenly, pulling my attention away from the poster. I looked at him at the end of my arm and saw his head facing the street. Something caught his eye, and I knew it. This happened frequently, too. 

“Dorian, whatcha looking at now?” I asked him, a smile coming to my face. 

Dorian didn’t look at me but only pointed with a small finger to something in the street. I felt an odd kind of sadness coming from him with an onset of eagerness. 

“What do you mean that you want to help?” I followed his gaze across the street to a pregnant woman struggling with her groceries outside of an apartment. A man came out soon enough to assist the lady, and the two began laughing. 

Dorian tugged on my hand and looked up at me. 

“Don’t be silly, she’s fine now. See, she has someone helping her.”

The boy wasn’t convinced. He stared up at me, squeezing my hand tighter. 

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re not going across the street, buddy.” I crouched down to his level. “They’re strangers, and you can’t talk to strangers.”

Dorian narrowed his eyes back at me. 

“Yes, I’m aware you can’t talk, but you know what I mean.” 

Dorian frowned and turned his head to the ground. Some things he didn’t understand, and it was hard explaining it to him. A time before this one, we came across a dead bird in the street, and Dorian tried so hard to leave my side to look at it. Death was hard enough to explain to a child, and explaining it to a child like Dorian was even more difficult. He didn’t understand these things. At times, he refused to accept anything I said. However, I couldn’t fathom his slight obsession with the pregnant woman. I figured it was the baby bump. 

We came around to the florist shop after crossing a few busy streets. Dorian happily ran ahead of me through the door, the sweet smell of flowers gusting through my nose as I followed him inside. Once inside the shop, we were greeted with rows among rows of greenery. There were flowers, of course, but there were also small trees, infant shrubs, and other vegetation. It was never really busy with there being only a handful of others browsing the selections besides Dorian and I. Only time the shop was packed full of people was on Valentine’s Day. Running water from a miniature waterfall set could be heard nearby, giving the florist shop a peaceful and calming atmosphere among a few birds chirping above, which were owned by the florist. The air was moist and almost felt soothing to the lungs. It was full of life, and Dorian resonated with it. I could feel the happiness seeping off of him as he investigated everything in his eye line. 

I reminded Dorian that he needed to hold my hand, and the boy complied immediately. However, it didn’t stop him from dragging me around the shop to look at everything. We came across a section of exotic plants, and Dorian marveled at the colors and the unique shapes. Sometimes he would become so overjoyed that an odd squeak would escape his throat. We spent a few minutes looking at everything before I decided that we needed to pick out flowers for his mother. As we headed back to the main aisle to find the display of flowers, Dorian questioned if I would get flowers for my mother, too. I thought bout it off and on with the approaching date coming up, but I knew in my heart that my mother wouldn’t show. I didn’t want to disappoint myself. Plus, I figured that seeing Dorian excited to be reunited with his mother for a day would be enough for me. 

Dorian stopped walking again as we passed one row of plants. I looked back at him once more with the thought of hoping he didn’t spot another pregnant woman. The little boy was pointing his finger again and tugging on my hand for me to look. 

“What is it this time?” I asked him, following his gaze once more. 

I was surprised, to be honest. 

The row Dorian found himself fixated on contained a large collection of dead flowers. This was the display we were looking for. The flowers were colorless. Wilted. They drooped over their pots as their brown petals littered the floor. There was even an odd odor permeating from the display. Dorian stood with a disappointed look on his face. He sighed and glanced to the floor. 

I wiggled his hand to grab his attention. “Hey, I’m sure the owner has some other flowers around here somewhere. We’ll just have to go ask.” I tried to get Dorian to smile. 

Dorian looked at me and blinked his eyes, nodding his head. I led the boy to the front of the main aisle where the florist stood behind the counter. The older man had his nose in a magazine, and there was a hint of disturbance coming off his body. I let go of Dorian’s hand as we approached the counter, confident that he wouldn’t wander off since his attention turned to the rack of candy next to the register. The man saw us approaching and quickly straightened up. 

“Hello, what can I help you with?” The florist forced a smile. 

“Yeah, umm, we were looking for flowers to buy. I saw that you might be having issues with the other section, and I was wondering if you have another display somewhere.” I replied. 

The florist sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t really know what’s going on with my flowers. They were fine this morning. Now, they’re just all wilted.”

I raised my eyebrow. “You don’t know why?”

“Well, my initial thought may have been the treatment I was using. Maybe I had gotten a bad batch. I didn’t use it on anything else, thank goodness.”

“Yeah, thank goodness! Be replacing the whole shop.” 

“Sadly, it’s still going to cost me a pretty penny getting all of those replaced. I have another display, but I’m afraid the remaining selection isn’t impressive since everyone has bought most of them already.” The florist was disappointed to say. 

“Man, I’m sorry. I hope everything gets fixed for you somehow. Truly. Dorian loves this place to death.” 

“I’ve never seen a child so excited over flowers before.” The florist rested his head in his hands.

“It’s Visitation Day at the institute in a few days. I told him we should wait, but he wants to get flowers now. Might be a good idea considering the situation.” I gave him a weak smile. 

“Well, the other display is over here.” The older man began to leave the counter to show us where the rest of the flowers were.

I was about to follow the man, reaching for Dorian to take my hand. Unfortunately, Dorian wasn’t in front of the candy rack anymore. The nerves tingled up my neck. I glanced around me, darting my head from side-to-side for a sign of the youngest savant. The florist came around, too, to help me look for him. 

“D****t, Dorian.” I huffed. I had a feeling I knew where he was at. I marched down the main aisle, peering down each row as I went to make sure he wasn’t just wandering aimlessly. The florist searched the rows on the other side. There was always a level of panic whenever Dorian disappeared. Mainly, I was afraid of someone scooping him up. I imagined this was exactly what being a parent felt like. Honestly, I felt like a parent when it came to Dorian. I called for Dorian’s name several times as I approached the row of dead flowers. I knew this was where he had to be at. I saw the sign labeled “Flowers” above, and I immediately turned down the row with high expectations of finding Dorian. 

I received much more than that.

I was speechless. I was utterly flabbergasted at the sight I stumbled upon. The wilted flowers from earlier were now in full bloom, the row itself flourishing with green and an assortment of bright colors. Fireflies and butterflies passed back and forth between the flowers. The florist caught up with me, and his mouth gaped open. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The man was happy but so very confused at the same time. The flowers were breathtakingly beautiful with the abundance of life swarming around them. In the middle of all of the wonderment stood Dorian holding a thin, soil-filled vase that contained a flower that had the likeliness of a rose. The petals were as blue as his eyes. They were a winter time kind of blue. Dorian smiled and held the rose above his head. 

Back at the building, Dorian ran ahead of me up the stairs to the second level, holding the vase close to his chest.

“Make sure you keep that watered, bud.” I called after him, slowly making my way up the stairs myself. 

Dorian skipped down the boy’s corridor and went straight to his room. I saw Demitry’s boot hanging over the side of the couch when I reached the foot of the stairs. As I had expected, Demitry peeped his head over the couch where his eyes barely showed, and I awaited a remark. 

“Well, someone has a maternal glow about them today.” Demitry snickered. 

“Can you go one day without saying something to creep me out?” I cringed at the boy. 

“I’m just calling it as I see it.”

“Doesn’t make it any less creepy.”

Demitry turned his back to me and waved his hand around. “Yeah, because having a whole corporation’s worth of grown men packed in a lab and obsessing over little girls and boys day and night isn’t creepy. By all means though let’s make me the creepy one.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Well, anything would sound bad if you put it that way.”

I made my way around the couch and pushed the boy’s feet over before plopping myself down. Demitry had been watching music videos all day of bands that were popular ten years ago. I didn’t mind most of the music from having partially grown up on it, but Demitry got carried away with some of the songs that played. The young punk would break out into song despite being a horrendous singer, and he would flail his arms around as if he were trying to play the drums and guitar all at the same time. It was entertaining at first until he got carried away and started jerking me around by my shoulder. I responded by raising my hand to him and forcing the boy to the other side of the couch. To Demitry’s disappointment, this also caused the channel to become engrossed in static and fuzz, making it hard to watch the video that was playing. 

As Demitry settled down, the two of us trying to endure the fuzziness on the screen, we heard the door to the building open and shut with a demanding voice that stirred my nerves. Dame’s talking was nonstop, getting louder and louder as she made her way up the stairs. Takashi could be heard behind her, giving the girl compliant yet strained replies to all of her needs. Demitry and I both looked over the back of the couch to see what was going on. It was evident that Dame had gone on a shopping spree, making Takashi carry all of her shopping bags up the stairs. The poor escort had bags up and down both of his arms, a couple around his neck, and a few expensive dresses hidden away in garment bags hanging off the back of his vest with bright yellow sunglasses on his face, the tag flopped over his nose. 

I cringed again, feeling incredibly sorry for Daisuke’s brother having to put up with Dame. The confusion that came over me, however, was that Takashi didn’t seem annoyed or the least bit agitated. His compliance was gleeful. My attention turned from Takashi when I realized that Dame had been watching me as she walked by, giving me a disgusted expression. I became stone-faced, trying not to show that she was getting under my skin at all. The tension built up once more, and I was ready to fire back if she had anything rude to say. Instead, Dame turned her nose up at me and continued her way towards her room with Takashi following her. 

I rested against the back of the couch and rolled my eyes. “What’s up with that? I didn’t think being an escort meant being a servant, too.” 

Demitry cracked a smirk. “Oh? You didn’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Takashi is in love with Dame.” Demitry said in a Shakespearian tone, dramatically falling back on the couch cushions with a hand over his forehead. 

I stuck my tongue out. “Oh gah, isn’t Takashi Dahlia’s age though?”

“Older, actually.” 

I squinted my eyes together to block out the thought.

“Can’t say I blame him though. Dame’s a catch.” Demitry paused. “Well, if you’re into the dominatrix thing.”

I choked on nothing and started coughing as Demitry howled with laughter at my reaction. It wasn’t something I wanted to think about, and it ruined my image of Takashi being a protective escort. Demitry continued laughing, shaking my shoulder and patting my back. He apologized for the crude remark even though I knew he was lying through his teeth about being sincere. He made mention that he could have said worse things involving the tension between Dame and I, but he figured it’d be a remark made too soon. That and he was afraid of Dame overhearing the conversation. 

While I was trying to get my act together through Demitry’s abuse of the situation, we heard another set of footsteps coming up the stairs. I turned my head in the direction of the staircase to see Daisuke nearing the top. He seemed energetic today, his face radiating his ecstatic mood. The Japanese boy approached the back of the couch and rested his arms in the middle, turning his head between Demitry and I. I knew he was reading what we were talking about, and I cringed once more. Daisuke chirped and rubbed the back of his head, raising the other hand to fix the static on the television. 

“What’s up, Daisuke?” I wanted to switch the subject. 

“Not too much. Hector wants us to meet him down below for a test.” Daisuke replied.

I was confused. “Another one? We just had our examinations yesterday.”

Daisuke smirked. “Oh, this isn’t anything like we did before.” He motioned me to follow him. 

I left Demitry and tailed behind Daisuke with several questions building up in the back of my head. He wasn’t too specific about anything, but the smirk on the boy’s face was enough to tell me this was something new. It obviously excited Daisuke. In the elevator on the way down to the facility, Daisuke rocked back and forth on his heels and snapped his fingers. He gave a small laugh every few seconds. It made me jealous of Dahlia’s gifts because I wanted to know what was going through his head. I thought about asking him, but I had a feeling he was going to keep it a secret until we actually met with Hector. 

When the elevator doors opened, Daisuke led me around the facility. My initial thought was that we were going to go to the usual examination lab in Hector’s area, but instead, we went in the opposite direction towards a section of labs none of the savants were permitted in. In the past year, there were only a handful of labs I had been in that were meant for savant use. The remaining labs were meant for technological developments, analyzing data, and whatever other complex work Eden was involved in. It wasn’t really any of our business as children. Dahlia and Donald were the only ones occasionally allowed in these labs, and that was for the obvious reason. All I ever saw was what I could see through the windows. 

We came to one of the larger labs tucked away to the farthest side of the facility. Passing through two glass doors, which we needed permission beforehand through one of the guards posted outside, Hector immediately greeted us. He appeared to be just as excited as Daisuke. There were monitors neatly placed around the lab, which was a common theme for every other lab. However, the rest of the lab was a wide open space, two pods connected together sitting in the center of it. My curiosity grew. Hector’s focus quickly shifted from us to his assistants, setting up the final preparations for this experiment. Several other people in white, technicians maybe, separated Daisuke and I. Daisuke was taken to one pod while I was led to the other. We were asked to leave our clothes with one of them to minimize any disturbance in the machine, only being granted a thin fabric to cover our more private regions and a strip to fit around my chest and back. 

This was the downside of being a savant at the Institute of Eden. You had to leave your dignity at the door. 

I was use to it by now.

The technicians started to line my body with tiny, white, circular pads that seemingly suctioned themselves to my skin. These went up the underside of my arms, the back of my legs, four were placed about my chest, and several others aligned my spine. The final two pads were suctioned to my temples. This was something new to me. I had to take a moment to check out all of the “suction cups” being attached to me, curious as to their purpose. I started pulling at one on my arm, but I immediately stopped when one of the technicians lightly smacked my hand and waved his finger at me. Glancing around for Hector, I saw the man completing his final run through, making sure everyone knew what to do step-by-step. From the description of the process and sternest in his voice, whatever was about to go down sounded complicated. Maybe it was dangerous, too. 

“Hector?” I called to him. 

Hector passed a look towards me, muttering a few things to his assistants before leaving their side to attend mine. “Yes, Desley?”

“What is all of this? What are we doing here?” I laughed awkwardly, trying to make light of the uncomfortable position. 

The man smiled. “Excellent question, and I’m glad you asked.” Hector adjusted his glasses. “We are still having trouble coming up with your neural ratio. Without that, we can’t quite determine what you’re fully capable of doing. As I’m sure you can guess, we know how dangerous that can be.”

I nodded my head.

Hector continued. “So, what we’re doing here today is we’re going to get an idea of what your capabilities are by exploring the deepest parts of your cerebrum via cerebrum.”

“English, please.”

“You and Daisuke will be conjoined at the cerebral cortex, giving him freedom to explore your mind for hidden potentials. Hopefully, we can get some idea of where your ratio might rest at. Might even teach you a few new tricks.”

“Will I be able to explore his mind?”

“Hell no.” Daisuke shouted from the other pod. 

Hector chuckled. “Daisuke is very experienced in this experiment. Might actually be his favorite thing to do. Having said that, Daisuke is also the only savant here whose mind is strong enough to handle the stress of being inside another’s mind. The transfer process is tricky enough and places a copious amount of strain on the cerebrum and the cortex, and it only gets harder from there. Being inside a bad mind can have lasting, draining affects. So, there’s always a risk of corruption or possibly losing it altogether if someone else were to do it.”

I didn’t understand any of this like usual. “Can it possibly affect me?”

“No, you’ll be in a state of stasis while Daisuke explores around. You won’t notice a thing.” Hector smiled. 

“You might dream of me doing something weird, but that’s about it.” Daisuke spoke again. 

I was only mildly comforted by the fact that I was going to be asleep for this process. At the same time, the thought of someone else being inside my head was disturbing. I feel like my privacy was being invaded for the sake of science. Hector motioned for me to climb inside the pod, the technicians sliding open the hatch at the top. Daisuke was doing the same on the other side. I used a step ladder to reach the top of the pod then carefully placed one leg inside before the other. I was instructed to position myself on my back once I was inside, finding that the pod wasn’t as cramped as I was expecting it to be. One of the technicians reached inside and slid an oxygen mask over my face, telling me to breathe normally for the next thirty minutes. Hector had climbed the ladder to give me a thumbs up before they sealed me inside. I raised my thumb at the man, and the hatch was slid back, trapping me in darkness. 

As soon as the hatch locked in place, I could no longer hear anything except for my own heartbeat. I couldn’t hear the voices outside. I couldn’t hear them turn on their machine. I was completely unaware of anything that was going on. It was calming, too. The bottom of the pod began to slowly fill with soothing, warm water. I had figured something like this would happen given the oxygen mask. The water engulfed my body, and I closed my eyes once it began to submerge my face. I smiled at the thought of it being a spa treatment as I remained completely relaxed. After a few minutes of being in this environment, I felt like my body ceased to exist and that I became apart of this darkness. Absolute oblivion. A fetus in utero. Was I asleep? 

There was a tingling in the back of my head. 

In a sudden gasp, I was ripped out of the darkness and into a blinding light. My ear drums were blasted with distorted noises, like screeching nails on a chalk board and the squealing of tires on asphalt with a collage of faint voices beneath all of it. It made my back arch. I thought something had gone wrong during the experiment, and I was hoping Hector would open the hatch at any moment. The tingling turned into an immense amount of pressure, and I felt my head was ready to implode. I wanted this to be over already. I thought I was suppose to not feel any of this. 

It stopped. 

When I opened my eyes, I was standing in a nearly vacant playground. It was nearing sundown. Maybe sunrise? The air was cold, but I didn’t feel cold at all. In front of me was a sandbox and a little boy sitting in the middle of it. I tilted my head in confusion. Was this one of those dreams Daisuke mentioned? Laughter and applause caught my attention from a distant crowd gathered at another sandbox. The boy in the sandbox in front of me began to mold the sand together. He appeared focused and determined, stopping occasionally to glance at the other crowd. I watched him. He didn’t seem to notice I was standing there. I came closer to the sandbox and remained outside of its borders. Minutes passed, and I saw that the boy was putting together a sand castle. It was starting to look very detailed and brilliant. I was impressed with it. 

At the other sandbox, I noticed there was another child in the middle of the crowd. His sand castle was also brilliant and detailed. The other boy had a cheery smile on his face as the crowd gathered and marveled at his creation. The boy in front of me only appeared nervous, a sense of longing in his eyes every time he looked at the others. He started to work faster, racing towards the completion of his sand castle. Every glance we both had taken at the crowd resulted in more of the people leaving, which made the boy frantic. He wanted to be noticed. 

Eventually, only the other boy and his parents remained at the other sand castle. When they started to leave, the boy in front of me became sorrowful. His head hung low, and he let the tower he was working on crumble. I felt awful for him. I came around the sandbox to get closer to the boy. It was only then that I noticed his familiar features. He was a Japanese boy, a striking resemblance to Daisuke. I was amazed just as much as I was confused. The boy still paid no attention to me as he sat in the sand, tiny overalls dirty from the work he had put in on his sand castle. 

I smiled at the boy. “Hey, I like your sand castle.” 

The boy slowly turned his head to look at me, his expression becoming more vacant as if he were suddenly an empty vessel. I kept the smile on my face to try to encourage him to do the same, but he only stared at me. His eyes got wider the longer he stared, a look of fright coming over his face. The boy began breathing heavily. 

Then he screamed. 

A force jarred the pod and startled me out of my trance. Another crash caused the pod to tip off of its platform, throwing me around inside among the water. I panicked when the mask came off of my face after I collided with the wall. Awareness came back to me, and I realized I needed to get out of the pod. However, I was unsure of where the hatch was located. I could feel there was fearful tension outside. Something happened. Something had gone wrong. I couldn’t orient myself enough to force my way out of the pod, and I couldn’t find the oxygen mask to take another breath as my lungs strained. I wanted to plead for help, but there was guarantee anyone would hear me, and I didn’t want to risk drowning sooner before I could figure a way out. 

Just as I thought my only option was drowning, the side of the pod came open. The water rushed out and dragged me with it, spilling me onto the cold floor. A pair of hands hooked under my arms and pulled me away as I coughed and gasped for air. There was shouting, Hector barking orders, wires buzzing, and sparks flying about. Something had to have gone wrong to cause this kind of commotion. When I looked up to see who came to my rescue, I was shocked to see Dahlia had been the one to save me. She slipped on the water, dropping both of us on the floor. I was at a safe distance, I assumed, since she didn’t bother getting back up. Instead, amidst the alarmed assistants running about, Dahlia loomed over my face and tapped my cheek several times, my head soaking her lap. 

“Are you awake!? Are you still breathing!?” Dahlia sounded concerned. 

I kept my eyes closed since the light of the lab stung, but I nodded my head at her voice and held up a thumb. Dahlia rolled me onto my side and instructed me to stay there until I was more conscious. I was just happy to be tasting air. Dahlia kept a hand on my side as I assumed the position of a drowned rat, the puddle of water under my head rippling with every breath that escaped my mouth. I slowly opened my eyes to see what had happened to Daisuke, the technicians trying their best to pry the hatch open. 

Hector jumped inside Daisuke’s pod as soon as they managed to release the hatch. The pod had been rolled onto its side like mine had been, having fallen off its platform. Hector emerged from the pod with Daisuke’s limp body, the boy only semi-conscious when they set him down on the floor. Dahlia and I both watched as Hector went to work on him, medical personnel shining a dim light in his eyes and asking him questions. Daisuke appeared to be hardly speaking, but alive. By the puzzled look on the assistants’ faces, whatever Daisuke was saying didn’t make any sense to them. Hector glanced to Dahlia and I every few seconds. The suspense was agonizing. 

Daisuke lied still for a moment before slowly turning his head to look over at me. The group around him became silent as they observed what he was doing. The Japanese boy’s breathing became heavy, shuttering at every inhale. His eyes grew wide. I could see he was trying to move, trying to scramble away from everyone. He never took his eyes off of me. Within the next few seconds, Daisuke began screaming. It startled all of us, the screams sending chills up everyone’s spine. Daisuke was shouting incoherently at first, but his words became his native tongue then translated to English. He screamed one word over and over again. As his wailing intensified, Daisuke began to seize violently on the floor. Vomit gushed from his mouth, and the medical officer immediately turned him onto his side. 

Monster. Monster. Monster.