CHAPTER ONE

   "Wake up S1."
   Great, another day. I want to keep sleeping. I am so sick of this facility. I wish I could leave. Yet, I keep waking up here.
   "Give me your arm." a man in a pasty white lab coat demands.
   I stay silent as I do as I'm told. While he is taking a small sample of my blood another scientist walks in making the door click.
   "Good morning Dr. Dreand. How are you doing today?"
    "Just fine. Ah, I see you are already getting the blood sample."
    "Yes, if you can take her pulse and temperature I will take this straight to the lab."
    "Of course."
    The first scientist  soon finishes and leaves with my blood. Couldn't someone have given me something to eat first. My stomach growled at me as frustrated as I was.
    "Let me guess, they haven't even given you a chance to eat some breakfast first?"
    "No sir."
    He reached within his lab coat pocket offering me a granola bar.
    "Please, take it." he said analyzing the skeptical look on my face.
   "Thank you."
   I took the granola bar from his outstretched hand. I ate it while he waited patiently. Once I finished he took my pulse and then my temperature.
    "Both are normal. You have great pulse, very strong. You'd make for a great athlete even without the additions."
    My additions; the reasons I am locked up in here. They only go along too well with my looks. My skin is practically as pale as pale can go. My eyes even shine silver. Then, there is the matter of my hair. For never being dyed it's a deep blue color.
    I look at the scientist with astonishment as he continues to ramble on.
   "What are you doing?" I blurt out.
   "What do you mean?"
    He looked extremely confused, just as much as I probably felt.
   "Well, normally no-one tells me the results of any of these tests. The only time I am ever spoken to is when they demand something. You even gave me food as well as wait for me to eat it. For the most part, I am usually ignored."
   "Doesn't that get lonely?"
   Of course it does. I refuse to admit to these emotions. No-one may have asked before but this is too close to a hurt I don't want to project. This weakness I won't have shown. Not a single person here will know how I feel.
    "No, of course not. All I need is myself."
   He nodded accepting my answer. Why would he care anyway? This is just his job. He is simply here to get paid . Not as a single one of these people care about me. Why would they? I'm too different.
   Just as Dr. Dreand was about to go he gives a last look into my direction.
   "Don't give up yet, child of the sea."
    With that he left. How could he call me that? How could he even know to call me the child of the sea? I haven't had anyone call me that since I've lived on the outside. Not since I've seen my parents. I can't remember their faces. We were all driven apart eight years ago. I was only twelve at the time. Now I am twenty years old and have no freedom.
    "S1." says a voice on the opposite side of the door.
    A woman comes in putting a tray of food on the table alone with a glass. She stares for a brief minute before looking away. I startle her by staring back. She leaves.
    "My name isn't S1."
    I repeat this another four times.
    I haven't heard my name in so long. I'm even terrified to say it now. I know that is who I am but it has truly been too long. I wonder though if I will ever hear it again.

    A week goes by with the same routine each day. I don't feel well. Not only have I been thinking nonstop about that scientist Dr. Dreand calling me my childhood nickname but have this desperate need to go swimming. I haven't gone swimming since I've seen my parents. I remember we used to live near the water. Our house was small in size but we enjoyed living there. It was secluded from the rest of the area but we were happy. Or, at least, I remember that we were.
     I snap out of my senseless daydreams as I sense someone walking down the hall. They stop right in front of my door. Dr. Dreand lets himself in with a swipe card for the door. I fight the urge to ask him about our last meeting.
    "So what are you here for? What kind of test do they want performed today? Endurance, breathing, or blood? Am I close?" I ask tension flooding the air.
     "No testing. I'm here for quite the possibility of the opposite actually."
     "What do you mean by that?" I watch him warily as he sits in a chair across from me."
     "There is something I need to discuss with you."
    "And that would be?"
    He grins confidently leaving me with the impression I am not supposed to know what to think.
     "I am getting you out of here."