Skyfall Chapter 3
I hadn't seen Misha much since the tour. Most days I ended up sitting in my room waiting for the next day to arrive. I would have been bored if I did not have endless information to search through in my head. I was becoming frustrated with Misha. I felt like he was hiding things from me, but he was still the only person I felt comfortable talking to. He had left my arm unbound, as he promised, and said that I was free to walk around the facility. He had given me a keycard that only unlocked certain doors. I sat and held it in my hands, reading the code. I was able to learn the program very easily with all my spare time, meaning I could potentially unlock any door. I figured it would be a good skill to have. I ended up going to the dining hall to retrieve my meals after Misha said he had been assigned a difficult task and wouldn't have time to bring me my food anymore. It didn't bother me that he was busy, but his vague details and distance did. Three days had passed and he hadn't yet mentioned his boss again. I hardly even saw him. Kato sat with me at lunch whenever he found me in the dining hall. He was always very friendly. I felt guilty, but I just did not trust him. I did not really trust anyone except Misha. Kato seemed to sense my discomfort and attempted to lighten the mood with small talk on most occasions, but I tended to just stay silent for most of the meals and retreat into my room at the end. I thanked him, apologized, and sometimes just smiled pathetically, but Kato did not seem to mind. Kato tried his best to make me feel comfortable. I'm not sure why he seemed to like me, but I appreciated what he was doing regardless. Either way, his presence seemed to keep Wes and Sheila away, which was enough for me to keep eating with him. "Jay," Kato looked up from his meal one day. "I'd like to take you outside." He said with a grin. My ears were conflicted, one laid flat and the other perked up. "I...are you sure that's allowed?" I asked, my heart racing at the idea, both with excitement and fear. "Sure it's allowed! Let's go!" He laughed, jumping up. "Kato," I looked away, "I really don't think it's a good idea...I- He cut me off by grabbing my arm. I instinctively snarled at him and ripped away, jumping out of my chair and clutching his throat with my paw...hand...whatever it was. He let go and became wide-eyed, "Jay!" He squeaked, "Please, I'm sorry, I just..." I let him go, feeling my face and muscles relax. I backed away. Everyone in the dining hall stared at us. I began to feel weak. "I'm so sorry..." I muttered, "You...you scared me." My legs began to shake. Kato reached his hand out slowly, "It's ok man, just breathe," He said calmly, rubbing his throat with his hand. I thought I saw a drop of blood. "I'm not hurt, and neither are you. It's all fine." He whispered, slowly placing his hand on my shoulder. I inhaled deeply. A loud noise came from the other side of the room, a man yelling. He was wearing all black armor...A guard. Shit. He came running towards us, "YOU TWO!" He shouted, "Step away from each other NOW!" We both did as we were told, Kato whispered to me, "Behave, and nothing bad will happen." before the guard came up to us. "KATO!" He shouted through his helmet, "You? Really? Get upstairs and start filling out paperwork." "Sir, there's nothing to report, I'm fine." Kato said calmly, removing his hand from his throat, "Small scratch, I spooked the guy. It's fine." "You know the rules, Kato. Get out of here and go get yourself looked at by a damn doctor." I stood frozen in place, heart racing, avoiding eye contact, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. "As for you, dog, come with me." The guard clutched my arm tightly. "Of course, sir." I said, looking to the floor, "You don't have to drag me, sir, I won't harm you." He clutched tighter and turned his black helmet towards me, "Really?" I heard what sounded like a laugh come from inside, "I don't think so, dog." He said while pulling out two black bonds from his pocket. No... not those. I tensed up and slowed my pace. He must have thought I was disobeying, but I was just afraid. He turned and slammed me against the wall, smashing my face into it, a hot pain shot through my nose and I could smell the strong scent of blood. It took everything I had to not strike out at him. I behaved, just as Kato had told me to. The guard swiftly slipped the shackles on my wrist, and some sort of charged cord shot between the two bonds. "Now shut your damn mouth and walk." He spat. I obeyed. I was brought to a small cell, smaller than my previous room, and it was barred like some sort of cage. I was tossed inside and the metal door locked behind me. I sank down, eyeing the bonds that stuck to my wrists tightly. I felt horrible. Why did I ever leave my room? The adrenaline rush had exhausted me. I fell asleep curled up on the floor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I woke up to a familiar voice and a hand on my shoulder, "Jay?" It echoed. "Wake up, Jay. Everything's fine." I opened my eyes to see Misha knelt down next to me, softly stroking my neck, "Heyyy," He welcomed me into the waking world with his soothing voice, "You feeling okay?" He asked as he removed the bonds from my arms. I sat up slowly and fought back the feeling of shame. I attempted to speak, "I feel okay. I am so sorry." I began to shake, "I did not want to hurt anyone! I am so sorry!" "I know, I know. But it's okay. The boss isn't mad. He just thinks you're ready to get to work. You need a way to release all the pent up energy you have, that's all." His voice reassured me. I felt so safe with Misha here. Any previous frustrations melted away with his soft smile. "Thank you, Misha." I sighed, standing up. "Is Kato going to be alright?" "Of course! You didn't even harm him. They just sent him to have blood work done to ensure you aren't carrying any flesh eating diseases. I'll need to take some of your blood, too, but not right now." Misha smirked at me. "He's fine. I tested the blood myself. Now let's go; you've got a new place!" We walked towards the main entrance, up the spiral stairs, and through a door to the right of the information desk. I noticed Kato wasn't sitting behind the desk today, he must have recovered from whatever injury he had. Through the door, we entered an elevator. The elevator took us up for what seemed like forever. When we arrived at our floor, the door opened and revealed another hallway filled with doors on either side. We stopped at number 257. Misha unlocked the door with a key that wasn't electronic, to my surprise, and led me inside. He placed the key back inside an envelope, and handed it to me. The envelope contained some general information about the facilities, a map, and another key. I peered inside the room. The sight was breathtaking. The entire front half of the room was glass. I hadn't noticed before, but the building sat nestled in what must have been a small mountain or large hill. My room was completely surrounded by earth except for the part where the window jut out of the side. I looked down to see the windows of the main entrance way below us. I looked up to take in the view outside. I could see the mountains perfectly. I saw faint clouds dancing around the peaks of them, and sunlight flickering down onto the trees that surrounded it. "Well?" Misha's voice startled me. I jumped, and he laughed, "I take it you like it." He grinned. I nodded, I couldn't speak. After my last room, I hadn't expected THIS. "Bathroom's over there." Misha pointed to a small room off to the side. "Take your towels and laundry down to the gym and they'll give you a new supply." He explained, sitting down on the couch that was placed on the glass floor. I joined him. "This is really amazing." I said, imaging how much money it would have cost to have a view anything close to this on my home planet...but then again, they seemed to have more mountains here. I looked behind us to see that the bed was on the entrance wall, but facing this view. I was okay with that. "So, Jay." Misha leaned forward, "Would you like to meet my boss now?" My heart sank. That was the LAST thing that I wanted to do. I sighed. I suppose I should have known there was a catch for this beautiful place. After all, he had warned me. "Of course, Misha." We entered the main hall again and he led me through the hallways, we twisted and turned. I had no idea where we were anymore, I was too nervous to pay attention. Finally, we arrived. "Don't be nervous, Jay." Misha said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I continued to look forward. Misha walked up to the side of the door and pressed a button. "Misha and two-fifty-seven here, sir." Misha spoke into the button. Two-fifty-seven. Was that my name, now? The giant, metal door we stood in front of remained still for a few moments before shuddering and slowly rising up. Two more doors after the first did the same thing. This place was very secure. We entered a large, open room that was very dark. There were several different types of workstations, some had computers and others had some kind of vehicles that looked like they were being repaired or built. There were a lot of people moving around. None of them even seemed to notice Misha and I. "This is the tech center." Misha explained, pointing to a large, circular machine in the middle of the room, "That's what controls the building's power supply." I stared at the computer in the center. That was the main supply...if I could touch it, I could learn all their secrets. "Come on," Misha ushered me along, interrupting my observations of the room. This whole place felt dark and cold. Bright blue lights and wires illuminating it in a way that reminded me of home. I shivered as I looked over my shoulder at the main supply once again. "Misha! You made it." I jumped at the voice. "I was wondering when you two would make it down here." My eyes studied him carefully. He was large, but did not have as much muscle density as many of the people I saw here. He was lean and wore a slick, black uniform that had strange red symbols around the collar of the shirt. His eyes were dark, and with the poor lighting I couldn't even see what color they were. He looked at me, his narrow face breaking into a smile. "Pleasure to meet you. Misha tells me they've been calling you Jay." The man held out a hand, "I am Doctor Hale." I carefully reached my hand out. Something about him felt...unnerving, and I did not want him to touch me. I was aware that humans did not have the powers I had...but I was still afraid. He grasped my hand in his, and the second he touched me I froze. I felt as if a bolt of electricity had been sent through my body. My eyes were wide. I swallowed hard as I stared into the black pits that were his eyes. He was probing me for information. I panicked. I jerked my hand away from him and let out an involuntary snarl, my hair bristling. To my surprise, he backed off. "It's alright." Dr. Hale laughed, "I wasn't going to harm you. Though, I probably should have warned you that I have a tendency to do that." I panted, feeling faint, angry, and scared. "What DID you do?" I said in a voice louder than I expected. "I channel a large amount of energy through my body at all times," He explained, "I use this to connect with people upon first meeting them. Because your energy did not react in a hostile way towards mine, it tells me that you're not a threat." I narrowed my eyes. Finally you guys figure this out...You felt like a pretty solid threat, though.
"So it's energy work, then?" I asked, looking down at the hand he had touched. "Is that a common thing here?" I said, attempting to hide my annoyance. Dr. Hale raised an eyebrow, "Here?" I went silent, unsure of how to explain my statement, when Misha saved me. "He has amnesia as far as we can tell, sir. He might be from Eldon." Dr. Hale nodded, "Ah, well no, it isn't a common thing here in the laboratory, but in Eldon and many other villages yes, energy work, or magic, is common." He cast his dark eyes on me once again, "Are you a magic user?" I shook my head, "No, well...not that I can remember. Something about energy feels natural to me, yes, but I have not really practiced it." My voice was quiet as I lied. "Well, Jay, if you're interested, you could enroll in a training program here. We don't train in energy specifically, but I'm sure someone would be willing to show you what they know." Dr. Hale gestured across the room towards a man who was staring at a floating block of metal in front of him, "Reck over there trains new recruits every year." "Recruits for what, exactly?" I asked. "We always need new employees for various tasks. This job carries an occupational hazard. Technology is frowned upon, you know." Dr. Hale said. I gave him a confused look. So this place is nearly opposite from my home. Interesting. "Amnesia, Hale." Misha reminded him, looking towards me. "Jay, you most likely come from Eldon, where nearly the entire town practices magic. Magic is what drives most of the occurrences in town, from transportation to running shops. The reason they do not like technology is because when you use magic, you invest a part of yourself into it and use your own will to create something. It is hard work but well worth it. Technology offers a simple, lazy way to go about things in their eyes. They think it is wrong to achieve things that easily. That much power for free creates evil..." Misha sighed. "They are sometimes right, I'm afraid." Dr. Hale chimed in. "This is why we need people like you, Jay. We need a way to protect our resources and data. If it got into the wrong hands..." This all sounded familiar. I closed my eyes briefly and muttered "Right. I understand." "Good!" Dr. Hale grinned, "We would like to start your training tomorrow. However, first we need you to undergo a physical exam. Misha will take care of this. I believe all your serious wounds have healed, but I still want Misha to give you the okay before we begin your basic training. Does this sound okay?" Misha and Dr. Hale both stared at me. I was afraid to accept...but I felt like it was my only option at this point. "Yes. That sounds acceptable." I avoided eye contact as Dr. Hale grinned again. "Wonderful! Misha, why don't you go do his physical? Tomorrow at dawn he will begin training with Kato." He said. At least Kato would be training me...Misha nodded, "Sure thing, sir! Come on, Jay, let's go." He said, leading me out of the dark tech center.