Nadia was kept in the infirmary for only an hour before she was taken back to the community housing to return to the routine she had been given. Nadia was still out of it, near the point of unconsciousness, when she was returned to her bed. Rebecca and the other girls were at the training session still which made Nadia question how long she had been in the room. For the next few hours, well after dinner, Nadia was in alternating stages of consciousness. She vaguely remembered Rebecca watching over her and a few of the other girls hovering off in the distance. At one point Rebecca was offering food in front of Nadia's face, but without energy, nor the will to lift her head Rebecca gave up on that. The night pa.s.sed in rounds of pain and sharp breathing. The nanites were taking effect, and the first time they went to work was tense and painful. They were hastening the recovery time for Nadia but to grow skin and to mend damaged muscles was a long and agonizing process.

The morning dawned with no less pain, but Rebecca pulled Nadia out of the bed and dragged her limp body to the breakfast table. After dropping her off Rebecca went off returning with two trays of food. It was a bran m.u.f.fin, again, and a gla.s.s of milk. Rebecca shoved the food in front of Nadia, forcing her to start eating. Nadia attempted to bring the m.u.f.fin to her mouth but was unable to move her arms very much. Rebecca ended up feeding her and got a straw for Nadia to drink through so she could get the nutrients from the milk.

Not much was said on Rebecca's part. Seemingly to know what she was going through Rebecca made no snarky comments, nor happy smiles. Nadia was able to regain some muscle movement after breakfast and again Rebecca pulled her to cla.s.s where she was unable to do much of anything besides look at the teacher. Surprisingly the teacher paid her no heed, as if this was usual and required no work on Nadia's behalf. The lunch break pa.s.sed about the same way that the breakfast meal did, but with more of Nadia feeding herself for part of the time.

"I know that you are feeling quiet horrible at the time, and trust me, if I didn't have to say this I wouldn't, but, you need to pull it together for training and check-in today. They are looking for you to be strong at this time and overcome the intense pain and exhaustion caused by the nanites." Rebecca did seem sincere about the fact that what she said was not helping the matter. Nadia took a minute to put her thoughts together before responding.

"Why should I care what they think of me? I sure as h.e.l.l can't seem to put a shred of understanding together about the whole thing, so again I ask, why the h.e.l.l should I care?" Nadia was not censoring her language at the moment and Rebecca glanced around so as to see if anyone heard Nadia's comment. Luckily no one did. Rebecca turned back to Nadia and gave her one of her serious, don't mess with me looks that she only gives Nadia when what she says is extremely important and concerns the future.

"You should care because the better you do in satisfying them the better they will treat you, giving you more freedom and less boundaries. By gaining their favor you gain their trust. With that we can find a way out, a way to stop this before it can get any farther." What Rebecca was saying was important and Nadia took what she said to heart.

Though she was in excruciating pain Nadia pushed through the training session, if only less polished and slower to finish. Dinner included Nadia bringing her face to the tray and shoveling in, using up the last of her strength. Once dinner was complete Nadia all but collapsed on the bed and was unwilling to get up. Rebecca launched herself to the top with Nadia and they held a mock conversation to keep the warden and other prying eyes away from the true meaning of the conversation. In between sentences they would whisper a real question, or response. Rebecca a.s.sessed Nadia's condition and the information she had obtained from Jack. Rebecca was frightened for what Jack was planning, since Nadia was near to pa.s.sing out when he told her.

"So, school was so boring today. Did you happen to get when this was all going to happen? I wish that the teacher would have given us more time on the test."

"I know, I mean, I was practically falling asleep in cla.s.s. Not really, if I had to guess I would say not very long from now. I needed more time, I think I failed it." The conversation continued on until eight, when Nadia was overtaken with exhaustion and pa.s.sed out for the night. The following week became easier and easier as the days wore on, the muscles were able to loosen up and to strengthen from constant use. The days went back to there usual routine and Rebecca and Nadia did not talk much about the impending procedure, or anything dealing with Jack or the torture room.

For the most part Nadia regained her sense of self and everything was fine. Then, nearly a week and a half later, a certain unwanted guest arrived and went straight to the warden. Jack made it a point to stay hidden until reaching the warden, wanting to surprise the members of groups seven. The warden and Jack whispered for about five minutes before the warden walked over to the microphone system and turned it on. There was a screech as it went on, causing everyone to grow silent in antic.i.p.ation. The warden cleared his throat before beginning.

"Excuse me; can I have everybody's attention? Thanks, alright, we have an announcement for group seven. Please meet me over by the fence; it is time for your first procedure. Everyone give them a round of applause." The people in the room hesitated, knowing that this was in no way a reward. Most of them already knew what was going to happen. Rebecca's face went white, but she had to recover quickly because her cover personality would have been happy. She put on a happy face and smiled to everyone around her.

Even though the kids in the community housing development knew that the people who left today would come back changed they were forced to clap for them and offer words of congratulation. Nadia scowled, she did not want to go. This was what Jack had been talking to her about as she lay on the threshold of consciousness. There was no way out of it, she had to go, or risk losing favor or trust, two things she needed desperately if she had any hope of escaping. Nadia and Rebecca walked side by side, walking with a purposeful slowness to stall the imminent end to their natural state as humans.

"Come on ladies we don't have all day. Mr. Jack is on a bit of a time frame. Hurry up now." The warden did not seem to get the vibe of the room and what's worse he was hastening their destruction. Nadia and Rebecca were forced to comply and arrived third, before the last girl, who arrived only seconds later.

"Alright, now that we are all here let us begin our journey to the center of the earth, just kidding." Jack smirked and let out a laugh, n.o.body joined in with him. Group seven consisted of only a handful of girls, ranging from 12-14, with Nadia being the oldest. Jack put handcuffs on all the girls and then looped a single chain through all the girls whom stood in a single line. Nadia and Rebecca were separated from each other by two girls, with Rebecca as the leader, behind Jack. Jack tugged all the girls along and they followed single file, because there was no other way for them to walk. They walked down the hallway and into the hospital, but instead of stopping they went through another set of doors which opened into a different hallway, which they followed to the end. The hallway was long and completely white. It gave off the feeling of being part of a hospital but it was obvious to everyone that they were not going to a hospital. At the end, where the doors were Jack stopped the group and turned about face to face them.

"Well all my little pretties, I hope you are excited for your first procedure. This is quite a quick surgery, lasting no more than three hours, and the recovery time is only a week, after that we will do the other eye. Then there will be another week and a half of recovery time before you will return to your a.s.signed routine. Those of you who are to be placed in the special ops program will receive an upgraded version that will allow you to spot the tiniest threat; the rest of you will receive mechanical eyes, that is for sure, but they will be a more basic version. That means that Rebecca, and Nadia are the ones receiving the special ops eyes. Alright I want those two girls to stand on the left and the rest of you on the right." Nadia did not know that Rebecca was also part of the same higher ranked group with her.

Rebecca stood in front of Nadia and the rest of the girls stood apart from them. When the doors were opened the girls saw a group of boys sitting in chairs, as if waiting for them. They stood on command from Jack and there was a matching set of special ops males to balance the females. Both of the boys for special ops had dark hair and one had blue eyes, while the other had green. There was no time for introductions, but Nadia and Rebecca were put together with the boys of their set.

"All right as you pa.s.s by me and into the surgery room I will a.s.sign you your male counterpart, ladies. Men, listen for your name when I call it for the lady that will be your partner. Let's start with Rebecca. Please come forward." Rebecca looked to Nadia and when Nadia gave her hand a squeeze Rebecca nodded and walked forward. Jack glanced over to the male group and picked out a boy in his mind.

"Your counterpart is Michael, come here Michael." The boy with the blue eyes jumped up and came to stand next to Rebecca. "You two are now joined; everything you do will be together, as far as procedures go. When you have completed your transformation you two will be partners for the various missions you will be sent on." Rebecca looked at Michael and he looked at her. At that moment their fates became intertwined and their destinies rewritten. Jack pushed them through the doors at the other side of the waiting room and they were lost from sight. After a few seconds of hesitance Jack drew in another breath before continuing. "Nadia, my little flower, come here will you?" Nadia felt a pang in her stomach and a lump form in her throat. She looked at her feet for a moment and after taking a few deep breaths she looked up, putting her emotionless mask on and walked forward. Jack smiled at her, and Nadia tried to ignore him as best she could.

"Alright, it should be simple to pair you up, there is only one other special ops potential in the other group. James, would you step forward." The boy with the green eyes and slightly longer black hair stepped forward and next to Nadia. He was a bit shorter than she was but he seemed pretty strong underneath his deceiving appearance. They looked at each other and Nadia could see the raw fear in his eyes, she tried to remain unemotional but the lure in his eyes forced her to lift the mask a bit and speak with her eyes. She conveyed a similar feeling of uncertainty.

Together they were escorted through the doors and once on the other side of them there were doctors and nurses waiting to usher them forward into the surgery room. Their rooms were right next to each other and once inside they were placed on the table. Nadia was strapped down with restraints, fear bubbled to the surface and she gave a testing tug to the restraints and found that she couldn't move an inch. Panic then stated to engulf her; it was getting harder and harder to keep the emotionless mask up. Before she could even collect herself enough to speak an oxygen mask was placed over her nose and mouth. A few shaky breaths later she was unconscious. The doctor lifted his scalpel to make the first cut. It had begun.

Chapter 4.

The procedure went off without a hitch, or so the doctor said afterwards. Nadia was still extremely groggy from the anesthesia. She vaguely remembered nodding before sleep overtook her once more. The next time she was awake Nadia looked around for Rebecca, who was right across from her. Nadia drew in a labored breath and made a noise that she thought was Rebecca's name. For what is was worth Rebecca knew it was her and responded with a noise of her own. Some time pa.s.sed, with the patients all falling in and out of consciousness. It wasn't until quite a while later, hours or days Nadia wasn't sure, that she had come out of the semi-lucid state she had been in. It was then that she noticed the person in the bed next to her.

"Nadia, that's your name right?" The boy with the green eyes, James, was calling to Nadia and she turned to face him.

"Yeah, that's me, what do you need?"

"I thought that maybe we should get to know each other, since we are pretty much considered as one unit now. At least in the sense of this company." Nadia felt a bit uncomfortable at where the conversation was going and turned to face away from him. Apparently James did not find that to his liking and continued to talk to Nadia even thought she refused to talk to him.

"I don't know what is wrong with you. This is going to happen; there is nothing that we can do about it. We no longer have control of our own lives. You don't have to like, you just have to comply with me and get to know me. I would hate for this to hinder our progress as a unit." Somehow he knew what was on Nadia's mind. Her only goal in the world was to get the h.e.l.l out of this place, with her brother, alive.

Rebecca had told her that the only way was to gain their trust. In order to gain their trust Nadia would have to allow them to do some of the procedures and perform excellently. By proving her worth she could gain favor. By gaining favor Nadia could ultimately gain trust. With their trust she would be given more freedom, less boundaries. As the boundaries came down the exit would reveal itself, at least this was the plan. James had known exactly what to say in order for Nadia to do what he asked. Flipping onto her left side, she had a better view of James. The procedure had been done on the left eye, so in order to see James properly she had to lie on her side, but avoid crus.h.i.+ng her eye socket area. The healing would go faster if she lay still and let the nanites heal her faster. James gave her a half smile, not wanting to disrupt his eye.

"So, I see that you are willing to talk to me now?" Nadia didn't say anything; rather she just stared at James, waiting for him to say something. "Not a talker are we? That's okay, as long as we find a way to cooperate and get along that's all I care about." He sighed and still Nadia said nothing, not blinking, not giving away an ounce of emotion or letting a single thought cross over her face. James shrugged as if he had expected Nadia to say something in the silence, but he gave up on that thought and continued to talk at her rather than with her.

"Let's start with an easy question or two. What is your favorite color? Where were you born? Can you handle that much? Sorry guess that was three questions. Before you answer I will give you the answers for me. Hmm, I like the color black, kind of mirrors my soul, all emo like that. Haha. Anyway, I was born in the sunny state of Arizona where the temperatures great all year long. Alright, now you." Nadia was still glaring at him and really did not want to give in to his coy smile and seemingly kind demeanor.

"Purple, Chicago." Speaking as little as she could, something about James put Nadia on edge. Something about this boy was eerie; he seemed to be too good at reading people. This put a tinge of fear in Nadia as well as a pit in her stomach. James noted the curt answers and shook his head mockingly.

"You will have to open up sometime. I can't ask all the questions, then you will never get to find out what you want to know, just what I want to know. Don't you think you should at least try to trust that what I'm saying is the truth? Lying here gets you nowhere, or haven't you learned that yet? Well, I guess it doesn't really matter, as long as I find out what I need I can still progress and earn their favor." There he went again, perfectly reading Nadia, knowing what she wanted and what she needed. Nadia huffed at him and opened her mouth.

"How did you get here?" She continued to look at him, waiting to hear his answer. Since her time started here, she had not found another person whom had shared her fate. Nearly everyone she met had been kidnapped but little more. No one had had their parents murdered, abducted with their siblings. No one she knew had their baby sister slaughtered for trying to escape. They didn't have their brother taken away with little thought. These memories stung Nadia's eyes but she forced those emotions back down and swallowed the lump in her throat. Now was certainly not the time for such breakdowns, or emotional slips. James eyed her; this was obviously not what he had in mind when he opened up the floor for discussion. He hesitated for a moment before answering, somehow this cracked his s.h.i.+eld and some trickle of emotion was finding its way out.

"Much the same as everyone else, I was escorted from my walk to my friend's house to this facility and I have been here since. I think that was one year ago, or around there." It was evident that James was hiding something, this was not the truth and anyone listening or looking directly at him would come to the same conclusion. The way he used the word escorted instead of kidnapped proved that he was censoring what he said. Nadia decided to call him out on it, putting to use the logic he had laid down.

"Lying gets you nowhere, or haven't you learned that yet?" Nadia spat the words, trying to emphasize the irony of the words. James lost his smirk, and all the pride he had been showing off. Suddenly his logic backfired and he was caught between a rock and a hard place, not somewhere he wanted to be, especially if the rock was to be his partner for the rest of his lifetime.

He tried to laugh it off, knowing full well that she was staring him down waiting for the truth to emerge. James wanted to ignore her or somehow make her disappear, but that was not exactly possible. He pulled on the restraints used to keep the patients in the beds, tight, like he expected. There was not where for him to go and he turned once more to face Nadia, swallowing the lies he wanted to tell. His cover which he had been working on to forge was going to get flushed down the toilet, all because he let his emotions slip for a second.

"I'm waiting for you reply James; you who were so eager to answer my questions. Now look at how your words have trapped you. You should learn how to better control your tongue. This time I require no answer, but know that you should not open the door to such a situation again." Nadia knew that revealing his answer would put him in jeopardy and Nadia did not want that. She only wanted him to think before he spoke, as she had learned to do. He was still perfecting in control over his mouth and emotions. One thing he did have though was the ability to read people with such an ease that it made Nadia jealous.

"Umm, I guess that makes it my turn to ask you a question." James was shaking off the tension and stress that had built up in the past few minutes and tried to regain his composure. The barrier he had forged was placing its walls and he was putting his facade back up. Nadia had never thought to create such a barricade for herself. With Nadia she merely let her mind escape what she didn't want to deal with at the moment. James reevaluated his mindset and returned to the way he was before the confrontation.

"My next question is how old are you? Also, do you have any siblings?" James gave her a smile, but Nadia could see through his attempt to personify happy go lucky. Nadia wanted to make him just stop faking it, but that was what he needed to survive this place, and she could not deny him that. The subject was sore and to avoid any emotional scars she answered as if she were the Nadia from before this whole issue started.

Back when she and her brother and little sister were going to see the pretty princess and pink pony paradise movie. She had been so annoyed at how Dmitri was going to make them late and miss the only thing worth seeing at the movie. He should have been more willing to go; he was after all going to get to use the car to take his potential girlfriend on a date. He was hoping to seal the deal, confirm that they were boyfriend and girlfriend by impressing her with the car. Nadia realized that she was probably already dating other guys by now. Sure she must have been sad that Dmitri had gone missing, but like all other high school girls, life went on. Nadia's mind continued to wander over the memories of her previous life; it now seemed so far away...

"Uhh, h.e.l.lo, I asked you a question. Nadia? Nadia!" James was confused by the blank stare he was getting from Nadia, it was kind of freaking him out. He had only asked her about her age and siblings, what was the harm in that? After the slight yell from James, Nadia came back down to earth and blinked back into lucid consciousness.

"I am fourteen years old and have 2 siblings." In her mind Nadia said to herself, well, had two siblings. James seemed to be puzzled over Nadia's daydream to within her mind and then her sudden transfer back to reality. Though, with the answer he seemed satisfied.

"Girls," James said under his breath before giving her the answers to the questions he had asked. "I am also fourteen, and I am an only child." James looked at Nadia as if expecting her to ask the next question, but she remained silent once more and James threw up his arms in defeat. "I guess we can be done for now. We will need something to talk about next time. Guess that means its nap time." James flipped over and closed his eye; the other was so bandaged up that he couldn't tell if it was open or closed.

The next few days pa.s.sed in a similar way to the first one, a series of question and answer sessions between Nadia and James. As the days went on Nadia felt more and more comfortable with James. The seed of friends.h.i.+p had been planted and with each day the two of them watered it by satisfying each others curiosity. It came to the day when the doctors came in to check on how the new eye was adjusting to the host body and if there were any infections or rejections.

Each subject, as they were called, was visited by a group of three doctors, one a short stubby male whom had gray hair balding in the back. Another one was tall and of average build, male also, but was younger, though still balding, unfortunately. The last was a female, middle aged and of average height and build. They must have been the ones that inserted the foreign object into the children's eyes because they knew exactly what to look for and whatever else they talked to each other in gibberish about.

It took then a few minutes to get to Nadia and once they were there Nadia wished that they would just go away. The tall doctor leaned in close to her face and slowly undid the bandages. When they were off Nadia still couldn't see out of her eye. At that point a little spark of fear panged her stomach; she feared that that surgery had gone wrong and that she would never see out of that eye again. They doctors hmmed and ahhed, causing even more fear to build up within Nadia. Then the short stubby doctor put his face within inches of Nadia's which made her want to back up and tell him to get off her face, but that would not be a good idea at the moment. If she could handle them in her face for a few minutes it would be worth it in the long run.

"Well, Miss Rachmaninov I see that you are doing quite well for after the surgery, there appears to be a bit of build up behind your eye, but that is completely normal. We give you the stamp of approval and have scheduled your next procedure for tomorrow at noon. Have a nice day and we all wish you good luck." The lady of the bunch smiled at her, but it seemed fake, which just made Nadia angrier. If people did not want to show positive energy through a smile they did not have to. Why they felt the need to force something like that seemed pointless and irritating. James was next and he too pa.s.sed with flying colors. Nadia watched them the whole time and they told him nearly the same thing, word for word, what they told Nadia.

"Good luck tomorrow, good bye." Then the doctors moved on and James gave Nadia a smirk and thumbs up. In the few days that they had been together Nadia and James had meshed and cliqued well. It was just the initial attempts to communicate that had caused them to be on guard with each other.

The rest of the day was spent talking about their favorite kinds of dogs and ice cream flavors, which Rebecca joined in with. She and her partner Michael had hit it off well too and the four of them all talked together and formed a certain bond. The next day was nearly identical to the first day in the pseudo hospital. The children were prepped for surgery, and then put under for the same surgery, only on a different eye. And, like last time they came out groggy as all h.e.l.l and completely high on the anesthetic.

Within a few hours they had returned to normal and were embarra.s.sed at how they acted during their time of loopy craziness. This time though both eyes were bandaged so that they could heal both eyes within the same time. By keeping both covered the doctors wanted to reveal the new eyes at the same time so that readjustments could be made right away instead of waiting for the subject to get used to it and then have to change it again when the other eye was done. While the eyes were in their heads they were in a sense not turned on. A certain electrical current that would pa.s.s through the brain would enable the eyes to 'turn on' and begin functioning. It was weird to not be able to see for nearly a week, though by the end of that time the four special ops subjects could identify each other by their voice.

"Next question, if you could have any food right now what would it be?" James had asked the question and it sent sighs around the room. Nadia had learned to loosen up around the other three people in her 'section.' She replied first.

"Cheesecake, definitely cheesecake, with chocolate chips and whip cream." She licked her lips for emphasis and the others all replied with an ooo. Michael had been contemplating his choice when Rebecca piped up and answered the question.

"Personally I am a savory kind of a girl and would die to have a cheeseburger right now. Now mind you I don't like that lettuce, tomato, pickle business, all a cheeseburger needs is a ground beef patty and a slice of cheddar cheese on a sesame bun. Oh h.e.l.l yeah!" Rebecca could hardly contain her joy for the prospective food she chose.

Michael was finally sure what he wanted and practically shouted his answer. "For me, I could go for a slice of good old fas.h.i.+oned pepperoni pizza. Doesn't matter where it's from, or if it's hot or cold. Just the thought I could eat it would be enough for me."

With the others having already answered the question it was finally James's turn to put forth his opinion. His was not like any of the other's, certainly not something that everyone would find appealing. James set forth his ideas with an even voice.

"If I were to have any food right now, it would have to be salad, with Italian dressing and tomatoes and carrots and all the yummy stuff that they put in it." If the other three could have given him looks they would have, instead they settled for a unison, "What?!" Of all the wonderful foods in the world why would someone choose to have salad, over sweet or salty? James continued to be an enigma when it came to his personal preferences and if it had been any other way it wouldn't have been the James that everyone had come to know.

The next few days pa.s.sed in an almost bliss, not in the traditional sense of happiness and divine light, or anything like that. No, the bliss that Nadia, James, Michael, and Rebecca experienced was a sort of calm and temporary peace with themselves. Without seeing each other they had developed a bond deeper than they had at first thought possible. Then their stay together came to a halt as there recovery time was completed and they were prepped for return to the community housing development.

James and Nadia were talking about their first day of high school when the doctors came around again, this time with a scientist who was holding what looked like a stick of some sort. They came closer and closer until they stopped at Nadia, their shoes clicking on the linoleum floor. The scientist extended his stick to the point that it was nearly touching her eye. The doctors crowded around her and the scientist inched closer. Nadia was not quite sure what was going on, but she could sense something inching towards her face. And she was sure as h.e.l.l not about to let some creepy looking man stick something in her eye without explaining why first. The doctors and scientist got the vibe and withdrew for a moment.

"Miss Rachmaninov we are going to turn your optical devices in you cranium on now, so you need to sit still while the scientist here sends an electric shock through your brain and jumpstarts your eyes." The lady doctor was talking, figuring that she could get some sort of female vibe going for her. To bad Nadia hated her and was unwilling to return the mutual trust that the doctor was searching for. Though the explanation allowed her to relax, if only a fraction more than she did before.

"All right, here we go." The scientist spoke, Nadia was surprised by how low his voice was and for a moment that distracted her. The stick was placed near her eye again, but this time she did not flinch and the moment the stick touched her eye there was a shock, Nadia felt it flow through her and after a few seconds she heard what sounded like a T.V. turning on in her mind. Then all of the sudden her right eye flickered into view and what she saw was not like anything in her life so far. Before she could ask any questions or get used to the first eye the scientist leaned over to the other eye and mirrored the same movement turning on the left eye. Pretty much the same thing happened and with a double dose of confusion she was left by the doctors and scientist as they headed over to James and did the same thing to him. This cycle was continued until Rebecca, Michael and James all were turned on and together they sat confused and freaked out.

What they saw now was computerized, much like they were looking through someone else's eyes. The doctor and scientist walked to stand in the center of all four of them, surrounded by looks of fear and doubt, mingled with uncertainty. The tall average looking doctor cleared his throat and drew in a breath as if to talk. But it was the short stubby doctor that produced any sound.

"I know that all of you are probably freaked out by how the new technology in your eye socket. This is how you will be seeing from now on. Also, this eye has a few extra features beyond the standard eye inserted into the non-special ops. This eye can zoom in, turn to heat vision and a.n.a.lyze situations and help solve solutions. To operate your new eye you need to use your brainpower and command it to do what you ask of it. It is only a machine; you have the higher intelligence and thus should be able to control and channel its power. By merely thinking that you want to see something far away as closer you should be able to actually do it. Try that right now, zoom in to my face." The four children in the room all looked to his face and looks on concentration filled their faces. They were all trying their best but to control something when you barely know what it is makes it a little bit harder than if they had been given a guide, or how-to manual. n.o.body pa.s.sed the first test, but the scientist did not seemed surprised at that in the least. He drew in another breath and looked to each of the four in the room.

"You have been given an exceptional gift, train to use it and it will become a great a.s.set to you. Do not waste what we have given you, we do not take well to slackers or irresponsible people, remember that." The doctors and scientist turned and exited the room, leaving the four children in utter mystification, eyes flickering around them trying desperately to learn their new 'gift' so that they could function once more. The task was surely too much to ask of children thrown into such a situation.

For the next few hours they tried their hardest to figure out how everything worked. When they left the hospital room they were no farther ahead than when they were first turned on. Relaying on each other Rebecca and Nadia somehow made it back to their bunks and collapsed on the bed, pa.s.sing out from the shock of having to relearn how to see.

The following days were spent in utter perplexity, James and Michael had returned to their community housing development and Rebecca and Nadia had returned to theirs. Life was forever changed due to the fact that one of the senses they were born with had been replaced. This new bionic eyes could see farther and change settings and what not, but it was foreign and strange. Certainly it took them quite a while to get use to how the new eyes worked.

Depth perception was a new feat to experience. This was because when Nadia and the others looked out through their eyes it was if they were seeing through someone else's eyes, which in a way they were. These eyes were not natural and would never feel quite right to them, but what was done was done. There was no way to go back and ask for a refund or to reverse what had been done. Nadia had new eyes and that was something she just had to get used to. Rebecca had a harder time adapting, but over the following weeks things became easier if not less weird.

It took Nadia two weeks to get used to the keen eye. With it she was able to pick up every flaw, kind of like zooming in to the point of being able to see an ant carrying a sc.r.a.p of food across the floor from 50 feet away. But even though she had been able to get a decent hold on this first level of the eye's capacity the other levels of the eye's power eluded her ability. For Rebecca it took twice as long to get used to, but in the end she too mastered the first level. When they first returned to the community housing development many of the girls were wary and kept away from both Rebecca and Nadia. This slight isolation created from the fear of the others put Nadia on edge, as if it was she who had done something wrong.

The other girls from the housing development would purposely leave the table when Rebecca and Nadia came and sat down. Their gaze was always averted from Nadia's, to the point that if they eyes happened to meet the other girls' would instantly look away. What Nadia didn't understand was why she and Rebecca were being treated in such an isolating manner. Eventually the girls started to warm back up to them, but there was always going to be a rift between them that had not existed before.

The day that Rebecca and Nadia went back to school the students and teacher acted as though nothing had happened, as though Rebecca and Nadia had never left. The others in their group had been back for several days when the two of them returned. In a sense they were being shunned for having been chosen as special ops. Apparently those chosen for the higher ranking were given more perks and favor. This seemed absurd to Nadia, during her entire stay here she had been treated the same as everyone else. It seemed odd that the other girls in the group could get so prissy over something that was not even an issue to begin with. But there was clearly a distinction now, between them and the other girls of compound. Nadia could feel the tension in the air, as though the slight differences between them had somehow grown to astronomical lengths. Rebecca was finding it hard to deal with the sudden changes in everyone's behavior towards them.

"I don't understand why they are treating us so strangely. We had the same procedure as the other girls from our group, just slightly different equipment, so to speak." Rebecca was speaking in hushed tones as the two girls sat in their usual corner while the others were off.

"They are afraid." Nadia was sitting with her hands in her lap, staring down at them. Lately it was becoming harder and harder to pull down the emotionless mask she had built as a defense mechanism, even in front of Rebecca. With a small sigh Rebecca pulled her knees in close and buried her face in her knees.

"But I am more afraid of me than they are. Why is that so hard to see? I fear for my future and they act as though I am already a monster. In many ways I wish that I was like them, just another one of the crowd." Rebecca kept her face down and buried in her knees making it slightly difficult to hear her.

"In addition to being afraid they are also jealous. They want to be like us, chosen to be special and part of the selected to become special ops." Nadia continued to stare forward, barely registering any emotion on her face as she worked to use her keen eye to zoom in on a conversation that were a few dozen feet away.

"Don't they realize that they are better off than us? Why would they want to be scrutinized and prodded more than they already are? To me that just seems like foolishness." Long moments of silence stretched on as Rebecca shut down and remained quiet, curled in on herself, while Nadia continued to spy and inspect every corner of the community housing. Then something caught her eye.

Off in the corner of the community housing, where the doors that lead to the hospital setting and the rest of whatever else the building held, Nadia saw Jack enter discreetly. In just a few seconds there was someone else that came up to him, but his face was blocked since he was facing away from Nadia. Though she couldn't hear anything Nadia could tell that something important was being exchanged between them. Jack seemed thrilled at whatever news he was receiving and grinned like a mad man. Whatever it was that they were talking about Nadia had a bad feeling about it.

Chapter 5.

During the early morning, before anyone in the housing development started to wake, Nadia would get up and walk to the bathroom for a peaceful shower by herself. This was the only time to get such a luxury. Most of the time the bathroom was hustling and bustling with the dozens of other girls and the thought of a peaceful moment in the shower was unheard of. Nadia had discovered the golden hour on a chance. She happened to wake up early one day from the lack of a good nights rest and decided to wake herself up with a cold shower, and to her surprise there was no one else around. Since then Nadia had made it a habit to wake up earlier in the morning to get her time alone in quiet solitude.

This particular morning held a slight chill in the air, thus it was a hot shower that Nadia sought. Nadia turned to k.n.o.b all the way to the 'H' signifying hot and waited for it to warm up. With the sound of water hitting the shower floor Nadia looked at herself in the mirror, another habit she had started. She wanted to keep track of how she changed over the course of her stay with the company. Nadia discovered that since her arrival her face had grown more mature looking, obviously a sign of near p.u.b.erty. Her eyes had turned from a honey brown color to a more earthy brown color. This was due to the fact that both her eyes had been replaced and Nadia a.s.sumed that they did not feel compelled to mirror her real eye color to the new eyes. It was odd to her, to look in the mirror and not see your own eyes. As much as Nadia stared at her new eyes, they always looked real, not a hint that they were mechanical. As the days went on Nadia grew more and more accustomed to them.

The shower was ready, judging by the steam Nadia saw coming on from behind the curtains. She pulled the cloth curtain back and stepped into the scalding water. The water was soothing and helped to release tension in her back and shoulders. Nadia stood there in the water for a moment and closed her eyes. Letting her mind wander through the various memories she had. For a moment she imagined she was back at home, and that her parents and Sonya were still alive. She was in the shower and her mom was knocking on the door.

'Nadia, you need to get out of the shower, Sonya needs to use the bathroom and Dmitri wants to get ready for his date. Hurry up in there.' Nadia would huff because she was enjoying the warm water was.h.i.+ng away her worries of the day. That day she had taken a test and had done poorly on it, fearing a doomed end of her high school career she came home and took a shower. Dmitri had told her not to worry, but how could she not? Every grade counted in order to get into a good college. Such trivial thoughts now. Nadia came out her dream world of memories long dead. She continued on with her shower was.h.i.+ng her hair and body before her daydreams overtook her mind once more.

It was the fourth of July and the fireworks were going off. Red, white and blue, the colors of the American flag. They were so beautiful and Nadia was absorbed in the pop, crackle and boom of the various firework displays. This was a time before Sonya was born, when it was just Dmitri and Nadia. She was only around six years old, and Dmitri was ten. At that time they were each others best friend, what a wondrous time that was. Nadia was skipping through the gra.s.s and Dmitri decided to run after her. They began a game of chase which resulted in a victorious Nadia. Dmitri was out of breath but still managed to glomp her, ensuing in both of them falling to the ground. There they lay watching the rest of the fireworks go off.

Life was so easy back then, so peaceful, and Nadia had not even realized it. For her being a freshman in high school seemed like the end of the world. How different things were now, Nadia was alone in a place where their main objective was to replace her body with machines and to have her kill people. High school seemed like a walk in the park now, but it was too little, too late.

The shower was calming but at the same time aroused memories connected to emotions. As much as Nadia wanted to let out everything inside her, to do so would put her plans and goals in jeopardy. A few deep breaths and Nadia was over it, pus.h.i.+ng the emotions deeper inside, so that they would not come out. Turning off the shower Nadia stepped out and dressed quickly. When she was done and heading back out to the bedding area most of the other girls were waking up and making their way to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Nadia walked past them and straight back to her bunk mate.

Rebecca was combing out her hair and getting dressed herself. She preferred to shower at night, wanting to get as much sleep as she could. Nadia greeted her with a nod, not yet ready to speak for the day. Rebecca understood and returned the nod, adding her usual smile.

"Ready for the test in math today? I thought about studying but I figured, what the h.e.l.l, does it really matter that much?" It was evident from Rebecca's slacker att.i.tude that she had not gotten a good night's sleep and wouldn't be the happiest girl around. That was fine with Nadia because she was never the happiest or nicest girl around. She felt that she shouldn't have to go out of her way to be nice or particularly happy for no reason. Rebecca used this tactic to get on everyone's good side, in case she needed them to do something for her. When Nadia and Rebecca were alone, however, the cheery facade would melt and Rebecca would curse everyone out, just because she could. In fact that was Rebecca's favorite past time, cursing, or at least it seemed that way to Nadia.

"I did not even know that there was a test today. Any clue what it's on?"

"I think she said something about trigonometry but I could be wrong." Nadia sighed and slumped over where she stood. Even without being at a real high school she was already tired of learning and math and homework and tests. Nadia preferred the training sessions over the schooling ones. Somehow learning how to do a spinning kick was more exciting than learning about trigonometry, or whatever they were supposed to be leaning. Rebecca and Nadia started to walk over to the breakfast line, as they did every day and retrieved their usual breakfast foods, a m.u.f.fin for Nadia and a bowl of cereal for Rebecca. Today they were serving apple juice and both girls grabbed a gla.s.s. With food in hand they set out to find a table to sit down at. Since coming back from the hospital their usual groups would get up and leave when Rebecca and Nadia sat down. So after that happening a few times Nadia just gave up trying to sit with them and so far they hadn't attempted to rejoin them.

Nadia spotted a table a few yards away and made a beeline for it, Rebecca followed behind her and once at the table they sat down. Breakfast usually pa.s.sed in silence. The two of them wanted to finish eating before talking so as to ensure that they ate the entire meal, without fear of running out of time. Once they finished eating their discussion focused on their curiosity as to when the company would have their next procedure be. Nadia thought that it would happen within two weeks; Rebecca believed that it would happen sooner rather than later. The two of them discussed it right up until they were about to begin their math test. For the rest of the day that was their topic of discussion.

It just so happened that the next procedure was closer than either of them had both thought. The very next day none other than Jack showed up by the fence and made his way to the warden. This time Nadia saw him and ran to Rebecca, alerting her to the news. It was possible that he was here for a different group, but that was unlikely. For any other group some sort of lackey would accompany them to the hospital, but only for Nadia's group did he show up. Standing near their beds Rebecca and Nadia stared at Jack, calculating his every step with their upgraded eyes.

Both of them had learned to zoom in and by doing so they could see Jack's lips moving. He was mouthing names, out of those listed Nadia and Rebecca identified their names and a sigh of despair was released from both of them. Before the announcement went on Rebecca and Nadia began the walk to the gate of the fence, dreading each step they took. The other girls were arriving at the same time that they were. The warden was taken aback by the appearance of group seven before he had even made the announcement. He put the intercom microphone down and chuckled a bit to himself.

"Glad that all you lovely ladies figured out to come here before the announcement went off, let us make this part of the journey as quick as possible." He was referring to the handcuffs and chain leash. None of the girls appreciated it, but none of them fought it, knowing that the more you cooperated the less punishment you would receive. Getting all the girls in cuffs and the leash took only a few minutes, and then Jack was off. This time Nadia was in the front, leading the way, directly behind Jack. Along the way he tried to talk with Nadia, but she refused to respond to anything he would say.

"So, my little pretty, how has your stay been here? Comfortable enough, I a.s.sure you that we take great pride in the luxury we provide for the ma.s.ses. Would you agree?" Nadia would just look ahead, ignoring him and revealing as little as she could. He continued to pester her with questions and mocking little comments, but she easily disregarded him. When Jack grew tired of the one way conversation he stopped talking for a moment contemplating something to say that would light a spark within Nadia. It took less than a minute before Jack grinned and glanced at Nadia sideways. She could feel his gaze and it caused her skin to crawl.

"You know, Miss Rachmaninov, I happen to know how your brother is doing. I could tell you, ya know." That caught Nadia's attention, as well as everyone else's in line. No one, save for Rebecca, knew that Nadia had a brother, much less that he was here at the company's headquarters. Just the thought of her brother made a lump form in Nadia's throat. For so long she was uncertain if he was dead or alive, and now this monster of a man held the answer to her question. At the moment all eyes were on Nadia and she could feel their gazes on her back. They were all so curious to find out despite about her brother, even though he hardly knew her and didn't particularly like her. Nadia turned her head and gazed at Jack, deciphering his expression, determining if she should trust his words or to continue to ignore him. The pressure was too much and the stress of not knowing was too overpowering for her to reason with herself and all logic was thrown out the window.

"Is he alive?" That was all she needed to know at the moment, if Jack would answer only one question it would be that. Jack went from smirk to full on grin at having triumphed over Nadia. He laughed under his breath and looked at her sideways again before drawing in another breath to speak. The line behind her let out a breath only to hold it once more in waiting for Jack to respond.

"So, I piqued your interest have I? Well, it's nice to know that you have a human side after all. I do know whether your brother is alive or not, but before I tell you I want you to do something for me." This laid on Nadia's shoulders now, she could continue down this path of curiosity and potentially find out the state of her brother, but at what cost. What could he possibly ask of her, she had nothing to give him, and surely he knew that. Tossing the idea around in her head, fighting herself between the thoughts of yes and no, which was the right choice? The time for making a decision was drawing to an end, there was not a lot of time left before they reached the double doors, and beyond that it would be nearly impossible to gain any knowledge from Jack. It was a now or never situation and Nadia had to make a decision. A few more seconds pa.s.sed and Nadia made a response.