Gathering Information I

Dorian spent the rest of the day in his room, with his empty plate on the desk by his new bed. 

After he had a shower and washed his hair until it was a deep shade of black and silky... she helped him trim, comb it, still leaving the classic style; rough ponytail with a few strands falling on the sides.

She actually found his hair really beautiful, putting aside the fact it made him look crazy.

Afterwards, she rummaged through the bookshelves and set out books for him to read through.

They had a long conversation about how it would help him understand the project better before starting, and that way, he wouldn't be more terrified of it.

Which he denied flatly, without hesitation, but eventually went through the books. 

He read about the history of the apocalypse, which he was very familiar with, the major projects, until he finally came across the privately run facility.

Apparently, the government made a deal with wealthy people who also wanted to help humanity with the war, allowing them to establish their own facilities.

These facilities would only include the training, management, and assistance of their subjects in enhancing their abilities. They weren't even referring to the children as projects, but as soldiers.

Each facility had their uniform, maintaining the same jumpsuit style, but each had unique patterns on them.

For most facilities, it would be glow-in-the-dark stripes, straps, and collars, with their facility number and name glowing faintly.

Others would just have their logos embroidered or stamped on the uniform. A few used IDs and tattoos, and others used all, depending on the wearer's taste.

Yes, those facilities were actually considerate enough.

They let the soldiers out into the world, refusing to permanently lock them up so as to avoid triggering them.

Tempest was the most recognized, known for its effectiveness, active soldiers, who sometimes had one or two screws loose in the head, giving the facility nicknames like "Facility of Freaks," or "Facility of the Unstable."

There were two other privately run projects; Tay and Calypso. 

One acted as an academy, the other as an asylum, far more dangerous and worse than Tempest, because soldiers were kept on lockdown since they couldn't control their abilities.

They were often referred to as the "Plan C."

Nevertheless, Tempest remained the most active and well-known.

Reading further, Dorian learned that the awakening of humans, and the ranks and classes they received, were often tied to beasts.

Which explained his previous blood sensing ability and his brother's lightning-based ability, which could be traced to the silver-horned werewolves, classified as Elemental class, Grade B.

Apex class beasts stayed at the top of their species, with an impossible possibility of being defeated, as their power was god-tier.

The Nocturnal class were beasts that moved better at night, like owls, only, these ones were terrifying creatures.

Parasite class beasts, as the name implied, were often tiny or invisible, binding themselves to a host and consuming their blood, nutrients, and more.

The Titan class beasts were always huge, approximately the height of towers or larger. Swarm and Elemental classes were already self-explanatory.

Dorian leaned back against the seat, setting the book on the table. His eyes stayed on the page, but his mind was somewhere else.

The silver-horned werewolves were among the rarest beast types, appearing only once every few years in high-radiation zones.

If he could recall, from the conversations between the staff put on security duty for him, the last one spotted was around the rift that had appeared during the year Silas awakened.

Then it was recorded that it went back into the rift before it closed up. That alone was very suspicious, because if Silas awakened a month after that incident, then how did he make contact with the beast?

Then it finally hit him.

"No way."

He mumbled, instinctively placing his fingers underneath his chin.

It all made sense. Silas' seizures always looked similar to his, and he would know that because he watched clips of his seizures while the doctors wrote down results.

They were understandably uncomfortable, but he watched them anyway.

Which meant, the facilities must have caught a beast and made Silas come in contact with it, before trying to manage his awakening scientifically.

The thought of it alone made his stomach twist. He closed the book, stood, and wandered to the mirror Rose had hung up in the corner of the room.

The boy staring back at him didn't look like a "freak" or "monster," even if he felt like one.

People even looked at him like one, even before he awakened and reawakened again.

He had never really looked in a mirror before, at least, the only time he saw his face was in the cups of water they brought him at the facility, the cubicles, and in the pair of glasses Chief Breanna wore.

His hair was still slightly damp from earlier, simmering darkly on his head. His eyes were still the odd shade that made him wonder if he had a ruptured vein there.

Aside from that, he was staring at a lanky, tiny kid, who hadn't slept for four days, and was in oversized clothes that somehow still looked good.

A quiet knock suddenly came at the door, shifting his attention. Rose poked her head in, she was in her hoodie now, her red hair tied up loosely, with a mug of something steaming hot in her hand.

"You good?"

Dorian shrugged and turned around, "Define good."

"Not feeling anxious, uncomfortable, or maybe wary," she came in and passed him the mug. "I managed to cook up something. I call it blood tea."

Dorian laughed softly and lowered his gaze to the dirty brown liquid. "What exactly is in this?"

"Just a few herbs boiled down, spinach, kale, and some other stuff," she replied, watching with a smile as he slowly raised the cup to his lips, inhaled the steam, then glanced at her. "What?"

"Nothing," he answered with a smile, then took a sip. "Thanks."

Rose nodded. She looked over to his desk and saw that a few books were left open, with colorful marking papers in between the pages. She was amused by how much he had read and was even more impressed by how he used the notes.

A smile appeared on her lips. "I'll take what I see as a hint that you like reading."

Dorian glanced at the books and laughed. "Possibly, as long as it's interesting," he shrugged as he took another sip. "It's fun."

Rose leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. "Well, that's a good sign. Have you always liked reading?"

"Not really. I always read when I didn't want to think much, and I end up—"

"—still thinking every time," she completed his sentence, and they both laughed.

"The facility... I learned that the kids there are not really normal. Is that true?"

Rose cracked a small smile. "When has awakened children ever been normal?"

That pulled a reluctant laugh out of him, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "I guess. But I have this feeling the training might be worse than the actual experiment."

"Of course it is."

"What?"

Rose pushed away from the wall and sat down in his chair, while he moved to the bed. 

"The training is worse than the experiment because they focus on endurance, battle strategy, reaction and response time," she paused to breathe and continued, "Strength, both physically and mentally, and even enhancement protocols."

She stated, causing a deep scowl to appear on his face.

"The word 'enhancement' alone already makes me feel uncomfortable. Besides, it's going to be terrible for me," he released a breath. "My response time and strategizing is awful. The Chief said it herself."

"Your mom?" Rose asked, but he immediately glared at her and she smiled.

"I know about that, Dorian." Her voice softened, "That's why your case will be different. Your abilities are more rage-driven, possibly a mix of all. I don't know, but they know what to do about your training."

Dorian looked down into his mug. The reflection of his face rippled. "And if I lose control? Maybe triggered by something?"

"Then I'll stop you."

He looked at her, her tone was firm, no hint of hesitation, just like always. It grounded him a little, maybe too much, but he liked it.

A silence stretched between them, filled only by the sound of the wind brushing past the apartment windows, and the hum of the air-conditioning and television in the rooms.

Then, quietly, he asked, "Do you think I'll ever be normal?"

Rose didn't answer right away. "No. Why would you even want to be normal? Don't you see me... it's extremely boring."

"I guess, but you are definitely not boring," Dorian smiled, taking another sip of the drink, then he let out a heavy, long sigh. "I really want waffles now."

Rose blinked at him, lips parted slightly like she was waiting for a follow-up sentence.

When it didn't come, she let out a long, dramatic exhale.

"Seriously?"