[TheRaisin]

Nyeah hya hahahahaahahahaaa, oh, whew, *gasp*! I laughed when I saw that post, Silversnow. Now I feel all nice. Thank you for that.

Lyra

No rest for the weary: we were ordered to report to the cafeteria, as usual. So it was with stiff joints, a headache, and a nasty disposition that, fifteen minutes and three boxes of bandages later, I shoved open the doors to the gloomy little commisary. From his usual seat at the farthest table, Ian studied me closely as I approached. His staring did nothing to lighten my mood.
"What are you staring at?" I growled as I took a seat opposite him.
"Those cuts-- are they still bleeding?"
I peeled back a bandage on my arm.
"See for yourself," I said.
Ian winced at the sight of it.
"That's horrible! What happened, anyway? When I asked you before you just sort of mumbled."
I sighed. Just thinking about it made the cuts burn, but he was entitled to an explanation.
"Well, the missions themselves were basically the same as you described them. The difference was, there were about ten times as many traps, and they were about ten times worse. Every two steps, a big circular saw on an arm would pop out of the ground and take a swing at me. Every time I turned around, there was a stun gun pointing in my face." I tried hard to keep my voice from breaking, remembering the pain and terror of the previous day. "When I finally got to the last mission, there were five robots instead of one. Needless to say, I didn't have much success against them."
There was an awkward silence for a few moments.
"I wonder why those cuts keep bleeding," Ian said, changing the subject.
"An anti-coagulating agent on the blades, probably," I said, glad to change the focus of the conversation. "Or microscopic teeth on the edges."
From the direction of the door came a small cough. Ian stood up, a purposeful look on his face.
"Ian, don't. It doesn't matter, let it go."
Ian looked me directly in the eyes, and said, "She could have killed you. It would have mattered then. It would have mattered a lot. It's time to have a talk."
He walked angrily to the double-doors, pushed them open, and stepped outside. I sighed.
"Jeez, he doesn't let things go."
-------------------------------------------
Ian

"My, you do have good hearing. Must be a side-effect of the experiments we hadn't discovered."
Ms. Fletcher had been waiting outside the cafeteria, and did not seem at all surprised when I stepped into the hall, brandishing my fists meaningfully.
"What are you playing at?" I asked. "You know we're no use to you dead, so why have you tried to kill us every chance you get? Why?!"
"Because I know you can survive," she replied coolly. "I'll push you as hard as I can to a point just below that at which you'll die. I'll push you to make you stronger. And once you are strong enough, you will turn the tide of the war. You will be our weapons against the Tenae."
"We're your weapons against the Tenae? Two kids?"
She scoffed. "You think you're the only two? There are thousands of you. You are the only two from this installation."
My mind reeled. This couldn't be true. "There are other installations?" I asked in horror.
She grinned a horrible, evil grin. "Naive little child. Did you think we could build an army with just one lab? No, there are hundreds, worldwide! And when the Tenae are defeated, we will rise to power. Of course, you will be rewarded handsomely for your services, once our empire stretches from pole..." She placed a long, claw-like fingernail at the bottom of my jugular vein on my neck. I was momentarily petrified. I felt like a mouse helpless in the coils of a cobra. "... to pole." She sickeningly drew the long sharp claw up the length of my neck, the very edge knicking my skin. I came out of my trance, smacking her hand away. I clasped my other hand to my neck, where a slow trickle of blood had begun to form.
"Go back in there and eat. You'll need your strength today. It could be most disastrous if you were to fall and have some sort of accident while training."
I stood shivering for a moment. I was deathly cold, not just in body, but in spirit. For a moment, it had been as if I could see into the very pit of her soul, and what I had seen there frightened me more than anything else I had encountered in the few days since I had woken up, lacking any memory: nothing. Not a shred of compassion, not a spark of human kindness, just a freezing emptiness. She was as inhuman as the robots she commanded. I bolted through the double-doors, seeking the warmth of Lyra's spirit.