Living in Embers

CHAPTER 1

    The sunlight was shining through the window, that probably means it’s morning and that means I should get up, great.  The only problem is Im comfy and I haven’t been this comfortable in a long time.  My bed at home, I wouldn’t call it remotely close to comfortable, it was more like sleeping on a slab of concrete.  That luxury didn’t last long though, I felt a gentle jab at my side.  This caused me to let out a small giggle and fall off my bed onto the cold hard ground.  Shortly after I processed what just happened I heard laughing, it was Vance.  Sitting up against the bed and opening my eyes I give him a look of displeasure.  He just kept cackling with a stupid grin on his face as he bent over holding his stomach.  This was getting annoying, it really wasn’t that funny.

    “I told you not to do that!” I scolded but he just continued to laugh.  Vance knew I was really ticklish and I hated it.  As he carried on laughing I slowly remembered what was going on today, it was my first day as a Theta and that meant training.  No wonder Vance was up already, it’s not like him to actually get up in the morning.  Maybe he would get up at noon if you are lucky, Im not saying I don’t sleep in because I do but Im not nearly as bad as Vance.

    “I’m sorry Micah, I can’t help it.  Plus I know you love being tickled don’t lie to me.”

    “No  I don’t and I never did!  You know that, don’t act stupid.” I replied as I crossed my arms and shifted away from Vance.

    “Whether you like it or not it doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy listening to your cute laugh.  I could listen to you laugh for hours.”

    An annoyed expression was spreading throughout my face.  We’ve known each other for a long time so it was awesome to know a lot about one another but it also sucked that we figured out how to give each other heart attacks.  Anger is an emotion that comes natural to me but for gods sake I wasn’t gonna give him the pleasure of seeing me angry.  The loud laughing diminished and Vance planted his hand in front of my face.

    “Here, let me help you up.” he stated kindly.  It was stupid but I took his hand and allowed him to help me up but I refused to look at him.  Putting his arm around my shoulder Vance looked at me.

    “Don’t act so mad, it’s gonna be hard to have a fun filled day of training if you are acting like a sour puss.”

    “It is your fault Im mad.”

    “I said sorry, just try to relax.” Vance replied.  All I could do was sigh and smile at him, he was right, we had to try to have fun today.

    “Fine, I’ll try to relax.” I said reluctantly.

    We began to make our beds when there was a knock on our dorm rooms door. We went over to answer it.  A black hair male stood in front of us looking at a clipboard.  He was taller than me but shorter then Vance, though he was thinner then both of us.  His eyes went around us to our room, it was a mess.  Our beds were half made and the random third bed was covered in all of our stuff that we brought with us.  A few moments later he looked back at us then back at the clipboard,

    “Micah Issac Linke and Vance Ansel Trengove?” he questioned.  We both nodded and the black haired man continued.

    “Im Keegan Alec Matsumara, one of the head Tactics Coordinator’s.  I was sent here to tell you two that you guys can go to the Food Hall and get breakfast then immediately report to Field Three to start your training.  Alpha Sawyer Marshall Scott will be your instructor.” he said then looked up and down at us.

    “Do you guys plan on getting dressed?” Keegan asked.  We both got flustered as we stood awkwardly in our tanks and boxers.

    “Uh ... yeah we were just about to.” I replied and Vance nodded then cocked his head.

    “Do you know Alpha Scott?” Vance asked.  Keegan laughed lightly at him,

    “Yeah, Im close friends with him.  We were childhood friends and are still very good friends.  Good luck with him guys, he is quite the character.”

    On that note Keegan left and we proceeded to get ready.  I pulled my uniform shirt over, it was a black short sleeved button up then my bottoms which were just simple black pants.  My blonde hair was a mess so I quickly brushed it and put a thin headband across my head.  Finally, the combat boots.  I laced them up quickly and Vance finished getting ready shortly after me.  Both of us left the dorm and headed towards the Food Hall.

    The Food Hall was almost completely grey and overall just dull and depressing.  It was hard to maneuver our way across the building, the room was overpopulated and filled with guys and girls of different ranks and departments.  People were running in and out of there like this was some kind of drill, I guess we were a bit behind schedule.  We were not moving for a good amount of time but we finally managed to get closer to the trays.  Vance and I picked up a tray, they were still hot and wet, probably just cleaned.

    “God, how I love breakfast.  It might be my favorite meal!  I hope there’s pancakes.  Pancakes are the best!” Vance rambled to me.  I looked at him and shook my head,

    “I mean if they want us throwing up, sure.”

    “Micah just let me hope.” he replied and smiled.  The front of the line was in sight and in a few moments we got our food.  It was a lot of breakfast meat but was that really a surprise.  Was it tasty?  No, but it was probably really healthy.  Vance started to head over to the trash can with his tray and I followed.  While placing our trays on top it occurs to me that we had to be late for our first day but then again it was our first day.  Alpha Scott shouldn’t care too much, that would just be ridiculous.

     Legs moving a bit faster, Vance and I decide to pick up the pace.  The door to the building slams behind us as we made our way to Field Three.  Though we faced some obstacles getting there.  Well I guess they were kind of obstacles, if you consider trying to read a map and arguing with each other obstacles.  Nevertheless, we got there.

    The field was green and glowed, it was extremely healthy.  On all sides of it was a variety of training equipment, some rusted and old others brand new.  In the middle of the patch of grass was a man, it must have been the Alpha.  No doubt it was, his uniform was covered in badges to prove it.  We went up to him, that seemed like the right move.  He glared at us with a crooked smile,

    “Theta Trengove and Theta Linke!  You guys are fucking late for your first day of training, how irresponsible.  I can promise you guys a miserable day now.  Learn how to use a damn clock, its not hard.” he says while leaning down, probably getting a closer look at us.

    “Sorry, won’t happen again Sir.” Vance replies, his tone was strong and his posture became straighter.  I still stand slightly slouched, I hated being talked down to.

    “Yeah, sorry we’re not perfect.” I sassed back and stuck my tongue out a little.  Lets just say I’ve never been good with respecting authority and I never will be.  I want to be treated as an equal even if I am a lower rank.

    Vance gasped, but he wasn’t really that shocked.  He knows me and me acting like this isn’t new news for him.  Sawyer got in my face and I made sure not to flinch though he was a threatening guy.  He was taller then both of us, muscular and covered in tattoos.  There was one tattoo of a western zodiac sign but Im not sure which one.  His attention went straight to me as he stared in my eyes.

    “I never asked you to be perfect, I get it you are a fucking human.  What Im telling you to do is to get here on time.  Our country can’t wait for you in combat just because you slept in a little.  That’s how innocent people get killed.  Putting your needs before your countries.  Got it you piece of shit!” he yelled at me.

    “Sure.” I replied but my mouth said one thing and my face was doing another.  My brows were slightly wrinkled and I had an ever so slight grin.  I was portraying challenge not understanding.  Sawyer put his hand on my head and got in closer as if he was gonna whisper to me,

    “You know you are gonna be a lot of fun.  It won’t take long for me to break you into a thousand fucking pieces.  You will respect me.”

    I started to talk back but he immediately cut me off.  Sawyer took a few steps back so both of us were in his line of vision.  Time for business.

    “Alright as you guys know already, you are a group of two.  Most Theta’s are trained in groups of three but due to unfortunate circumstances your third group member had to drop out.  So it will be us three, everyday, all day.”  Sawyer explained and he went on about some other boring stuff.

    I looked over at Vance, he was paying attention to every word Alpha Scott said.  This didn’t startle me, being the best meant a lot to him.  He wants to be top of the new recruits, I would like to also but Im not as crazy about it as him.  Success is a word Vance lives by on a daily basis.  Vance may come off as a nice guy but once he over ranks you some of his negative traits will come out.  Don’t get me wrong he is my best friend but he can be a nightmare.

CHAPTER 2

    I diligently studied Alpha Scott, “How am I gonna become a well respected Alpha?” I thought to myself.  Getting to the top was important to me, which is similar but different than Micah.  Micah, he liked to prove he was better than the top while I wanted to be the top.  Speaking of Micah, I’ve been signaling him for the past few minutes to stand up straighter and look overall a bit more serious.  He is a  bit oblivious though so I don’t think he was getting the clue.

    Alpha Scott told us to run laps, well I guess it was more like a demand.  We started off, the field was large so one lap took some time but thats what I needed.  Being at the edge of the grassland gave me the opportunity to check out the competition on the various other fields.  Competitive, you always have to be competitive and if you want to win you have to know what you are up against.  Theta’s upon Theta’s filled the training grounds, it’s weird that Micah is the only one I know by name and that’s because we were friends prior to this.  One of my ultimate goals is to be awarded the number one Theta at the Theta Ranking Ceremony.  That isn’t for a long time though, I mean today is only our first day but my goal doesn’t end there.  Every month we are all evaluated and the top ten Theta’s are posted, I need to be number one every time.  How plausible is that?  I wouldn’t say it was possible for the average person but Im not the average person.  Productive, committed, tireless and sedulous are adjectives I would use to describe my work ethic.  Running in front of me was Micah, I almost forgot he was competition.  Never count Micah out.  Both of us are strong willed individuals.  Giving up is not an option for either of us, never was and never will be.  Micah may not be the strongest or smartest and he lacks in overall stamina but he is fast.  Not just fast on his feet but in his head.  He can think quickly, clever.  In a tight situation, Micah can handle those with ease and with dignity.

    Three laps later we were stopped by Alpha Scott.  Two others stood next to him, the one on the right was Keegan, the guy who came to our door earlier this morning, and the one on the left was a small male.  He had half his hair shaved off, some piercings and wore a white coat over his uniform.  They were interesting.

    “I would like to introduce you to these two young men.  You are gonna see them around a lot since they are highly ranked in their specific departments.  Also, they are my close friends.  Expect to show them some damn respect, they are your superiors and deserve to be treated like so.” he said obviously more towards Micah then myself.  He pointed to Keegan.

    “From what I heard you already met Keegan.  He informed me that this morning he came to check on you two dumbasses who were fooling around in your tighty whiteys.”

    “I never said that.” Keegan replied followed by Sawyer covering Keegan’s mouth.

    “Well that’s not the point anyway.  This is Keegan Alec Matsumara, or Beta Matsumara.  He is a Beta in the field of tactics and strategy.  That shit is too much thinking for me personally.  As you can see he is an asian with freckles, kind of funny if you ask me.”  The Alpha explained to us with a cheeky smile.  Keegan gave him a look and rolled his eyes.  Sawyer then removed his hand from Keegan’s mouth and pointed to the other male.

    “This is Dimitri Maksim Maksimilian.  Or you can call him Gamma Maksimilian.  He is a Gamma in the medical department.  I don’t now how he deals with all the complaining  shitty Theta’s who pass out on their first day but he does it.  If you look closer you will notice he is a bit vertically challenged, maybe three foot five.”  Sawyer said. 

    “Five foot t-three...” Dimitri corrected but I don’t think Sawyer heard him.

    Both Keegan and Dimitri are significantly scrawnier then Sawyer but after hearing about their jobs that was to be expected.  They would be killed instantaneously in combat if you are just judging them by their physical appearance.  People can surprise you though.

    “They came here to give me your intelligence test scores and your medical reports, I hope they are interesting.” Alpha Scott said as Keegan and Dimitri gave him files.  I knew I scored fine on the test.  Every night I vigorously studied from a pamphlet we received after signing up.  Micah probably passed too, he didn’t have to rely on intelligence though.  He probably cheated for a good portion of it, he always gets away with cheating.  He is elusive.

    “Okay, so both of you passed your intelligence test.  How boring.” said Sawyer.  Then he flipped the papers over to the medical reports and from the corner of my eye I saw Micah tremble a little.  I don’t know why he was nervous.  You can’t fail the medical report unless you are deathly ill, they need everyone they can get.  He is fairly healthy from my knowledge and me being his best friend would know if he was that sick.  After some thinking I figured there was something on that paper Micah didn’t want the Alpha to know.  I turn to Micah.

    “Are you okay?” I asked sincerely and looked at him with concern.

    “Perfectly fine.” he snapped back.

    “You know ticklish isn’t a medical thing.  That isn’t gonna be on there.”  Micah looks at me frustrated.

    “Yes, I know that Vance.”

    The Alpha continued reading the papers and nothing seemed to shock him.  Honestly I didn’t know what Micah’s problem was, what could he be thinking?  Medically, I know Im close to perfect and I can’t recall a time when Micah was having medical issues.  When he was a kid he use to struggle with asthma but from what I know as he grew older it became less of a problem.  But, he has always been very private about the whole thing.  Why would he care if Alpha Scott knew anyway?  Who cares, I know I don’t.  I never understood.  People are hard to comprehend, they feel these emotions and Im just disconnected.  Humans are so intuitive but Im just unaware, kind of naive when it comes to emotions.

    “Everything checks out.” Sawyer said as he handed the papers back to Keegan and Dimitri.  He then stares at us with another one of his corrupt smiles.

    “You know it is interesting getting to know you two through paperwork.  Nobody is perfect right?”

    The way he spoke was unsettling but didn’t scare me.  As I said before my scores on the intelligence test are fine and Im in amazing health.  Micah still looked like he was about to throw up though, I wish I understood why.  He will calm down though, he always does.

    Our training continued till about one, at that point we were taking a water break.   Micah and I were chugging our water.  I never thought so highly of water in my life, it was just so refreshing after hours of hard work. Sawyer came up to us with Keegan and Dimitri, they were watching us train the entire time. 

    “It’s about time for lunch.  I was thinking that you guys should come with us.  So are you two interested?” Sawyer asked.  I looked at Micah who was playing with his water bottle.  Tapping him on the shoulder he looks up at me cluelessly.  Was he even listening?

    “Do you want to go to lunch with our seniors?” I asked.  He looked back at his water bottle and shrugged.  Thanks for the input Micah.  Well, I wanted to go eat with them.  Gaining more knowledge about Sawyer would be useful in my endeavor to become an Alpha.  Plus, we were gonna be training with Alpha Scott for a long time so in was impervious for us to get along with him.

    “Yes, we would love to go to lunch with our superiors.” I replied to Sawyer.

    “I wouldn’t say love.” Micah mumbled and I elbowed him, can he just pretend that he cares.

    “Great, just follow us.” Sawyer said.  Micah and I followed.  As I observed the three men I noticed Dimitri stood uncomfortably close to Sawyer.  It was really strange for a Gamma to be so dependent.  Keegan walked at a more natural distance from Sawyer on the other side of him.  Sawyer and Keegan seemed to be bickering about something but I couldn’t hear them, it didn’t sound important anyway.  Micah was behind the three of them and next to me, he hasn’t said much but he doesn’t seem anxious anymore.  Maybe tired, I don’t know, Im not the person to ask.  His expression, well it wasn’t much of an expression he just looked uninterested.

    During the trip to the Food Hall I was able to observe more of the training grounds.  What stood out to me was the different kinds of obstacle courses and the gun range.  This was also a good time to analyze the Alpha, he walked with pride.  His posture was straight and his chin was up high enough for it to make a ninety degree angle with his neck.  In general he just looked unbelievably powerful.

CHAPTER 3

    Today already really sucks.  I only have two Theta’s opposed to the normal three.  You would think that must make my life easier but no that’s not the point.  The point is my chances of getting them on the fucking top ten list is less than all the other commanders.  Also Keegan is trying to tell me it’s not pizza day, he has to be wrong.  Im always ready for pizza day, they are rare because lets be honest pizza is just a hot plate of cheese and grease.  Not necessarily good for our soldiers.  Seriously though, I’ve been waiting a long ass time for this day and to think that Keegan has the nerve to tell me it’s not today.

    “It’s not tomorrow, it is today.  I can’t wait another twenty-four hours for a slice of pizza!” I yelled at Keegan and he just shook his head.

    “What do you want me to do about it?  I may make sure the cafeteria opens in the morning but I'm not in charge of what they make Sawyer.”

    God, the world must really fucking hate me to do this.  Two pathetic Theta’s and no pizza.  I'm still hoping Keegan is wrong though.  We finally made it to the building  and from there the Food Hall was just around the corner.

    “What’s this?” I hear and turn around.  It was Micah, what the hell does he want?  He was pointing to that damn door, shouldn’t he know I don’t talk about that door.  Well, I guess he wouldn’t know but still.  

    “Yeah, what is that sir?” Vance asked, not him too.  Why do they have to be so curious?  Their eyes stared at me eagerly.

    “That’s private.” I state and continue to walk.  They are not getting information about that door.  Nothing is behind it.  Plus I don’t need those two little shits getting all up in my business.  My business is my business.

    We all got in line, it was long like always.  After the slow, painful wait to get to the front of the line we get our food.  Meat loaf.  Great, exactly what I wanted, no not pizza, a cold ass slab of meat is appetizing enough for me.  The worst part about the whole thing is that Keegan was right.  He isn’t the guy that would bother me about it but it still annoyed me.

    Everyone began to eat the sad excuse for food.  Sick, but if we didn’t eat it someone was bound to pass out.  Vance was eating around the same speed as me, was the fucking twerp copying me.  Micah ate a lot faster, he probably thought this was a race.  Idiot.  Keegan and Dimitri were eating like a tortoise, as usual.  It was hard to watch but at least Keegan finishes, Dimitri never finishes.  I guess it’s not a big deal for him since he doesn’t have to do any exercising.

    It was quiet at our table, actually Im playing this down a bit.  It was fucking silent at the table.  Does anyone know how to start a conversation?  I watched my “pupils”, wow that was a stretch.  Vance had stupid ass blue hair.  Is he even aware of what he signed up for?  His attitude says he does but his appearance says he signed up for a LGBT support group.  Let’s be real, men don’t dye their hair unless they are a flaming homosexual.  Then there is Micah, don’t get me started on this little shit.  To start, he isn’t a big guy but he talks as if he is fucking six foot six.  He needs to learn how to respect his damn superiors if he plans on getting anywhere in life.  If he doesn’t figure that out soon Im gonna shove respect down his throat.  I won’t show him mercy if he doesn’t show me respect.

    After that long awkward lunch we went back to the training field.  It was getting really hot out now but they can handle it.  It is just the fucking sun.  The long day of training did eventually come to an end.  Micah and Vance were sweating as if they just ran a marathon in an oven.  That just meant I did my job right.  They headed back to their dorm.  Keegan, Dimitri and I did the same and headed back to our dorm.  We had an executive dorm though and we earned it.  It was bigger and it had two rooms.  The first one was a bed room and the next one was a large room that doubled as a living room and a dining area.  Overall the executive dorms are a million times better than the normal dorm.

    We walked in and I immediately feel better.  The air was on, thank fucking Christ for air conditioning.  Dimitri went and sat on his bed on the right side of the room and Keegan remained standing.

    “H-How are the new kids?” Dimitri asked me.  Finally he speaks, he must have been anxious around Micah and Vance.

    “They did fine.  Neither of them passed out so that’s a good sign but they are oddballs.  They do have potential though.”

    “Oh, thats good.” he says as I go over and sit next to him.  Wrapping an arm around him I give him a menacing smile.

    “Why didn’t you say anything today Dimitri?” I ask and his eyes widen as if he saw a ghost.

    “I don’t k-know.” he replies sounding a bit defeated.  I get up and stretch.

    “If you are gonna be looked up to then you are gonna have to assert your Gamma status.”

    “B-But I don’t want to be mean.  I want to be respected for my ability to save lives.” he says and looks at the ground.  I just shrug.

    My clean pajamas were lying on my bed thanks to Keegan.  He always made sure I was on schedule.  Being a tactics coordinator isn’t easy and he is really good with war strategy and it may not be his job but he is good at keeping me organized.    Dimitri is a superb medic.  I’ve seen him save numerous lives of patients in critical condition, of course with some encouragement.  But, I would never tell them any of that.

    All of us got changed.  When we were in our PJ’s Keegan gives me a weird look.  I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.  What the hell did I do wrong this time?

    “You know its a good thing that the Theta’s brought up that door today.” Keegan states casually.

    “That room is bad news.” I reply

    “What is in that room is the only way we are ever gonna stand a chance in war.  We need A-” He begins to say but I cut him off.  

    “Don’t say that!  We don’t need him, he will just cause problems!  He always does!” I yell at Keegan but he remains unfazed.  We were standing only about a foot away from each other and I was right in his face at this point.  You would think Keegan would be the one freaking out but it was Dimitri freaking out.  It is hard to scare Keegan.  I sigh and turn around thinking I made my point clear.  As I begin to walk to my bed, Keegan’s voice returns.

    “ABE, we need him.  He is gonna have to be let out soon.  It has been two years, that is more than enough time to recover.  Don’t lie to yourself Sawyer, we need him and don’t you dare let your emotions get in the way.” Keegan stated and Dimitri went pale as he slid to the back of his bed.  Did he really just say that?

    Why would he even think bringing ABE back was a good idea.  It’s not a good idea, I’ve clearly stated that numerous times in the past.  He can never come back, not after what he did to one of our men.  Turning back to Keegan my anger was clear, my palms were sweating and I began to quiver in rage.  I charge at Keegan.  He stayed calm as I grabbed his shoulders and pushed him against the wall.  He didn’t even flinch.  His skin was so cold but he was always cold.  Keegan knows I wouldn’t hurt him and he was correct for thinking that way.  We are best friends but sometimes he just pushes me too far.

    “He is staying in that room forever!  Don’t you dare do anything stupid!  Even if you let him out after I die you will regret it!” I threaten but he remained emotionless.

    “Why do we keep him then?  We could “kill” him if you never intend on using him.  We are just torturing him you know.” Keegan replied.  My heart sunk, why do I keep him?  I know why and that is because I still care.  I never stopped caring but I want to.   It just hurts so much.

    “J-Just listen to me, Im your superior!” I shout then let go of him.

    Walking back to my bed I hold my head.  A headache.  This whole thing just frustrated me so much that it mentally and physically strained me.  I just couldn’t deal with thinking about him right now.

    “A-Are you okay?” Dimitri asked genuinely.  I ignored him and I felt bad for it but even talking right now was just gonna make me feel worst.  All I needed was fucking sleep, so that's what I did.  Lied down and closed my eyes.  This was too much bullshit for me right now.  Keegan knows how to get to me, it is a bit discomforting.

CHAPTER 4

   Silence, I have been engulfed in it for as long as I can remember.  It wasn’t just silence though, it was dead silence.  Not a creak, not a whisper not a sound.  This room must be sound proof, I guess nobody wants to hear me.  I am worthless you know.  Physically I’m similar to a human, physically I’m alive.  Mentally I’m similar to a human, mentally I’m depressed.  The reason Im even here to begin with is even more dubious than the creation of this world.  Alive, but not allowed to live.  Depressed, but not allowed to die.  Cuffs keep me restrained to this wall, it was just so unwelcoming.  It never made me feel as if I were home, I don’t think the wall likes me but why should it.  Nobody likes me, I must be a monster.  My eyes, they haven’t been open for about a year and a half.  I gave up on seeing.  What is the point of seeing if there is nothing new to observe.  It’s not hard for me to tell you exactly what this room looks like with my eyes closed.  This room, this prison cell, is long and skinny, sad and lifeless.  To think I was created for a purpose but used as a placeholder.  Not even a small purpose, Im suppose to be protecting this country but Im just killing space in a place where it isn’t even necessary to kill space.  Can someone please answer just this one question.  What did I do that was so wrong that cause me to be tortured like this?

      This story is a tragedy.
 
    Tragedy means a catastrophic or an unfortunate ending, but people give words meaning.  People interpret events.  Noise, it gave the silence meaning.  Whether a loud or soft sound it told a story.  Any noise could create hope, although even with all the hope in the world everything will end tragically.  But with hope comes the birth of a character.  A hero, maybe a tragic hero but none the less a hero.  I want to be a hero and the sound of the creaking door is my hope, my ambition, my future.  It’s true I hear a noise and I know I’m not hearing things.  That doesn’t happen to me, I have kept my sanity.

    Footsteps followed the squeak of the door.  I had to see, my eyes opened and looked around the room.  The room remained almost exactly as I described earlier but there was one big difference, life.  Two young men wondered into here.  One had blonde hair, the other one had blue and was a few inches taller.  I couldn’t hold back my smile, I didn’t even care if they came in here to torture me even more.  It was just so great to see life for the first time in years.  I have to enjoy just it, just case it is the last time I see life.

    “What is that?” The blue haired male said, he was referring to me.

    “What is what?” his friend replied.  Blue hair pointed to me and then they both started to come over to me.  Happiness, excitement, anticipation and emotions of that sort infected my body, wait emotion?  I’m not a human but those feelings were definitely there.

    My grin became overwhelmingly large as they stood in front of me.  Observe, the one to the left was around five foot seven inches, had naturally brown hair but was currently blue, had a light tan and strong aquatic blue eyes.  Observe, the one to the right was about five foot four inches, has naturally blonde hair, also a light tan and fierce orange eyes.  This information, I will never forget it.  Never forget the most important moments in your life, no matter how pathetic they are.

    The boy to the right’s face was filled with interest as he reached up and poked my nose.  A strange move, it caused me to flinch but I kept smiling.  Why would I stop?  I had to initiate the conversation if I wanted them to stay.

    “Hello!” I said, probably louder than they expected because both of them jumped back a little.  The taller one shushed me.

    “We have to stay quiet.  We aren’t suppose to be here.” he said to me and I nodded to show him that I understand.

    “Who are you?  Or should I ask what are you?” he questioned curiously.  I stared at the two of them with my stupid grin, I bet I looked creepy.  I think I always look creepy.

    “I'm ABE.” I stated bluntly.  They both looked at me as if they were waiting for more.  I guess that wasn’t a lot of information, it is probably the first time they saw a human like being with unnaturally red eyes cuffed up to a wall that knew so much but saw so little.

    “I'm an Artificial Brilliance Entity.  I’m very close to a human in a worded description.”

    “That is crazy.  What are you doing here?” the taller one asked and my smile began to fade.  I don’t know the answer to that question, I should just tell him why I think I'm here.

    “I don’t know for sure, I'm not dangerous in anyway.  I'm very stable.  People don’t like me.  Just a nuisance to society, my personality is unbearable and I look like a savage demon.” I reply softly and both of them look at me with true concern.

    “I think you are really nice and you are not scary at all.” the blonde says and his friend nods.

    “Yeah, you’re personality is so sweet.  Don’t put yourself down.  And your appearance, you are probably one of the handsomest guys I’ve ever seen.” he says confidently and the blonde haired one blushes looking at his friend with an annoyed expression.  He did sound a bit flirtatious and that must have embarrassed  his friend.  Honestly though, I really am interested in making love to someone someday.  It seems so interesting and it requires a lot of energy I bet.

    “Let’s get him out Vance.” the blonde says to who must be Vance.  It was nice to know his name.  

    “Yeah, I think we should get him out too but I’m not sure.  I don’t think Sawyer would be happy.” Vance said.

    “Screw Sawyer.” his friend replied.  Vance looked at him shocked.

    “Micah!  You can’t say that!” he scolded but Micah didn’t seem to care.  Micah is the other ones name.  Micah and Vance.

    They looked at the cuff’s that embraced my wrist.  It opened with a key.  Vance looked at the door where the keys they must have used to get in were hanging out of the keyhole.  He walked over there and carefully got the keys out of the door.  Then he started jamming keys into the cuffs.  It took a few tries, a lot of tries, it took him till the very last key but he got it.  My wrist, they were free, for the first time.  Well, at least in my memory.  It was such a great feeling, to think that you will be trapped forever then followed by being set free.  I will get to see what is outside of here.  Nothing can be better than this besides having a loved one be brought back to life.

    We all left the room making sure to be quiet, I don’t know what would happen if we got caught but I figured we should avoid finding that out.  Micah locked the door behind us and left the keys inside the room.  The building we were in smelled like food but there was no food to be seen.  Vance shuffled up to the main doors and held them open for us.  Then as Micah and I made it out he slowly closed them behind us making sure to not make a crash.

    The outside, I feel like I’ve seen it before.  It was beautiful.  The dark indigo sky was sprinkled in stars scattered in various forms.  Constellations.  The first one I noticed was Taurus.  I’ve always felt a connection with that constellation though this is my first time seeing it in real life.  In the distance I could see the grass.  Despite it being so dark out I could tell the grass was green and well maintained.  Droplets of water shimmered on the field in the moonlight.  It was probably just watered.  Unfortunately I couldn’t see any tree’s or animals but now at least I could hope to see them in the future.  Nature was so tranquil yet so full of life.  It was wonderful.

    Finally we reached the dorms.  They were lined up in a straight line and every door lead to the outside.  Number 053 was our dorm.  The first thing I noticed when we got in was that it was a mess.  That’s not a problem though, I can clean it.

    “So here we are!” Vance exclaimed and patted me on the back.  He looked at the pile of stuff that covered a bed.

    “We can move our junk and that can be your bed.”

    “Thank you.  But you don’t have to.”

    “Don’t worry about it, we want to.” Micah chimes in.  With that they began to clear the bed.  It was so kind of them.

    Minutes later the bed was bare besides a flat pillow and a thin blanket.  I sat on it and Micah and Vance sat on there own beds.

    “So ABE, what makes you different than a human?” Vance asked.

    “There isn’t a big difference.  I am completely organic, not mechanic.  Also, I’m very adaptable.   I can adapt to almost  any situation.  Strength is a big thing for me too and I have a quick recovery time.  But honestly I don’t know my full potential because I haven’t been used yet in combat or in general.” I explained.

    Both of them stared at me as if I were a God.  I'm really not that exciting, being a normal person would be ideal for me.

    They went to bed and I did shortly after.  Though I didn’t need sleep, I was still able to.  It was nice to dream.