New Home

Another rainy day, another addition to the new story.  Enjoy!           

           “I’ll first take you to Shadow so he knows that you’re up, and then to Chef to get something to eat. You must be hungry, the pills made me hungry,” he explained along the way. I was so busy sight-seeing, that I was unaware of something prickling along my arm. Suddenly, I was hit with a shock. Another scream ripped from me. Spark quickly pulled his hand away.

            “Oops, sorry. I forgot about my ability,” he apologized. I gasped in pain, my bones rattling.

            “A-ab-ability?” I stammered. The edged of Spark’s mouth twitched into a grin.

            “I have uncontrollable electrical pulses. Most of us here call it ‘going in shock’. That’s why I’m called Spark.”

            “No kidding,” I panted. “Okay, I’m good now.” After walking through winding paths, we came to a room drenched in sunlight.

            “This is Shadow’s area, but he’s not here,” Spark muttered, “looking for him is going to be hard.”

            “No, I was just finding Chef.” Spark and I whirled around in unison. The boy who gave me the pill (I shuddered to think about it) was standing there. His eyes were still just as sharp as they took me in.

            “So you’re the new experiment, Crystal. I’ll have to register you, come on,” Shadow walked past us and into the room.

            “Register?” I asked Spark.

            “Basically write you down. There are around 30 of us here, so now we’ll have-”

            “32,” Shadow intervened.

            “32,” finished Spark. I nodded, slightly wondering who the 31rst person would be. Shadow returned to us holding a dusty notebook. He gave me a small smile.

            “You’re the first experiment we’ve had escape here in a while,” he told me, opening the notebook. That’s when the questioning began.

            “Real name?”

            “Crystal.”
            “Experiment name?”

            “E-3” At this Shadow blinked, but continued. The questions covered my birth, where I used to live, my scientists’ names, company I was born under, skills, etc.

            Finally, when the sun was high in the sky, Shadow was interrupted by my stomach rumbling. He laughed and closed the notebook.

            “Sorry, I got a little carried away. Go get something to eat from Chef,” he ordered us. Spark smiled at me, reached for my hand, but then thought the better of it.

            “I keep forgetting my pulses,” he apologized. I smiled and took his hand anyway. I noted how his pale-yellow hair crackled.

            Spark again led me through the passages of the Refuge. Strangely, we only passed a few other experiments. He explained to me that most of them hung out in the main area. I did however manage to meet the three TS’s, TS1, TS3, and TS4. According to them I tasted like sugar cubes. Tess-one (their nickname) could see taste; Tess-three could feel taste; and Tess-four could hear taste. Their experiment was mixed sensory development. TS2 had died while they were still at their science lab in Texas.

            Also, I met Tex, a very smart technological experiment. He had enhanced brain development, and hand/arm muscles likewise. He liked to create. As we passed him, Tex showed us his latest invention, an extreme form of a mood necklace.

            “Not the kind that read your body heat,” he protested. I smiled at him. I found that the more I was here, the more that I relaxed. My wings hung at a comfortable position, and I liked this place more and more.

             But I couldn’t forget my parents. I could only imagine their worry right now. Although, standing near Spark was making me forget constantly of them with his erratic personality.

            Throughout our trip to Chef’s area, Spark only went into shock twice. Both times I reached back for his hand. For some reason his touch was comforting. Maybe it was because my parents never once hugged me, never once held my hand. All they did to show their affection for me was a smile and praise after I disembodied a punch-bag.

            Chef grinned broadly as she saw me emerge into her area. Sun shone brightly here too, I noticed. In fact, it shone everywhere. The rock shone with it.

            “Good afternoon Crystal!” she called to me. Seeing Spark she called out a greeting to him too. She beckoned us over to a stony table the seemed to grow out from the rock.

            “What would you like to eat?” Chef asked me.

            “Uh, what do you have?” I asked cautiously. Next to me Spark laughed.   

            “Everything,” he giggled.

            “I can compress atoms and give them flavor,” Chef demonstrated, holding out a triple-decker.

            “Yay! My favorite,” Spark took it and chomped a huge bite out of it. I couldn’t help but grin.