OTHERS (Formerly The Scarlet Effect)

31 - Green Light

Brink wakes me up the next day with his voice alone. He must have entered my room at his own will. "Good morning, Aurora. Did you sleep well?"

I sit up and stretch out my back. The suit I wear pulls in every wrong way, that no matter what I do, I'm always slightly uncomfortable. "Yeah, what about you?"

He grits his teeth in hesitation, as though the question took him by surprise. "I don't--we don't sleep. Not naturally, anyway. We are able to, we just don't. Our bodies run much more efficiently the further we peak, giving it less reason to sleep for hours and hours."

Peak--there's that word again. It instantly give me the sense that I don't belong. That I can't be one of them when I don't act or do the same things as they do. I sleep. They don't. They have powers. I don't.

"Is something wrong with me?"

Brink walks over and plunk down on the edge of my bed. "Allow time for your body to adjust. It will eventually. Right now, it's putting up its defenses, but soon you will be free to be you." He leans in and kisses me quick, giving me some amount of reassurance, but not much. He then tilts his head up and locks his eyes on the camera in the corner of the room. "Damn it," he curses under his breath.

"What?" I say automatically.

He stands with his back to the camera and speaks. "I kissed you, but I should have been more cautious. Now I have to go to the Surveillance Room and delete the recording again." His eyebrows knit together. "Why do you have to be so lovable?"

I bit my lower lip to fight off my upcoming blush. "Sorry?"

Brink tucks a piece of red hair behind my ear. "Don't apologize."

"Have you had to delete any recordings before?"

"Too many," he admits, brushing his hand against mine before fleeing from the room.

I don't know if I should wait for his return or venture out on my own. For starters, I wouldn't know what to do. The majority of my time so far has been with Brink in his sector, and there isn't much around except for the lab--which is restricted, the Surveillance Room--restricted, and a few other rooms with no windows--also restricted.

Eventually, I choose to step out into the corridor, only to be interrupted by a female Programmable. She carries a white case in one hand and completely freezes when I'm in her sight, like I've screwed up her trail. Then she speaks. "I must assist you with your health and provide you with your schedule. Please proceed to your room."

"Well I wasn't headed back, but..."

"Response not recognized."

I just do what she says and retreat back into my red room. I sit on the edge of the mattress as she undoes her case and sets it beside me. Inside are red vials of liquid in neat rows, and next to them is a syringe, which she picks up first.

"Your arm, please." Her freaky, beautiful eyes stare too long at me without blinking. I give her my arm so she looks away, and tense up before the needle pricks my wrist. A sound emerges from my throat out of pain, but it doesn't hurt for more than a few seconds.

After I receive the health serum, she moves her hand over a device in which she shoots into my brain. That really freaks me out. Weirder yet, times, places, and events start exploding inside my head.

She leaves without a goodbye, leaving me overwhelmed and chock full of data.

First on my list of events is training, this time with Stella--the girl who really had a liking for me the other day. It'll be exciting to spend an extended amount of time with someone other than Brink. I wonder what we'll do. Will it be a typical training session, only with Stella as my coach?