Delta

Chapter Seven: The Explanation

I winced in pain as his hands pressed into my burn, but I didn't say anything. I was shocked to see another person here. The person who had grabbed me was a boy. He looked to be around my age. He pulled me up and I quickly grabbed onto the railing and climbed over it. I had just opened my mouth to thank him for saving my life when he forcefully shoved me. I stumbled back into the railing and he shoved his bent arm against my chest, holding me in place. He pulled out a long rod from his side and slid it under my neck. I flinched at the contact the cold rod made with my skin. I lifted up my arm to push him away when in a flash he grabbed my wrist and pushed me back again. I bit my lip as his fingers pressed into my wound. 

"Who are you?" He demanded, glaring at me. "What are you here for?" 

"Um, what are you doing?" I asked, ignoring his questions. 

"Don't move." He ordered. Then he moved the rod he was holding under my neck and stuck it underneath my chin. He forced my head to tilt up slightly, and stared directly at my face. Feeling uncomfortable, I tried to pull my head away, but he grabbed my chin with his hand and yanked my head forward until we were almost nose to nose. He stared into my eyes for a few seconds, the rod still pressed against my neck. I didn't know what the rod did, but I assumed that it had a purpose since he was threatening me with it. Finally he let go of my face and I pulled my head back. He let go of my wrist before scrunching up his face. 

"Ugh, why is my hand all sticky?" He mumbled, glancing down at his hand. My blood was smeared across it. He stared at his hand in confusion for a moment before looking over at me again. His eyes were drawn to the bloody burn along my forearm and his harsh gaze suddenly softened. He pulled the rod away from me and stepped back. 

"So you are human." He said, all the seriousness gone from his face. 

"Of course I am!" I snapped, glaring at him. "What did you think I was?" 

"Sorry for...what I just did." He said. "I wasn't sure if you were an actual human or...not. We haven't seen another person here since we woke up. So you never really know. Precautions have to be taken."

"Okay, what's going on now?" I demanded. "Who are you, who is 'we', and what do you mean by 'precautions have to be taken'?" I looked down at the rod he was holding. "Oh yeah. And what is that?" 

The boy glanced nervously to the sides of the catwalk. This was my first time actually getting a good look at him. He seemed to be around my age, and was a little taller than me. He had messy light brown hair that fell across his forehead and vibrant emerald-green eyes which I wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been so close to me moments before. He was wearing a light green shirt with a thin black jacket pulled over. He had on dark blue jeans and black boots. He was wearing the same grappling glove and head band microphone as I was. 

"Look, can we talk somewhere else?" He asked, stepping forward. "It's not really safe for us to be out here in the open like this." 

"I'm not going anywhere with you until I get some answers." I said sternly, though I didn't doubt him when he said it was dangerous around here.

The boy glanced nervously around again before letting out a sigh. 

"Fine." He said. "I was a test subject like I'm assuming you are. My partner and I woke up what I can only assume was about a month ago. We escaped from the tests and have been hiding out ever since. The reason I was suspicious about you at first is because you're the only other human I've seen here, and the technology in this place is so advanced that the androids here look and act almost the exact same as humans. It's pretty weird." 

"Wait, androids?" I asked nervously. "There are androids in this place?" 

The boy nodded his head slowly. "Yeah. And the ones that I've come across are not the friendly type. So naturally I was suspicious. The thing about androids though is their eyes are kind of different. It's hard to explain, but it's also hard to spot from far away. Also, robots can't bleed, so that was also a dead giveaway."