text:
xD, with a will there's a way. I'm sure you'll find one.
{{ XD Mn! }}
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."
Contagious - Chapter 7
"How was it?" Qiao asked.
"Um…stupid. Honestly, if he wanted to give me a file he would have said so, but no. He chose to keep it secret and well…" I closed my eyes and exhaled. When I opened my eyes, I pushed the file to Qiao. "You open it."
"Me?" Qiao Ming shook her head and gave it back to me, "This is one of the rules Master set; I can't open Pro:Files."
"Please Xiao?"
"It's Qiao." she said with an uncertain look.
It's Qiao? I thought it was Xiao! I thought to myself. It wasn't every day that one would reject my orders, let alone correct me. You, Xiao Qiao whatever, you win this time.
"Okay, Qiao, if you don't want to open it then that's fine with me." I said thought I was hiding how much I wanted to just shred the file and run off to bash Cassidy. All along when I walked to the room I was assigned to – rather a cell I was assigned to – Qiao followed behind.
This reminded me a lot of Lucinda. Great, I hadn't lost her, but got a younger, wittier version of her. In other words, another death guard.
"Here's your room. If you stay here long enough, we can help you increase your abilities." Qiao said as she opened the door for me. The door creaked for the first few seconds then stayed quiet, almost as if sensing the danger if it made one more noise.
I looked at it and stepped back out. "What is this?"
"What do you mean Ebony?"
I rolled my eyes and lazily pointed inside. The room was pure white and incredibly empty. If nobody told me it was a room, I'd thought it was an inside of a giant cube, "This . What is it?"
"It's your room Ebony."
"That is definitely not a room Qiao. I can't even see a single window! My house and that tiny crammed room on Earth was better than this." I complained, shutting the door by myself.
Qiao Ming looked at me sternly and rather disapprovingly, "Well, do you want to share a room then?"
I nodded. Anything but that. I think my eyes would have been blinded by the second night I slept there. Pure white and without a window. Actually, I think not only being blinded, but running out of oxygen if I stayed there any longer than a day.
Qiao Ming walked quickly to a deeper passageway leading down, up, down, up, down, up, down, down, down, I can't remember.
I followed her all the way until she stopped at a door, black and dark with a few spear ends sticking out, "…Qiao, what's that?"
"It's a room of course!" replied Qiao Ming. By the tone she spoke, she was either desperate to leave or very annoyed.
"No, the spears." I pulled one out and examined it, then jokingly I said, "Is this a warzone or something?"
"Oh Ebony, put that back! It's a stud! A stud for the guy inside. Just, if you're going to share, don't fuss with him."
She opened the door and when I looked in, I couldn't help but collapse and kneel on the ground.
"Qiao…! Are you kidding me? This room is pitch black! Are there any rooms that are normal? " I groaned.
"Do you think Ebony? This is pretty much the only available room left, apart from the previous one." she said, her tone of voice calm and monotone.
"I'll take the other one then…" I mumbled, standing up without much hope and joy.
Qiao locked the door and turned to leave when she felt a jolt from the choker around her neck, "Ah!"
"Are you okay?" I quickened my pace until I reached Qiao.
"I'm alright. That happens a lot here. It's a way to receive messages from Master. He says the white room has been taken by a new Prodigy."
"Yes, the room is already taken. I'm so sorry Ebony; you'll have to stay here." Qiao said bowing as her hair fell from her shoulder and dangled loose.
"You're kidding me right?" I looked at the door with spears and shuddered, "Really, there's no other room?"
"Yes Ebony, there's no more rooms."
"Fine, okay." I crossed my arms and mumbled to myself, "Alright, this is just like back with the Cointvous's."
"It's this room or none." Qiao said smiling slightly, "I hope you know which is better."
I nodded; of course I knew which was better. Even this dark room could provide shelter for me, although I do not recommend this choice. It was gloomy and looked almost dangerous. I gulped, "Qiao, is it…dangerous in there?" I asked, putting on an expression to hide my fear.
"I'm not sure—" Qiao replied but was shocked again, "Ah! You should go in now."
Seeing this I didn't feel comfortable. If they forced one of those things onto me, I bet it would have hurt as I could see some electric currents flowing around the choker.
"…" staring at the door, I froze. It was one of those rare days when anxiety would take over me. Hell no. If Cassidy was put in one of these rooms, how did he escape? I wondered.
I took a deep breath as the oxygen around here was limited, then put my hands on the handle. With a twist, it opened, this time with a creak which added to the horror I felt. "Qiao…" I called while I turned around. But Qiao had disappeared and I could hear her heels clanking on the steel stairs above.
"Um…hello?" I called inside. The light shone into the room through the door but only came out as a long rectangle which stopped in the centre of the room. My shadow was stretched, looming in the middle of the light. "Anyone?"
There was no reply so I walked inside and closed the door. "Right, liars. Stupid liars. There's nobody in here and god they scared the heck out of me." I mumbled to myself. I felt much more confident in dealing with this but that only lasted until I heard a small groan.
"…" a quiet unpleasant swearword leaked from my mouth as I tried to keep calm. There were footsteps coming from behind and for a second I thought I was going to pee in my pants from this. "…" No, no, no, don't come any closer…those spears probably mean you're some beast…oh god, what did I do to deserve this?!
A small gentle tap set me off. I screamed. Yes, probably the loudest I'd ever done.
"HELP ME!!! AIIIHH!!! MUMMY!!! SOMEBODY! HEL—" I screamed but I was cut off as a hand gagged me and kept the noises I made into a muffled sound. I thrashed my hands all over the place, wriggling my body side to side and hoping I could set free from this strong grasp.
"…you scared?" a voice quiet as a whisper asked.
"Why?" the hand let go from my mouth and I screamed again, causing the hand to come back and cover my mouth again, "Why does everyone do that? It's loud and rings in my ears, shut up."
"…" I silenced myself and trembled, trying hard to stop myself from peeing in my pants as I'd predicted myself to do five minutes ago.
"Good, keep it shut." the voice said and let go once again.
"…" I kept quiet and stood still, not daring to move at all.
There was no reply from the voice but only footsteps were heard walked further away.
"Hello?" I said, speaking up a little. Everyday I'd be speaking to friends and family in the Earth world but this seemed too much for me.
Standing in complete silence, there was not a single word spoken from me or the voice. "…okay. If you like it quiet I'll just…sit in the corner and enjoy myself there…" I said sarcastically.
"…don't. It's not very nice."
"Don't what?"
"Sit in a corner. There's nothing to do and…well, if you want to live like me then do so." the voice said and some scraping noises were heard from the other side of the room.
"Okay…so you don't like it here?"
"Isn't it obvious? If you've got a few more days to live through freedom – which isn't much, but in a dark room – before you get four arms and turn into a mutant, you wouldn't enjoy it. Give me your name."
After listening to his explanation I gaped, "…my name?" I slowly answered.
"If I want a friend to accompany, are you in denial?" he replied. The footsteps were heard again, shuffling towards me.
"I'm Ivory. Um, Ebony actually…" I replied.
"A name; can't you decide on a name? It's one or the other. For instance, I'm Sergio. I'm Sergio not anything else." he said tapping on my shoulder. I looked into the darkness in response, "Sergio?"
"How on earth can you tell your name is Sergio?" I yelled exasperated.
"Oh, you have a name in the real world, and one here. You are named the one here. I used to have a classmate named Ebony, cool name." he commented. I could tell he was gesturing when he said that but I couldn't make out what gestures he used. It was too dark anyway and if you had eyes that could adjust to this sort of darkness, I'd call you a raccoon.
"Then, I'm Ivory."
"Okay, good that you got it sorted out." he said and walked back to the other side. There he stayed silent for the rest of the day until I heard some faint snoring. Then I realised he was asleep.
When I slowly had learnt that he was harmless it had been a day later and the door swung open, almost blinding my eyes. It was probably something Sergio was used to since he stood up without having to block the light or squint.
"My time's up right?" Sergio stated.
Surprisingly, the person who opened the door was Qiao Ming.
"Sergio, if you would please step outside. You'll get an ability don't worry." she said reassuringly but now from the angle I was in where the light illuminated the back of her head and shone across her face, she looked horrific.
"I'm sure you can't promise it."
"It won't hurt at all." Qiao said stepping aside. Sergio turned to me and smiled. It wasn't the best or most enthusiastic smile ever but I could see he was trying to make it seem less scary for me. He probably thought I might have been afraid I was the next to become a mutant. That was a true point though. I had a feeling sooner or later I'd be tested on soon, after all this was Prodigy and an institute.
As he stepped outside, the light hit his face for the first time since I met him. I saw what he looked like, fair skinned -- almost pale, purple eyed and he had light brown straight hair which reached his neck. Although his hair looked like a mess, it looked clean and he did look surprisingly beautiful.
I shivered as Qiao took a look at me, "Are you alright there Ebony?"
I blinked and nodded, "I'm fine."
"Oh, Ebony, don't you think it's about time you change your name to Ivory? You are in her body after all." Qiao pointed out.
I paused, "Do I have to?"
"Not now, but later. Sergio's done it already. I don't even remember who he was before he arrived." she said chuckling. It was probably meant to be a joke but I thought it sent chills down my spine.
"So people are put here, given a name and then they forget who they are?" I scoffed. I did this not because I hated Qiao. I did this because I hated what she did to me, putting me in this horrid black room and what she was planning to do; growing an extra pair of arms on Sergio. For once I felt as if something was being ripped from me. I had only known Sergio for a day but he was a friend after all. I wouldn't freak if Cassidy was turned into a mutant, but only because he's safe. If he did become one, I would have risked my life.
"No, but it's just a rule Master set. You have to do as he requests though. If you like your name, I'll continue to call you Ebony, okay?"
"Good." and I turned my head to see if Sergio was still outside.
He was. But he wasn't happy.
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."
Contagious - Chapter 8
Meanwhile, back at the home of the Cointvous…
"Young Master—" Lucinda began.
Cassidy, posing as Cassius turned around and sighed, "Well, it doesn't seem you'll take my orders until I take a listen will you?" he said, a dry expression on his face.
"No, that's not what I intended to…"
Cassidy forced a smile, "Well, go on, I'm all ears Lucinda." he said, staring intently into the maiden's eyes.
Lucinda blinked and lowered her head, "I just wanted to inform you that your father is back." she replied to him.
"Yes, Young Master Cointvous."
"No way! Wait, excuse me," Cassidy said hurriedly and bolted out the door, roughly pushing Lucinda aside, while trying to keep as gentle as possible. He didn't want her at this age to fall over and break her back.
He heard Lucinda call after him but it didn't stop him. A question lingered in his head, Should I go and greet my father or should I go back and check on the business that I was up to before?
It took him a second or two to decide; he was going back to his business. He was supposed to meet Ebony again once she had been put in Prodigy but it had been the next day already and he still hadn't reached her.
He turned his direction and ran into the garden, changing into the form of Cassidy. "…Ebony, just wait, I'll get you out of there once it's time. For now, I'll have to search how many others have been sent to Prodigy." he said to himself, placing a hand on a chair and sitting down to rest.
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."
Contagious - Chapter 9
"Don't get that near me."
"It won't hurt okay? I've promised you." Qiao said, her voice sweet like honey.
"Don't get it near me. DON'T!" the voice raised louder and louder until it began to grunt, "Stop it."
Qiao put down the needle and shook her head, releasing Sergio's wrist from her grip. She walked out the lab door and met with Gardevoir who sat watching into the fibreglass on his wheelchair.
"Did you get it done?" he asked, turned his head to face the pale young woman. He smiled kindly and with his left hand, he tapped his lap, "Sit."
Qiao shook her head, "Not now Master, it's not time for that yet." she said.
Gardevoir hesitated and pushed his wheelchair so it was beside Qiao, "Is he not co-operating again?" When he heard no answer, he pushed his wheelchair away coldly. "Do you know what it means to not get this operation done? When I tell you to do something, I want it done as soon as possible. Do you understand?"
"…yes Master."
"So when I tell you to get that needle injected into him, I want you to do it," growled Gardevoir impatiently. He could sense the tired and anxious aura from Qiao Ming so he turned around and relaxed a little. "I'm not angry at you. It's just the operation can't be delayed…" he said with a sigh.
"…I'm sorry Master, but he's always struggling…"
"Qiao, what do you owe me?"
Qiao Ming looked up into Gardevoir's red eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but pursed her lips shut, creating the heart shape again with the redness.
"I'll tell you again what you owe me. Everything you have should be in debt of me, so I want you to use your talent and do what you need to do okay? Just to get this…this boy to co-operate, I'm allowing you to use it."
"I owe you everything?" Qiao opened her mouth to speak in shock and confusion.
A thin grin spread across Gardevoir's lips, "Everything. But for now, I want you to use the abilities I gave you, okay?"
Qiao kept quiet but nodded, "Yes Master." she said, her tone stronger than before.
Once she had finished her talk with him, she turned to the lab door again. From the glass she could see Sergio sitting in the corner, probably the same way he would have if he was still in the dark room. His eyes were filled with sadness and hopelessness. Even though he was too young to die, he looked as if life was slipping away from him, minute by minute.
"Sergio, I am operating on you today." she said and opened the lab door.
Sergio's dull eyes shot in her direction, suddenly filled with a dark hatred. The purple in his eyes stung badly against her amber eyes. Qiao was forced to blink away the uncomfortable feeling from her eyes and reached to the tray where the needle lay. Stepping forward with a straight face, she walked closer to him, making him look at her cautiously and shrink back.
"It's my orders. I can't do anything about it plus I've told you a million times it won't hurt." said Qiao as she was beginning to run out of patience. Gardevoir was pressuring her yet he wouldn't co-operate.
"It's not about the pain! It's about what I'll become!" yelled Sergio, standing up yet staying flat against the wall. He was corner and fear grew in his eyes, "You might think it's funny becoming a mutant don't you? You're a mutant yourself! Abilities, psh, what abilities?! I don't need them so go away!"
Qiao didn't stop moving. Inching closer, she had the syringe in her hand, almost dripping with the strange chemical mixture Gardevoir had prepared.
Sergio's voice became raspy, "No, please…please…" For the first time he sounded helpless and desperate. His threatens didn't work and he had nowhere to go, "No please. I'm begging you don't."
"No! Don't come any closer or I'll bite! I have the sharpest canine teeth in the world! Get away from me!" his whimpering cries became like a howling shriek.
Gardevoir watched from outside, an expressionless intent look on his face, almost waiting for Qiao to stab the needle in him despite his cry for mercy.
Qiao stood there, looking at Sergio who huddled into a ball, making strange whimpering cries.
"Too bad." she said, a sudden coldness from her eyes as she injected the chemical into him.
Sergio first reacted by jumping away before he clutched his arm and hit it. "NO! STOP!" he yelled, picking up trays and throwing them across the room, aiming at Qiao. She slipped out the door and locked it as he began to go wild. Gardevoir smiled, wrapping his lively arms around Qiao's waist as she stood in horror at what she had done.
Usually it was Gardevoir who had to do this sort of thing and it was her first time injecting liquid into a poor patient. Gardevoir's arms were warm yet it sent cold shivers down her spine. "…Master, it's complete." she said stepping away from his reach.
Gardevoir casually rested his arms on the armrest. "Good job. He'll be fine tomorrow morning. It's break time, let the prodigies enjoy their lunch." he said and pushed the wheelchair into the elevator, allowing space for Qiao to step inside and assist him.
When he arrived to his office, Qiao went outside and unlocked the doors of every cell, starting with mine.
When I was free from the dark cell, I was glad, yet I wanted to find something to protect me eyes from the blinding light. "Qiao?"
"Is Sergio alright?" I asked, casually giving her a look while I blocked the light with my palm.
"…yeah. He's fine." she answered, smiling to reassure me.
I nodded and my mouth twisted slightly, "I heard from him that he was going to be turned into a mutant. Creepy." I said, my thoughts spewing aloud.
"A mutant?"
"Yeah." I could see shock in Qiao's eyes but somehow it seemed unnatural, "So he was really scared."
"What's up with you today? I usually you bubbly. Now you seem like a plant out of water."
Qiao burst into a small giggle, "Oh really? I guess it's probably because I haven't eaten yet. You'll have to go to the cafeteria so I'll see you later." she said and waved, walking off in her heels, looking beautiful as ever. That's something I never understood about foreigners. Their beauty can capture anybody.
While I followed the other teens to the cafeteria, I noticed they all had coloured eyes and a sense of wackiness from them.
One kept speaking in sign language; the others had their hands wrapped in a sort of bandage. Either way, they somehow looked like mutants.
I saw an elevator going down and I decided it'd be best for me to find a less crowded place. Stepping inside, I clicked the button the take me down to a quiet place. I never knew I selected a spot where experiments and abilities were given and I was shocked when the door opened to face a lab corridor with children and teens banging inside.
Through one of the glass windows I could see Sergio slumped against the wall, a dead look in his eyes.
He looked up as if he was dreaming but when his eyes drifted across and saw me, he sat up, crawling to the window and hitting it with his bloodied fists. It seemed as if he hand been punching the wall for the past hour.
His mouth moved in a way filled with so less energy I thought he was going to fall out the window and die but with my puzzled look, he began breathing on the wall. At first, it looked like fog, then he wrote a message in it.
"P-l-e-a-s-e H-e-l-p."
I read the message immediately just as he slid down the glass window panel, his eyes almost closing. Was he dying?! I thought, but I went berserk, frantically finding a release button to open the door.
I found a button which was flashing red. It seemed that someone had pressed the button to remove oxygen from the labs inside. I pressed the button, watching as it sprang back to its usual position and turning green. A dull air compressing sound was heard before I noticed the people inside began to inhale deeply.
I ran to Sergio's lab and saw him gasping for air. He put his thumbs up and was about to smile when he froze suddenly and from the inside, I could see him howl in pain. Was he going to grow another set of arms as he had told me before? Is this what happens in Prodigy? What's happening to him?
Sergio dragged his body across to the window and as he drew closer, I could see his body had become covered with fur.
"…my god, what the hell…" I whispered to myself, seeing him rapidly grow until his shirt and everything he was wearing had ripped into shreds. Standing before me was a whimpering wild cat with canine teeth and a thick wolf's tail. He looked like a cat crossed with a wolf yet his eyes remained purple and his fur was light brown.
"Sergio, what's happening to you? Why aren't you growing arms?" I said to the glass. It was either the eerie area around here or the air conditioning that made me shudder.
Sergio's teeth bared and he stood up on his hind legs, revealing his true height after the injection. He stood half my height, tiny in comparison. But my thought of tiny changed when he launched forward at the window screen and slammed into it, the glass cracking as he broke free from the lab, landing heavily on me.
As a wolf-like cat, he was tiny but his weight was almost a third heavier than me.
"Sorry…" Sergio whispered, his voice still like a shrill whimper.
"What's happened?" I asked, feeling strange myself.
"Needles…they're dangerous. Look at me." he cried, hopping off and sitting beside me. He almost looked like he was going to cry but whatever animal he had turned into probably didn't have tear glands. He licked his paws where there were a few dried blood stains.
"Why? You said you would become a mutant with extra arms or something…!" I began to panic, feeling bubbling inside me.
"It turns out they had something else in mind…they call these abilities. I think I only got super strength and hairiness." he joked sarcastically, trying to loosen up the atmosphere. He was still the calm strange Sergio, except he wasn't like this a moment ago when he was inside the lab. He was trying very hard to hide his fear and disappointment that he was turned into a mutant animal.
Before I could say anything else, I clutched my stomach, my voice suddenly disappearing as my eyes widened, "…"
"Ivory? Ivory?!" Sergio ran around me, his tail drooping low. He whined and nudged me with his snout but the bubbling inside me grew worse. It was after a few minutes of panic that I felt a strange feeling that wasn't bubbly. It seemed as if I was breaking apart but intact at the same time. "S-Sergio! What's going on?!"
"Oh no, Ivory, I'm so sorry! There was a syringe stuck in my fur when I escaped from the room. I think it stabbed into you." he said in a voice that was weak and apologetic.
"…you…" I didn't know whether to be angry at him or thank him but afterwards, I had become small particles of atoms and molecules, being able to turn into gas and part into the thin air, then reassemble myself back to original. "…" The only thing I hated about that was everything about me seemed transparent and for a split second I thought I lost my outfit. Except, it seemed as though I was wearing an invisible jumpsuit that enveloped me whole from neck to toe.
I was still testing my abilities as I disappeared into air as I spread the molecules and I turned back into solid state as they reassembled.
"Sergio, I can disappear and reappear!" I gasped. For once I didn't feel like criticizing people, but I still felt annoyed.
Sergio tried to smile but it only showed his canine teeth, "But I'm stuck like this probably forever." he said, "And my abilities are useless." he sighed.
"It won't be that bad Sergio. You just need to get used to it." I said. I imagined myself like him. I guess it wasn't that bad despite having to look like an intelligent animal which seems unbelievable.
Honestly, now that he's fine, I wouldn't care.
I was going to start telling him how he can attack the other Prodigies and let the whole institute backfire when a bell rang. It distorted my condition, making my shape bend and shrink before I was back to normal. Sergio buried his head in his fur.
When the bell stopped, Gardevoir's voice could be heard, "Break is over, you may now return to your rooms."
"Rooms…right." I muttered. He makes it sound so nice, yet if anyone stepped into the room I was in, they would surely call it prison.
"Quick, go back. I'll find a way to get to you later!" Sergio said to me, "Um, thanks for being my friend. I never thought I'd make one." he said and his tail wagged in joy.
"Uh, yeah…" I smiled awkwardly. "Oh wait! Can you by any chance escape from here?"
"Escape from Prodigy. If you can, I want you to get to the Cointvous Mansion, find someone named Cassius and slap him in the face." I said grinning. He hadn't visited me since he said he was going to see me soon so I figured it'd be fair to teach him a lesson about trust. Not that I tend to trust people.
"Slap him? What? Why?"
"Because I said so. Now, I'm going to go back. Find him and I'll thank you later." I said and I jogged off back to the dark room with spear decorations. When I sat in there for the rest of the day and night, I regretted not getting any lunch at all, but while I sat and thought about food, I wondered if I should trust Cassidy or Sergio?
{{ Oh dear me, this is one of those big chapters I didn't get to split into half... I hope it isn't too much to read }}
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."
Contagious - Chapter 10
Sergio hid in the darker areas of the institute, hoping to blend his dark coloured fur with the shadows. He could escape maybe. After all, Cassidy had escaped. But what did Ebony mean by escape? He thought to himself. Who is Cassidy? Cassidy Cointvous maybe? I've never heard of that before.
He suddenly remembered what had happened before he arrived at Lathens. He was unpopular; useless. Everyone in his class had achieved something unique but he had done nothing. He just stayed gay. He was gay. In fact, nobody in his class was gay so he found it difficult to survive through his school days. Valentines Day was a day he was terrified of. Every year there would be a girl giving him a present. And of course, he would reject. Everyone thought he was a boy who would break a girl's heart but instead, his own was breaking each year.
Those days…
He remembered the day he couldn't face school anymore. He was afraid of being bullied. Afraid of the truth. The truth is, nobody he knew accepted him for who he was and he was incredibly scared of that.
And so it was that day that he looked into a broken mirror hung up in his room. It was an old mirror given to him by his grandfather so it was well broken and dead looking. He could still see a bit of who he was there. Shoulder length hair, a long fringe, clipped up with a pink pin. His hair was light blonde-brown. His eyes were blue. But it was exactly that day that he saw something different in the mirror.
Purple eyes, brown hair.
That's what he saw. The rest he couldn't see properly from the disconnected cracks; just like how he thought his heart must have looked. Reaching out just like the others, he had arrived through the mirror the Lathens.
And there he was in Cointvous Mansion. He knew where that was.
Wait…no more thinking of the past. I must find Cassidy for Ivory. He snapped back into reality. Reality was, he isn't gay anymore. From being locked in a room filled with nobody, the only connection he ever had was to a black cold wall. No men, no women. And rather the people that keep sharing rooms with him were women. And he had changed.
With his miniature size and four limbs, he could run faster. He ran all the way to the path that led to the mansion. It brought shivers into him.
"This place…Mr Cointvous…" he mumbled to himself. His tail drooped low again. I must not fail Ivory. She put her hope in me. Nobody has ever put hope into me before…
"CASSIDY!" he howled, deciding he would face a male for the first time since prisoned in Prodigy.
A pair of pale eyes appeared looking out the garden cautiously. There was a fear and shock in his eyes. Who? Ebony? Who knew my name? Cassidy thought. From the garden, he could see Sergio but Sergio couldn't see the garden. A dark car was pulling up near the back gate. At any moment if Sergio called for him again, his father would have heard. "WAIT!" Cassidy yelled, breaking a glass pane in the garden and leaping out.
It was a brave and stupid move. He got tangled in the bed of thorns afterwards.
"Who's looking for me?" he called out. Sergio's ears perked up and looked to the rose bed.
Cassidy poked his head out, his face covered in light scratches, "You. Talking cat, shut up." he said as he tried climbing out. "Don't call my name until I tell you to okay?" When he jumped out, untangling his boots with a jerk of his limbs, he hopped over to Sergio who impatiently kept thumping his tail on the ground.
"I won't shut up because I'm here to find you." Sergio growled, standing on all four legs.
Cassidy shook his head and picked up the small animal, "Shh. I'll take you somewhere safe first, then we talk." he said as he cupped his hands over Sergio's mouth.
Taking him inside into his room, Cassidy locked it shut and stared deeply into Sergio's purple eyes, "You. Dog, cat, canine, feline whatever, who are you? How do you know my name? Who sent you?"
"Why are you throwing a barrack of questions at me? I don't even know you!" whined Sergio.
"It's also because I don't know you." Cassidy said. Then he paused, stopped for a moment and examined Sergio closely, giving Sergio the creeps and making him feel extremely uncomfortable. "You're from Prodigy aren't you?"
"You wouldn't know anything about that place. You escaped." Sergio said narrowing his eyes and chomping at Cassidy's nearing wrists.
Cassidy dodged the snaps of bare teeth, "And how did you know that?" he said pursing his lips shut.
"Well Ivory told me! Don't you know her? The girl with the black hair? Blue eyes?"
"Oh, she told me to also do this." said Sergio, suddenly springing into action, slapping Cassidy across his cheek. The thing was, once he had done so, he saw a bare hand. His own bare hand.
Cassidy stayed silent as he faced a young man, returning to his human form, completely stripped from clothing.
"…what the hell." he could only say, a stoic expression on his face as he stepped back.
"Ah! God dammit!" Sergio grabbed the nearest thing he could. A shirt? A bucket? A rug? Whatever.
"Human or animal? What are you? You really are from Prodigy aren't you?" Cassidy said, directing his eyes back onto Sergio's face. He ignored the embarrassment Sergio felt and stared at him seriously, "Prodigy, yes or no."
"Y-yes! I'm from Prodigy."
"And you managed to escape?"
"Yes! Give me something to wear. You probably have a lot of your fancy suits don't you?" Sergio said referring to the suit Cassidy was wearing, even if it had been torn by thorns.
"Geez, what kind of security do they have now? I took ages to escape. Judging by the very unprofessional control over your own abilities you're a new experiment." mumbled Cassidy, throwing a few clean shirts to Sergio from his wardrobe.
"Well, you jealous?" snapped Sergio, quickly changing into what he was given.
"No, not at all." replied Cassidy, "I'm just impressed by a feral guy who I just picked up on the way to…hey, why are you here?"
"IVORY!" Sergio answered, this time half yelling.
Before Cassidy could scold him about being quiet, there was a loud knock on the door.
"Son, I'm home." a voice called. By the tone, speed and by logic, the voice belonged to Sir Cointvous.
"M-Mr Cointvous?" Sergio stammered quietly.
"Shoot. Hide, quickly!" Cassidy whispered to him. Sergio found a large chest and hid inside, shutting the thing entirely. A creak was heard and some comfortable chatting.
"Welcome home father."
"Ah, it's good to be home." Sir Cointvous sat and Cassidy's bed, "Cassius, what have you been doing lately?" he asked noticing the furry mess on the rugs, "Were you talking to yourself?"
Cassidy shook his head and forced a laugh, "Why no of course! The next successor to Lathens must not be insane! I was making puppets." he said, trying out the biggest lie in his life.
Cassidy nodded, "Like these things." he said pulling out a sock from his cupboard and swiftly turning it into a sock puppet. He mimicked Sergio's voice, "Papa, I'm a sock puppet!" he said.
Sergio could hear everything. Do I really sound like that? He thought to himself, He's over exaggerating...I never sounded like a chipmunk…
"Oh, that's a strange hobby you picked up since I left." his father commented, "Lovely." he said trying to compliment.
"Don't you want to rest?" Cassidy asked his dad, standing up and hoping he'd leave.
"No rush Cassius."
"I'll have to sleep you see." Cassidy said, cutting straight to the point.
"Hm? Well, before you sleep, make sure the bed bugs don't bite. Especially that one in the box." Sir Cointvous said his tone suddenly stern as he walked over to where Sergio was hiding and kicked the box.
Sergio jumped inside, causing a loud bump. "Ah, that proves it. Cassius, what do you have here? I thought I heard some unnatural breathing."
"F-father, nothing's in there!"
"Really? Where're the keys? I want them now Cassius." he said, his face turning into a beetroot colour, "Don't lie to me son."
Slowly, Cassidy was forced to hand over the keys to the shut chest. As soon as Sir Cointvous got his hands on the keys, he opened it. Sergio had to think of something quick and fast.
"Huh? Cassius, why do you have a girl here?" his father asked, turning to face Cassius. His worry seemed to fade yet he was curious.
Sergio poked his head out. He had somehow managed to clip his hair up and turn out the most feminine side of him. He had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, creating an image of a dress.
"…M-Mr Cointvous, I'm Cassius's friend. We are playing hide and seek, but I think he forgot and moved onto his puppets." Sergio lied, smiling kindly. Somehow he had picked up Cassidy didn't want to reveal his name.
"Oh, is that so?" Sir Cointvous chuckled, "Well, I'll leave you both off to some alone time." he said laughing as he left. He was glad Cassidy had finally brought a girl into the house.
Cassidy shut the door afterwards and Sergio removed the dress-like blanket with a dry expression.
"Thanks…" said Cassidy, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."
Contagious - Chapter 11
Back in Prodigy, I had been locked in the same dark room again. This time, with a new friend sitting beside me.
"What's your name?" I asked, looking to my side even if I couldn't see a thing.
"Prince." replied the person sitting next to her.
I rolled my eyes. Right at the moment I thought the least I could do was seem like a nice girl and ask for a name. All I got was an unexplainable answer that I hoped I'd never get.
"What a name." I muttered.
"Well, if you like, call me Raj." the voice snorted.
I stood up, walking towards the door, "HEY! Qiao! Let me out! I need some air!" I yelled.
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever seen a hero do." Raj said with a tone of annoyance as I turned around pulling faces at him.
"Well, Raj , if you can come up with something better then you can call yourself a genius." I retorted, kicking at the door. I had hoped Sergio had been quick and reached Cassidy. I had hoped Sergio would have brought Cassidy to save me out of here. I hoped, and I hoped.
Sad thing was, all the time I prayed and hoped, I was repaid with a boy who thinks he's the smartest in the world. Well, he didn't even know his name.
Raj walked towards me. I could hear it. He put his head to the door and I shuffled back somewhere, running my hands across the wall to make sure I didn't slip or bump into a wall.
"I can hear that there is nobody out there. Qiao doesn't exist." he said. Never in my life had I ever met someone as ridiculous as this guy. He smelt of coconuts and one fact you ought to know, I hate coconuts. Ever since the day my parents took me to an island and forced me to climb up a tree, I had hated coconuts. IF you ask me, I'd rather eat a slice of moulded cheese than get near a coconut. But getting me to eat the cheese is another matter.
"Just call her name and she'll come. It's happened before and it will happen again Raj." I said.
I kicked at the door again, sending vibes down the metal door. "QIAO!"
Qiao didn't come. In fact, the longer she took to come, the more Raj thought he had overpowered me.
"Stupid. I told you it's stupid." he kept saying. But he didn't know the more he called me stupid, the more I'd kick.
"It'd work, I know it will." I said in reply to his comments.
It got ruder and louder.
"BUT YOU'RE SO STUPID IT WON'T WORK YOU IDIOT!" Raj yelled back at me.
"WELL, IF YOU LET ME TRY THEN IT'LL WORK!" I screamed in his face.
Raj almost pushed me back at my shoulders, "I'VE SEEN YOU TRY AND IT'S NOT WORKING!"
"You, have no patience." I said, narrowing my eyes at him, "So shut up and let me do my thing."
"And you, have no brain, so move and give up on this thing." murmured Raj.
"I won't."
I kicked for the last time. Somehow I knew it wouldn't work yet I didn't want to lose to this guy. Once the kick had impacted on the door, it swung open.
There standing before us was Gardevoir and he didn't look too impressed.
"If you keep kicking the door, it'll break off." he said, his red eyes glowing.
"She kept kicking it." Raj said pointing to me. It was obvious he was putting all the blame onto me, even if it was me who was kicking.
"Ivory, for goodness sake," Gardevoir sighed.
"What? It's not like Raj didn't encourage me…!" I whined.
Gardevoir's eyes then set on Raj. I did the same. When I turned to see Raj, I realised he was Indian, just like I suspected him to be. His skin was a light brown and his eyes were pink. His dark hair looked as if he had been through a tornado and left his hair flying to one side sharply.
"Raj and Ivory, head to my office." he said coldly.
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."
Contagious - Chapter 12
Raj was the first to go into Gardevoir's office, his head hanging low yet his fists clenched.
I could hear him mutter and curse to himself but I didn't care. Raj was annoying, he deserves no pity.
At first, there was not a sound from Gardevoir's office. It was so quiet that I put my ear against the door to hear what was going on inside. Then there was a loud clatter and I jumped back.
What was going on in there? I thought I heard a vase break or something. I thought to myself. When I heard another crash, I knocked on the door, not knowing what I was meant to do at a time like this. People don't just request you and ignore you like that. I mean, its common courtesy right?
Surprisingly, it was Raj who greeted me from the door. When he saw me, his eyes narrowed, "Well what do you want?"
"Gardevoir," I replied immediately.
"Why? He said you're free to go for goodness sake. You are a plain idiot."
"What? So he called me here to put me in trouble and he decides to just say I can go?" I snapped, glaring at him.
Raj rolled his eyes, "Do you want to be punished?"
"Then go. Gardevoir doesn't need to punish you so just go." he said, his voice sounding threatening. He moved his hand at me, gesturing for me to just walk away.
"Raj, I don't trust you." I recalled the crashing noises inside, "I have to see Gardevoir. Just, let me hear him say he doesn't need to punish me." I said, even though I was really glad to not have to be scolded by him.
Raj looked at me for a moment and looked to the side, "Tch…" He didn't say anything else and slammed the door in my face.
"W-what?!" I kicked at the door, "RAJ! You idiot! Open the door! Don't just slam it in my face!" I yelled. Nobody had ever done that to me. Only I slam doors and break other's noses but for me to get the treatment returned, I couldn't stand it.
But he wouldn't open the door. Eventually after waiting too long, I left the corridor, scowling to myself, "Why did I let that brat get away with it? I should have punched him in the face when he opened the door." I kept mumbling angrily at myself when I bumped into someone tall.
"…" He didn't respond. His eyes only pierced into mine before he bowed down as an apology. His eyes were blue and his hair was grey but he wasn't old at all. He was probably the age of 19.
When he kept staring I glared at him, "What? Are you going to say something?"
"…" he shook his head.
"Then excuse me!" I said wanting to step past him. When I moved to the left he stepped in my way. When I tried the right, he held a hand out.
"Okay, what now?" I muttered as I gritted my teeth.
"…" He tapped on my shoulder and pointed at the clock on the wall. He then tapped at his mouth.
"…I don't get it? What are you trying to say?" I asked, my patience calming as I realised he was probably harmless. Harmless indeed, but a handful of annoyance.
He rubbed his stomach and it looked funny in a way. After all, he was dressed in a suit and looked like some sort of bodyguard with glasses. Maybe a nerdy bodyguard?
"You hungry?"
He nodded.
"Say something. If you don't, how the hell would I know what you're trying to tell me?" I said with a huff as I crossed my arms across my chest.
"…" the young man stared at me and his eyes looked down, almost in sorrow. When I saw his response, I tensed. What's wrong? I just told him to say something. Well, there he goes again, not a single word. This is annoying. I thought as I rolled my eyes.
He took out a notepad and I could see most of the pages had been ripped out already. There was barely any space on the last page.
"I'm mute." he wrote on the paper and shoved it in my face.
Oh, right. He's mute. No wonder he's been annoying like this for the past few minutes. I sighed and my mind suddenly drifted to the memory of the labs where Sergio was before.
Was he mute since birth or was it a side-affect from the experiments? I wondered to myself. Maybe he wasn't because he seemed greatly intellectual. I then realised something in my head. Prodigy is an institute but not just any institute. It's an institute to experiment on people pulled into Lathens from Earth. Maybe that's why Cassidy escaped. He didn't want to be an experiment…or maybe I'm just thinking too much. Either way, I've always known to be right.
"…" The young man tapped on my shoulder and when I looked up, he moved his gloved hand back almost as if afraid of me.
He tried to say something and opened his mouth but it sounded forced and I didn't understand a word.
"Urhh….ngh…huee…" he moved his mouth again, forcing his voice box to make noises but nothing came. Not a single understandable word.
"Write it." I said pointing to the notepad, "You're not dumb too are you?" I joked as a pun.
He hesitated and pulled off his gloves, revealing that his hands were covered with words. I read what was on his hands quickly. They were all little reminder notes and sometimes occasionally conversation sentences. It seemed he had been writing on his hand when he ran out of space on his notepad. His hands were filled in with words and he pointed to mine.
"What? Why don't you wash your hands? You'll get more space to write like that." and after I said that, I frowned in disgust as I imagined if he went to the bathroom and never washed his hands.
He shook his head bitterly. "Hurh…ngh…" he tried to speak again but stopped, knowing it wouldn't succeed. He moved his hand, beckoning for me to come after him and surprisingly through curiosity I followed him to a tap. He removed his gloves and held them by his teeth. Putting his hand under the water, he rubbed hard until his hands were red but the words wouldn't come off. He looked at me with his blue eyes as if signalling something.
"They won't wash off?"
He nodded with a dry smile. I stared at his hands, covered permanently with pen marks.
"…" he pointed to my hand and held up his pen.
"Will I be like that afterwards?" I asked cautiously. I moved my hand back behind me and wouldn't hold them out for him to write on. If it was going to be permanent, what kind of an idiot would let him write on their hand? It's a stupid suggestion anyway.
He shook his head and laughed silently. Forcibly grabbing my hand, he quickly scribbled on it.
"HEY! I didn't say you could—" but he had finished already and jogged off, a grin now on his face. He waved his hand goodbye and ran off.
"Hey, you…!" I growled. I looked at the letters on my hand 'Kenneth Robyn'. It didn't please me at all. The society these days were like this; forceful. And I guess you could say it was forceful since I came to Lathens. Or maybe it was forceful for me to come to Lathens. But everything now is still forceful. Back on Earth it was similar, but Kenneth with his forceful ways of communicating wasn't going to make me any happier than I was already.
In fact it made me feel much more miserable so the next moment I had already walked to the tap he had used before and rubbed the words off. Luckily as he said, they weren't stained on me.
"Kenneth Robyn, wait till I get my hands on you, you little creep." I muttered to myself, glaring at my own hand every time I caught sight of it.
As I turned the corner, I was surprised to see Raj walking towards the stairs leading down to the dark room we were in previously. Kenneth must have caught me off guard and delayed me so Raj would get there first.
"Oh, stupid brat, he's on Raj's side…!" I growled. Storming up to Raj, I put my hand on his shoulder, forcing him to turn around, "You wasting time to get a decoy to fool me. What do you want?"
"Huh?" Raj brushed off my hand and looked at me almost disgusted by my behaviour, "What decoy?"
"Kenneth Robyn? Your lovely man who would stop me in my tracks so you could get here earlier than me?" I muttered, looking at Raj in a menacing way.
"I don't know him! What the hell are you talking about?! Geez, your arrogance is getting on my nerves Miss!" he replied, glaring at me. He almost pushed me aside and rushed downstairs, scowling at himself at why he had to share a cell with me.
"Alright then Mr Raj, explain Kenneth. If you don't know him, explain why he was there."
"Explain?" Raj stopped halfway down the stairs and looked up at me, "I don't even know who he is, so how would I know why he's there?"
I paused as he said this.
"Think, you stupid girl." said Raj and he continued his way down the stairs.
"Hey! WAIT! Nobody calls me stupid! And, I'm meant to get down there before you!" I yelled. Suddenly thinking if Raj really had nothing to do with Kenneth then does that mean Kenneth was innocent? Or could I even believe Raj wasn't the type to prank people?
I ran down the stairs, occasionally jumping over rails to skip the long distance run. Eventually, I had arrived just a few seconds before him and literally barged into the room.
"Ha! I got here before you!"
"…so what?" Raj looked at me; his eyes seemed to be unimpressed.
"Oh for goodness sake, can't you be smart for a second?"
"…" Raj sighed, "No point talking to a lunatic." and with that, he walked away from the door, slamming it shut and locking it with a click.
"HEY! RAJ! Why did you lock the door?!"
"Boss's orders." he said, his voice dull and horrific. "Don't worry; you'll get your chance someday."
When his footsteps grew faint and was barely heard, I could only hear my own breathing. It echoed through the empty dark room. In any second this horrific room could make me insane. Sergio wasn't here. I don't need Raj, but being alone here in the dark was something I never would get used to.
And now that I think about it, Raj's eyes were red. I shuddered. I can't think of this now in a dark room! I'll get nightmares! But it wasn't helping.
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."
Contagious - Chapter 13
Waking up suddenly, I jolted up and rubbed at my eyes. It wasn't comfortable waking up to darkness but I had gotten much more used to it than before. Sergio had probably gone through this. Cassidy might have as well.
Then I suddenly remembered I was locked here by Raj.
"Raj!" I jumped up, fumbling my way over to the door and looked through the holes of the removed spears. It turns out some spears and studs were loose so I could easily rip them out and look outside. The light blinded me for a few seconds before I got used to it and looked out.
There wasn't much out there at all. It was quiet and unlike most days, nobody had been walking by; not even Qiao.
I wasn't sure why I decided to wait but I didn't want to end up calling for Qiao's rescue like a pathetic wet kitten. I would prefer it if she came downstairs by herself.
"You okay there?" a voice asked. It sounded weak and little, almost timid. It wasn't very old sounding, almost like a child's but belonging to a boy definitely.
"Yeah? Hello? Is somebody out there?" I called, kicking at the door.
"Don't do that. I'll find a way to open the door for you." he said.
"Be quick. I can't stand it in here." I said with a sigh. Finally I had gotten what I needed, some light.
"I can't. I'm gonna have to find someone to open it for you." replied the voice bitterly.
"What? Why? You're right here." I called out, plastering my face against the cold door.
"I can't touch anything. My hands feel like they're going to break. My fingers hurt a lot when I touch things." he said and I could hear him shuffling his feet around.
"Huh?" Hearing his voice, it didn't seem like he was lying and it seemed like he was a lonely child. "What's wrong with your hands?"
"…I received this ability from here. I won't ever age. But the more years pass without aging, the more my hands will crumble. If I touch anything, my hands will sting as if I am being burned." the voice earnestly replied.
"Tch. It's Prodigy again right? Gardevoir and the stupid abilities. Did you even get to choose?" I growled, thumping my fist on the door as I remembered how Sergio was just requested to go with Qiao and the next moment he was a cat-dog.
"Of course we didn't get to choose. We are experiments after all."
I stopped, almost pausing my breathing for a second or two. We're experiments? All of us have to participate? What if I really don't want to? Qiao might force me to like Sergio…right? I shuddered at the thought. If Qiao would dare lay a finger on me I would object immediately.
"What's your name?" I asked the voice outside.
"Lylon. But I don't really like anyone to call me the name I have here. I am who I am and will always be Lylon." the voice replied, "Wait here, I'll be back really quickly.
"What? Lylon! Wait, not yet!" I called out, kicking the door again. It was too late, he was already walking up the stairs to get somebody. From the sound of it, Lylon wasn't a bad person; he's probably getting someone to help. But who is going to help here? Everyone here is an experiment. Cassidy hasn't come to retrieve her yet, Raj has locked her up, and the strange Kenneth hasn't even spoken to her before. Not that he could.
"I'm back. Did you wait well?" I could hear Lylon call out through the holes of the door.
"Just come and open this door up for goodness sake." I urged. I wanted to see light for once. I needed to get back to Raj and lock him back where he belonged instead of him locking me there when I did nothing. I never liked Raj in the first place.
"O-okay, okay." Lylon sounded fairly disappointed and hopeless. Slowly, there was the sound of locks being picked, and then there was an alarm.
The sound echoed all across the floor of the level and fairly soon, the heavy footsteps of macho men were heard. And there, in between the entire racket I could see and hear Qiao.
What was she doing here?
Lylon scurried away, leaving behind something that looked tattered and old, almost as if it had been dragged around by a million evil hounds. Not that evil hounds don't exist on Earth. I had walked past a few evil hounds back on Earth. They'd just keep chasing me.
I rushed out, following Lylon. On the way, I picked up the little thing he dropped behind; a diary. A homemade little booklet with pages so old they looked yellow and dusty.
It won't hurt to take a look will it?
I opened the book. The first page was filled, and for the first five pages, it seemed complete. The rest of the book was empty and blank, a few dried blood stains on the pages.
"Hey, Lylon!" I called out, grumbling at the fact that he was probably quite small and agile because it took me ages to find where he went. I soon found him outside at the gardens of Prodigy. How fast had he run? I couldn't believe he had come out here in within a few seconds. Well, that was an exaggeration, but it was still fast.
Lylon turned around once he stopped running. He had a fedora on, a scarf wrapped around his neck and bright orange eyes. His hair was blonde with a few turquoise highlights to it.
Our eyes met and he shuddered, "What are you doing with my book?!" he yelped, trying to snatch the book out of my hands but he shrunk back once he was near enough to grab it. "…"
"This is a diary. There's nothing in it, what's the worry?"
Lylon's eyes looked up sharply, almost glaring at me, "You know nothing!"
"What?" I looked at him in disbelief. Well, yes, I might not know what the diary is for since I don't write one, but it doesn't mean I don't understand anything in it.
"Give it back." Lylon demanded, sounding less adorable as he was back near the cells. His orange eyes almost seemed to burn, but of loneliness.
"Okay then. I don't need it anyway." I threw the booklet back at him and he caught it in his arms, not with his hands. His hands were covered in gloves just like Kenneth.
Lylon calmed down a bit, his hands shaking as he took the diary. I could see he was trying hard to stay strong despite the issue he told me about. He can't touch anything with his hands or it'll sting and break away.
I was considering an apology for this pitiful little one when I heard a bark and the footsteps of macho men.
"Lylon, run, quick!" I cried and we ran for our lives, rushing to the road we paused. "Where to now?!" I panicked, dashing around and jumped to hide under the nearby bushes. It was prickly and believe me it wasn't very nice but I had to stay down and quiet. "Lylon, shh."
Lylon seemed to understand and kept quiet as I could see some strange looking men with gas masks come out, dressed in bulky white clothing. They looked like some sort of evil-doer organization. Who the hell are they?
Right when I thought they were about to leave, a tap make me shriek. Luckily someone had covered my mouth before I made any more noises.
"…" I looked at Lylon and he smiled with his thumbs up. Good signal? What?
I looked down at the hand that was covering my mouth. Gloves.
"Goodie, Kenneth is here." Lylon said as the men began spreading around to look for us.
Kenneth was behind me pointing in a certain direction.
Right. He's found an exit? We all followed, crawling on our abdomen until we reached a river and a dark tunnel. "What? You don't expect me to go in there do you? You're insane you know? INSANE."
Kenneth sighed and pointed into the tunnel, crouching down and crawling into it. The murky water beneath splashed upon his suit. Lylon pulled a face but bent low and walked behind Kenneth. I could hear squelching and I held my nose.
"…you guys really are insane."
"Come on~! It's nice and cool in here!" Lylon's voice echoed.
"No way. No friggin way."
"It's the only way out." Lylon paused, "Even Kenneth agrees."
I looked at the tunnel suspiciously, then at the clothes I was wearing. I am not going down there.
"I'm taking the upper path." I stepped on the top of the tunnel, bent knees, walking across. It was all going well. Great in fact, but then I heard a gunshot. Well, maybe not really a bullet because I would have died then. Instead, I felt dizzy. "…hurrr…" I had fallen on the ground, my vision blurry.
How dare they try paralyse me…. and that was the last thing I thought before I went unconscious.
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."
{{ Decided to share some avis for a change~
Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide
Sakura Qiao Ming:
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."
Haven't written for a while...! Sorry for keeping my updates on pause. I will get writing ASAP! }}
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."
Contagious - Chapter 14
Back at the Cointvous Mansion, Sergio and Cassidy were jumping out the balcony in Cassidy's room, making sure they weren't spotted.
"Quick, we have to get to Ebony before she turns into something like you." Cassidy frowned in disgust, seeing Sergio go back into his animal form and shaking his fur.
"It's Ivory. She ain't some Ebony. She told me her name was Ivory." Sergio looked up at Cassidy with his purple eyes.
"Well, she told me her name was Ebony. I've known her longer than you have."
"Long enough to be slapped in the face as a greeting?" Sergio teased as he remembered her telling him to slap Cassidy once he sees him.
"Dog, shut up." Cassidy rolled his eyes, running out and away from his home. "See you papa, I'll be right back soon."
Sergio scoffed and ran off, sniffing all over the place to find the right track. "…this way…" he sniffed once more and leapt forward, running fast so Cassidy couldn't catch up. He probably did that on purpose to tick him off.
"Dog! Wait!"
"I've got a name you know?"
"Who cares?" Cassidy replied, but shut up once the branches swung back and hit him in the face. Sergio had chosen paths where his size was good but a human would get hit by trees and branches from above.
Sergio ran faster when the smell of the Prodigy institute got stronger. "Ivory should be alright there. I lost her scent but it should be fine."
"Better be." Cassidy held his nose where it started to bleed.
The vines around the edge of the path they took through the green wild bushlands tangled around their waist, pulling Cassidy back from entering. Sergio slipped through easily but had to trot back to bite off the vines.
"Next time, call me Sergio." he said smugly.
Cassidy ignored him, pulling his sleeve free from the thorns, "Where's Ebony?"
"She's in the dark room." he looked up at Cassidy, "You know, that big black room with no light and spears and stuff?"
"No. I don't. I was only put in a white cube-like room." Cassidy replied, barely looking down at Sergio who was trying his best to keep calm, not believing this guy.
"I'll take you there then." said Sergio but before he could move, Cassidy pulled him back by the nape of his neck.
"We're not going in there. Definitely not." he said sternly. "You know it's dangerous especially when they can recognize you, judging the fact that you're like this now, they must have seen you before."
Sergio tried pulling his arm away, "Jesus. Are you going to go and find her or not? She has something to tell you. Or at least some sort of important message."
Cassidy didn't move, staying frozen, his arms stretched out. "…wait for it…" he said. Sergio looked at his eyes darting left and right rapidly. He could smell something. And now he could see something. It was Qiao and the butler who helped Ebony carry her suitcase. Sergio's ears perked up, scanning the whole area for anything unexpected.
"Pst, isn't that Qiao?" Cassidy asked Sergio. It had been a while since he had seen her, quite a long time in fact. The last time I saw her she looked much less mature. Oh, she even tied her hair in a bun. That's a change. he thought. She used to hate having her hair tied.
"I'm starting to think you probably never came here before. How could you not recognize her? Foreign looking lady, red theme colour, dude, it's Qiao alright."
"Yeah, yeah. I know now. Oh, that's her brother." Cassidy jerked his head towards the butler who was chatting away with Qiao Ming.
Sergio sniffed the air. "He smells nice. I wonder what brand shampoo."
"That's not the time to check nice smells. He doesn't smell unique to me. Just an average butler look." Cassidy slowly crouched down. "Follow me and it'll be alright." he suggested, slipping across the back towards the back entrance.
Sergio trotted behind him, "And I'm being led around by a guy who barely recognizes a lady." he muttered. "Anyway, Ivory mentioned something about you escaping yeah? How did you do that?"
"Non-explanatory. If you've escaped then you'd know the feeling. You just escape." Cassidy replied bluntly, trying to focus ahead where he heard strange noises. Rather like a racket.
"Geez, it gives me a headache listening to all that." Sergio complained, trying to cover up his ears. "But there's some commotion in there. Some sorta meeting yeah?"
Cassidy ignored him, his eyes fixed on Gardevoir who pushed his wheelchair across the hallway. He looked pale, but he always did. Beside him was a strange Indian looking boy holding a piece of paper.
"Who's that?" Cassidy asked Sergio.
"Do you think I know everything from the world? I barely even know that guy to be honest and I don't want to."
"You're not much of help." said Cassidy, turning his head back to see.
"Whatever. It's good that I brought you here. I get a companion."
"I'm barely your companion. You're more like a messenger."
"You know, I'd be greatly delighted if you could stop talking. It'll be a great help because chatting about how useless I am over your superiority isn't helping."
Cassidy paused before heaving a heavy sigh, "Just, can we get to Ebony?"
"Ivory should be in her room. Just follow me." Sergio waited patiently for the moment before dashing off around the doors, sniffing at windows and finally stopping near an open air vent outside on the outer walls of Prodigy.
They crawled inside until reaching the middle of the stairwell, kicking open the latch of the air vent indoors and slipping out. "The room's downstairs."
"Okay, take me there, I am kind of late to when I promised I would help her escape.
"Like I said, follow me."
The two went downstairs, in all sorts of directions before Sergio put a paw on the door with the studs and gave a whine.
"Okay, dog whine and it means there's somebody in there." Cassidy rolled his eyes before knocking on the door, "Ebony, Ebony, it's me Cassidy."
There was no reply, in fact for a long while until Cassidy looked down at Sergio, "Where is she?"
"She's not inside, that's why I was making noises." Sergio replied bluntly.
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."
Contagious - Chapter 15
The sudden sound of footsteps woke me up. Everything was blurry and the way I saw things were blue. Everything was blue. I hated that; it made me think I had an eye problem for a moment before I realised it must have been the aftereffects of the drug they used. I lifted my head up, noticing I was pinned down on a table - a cold metal table.
The first thing that popped in my head was to yell. At least get somebody's attention but from the modern dramas and movies I had watched back on Earth, that was the stereotypical thing to do, and the most stupid.
So I thought of something else. I would probably just lie down here and not move. Maybe the freaks in white would come back. Maybe just that.
I lay my head down slowly, using a lot of my neck muscles to make sure I didn't bump my head on the metal.
Soon enough there was a creaking sound, probably from outside since there were no further noises, and then the sound of footsteps.
Soon enough a door swung open and a boy with a blindfold entered the room.
"Experiment 20-13, answer my questions okay?" the boy said. His voice had a nasal tone to it as if it had been held by a peg but all I could see was a perfectly fine nose. "Experiment 20-13, can you even hear me? Answer me okay?"
"…" I didn't move an inch, not even breathing. I held my breath and ignored the boy who stepped forward.
"Experiment 20-13, answer me please?" the boy seemed a little strange, knowing my exact directions even if he was blindfolded. "Stop pretending I'm not here okay? I'm alive so answer me okay?"
His nasal voice was beginning to annoy me. It was annoying me so much I grunted in response.
"So you're here right? Experiment 20-13?"
"Yes! Stop calling me 'experiment ladi-dadi'." I muttered.
"But that's your name okay?"
"And stop saying okay because it's really annoying me."
"I can't do that so just get used to it okay? It's only because I can't say anything else but words in question form yeah?"
I couldn't believe my ears. A child here, blindfolded, is telling me that he can only ask questions. It was insane. To add on to the feeling of being mental, there was that whole blue vision.
"Well, whether you like it or not that's not my concern so I'm going to channel some medication into you yeah?"
"No! Never!" I sat up. The only part of me that wasn't strapped down was my neck and upper torso. My arms and legs were strapped all by the wrist and ankles.
"But I have to do this so Mister G can be really happy okay?"
"Not okay. Don't you know that if you don't ask for permission and put drugs into people, it's considered illegal?"
"Mister G told me to do this, I'm only just following his orders so get used to it okay?"
"No! Tell Mister G to come down, release me and get prepared to get beaten up alrighty. I've had enough of institutes, being put in dark rooms, being drugged, being paralysed and I am having enough of seeing everything blue!" I yelled, feeling a migraine spread.
"I'll call him down okay?" the boy walked off barefoot. He was only just wearing a jumpsuit but it made him look incredibly alien. Maybe because his hair looked very unnatural, lopsided even.
To be honest, I didn't even want to see 'Mister G'. I just wanted to stop being pinned down and being thought of as an experiment. Really. Ever since the day I touched the mirror, being a curious cat poking around my reflection, I had been thrown through all this. What if I returned home? Will I be like this, with my body dispersing into particles in the air?
Footsteps were heard thumping down the corridor before the same boy opened the door. "Mister G said he couldn't come so it's okay for you next time?"
"Whatever. How about this, you set me free and then I remove the blindfold from you." I said trying to convince him. I bet he probably never saw light before. If he never saw light, I bet he never knew what he was doing. What he is doing is definitely wrong. The thought of having syringes and pills stuffed in my mouth filled my mind. I could image the scene in sci-fi movies.
"No, I am not allowed because Mister G said never to remove it so don't touch it alright?"
"What's with you and this 'Mister G'? Are you his son or something? I don't see why some kid like you would work here in this suffocating area. I know I wouldn't even if my parents tell me to. It's basically a waste of life." I said trying to convince him.
The boy seemed to look at me puzzled. "Do you have to use your life efficiently to live? I think my life is perfect here, no?"
"It's not. You're talking through questions; that's freaking me out. And…okay, no offense but you have really weird looking hair."
At this remark, the boy seemed to try and fix it. He put his hands on his hair, moved it around a little which also freaked me out and then let go of it slowly, only to see a mop of hair flop to the ground.
A wig.
He was wearing a wig.
"Is it better Experiment 20-13?"
"…uhhh………." I was speechless. My vision being completely blue, there wasn't anything better. "…your hair…fell off. It fell off." I looked at his shiny bald head. Bald at such a young age, what a shame. What a pity. I told him so, never to waste life down here in suffocating areas wearing wigs.
"It fell off?"
"Yes. Like it fell off!" I pointed at him with my wrist still pinned down, "Okay, I can't keep calm anymore. THIS IS INSANE!" I shrieked.
That was when I heard some squeaking.
That also freaked me out. The fact that I'm lying here seeing things blue and being strapped to a metal bed with some bald blindfolded boy calling me an experiment entirely freaked me out.
And then something even more freaky happened. The door swung open and Gardevoir stood—well, more like sat on his wheelchair as usual in the doorway.
"We meet again Ebony."
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."
Contagious - Chapter 16
Seeing Gardevoir made me freeze. He probably thought I had calmed down but really, it was the opposite. Much more questions were swarming in my head, millions of questions.
"Don't call me Gardevoir." it was the same reply from him. His red eyes which seemed blue in my vision darted around before he seemed to hiss something. Yes, hiss.
The boy walked to him before sending a chilling smile at me, "This is Mister G so now you're happy aren't you?"
"I'm not happy about this at all…! Gardevoir, why am I tied up here?" I attempted to rip my hands out of the bars but it didn't work, instead I probably bruise my wrists.
"Baldy, can you go and get the antidote?"
The boy nodded instantly. He didn't say anything else since he couldn't. He only spoke in questions and what sort of obeying reply would start with a question? Probably something like 'Antidote, why?'. So I watched the boy addressed as Baldy walk off, the sound of his bare feet on the corridors like the constant sound of a low bass drum.
Gardevoir wheeled his chair across to me before picking up a syringe at the trays, looking over at me before putting it down and seeming to pick another one. "I don't get you Ebony. You're repulsive. Like Sergio." he murmured.
"Repulsive? I know what Prodigy is doing. It's not good, it's unacceptable and if everyone found out about it, I'd tell you about repulsive."
Gardevoir only glanced at my direction before shaking his head. "Hot headed girls…what troublemakers." he mumbled to himself before putting on a pair of gloves and picking up the empty syringe. "You, Ebony, do you know how much trouble I went through to hire those men? And you know what else? They're on the move. You and your escaping friends can re-unite." he said.
I didn't know if that was sarcasm or he really meant to let us unite. Probably sarcasm, I mean it's rare to have such kind-hearted people. "I don't care. Those white men…whatever."
The sound of footsteps was heard again. Baldy. It must be him. Him and his obedience to 'Mister G'.
And I was right, Baldy opened the door before passing Gardevoir a bottle which he collected the liquid into the syringe and turned to me. Oh…nonono. No he don't. He's not going to inject that filthy liquid into me. I began to shuffle back. But I couldn't move anywhere.
"Stop. This is illegal. What is this? Illegal—" but I was cut off, yelping as the needle was pressed into my upper arm. "OW! I will sue you! I have had enough! Bring me back to Earth, or I will start a revolution." I glared at Gardevoir who stifled a laugh.
"The revolution has started already." he replied me. My vision of blue blurred before the rest of the colours came back. "Feeling better? I told you it was just antidote."
"…hmph." I was still eyeing him sharply when he wheeled himself over to another area. An area where there were buttons. I watched as his thin fingers went along to the many complicated contraptions before he pressed a small button and the straps pinning me down retracted.
"Free! At last! Even though I was only here for who knows how long."
"But you're not going anywhere. Yet." Gardevoir moved his hand dismissively and Baldy walked to the door, locking it. That grabbed my attention. Locked doors weren't a good memory to me. I remember when I was a young toddler some brat locked me in a room thinking it was fun. It wasn't.
"It's about time I tell you what's going on." he continued, "Prodigy…you should really be thanking it. I sense you hate it, that's not meant to happen Ebony. Did you read your Pro:File?"
"My Pro:File?" my expression turned awkward. I hadn't actually. I left it in the dark cell.
"I'll take that as a no," he sighed before he waved his arms around a little, objects levitating before he picked out an old empty cup and then balled his hand into a fist. The cup was crushed and then instantly turned into a folder. More showing off. "You're lucky I have another copy."
"Do I have to read it?" my temper calmed down. I wasn't sure if it was me or something Gardevoir was doing. He seemed to have a calming way of doing things, slow and at his pace.
"You were meant to but I'll read it out for you." he cleared his throat before he opened the file and looked me in the eye, making sure I was paying attention.
I sat up in response. After all, my arms and legs were free, if not sitting or moving around, what's the point of having a moving body?
"This is your Pro:File Ebony, listen carefully.
'The destined child of Lathens, born to parents Christopher or Chris Black and Mary Wellis. Long straight hair, dark eyes and pale skin. A complexion of mystery and negative ways of seeing things."
"Don't interrupt me yet." Gardevoir looked back down at the file before continuing to read, "Counterpart in Lathens: Ivory Smith. Upon leaving of Ivory, Ebony was transported into Lathens and since has become the destined one to start the Revolution. Height: 168 centimetres, Weight—"
"Wait. Don't read out my weight. What does this all mean? You're reading me my Pro:File but I don't get a thing. Why don't you shorten the meaning a little instead of going all formal…?"
"…Baldy, explain to her please."
"Do you not understand Experiment 20-13?" Baldy asked me.
"No. I mean, what does Ivory have to do with me? I know she's the 'other me' and the 'Reflected Self' and stuff but…"
Gardevoir's eyes glittered at the mentioning of Reflected Self. Slowly, he rose to his feet, supported by his wheelchair. "You know about the Reflected Selves?"
"Who told you?"
Gardevoir seemed to smile and laugh silently. "So he made it didn't he?" I sort of heard him say softly. "Did Cassidy tell you, I set him free?"
I furrowed by brows in confusion, "No?"
"Ahaha, he must have told you he escaped didn't he? Always claiming the credit for himself that mischievous child." he moved over to the door, opening it for me as he gestured for Baldy to go outside.
The blindfolded boy walked outside of course, and shortly after I followed after. I didn't get it. He caught me, brought me here, just so he could explain something to me? I didn't quite believe it. Looking around, I noticed the polished tiles and the elevators everywhere. The place was very bright. You could almost see the sun shining directly down. Did I mention it seemed to look transparent? But at each room, the walls and ceiling would be a thick wall, blocking out all the sunlight and brightness.
"Where am I? Is this still Prodigy?"
"Keep quiet for now." he replied. I could see smiles in his eyes. He looked so happy yet it seemed he seemed poised and serious at once.
I was too distracted by the strange doors to ask any further. He reached a room which had 'MEETING' in black written stamped on the door and he pushed it open. To my surprise, it wasn't empty. There was someone else there, Raj.
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."
Contagious - Chapter 17
"Stupid girl."
That was the first thing Raj said.
"What? You brat!" I pointed at Raj before turning to Gardevoir, "Why is he here?!"
"Were you not expecting to see him?" he replied to me nonchalantly.
"I don't ever want to see him again! Worst guy ever! He will never get a girlfriend too! He called himself Prince when we first met in the cell! I mean who would take up such a ridiculous name? And he didn't let me see you the day you told me to go to your office for kicking at the door!" I blurted out, pointing at the darker skinned boy.
When I glanced at him, he looked agitated. His eyes were indeed red instead of pink.
"I believe it was a room not a cell." Gardevoir said. He massaged his temples before looking directly at Raj, "Raj here you see, isn't meant to be your enemy. Don't hate on him, he's a good boy."
"Good?!" I scoffed, "As if!"
Raj smirked at me, "Stupid idiot, didn't you hear what Gardevoir said?"
"I did, but I don't believe it. How come you get to call him Gardevoir and I don't?"
"Ivory—" Gardevoir began but was cut off.
"It's Ebony! I don't like being called Ivory!"
"…" he sighed before he stood up again, supported by his wheelchair, "Listen children, I will explain to you especially Ebony. Prodigy, do you know anything about it Ebony?"
"Duh…it's an institute where we turn into experiments isn't it? Admit it Sir, you're in charge of this devious plan."
Gardevoir paused and made a very awkward expression before sitting down, back to his serious look on his face; his eyes glittering and hands clasped neatly on the meeting table.
"Right. In a way you are right Ebony, take a seat. Sit down." he said before watching me as I sat, then he turned to Raj, "Raj here has sacrificed his human innocence to be one of my kind." he smiled for once, but is seemed to send chills down my spine. "He is a loyal boy and you should never doubt him. I…think it would be best I start explaining from the beginning." he took a deep breath and sighed,
"Back a thousand years ago or more, Lathens was just your perfect average open field, no buildings, just grass. And of course to come here, if you weren't born here, you definitely had to come here via mirror.
You came via mirror didn't you? All of you, Earthlings. I was born here, and by the time I was born, some of the first buildings were beginning to be made. I remember my first house, a shack. Build merely of steel and mud bricks. Then I moved onto well, much more complicated things children shouldn't know about."
"I know about it." Raj cut in smirking. He was boasting, I knew it. But honestly I wanted to know about some of it. What did Gardevoir move onto?
"Not now Raj…well, as I was saying, I was born here. So back then in the past of thousands of years, I grew up of course. And it was then that I learnt in classes that there was some sort of devious plan being made by one of the councillors in the old days. It was said that they passed it onto an Earthling years before I was born. Someone had become good with communicating with Earthlings outside without transporting them over." Gardevoir spoke on.
"Wait—so you're saying you're about or over a thousand years old, and you're telling me Reflected Selves, or people born in Lathens can communicate with Earthlings, well, us?" I asked.
"Quite, well, yes. There was a man, Everzia who wrote a scroll, with a secret hidden in it and met his reflection, which was an Earthling one day looking into his own mirror. Of course the Earthling was surprised to see a different appearance."
"Yeah, I know that." I muttered, remembering the day I freaked about looking into a mirror seeing someone that wasn't me.
"Everzia told the Earthling through writing and developed a strong bond. A very dangerous bond. Because the scroll was given to him when he told the Earthling to touch the reflection. Everzia was sent to Earth and his other self was sent to Lathens where he picked up the scroll and Everzia stepped back through the mirror and ended back home. I trust Cassidy has told you about travelling one way only?"
"Yes," I replied with a nod.
"Good, good. Everzia was hunted down but because nobody else found the same way to talk to their other selves in the Earth world without getting the Earthlings to touch the mirror, they couldn't get to the other version of Everzia. The scroll was most likely passed down to many generations of humans. And I believe Mr Cointvous is the generation of this time, that has received the scroll. This scroll, oh is very dangerous." Gardevoir's eyes narrowed before he froze, paused for a while, took a deep breath and continued with his speech, "Everzia had a twin, a brother. I'm not too sure what his name was actually. But it was said this twin was a direct opposite to who he was. He was the nice guy.
But the people of Lathens had no idea this twin brother of his was a pure innocent boy and drowned him. Back then the only punishment was to drown them, or feed them to some sort of monster. There are no monsters now, don't be afraid. They all died out of hunger when no more criminals existed.
His poor twin was drowned but his spirit remained, trapped in an ice orb. It was said in Winter, his spirit at the bottom of the lake where he was drowned was frozen. The frozen lake melted as Spring came but the orb never did.
They say it's his innocence preserving such a thing."
I tried to absorb everything Gardevoir said. "Wait…so Everzia passed this evil scroll with a secret to his Reflected Human self. And then he got killed and his twin got killed…what does this have to do with Prodigy?"
"Ebony, there's more to it. The evil scroll is a password to a third dimension. It will bring mind manipulation, illusions and control of bodies into the world of Lathens. Whoever has been in possession of the scroll also gains some bad luck, and forever will stay evil. Prodigy plays a big part. Mr Cointvous, I checked his history. He came from Earth. Did anyone tell you this?"
"Cassidy already told me this part. His dad is Sir Cointvous and he killed the real Sir Cointvous who was actually born in Lathens. I'm on the right track right?" I replied.
"Yes Ebony. You're catching up to Raj. Mr Cointvous has been ruling Lathens for a while now. Probably 5 years? He's planning to send people to my institute, Prodigy. Oh he thinks nobody knows. But Cassidy told me one day, that bright bulb. He told me innocently that his father had committed a horrid crime; killed somebody. And that's when I took deep research into this man who even I thought was the real Cointvous. Instead he was a human imposter.
Don't worry about Cassidy by the way. He has given up hope to return his father to his original form. His father doesn't even consider him his real son anymore. He's forgotten. He thinks Cassidy is at the institute but that bright bulb has switched places with Cassius. Cassius is locked in Prodigy now.
Ebony, I want you to remember this and don't tell anyone. Prodigy…it's not what you think. I have fooled Mr Cointvous into thinking I am training these children to work for his future domination plan. He is wrong. I am training you to fight for Lathens. To fight against him. This you must remember, we are against Mr Cointvous, not Prodigy." he finished, standing up. "What I need to explain is said. The rest…ask Raj."
"Gardevoir, wait! What, this is so confusing…! What am I meant to do?" I stood up too.
"You just listen to Raj, he will tell you the rest. I have to go now, I think Qiao is looking for me." Gardevoir wheeled his way out where he met up with Baldy and they both went off somewhere, closing the door.
"Raj." I turned to him.
"Stupid girl, you get it now?"
"No…I don't get who's side I'm on now. It's so complicated…! Cassidy didn't tell me I was getting into so much of a big thing! I should have never touched my reflection." I complained, sighing heavily as I sat down slumping on the meeting chair.
"Phht. Curiosity kills the cat." Raj seemed to chime before he looked up, "Idiot, you're on Gardevoir's side. Don't listen to Cointvous, you're a idiot you know? Look in the dictionary. Idiot entirely defines you." he seemed triumphed.
"I'm not an idiot."
"You are. Say a word and I will paralyse you so you won't get to say a thing for the rest of your life." Raj suddenly said, stopping me from snapping back, "Good keep quiet. I will fill you dumb person with the rest of the details. Everzia has a twin who is good. And…well, truth is Gardevoir is a vampire. Ever heard of those bat things? I don't think so. You look like a total wreck to understand that."
"Hahaha! Your stupid expression!" Raj pointed at me laughing like mad before dropping serious, "A vampire. If you think I'm lying then you're seriously demented."
"Shut up."
"Make me." Raj looked me in the eye. Once again I noticed it was red. Gardevoir said Raj sacrificed his human innocence to become one of his kind…Raj is a vampire too?! I suddenly shuddered and Raj looked elsewhere.
"Gardevoir as a vampire had ancestors over 2000 years old. One of his ancestors was a friend of Everzia's twin. They never spoke of his name because they don't speak of the dead, no matter what. They were the ones who entrusted the future of Lathens to his family. Gardevoir is doing what his whole clan has being doing since a long time."
I blanked out entirely, just watching his mouth move and talk and talk. I didn't quite get any of it in until he whacked me in the head with a clipboard.
"Are you even freaking listening?"
"Yes! I'm listening!" I glared at Raj, "UGH you annoying brat. Whatever! I get it! I'm on Gardevoir's side. Just like Cassidy said, 'Gardevoir is the good one'." I huffed angrily before storming out of the room.
Raj smirked sitting alone in the meeting room before walking out and locking the door. "Brat? Wrong, you very stupid girl." he said to himself.
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."
{{ I'll be on hiatus for a while so I will keep updating via my trustworthy friend ^u^ So I'll send the documents to him and then he'll post them for me OuO Gomen for the inconvenience OTL }}
"But someone's gotta go--so I'm already gone."


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Activision's Call of Duty franchise is a phenomenon played by hundreds of millions of gamers, grossing over $3 billion in sales, and breaking sales records year over year with each release. But there are some (very vague) signs pointing to its popularity starting to wane.
Unfortunately, "waning" popularity isn't good enough to make COD die. All this means is that there will (potentially) be a smaller budget for the games as the sales drop over the next 4 years or so. Then, reboot.
The game has been broken since launch and the maps are overpriced. That line is interchangeable with the last 4 CoD games...and that is sad.
Call of duty died when the actual creators and devs left after MW2.
When they left the tank was full. Treyarch and Skedgehammer have been riding it out until the tank is empty, which is pretty close now.

subset: commoncrawl


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Thursday, April 14, 2011
Cupcakes Berko
22 comments:
For a moment I thought you are taking us to New York City, and then I realized I was in Paris, only to doubt myself again when I spotted the pecan tarts. That looks all so yummy, Carol, If this bakery where a ship, I would not mind working in its galley. ;-)ReplyDelete
Fruit and chocolate tarts for me!ReplyDelete
I love this about Europe, so many QUALITY pastry shops with delicious coffee.
I think we must get together and drink champagne while sampling a few of these delicious works of art!
I am also really enjoying your book suggestions! I too have French Women Don't Get Fat.
I read your post about Donna Leon, what is your favourite work by her? I am thinking of picking one of her books up.
Ah, but Carol, I didn't have dessert tonight, and this leaves me feeling distinctly unsatisfied...ReplyDelete
Entre parentheses, the name of the shop is funny, because it sounds regrettably similar to the French version of yuck (beurk). And yes, this observation is how you can be certain I am the mother of young children.
P.S. my 'captcha'/word verification word is lowemat, just a hair away from being lovemat. What this hare-brained observation tells me is that I could really use a slice of Berko cheesecake. Or maybe the pecan pie.
I read reviews that said their cupcakes were dry, but I've had their tarts and they are absolutely delicious. On my last trip I couldn't decide what to have, so I bought 2 of the longue tartes. Yum.ReplyDelete
Did you visit Pain de Sucre across the street?
Marvelous!! (Yummy!!)xxReplyDelete
Those ALL look great to me, Carol! Yum!ReplyDelete
It's hard to choose the best Brunetti since I've only read About face and now Death in La Fenice (and the cookbook). But all see to be character studies through Brunetti's eyes and he doesn't miss a trick.ReplyDelete
There isn't that much to the mini cupcakes - top heavy with icing. So I wouldn't say they were 'dry'. But I'm no expert Canadian Saver.
I wish I had bought TWO of the long tartes...
YUM! Mouthwatering, especially the lush red berries. I feel like I'm putting on weight just looking at them. XOReplyDelete


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Captain America Potato Head
Star-Spangled Spud
- Potato Head dons classic red, white, and blue costume
- His parts can be mixed with other superhero potatoes
- Imagine all of the crazy possibilities
Steve Rogers is a good old fashioned boy. He's as American as apple pie. He's like a hot dog at a baseball game. He's a meat and potatoes kinda guy. Well, potatoes in particular, because now you can pick up a Captain America Potato Head.
Captain America Potato Head comes preequipped with removable mask, gloves, shield, and boots. But don't let that stop you. His parts are interchangeable with other Mr. Potato Heads, so you can go wild creating your own greatest American hero. Lowercase because we're not sure that the curly blonde wig exists as an accessory.
Product Specifications
- Ages 2 and up
- Officially-licensed Marvel product
- Comes with removable mask, gloves, shield, and boots
- Mix and match with other Mr. Potato Head accessories for an extra-super spud
- Dimensions: 6" tall


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text:
The number of new features in SQL Server 2005 is almost overwhelming. Of all the new features, the one that has drawn the most attention from the media and DBAs alike is the integration of the CLR with the SQL Server database engine, and I can understand why. CLR integration brings with it a host of new capabilities as well as a huge potential for misuse. However, CLR integration is off by default, so you don't need to worry about it unless you decide to use it.
While the inclusion of the CLR is an important step for Microsoft and SQL Server, it's not the most important change. Instead, Business Intelligence (BI) is the big story in SQL Server 2005. At the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) conference in 2004, Bill Baker introduced the themes of Integrate, Analyze, and Report to describe SQL Server 2005's BI functionality. Virtually every aspect of these BI areas has been either completely revamped, as with SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), or significantly enhanced, as with Analysis Services and Reporting Services.
Arguably, the biggest changes are up front, in SSIS. Completely redesigned from the ground up, SSIS is completely different from Data Transformation Services (DTS), which it replaces. DTS was a useful tool, but it had problems with scalability and transportability. SSIS isn't just a data-transfer tool—it's a complete workflow engine. Its performance is significantly improved, and new tasks enable looping, package execution, and enhanced flow control. The new Package Configurations feature lets you easily pass in runtime variables from the registry, XML documents, parent packages, or environment variables to make your SSIS packages more flexible and easily transportable.
The core Analysis Services component has also received many important improvements and new features. In Analysis Services 2005, OLAP cubes use the new Unified Dimensional Model (UDM), which combines the strength of OLAP and relational storage, enabling you to create a custom balance between the performance and data storage your Analysis Services cubes use. Other additions include proactive caching for cube deployment, MDX enhancements, and a new XML for Analysis (XML/A) query language. Microsoft also added several new data-mining models that provide more options for data trending and prediction.
Changes on the reporting end of BI are every bit as significant as those in integration and analysis. The inclusion of Reporting Services provides an enterprise-oriented infrastructure that you can use to design and deploy reports across the organization. In addition, the Report Builder feature brings to the end user the ability to design reports that are completely integrated with Reporting Services.
At 5 years in the making, it's no surprise that SQL Server 2005 is the most feature-rich release since SQL Server 7.0—maybe ever. Though the 2005 release contains many important enhancements, the BI portion has the lion's share of the changes and new features. Many businesses were slow to adopt the BI features of the earlier SQL Server releases, but that won't be the case this time. SQL Server 2005 broadens the definition of BI to incorporate information integration and presentation capabilities that go beyond analytical processing. The nature of the BI changes in SQL Server 2005 enable a wide cross-section of organizations to quickly put them to use. Despite the slew of new features in other areas of the product, SQL Server 2005 could easily be known as "the BI release."


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What is a Gift Subscription and how does it work?
We have developed our gift subscription specifically to allow you to be able to actually hand over a physical 'thing' to the recipient on their birthday, special occasion, Christmas etc. This is why we normally send the subscription to you (the giver) directly so you can wrap it up and stick it under the tree for the lucky recipient. We can send it directly to the recipient if you prefer – they may live a long way away or they could be infectious. If you would prefer this as your delivery option then follow the instructions at checkout and make sure you enter the recipient's details in the Shipping Address section at checkout.
In the gift subscription package is a card with a unique voucher code and full instructions on how to redeem this code. The recipient enters the code into our Subscription Voucher web page and once done their digital subscription is activated.
This is what the lucky recipient will get…
A year's worth (6 issues) of Singletrack Magazine available for PC, Mac, Smartphone, iPad and Android tablets.
Digital editions of all our back-issues (over a decade).
Access to Premier-only web content.
Exclusive downloadable Digital books.
Singletrack Premier Member's card offering savings and subscriber-only deals with top bike businesses.