{{ XD Mn! }}

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.”
“What?!”
“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.
“MMPH!”
“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?”
“Yeah?”
“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.

Contagious - Chapter 8
Meanwhile, back at the home of the Cointvous…
“Young Master—” Lucinda began.
“Shh.”
“But—”
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.
“F-father?!”
“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.

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.
“Don’t.”
“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.”
“Sergio…”
“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?”
“Yes?”
“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.”
“…oh…”
“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.
“Sergio!”
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.
“UHF!”
“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?”
“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 }}