Dante came up behind Saxon and Terraline and draped his arms over their shoulders "sup guys!" he exclaimed while the walked towards the building. Without waiting for a reply he continued "don't u guys find it strange that they study rocks here? I used to want to be a geologist and as far as I know of most of their study is done in the field. The same goes for archeology as well that's why I find it interesting that these "geologist work in an air-conditioned building.". He looked at Terraline and asked in a polite voice "may I call you terra its easier to say than Terraline and means earth.". He then said in the same voice "by the way Saxon as amusing as that particular trick was I don't b elieve this is the steadiest group so maybe a little more caution with those antics.". Clapping him on the back and laughing Dante said in a cheerful voice "no worries though man lets just enjoy the day!".

"Everyone ready to look at some super-interesting rocks?"
With this remark, Dave hopped back up to his feet, looking around at his group, yawning a little. He quickly realized nobody looked even remotely happy or joyful or even amused, besides Saxon. He stretched a little bit, zoning out once again. He didn't like to pay attention much, just acted on what was before him. Whitney's reproachful voice cut through the air.

"Before we begin, I would like to say that I think we all don't really want to put up with each other, so I think we should all agree to not speak to each other unless it's important or a way of getting away from this boring Hell were about to enter, agreed?"
Dave raised an eyebrow at this. Usually Whitney, from his experience, was not the most sociable of people, but he didn't know he was capable of a remark of that caliber. Before he could interject, Terry spoke up.

"No one seemed to have a problem with anyone up until you spoke," he said. "We're all irritated but we can make the decision whether or not we'd like to speak for ourselves. No one died and made you king. " Dave just shrugged at this and looked around again, spying Saxon up to his usual antics, even laughing a little when he saw what he was doing to Whitney. He felt bad for the poor kid, but thought he really needed to loosen up a little. Nobody wanted to have a guy like that around. Dave sighed, his normally pleasant mood being darkened by the frowns on the faces around him. He brushed the hair out of his face again and pulled up his orange jacket.

"Hey, hey, guys. Let's not be disagreeing with each other, we're gonna be stuck with each other for the next few hours so we might as well make the most of them," he said, a concerned look on his face. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head, and his face brightened a little. "I know this might sound super childish and stuff, but why don't we break away from the main group and go looking around this rock research place!" he explained, grinning childishly. "You never know, we could totally find some cool stuff! Whaddaya say, guys?"

"About as ready as you'd be to go to a Beauty Pageant," the tall rainbowhead replied and though she recognised it as an insult, she had to admit it was true. And a tad more original than those popular Barbies calling her 'ugly'.

"You don't seem like you're in a good mood today. Usually you have a neutral mood setting, not too mad, not too happy, but today you seem quite... uh, what's the word..? Frustrated. What's on your mind, Pen?"

Pen was unprepared for Alvira's question; was she being nice? Confrontation she was ready to deal with, but how could she start a fight with someone who wasn't asking for it? She sized Alvira up. Yeah, she looked like she bothered with her appearance waaay more than Pen would consider acceptable, with make-up and hair dye, but at least it wasn't the cutesy, girly-girly look that Pen couldn't stand.

"It's this heat," she said, realising she was snapping a little and then in a slight softer voice "Me and hot weather do not get along. Especially in a bus or some stupid lab. I'd prefer to be outside - I'm more of the outdoorsy type."

When Whitney announced something about not speaking and, though Pen would've initially agreed with him, she preferred talking, even if it was just insulting someone to start a fight. She stepped inside the building which was cooler inside, causing her to sigh in relief, as she heard the quiet one snap something back at Whitney - not something she expected. Huh; who thought she had it in her. Maybe she wasn't so mousy and boring after all.

She heard a small outcry from Whitney a moment later and, from Saxon's grin, she could tell he had zeroed in on his first target. When she caught a glimpse of a worm drop onto the ground, she felt a flash of sympathy for Whitney, who looked like he just wanted to be left alone and slipped to the back.

"Not one of your most original, Saxon..." she muttered, rolling her eyes. But she felt a prickle of nervousness; one down, nine more target to go. That meant a one in nine chance that she would be next.

Then something she most definitely did not expect - Jesse attempted an actual conversation with her.
She almost laughed when he compared the facility to prison - he did have a point. The forboding grey exterior and clean, white interior weren't exactly welcoming. But she could not excuse him calling her (shudder) Penelope. God, why did she have to be cursed with that name?

"That's Pen, to you," she said through gritted teeth, her hands curling into fists but she forced herself to keep them by her side. It was the most restraint she'd shown each day and though she'd heard rumours he had a new car every month (which may have been a little more rumour than fact), he didn't seem too, too bad. Wow - that was almost a compliment. "Yeah - unfortunately, the teacher always pick the worst, lowest-budget outing they can find. You're lucky, today - last year, we visited a goat farm."

She heard Dante say something about enjoying the day and found herself snorting, internally. Yeah, right, that's gonna happen.

"I know this might sound super childish and stuff, but why don't we break away from the main group and go looking around this rock research place! You never know, we could totally find some cool stuff! Whaddaya say, guys?"

The kid - Dave, she remembered - actually had a point. The trip would be dull and she needed some excitement to perk her up on such a hot day. She idled a little as the other groups disappeared, a smile playing on her lips.

"Brave Dave's got a point," she declared, ducking over to a stairwell set apart from the main reception. There was no one on the reception desk - the reception lady had followed Mrs Fliss out. Everywhere was still.

"So everyone's who's game - follow me!" she announced, hopping onto the first step, turning to grin at them all "And if you're not game, you still might as well follow. You're gonna get in trouble anyway for splitting up from your group!"

She flashed an excited smile at the rainbow-haired Alvira and Jesse - who seemed the two kids she felt she could most stand on this lame fieldtrip - before darting up the shadowed flight of stairs. Time to have some real fun.

---

Dr Goode's eyes remained fixed on the monitor besides Pilot. When all the graphs and readings showed that Pilot was awakening, he allowed himself a small grin, nodding at Wesley. Relieved, the ginger-haired lab rat scuttled off.

He extracted a clipboard from the nearby desk and wedged it in the crook of his arm, fishing a pen out from the pocket of his crisp, white lab coat that Wesley had draped over him with shaking finger. That man was incompetent - but knew too much to just fire him. Maybe he could disappear in a freak accident in the near future.

"Test subject one," Dr Goode announced in commanding voice.

"Names. Give me your names, nicknames...And don't lie to me. I shall know if you do. Remember? I always do."

Pilot stared at the ceiling, itching to get up and move. He'd been asleep for a while; he could feel it. His muscles begged him to sit up and stretch, but he denied himself. He couldn't; he hadn't been told to.

Goode came over to him and spoke, asking him his name; or names. He had many, most of them he didn't remember. Any name that had clung to him from his former life had been long lost, along with most of his other memories. He answered promptly.
"Pilot," He said. "Or experiment number 237, the first of the canines. I have no other names." He felt a bit anxious; what if he missed one? What if he'd been given one recently and didn't know it? His eyes remained concentrated on the ceiling, blank.

Whitney scanned the other group members, all of which were now talking or focused on something that wasn't him. That was the first time he tried one of his newest strategies, and it went off without a hitch. No one was talking to him and everyone got a negative first impression. Sometimes you got to create scenes to prevent further ones. He's glad that no one that sees him a lot was there or they would have called out how uncharacteristic it was to start such a scene.

"So everyone's who game- follow me!" Pen announced from the top of a stairwell, which was definitely off course of where everyone else was going, breaking Whitney's concentraition, "And if you're not game, you still might as well follow. You're gonna get in trouble anyway for splitting up from your group!" Whitney didn't hesitate. He knew of all the possible punishments for splitting off, but the teachers wanted them in this group for a reason, to not have to deal with them. Besides, anything was better than some dumb rock lab.

Alvira watched as Pen observed her a bit, sizing her up maybe? Or just wondering why the hell she was even socializing with a normie. She didn't exactly know.

"It's this heat," Pen said in a snappy tone, which made Alvira's eyebrows momentarily go down in a slight glare that quickly vanished once Pen changed to a softer tone. Perhaps she didn't mean to snap out. Alvira couldn't blame her, she's probably used to picking fights. "Me and hot weather do not get along. Especially in a bus or some stupid lab. I'd prefer to be outside - I'm more of the outdoorsy type."

Alvira tilted her head in confusion,

"You don't do well in heat, yet you go outside all the time. Odd combination, but I can't blame you. I don't do well with heat either, me and the sun don't get along really. It burns me and if I get too hot I pass out. Just because I hate being tan isn't the only reason why I keep myself pale. If I were to try to tan I'd most likely have a heat-stroke."

Alvira mentally smacked herself, there we go, explaining stuff for no reason again. Ugh, she always did that when talking to someone for the first time. She growled in frustration when Whitney suddenly decided to talk, sure it was a miracle that he spoke, but it just pissed her off when it was something that he was whining about. She heard enough whining on a daily basis from normies, and just because he was stuck here with the group didn't mean he needed to bitch.

"No one seemed to have a problem with anyone up until you spoke. We're all irritated but we can make the decision whether or not we'd like to speak for ourselves. No one died and made you king. "

Ok, now that was funny. Alvira snickered and glanced over at Terry.

"Oh hey you DO speak! Its a miracle!"

Alvira said jokingly and laughed a bit.

"It seems no one here appreciates my way of saying don't talk to me. I couldn't care less if you talked to one another, just don't bother me." Whitney said and Alvira looked over at him with a half-angry facial expression, but that quickly changed to an amused grin when she saw him begin to wiggle around until a worm fell out of his jacket. Again, Alvira snickered.

"I can't say I have a witty response to that. Congratulations, you all win, now can I be left alone?"

Alvira glared,

"Look dude. We're all trying to lighten up the frikkin mood, just because you hate the damn world doesn't mean you need to try to make this trip more hellish than it already is. YOU'RE the one who whined, so naturally people are going to respond. You speak, people answer. Get it?"

She said through her gritted teeth. Her mood was swinging quite fast today, so anything could make her go off like a ticking time bomb. Alvira watched as Jesse approched Pen. What the hell was rich-boy doing?

"Penelope, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems as though you're as anxious to get through this as myself. Now, I know it must seem strange that I am speaking to you, as we are from different worlds, but riddle me this: Does your school always participate in lame field trips like this one? From the looks of the building," Jesse's hazel eyes glanced around, "this could easily be mistaken for a prison."

"That's Pen, to you," Pen responded through gritted teeth, her hands curling into fists. Alvira looked at her with a sly grin on her face,

"Chill a little Pen, rich-boy's just scaaared is all."

She snickered again.

"I know this might sound super childish and stuff, but why don't we break away from the main group and go looking around this rock research place! You never know, we could totally find some cool stuff! Whaddaya say, guys?"

Dave said and Alvira arched an eyebrow and glanced at him. She agreed with that at least.

"Brave Dave's got a point," Pen declared, "So everyone's who's game - follow me!" she announced, and hopped onto the first step of a stairway, turned to the group and grinned at them all "And if you're not game, you still might as well follow. You're gonna get in trouble anyway for splitting up from your group!"

Alvira shrugged,

"Seems legit."

Alvira said grinning as Pen flashed an excited smile at her and Jesse, and then quickly darted up the flight of stairs.

"Things just got interesting!"

Alvira said and ran up the stairs after Pen. Laughing to herself.

Ula walked up to the stairs. I guess I'll come along. Maybe there will be some locks to pick or safes to crack, who knows. Ula started,up the stairs. Just to be ready she pulled her bobby pins out of her hair. She got the feeling she was going to need them soon.

Sam slept like a baby throughout the entire road to the labs. Two freakin' hours. When he woke up the bus was empty and Mrs. Fliss was already outside grouping the students into two groups. Extremely sleepy and very bored, Sam rose up from his seat and with a slow pace he began walking towards the exit of the bus. This was going to be one boring day. He would have preffered anything except for this stupid road trip. And who cares about a bunch of rocks anyway.

As he got out of the bus the teacher finished announcing the groups. After he heard what group he will be in, Sam couldn't help but smile noticing all the different stereotypes involved. If there was an award for disfunctionality then this group will definetly take it. He didn't even like any of the people in the group. Sam ignored everyone as he leaned on the bus and pulled out his Samsung Galaxy S4 as he attempted to call his girl, Sarah.

As he was scrolling through the smartphone Sam overheard a guy, Dave, coming up with quite a good idea, followed by some pretty good points made there by Pen regarding Dave's proposal. He smiled and put the phone away as he followed Pen and the others.

Terraline stumbled in surprise when someone put an arm around her and Saxon. "Uhh, sure. Most people call me Terry actually but Terra works too."
She heard Dave suggest splitting from the main group and shrugged. Anything was better than listening to a lecture about rocks. She decided she would follow along.The girl with the colorful hair had spoke to her a moment before, saying ,"Oh hey you DO speak! Its a miracle!" Terry threw her a smirk, "Suppose I do." She replied.

"Brave Dave's got a point," The tomboy girl, Terraline believed her name was Penelope, declared. "So everyone's who's game - follow me!" she announced. "Oh what the hell."Terry shrugged and followed her.

Saxon felt an arm encompass his shoulder, coming between him and Terraline. He twisted slightly so he could see who it was, but his voice soon confirmed it. The smile was still on his face from the prank he had performed, but now it turned into more of a greeting one. He considered the question of the work here, but the field didn't particular interest him, for all he cared they could be blowing up balloons all day, actually that did kinda sound interesting, plus that gave him another idea.

However his attention soon zoned back to the real world as he picked up on Dante's praise for his prank, although it turned out to be less of so. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and merely nodded to show he understood, not that it would stop him. He decided to commit Terraline nickname to memory, but in truth he preferred her full name so would probably end up using it still.

He chuckled slightly at all the suggestions going on, but agreed readily that splitting from their assigned tasks sounded much more fun, "Count me in" he called cheerily resuming to walk besides Terraline, "It seems we have a Queen, not a King in charge" he whispered in amusement as he referred to Pen's suggestion. However he didn't dwell on the fact, he was just happy to be doing stuff and so with a new prank already formulated he just needed to pick his next target.

Pen darted up the flight of stairs and when she heard a couple of pairs of footsteps behind her, she was surprised. She didn't think anyone would actually take her seriously but she couldn't fail them now so she carried on. The stairs curved around a narrow bend and the light from the reception room was soon left behind, in favour of a stretch of shadows. It was cooler up here and cracks were slightly more obvious than in the flawless, polished entrance; paint was peeling at the bottom of the walls and a couple of wisps of cobwebs floated around.

Pen's grin dropped a fraction as she reached a large, imposing door, blocking the top step. Although the shadowed wood of the door itself seemed quite old, the handle was made from gleaming stainless steel and evidently new. She put her hand on it and almost cried out when the cool metal gave under it, swinging the door open. Someone's a little lax on security.

She slipped through it, leaving the door wide open for the others - if they actually follow her - and stepped out into the plain, white hallway, lit by buzzing fluorescents. Her shoes squeaked slightly on the tiled floor. She felt very out of place and a loud remark died on her lips. The corridor seemed empty but she could hear the faint whirring of machines operating. It didn't seem very light or friendly for a rock research centre - it reminded her more of a top-security prison. She walked forward, glancing back to see who was following her but not slowing her pace.

---

"Is he telling the truth?" Wesley stuttered as Pilot responded as promptly as ever, his vacant gaze unwavering.

Dr Good studied him for a few moments; he had worked with Pilot for nearly a year, now, and he had catalogued each and every one of Pilot's responses, studied them, analysed them. And he never tired of viewing his creation.

"No."

Dr Goode tried to stop the smile from tainting his thin lips - from softening the edges of his commands, which was not something he wished to make a habit of - but he couldn't help it. Grinning, he turned to Pilot, making no move to make the being more comfortable on the table.

"No. Correct. You didn't miss any."

He dragged a chair from a nearby desk and seated himself. He dropped his eyes to his clipboard and scribbled a few notes on Pilot's physique - all ticks. Wesley watched nervously, hovering at the edge of Dr Goode's vision.

"Rather than bother me, get the training equipment set up for Pilot. Pull some of the scientists from level 2 - no one's going to be doing anything in that department today and the kids probably don't even know how to climb the stairs - no, I expect today will be fairly quiet" he scoffed.

Wesley scurried off.

"Now, then Pilot; tell me a little about yourself. Let's start with...your age?"

The reaction to Dave's declaration was surprisingly positive.
"Brave Dave's got a point," Pen said in response. Dave smiled and then looked around. The receptionist had left, leaving the lobby completely empty. "So everyone's who's game - follow me!"
Dave, having come up with the idea, followed right behind Pen up the stairwell. The mood seemed to lighten considerably as the prospect of looking at boring rocks was smashed to bits, much like rocks themselves.

"And if you're not game, you still might as well follow. You're gonna get in trouble anyway for splitting up from your group!" Pen called down to those who had stayed behind, who quickly clambered up the staircase behind them. The staircase continued to curve upward, the light from the lobby downstairs fading fairly quickly. The walls and wood of the stairs were in disrepair, with paint peeling and dust nearly everywhere. Dave sneezed. Pen stopped in front of him as an old, wooden door blocked their path. He sighed audibly. It was probably going to be locked. He was pleasantly surprised as the handle gave in and the door creaked open, revealing a stark white hallway, complete with fluorescent lights overhead and a squeaky (literally) clean linoleum tile floor. Dave stepped through the door, looking around. Machines were rumbling along somewhere, and the lights overhead buzzed incessantly, but otherwise it was deathly quiet. Pen started walking forward once more, with Dave following behind. He felt uneasy about the entire place; he suspected it was not a rock research center as advertised.

As the group neared a corner, Dave heard voices coming from the end of the hallway. He peered down, and saw a nervous-looking man in a lab coat knock on a door, wringing his hands. When the door opened, he began speaking quickly to whoever was inside, about what Dave could not hear. The nervous one nodded and began walking to where the group was, a team of several scientists following him. Dave exhaled quickly and threw one of his arms behind himself, breathing quietly, hoping none of the scientists or the nervous-looking man came to where they were hiding. When he heard their footsteps fade away into an adjacent hallway, Dave breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to the group.
"Sorry about that, some of those scientist guys were comin' to where we were," he explained, rubbing the back of his head. "Didn't want anyone to jump out and get us caught." He peered down the hallway, and saw there was nobody coming.
"Coast is clear," he announced, walking forward.

Whitney saw that everyone decided to follow Pen. Amazing what boredom can drive a person to do. Whitney continued to stay at the back of the group and spend time observing his serroundings. He was surprised to see just how unsettling it is above the first floor. Clearly they weren't expecting visitors. Pen opened a large old door in their way, and though it seemed like rather lackluster security Whitney had to wonder why they even bother with a new lock if it didn't do any good. And why get one for such a boring hallway.

And even with the bland appearance, Whitney couldn't help but feel something was off.

After a brief scare where David saw some scientists draw close, Whitney looked into the new hallway. He was intrigued, but also a little nervous, about all the different rooms. What caught his eye most was what looked like a very strong door that would be hard to break into, but he didn't make any comment about it as everyone would probably choose to go anywhere but there if he did. Besides, he was sure they would want to go through it on their own.

A small amount of relief filtered through him as his answer was approved. Pilot's eyes never gave it away. The cold, hard stare at the ceiling tiles continued without wavering. He'd done this for four years; he'd had plenty of time to learn the ropes. Goode seemed fond of playing these games with him, the dangerous games. The ones that, if lost, would get him punished.

A new question was asked.

"I do not know," Pilot said, voice as empty and cold as ever. This was the answer he'd used before, and it seemed to be the right one. He didn't know because he remembered nothing of his time before here. He didn't know how many years he'd been alive, and he didn't care.

Alvira noticed that the further the group went, the more run-down and unpolished the building looked. As the group rounded a corner everything seemed to get darker and gloomier. Unlike the rest of the group, that had either intrigued facial expressions or nervous ones, Alvira had a full blown grin across her face. She liked dark and gloomy places, not to mention creepy ones. She tilted her head to the side once she saw the door Pen was standing infront of. Odd that such an old door would have such a shiny lock. As the door came open and Pen went inside, Alvira snickered mischeivously and followed. This was getting really interesting, really fast.

Alvira's eyes squinted against the bright lighting of the lights. As she glanced around she noticed the light hum of distant machines in the building.

'Now this is coooollll~'

She thought to herself. Alvira jumped a bit when Dave suddenly threw one of his arms back to stop the group. She felt like a startled cat at that point, sometimes sudden movements in new places made her paranoid.

"Sorry about that, some of those scientist guys were comin' to where we were," Dave explained, rubbing the back of his head. "Didn't want anyone to jump out and get us caught." He said and then peered down the hallway.

"Coast is clear," he announced, and walked forward.

Alvira sighed in releif, and then looked at her surroundings again.

"Reminds me of an Insane Asylum, which is awesoommeee."

She said smiling and laughed a bit.

"So, what do you all think this place REALLY is? Because I doubt a normal place would have a secret facility like this one."

"That's Pen, to you," Penelope replied. Jesse lifted an eyebrow, feeling a smirk cross his face. He covered it quickly by pretending to wipe his nose. That sass. Jesse decided to take note that her full name bothered her, but there was still no way he would call her by that dreaded nickname. What was wrong with 'Penelope' anyway? Sounded pretty nice to him. "Unfortunately, the teacher always pick the worst, lowest-budget outing they can find," she continued, and Jesse didn't find that hard to believe. If his parents did bribe his teachers--as that geek had claimed earlier--it wouldn't be a difficult task. This was definitely not his old school, where everyone just had money to do whatever they wanted with it, even burn it if they chose to. This boring facility "field trip" and the goat farm "field trip" that Penelope mentioned were prime examples of why Jesse felt so out of place here.

"Chill a little Pen, rich-boy's just scaaared is all," Alvira taunted. Jesse gave her an evil side-glance. Scared? What did he have to be scared of? A bunch of rocks? His hazel eyes bore lasers into the back of Alvira's head as the David called for everyone's attention. Crazy girl-he had forgotten she was there. Was she trying to embarrass him in front of Penelope or something? He could've said something back, but chose against it. Besides, a plan was hatching, and not one Jesse was sure he agreed with.

"I know this might sound super childish and stuff, but why don't we break away from the main group and go looking around this rock research place! You never know, we could totally find some cool stuff! Whaddaya say, guys?"

Jesse snorted, crossing his arms. 'Childish' was the right word to describe that great idea. If the teachers found out that they had strayed from the rest of the student body, their parents would surely be called, and his father would beat him like there was no tomorrow. That was if the chaperones decided to search for them in the first place. Jesse figured that Mrs. Fliss would feel perfectly fine with heading on home and forgetting that the group of students ever existed. Then again, did Jesse really want to participate in probably the most boring field trip he had ever agreed to go on? That didn't sound so good either. Penelope was already rushing up the flight of stairs. Perhaps he should go along, just to make sure everyone stays safe and out of trouble.

Taking a quizzical glance at Sam, the 'bad boy' of the school, Jesse followed closely behind him as they ascended the stairs. He felt a bit of dread as he glanced back to see if anyone had spied their escape. The room was clear. There was no one. In the back of his mind, Jesse heard a click and looked back up to see that they were walking through a door that led to a long hallway. Along with the soft scruffle of the group's shoes against the floor, there were tiny metallic sounds in the background, though the hallway was pretty much empty. Machines? What would they be using those for? Something felt wrong. It was too quiet.

Suddenly the rest of the group halted, and Jesse, not paying attention, walked right into Sam, somehow causing them to bump heads, hard. The crack sounded loud inside his mind, a shock of pain trailed down his spine, and he began to feel dizzy. "Christ," Jesse spat under his breath while rubbing the back of his aching head. He sent the other boy an apologetic look, then peeked around him to see what was the hold up. Was someone there? Silently, swiftly, Jesse made his way to the front of the group beside David, peering around the corner. Almost immediately, he had a flashback.


"Mr. Silk, I do thank you for donating to our...cause. Your help really makes it all worth it."

"No problem, it's the least that I can do. Is that for me?"

"Blueberries. I heard your son enjoys them." The man had a chilling smile on his face.

"Oh, for Jesse? Of course. I can't eat those disgusting things anyway. Come here boy, and put these in the fridge." A maid approached Jesse's father, insisting she put the berries away. "No, no, Gloria. These are my son's. I'm trying to teach him some responsibility here. Well, anyway Mr. Polinski, I do hope you use the money wisely. A million dollars isn't cheap."

The creepy man bowed. "Yes, sir. This money will serve us well."

Jesse didn't remember much after that, only that the blueberries tasted foul and made him sick for days.

Back to reality, Jesse blinked as his eyes focused on the very man that had stood at their door that night. Was it really the same person? What was he doing here? Jesse was almost positive that a man such as his father would not spend a million dollars on some rock research. As the group of men disappeared down the hallway, Jesse felt himself becoming even more curious. "Coast is clear," the redhead informed them. The group continued on.

"Reminds me of an Insane Asylum, which is awesoommeee," crazy girl, Alvira, exclaimed after the tension had dissipated.

Surprisingly, Jesse did not have one snarky comment to say. He made a mental note to talk to his father about this once he returned home.

Pen was a little alarmed when Dave mentioned something about scientists being right around the corner. Sure, she'd thought sneaking upstairs would be fun but this seemed a little more intense than she'd actually planned. Everywhere seemed so serious, so clinical. It felt as though the jokey mood had evaporated from the group within a matter of seconds. And she was fast realising it wouldn't be as simple to just mess around with a couple of rock samples.

When David announced the coast was clear, Pen sighed in relief. However loud she acted, she didn't want to be in actual trouble. The air conditioning was on full blast on this level and she felt herself shiver slightly.

Pen caught Whitney staring down a side corridor at a stout, strong door that looked very secure for saying it only probably housed a bunch of lousy fossils. The hallway seemed empty - maybe because all the scientists were lecturing the kids downstairs. Curiousity piqued, she ducked down it.

"Guys - let's have a look down here"

At the very least, it seemed a tiny bit warmer.

"So, what do you all think this place REALLY is? Because I doubt a normal place would have a secret facility like this one."

Alvira had only voiced Pen's own suspicions - though her enthusiasm at it being an insane asylum was more than a little disconcerting. But surely this place had to be more about rocks. The security seemed extremely over-cautious and though she was sure rocks did have their value, there was nothing on the leaflet to suggest they had any particular fossils of any monetary value. The labs were in the middle of nowhere, anyway. It probably cost more in fuel to drive here than whatever stolen items from the building would sell for.

Jesse seemed to have gone particularly quiet. She noticed him seeming a little dazed and disorientated...which was not surprising, really, considering the odd location. Shrugging, she continued ahead. She stopped at the door. When she tried the handle, this time it wouldn't budge.

"Seems like we've hit a dead end," Pen said, her tone uncertain. The mystery had been laid and she needed to know what was behind the sturdy barrier.

"So, does anyone know how we can get in?

---

Dr Goode smiled.

Pilot was passing every single test with flying colours. Just like he had the time before, and the time before that. But Dr Goode liked to be thorough with his examinations, so he always made sure he had repeated everything three times before accepting the evidence. So here Pilot was, even though three sessions ago, the scientists had confirmed he was Fixed, beyond doubt. Some called him pedantic but he merely called it professional.

"Very good, Pilot, very good," Dr Goode murmured, trailing off. He zoned out for a second, as his brilliant mind so often needed the freedom to wander. He could picture his name beneath the long list of scientific geniuses now; Isaac Newton...Albert Einstein...Peter Goode.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He would have plenty of time for that, later.

"Alright," he announced, clapping sharply "Time to get you hooked up on the treadmill and monitor that heart-rate."

Wait.

"But, Pilot; just one more thing. Where do your loyalties lie?"

He always liked to throw that in the end, to see if Pilot would stumble, one eyebrow raised.

Ula stepped forward. She went to the lock on the door. Ula took her hairpins and inserted them in the lock. After some fiddling around the lock clicked. Ula shoved the door. It opened.
" Tadaa." She muttered.

"It seems we have a Queen, not a King in charge" Terraline heard Saxon whisper in amusement. She shrugged in reply. Penelope seemed to be taking the lead in this one but she was starting to get a bad feeling in her gut. It was one thing to venture off but to venture off into a place that people are not supposed to go into is another thing. Her curiosity won out against her reasoning. She wanted to know what this place really was. Mystery surrounded the entire place. Why open up something as dumb as a rock museum? She watched curiously as Ula used a hair pin to open the door. Terry immediately moved forward into the door entrance as it opened.

"Guys - let's have a look down here"

Alvira turned as Pen's voice brought her attention back to a door that she hadn't noticed. Pen tried to open it but the door didn't budge,

"Seems like we've hit a dead end,"

Pen said, a bit of disappointed it seemed.

"So, does anyone know how we can get in?"

Pen asked, Alvira shrugged. She didn't know how to pick a lock, but she really wished she did. At one point she was tempted to learn how to pick locks because someone had stolen two-hundred dollars from her friend Sammi, and to teach the guy a lesson, Alvira was going to break into the guy's apartment and steal something of his that was worth the same amount. If someone ever did Sammi wrong Alvira always came up with a plan to get revenge for her. Whether it be stealing something, or rounding up some 'friends' to go jump who ever it was that 'needed' it. This sort of thing kinda explains why Alvira had never been in any fights, people were scared of her.

" Tadaa."

Alvira came back from her thoughts and noticed that Ula had picked the lock. Rather quickly too. Maybe she should try to pick up on some skills from Ula, but Alvira didn't know much about her so she quickly dismissed the thought. As Terraline moved into the entrance of the door, Alvira walked up closer to the door and leaned to the side a bit to look past Terraline. She arched an eyebrow, there was nothing.

"Okay, why would a door be locked if there's nothing?"

She questioned and pushed the door all the way open to show the others, making sure not to push Terraline over by accident. Like she said, it was completely empty. There was nothing but white walls and floors, just like the hallways.

"Frikkin weird."