Xi Xiu

Xiu awoke from her top-bunk, and stared blankly at her pillow-case. She liked to sleep completely covered, and face-down. There was something... prenatal about it, that comforted her. She had gone from operating an table to a metal box far too many times, that she could only now sleep if she was completely bundled up and shut-off from the outside world. Laying open on her back just reminded her of the surgeries, when she'd wake up while her chest was still being held open. Laying curled up on her side reminded her of the box, rumbling away with the rest of the cargo.

Below her, she heard the rustling of feet. They weren't the confident thumps of the guards and scientists that she was used to. Slowly, she peeked one eye out from under the sheets, looking down at a bunch of youths, all clamouring to their beds. They hadn't noticed her yet. She wasn't sure she wanted them wanted to notice her.

Slowly, silently, Xiu shifted one hand around the side of her mattress, and felt beneath it...

Good, the shard of broken glass was still there. She snuck it out of the garbage one day, and kept it there just in case someone attempted to attack her in the night.

Silently, she waited until the kids had settled in their beds. Then they began talking.

Xiu grumbled quietly. Perhaps it would be necessary to reveal herself. Eventually, they'd notice she was there.

Cautiously, she lifted her sheet up, and looked down at her new roommates.

"H-h-hello", she exclaimed timidly, looking like a cornered animal. "A-are you malfunctions too?"

Vincent smiled more whole heartedly at the girl. He understood her need to be close to someone in this troubled time. He felt the same way. The only difference between Vincent and anyone else he had met so far was the fact that he had his sister with him. Granted, she wasn't just there for moral support. She was in the same situation as him. The two siblings were in a larger than life-sized pickle and neither were all that happy about it. He could admit that being in here was better than being out there. Vincent also knew that he was likely to be the only homeless kid in the room.

"I guess this is our room now." He offered. Vincent wondered if she had gotten hit in the head by one of the guards on the way here or if the girl had been born with a bad memory. "Are you okay?" He asked, watching her face intently. He frowned and furrowed his eyebrows in concern.

His attention shifted to the newcomers in the room. Vincent especially watched the bleeding man who climbed onto the top bunk across from his sister. He noticed the girl who came in as well. Upon hearing her question, Vincent took a deep breath in before standing up and taking his shirt off. He shook out the wrinkles in it before handing it to the girl who requested it.

"Sure. Here," he said with a smile. Vincent suddenly felt self-conscious standing shirtless in front of three girls. It wasn't as if he had anything to be embarrassed about, though.

Margaret, of course, made it worse by letting out a soft whistle. She had noticed Vincent standing up and becoming embarrassed about his shirtlessness. She thought it would be funny and was immediately rewarded when Vincent turned to give her a red-faced “dad stare.”

“Lookin’ good.” Margaret cooed sarcastically, “Wouldn’t you agree, ladies?” She addressed the girls who had been talking to Vincent.

“Stoppit,” Vincent said, crossing his arms. “What happened to your shirt?” He asked in an attempt to shift the conversation to something other than his exposed torso.

Aleyna's eyes widened the grey-haired girl--Marlowe--pointed at her grey uniform. Aleyna looked down at her own clothes, a nondescript hospital-issued blue top and bottom.

"Oh. I don't know how I missed that. I'll be right back then," Aleyna said, laughing lightly before making her way back to her bunk. Aside from the sheets being a little rumpled, the bunk was still largely clean and white, and the brunette held back a cringe as she reached for the folded uniform laying at the foot of her bunk.

Quickly snagging the pile of grey from the sheets, Aleyna let out a sigh of relief before shame flushed over her. Would she always live in fear of the white, shying away and ducking for cover when it reared its head? But she would, wouldn't she? To avoid having to confront the white space that she'd spent an eternity in, drifting in and out of confused consciousness, she'd do anything. At least the sheet's will be black after the lights go out, Aleyna thought, eyes flicking up to the ceiling where the lights hummed with electricity high above her head. At least I won't have to deal with my fears until after I fall asleep.

Aleyna held the uniform up and realized she'd been assigned a pair a size or two too large, but she didn't mind it. Aleyna slipped the grey shirt over her hospital issued blues before maneuvering the undershirt off. After exchanging her pants for the nondescript uniform as well, she took a moment to scan her surroundings. She'd thought herself still on the train to the facility, but the drugs the guards gave her must have knocked her out for longer than she thought.

This isn't the worst thing that could happen, Aleyna reminded herself. You could still be stuck within the white.

With that, Aleya straightened up and smoothed out a the few wrinkles in her uniform. The top bunk shifted slightly before the covers went back to reveal a pale, scared-looking girl. As she spoke, Aleyna felt a shared connection in their fear.

"I'm stuck in the prison the same way you are, if that's what you mean," Aleyna said, peering up at the girl just as a commotion broke out at the bunks where Marlowe and the red-haired boy were. Aleyna offered the girl a friendly smile. "Wanna go over there together and find out what they're doing? It's no fun to lay in the bunk alone."

The whistle from Margaret made Marlowe go beet red. She was not a social person. She'd never hung out with friends after class, or joined clubs, or anything like that. She was also an only child. As a result, she got very awkward very quickly, but she'd always been far from bashful. Even when she'd had to strip down into their pajamas, aka. uniforms, she hadn't cared about being half-nude in front of the 39 other boys and girls and misunderstood monsters in the room, and she shouldn't have cared right then. And yet she was blushing. She decided right then and there that she hated feeling so shy and embarrassed; she also decided that she wouldn't let it happen again (she wasn't sure exactly how she was going to go about that, but she was determined). Maybe it was because of her inexperience with the male form? Or because he was a guy that she'd actually had a conversation with that went deeper than, "Nice to meet you," or "Do you have a spare pencil?"? She concluded that it must be a result of her tiredness, emotional and physical, from the events over the last few days. Thinking of things like class and home was making her feel even stranger. Had she really been in school less than a week ago? Somehow, it felt like it was a world away.

Rose-faced and stiff, Marlowe looked around for something or someone else to focus on, anything but the shirtless guy in front of her. But Margaret, yet again, made it worse.

"Lookin' good." She called, "Wouldn't you agree, ladies?"

Marlowe twitched when she was addressed and looked up at Margaret in tongue-tied mock horror.

"Wh-wh-wh..." It sounded more like she was breathing than talking, and she was hopeful that no one had actually heard her. Was it rude to not reply? Did she even care if it was rude? She shouldn't reply, she wouldn't, she definitely, definitely could not reply. Vincent's loud response saved her from having to finish the thought that she... well, hadn't even thought of yet.

“Stoppit,” He'd retorted, looking about half as red as she did and twice as strict.

Abashed, she leaped on the opportunity to get the hell out of that conversation. Vincent did the same and started questioning his sister (luckily, instead of continuing to talk to her). She didn't stop the topic from straying and looked around again to find something to distract her from her discomfort. Quickly, she settled on a bleeding boy who wasn't getting much attention. The joking had brought on a lighthearted atmosphere in their otherwise deplorable environment, and even though the guy didn't look bothered much by his cut up face, it brought her back to her senses.

"It doesn't hurt?" Marlowe asked, briefly wondering if he had abilities similar to her own. She scratched that idea when she saw that his skin was mostly clear of scars, unlike hers. But it didn't matter. "Use this." She said, holding out her old shirt.

It was more than a little dirty, and she was sure it didn't smell great 'cause of the fact that she'd been wearing it for more than a 24 hour period, in a hot train car, while sweaty and scared, but it would do the job.

"You'd be stupid not to stop the bleeding, even if it doesn't bother you."

Daniyal’s stony face cracked into a smile as Margaret laughed too. What were they laughing at again? He didn’t remember or care, his mind was spinning too fast to properly pay attention to what was going on. He didn’t even notice how hard he was gripping onto his arm as his mind wandered until the mystery girl snapped him out of his dream state with her words. "Are you-", the girl stopped herself as Daniyal flicked his gaze back at her, that twinkle in his eye gone as he arched his eyebrow at the girl. "I'm scared too."

Daniyal’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he finally let his arm go, a nervous chuckle escaped him as he stared at Margaret with confusion. ”Scared? I’m not scared, I’m fine. Really.” Though he tried to look as natural and laid back as possible, he was almost certain he looked like a nervous wreck in front of everyone. Or maybe he didn’t.

”A-are you a mind-” he was going to finish before catching himself, would it be considered rude to ask about someone’s mutations? Mini-cultures can form almost instantly in prisons. And no sugar coating it, this is a prison. But could symbols, and lingo develop here this fast? But he so desperately wanted to ask her what was so weird about her.

A sudden whistle finally distracted everyone. Even Daniyal turned to see who was making that noise and why. He felt his cheeks already burn as he stared at a shirtless boy standing within a circle of ogling girls. He immediately averted his gaze as he faded to obscurity again, Margaret seeming to have already forgotten about their conversation. Daniyal immediately embraced the sudden loneliness, comforted by knowing no one was paying attention to him.

He draped his thin blanket over his thin frame, surprised that no guards threatened to shoot them over the growing noise. As he forced his line of sight into staring at a blank corner, he started wishing for all of this to just end. Daniyal didn’t want to be here, and granted no one else did, but Daniyal’s pain was a bit more special in ways he couldn’t describe. A wave of nothingness washed over him as his mind wandered again, trying to pretend as if he was trying to sleep when he couldn’t be even more awake and alert.

His mind was a wreck and as awake as ever, the night long train rides standing up did nothing to tire him but only made him forget what life outside these walls were. He possibly was being a bit too dramatic, but who cared anyway?

Daniyal finally laid down, covering himself head to toe in the so-thin-it’s-nearly-translucent-blanket and trying to remain still. Hopefully he’ll be confused for a corpse and thrown out.

Xi Xiu

The slender girl with brown hair seemed harmless enough. She invited her over, down from her perch. Xiu began to let her guard down.

"S-sure," she replied, "let's see what's going on."

Climbing down from her bunk, thoughts of self-defense crept back into her mind. She'd have better defensive footing on the ground, if someone attempted an attack. There wasn't enough room to fight from the top bunk, so accepting the invitation was a wise decision...

...

... Also, the girl seemed nice. Maybe Xiu would be able to make a f... f... friend... The concept of such a thing seemed like a jewel that had long since been stolen from her.

Slowly, she made her way across the room, over to the girl. She attempted a friendly smile, that came across as more of a nervous cringe. Joining Aleyna, they went over to the bickering and teasing teens.

"So, what's your name?" Aleyna asked as she led the white-haired girl towards the bunk where she'd last seen Marlowe and the black-haired boy. "I'm Aleyna."

Nearing the bunk, Aleyna saw that Marlowe was nowhere in sight. The black-haired boy was also engaged in light banter with another girl who was presumably his sister due to their similar features.

Instead, her eyes caught on a blanket that was rustling nearby. Someone that wants to be left alone? Aleyna thought, a small frown on her face. She couldn't see why someone would want to distance themselves from others when their whole world was as uncertain as it was, but she decided to leave him alone.

Approaching the pair of siblings engaged in what seemed like a friendly familial argument, Aleyna offered an awkward smile. "Hello, mind cluing us into what happened a few minutes ago?"

---

@Jotunn Draugr @Witch Cat @SecretlyDiscord

Vincent was about to start making guesses as to who swapped shirts with his sister before hearing the question. It distracted him from the situation, which Margaret was thankful for. The last thing Margaret wanted was for her brother to be stressed out over something so trivial as a piece of clothing. Vincent turned to the girls and shrugged, his arms still crossed. Margaret looked at her brother with a fondness that can only be expressed by a sibling. She had known him all her life and it was relieving for her to see him letting his guard down for once. Margaret only wanted for Vincent to be successful and happy. Even if the venue wasn't exactly what she'd pictured, the concrete atmosphere felt like something Vincent could work with, if not thrive in. The cell felt like home, strangely enough, and Margaret realized that her big brother may have felt the same way, enabling him to be as much of himself as possible. Margaret figured this was a good thing for both of them. She gave a disheartened chuckle at the thought of what her mother would think about this situation. Her mother tried so hard to get them out of one prison, only to have fate drag them into another.

Vincent shook his head before attempting to answer the question posed to him."I don't know, really," he attempted.

Before he could speak again, a loud noise called for everyone's attention. A guard had hit the bars of the cell with a baton a couple of times before ordering lights out. The room hushed aside from the sounds of shuffling sheets as kids got into their beds. Vincent tucked his little sister into her sheets. He received a peck on the cheek as a thank you. The two exchanged wearily reassuring looks before Vincent got into his own bed. Sleep came more easily to Vincent than it did to Margaret, though it wasn't a walk in the park for either of them. It had been so long since the two had last slept in beds of their own and they were grateful. Their bodies were so worn but their minds had trouble calming down. Eventually, both siblings drifted off to a surprisingly peaceful sleep.

Morning came seemingly too quickly. The siblings woke up at approximately the same time, woken by the groans of other people. A dull pain in the back of their necks caused their hands to go investigating. There, they found a square of gauze, taped down about halfway down their necks. A quick look around the room revealed that everyone else was just as confused about the makeshift band-aid.

Vincent immediately ripped his off, revealing a small incision. He attempted to feel for whatever was under his skin, but only made the swelling worse, effectively concealing it. He grumbled under his breath in frustration. At this point in the accelerated healing process, new skin had already formed, but the area was still a little more than sore. Vincent would have to cause any bleeding on his own, rather than just pick at a scab, if he wanted to remove whatever it was that was put in. He knew that blood on his shirt and neck would look suspicious.

Margaret was more focused on the new accessory around her neck. It was made from some sort of stiff plastic, not metal, and rested at the base of her neck. She twisted it around a bit.

"What in the world?" Margaret whispered to herself. "What is this?" She then asked aloud to no one in particular.

Stricken by the haste of the whole situation, Xiu retreated to her bunk posthaste. Seeing the rest of her new neighbours doing the same, she resigned to a swiftly ended night. She was certain that she'd have plenty opportunities to learn more about the newcomers. For now, she encased herself back into her blanket cocoon, and drifted off, into to troubled sleep.