Crystal's eyes flew open. The first thing she was aware of was the ice-cold fingers of pain shooting up and down her spine and rocketing off everywhere else in her body. The second thing was the liquid, burning yet freezing cold at the same time. Crystal forced herself to look beyond the liquid and saw glass. All around, glass. They had got her, then. Snatched her from her bed and were now turning her into one of their little freaks. She reached forward and spread her fingers across the glass, looking out. That was when she heard the smash. Her eyes snapped forwards and she saw the guy before her, standing in the remains of his tube. And the fire, oh god, the fire. It burned wildly on his arms, surely scorching him half to death. Crystal screamed.
Well, she tried. In reality, she got a mouthful of the liquid and then everything went cold. The liquid around her began to freeze up, until Crystal was shrouded in a solid block of ice. She heard a cracking sound as the ice expanded and pushed against the glass. Then, smash. The ice turned back to liquid as quickly as it had formed and Crystal was stood in the remains of her own tube. She continued to watch the scene playing out in front of her, open-mouthed.