And there was a child...

I sat in my chair, staring thoughtlessly at the metallic table in front of me as my hands rhythmically tapped to the tune of the metronome, which hadn't yet stopped moving. The room around me was painfully bare as there wasn't really much of a reason for them to give me anything to do. The only thing that I could entertain myself with was thinking about the painfully bright white fluorescent lights as I tried to pass the time.

I smiled dryly at the nameless researcher that sat across me as he cleared his throat to get my attention. He took out a notebook and a pen from the suitcase by his side and then began questioning me on what I'd seen, as if I would suddenly get an epiphany and get answers from out of nowhere. I mean, it could happen, and it has happened before, but you get what I mean.

"So…" he began in a hoarse voice, "Do you have any idea what might have caused him to move this time? What did you do different from all the other tests?"

I scratched my head for a bit as I replayed the events of the vision in my head. After long a few minutes of silence, however, my head began aching along with a sharp ringing sound sounding into my ear, so I stopped thinking about it.

"Hmmm… Nope. I don't I did anything. Not that I could, but if I did, I would have already told you. After all, I don't want to die either."

"And did you notice anything different about the environment? Any structures or creatures in the background? Perhaps the color being a bit different?"

"I don't think that I would be able to look at that even if I wanted to. I mean- just looking at a severely dumbed down version of him for the few seconds that I was there almost killed me. Doing that while observing the background definitely would."

The man wrote that down for a few moments before deciding that he'd heard enough before leaving the room through an automatic sliding door. Once he did, I sat back on the chair and held out my hands. A hazy red glow enveloped them, and in a few moments, a bouncy red ball materialized on my hand after the glow forced the air warp and fold into itself, brute forcing reality into creating the right shape and material for the ball.

I threw it at the wall and caught it when it bounced back. I did this for a couple of dozen more times before eventually I got so bored and frustrated that I threw it at the wall with too much force. This, however, made me lose focus and so its entirety began rippling wildly as reality began trying to correct the aberration. Eventually, it succeeded and then the ball burst into a small wave of red energy that eventually was sucked back and dissipated into my pale hands.

A massive sigh escaped my mouth as I walked slowly over to the only bed in this room and sat on it instead, opting to glare at the security camera facing me in the corner of the room.

Truly, boredom is painful.

It took a few more moments for someone else to enter the room. I looked up at her and frowned.

"I took you too long to get here, Raech. I've been waiting for ages!" this, of course, wasn't true, but it genuinely did feel like hours.

"Sorry, Aiden, my sister was keeping me home for a bit longer than usual. Anyways, how are you doing today?"

You don't.

"Same as usual."

She looked at me for a moment, frowned and then sighed. "Don't worry, Aiden. I'm trying my hardest to get you more privileges. It's just that people aren't being… cooperative."

"… Thanks"

It's not going to work.

"So, Raech, what brings you here today?"

"It's about your last briefing. We're sure of the anomaly's location this time… and it's where we expected."

My mouth instantly contorted into a frown as I looked away from her. My finger began involuntarily tapping on the metallic frame of my bed.

"I already told you that I can't do that."

"You don't really have much of a choice, here, Aiden."

"People are going to get hurt from this! I don't want to be the person that's going to make these kids go back home in a hearse! I can't do this again, Rachel!"

"If you don't, the foundation will do far worse to you! Jesus Christ, please listen to me just this once… I can't let that happen. Not to you of all people."

I looked at my trembling hands, taking in deep breaths while trying to calm myself down.

In…

Out…

In…

Out…

It's either me or them, here.

And I chose me.

For her.

That's a lie, and you know it.

Shut up.

I looked at the blonde researcher in her pristine white lab coat, not bothering to hide the fact that tears were brimming at the corners of my eyes. "Fine then."

I took another breath.

"I'll do it. I'll go to the damn school."

"Language."