Alive.

Bang! Bang!

"Is he alive?!" a tiny voice shouted.

"I don't know yet," Ric answered.

"Am...am I alive? What happened?" Xadia groaned weakly, and he suddenly found himself being lifted up.

"He's breathing!"

"What's he doing in a pod?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know, Gwen?" Ric answered, helping the young adult out of a pod.

"Pod?" Slowly, Xadia's blurry vision started to clear. When he finally had the strength to open his eyes, he found himself looking at a 30-year-old man with a mustache in what looked like a police uniform, at least that's what he thought, and a woman in a black outfit whom he had taken as Gwen.

'Is her hand...glowing?' His vision then started to fade, and soon he passed out.

"Why did you do that?" Ric asked.

"We don't know who he is or whether he's dangerous."

"How can a 16-year-old-looking boy be dangerous? Now we have to take him to the hospice," Ric muttered.

"Beep Beep"

"Where am I?"

Looking around, it didn't take long for Xadia to recognize the scenery. The buzzing of the fluorescent lights in the ceiling, the beeping of the heart monitor machine, and the faint drip-drip of a blood transfusion. It was no doubt that Xadia was in the hospital.

"Oh, I'm here again?"

Looking around again, this wasn't the normal scenery of a hospital. The heart monitor was now somewhat holographic, a crystal in an enclosure by his side. Everything looked advanced and well-developed.

"Which hospital is this?" Xadia wondered, and he started to reminisce back to the last time he was in the hospital.

"What happened that other time?"

"Patient's name is Xadia Bam,"

"Age?"

"I'm 16 years old, sir, diagnosed with lung cancer. What's his condition?"

"Critical, sir. He has three days left."

Xadia could hear the doctor and the nurse conversing. To his side was his mother who had finally fallen asleep after not sleeping for a long time.

"So I have three days left. What a life, huh? Now that I think about it, Tom was right. I am a saint. I'm gonna die a virgin," Xadia smiled at the thought of this with a tear running down his face, thinking back to the many times Tom had teased him for sucking at approaching his love interests.

It was now nighttime, and Xadia was now alone in the room. The door slid open, which caused him to open his eyes, and he could see a man holding a strange mask-like object in his hands, which Xadia recognized as a breathing mask.

"Don't worry. This won't hurt a bit,"

"What won't hurt a bit?"

"Nurse!?" The man suddenly rushed at Xadia and forced the mask on him. Next thing he knew, he was choking and struggling as he inhaled the gas in the breathing mask until he lost consciousness.

'I-I died... that guy, who was he?' Xadia thought confused.

"Pod? What was I doing in a pod?"

"Are you okay?" the sound of a tiny voice interrupted his thoughts.

"I'm fine now," Xadia replied. "I'm sorry I had to do that. I was being cautious," Gwen said.

"Your hand, it was glowing, how did you do that?!"

"I'm a siphon."

'Siphon, is that a nerve surgeon? That explains why I lost consciousness. She must have done something to me as a precaution, maybe she implanted something in me," he thought.

There was no reply, and Gwen was beginning to wonder in her thoughts. "Is he retarded or what?"

"You don't know what a siphon is?"

"What's a siphon?"

"Let him be, he's here because of you, you know," Ric said as he entered the room, still teasing Gwen's actions the other time.

Gwen gave him an eye-piercing stare till he sat down beside her with a smile on his face.

"How are you feeling now, young man?" Ric asked.

"I'm feeling great now thanks to you," Xadia replied.

"Can you tell us your name? The receptionist could not find your data on the D.O.B database."

"My name is Xadia....Bam!" Xadia answered, almost forgetting his second name.

"What?"

"Xadia Bam, that's my name," he replied.

"Oh, I thought you meant Xadia, bam!!" Gwen teased.

"I'm not old," Ric retorted with a funny face.

'I see these two lovebirds love to tease each other,' Xadia thought.

"Well, I guess you're an overliver given the fact we found you in a pod."

"Yh, I guess I am," Xadia answered, pretending to know what the term meant.

"My name is Alaric Ford, and this lovely damsel here is Gwen." With flushed cheeks, Gwen waved hi.

"Well, the good news is that you've been discharged, and we've decided to take you in."

"Thank you for your hospitality, but I would be a burden, and I also need to get back home."

"Home, where is your home?" Ric asked.

"Georgia."

"Georgia, hmm, I've never heard of it before."

'Well, I guess he might not know Georgia; he talks like someone from the countryside.'

"Do you have siphon crystals, cause you're not going anywhere with no siphon crystals. Your pod power has been used up; you'll need siphon crystals to power it."

'Siphon crystals, that's the second time I'm hearing the word siphon.' Xadia nodded.

"I guess you're stuck with us, young man, and trust me, you're no burden. Come on, let's go."

Stepping out of the hospital, Xadia's mouth was agape as he could not fathom the scenery outside.

_______________________

"We will warm the Herd

And shake the Stars."