Project Infinity

14/15

Chapter Tobias-teen

We're forced to run around the entire compound as a warm-up,but this gives me a chance to explore the place without looking suspicious.I stay a distance behind the other trainees,to prevent any possible hostility directed towards me.

Everyone is taller than me,and I don't realise we're back at the training tower until they stop abruptly,causing me to slam into someone's back.She turns,and it's the dark-haired girl from before.

"Be careful,"she says,smiling slightly."My name's Diana."

"Nice to meet you."I answer curtly,although I must admit I feel a little suspicious.No senior would make friends with me.

Maybe she is just being nice.I turn out to be right.She doesn't try to talk to me for the rest of the training session.We go through lie detector tests to make sure we can lie so smoothly we can evade any possible interrogation in the Ascendancy compounds.I'm not performing as well as I want to,but I know I can improve with time.Instructor Robert doesn't think so,and yells at me once the session is over.

"Do you think this is initiation?"He pulls me to one side as the other trainees fill out of the room for lunch,his fingers digging into my arm.

"No,sir."

"Then what was that?Anyone in the Ascendancy could tell that you work for us when you go there as a spy."

"It won't happen again."My voice sounds weak and tight,and I don't understand why someone yelling in my face gives me weakness.

"You better as hell make sure you don't."He snaps."Or I'll talk to Angela and send you back to initiation."

His fingers spring apart from my arm and he marches away,leaving me alone in the now dark training tower.

~*~

"So,how was it?"Cassandra asks me,her eyes wide and hopeful for insider stories.I shake my head.Long after my arm stops hurting,I can still feel his fingers and his breath fanning onto my face like a reminder that I'm a failure in the training program.

"Not so good,"I sigh,not meeting their eyes.From the corner of my eye I see Ian and Cassandra exchange confused looks.

"Why?"Ian asks eventually.I give him a look."You don't need to know."

"Hey,we're your friends,don't push us away,"Cassandra says,giving me a hurt look.I don't want to seem like I'm being ungrateful or rude,so I start to explain hesitantly.

By the time I'm done,my friends' eyes are wide."Terrible,"Ian says at last."I wish I was there so you could be distracted by my awesomeness."

"Oh shut up,"Cassandra and I tell him in unison.He gives me a shit-eating grin and continues to eat.

"Beth!"Someone says at the end of the cafeteria.I stand up to see who it is over the massive and chaotic crowd.It's Diana,with the group of trainees from just now.

I walk over to her after casting a confused look in my friends' direction.As I near,Diana walks over and passes me a bottle of straw coloured wine.

"What's this for?"I turn the bottle over in my hands and see that it's champagne.

"Just a welcome gift,courtesy of Travis."

"What...?"I find Travis' eyes at the back of the small crowd,and he's laughing and talking to someone else.

"He looks tough but he was just messing with you.He does that to all the new trainees.He's really just a sweetheart."Diana's eyes fill with dreaminess,an expression I thought would never be worn by any of the trainees,then I realise that Travis and Diana are dating.That must be it.

"Okay...say thanks for me."I tell her awkwardly.Diana smiles."Sure.You should sit with us sometime-you're pretty cool for an initiate."

Just like that,they walk off,and I stand there,shell-shocked with the bottle of champagne in my hands.

"What was that all about?"Cassandra snorts once I'm back in my seat.I show them the bottle of champagne,and Ian eagerly pulls it from my grasp to admire it.

I smile."They just want to officially welcome me into the training program."

"Then yeah,let's drink it!"Ian says,taking our half-eaten food and pushing it away before dragging us upstairs to my room.

"We can just keep it,you know.We're all underage."Cassandra points out as he pours out the sparkling white wine into three plastic cups.

"Who cares?"Ian says,giving her the same mischievous smile he gave me in the limousine when I told him he was underage drinking.

"Cheers to Beth's new training,"Ian says,passing us our cups."No.Cheers to all of us."I correct firmly.

"Fine."

We clink our cups together,the soft plastic bending and falling over the floor.We laugh and pretend no one noticed until lunch is over.Then we clear up as if our small celebration never happened.Things happen,then everybody moves on.

Chapter Fifteen

I return to the training tower only to find out that the official training program schedules differs greatly from the initiate training's.There isn't training until after dinner,long after the sun has set.I begin to head back to my room.Turning a corner,I see Instructor Robert and Evangeline talking softly in a corner.I don't get to hear their conversation because they pause once they see me.

I dip my head slightly as a greeting and walk past them to the lift.Just before the doors close,I hear snatches of their conversation.

"If you don't go back to your stupid Ascendancy leaders-next time I'll-"

"You would never-"

But their voices are so soft they almost seem similar,and I don't have a chance to identify whose it belongs to before the lift doors slide shut.

I am left with an uneasy feeling as I unlock my room door and step into the shower.If either one of the instructors are working with the Ascendancy,we're in deep shit.

The cold water splashes onto my back and spreads through me,washing away my thoughts.For a moment I stand there,enjoying it.I shouldn't be worried.

The Skylarks like Tristan and Angela can deal with these problems.Not like there're actually any.I'm probably just imagining it.

The allocated time for the shower is up.Its meant to save water since the Skylark population is practically up to a few thousand.It's a good idea for saving water,but most of the time it's more of an annoyance for those who enjoy slightly longer showers,like me.I put on clean clothes and step out of the bathroom.

Since there's nothing to do now,I go back down to the training tower A where the initiate training is going on.I just hope Evangeline doesn't mind me being curious.

As I peer into the laboratory,I'm just in time to see Evangeline administer a new type of serum into one of the initiates.All the forty plus initiates are also gathered in the tiny laboratory,causing me to bump into a few elbows and shoulders as I open the door.I recognise the girl taking the serum as Yvonne.She's the only one that looks 8 but is twice the strength,age,and personality.I like her.

"Hi Beth,"Cassandra catches sight of me.She's squeezed into a corner due to the crowd and I can't help but smile at the sight of her in such an awkward state.I motion her over next to me,where there's more than enough space.She ducks and pushes a few people to stand next to me.

"So what's going on now?"I ask,tilting my head towards Yvonne,who is strapped against a chair with leather straps struggling against its grip.

"Instructor Miller gathered all the initiates from other training groups to try a new pain serum designed to take our deepest secrets and turn them into actual pain."Cassandra's face is ashen,and I don't know how to react.A pain serum?What's the point of that?

I skim the crowd and see a few people clutching the sides of their head as if in pain,and some are sitting down in a feral position rocking back and forth,staring into space.I feel sorry for them.I don't understand what's the need for all this,for forcing someone to be in pain just to pass initiation.This just feels...wrong.