Zephyr interlocks her fingers and sets them on her desk top. She shoots me a worried look, as if she expected me to know this information beforehand.
"You do know about the experiment, right?"
I nod my head.
"Everyone knows about the experiment, but nobody knows about the experiment. It has torn families apart and created life to be destined to fighting."
But, this still doesn't answer my question. It's still not clear why I've lived anxiously and fearfully for so long.
"And that's exactly why I need you. The person conducting the whole experiment... his name is Xenon. He resides in the Ohio Statehouse, a pretty long ways away from here. He appointed me to be the head of the Academy because I was a little more special than the other experimentals. He told me all about you, and you're a pretty special one too."
"He told me while he was experimenting on you, your power potential was enormous. You awakened during his procedure and attempted to escape. When you failed, he then tried to erase your memory of the experiment but couldn't complete the process, which resulted in you fleeing and becoming an outlaw. Xenon immediately warned me about it, and I've decided to pick you up off the streets. I even dispatched an elite Inquisition group to come after you. And after two long years, we brought you in. Yet, I am assuming you don't know what your lure and lack is."
My jaw drops. I can't even begin to process all the information given to me. Two years? I've been running for two years?! And me, out of all people, is wanted personally by Zephyr? Impossible!
"Wait, what's a lure and a lack?" I frantically ask Zephyr, a bead of stress sweat dripping down my hairline.
"Oh my god." she face palms her forehead. "I know Xenon erased some of your memory, but seriously? You don't even know what a lure and a lack is? That's basic stuff, dude!"
"It's not my fault I don't know this stuff! If I had a choice to-" I blurt, before getting interrupted by Zephyr.
"Watch your tone with me, mister! I can decide the pathway of your life with the snap of a finger!"
I immediately recoil, regretting ever letting my emotions take over. This woman is scary as heck.
Zephyr relaxes her shoulders and sighs. "Sorry. I tend to get a little hot-tempered sometimes." she says, then clears her throat. "You will be staying in one of the dorms here until further notice."
At that moment, someone knocks on the door behind me.
"Come in!" Zephyr calls.
I turn my head to see who it is, and it's someone completely different from what I'd ever expect. A petite girl with unnaturally bright red hair, emerald green eyes and near flawless skin walks into the office wearing a sweet smile. I look at her in disbelief that she's actually a real person.
"Hello Zephyr! You look beautiful today, just like every other day!" the girl says enthusiastically.
"Thank you my dear! Scarlet, I want you to meet Tyler. Tyler, this is Scarlet. She will fill you in on all the details. But before she does that, I want you to get cleaned up," she says as she walks over to unlock my handcuffs, "you're an absolute mess. Scarlet, he will be staying in room 104. Give him some clothes and take him out for coffee or something."
"Yessir! Have a lovely day!" Scarlet says, saluting her.
Scarlet grabs my hand and leads me out of the office, skipping and humming a tune. I'm confused. Why did Zephyr choose this girl to fill me in? She looks like she's twelve and acts like she's five.
Scarlet pulls me into the elevator and presses the button for the 6th floor. The second the elevator doors close, Scarlet twists my wrist to fit inbetween my shoulder blades and shoves me against the elevator wall.
"I know what you're thinking." she spits through gritted teeth, "Why would Zephyr choose me to show you around? I'm only a little girl, right? Wrong. I came into the Academy as a prodigy, and I graduated at the top of my class twice. Don't you underestimate me, you got that?" My heart is racing. That was a very quick change of heart. I nod my head quickly.
When the elevator doors open on the 6th floor, Scarlet releases me from her death grip. I nervously follow her through the halls and into a supply closet, in which she retrieves a simple outfit consisting of a black tee shirt and black basketball shorts.
She then shows me to room 104, the room I will be staying in until Zephyr tells me what to do. Scarlet shoves the black outfit into my gut.
"I will give you exactly 45 minutes to get cleaned up." she says firmly, then confidently strides away.
All the women here are scary as frick.
I turn the door knob quietly and gently push the door open. It's dark in here, the bathroom light is the only one on. The first things I notice are the two beds, two closets, and a single bathroom. Maybe someone else resides in this room?
I tense up at the sound of a footstep coming out of the bathroom. A dark figure peeks over the corner towards me.
"Who are you?" a guy asks me, a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.
"I-I'm Tyler, Zephyr said I'll be staying in here until f-further notice?" my voice shakes.
He flips on the light switch, brightening his appearance. He has messy black hair, pale skin, and he's about my height too. Tattoos cover his right arm like a shirt sleeve. His ear gauges and nose piercing make him look intimidating.
"Hahahaha!" he chortled.
I stand down, giving him a bewildered look. I don't get what's so funny.
"Your name is Tyler?! What year is it, 2015?!" he takes the toothbrush out of his mouth to laugh more.
"What about your name?" I ask him over the sound of his chuckles.
"Josh. Josh Dun." he spits in the sink and wipes his mouth.
"W-well that name is pretty old fashioned too!"
"What can I say? My parents are classic people." he says while walking over to sit on his bed, "Why would Zephyr assign a rookie like you to a room with a legend like me?"
Rookie? I don't even study at this Academy. He's got it all wrong.
"Say, I've never seen you around here. What's your lure?" he raises an eyebrow at me.
"M-my lure? I don't think I have one." I quietly say. He bursts into laughter again, earning another puzzled look from me.
"If you don't have a lure, you're not even a rookie! God, what was Zephyr thinking?!"
"I'm going to take a shower now." I tell him, although he probably didn't hear. I slip into the bathroom and shut the door. Even when the door is closed, I can still hear Josh's laughs.
I dont remember the last time I took a formal shower like this in an actual tub. There's a big lake near Chicago that I swam in once, but I doubt that would be considered a bath. Sometimes it would rain really hard while I'd be running, but I doubt that would be considered a shower.
"Hot", "Cold" reads the tiny words carved on the faucet. I turn the faucet knob counter-clockwise so that it sticks upward. Lukewarm water gushes out of the shower head, creating an artificial rain.
I throw my backpack against the wall and begin to strip each of my tattered clothes off, not used to this feeling of being exposed.
I step into the tub, and all the dirt on my body, my stresses and my guilt wash away with the water down the drain. The gash on my forehead and the cuts on my neck and arms sting, but it's a good kind of sting. I've never felt so alive in my entire life.
Some time passed before Josh starts banging on the bathroom door, startling my sense of bliss.
"Tyler, what's taking you so long? Are you alive?" he yells through the door.
"Yeah, I'll be out on a second!" I yell back, embarrassed.
I turn the shower off and throw on my new black clothes. As I pick up my old clothes, I deem them as dysfunctional and stuff them down the trash can. I step out of the bathroom cautiously.
"You were in there for a half hour. I hope you weren't doing things in there that God would disapprove of." Josh smirks and points a finger at me.
"No no no! It's not like that," my cheeks turn red and I wave my hands in front of him trying to prove my innocence. "Y-you see I haven't, I've been running for..."
A knock on the dorm door interrupts my reasoning with Josh. He walks past me to answer the door.
Josh pulls the door open so that it revealed the bright red strawberry I know as Scarlet.