Slowly, Alyssa took one tentative step after another, careful not to let the burning pools of rock below her feet ruin her brand new Gladiator sandals.
Alyssa was unsure of how much time she'd spent in the volcano, but was sure that she didn't like it. There were no salons or shops, so of course she didn't like it.
A door to her left caught her eye. It was slightly ajar, as if someone had forgot to close it properly in their hurry. There was a keypad on the wall which had a green light flashing in the corner. Curious, she stepped towards it and listened. No obvious sign of occupation greeted her and she pushed the rest of the door open carefully. She was positive there wasn't anybody there and stepped across the threshold, unaware of the red light which started flashing above her head.
The room wasn't large, but a table with ten straight-backed seats took up most of the space. One whole wall was filled with screens showing different things; ugly, terrifying grey... monsters and pictures of barren wastelands, of bodies under solidified ash. A huge map covered the table, red dots and lines in some sort of pattern. There were smaller maps over another wall, all similair, of what looked like a base labelled and drawn over many times. It looked like a war was being fought.
A television screen grabbed her attention and she side stepped over to it, reaching down to switch it on. Suddenly, her nail snapped, falling to the ground and evaporating in the lava through the cracks in the floor. She reached to try and retrieve it and jerked her hand back as the molten lava burned her finger, forming a tiny red blister beside where her nail had been, a cruel reminder.
These stupid creatures, she thought, bitterly.
Her chipped nail looked totally out of place and ruined her look. Angered, she tore off the rest of her nails and threw them into the fiery depths.
Soon after her rash actions fueled by anger, she immediately began to regret what she'd done and leaned down on one of the walls, consequently tearing what seemed to be photographs and newspaper clippings as she went.
Alyssa didn't notice at first as she was too engrossed in looking at her atrocious nails, however, she soon saw a familiar shade of blonde hair pop in the corner of her eye. She picked up a fragment of a photograph, which was torn right in the middle, but Alyssa didn't need much of the image to realise it was her in the photograph.
She gasped slightly as she doubled checked each inch of the fragment, not quite trusting her own judgement. The girl had gentle blonde hair which tumbled to the middle of her back in gentle waves and bluey-green eyes that looked like plants in the ocean. The girl looked proud and happy as she chatted away on her iPhone, not caring that people were staring.
Alyssa didn't need to check a third time as she was sure it was her.
She threw the photograph away from her, but it curled in the air and landed right by her knee. Alyssa tried to ignore it as best she could, but she couldn't help but wonder why. It was safe to say that Alyssa was very confused, and very scared.
''Hey!''
Alyssa squeaked as she jumped at the sound of the fierce voice echoing in the room.
''What are you doing in here?''
Alyssa recongised the young woman standing in the doorway almost immediately as the woman who had brought her here, to this place. She called herself Toa, yet Alyssa knew there was something more. She could see it behind Toa's glowing eyes, though she wasn't sure what it was.
''I... er...'' Alyssa tried to explain, but no words would form.
Toa's voice cracked like a whip ''Well get out! You're supposed to be in the orientation!''
Alyssa quickly stood to attention as if she was a soldier and huddled out of the room, leaving Toa glaring behind her. Her eyes burned in her back long after she had left the room and Alyssa didn't even worry about her shoes and the molten lava beneath her in her haste to get away from the bad-tempered woman.
As she hurried down the corridor, Alyssa noticed the neat, but slightly creepy, paintings covers the volcanic walls of the realm. At first, Alyssa thought of them as copies of ancient cave paintings. However, after more careful inspection, Alyssa realised it was some sort of language. Each word was represented by a series of pictures and symbols, like hieroglyphics, but in Alyssa's mind they seemed at lot older than hieroglyphics and a lot more sophisticated also.
''Keep moving,'' Toa ordered, though to Alyssa, she seemed to be bored with her disobedience, or with the frustrations of her job. Maybe it was a mixture of them both.
''What are they?'' Alyssa asked, tracing a symbol that looked like an exploding teapot.
Toa sighed and snapped ''It's the language of the Unkind. Now move. I don't want to end up in trouble again.''
Reluctantly, Alyssa obeyed and continued moving forwards down the corridor.
-
Dasta paced the room in frustration, waiting for the final experiment to turn up. She was fed up of Toa's leniency with the humans, and as soon as she had retrieved the experiment, Dasta knew Toa was in real trouble.
When they walked through the door, Dasta snapped ''Where exactly have you been? You're late.''
''She got lost Dasta.'' Toa covered for Alyssa, who just quickly sat down with all the other experiments who were stunned silent.
Dasta sensed Toa's deception, and immediately decided to confront her with her knowledge. ''Don't lie to me child. Where have you been?''
''What does it matter to you?'' The experiments may not have been in the Pompeite world for long, but they could tell that Dasta and Toa didn't get on too well.
Dasta placed her hands on her hips, showing a sort of strict, motherly presence in the room. ''It matters a lot to me Krakatoa. I am the leader of the H.E.P and I need to know where all the experiments are at all times. So where you?''
Toa was seething, and she could tell that the experiments clearly sensed that, so she grasped the door handle, which sizzled slightly from her hot touch, and flew out of the room, despite Dasta's cries of protest.
''Stupid child.'' Was Dasta's conclusion.
-
Alyssa was second in line with the girl Katherine in front of her. The room they were in was pretty plain with no decorations and no furniture, just three metal doors lining the wall. There were five of the Pompeites around the room, their eyes on them for reasons unknown. She supposed they were the guards, or members of the Pompeite Elite from what she had picked up. Dasta had disappeared through each of the doors in turn but had so far explained nothing about why they were waiting; or rather what they were waiting for.
"Katherine Smiley, Alyssa Kirkwood, Brad Coxan-Smith," called one of the male guards.
Following the lead of the boy, she stepped forward, concentrating more on her ruined nails than the Pompeite that was speaking.
"Dasta will see you now. Go into the lab according to the order your name was."
Alyssa snapped out of her daydream and proceeded to the door in the middle, surprised to find it open automatically as she neared it. She stepped inside and it closed behind her, clicking quietly, like it was locked. Although unnerved, she moved into the centre of the lab where there was what looked like a see-through coffin with an array of tubes and wires coming out of it, hooked up to machines all around the lab, some filled with strange liquids. It was like watching an episode of Doctor Who; far too surreal to happen in the real world.
"Alyssa," said Dasta and she spun around "Please lie down in the Sapien Refridulator and relax."
''The what?'' Alyssa said with a rather confused edge to her voice.
Dasta's cheeks flushed red with anger. ''The coffin thing!'' She told Alyssa, as if she were stupid.
Alyssa reluctantly complied and awkwardly got in the coffin, lying on her back, surprised to find that it was the perfect size for her body. Suddenly, there was a buzzing like a swarm of bees and a lid sealed her in. At first she panicked and feared she would suffocate, but then she calmed down when she was able to breathe. Her eyelids grew heavy and she found herself drifting off to sleep despite trying her hardest to stay alert and awake.
Dasta must have seen the panicked expression in her eyes as she smiled with a firm nod of her head before Alyssa's world faded to blackness and the machines started to hum and do their jobs, implanting her with the chip that would contain her special enhancement. She was one of three of the first humans to ever have this done. But she didn't know that.
A/N - Georgia and I hope you enjoyed this. We thank you for all of your support and hope you continue to enjoy our story XD
- Rachel xxx