Aria Strike's Story

Aria sat cross legged on the hard slab they called a bed that jutted out from the wall, casually picking at her nails. She knew they'd be coming for her soon, and she refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing her scared. It was something about fire-proofing her scales. Which inevitably meant they'd set her on fire and she'd spend the next week trying to recover, which was regrettably painful and also unavoidable since these scientists aren't what they are cracked up to be. She sighed impatiently and stretched out her wings, needing to move around, do something, while she still could.

Her cell was in the center of it all, because all of her walls were made of thick glass that supposedly withstands anything. She hasn't broken it yet, so she guessed the people might actually know what they are doing. A useless attempt, but Aria suddenly wheeled around and focused all her energy into punching the glass. Not even a crack, and her hand stung with pain. She constantly felt like a zoo exhibit, even for the other mutants because everyone could see everything. There was no privacy for her at all. In fact just now she spotted someone staring blankly at her from inside their own cell. She gave a wry smile and a wink before turning away.

She could see two scientists walking down the hall, four guards in tow, clipboard and needle in hand. Sighing, she got up and walked to the glass door, prepared to meet her fate. However, the group stopped at a different cell, and a different mutant was carried out, knocked unconscious. She frowned in confusion but soon realized two guards stood in front of her door. A series of numbers was typed before she heard the metallic click and the door slid open. She watched in wonder as the two men stepped into the doorway of the cell, almost afraid to go any farther.

"Hey scales. You've been assigned to special training." he said unenthusiastically. Aria's mouth dropped open in shock but she quickly recovered.

"Now."

Sitting alone in what she knew now to be a cell, a young woman let her eyes stare out across from her, seeing nothing but an empty darkness, the same darkness she saw every day for as long as she could remember. Even before she had memories, she had the blackness. For her, the world was a combination of sounds, smells, textures, feelings, and tastes. The place she was in had a very clean scent, almost unnaturally so. Her minimal furnishings were firm and uncomfortable, onlty the bed holding any sort of softness. Her pillow was the softest thing in her room, and the blanket the warmest possession afforded her besides the clothes on her back.

She failed to see the smile and wink from her neighbor in the cell across her own, and thus continued to stare ahead without any sign of stopping. She remained silent, but in her mind she hoped someone would walk close enough to read, close enough to catch a glimpse of her world she would otherwise never see. She was met with nothing, and she leaned back on her cot and sighed, awaiting another day of tests, mediocre food, and taunts.

Juniper sat up a bit not three minutes later, hearing the distant sound of footsteps echoing in the hallway. She felt hopeful, wondering if they forgot to wear the special lead helmets by any stroke of luck? Counting the rhythm in her mind, she picked out six sets of feet. Focusing and listening to the sounds, searching her 'bubble of awareness' as she called it, Juniper caught a faint glimpse of a unconscious mutant being carried out by what sounded like the guards she heard. Quickly as it came, the vision was gone, the minds out of her reach once again.

Leaning back as the brief interruption passed, Juniper soon resumed her upright, curious posture as a new pair of footsteps reached her ears. IT didn't seem like her scheduled testing time, causing her to go tense and try fruitlessly to glance around for answers.

"Hey Scales..."

Juniper heard the voice clearly, quickly searching fo it's source and finally pinpointing the location. The mind was another guard, and they were looking at a young woman in the cell across from hers. Scales? What were scales? Juniper hoped to get a better look, but suddenly her own visage met her mind's eye, the voice snapping at her.

"The hell you looking at mole?"

"You forgot to wear the helmet."

Juniper got a sudden glance at a second guard, only to see him hand her current subject a special helmet of lead before blackness swallowed her again.

"C'mon mole, got something special today." barked a third voice, the beeping of the keypad followed up by the smooth sliding of her door. Juniper flinched when she felt a strong pair of arms grab her, tugging her along.

She had half a mind to fight, but the telepath decided to save her strength for now. She already was at a disadvantage. As she was led out, the silent prisoner attempted another 'scan' to try and gain some insight into the unexpected situation, she slipped inside the mind of who she assumed was 'scales' based on how the vision her host was seeing were the guards she saw seconds ago. Instead of the host leaving her effective range, Juniper fond her 'gaze' was never too far, seemingly following the companion across from her cell.