Author's Note: Sorry guys.... I started "I Shall Seal The Heavens" and got addicted for a while there.

Here's another chapter, sorry for the wait.

By the way, if you're really interested in the story or something and I'm not posting every few days, send me a PM.

I usually just end up forgetting to write it, since I have other (non-RRL) projects going on.

Although Vas disliked the idea of forcing former people to become lab rats, the group of Scouts took to their new jobs with excitement.

Joust and Zy became the chief researchers, and members of the group were reporting findings to them. Alex functioned as their secretary due to her quick handwriting.

Only two days had passed, but already the research had more than twenty pages full of experiments and results. How long did it take for Sleepers to tire? How long would a Sleeper chase a person before giving up? What was the general attention span of a Sleeper? Could Sleepers stay awake for multiple days, or would they eventually need to sleep?

Much of the research was ongoing, and the group constantly checked on the progress of such experiments.

How could you tell if a Risen was even awake?

Vas and Selene were currently watching Azul and Fem repeatedly stab, prod, and bruise a Sleeper chained to a wall. Azul stabbed the creature’s stomach lightly with his sword.

“Can you feel this?” The creature nodded.

Azul stabbed his blade into the Sleeper. Its body shuddered slightly, but it made no cry.

“You can feel this as well?” The monster smiled at him.

“But you don’t feel pain. You don’t holler. It does bleed, though. And also has a more extreme reaction to something that should cause pain than something that should cause discomfort.”

The last sentences were spoken to Fem, who was taking hasty notes on a pad.

Vas disliked the experiments, but understood their purposes. The scientists at the Wall would supposedly have done similar tests, but nothing had ever been released to the military masses. At least, so far as Vas knew.

Vas had performed some experiments on his father when the man had turned. He knew the knowledge had come in handy, but the majority of it was pointless.

Who cared what happened to a Risen’s eyes if they weren’t immediately plucked?

Vas had not had the freedom to test Risen pain tolerance and had kept his father locked in a room until the EMP. He’d tried to have conversations with it, but those usually went nowhere.

By comparison, this Risen seemed to respond quickly and intelligently.

Even without words.

Vas absently wondered what kind of Risen his father had been. Or rather, currently was.

Even though Vas had killed that body, the consciousness had likely transferred to another.

“Do you suppose that the resurrection of Risen into new bodies validates the idea of a soul? The body is gone, but memories and habits remain in a completely new body.”

Vas blinked.

He was starting to sound like Zy.

As if on cue, Zy walked into the room. The spindly Native American man knocked on the door frame to indicate his presence for those not already aware.

Vas absently wondered whether Zy would ever be a threat. If this were a fiction or some story, the mad scientist would turn on his companions and try to rule the world or something, right?

“The idea of a soul is generally something you find in religion as a way of explaining how humans can live forever. I’d say the Risen resurrection means something like ‘there is a dimension we cannot access, where memories and thoughts exist independent of the electrical signals that call them out’ or something. Imagine this universe made out of thoughts and ideas. We cannot perceive such a realm, but our brains automatically fetch information from it. However, since Risen have no memories of being human, perhaps we really do die when our brains stop functioning. Perhaps we go over to that realm of thought. Or another. Or none. Who knows?”

Vas suddenly got the feeling that Zy’s frame of mind was far out of reach. A realm of thought? He tried to wrap his brain around the idea, but couldn’t think of a good enough picture. Perhaps if he had time to sit and think about things without worry.

But he didn’t.

At least, he didn’t think he did.

Vas had been wrong, and there had been a lot of time to sit and think.

The experiments made regular progress during the first week, but once the Scouts put their minds to the task many of them came up with innovative tests and interesting results.

For instance, there was the fact that the Risen could not die from blood loss. They simply lost consciousness for a time. Risen did not sleep and had no need to. Loss of oxygen had the same results as loss of blood.

It had been nearly twelve days before Vas was approached by the Zy and Tapo. Tapo proposed that they take a few people out to hunt for a couple of Risen to serve as samples.

“What do you need new Risen for? Can’t you use the ones we already have?”

“No,” Tapo said without giving further explanation.

Zy watched the big man for a few moments then shrugged. “For one, they are already being used in experiments. Second, we believe killing Risen who we have been experimenting on might give away our position.”

Apparently, Tapo and Joust were both extremely interested in dissecting Risen corpses.

Vas gathered Fem, Alex and Selene. The four of them were the only people not currently busy with experiments.

He explained their mission, which interested all of them.

“Does it matter what kind of Risen we find?” Selene wondered aloud.

“The experiments Joust and I did suggested there might be physical differences between types of Risen,” Alex piped in, “But I don’t think we’ll be able to safely find anything other than Sleepers.”

Fem coughed a few times before attempting to contribute his own opinion. He gave up after a few tries. He’d been sick for multiple days, but seemed to have recovered. Aside from the cough.

They were still inside their headquarters, so Vas didn’t mind.

“If you cough like that on the streets, Alex will probably slit your throat.”

Alex gasped and looked offended, “I would never waste such a valuable sample like that! If was going to kill him I’d do it in here.”

The two girls and Vas laughed. Fem snorted between coughs. Finally, he seemed to be finished. He nodded to Vas as they walked down the stairs, “Sorry,” he got out in a scratchy voice.

Vas gave him a wide smile and tried to think of something funny to say. He took too long and eventually surrendered to a simple, “No worries.”

Vas had plotted out their course: they would go to the housing complex across the road, using dozens of broken down cars as cover. They would go the sixth floor (they’d cleared the first five already), kill two Sleepers, and pull them all the way back. There was a lot of dragging, carrying and walking involved, but it seemed to be safer than the other nearby locations.

Less room for error was always a good thing.