“Bathroom’s open” Julian announced as he sauntered into the room.

There was a point during the night where I just couldn’t take it anymore. Julian was the loudest snorer I’ve ever heard, no less I've ever endured. The noises that came out of him were so unbelievable that at first, I thought he was having a stroke. After some trial and error, I discovered that if I hit him softly with the pillow it would silence his snores for a minute or so. Although after a while instead of hitting him with the pillow, I contemplated snuffing him out with the pillow.

“Alright, thanks” I mumbled groggily.

I grabbed the one-piece suit and my phone that lay next to me and hopped off of my messed-up bed. The suit was made of a sleek black material with a zipper that went down the front. Some of the facilities maids apparently delivered the “uniform” in the morning for the sessions today before I woke up.

I maneuvered around Julian and headed down the hall to the bathroom. On my way there, the other room connecting to the hallway was slightly ajar. While wondering whether I was going to meet my dorm-mates today I reached the bathroom door and pushed it open. I was still tired from last night as per my usual routine, I always listen to music in the shower to energize me for the day.

After the shower, I returned back to my room feeling refreshed, albeit still tired.

“Wanna head over for breakfast?” Julian questioned me as I entered the room. He was wearing the same suit that I was wearing, he wrung his wrists and his eyes darted to the door occasionally.

I checked my watch it was fifteen minutes till eight. My heart started beating a little harder in my chest as anxiousness built up from the wait.

“Yeah just give me a sec,” I quickly grabbed my shoes which lay just before the door and slipped them on.

“Let's go,” We strode off together toward the mess hall, the other roommates must’ve left early since I still didn’t see them.

After a minute of slightly awkward silence, Julian spoke up what I guess had been on his mind since this morning.

“Are you nervous?” He stuttered.

I glanced at him, slight beads of sweat glistened off his forehead. he anxiously fidgeted with the front of his suit all while looking at me.

“Eh not really, mostly excited” His face fell slightly as if hoping I’d feel the same.

Oops.

“But that what makes us human. Without fear, we would be decimated by enemies and by each other.” Now I was just quoting from random books and hoping it would make sense. I went on “We’ll be fine… Well as much as we’ll ever be in this program”

Julian seemed to brighten up a bit after we talked, but we finally reached the mess hall. We arrived with a few other people that wore identical suits to what we were wearing. When I first put on the suit I was worried that it was a bit too snug around my body. But after seeing some of the girls wearing it… I think I’ll tolerate them for now.

Since I was in front of the group I held out the door to let them pass through before entering myself. Julian and I sat together in muted silence as we took the time to gather our wits before we started.

Just like last night, the food was alright, they didn’t serve any dairy products so no cereal (for obvious reasons) but today I didn’t seem to have much of an appetite. Dull conversations were whispered around, the air thick with tension.

My mind wandered to when I was younger, when I read about the stories of heroes saving cities from crooks and thugs. They were the embodiment of power, of a savior. Would I ever be like them? There had to be something more to a super than just having superpowers.

I fiddled with his ham sandwich until a woman with a microphone spoke.

“Hello everyone, I am Ms.Daladona.” she paused smiling brightly at the crowd. She wore a long flowing dress with her hair tied up in a bun.

“Please finish up eating and head over to the elevators for further instruction” and with that, she left.

Everyone stood up in unison, I swallowed the last of my sandwich and hurried over to the already crowded trash can. With everyone in their black suits, it looked like we were some type of yoga fitness trainers. Wincing slightly at the memory of my failures at flexibility I threw my stuff away.

Everyone quickly filed through the doors and toward the elevators. Through the hustle and bustle, I lost Julian pretty quickly.

Oh well.

When we finally made it to the elevator hallway my heart was beating with anticipation. I wiped my now slightly moist palms on my thighs and looked up to the Ms.Daladona who stood in front of the elevators but now without the microphone.

“We will now call out your names and your prep room number. From now on the prep room number, you’ll get is the same one you’ll use for the rest of your time here.”

“Any questions?” She inquired looking beyond the crowd, her silky voice washing over us. She then raised a clipboard that I didn’t notice until now and started calling off names.

”Craig Applebarry A1, Frasier, Bejon A2,″ She went on listing off names, the crowd started to thin out as peoples names were called. Until finally, “Chase Millers C2”.

“Good luck man,” A deep voice went from behind me.

I turned to slightly to face him. He was black with a muscular body and a sharp buzz cut hair. I had no idea who it was but his good will to a stranger was nice.

“You too,” I then squeezed through the crowd to the elevator that was labeled “C” and stepped inside alongside two others I didn’t recognize. We stood facing the elevator door in silence, waiting for the doors to slide open. We soon parted ways to our respective rooms and I stepped inside.

The room was a bit bigger than my dorm room, with a chair similar to that you’ fine at a dentist with a tray of cotton balls, needles, and other amenities. There was a sink, a desk with a high-tech computer that sat upon it and a painting of an ocean on the wall. For whatever reason, a painting was in the prep room. The room was vacant so I opted to lay on the chair for the time being.

Just as I sat down the door that I entered opened once again. A woman, clad in a white nurse’s attire walked in.

“How are you today Chase?” she asked in a cheerful voice while she slipped on some latex gloves.

“Good,” I mumbled in reply still eyeing the needles next to me.

She rummaged through the drawers of the sink until she grabbed a small vial of a clear liquid. She then selected one of the larger needles on the tray next to me and started to fill it up with the liquid in the vial.

“After being injected with the serum the effects will start to appear in approximately one minute. Before it starts you’ll enter the control chamber.” She instructed as she held the needle to the light.

“Where are you going to stick that into?” I asked, the needle itself was an inch but an inch is an inch.

“There is a small vein on the back of your neck which leads throughout the body and most importantly the brain. I’m going to need you to be still for this” She instructed while dipping a cotton ball into alcohol (to sterilize the area which I already knew).

“Any questions before I start?” She questioned.

“Actually ye-”

“Good,” that’s when the needle plunged into my neck.

The pain was sharp but dulled to a non-existent pain after a few seconds. After a few seconds, the needle exited my body.

“You know that wasn’t that bad,” I commented getting up stretching my limbs a bit.

“Into the control chamber,” She commanded guiding me to the door and slightly pushing me in. I turned to face the now slammed door behind me. A small click reverberated throughout the room, which I assumed meant she locked it.

“That escalated quickly,” I sighed to myself.

I exhaled softly, letting the darkness shadow me until something started to shift. My eyesight sharpened, my heart started to pump faster. My sensors started to overload with senses, I could hear the minute breathing of someone else in the room hidden in the shadows. Fear started to build up on me. I knew it was the drug but it didn’t matter if it was nonrational.

The darkness surrounded me, suffocating me. The shadows danced around, each shadow a monster, a fog seemed to fall onto my mind, now my heart was beating in my throat. Picture the worst nightmare you ever had, no picture it ten times more vivid.

Suddenly, a kick hit the back of my knees dropping me to the ground like I was praying. The pain spiked through my body, I only had time to take in another breath when a fist connected squarely with my stomach. Again pain erupted throughout my body, my breaths came heavy, barely being able to breathe as my diaphragm felt paralyzed.

After being pummeled while boxing I thought I understood what it meant to feel pain. If these two strikes brought me to my knees, did I really belong here? Through the pain and my instincts screaming at me to run, to fight, to do something!

Screaming I scrambled to my feet, I whipped my body around trying to discern what was happening. This time I saw it coming, maybe it was the fear, adrenaline, or the drug that did it but I saw it. A large man’s right fist curling toward my jaw, instincts kicked in and I threw my arms up in a defensive position to block my head and upper torso. What I then felt hurt more than anything in my life, his knuckles were stone. The impact of his fist decimated my left forearms bone. The second strike hit my right shoulder, dislocating it.

I cried out, the speed was too much, the pain too much. My body’s nerves were on fire, each pump of the blood spiked the pain throughout my body. Once again I fell to the ground landing on my shattered elbow. My silent torturer said nothing, stood there watching my misery. The masked man then kicked me even harder in the stomach. My instincts screamed at me to get away. But all I could do was take it, blood liquid started to fill my mouth and throat, choking me.

He then pulled me up to him, face to face. I stared dazedly into his eyes, abyssal black eyes stared back without mercy. With his right hand lifting me up he swung with his left, hitting me straight in the jaw. At that point, I didn’t fall unconscious.

I wished I did.