---An Unknown Amount of Time Later---

I open my eyes and instantly I become painfully aware of how painfully cold and dark things are. I must be in the cold box. I rub my arms and think aloud.

“This isn’t too bad.” For some reason an alarm goes off in my head as I say that but I can’t quite understand why.

“Well newbie, that’d be because they haven’t turned on the A/C yet. But don’t worry it will get sufficiently cold to your satisfaction. If you want I can give you a few ice packs to make your experience that much better.” A deep sarcastic voice echoes through the room we were in. I look around looking for a face but I can’t tell where he is it much too dark. However I can clearly see the annoying smirk he has on his face even without being able to see him at all. In fact I don't even think I can see my hand even though I'm holding them right in front of my eyes.

“When will they be turning it on?”

“Friday at noon.”

“What day is it today?”

“Friday.

“What time?”

“I don’t know precisely but when you were thrown in here it was around eleven."

“You gotta be kidding.”

Suddenly the temperature in the room drops drastically and I here a slitght chuckle echo all around me. The fucking bastard if I ever see him I'll wrangle him. Well I probably wouldn't do that but I'm not going to be nice to him!

“Nope.”

“Goddammit.”

“S-so wh-why are you i-in here?” I ask while holding my arms close to my body in an attempt to keep myself warm. It proves futile but I continue to do it anyways. My now ‘fixed’ dislocated wrist does not hurt anymore on account of my entire going numb and now it just exists as an annoying dull throb. This ‘cold box’ probably would have been called an ‘ice box’ if that name wasn’t already taken. I can’t see my hands or feet but I’m sure if I could see them they’d be completely blue.

“Keep to yourself Newbie that’s the first thing you know when you get brought to a place like this. And secondly, don’t ask why. Just don’t do it; no one likes a prying mind.”

“W-why c-can you s-speak n-n-normally?”

“Kid what did I just tell you!”

“...”

“Experience. I’ve been here for quite the while Newbie. My body has adjusted and your’s hasn’t that’s all. Plus I’ve got some meat on me and you’re a fucking twig.”

“How can you see me in this darkness?”

“...”

“Right, no q-questions.”

“...”

“Just one m-more. H-how do you g-get out of this p-place? PCC I mean.” I don’t want to stay in this place forever. I want to explore and do stuff I hadn’t been able to do in my past life not be stuck in some government-run facility again. Well last time I was there intentionally but it is all the same really.

“*sigh* There are two ways to leave Newbie. Become strong enough that the entirety of PCC operatives can’t contain you anymore. In which case the SF would send in there legendary S-class team to turn you to smithereens. And the other way is to be sent on a mission by the PCC council which is much more plausible but still unlikely.” And here I just thought my mom would give me up to some orphanage but no she had to give me to these psychopaths. Getting out of this building with my power is probably possible, no it is probably easy, but what after that. The fucking Special Forces would be after me along with everyone else. From the looks of it they'd make me out to be a villain nationwide. And I’m definitely not doing any mission for these fugly bastards either. Ah I give up for now. I don’t think I’ll be escaping here anytime soon. Who knows maybe this place isn't so bad.

“Man g-guess wha, y-ou need to do?” My tongue has started to get numb.

“You said that was the last question!”

“C-chill out.” I chuckle this time. I'm goddamn hilarious.

“That’s awfully brave of you to say when you're in stabbing range.” Wait how close is he? It’s hard to tell because his voice echoes in this room so much. Oh dear God I better not actually be in stabbing range. What does it matter I’m probably gonna freeze to death anyway.

"J-just k-k-kiding."

I feel the coldness encroach on my joints making them stiff And I try to open my mouth once more but it has been frozen shut. This is like swimming in a pool in the winter except you can’t leave the pool and the only way for you to get used to it is for you to go so numb your body turns purple. My...my head seems to be going numb too. Everything; why is everything so slow? I think I’m gonna rest my eyes for a second. I think I’m just gonna go to sleep.

---The dude’s perspective---

‘I can’t believe they’ve sent a kid. A fucking kid! Why in the world would he need to be sent to a facility such as this and at such a young age at that? And worse yet they sent him here immediately! He must be a little demon for them to already be using fear tactics like this. Poor kid probably thinks he’s gonna die. He won’t I’ll make sure to that; it's the least I can do for him.’ I raise the temperature in the box to a little above thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit just barely above the freezing point not allowing him to catch frostbite. Technically I’m supposed to go beneath the freezing point but this newbie hasn’t even gone through basic training yet. I almost feel bad for the poor kid. Almost.

My shackles have long since frozen over and become extremely fragile yet I don’t break them. They aren’t used to keep me in here, in my prison cell, they are used to remind me of my weakness and my inability. They are used to symbolize what happens to people when they try to betray the system.

Power(s), status, wealth, but especially power is all that matters here. I wish I could tell the kid myself, but it would be smacking him in the face pretty soon anyway. Actions show and words only tell so I figure it’s for the best. Rankings and Crystals, all the made up systems of suppression they have, oh I remember the good days so well. How fucking pointless it all was. It pisses me off just thinking about it.

Dozing off I sleep lightly and extremely vigilant just like I was taught to by my fellow 'peers'. A cold shiver runs down my spine for the first time in my life and my hairs stand up on end. My eyes flash open and I scan the room only to find the kid standing. ‘Strange.’

“Hey, what are you doing?” No response the figure just stays still standing there motionless.

“I said what are you doi-” I notice another smaller figure sleeping right near the girl. If the boy is sleeping then who the fuck is that? Cautiously I stand up but the terror that would usually accompany someone when they find an unwelcomed guest in their residence does not accompany me. I’ve grown quite numb. I get closer and see that the figure is actually a short girl with semi-long black hair and oddly enough a nightgown and a teddy bear. Not clothes you’d wear when coming into a place like this. Getting closer to her she appeared to be saying something but nothing is coming out of her mouth. Kind of like trying to speak in a dream.

“Girl, whatcha’ doing in a place like this? I didn’t see Corty come by with any new inmates.” I speak out to the girl with an edge to my voice, but she doesn’t seem to respond.

“Hey,-” I reach out to shake her to see if she would come to but instead of feeling the fabric of her nightgown my hand swept directly through her.

“An illusion? Is that your power kid?” Ask to no one in particular because the boy is dead asleep. ‘Is this why he was brought here?! An illusion power? There’s no way the PCC would go through the trouble to get a kid like him just for a lame illusion-type power!’ As I was thinking I looked back up to her face. Everything on her is insanely detailed there was virtually no way to tell her apart from a real human girl. Which is pretty amazing but it’s not enough to warrant the PCC’s attention. What are they after here? I sigh and realize it’s none of my business. It’s not like I’m leaving here any time soon; I still got at least twenty-five more years to go before I get my three-day vacation.

Studying the girl’s face suddenly it widens into a scream clearly mouthing the words ‘Help me!’ Her figure sits down in mid-air all of the sudden as if she was pushed there. And she stares at her wrists as if they are being gripped. She struggles against whatever imaginary grip she has on her arms until she tires. Tears stream down her face as she waves her head back in forth as if to say no to someone. Out of nowhere her mouth opens into a piercing wail that I could almost hear even though there was actually no sound in the room. Her finger bends back slowly and then in an extremely fast motion is crushed backwards completely. Her finger just rests on her hand loosely bound only by her fingers tendons. ‘Dear God I’m watching someone getting tortured. And honestly it is kind of intriguing. I can see how someone would be scared shit-less though.’ The skin on her arm suddenly picks up and is turned into something like confetti all over the place. Like a cheese grater was dragged across her arm.

All her fingers are bent back completely broken and the skin on her arm appears to have been grated to the bone with blood pouring everywhere. All of her teeth were ripped out slowly and painfully and half her skull appeared to have been cut open and then cauterized shut. Her toes were snipped in the spaces between each toe and her Achilles was cut. Every part of her body was tortured and it was kinda the coolest thing I had ever witnessed in my life. The illusion suddenly disappeared just as the newbie started shivering awake. ‘Maybe his power is related to dreams or maybe nightmares?’

The boy sits up and looks around with much difficulty none the wiser that I’m standing right in front of him. What a weird young dude to be having dreams like that. I guess everyone is sort of fucked up in here though. I notice my feet feel wet like I stepped in a puddle or something. ‘But there’s nothing close to a liquid in here. Unless…’ I kneel down quietly trying my best not to alert the kid of my presence. I rub my finger in whatever substance I seemed to be stepping in and brought it up to my nose. I take a deep whiff and the sweet smell of metallic coppery goodness pervades my nostrils.

“Blood. Kid, you can create blood from your dreams.” The kid looks like he wants to speak but he must be too weak from the cold that’s been seeping into his body for the past one and a half days. Thinking about it for a second my curiosity wins me over so I raise the temperature just high enough to be above freezing cold. Waiting for the kid makes me impatient, I know the punishment I’d be receiving if they caught me pulling a stunt like this. And it’s not good.

“C’mon kid hurry up and say what you were gonna say.”

“Y-you were technically right.”

“Technically.”

“My p-power is p-passive and active.” Suddenly he lifts up his finger and blood shoots out of his finger like a power jet. It sprinkles all over him and I look at him in a little awe. Powers that create something from nothing are quite rare.

“Very funny Newbie. I guess I can see why you were brought here now.” I say with a deadpan face. ‘If his power is passive does that mean he doesn’t have control of it sometimes or always. But then why isn’t blood just shooting out everywhere. Maybe it only activates when he thinks about blood.’

“Hey Newbie what’re you gonna do about all this blood everywhere?” Seriously I wonder what they would do if they found frozen blood everywhere.

“I dunno.” The five year old kid said dumbly. As if the blood had nothing whatsoever to do with him.

“You gotta clean it up somehow before breakfast time or else you’re dead meat.” The urgency is lacking in my voice but I am quite serious. A student is not allowed to use their power in here and I’m supposed to stop them. The only reason magic is even usable in here is because they need me to use my power to change the temperature. I looked over to the boy and he appeared to be in deep thought while staring off into space.

“Do you know what water is made of?” ‘What a weird question.’

“Yeah...why do you wanna know?”

“J-just tell me.”

“Don’t tell me what to do Newbie.” This kid is strange and has no sign of restraint. That’s dangerous in a place like this, very much so.

“Do you w-want me to clean this place or not?” He’s also really sarcastic, but that isn’t really a negative attribute to have in this facility. It helps with coping with stuff trust me I would know.

“It has two hydrogens and one oxygen. Its chemical formula is H2O. Is that what you want to know?”

“H-how do they bond with other water molecules?”

“Oh for crying out loud how am I supposed to describe that?!”

“You got this.” He put his thumb up in the air with a smirk I wonder if this is related to his power. I spent the next hour trying to describe how a water molecule bonds with other water molecules with little success. But eventually he seemed to catch on to what I was getting at. He just looked at me with a huge smile; somehow he had located me through the shadows I had been hiding in.

“Wat-er you waiting for it’s time to get to work.”