The director was looking through clothing magazines when he heard that the kids had opened the presents. At first, he was relived that they hadn't just left the presents in the corner. Then, he wanted to see their reaction to opening the presents. He wanted to see the changes in the farcical expressions. The confusion, happiness. He wanted to see them all, but he couldn't. Unfortunately, he was in a meeting. One that he really didn't want to be apart of because there really wasn't any point to it. Though, he was glad that he'd managed to sneak in a clothing magazine to keep him entertained during the meeting and focused on the actual important thing he should be doing.

"Aarth, any comments on this topic?"

"No," he said disregarding the need for his input on a subject he's not in the least bit interested in. Honestly, he didn't even know what the subject was. He was that uninterested that he didn't care to figure it out. He just said that he had nothing to say and allowed the other people in the meeting to move on to whatever other topic they found important while he made not of nice clothing styles.

When the meeting was over, Aarth shot up from his seat and walked straight out of the meeting room. However, that didn't stop one of the other meeting participants--the one sitting at the front of the table--from catching him and starting up a conversation.

"Can you at least pay attention during the meetings? Act like you're interested." The guy had said, slightly frustrated by the way Aarth acted.

"I don't feel like it," Aarth responded which was a normal response for him. An unacceptable response but a normal one. See, Aarth only pay attention to things he was interested in. If he was interested in something he would put 110% into it, but if he wasn't, he wouldn't even bother looking up. It was a miracle in itself that he decided to attend all of the meetings. Though, he didn't really give much input to help, and whenever he did say something it was always about the need to end the meeting because he had something more important to do. In essence, he was a child. Only interested in what he likes and nothing else. Of course, the interested constantly changed multiple times throughout the month, so it was unsure of what he was obsessing over now.

Aarth felt the clothing magazine that he hid within the nice leather folder be snatched from his hands from the guy that stopped him.

"Really clothing? This is what you're into now?" he asked, annoyed. Aarth just shrugged and took back the magazine, leaving the folder filled with charts and the hard work of other people.

"Something like that," he said continuing his walk away from the working environment, leaving the semi-frustrated guy alone to have to deal with everything Aarth didn't feel like doing. Really business environments have never been good for him.

Exiting the building, there was already a running car in front of the entrance which Aarth stepped into and sat in the back seat of. Stacked in the seat next to him were multiple other magazines of all sorts of variety. Some of them were focused on clothes like the one in his hand. Some focused on home and room décor. Some was about the newest technologies. He really just had all sorts of magazines to look at and to circle things he liked. Well, things that he thought would be appreciated by other people.

"Where to?" the driver of the car asked, looking at Aarth from the rear view mirror.

"The kids," he said, stacking the magazine in his hand on top of the the rest to complete the stack.

Srusti and Inizio, still bored from their phones, just looked at each other, trying to find something fun to do through each other. But, no matter how much they looked, they couldn't find anything. They tried playing clapping games, coming up with multiple handshakes, but it was all so boring.

"The two of you look quite nice in your new clothes," they heard someone say, and looked towards the open door. Immediately, Inizio was on guard, moving in front of her sister to cover her.

The voice and the person it belonged to were familiar. It was the exact voice that made his sister cry. It was the voice of the person who gave them the clothes they were wearing, and the voice of the person Inizio currently hated the most.

"Good afternoon, director."

Inizio had never used such a time accurate greeting before because he never knew the time. Now, however, he was able to tell morning from night. He was finally able to know when the sun rose and fell. Though, all of that was insignificant in their current situation. It meant nothing when it came to having to protect Srusti.

"You look like you're ready to kill me kid, but I'm not going to do anything to you."

There was no way Inizio was actually going to trust this guy. Actually, it wasn't about whether the guy could be trusted enough. That was something that hadn't been figured out yet. What was actually causing this hostile reaction was the fact that Srusti cried after the guy left the first time and struggled to keep those same tears in until he finally left the room. After that moment, there was no way that Inizio was going to let the guy closer to his sister. Was he a father figure? Yes, but not all children loved their fathers as not all children loved their mothers. And since there was only one parent to hate, he was going to dislike his father figure for a very viable reason.

The guy shrugged, not getting any other responses that wasn't hostile from Inizio who was shielding his sister. He couldn't even see Srusti's face because of the cover. He could only see the strands of her long silver hair that almost blended into the white color of the bed sheets.

"I had planned to take you two away, but if you're so against it then it can't be helped."

Take them away and go where? Was he going to do as he said? Was he going to take them shopping? To a restaurant? To see fireworks? But why? Because he was bored? Because he just wanted to keep messing with them? Because he wanted to see them dance in the palm of his hand with painful fake smiles? Was that what he wanted from them? The clothes, the phones, questions, and shoes. They were all just ways to get them to start dancing like fools. To make them into obedient dogs.

Inizio refused to let that happen. He and his sister had emotions. They had consciousness', self awareness. They has self esteem. They weren't just lifeless dolls or oblivious idiots. They weren't weak to manipulation. They had pride in themselves.

"Brother..."

But, they also wanted to go outside. They realized today that staying trapped inside of the all white room wasn't going to be an option for them anymore. Before, they knew nothing of the outside world, so they could imagine it on the fully white walls. They thought of the outside as though it was multiple years into history. They thought of it as an unreachable place. However, now, they knew it was real. Now, they knew they could reach it, and they wanted to get there. They couldn't survive in this white room anymore. They had to get out or else they might just go insane wanting to see the outside.

So, they had to think. How could they leave? The door to the room could only be opened with a badge ID that is clipped to a pocket somewhere. Getting one of those was nearly impossible. Then, there was the layout of the building. They didn't know if the building had multiple stories, if they were in the basement section. They only knew how to get to the bathroom and back which was a single hallway up and down. There was no other hallways connected to that one hallway to the bathroom. At least, none that they knew of. With all of these things to consider, they couldn't escape on their own, and Inizio and Srusti weren't stupid to try. And while they wanted to get out, they also didn't want to be put in danger. So, they had to think. At least Srusti had to while her brother was overcome with emotions. And she sure was thinking.

Behind her brother, she was thinking about the pros and cons of their situation. She already knew that getting outside by themselves was impossible. They needed someone to take them outside like the first time they went out. And the one who orchestrated that happening just so happened to be in front of them. Not only that, he was going to take them away. He was going to get them out of the building which was the majority of the plan. Then, before they were brought to the next place, they could run away. Then they could go as far as they wanted to go, see what they wanted to see, and do whatever they wanted to do. They would be free of their white world. But first, they were going to use this guy to get out.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"It'll be fine," Srusti said, "Trust me."

Inizio heard his sister and trusted her. If she said that it was going to be fine, then she was going to make sure that it was. She was going to make sure that the plan in her head was going to work out by the letter. And if her luck and strategy wasn't enough, then he was going to use his physical abilities and emotional observation skills to help her out until she got the ending she wanted.

"If you're sure."

"I am," she said, then tilted her head so her face could be seen by the guy, "We'll go with you. Just give us a second. We've never tied putting on actual shoes before."

"Take your time. I can wait," the guy responded, smiling.

The two slide off of the bed to the ground where their shoes were, and while putting them on started talking under their breath. So quiet that only their ears could hear.

"What are you thinking?" Inizio asked, putting his shoes on as slowly as possible. Srusti was doing the same. She kept messing with her shoes, acting like she was having a difficult time tying them but actually was stalling for time like her brother.

"We lose him in a store. Hop out of the car right before a green light. Just run. Then go to the authorities, claim that we were kidnapped and get put into child protective services seeing as there's a high chance of us not being registered and don't have any biologically related parents."

"What has the highest rate of success?"

"Getting out of the car, but not before a green light."

"On a highway, right? Jump out of the car while it's on the highway?"

Srusti slightly nodded, "If the car is in the middle of traffic, they'll have to chase after us which is hard considering how small and nimble we both are. And, if the car's running, there's a big chance of us getting hurt maybe even killed, but the car would have a hard time stopping giving the speed it's running at and the cars that should also be on the highway. Which would give us the opportunity to hide giving the chance that there greenery on the side of the highway, and if there's a chance he catches us in any of those situations, we cause a scene alerting others which can lead them to thinking that we were kidnapped creating a human wall between us and him."

Inizio knew this plan was going to work, but was scared about them jumping out of a car moving on the middle of the highway. He wasn't scared for him. He could take it. A broken bone, a concision, the loss of blood. He could take anything. But if something happened to his little sister. Her lifeless body. Blood flowing out of her to create a puddle. An arm or leg that was bent the wrong way. A scratch on her body. Inizio wouldn't be able to recover from that. He would be scared to leave the house. Scared to even think about going outside anymore. He could feel himself shaking just thinking about.

He was starting to second guess this whole thing. Maybe it would be better if they just stayed inside. Maybe they should just stop thinking about the outside. They would be safer. She wouldn't get hurt. She wouldn't have to cry. His little sister would be completely safe. She wouldn't leave him. He would never be alone. They'd...they'd always be together. He promised. They promised each other. He couldn't do without her. He didn't know how to survive without her, not anymore. He couldn't do it. He didn't want to. Without her...Without his little sister...

"Big brother."

All these thoughts running through Inizio's head came to an abrupt stop hearing his little sister's voice and feeling her grab his hand. She knew how scared he was. She saw how scared he saw, and honestly, she felt the same. She couldn't live without her brother. She couldn't stand thinking about him getting hurt. She didn't want to see him in pain or suffering. She didn't want to see him sad or scared. She only want to see him happy, but she knew that the plan she just came up with came with fear. She knew that getting hurt was an option for bother of them. However, she was strong. At least, that's the front she was putting on. Srusti knew all of the risks, but she knew they would get through them. Unlike her usual self, she disregarded that changes of one of them getting hurt and just decided to became optimistic. It was better that way. They were going to go through with the plan and end up just fine. After everything, they were always going to be together. She decided to place all of her hope on that one thing because the numbers and possibilities were just endless. She could only rely on the promise they had to each other.

"We'll always be together. No matter what."

The two stopped stalling for time and tied their shoes. Then, they stood up next to each other facing their ticket outside. Both were scared, but they stood with confidence only because they were together with the belief that they would never leave each other.

"We're ready to go," Inizio said, holding his sister's hand.

"I'm glad you two opened up to me," he said smiling at the two kids.

The two kids were guided out of the building without blindfolds. They were allowed out of the rooms into the one way hallway and found that the all white walls had a door at the very end of the hallway. It would be hard to find even if you were looking for it because it perfectly blended into the wall until it opened. Though, this door was different from the door to get into their room. There was no handle or automatic way of opening it. Rather there was a specific way of knocking and the person on the other side would open the door. Meaning that this place was a complete safe house. Once inside, no one could even get out without another person outside. It was overdoing it just for two kids.

Past the invisible door was a perfect laboratory with monitors on one wall showing live feed of the room they had just left. It was like the kids always thought. Their room was covered in cameras and microphones. Though, it was unsure of whether the microphones could hear the little whispers they would talk to each other with. Still, it didn't matter.

While walking through the lab, none of the people inside made eye contact with either Inizio or Srusti. It was like they weren't there, but it didn't effect them. They were used to not being talked to. Used to being ignored. Used to acting like they didn't exist. There was even a time when they acted dead and the people who walked into change their IV bags didn't even care to check for a pulse. That meant that they knew they were playing dead, or just didn't care if they died. Though, there was no point in even thinking about it. Not anymore anyways.

Then, they walked up multiple flights of stairs until they got to the outside, and it was warm. Warmer then usual. It felt nice, but it was also bright. When they looked around, they saw that everything basked in light of the sun which created shadows. They saw the true green of trees, and the ridges in the brown bark. They looked up and saw the bright origin of life. They saw the sun, and it blinded them. Still, they wanted to reach up and grab it. However, they knew that it was impossible to grab. They were just itty bitty things to the great sun and moon. Although that was the case, the sun still kissed their untouched skin. The warmth still permeated through their bodies. The pure light of the sun hugged them gently, and they didn't want to leave it's arms.

Then, there was the blue sky surrounding the bright sun. It was light and contracted the greenness of the trees perfectly while the white clouds moved across it. It was amazing. The fresh air, blue sky, green leaves, bright sun. It was all so amazing. They wanted to climb one of the tress or lay in the grass while staring up to the sky. Those activities would be fun and peaceful. Both of them would smile if they were able to act that way. To act like carefree children whenever they wanted. That life would be pure ecstasy.

"Are you two done looking? We have places to go."

The two focused in front of them and saw the black shinning car that broke the harmony of nature.

"Apologies. We're coming," Inizio said walking towards the open door of the car. As soon as they got into the car and the doors were closed, the car started moving.

Four. That's the amount of people that were in the car. There was the driver, the director in the passenger seat, and the two kids in the back seat. Like the last time they were in the car, the watched as the plants, cars, buildings, and roads passed by. They looked at everything in awe with the plan in the back of their minds. Both of them reminded themselves over and over that they were going to jump out of the car in a moving highway. Though, there was a little problem. The child lock was on for both of the passenger doors which the two of them noticed when first getting into the car. So, they couldn't open the car door while inside of the door. They also tried rolling down the window, but those were locked to. That meant that they were going to have to break the window which didn't seem enforced, so it wasn't going to be a problem. Inizio could just break through the window using his arm. He would have to wrap his arm with the shirt tied to his waist, then punch or elbow that window which wasn't going to be much of a problem due to his enhanced physical abilities.

"If the two of you like," the director said from the passenger seat, "you can look through the magazines to see if there's anything you like in there."

Right, in the middle seat of the back of the car, there was a stack of magazines that neither of the kids cared to look at because they figured it was something they shouldn't touch. But, they had to wonder what was the point of them looking for something they liked through the magazines. In truth, they were happy given even the smallest things and didn't have many things they actually liked. So, when it came to decision making involving their own opinions on something that involved feelings, they were bad at it. Ask them about political things, and they would be able to answer using the facts placed in front of them. But, anything else that involved their own feelings where questions that they couldn't answer. That didn't mean that they weren't going to look through the magazines though. They were interested in anything from the outside world.

The magazines where filled with all sorts of things. From clothes, to home décor, and even animals. Seeing all of the different designs, colors, and trends was nice. They wanted to imagine what it would be like to see all of those things in person. To step into those rooms, pet those animals, and see those clothes. Doing all of that would be so much fun. They couldn't wait.

"By the way, Inizio, Srusti," the director spoke again, "my name is Aarth, so stop calling me director. Either call me Aarth or Dad."

Huh...? Dad? Just what the hell was this guy thinking?