She woke up. Her vision was blurry and wouldn't change no matter how many times she blinked. Through the haze she saw her hands and her body, a dark room and a few large tubes filled to the brim with some sort of liquid. Lights illuminated the pipes and she could make out shapes floating in the liquid. She realized that they were people, no children, floating in the large cylinders. She realized that she was floating in a tube, too.

She panicked, her hands coming up to meet the glass around her and banging on it. She felt she was going to drown. An alarm sounded far off, waking a few of the other kids in the tubes. They started to panic too and the room became alive with muffled noises.

A door slid open on one of the walls of the dark room, light spilling forth. It illuminated a man in a bright coat, a man that walked forward calmly. He stopped at a desk and placed his hand on something, which drained every tube. The man opened the top of one and reached down to help the little boy climb out. It was at that time that she recognized no sign of encroaching death and felt a little dome over her mouth and nose, giving her air and keeping her alive.

The man walked around the room, opening every tube and helping every child out. At last, he came to her, opening the tube and reaching down. This man pulled her up and over the edge of her tube and placed her on the ground. She looked around before joining the huddle of kids and looking around fearfully. The man pressed his hand to the desk again and a few more adults hurried into the room. They took two children each and lead them away to some unknown place. She could hear their feet pattering on the ground as they walked away.

She was also lead to another place, with another child, in another room. She eventually had to separate with the other, as they were not allowed in the same room. She sat on the floor, trying to figure out what was happening.

She didn't have much luck.

Eventually, the light dimmed and bright, blue lines of energy appeared in the doorway.  Without going anywhere near them, she knew immediately that they would hurt her. She climbed up onto the bench in the wall and tried to fall asleep.

And again, she didn't have much luck.

Throughout the night she heard booms and felt the world shake a little. People walked in the halls, staring in for a few seconds before scribbling something on paper and walking away. She huddled in the corner and tried to be brave.

This time though, she didn't have any luck.

She might have closed her eyes for a few seconds but when she opened them again, a person was standing in where the energy should have been, holding something pale green in their hands. The lights were back on again and they blinded her. The person at the door grew impatient and walked forward quickly, grabbing her arm and pulling it above her head. The thing they were holding went over her body and her other arm was pulled through a hole in the side of it. She looked down and felt the soft material with her fingers. The person turned around and bent down to grab something and then gave it to her. She smelled something and brought it close to her face. The person standing in front of her picked up a small piece of the squishy thing and placed it near her mouth. She opened it and chewed before swallowing.

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It felt right so she did it.

She did it again and again, until she could no longer stuff her mouth. The person looked pleased and walked away. The energy sprang into the air again, lapping hungrily at the air. It stayed where it was supposed to though, and for that she was grateful.

She started to grow bored as the hours went on, only hearing occassional noises from the other side of the beams. She heard things like, "S-6 is not responding," and, "Shit!" and, "Watch your mouth!" There were other noises, too. High pitched screams. She didn't know what the noises meant, nor did she think she ever would.

At the end of the day, or maybe the middle of it? She didn't know. Sometime during the day, the man from the tube room came to her room and lead her to another new place. She wondered how big the place was. Inside this area was a table which the man made her lie on. Her arms and legs were tied down but she paid no mind to that. She was more interested in sleeping. She hadn't gotten much last night and maybe this was how people did it.

She couldn't have been more wrong.

The man pulled something on his hands and rolled over a cart on which laid shiny objects. They caught her eyes and she wondered what they did. What was their purpose? The man took one of those shiny objects and filled it with a liquid. He took a dome and placed it over her nose and mouth, like the one in the tube. As she breathed in the air, she started to feel tired and her eyes drooped. When she woke, the man was making noises again.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but you have to be awake for this part of the procedure," where the noises coming from his mouth. What did those words mean? She didn't know the answer to that question.

The man took another shiny object and placed it at her skin. She felt a burning, a white, hot burning, and started to feel pain. Her eyes watered as the object moved around her hand and wrist, jumping up to her collarbone and jolting around to her legs. She felt the white, hot pain and started to scream, just like she had heard earlier.

And again, it felt right, so she did it.

The pain seemed to go on forever, until finally, it stopped. Her throat ached and her body felt like it was on fire. She didn't even realize she had been moved and was going back to her solitary room. She passed other children behind the energy beams, all huddled in corners or under the benches. She was placed on her own bench and left there.

She started to cry big tears. This whole place was rotten. Rotten. Rotten.

This time though, it felt not only right, but justified to think, so she did.

What was the point? Endless days circled around her, each one bringing a new experience, whether it be a new form of pain or a new sound or a new understanding.

What was the point? Every day she might've learned something new, like how to recognize other children through their voices, or how to draw a picture, but it all landed her back in her room. No, her cell. That's what it was.

What was the point? What was it? Why was she the one? Why were the other children here? Why? What? She didn't get it. She probably never would.