It was near dark when they finally got to Houston. Frank felt stiff and the bus smelt about as bad as one would imagine with a bunch of puberty-stricken teenagers stuck in the same heat-box on wheels for hours on end. His one solace was that he didn’t have to hear all the bellyaching, impromptu road games and shouting from his peers. The vibrations were a headache all their own.

Mr. Alden was the head of their group as they split up. The foursome managed to stick largely together, leading into the S.U.N. associated hotel. It was an area acquired by the governmental body and retrofitted specifically for their guests. Two students would be paired off and share a room together, with two teachers per floor they took up. More than just their school was here, as the S.U.N. pulled a wide range of Middle Schools from all over the state.

Gia was paired off with one of the twins from the next grade, Sam not Sara, Frank found himself tied to the hip with Oscar, an older boy, but Jordan was paired with Devon Chambers. His friend didn’t seem to care about this, and Devon himself was quiet about it. They went through the route introductions, though Frank noticed some new faces in the crowd. Steph, he managed to catch, was paired with the other twin.

The foursome broke away as soon as they could. TJ was being loud but Frank didn’t pay attention to what he said. He was looking around the city, Houston fascinating him. The beginnings of a new kind of railway was being constructed, though for what purpose he didn’t know. It was all very cutting edge, which immediately grabbed his attention. It looked to be using a new kind of rail system, something involving magnetism.

TJ snapped into his field of vision.

‘You’re not listening!’

Frank pointed to his ears. ‘Can’t hear you.’

TJ rolled his eyes, though he could see Gia laughing.

‘Why are we out here? We’re doing the dumb tour tomorrow!’

Frank shrugged, signing back that they weren’t going far. He wanted to see the actual base behind the hotel. Jordan interpreted for him. TJ theatrically crossed his arms and huffed before continuing to follow them.

Finally, they reached the base. It looked like a modern art piece as designed by the military. Sheer white walls, a tiered construction that resembled a step pyramid, but one made of space age steel and plastics. Frank had never seen such a thing before. This was one of the few constructs that the S.U.N. built from scratch, and it was impressively extravagant.

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They’d be invited into it tomorrow during the tour, but Frank couldn’t wait to get in sooner. He wasn’t the only one, it seemed. Catching his eye, he pointed out something odd. A young girl was standing outside of the building. Jordan started moving towards her, leading the others.

She was much younger than anyone else on the trip, which made Frank wonder if she was a local. She was maybe 8, maybe 10, with brown skin. He believed she was Indian in appearance but wasn’t sure. Her denim jacket and shoulder length shorts swayed in the breeze as she waved her hands at a wall.

Suddenly she jumped, turning towards them. Glancing, he realized Jordan called out to her.

‘Hi!’ She called out, waving.

TJ went to question her, though he couldn’t follow their conversation too well. She ran off after a moment, apparently proclaiming that she needed to be somewhere. Frank signed that she was weird.

Jordan didn’t reply, staring at the base. He wasn’t sure what his friend saw, only that a look of anger crossed his face. Gia poked her head forward, telling them that they needed to be getting back. It was dark now, curfew was up.

Making their way up the hotel, through the elevators to the second floor, the four found they were some of the last students to report in. Most of their roommates were already in, getting settled for the night. Frank realized they could see the S.U.N. base from the side of the hotel they were situated. Jordan wished them a good night before heading off abruptly.

Frank hoped dearly he wouldn’t do something rash.

TJ was next to peel off, looking nervous around Gia. Frank rolled his eyes. His only hope there was that he didn’t do something stupid. Gia walked Frank to his room, hers being on the other side of the floor. There, her roommate Sam was waiting at the door.

She was a slender girl, a bit more awkward in build than some of her peers. She then surprised Frank, using sign language to ask him a question.

‘Steph came to you the other day, right?’

Frank nodded, signing back that she seemed frustrated talking to him.

‘She doesn’t know sign language. She gets frustrated easily. Be careful around her.’

She spoke that part aloud to Gia. Gia’s eyes narrowed, but Frank had an inkling to why Sam said that. Gia started talking about nasty rumors, but Sam raised her hands stopping her.

‘Steph was my best friend in the world,’ she spoke and signed at the same time. ‘But a few months ago, something happened. That weight incident wasn’t a lie, and it wasn’t a mistake. We thought the equipment flipped out, but it worked fine for the rest of us. She really did weigh more than two hundred pounds. At least, that’s what it said. She started acting strange since. I don’t know. It was like it wasn’t her anymore. Just wanted to warn you.’

Frank thanked her. He asked why she knew how to sign.

‘I’m hearing impaired, surgery and this little gadget helped me out, but I needed to learn young,’ she replied, showing off the hearing aid in her ear.

Gia frowned. She turned to Frank and hugged him, telling him good night before walking off with Sam.

A pit in his stomach cracked open. That feeling Steph left him with creeped over his shoulders again. He tried to push it away, but it was still there. He hoped the trip could go on without a hitch.