The teenagers followed Dr. Allen down a cold, dimly lit hallway. Along the walls, from floor to ceiling, were capsules. The capsules contained bodies. Ariana grabbed Rory's hand, squeezing tight, forgetting her strength. "Ah, ouch. Sweetheart, be careful," he whispered to her.
"Shit, sorry," Ariana apologized quickly, loosening her grip a bit. Rory only smiled at her in response.
The teenagers all examined the bodies in the capsules along the walls. "Where are we?" Katie asked, fear in her voice. Dr. Allen stopped a few feet in front of them and turned on his heel.
"Welcome to Station Thirteen," Dr. Allen said.
"Station Thirteen?" Lindsey asked, skeptical.
"In these capsules, as I'm sure you have noticed, are bodies. These bodies are future experiments," Dr. Allen explained.
"You sound like you're talking about specimens rather than people," Keith interjected, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"I believe we are all specimens. The human race is not a perfect race," he said. And he said nothing more.
He led the kids to a huge room, but resembled that of a forest, or a clearing. There was a small lake, a fire pit, foliage, trees and vines covered the whole area.
"This is where you'll be training," Dr. Allen said.
"It's hot in here!" Ariana complained, fanning her self with her free hand. Rory smirked and chuckled to himself, not wanting to respond. "Shut up," Ariana replied, elbowing him in the stomach.
"I will be observing your progress every day and recording it. Nothing is off limits," Dr. Allen continued.
"Do we start now?" Felix asked.
"Yes. You and Ariana pair off over here," Dr. Allen began, pulling Felix away from Lindsey and practically peeling Ariana off of Rory and directing the two to a part of the room where they were away from the others. "Keith and Rory over here," he continued, pulling the brothers to the small lake, a few feet from the edge.
"What happens if I push him in?" Keith asked, shoving his hand in Rory's face, acting as if he was going to push him into the lake.
"You get your ass beat," Ariana answered.
"Bloody hell," Keith grumbled, taking his hand off of Rory's face. Dr. Allen didn't pay attention to the exchange, he instead moved Lindsey to the fire pit which he ignited with a match, and moved Katie over to what looked like a power generator.
"Alright," Dr. Allen clapped his hands together, "who's first?"
"Me! Me me me me!" Ariana said excitedly, grabbing a branch. "What do I do?"
"Jesus Christ," Felix pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You let go of the branch, for starters," Dr. Allen said.
"Oh," Ariana replied, letting go of the branch.
"And this applies to all of you, so listen carefully," Dr. Allen began, ,"it will take a while before you have full control over your element, and as they always say, practice makes perfect," he said.
"Can I go now?" Ariana asked.
"Yes. And remember, the key is to focus," Dr. Allen said.
"Alright," Ariana exhaled, closing her eyes. When she reopened them, they were the fluorescent green her eyes had changed to after her operation. Stamping her foot, the dirt cracked at her feet. The cracks continued on, an abyss forming in the ground. Felix's eyes widened, wondering if he could do the same thing. "This is so cool," Ariana grinned. When she spoke, her voice echoed. It sounded like there were three other versions of her voice overlapping Ariana's original voice. "I wonder if..." she trailed off, lifting her arms and bringing them together. As she did so, the abyss brought itself back to the other side, making the ground whole again. Ariana blinked and kept her eyes closed for a second, and they returned to their original color.
"I'm a little scared," Felix said.
"Why? You can do the same thing," Ariana said.
"Ariana's right, you know," Dr. Allen said.
"What about us? What happens if we stomp on the ground?" Keith asked, indicating himself and Rory.
"Why don't you try it and find out?" Dr. Allen replied.
"Back up," Rory said, pushing Keith to the ground.
"I'm going to strangle you," Keith hissed.
"Do you think this is a game?" Ariana kicked a rock over to Keith, missing him by at least three feet.
"I can't do anything around here without one of you threatening to murder me," Keith said, standing back up.
"It's because we love you," Katie chimed in.
"Are you sure about that?" Ariana asked.
"Alright, it's Rory's turn!" Dr. Allen said.
"Yeah!" Rory emphasized.
"I don't think there was a need for that," Katie rolled her eyes.
"I don't think there's a need for you," Rory snapped.
"Don't talk to her like that!" Keith warned.
"Here we go," Felix moaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Quit your bitching," Ariana said.
"Shut up! Everybody shut up!" Katie shouted, her eyes having turned orange.
"That's really going to take some getting used to," Keith mumbled. Katie shot a look at him, and he shrank back.
"Rory, if you still want your turn, you can go now," Dr. Allen said.
Rory nodded, and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and exhaled. He extended his left arm, and the lake behind him rose up into a large wave. He held it there, and a sudden feeling of lightheadedness and nausea overcame him. The water fell back down with a large splash, and Rory fainted.
