This is Even Worse (G/t)

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(A/N: If you haven't read This is So Wrong, then read that first!)

The blinding light, scalding heat, and bone-chilling creaking from the opening doors to the outside were nothing in comparison to the events of the last year. Yet, to be placed within a dark, metal enclosure to endure warm temperatures unwillingly was common. To go from intense calefaction to a metal box collected together with more metal boxes in a larger metal box was a thing was the deal for them.

"Rise and shine." An enforcing yet playful voice drowned out the ocean of minuscule groans erupting from within the metallic confinements, as its owner entered the area. "Come on, now, kiddies. Get up and at 'em."

"Seriously? Don't call them that," whined another, more distant voice, succeeded by the sound of another door closing not too far away. "Half of them are older than you. Trust me." The murmurs going through the area immediately stopped, as the familiar voice was recognized at the first word. Some were daring enough to look at its owner and his companions, while others stayed back, cowering in fear... or pain.

A unit of armed officers and scientists with various equipment began marching in, one right after another like a conveyor belt, each one hastily grabbing as many small cases as could be carried. However, they put aside concern for their contents - the petite people they were chosen to protect and care. These victims baffled the minds of the ones called in to save them, as their existence barely made sense. Yet, they were here, and they were alive.

Through the bustling of older adults, the youngest man snaked in, watching the scene unfold. While he pitied the tiny unfortunates knocked around just to be transported elsewhere, they weren't his main focus. He was looking for a specific one: a certain petite person that had been on his mind even before the start of this ordeal. Eventually, he found who he was looking for, as far away from him as she could've possibly been.

She hadn't fallen asleep. She was determined throughout the long ride to not sleep, and she succeeded. As one of the first to be packed under a hundred or so souls before its door closed, she was aware of the discomfort of each peer she had come to know and love as they were stored away - box by box, stack by stack. They had already endured dreaded weather and nonsense back at their previous 'home' until it was shut down when people came rushing in out of nowhere, so they were out of it. With each addition, the darkness and warmth of the area increased, making her lethargy more difficult to evade, but she persisted, ignoring the hypnotizing lull of a running engine and rocking of the vehicle, and focusing on the people around her: her closest friends and family.

The little lady sat in the back, with her friends slumbering in front and around her, her little sister's sleeping head rested on her lap, and her parents entangled together (in the best way they could be, in their conditions) to her side. They all were overly exhausted, so the sudden velocity change to zero and increases in noise, especially the louder voices, weren't caught by anyone... except for her. She figured that people were coming in to perform some kind of testing or something - and they were - but she didn't expect anyone to face her so soon... still in a boiling box. Especially someone of that stature. Especially him.

Slivers of sunlight were quickly blocked out when a massive figure came to and squatted down in front of her box. For a few seconds, she could only make out dirtied, worn-out sneakers and stained denim. But when it shifted onto its front, revealing its face, and it... he addressed her, she couldn't breathe. No air from her lungs could've possibly reached her mouth to speak. Then again, she wasn't going to, regardless.

"A-Ayana? You okay?" Evan was shocked enough that his plan had gone this far already with little - heh, heh - issue, yet he was still skeptical of its overall success. One person always judged him and everything that he did, with no words at all... except for that one time, and here she was, probably judging him still... or at least he thought she was. "You're in here, right? I'm pretty sure you were put here."