Dreaming in Static

Chapter 22

Polaris

The next week passed in a blur. The team running the experiments on Polaris had to carry her back to her room every day after the torturous tests ended. However, by the end of seven days, Polaris's system had automatically adjusted to this new stress, and she was able to stagger back to her room by herself.

On the dawn of the eighth day, when morning light struggled into her room once more, Polaris withdrew into her bundle of blankets, trembling. Had they been lying when they told her she would only be tested for a week? She buried her head beneath the sheets, squeezing her eyes shut.

The door opened. Polaris tried not to hyperventilate.

"Polaris," came a voice from right next to the bed. It sounded very slightly familiar, but it was much brasher than Dr. Kelley's voice. Must be one of the team, Polaris thought. She remained quivering under the sheets.

"Get up or more tests."

"No! No no no no no I'll get up!" Polaris squeaked. She leaped out of bed immediately, stumbling a bit when her bare feet hit the floor. Brushing her hair out of her face with one hand, she raised her eyes to the figure in front of her, presumably the owner of the voice.

Violet eyes under a tousled mess of platinum hair, cut short at the chin. A lithe figure, very slightly shorter than Polaris, but much more muscular, under the black tights and spandex shirt. Strength seemed to emanate from all over this person; their eyes were slightly narrowed, raking over Polaris's own face, and she felt the urge to shrink back from this calculating glare. She stood tall, however. "What's your name?"

They offered no response, pushing past her to exit the room. "Come on."

Polaris sighed and followed. This person walked along the white hallways soundlessly, in stark contrast to the noise of Polaris's feet slapping on the tile floor. She registered that she was wearing no footwear and this would probably end badly...whatever they were doing.

"Hey," she said, "we're not doing more tests, are we?"

The figure in front of her shook their head.

"Okay, good," Polaris said, exhaling a sigh of relief. "Wait, is this gonna be more painful than tests?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"You'll see."

Polaris huffed and scurried forward to walk alongside this person. "You don't talk much, do you?"

"Never thought you'd notice."

Polaris furrowed her brows. "Did you just call me stupid? I'll have you know--"

"You're not stupid, just annoying!" the person spat, coming to a halt. Their voice rang out through the empty halls. They flipped their blonde hair out of their eyes and sighed. Quietly: "My name is Cade. Now shut. Up."

Cade resumed the walk as if nothing had happened, and Polaris decided not to push it. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Cade pushed open a heavy metal door and waved Polaris inside. The four walls of the room were each covered in a blue mat, and so was the floor. Polaris tripped on the edge of the mat as they entered.

Cade sighed. "I can't believe I was assigned to such an idiot."

"You just said I'm not stupid!"

"I retract my earlier statement."

Polaris groaned. "Can you at least tell me why I'm here?"

Cade cleared their throat. "Fine. They ran tests on you and somehow found you suitable for the Rebel Task Force. The Rebel Alliance is becoming a problem, and we are the assassins, the secret agents, that deal with them.