Mutants: Normal

6-5: Rediscovery

My clothes! A mass of mess composed of clothing items both bundled and splayed was strewn across every inch of the room, from the top of the wardrobe to underneath the bunk beds. The wardrobe and beds were just as lacking in neatness, with half-open-half-closed doors and bedsheets and pillows nowhere near the beds themselves. And where's all that steam coming from? Hua was seeing the mess of her room from behind a mist. Steam pouring out of the adjacent bathroom into the bedroom, as someone continued to sing loudly in the shower. There were items shining on the floor. My lipstick—and I haven't had the chance to use it yet! And her eyelash curler, and— "Argh!" Kicking the rolling lipstick back into the steamy chamber, Hua slammed the bathroom door shut, gritting her teeth as she realized she could still hear the singing.

You're kidding me! Hua opened a window to let most of the steam out, feeling angry enough to choke a thick-headed girl with her bare hands. And where are my dresses? All of Hua's wardrobe was strewn somewhere in the room, as evidenced by the empty wardrobe, but she didn't see her dresses. And Hua had only dresses, both of which could be considered elegant night wear for special occasions. Dr. Wang had bought them for her around Christmas time and she hadn't yet had the chance to wear them.

It was then Teria stalked out of the washroom, her wet hair now a seductive red-brown, completely naked and holding out two pairs of Hua's pajamas. "What do you think would look better on me? The roses or the lilies?" she wondered out loud, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Hua was about to explode in rage.

"What the hell did you do?!" Hua screamed, snatching her clothes from the girl's hands. "What gives you the right to take my clothes and wear them?! Since when were you allowed to mess up my room?! Put some clothes on!" These outcries led to a variety of swearwords and insults.

"And get out of my room!" Hua finally screeched, jabbing her finger at the door. "I don't ever want to see you back here!" She was panting hard from her outburst.

However, Teria was unimpressed. "Look, I'm sorry, but you're stuck with me," she said, in a tone that didn't sound very sorry at all. "And I'm sleeping here no matter what. Good luck trying to wake me up from my beauty sleep." She rolled her eyes. "Oh, right. You might be wondering about your dresses. I've hidden them somewhere for fun. If you aren't up to search for them, just live with not having them, bitch."

Looking pleased with Hua's outrage, Teria collected one of the bedsheets and pillows strewn on the floor. With Hua watching, she plopped into bed and made herself comfortable, not bothering at all to dress. "G'night, idiot," she said, turning off the lights using a switch. Then she closed her eyes, leaving Hua standing there in a total rage.

... I need to be the professional and find some way to cope.

Even though she was thinking these thoughts, Hua threw up her hands in irritation, showing visibly in her eyes. She stomped into the washroom, making as much noise as possible on purpose. Very mature, she chastised herself, forcing herself to close the door normally so it wouldn't be ripped from its hinges.

To make an unimportant event short, Hua then attempted and failed to cool down with a cold shower and ended up sprawled on her bed with her lily pajamas after a long search for her dresses (which she found snagged in the dusty corner behind the wardrobe). After washing the two dresses by hand as meticulously as she could and hanging them up to dry, she tried again to alleviate her anger by punching a pillow, stopping herself in a matter of seconds because it looked as though the fabric would soon tear. And so, thoroughly emotionally exhausted from the day's events, Hua buried herself under a thick sheet—it was still too cold for a blanket—telling herself that everything would be better in the morning. She tried to blank out her mind and close her eyes.

Then she found out that her new roommate snored.

Loudly.

Hua groaned and turned over in bed. She clamped her pillow over her ears, but her sensitive hearing and partially-destroyed pillow wouldn't let her block out the sound. Frustrated, she climbed out of bed and stomped over to the other girl who was blissfully asleep. Hua had some ideas about slapping Teria or using a pillow to suffocate her or binding her to the bathtub facedown and filling it with water to... After a deep breath and much deliberation, Hua finally decided that Teria wasn't worth the effort it took to kill her.

So, Hua thought that she would sleep over at the guys. They were free from social awkwardness when it came to this kind of stuff, so any one of them would definitely let her share their bed. Though at the moment, as angry and sullen as she was, Hua wanted a bed to herself. For that, she knew she could ask her brother. And yes, she knew she was being selfish, and no, there was no way he would let her sleep squished to someone else if he could give her his bed. But do I really want to bother any of them...? Hua weighed her options for a while before deciding that she couldn't stand being in the same room as the Teria any longer. So, she exited and slammed the door shut behind her—again, loudly on purpose.

Yep. So completely and utterly mature.

And so they stare. Haven't they ever seen someone looking angry out of their mind in lily pajamas? Walking through the still-illuminated but near-empty hallways of the base, Hua finally placed her hand on the doorknob of Shuigu, Fang and Zero's room after a small trek. But she stopped short of opening it. Wait... Hua could sense that, somehow, for some reason, Shuigu wasn't in the room like he should be. She closed her eyes and she felt his aura, his essence, somewhere else in the building. For a second she thought she had finally gone mad, but deep down she knew that her intuition—let's call it that—was correct.

Or maybe I'm just crazy! She half-giggled at the thought, earning a few more stares.

But where is he? Hua turned her head so abruptly that her hair, unkempt, whipped across her face. Where else? Without another thought, Hua turned and pelted down the hall as quickly as she could, ignoring even more stares from staff as she zipped by. They didn't matter, as Shuigu had reminded her earlier. Besides, she knew which room her brother was in now. It was the one that they had discovered together on their first day here: a secret place that no one else seemed to know of. She remembered that he had laughed with her in that unused room, had been glad to discuss his worries, his joys, and his secrets. Where did all that sentiment go? It was something she wondered sadly.

At least the place where it happened still exists! Hua had finally reached her destination: a dead end in a hallway that appeared ancient in comparison with the rest of the building. A seemingly dead end, she reminded herself, grinning. Feeling around the stone wall, Hua found the small crack between two wall tiles. Before, she had only been able to reach between the two adjacent tiles because of Shuigu's liquefying fingers fitting inside. Where is it...? Hua gathered her strength and leapt up to towards the light hanging from the ceiling and her fingers brushed the edge just enough to snatch a small twig that was lain across the top. Pros to being a mutant: jumping higher than a normal human.

Hua inserted the small twig into the crack in the wall and watched in satisfaction as a doorway appeared in the center of the wall, the middle sliding open. There was no one nearby to spot her—and no security cameras focused on this small, isolated wing—but Hua was worried nevertheless at the rumbling noise of the hidden door. Though it's a lot quieter than I remember...

Heading inside, Hua found a set of dust-covered stairs with newly-made footprints on them. Waving away some of the dust still in the musky air, she descended, her heart thumping louder than the door rumbling closed behind her. It had been almost a year since she had come back to this place. The old-fashioned lights flickered above her head as she padded downstairs in reminiscence. It had also been more than a year that Shuigu hadn't touched or mentioned it.

So why now? Hua reached the bottom of the narrow and creaky stairway with a small sigh of relief as her feet met solid ground. In the dim light, she saw the rusted door handle in front of her and turned it, pushing inwards...