Breathe in

Eyes in the Wall

Keith blinked blearily up at the ceiling. Where was he? It was soft. And, he realized with a start of relief glimmering under his skin, warm.

Was this a trick? Another test of Sanda? Or a way to get him to let his guard down? He turned his head to the side and saw a glowing computer screen, someone asleep in a chair in front of it, like they'd fallen asleep looking at the screen.

A scientist? Keith decided he didn't care. He was warm. He was tired. He wanted to go back to sleep.

And, he hoped, no one was going to stop him.

Xxx

Griffin stretched and yawned at his desk, blinking up at his computer screen. What time was it? He caught sight of the date and shrugged. Never mind. It was a Saturday.

He looked back at his guest, who was snoring peacefully. "Man, you're wiped. What happenedto you?" Keith predictably didn't answer.

An alarm went off, and Keith started awake, thrashing in Griffin's bed with a yelp, his legs tangled up in the blanket.

Griffin rolled his chair towards the bed. "Whoa! Whoa, calm down!"

All students on lockdownthe P.A. intoned, this is not a drill- stay in your rooms or move towards them. I repeat, this is not a drill.

Griffin shrugged. "I guess they figured out that you're gone." He glanced at Keith, who was watching him warily, his purple eyes narrowed. "Keith? Do you know who I am?"

Keith frowned, and Griffin could see the struggle to remember in his eyes. Then he scowled. "Jerk," he muttered hoarsely.

"Okay, that's fair. Do you know my name?"

A brief look of confusion. "Um... Griffin?"

"Yeah, okay, that's me- um... hold on." Griffin pulled up a picture of Shirogane on his computer.

Keith's expression lit up. "Shiro!"

"Yeah, okay..." Griffin clicked on their school photo and zoomed in on a face. It was Lance. "How about him?"

Keith's face settled back into a confused frown. "No..."

Griffin frowned. Okay, maybe he didn't know Lance very well. He was in cargo- well, he'd been bumped to fighter class, but maybe Keith had forgotten him. Or something. He pulled up Katie's profile picture. "How about her?"

"No..."

Griffin found a picture of Dr. Jenny. He should know this one. "Her?"

Keith's brow scrunched up, as if he could almost place her, but wasn't quite there. "No..." His gaze turned suspicious, watching Griffin like a hawk, like he was unsure if this was an important test, but he was also slightly glazed, like he wanted to go to sleep.

"Alright, alright." Griffin rolled back to his computer, giving Keith space. His fingers hovered over the keyboard.

What part of the brain controls facial recognition?

The computer pinged. The temporal lobe. "Hey, Keith," Griffin called over his shoulder, "Do you know what that thing on the back of your neck connected to?"

Keith didn't answer. He was asleep again. Griffin frowned. Was that... normal? Granted, maybe the alarm going off had woken him up sooner than he would've liked, but dropping off that fast...

The signal that ended lockdown pinged off, and Griffin left, locking his door. He needed breakfast.

He was pretty sure Keith needed it too.