Cyndi:
Cyndi sat there in thought. She stayed there and wondered. What can I possibly do?
She got up and started to look around. Think. Think. Think. She banged the walls of her cage and grinded her fingernails into the glass fish tank. Not even a scratch. Why do I even bother? I'm so useless. I just wish I could disappear. Cyndi sat back down and zoned out for a bit. No Cyndi you can't just give up. You just have to meditate on it. Everyone needs you. You know how to get that collar off. You have only one chance and you know it. You feel it. It's there but you have to be totally in control of it the first time you do it. If you lose your grip even once then they have you. You already know what you are. Become Nothing and control it.
Cyndi sat down on the floor and hit her head and zeroed in on everything around her. She looked everywhere and at everything. She decided to sit down, breathe and think. How am I supposed to become nothing and control it? Becoming nothing means that I would feel nothing. So how can nothing have thought? I need to connect to everything….nothing would mean I would cease to exist so that means I don't actually become nothing but more that I do my best to feel nothing. It was always easier to cope with... But...wait, is that how our powers manifest? Cyndi started to pace the room. What if we are evolutionarily a different species and our coping mechanisms are like some kind of genetic mutation? The girls mentioned something like trauma at lunch. They said that people that went through trauma finished the tests quicker....is our genetic coding really designed to evolve that quickly? No..it can't be. It must be a part of something. Is it like our form of puberty? They mentioned it often takes weeks maybe even months and I finished it in 5 days. Yeah not as good as Tanesha or Riley but it sounds better than the other 2. So then that means I become what I think of when I think of the closest thing to nothing? Maybe air? Hmmm no that's not right...air is still made up of atoms which makes up everything in the known universe….wait...do I become atoms?
Cyndi felt a chill run down her spine. But how do I become atoms and still manage to have tangible thought. Could I theoretically zero in on specific atoms once I'm there? But how do I get pulled down from it? Maybe I could talk with Riley? Ew no that wasn't fun. I have enough voices in my own head already. Honestly you really should just suck it up. Don't be useless. You know talking about it with Riley would be good. Yeah but what if I try to reach out to her and idk she is eating breakfast or something and she gets caught and we all die. Well she did just try to talk to you like an hour ago. Just try and send those vibes to her and hope she hears….Errr….Riley?
Riley? Riley! Ey Riley!!!! RIIIIIIIILLLLEY…...?!
WTF? Thought riley.
Holy shit it worked.
What worked? Though Tanesha, Adah, June, Lisa and Riley.
Okay this is really weird.
Cyndi? Thought Riley
YES! She practically screamed at them.
Woah thats loud. Girl lower your….errr...thinking voice. Thought June.
I REALLY DON'T THINK THAT IS HOW IT WORKS. I'VE BEEN TRY TO GET A HOLD OF RILEY AND IT REQUIRED SCREAMING IN MY HEAD. Thought Cyndi
Yeah And I heard you cuz I've been practicing for a full hour now. Thought Riley
Yeah we know. Thought June.
Whatever, I can hear you, you are now connected. Thought Riley.
Uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhggggg….I just wanna eat my food without some weird memory conversation. Yes I can still eat but it is weird. Do you know how hard it is to eat and have a damn conversation going on in your head? Lemme eat damn it. Thought Lisa
Yeah can't you guys wait till i don't know after dinner is over? Thought Tanesha
Okay I have an idea. How about you listen and don't think and just eat and let me and Riley talk er uh think together because I think I may or may not know a way to get the collars off. Thought Cyndi.
Wait wut….ok not hungry anymore say what….? Asked Lisa.
I mean Riley. Hang up the phone and tell them later. Let's….errr think? Thought cyndi
Sounds cool to me. Thought riley and suddenly she could tell only Riley and her were there.
Okay whatsup. Thought riley
So I think I know how to get the collar off. I've been doing a lot of thinking and I think I can become atoms. Said Cyndi
Okay? What does that do for getting the collars off? Asked Riley
Well I don't think I can become every atom at once. Like the atoms that make up me can reduce down and disperse so like maybe I can zero in on my focus? Like maybe I can become a part of your atoms? So hear me out. I think if you are connected to me telepathically when I become like this, I can become merged with you and maybe everyone else's so then you maybe will also become atoms in vitro? I don't really know how it works but I think this is my ability. It's like I knew what it was before even trying it? It would be me doing the controlling the atoms part, but you need to be able to tether me into reality once it is safe to do so. You will be partially connected to my brain so you can maybe reel me in once you guys find a safe place to go. I don't know how long I can stay that way but pulling myself out is what I'm worried about. If I have to become atoms, I won't be able to think so my time like that is unpredictable. Someone needs to think for me so I can uh do literally nothing. I know I have this power but I need you to be with me right now while I try to not focus and I need you to take us as far away in thought from this place as you can.
Err. wait… I heard blah blah blah we need to be telepathically connected so you can do some weird sciencey stuff blah blah collars will get off...blah blah project us somewhere. So, before you try this, we need to connect to the girls now, they likely are in their rooms and they need to be prepared cuz I want to connect to all of them when that happens….we might only have one chance. When you become...nothing? you don't know how long it will last or if they will kill you when you wake up from it. This could make you dangerous to them. I'm glad you spoke with me before trying it. Everytime you try to do this we need to be connected.
Riley said.
She was right of course. I can't do it unless Riley answers my screams. Thought Cyndi.
Please don't do that again. I still have to do class and function as a normal person right now. I know you want to talk to me but I will find you when I have free time. Don't try to do the atoms thingy you can do unless we are here and ready please. Thought Riley.
Go ahead. But wait I have a question. How long have I been gone? Asked Cyndi.
Almost a full day now...why?
Well I hope I can do it as soon as possible. What area do you plan to take us? Asked Cyndi
How should I know what will happen once we are there? Said Riley
Atoms thing? Though June, Lisa, Adah and Tanesha.
Oookay so you guys came in when I let you in but Cyndi can get the collars off. Problem is I don't know how to get out. Just know we need to be like this to get the collars off and we can't stop until we are out. Also, we don't know how far out we will be once the collars are off because we don't know where we are. Thought riley
Well you did say we were likely in one of the more desert-like states away from water…..We just need to find one of the closest bodies of water.
What if I used my powers to make us invisible so once the collars are off and we are connected, we all can not be seen? It is just we will need to figure out a safe place to transport ourselves so we can maybe gather materials like a map? I imagine we will only have one chance to do this and let's be honest here, once we do it, we don't know how long it will last and we can only project so far without a map. And maybe if we can somehow hack into the database and get our coordinates we can project ourselves farther away? Asked adah
Too risky. We need to be as far away as possible. What if I tried to find the closest big body of water using my ability and project us there using my powers?
Or hear me out. What if we became invisible first. Got a map. Learned the coordinates and you projected us to the nearest and safest body of water? Thought adah.
Because we don't know how long Cyndi can hold it or how long it takes to get there and we only have one chance.
Thought Tanesha.
Hmmm maybe Tanesha and I can do something to hold them off. I can make the other prisoners hallucinate and freak out and Tanesha can cause some explosions to distract people in case Cyndi loses focus. Thought June.
Sounds like a plan to me. I'm going to try it now. Thought cyndi
Wait are you sure we want to do it now when everyone is asleep? Wouldn't it be better to try it at breakfast or something when I can try to cause a hallucinogenic distraction? Asked June
She has a point you know. The bigger the distraction, the better. Responded Riley.
Yeah but I don't know how long it will take. For all I know, it won't even happen until breakfast? It might even take days. Thought cyndi
Well that sucks. I don't know if I can handle being in eachothers' minds for days. Thought Adah
Ditto thought Lisa.
Well you guys can't be too chatty. It's distracting. Maybe when you guys are focusing on your powers it will feel more empty in here? Said Cyndi
Okay so lemme get this straight. Riley needs to be connected to us while Lisa tries to find the nearest biggest body of water, June needs to make all the other prisoners hallucinate..cuz she can't do it to the doctors cuz of some weird techy stuff, Tanesha needs to cause an explosion, and I need to make us invisible? All at the same time when our powers all work at different speeds? Great. Let's just do that. Super Easy. Responded Adah
Look I never said it would be easy. Said cyndi
If we make one wrong move, we are all dead. Said Tanesha
Let's do it but at breakfast. I suggest we stay connected and awake so Cyndi can concentrate. The longer she tries the better. If she does it early then fine we will just try to do it then and hope it works. We can ask if she can do it at breakfast if she hasn't already. Riley how long can we stay connected I'm worried about falling asleep. Said June
Guess we will find out. I don't know if you falling asleep will ruin the connection. I am crazy hungry though so there is no way I'm sleeping tonight. Said Riley