Sequence 1
Moise nervously scratches her claws beneath her seat as Amina leans forward, asking, "Well, aren't you going to say anything? Surely the daughter of a great king should be full of equally great stories".
Turning her face away Moise says sheepishly, "I lied so you would set me free".
Unconvinced, Amina leans back and shrugs, "Well you aren't a very good liar".
Moise growls slightly after being found out, but Amina presses on saying, "Please let me help you, I understand what you are going through...".
"How can you ever understand? I lost my family and had to run away from my home, how could someone like you ever know what that feels like!?".
Amina gently grips her and and replies "Trust me, I know. My home was destroyed by people I called brothers, I almost lost everything but those people gave me a reason to keep going, let us help you too".
Moise calms down, sighs deeply and says "Alright".
Giddy with excitement Amina shrieks "Great! So tell me, where do you come from? How do you produce electricity? Who is Maahes?".
Overwhelmed, Moise waves her hands in protest saying, "One at a time please".
Slightly embarrassed, Amina lowers her voice "Oh so sorry I get carried away sometimes. So let's start from the beginning, who is Maahes, the first Leonid?".
"Long ago there was a great famine in the land and Maahes, the favoured of Shekmet, went out hunting with two others. For three days they found no game, not even birds, just bones and dry grass until they came across an antelope grazing in the distance.
Quickly they surrounded and killed this antelope but before they could leave with their prize, they were beset upon by five lions.
The two other men fled but Maahes stood his ground and tried to fight them off, he would rather die and be consumed than cause the people in his homeland to go hungry.
For this bravery Shekmet spared his life and gave him the gift of spark, this gift was bestowed also upon his wife and their descendants".
"Your people, Maahes' children, where do they come from?".
Moise answers "I do not know, but surely it is different from this one,although my father once said in time we will return to our true homeland".
Moving on Amina asks "So let's talk about your family, who are you, who are you really?"
Moise answers "My name is Moise, the daughter of the great King Menes, the 121st ruler of Maahes' children, and Queen Menefer, the second highest priest in the kingdom".
Reaching into her pocket to pop a mint into her mouth, Amina asks, "So how did someone of your stature end up so far from home?".
Nervously holding her shoulder, Moise replies, "My father was poisoned, no doubt by a strange man who I tried to capture but they blamed me. My friend was stabbed in the process but no one cared. The elders, the guards, the people, all of them blamed ME!".
"So what did you do?".
Moise's answers, "I had to run of course, my friend helped me escape but my mother came to call me back. I suppose she could not bear to lose her only child.
The last thing I saw was her face before waking up here, in this strange world with strange faces and eyes devoid of light" as her eyes glow faintly blue for several moments.
Sequence 2
Satisfied with her answers, Amina stands, opens the door, and says "Come with me".
Moise, feeling a lot better after opening up to someone, does as instructed. As they walk through the facility Moise asks "Please, teach me about your world, it is so different from mine yet so familiar".
Amina opens a door to one of the labs and replies "We will, but you need to work with us. Don't worry we'll get there, just one step at a time".
She walks in, beckoning Moise to sit at a table and feel comfortable while she puts on protective gloves, masks and goggles.
She tells Moise to relax while she takes her blood pressure, temperature and breath rate which are all within normal human levels.
Amina hands her a small rod and tells her to bite down as hard as possible while she gets up to prepare the X-ray machine.
Once everything has been set up, Amina takes the rod and guides Moise to lie on the machine saying, "Now I want you to stay absolutely still, this might feel a bit strange".
She passes Moise through the machine and tells her "You did great, I just need to run two more tests and you can go rest".
Amina hands Moise a dynamometer and tells her to squeeze as hard as possible but she ends up crushing the machine on her first attempt.
Moise apologies but Amina smiles nervously saying, "Oh don't worry about" as she picks up the plastic pieces and throws them away.
On the way back, Amina directs Moise to a voltmeter and asks "The electricity you emit, how do you do it?".
Moise places her hand on her chest and responds, "Our spark comes from the heart, moves through the channels within us to where it needs to go".
Amina replies, "Perfect! Hold these two rods and direct that spark into this little box" as she runs outside the room to safety.
Moise shrugs, holds the rods and lets out a large jolt of electricity which causes the box to instantly explode, activating the fire suppression systems and covering her in white powder.
Amina gives Moise a handkerchief to wipe her face as she says "I think that's it for today".
Moise grabs the handkerchief and cleans her eyes replying "I better be compensated for my trouble".
Amina taps her head saying "How could I forget, follow me!".
She leads Moise to the common room but not before sending a text ordering everyone out then walks her to the fridge, saying warmly, "Help yourself".
Moise takes out two cans of cold beer from the fridge and offers Amina one which she respectfully declines.
Puzzled by the strange design of the can, Moise decides to rip the top open to drink it's contents, gagging at the first sip.
She puts the can down on a table and wipes her lips saying, "This tastes like sadness".
Amina gives her a bottle of water to wash away the disappointment as they head back to the cells in the lower levels.
Moise takes a mental note of the building layout thinking, "I have to get out of here somehow. It will not be easy, this place is a maze and it feels as though invisible eyes are watching me, but I need to try".
After another long walk they get to the cells but before Moise steps in Amina makes a request "Um can I have your clothes?".
Taken aback by this bizarre question, Moise replies "Are you some kind of pervert or something?" but Amina waves her hands defensively saying "No no no it's for research purposes! I already ordered some replacement clothes for you on the bed".
Moise sighs, "Your people have a strange obsession with what others wear" then walks in to shower and change while Amina goes to talk to someone in the adjacent room.
She comes out wearing a white shirt with grey joggers and hands her old clothes over to Amina.
Before she leaves, Amina tells Moise "Please try to learn our language, there are many but English is the most convenient. Just push that button on the drawer and ask".
Moise yawns and waves her away saying "Thank's I'll get to that" then goes to lie down on her bed to take a nap.
As the door closes Amina says "DIVA stand down from lockdown protocol... " and walks towards the exit but before she leaves she says, "... also let those boys out".
Sequence 3
Two hours later, Moise wakes up from her nap still with sleep in her eyes. She turns to see a cup of malt and a plate of biscuits have been left out for her to snack on.
Bored and with nothing to do, she pushes the red button and asks "English?" prompting a projection of the basic alphabets and their pronunciations for children to come up on the wall.
She listens attentively to the songs as she eats her biscuits one by one until the lesson ends.
Disappointed with the abrupt ending, she pushes the button again to start another, harder lesson.
After two hours of studying Amina interrupts her lesson, projecting herself onto the wall saying "I see you're having a good time".
Moise chuckles and responds, "Your children's learning guides are quite amusing".
Curious, Moise inquires about the kind of magic she is using to appear on the wall but Amina dismisses her "Well this isn't magic, I can see why you think it is but its not, anyway forget about that, I need you to show you something".
Moise sarcastically asks, "Why can't you show me now with your wall magic?" but Amina insists "It's really important that you be here".
Moise asks again "I hope you aren't going to stick strange objects inside me?".
Amina puts down the syringe she was preparing out of view, saying, "Of course not! Just follow the markers to where I am".
Moise begrudgingly gets up and follows the markers which lead to a large laboratory.
She walks past the automatic door to see Amina fiddling with her tablet with Prophet seated beside her.
Upon seeing her, Amina puts the tablet away and walks up to her asking "How does this feel?"
Moise raises no objections as Amina continues asking, "Do you remember yesterday when you were attacked by Mmmm... something, and you were transported out of there almost immediately? Can you cast that spell again?".
Moise replies, "I don't remember casting any spell, just waking up here" as she slowly walks around the room.
Prophet interjects, "What you did was a displacement spell, not easy for a novice to achieve" but Moise turns back and insists "I swear I didn't do it! I don't even remember anything before being trapped in this unending hole".
Prophet walks up Moise, pointing the glowing eye of his staff in her direction saying, "Ah you still have trouble controlling your newfound powers".
As Moise and Prophet talk, Amina cups her face against the workbench thinking, "That would explain why she missed her first shot".
Doctor Enotayo asks, "Any update?", to which Amina replies, "We're still trying to break her down, but for now she isn't much of a threat".
Amina stretches and tells Dr Enotayo, "You should check the X-ray data, you might find it useful" to which she replies "Why don't you summarise it for me?".
Amina replies with a sly grin, "Where's the fun in that, after all you're the MD, I'm the Ph.D".
Her train of thought is interrupted by Moise who slams her palms on the workbench shouting, "Train me!".
Surprised Amina almost falls off the bench and replies, "What!?".
Moise repeats, "Train me! You need a weapon for your war right, here I am!".
Amina adjusts her clothes, tucking a loose hair behind her scarf and replies with a false sense of confidence, "Alright, you start by the next day. In the meantime, brush up on your English and eat as much as you can, it will be a long day".
Moise bows, drops the bracelet on the workbench and leaves the room with a smile on her face.
Amina walks up to Prophet asking, "What did you say to her?".
He replies "What I showed to her will be revealed in time, for now it is a private conversation between future friends".
Surprised, Amina asks "Oh you're keeping secrets now?".
Prophet replies in turn, "Such an objection is a strange one coming from those who veil themselves in the cloak of secrecy. Render back your trusts to whom they are due".
Upon hearing this Amina simply sighs and goes back to working on a bracelet at the workbench.
The End?