The common room was as dull and sterile as always—gray walls, gray floors, gray everything. The furniture was sparse, like they were trying to create a space that encouraged us to interact but not get comfortable. A couple of chairs around a coffee table, a couch by the window, some worn-out board games stacked on a shelf no one ever touched.
I sat in my usual spot by the window, watching the pale light filter through the bars. There wasn't much of a view—just a dead lawn and a high concrete wall—but it gave me something to stare at while I tried to make sense of everything. Something was always swirling in my mind since I'd gotten here, but it was like trying to catch smoke. I couldn't figure it out. Maybe I didn't want to.
Aiden sat across from me, flipping through an old magazine like he actually cared about the articles. His jaw was tight, though, and I could tell he wasn't reading a word. The room was quiet, almost too quiet. Kai was lounging on the couch, eyes closed like he was trying to nap, while Nico paced back and forth near the door, his hands twitching at his sides.
Everyone had their own way of dealing with the place. After a while I caught onto their habits, the way they moved, spoke, or stayed silent. We were all here for a reason, even if no one talked about it.
"Do you ever wonder if we'll get out of here?" Aiden asked, breaking the silence. He didn't look up from the magazine, but his voice was heavy, like he wasn't asking a real question—more like he was voicing a thought that had been gnawing at him for a while.
I shrugged, not really sure how to answer. I didn't want to think about what came next, about whether this was a place you got better or just… stuck. "Do you?"
The words left my mouth without much thought, a reflex more than a real question. In truth, I never really wondered about it. Whether we got out or not—it didn't matter. The idea of leaving this place, of being out in the world again, felt like a distant concept, like it was happening to someone else.
What would I even do out there? The thought of returning to anything that resembled a "normal" life seemed absurd. It felt like a different planet, like I'd forgotten what people even did with their lives outside these walls. Everything outside felt meaningless. Here, at least, things were predictable. Empty, but predictable.
I wasn't sure I wanted to be better. Or maybe I just didn't believe I could be. This place was its own kind of comfort—cold, impersonal, but detached from the mess of everything else. What if this is all I was? Maybe it was better to be stuck in this gray, isolated building than anywhere else. Out there, I had to face things. Here, I could just exist without any expectation.
Maybe this was all I deserved.
Aiden looked at me, his brow furrowed like he could tell I wasn't really answering the question, but he didn't push it. He just nodded slightly and turned his attention back to the magazine, flipping a page like it mattered. But I could see the tension in his shoulders, the way his fingers gripped the edges a little too hard. Maybe he was asking because he didn't know if he could handle not getting out.
But me? I didn't care if the walls closed in on me forever. There was nothing left out there I wanted.
The silence hung between us for a moment before Nico's pacing picked up, the sound of his feet tapping against the tile starting to grate on my nerves.
"Can you stop that?" Kai's voice came from the couch, lazy but with a sharp edge to it. His eyes were still closed, but his tone said he was very much awake.
Nico froze mid-step and turned to Kai, his face tight with irritation. "What?"
"Pacing," Kai said, not bothering to open his eyes. "It's annoying."
"Then don't listen," Nico shot back, his voice rising slightly. He wasn't pacing anymore, but his hands were still twitching. I could see the tension building in his shoulders, the way his body seemed to vibrate with pent-up energy.
Kai opened one eye, glancing at Nico with a smirk. "How about you sit down and chill for once?"
Nico's expression darkened, and I knew where this was going. He had a short fuse—something I'd seen a few times since I got here. And Kai had a way of poking at people, knowing exactly how to get under their skin.
"I'm fine standing," Nico snapped, but his voice was tighter now. He crossed his arms, like he was physically holding himself back.
Kai sat up slowly, stretching his arms above his head like he had all the time in the world. "You sure about that? You look like you're about to explode."
That was all it took. Nico lunged forward, shoving Kai hard enough that he stumbled back against the couch. Kai's smirk vanished, replaced with a look of surprise, but he didn't stay down. He stood up quickly, pushing Nico right back, harder this time.
It escalated fast, faster than I expected. Nico swung at Kai, but Kai ducked and slammed his shoulder into Nico's chest, sending him stumbling backward into the coffee table. The loud crash echoed through the room as the table overturned, sending magazines and game pieces flying across the floor.
Before I could react, the door to the common room flew open.
Three guards stormed in, dressed in their usual black uniforms. They moved with practiced efficiency, grabbing Nico and Kai before either of them could throw another punch.
"Enough!" one of the guards barked, his voice sharp and commanding. He yanked Nico up by the collar and dragged him toward the door, while another guard grabbed Kai by the arm, pulling him back from the overturned coffee table.
Nico struggled against the grip of the guard, his face red with frustration and anger. "Let go of me!"
"Keep your mouth shut," the guard growled, tightening his hold as he hauled Nico toward the hallway. Kai didn't put up much of a fight, though his jaw was clenched as the guards pulled him away.
The room fell into a tense silence as the guards dragged them both out of sight, the sound of their footsteps echoing down the hall. I stood there, still, there was not much of a reaction on my part.
Aiden sighed, finally lowering the magazine. "Well, that was bound to happen."
I nodded but felt numb. The fight, the guards—it was just background noise. What lingered was the emptiness, the weight of being here. Everyone wanted a way out, but for me, the walls were easier to face than whatever waited beyond them.
But something was coming. I could feel it in the way the guards moved today, in the tension hanging in the air like a storm waiting to break. And when it did, none of us would be the same.
Unbeknownst to them far above the common room, behind a wall of screens displaying feeds from various rooms in the facility, Dr. Rhys sat in a dimly lit control room. The blue glow of monitors reflected off his sharp, angular face as he watched the latest fight between Nico and Kai play out on-screen. He leaned back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the armrest.
"Why do they want to start this crap now?" he muttered under his breath, annoyance lacing his words.
His assistant, a woman named Marla, stood nearby, typing notes into a tablet. She glanced at him briefly. "They've been agitated for days. It was only a matter of time before something boiled over."
Dr. Rhys sighed, rubbing his temples. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, why now? It's whatever. I guess they need a change anyway."
Marla raised an eyebrow. "A change? You mean it's time to transfer them?"
Dr. Rhys nodded. "Yeah, the higher-ups are getting restless. They want to see some 'real progress.' It's time to introduce them to the next phase of the Program. The competition."
Marla hesitated for a moment before tapping a few final notes into her tablet. "And you're sure they're ready for that?"
Rhys let out a low chuckle. "Oh, they'll adapt. Or they won't. Either way, we'll learn what we need to."
With that, he swiveled in his chair to face the wall of screens, where different rooms in the facility flickered, each one filled with people, all unaware that they were being watched.