When Cami dropped the syringe, I didn't wait another minute to rush forward and hold her tight. She was stiff in my arms at first.

   Then my ears were hit with a racket of sobs as she took my breath away by clinging back onto me. I've never been that great at comforting others, which is why I'm still surprised at myself for running to Camila, so I could only hope the light strokes I laid on her hair were comforting and not in any way 'my precious' or hobbit-like. Her cries merged with a magnitude of 'I'm sorrys' I was sure weren't just for me.

   Camila eventually grew silent, but neither of us moved until she drew back with wide eyes to utter the one word I would've never seen coming.

"Dorian."

   I followed her gape to see Dorian still in his initial position. Something had changed though. The concentration he had had was broken due to the sporadic twitches by his face.

   I glanced at Rav, who was looking at the Neuroskel like he was going to yank it off Dorian's head without warning.

"Rav. Rav!" I had to snap my fingers to attract his attention. "Don't worry, it means it's working. He's fine. It'll be over soon."

   It'd better be.

   Why was I even trying to convince him? God knows I didn't even believe what I was saying. Rav didn't seem like he did either, but him not moving was good enough at least. Once his eyes returned to Dorian, mine did same, trying to ignore the anxiety nibbling away at my gut.

   Rather than disappear, that emotion only skyrocketed when Dorian's face twitches morphed into full-on body spasms. Rav didn't acknowledge anyone like before. He marched toward Dorian with an obvious goal. One I wouldn't have stopped him from achieving if Camila hadn't drawn my attention to something very important.

"Rav, wait." I caught his hands right before he made contact with the Neuroskel.

"He's supposed to feel numbness, not pain! Beth, I don't want Dorian getting hurt," He tried to wiggle from my hold.

"Neither do I, but look!" I jerked him to what I'd just seen.

   His mouth dropped open not a second later to release a loud gasp, a reaction that only made sense since what we were witnessing seemed so surreal.

   But it was really happening. Every now and then, one person out of the mind-controlled lot before us would end their trance state by collapsing to the floor.

   Just like Dorian passed out every time his brain successfully fought the multiple mind-control devices placed in him.

   When I saw it occur the first time, I assumed the Zavolonian passed out from exhaustion. But Dorian's sudden state and it happening to that person and others could not be a coincidence.

   His theory was not just that anymore. It was really working!

"He's doing it," Rav whispered beside me after I was done explaining to a bewildered Camila what Dorian's theory and what was being achieved presently. "He's really doing it!"

"And he wouldn't want us to stop him now, would he?" I asked.

"No..." he sighed. "He won't."

   I snuck one last glance at the crowd, in time to see another student go unconscious, then another, before moving back to Dorian. To my surprise and relief, he wasn't shaking or even twitching anymore. He had his meditation-calm face back on.

   Never thought the sound of bodies hitting floors would make me this happy.

   Feeling a sudden weight over my shoulders, I looked to my side to see Rav's arm over me as he smiled down at Dorian too.

"I know I already said I was proud of him when he chose to do this," Rav remarked, "but in this moment, God, I've never been prouder."

   My hand travelled to his arm, squeezing it as I replied, "Me too."

   The moment of calm that passed was short-lived.

   I felt my blood run cold when Dorian's eyes suddenly burst open. The blue that existed as minor specks in his irises had overthrown the original grey colour. As beautiful as his eyes were though, I realised they had the same type of unawareness as the Zavolonians still standing.

   When I bent over and waved my hands in front of Dorian's face, he didn't even blink, showing how absent his mind was despite his open eyes.

"Most likely a part of the process," Camila said. I'd explained to her what Dorian was doing when everything was peaceful.

   I wanted to believe that. But I couldn't help wondering, after quite some time went by, why students weren't dropping to the floor like flies anymore.

   The answer I didn't know I'd dread was all over Dorian's face. Literally. Gold-coloured liquid akin to blood seeped from the corner of his eyes, nose and mouth, staining his face and travelling all the way down to his neck and armour.

   Rav and I didn't say a word to each other, but we somehow rushed to Dorian with precise uniformity.

   Rav made the first move, placing his hands on either side of the Neuroskel and pulled it toward him. And pulled. And pulled again... and again.

   He let me take over. My attempts yielded the same failed results.

   When our combined strengths did absolutely nothing, I concluded that the Neuroskel had somehow been drilled into Dorian's head when we weren't looking. It wouldn't budge an inch.

"Let me try one more time," Rav told me.

   I nodded, knowing that he was still going to act even if I disagreed. It didn't help that the liquids oozing from him seemed to be doing so in larger drips. I held my breath as Rav gripped and yanked at the Neuroskel, with so much force that Dorian's frame, though still stuck in its crossed-leg position, shook all over.

   It would've been a comical sight if I didn't see the new expression that had overtaken Dorian's face.

   It caused me to push Rav away from him harder than I'd intended.

"Beth, what the hell?" Rav glared at me after collecting himself.

"I'm sorry. It's just... you were hurting him. It's written all over his face."

"Oh," His voice softened as he looked down at Dorian. "I didn't realise that. But Beth... if we don't get it off him, he'll be even more hurt, or worse."

   I hated how my stomach flipped at that uncomfortable truth.

"We'll figure something out," I said.

"Um... guys?" I turned to the sound of Camila's voice just in time to see a Zavolonian fall to the floor.

   The first since this whole thing with Dorian began.

   As if Camila read my mind she said, "That's not the first one. But the rate at which Zavolonians have been going down so far has really dropped in comparison to how it was before. Dorian's mind is still working but at a much slower rate. It's clear from what we're seeing that the whole process is starting to take quite a toll on his brain."

   Right on cue, Cami's observation was confirmed by the pained–nearly animalistic–groans coming from Dorian's closed mouth, growing louder each time. And just when I thought his body was all out of that golden liquid secretion, his eyes, nose and mouth, it commenced once again in much more alarming quantities.

"If we don't do something now," she continued. "he's going to die before he can save everyone."

"Die?!" I choked out, suddenly needing a paper bag to hyperventilate into.

   Or throwing up in.

"How about not speaking until you actually have something helpful to say or do?!" Rav snapped at her.

   She, like me, flinched at this unRav-like level of hostility. I suddenly realised he hadn't acknowledged Camila since she'd taken down Speck until now.

"I think I can help actually," she replied in a whisper so low it was barely audible.

   Camila inched toward us with her eyes on Dorian, who was now silent, but still had excruciating agony etched all over his face. Before she could get any closer, however, Rav stepped forward towering over her with a menacing glare that made even me, a non-recipient, shiver to the bone.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Rav seethed.

   Camila's bottom lip trembled several times before she tried to respond, "I-I t-thought I could–"

"You could what? Cause more trouble? Like you've been doing from the beginning?"

"Rav, not now." I sighed.

   He ignored me, continuing to glare at her as he retorted, "All this would've worked out better if you weren't a two-faced bitch from the beginning! Acting sorry now is going to change that! Especially since the only reason you're doing this is because of some epiphany that Daddy didn't love you like you thought."

"Rav!" Remind me not to make him mad, geez. "Can we at least hear what she has to say?"

"I don't give a damn what she has to say, Beth. Camila is going nowhere near my brother!"

   As she gave a resigned sigh, my gaze moved to Dorian. Seeing him still in pain sparked a feeling I wasn't expecting, but which spread within me nonetheless, making more sense as it did. Soon, I couldn't stop myself from acting on my fully matured anger.

   Placing my hand over his shoulder and yanking him to his knees, I ignored the subsequent screech Rav released and whisked his head toward Dorian's direction.

"What do you see?!" I barked.

   The blood-like material on Dorian's head that had dried was being fuelled by newer, thicker streaks. From a distance, the sound of a student passing out reached my ears. That was the third student since Camila's observation of the first two, an indication of how much slower Dorian's efforts had become.

"I'll tell you what I see," I said, when Rav didn't answer me. "I see a boy who's seriously hurting and could suffer worse if we do nothing. I get that Cami betrayed us but she's trying to make amends in the best way possible. Why don't you put your anger aside so that the boy we love can be saved?"

   Seconds of more silence and Rav's bland expression went by before he gave a sharp sigh, stood on his feet and turned to Cami. "How can you help?"

"Well," she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her purple eyes fluttering as she said, "I'm immune –"

"Yeah, you've made that clear already–ow!" Rav bore holes into my neck as he nursed the ribs I elbowed.

"Let her speak." I shot back.

   Shooting me a grateful look, Camila proceeded, "I've been meaning to tell you both this since Beth let me know how Dorian was helping everyone. The mind-control devices have no effect on me, just like Dorian. It wasn't at the Virtual Dance that I first found that out. Speck–he had experimented on me several times prior to that. Unlike Dorian, it's not really my brain that rejected it, but my immune system. It treated the effects of every placement device in me like a disease and fought back accordingly.

"That only sounds beneficial to you though." Rav shrugged. "How is that going to help Dorian? Or anyone else for that matter?"

   This time, I imitated his shrug when Camila looked over to me for help. "That's a valid question."

"By getting into skin on skin contact with the Dorian, I can project some parts of my immune system into Dorian like those blood transfusions that normally happen in hospitals so that he can fight back against the side effects of the Neuroskel on his brain. I can't fight it off on everyone else's behalf since skin-on-skin contact with everyone is impossible and my system can only fight against so much, but I can help Dorian and by extension, everyone."

"And you've tried this so-called 'Projection' –let's assume that's a thing– before?" Rav raised a skeptical eyebrow. "And you can confidently say that it worked those times you did try?"

   I wasn't sure of the stiff nod Rav and I received from her.

   After seconds of giving Camila a long, hard stare, Rav turned to me.

"Beth, I know like me, you believe she's lying. If she could save everyone, then why did Mr Sacury only mention Dorian in the clues? Let's just keep trying to figure out a way to get the Neuroskel off Dorian without hurting him."

   I looked over at Dorian's deteriorating state, then at Rav, then finally at Camila.

   My eyes raked her shabby clothing, dishevelled hair and wide, bloodshot stare.

"We're going to need more than a nod for an answer Camila," I said.

   She proceeded to give what looked like a nod, but caught herself and instead replied, "The Institution. When I–when I was in the Institution, my ability, upon discovery, was used to make the other kids experimented upon either immune to the effects or heal. And... "

   I couldn't help but notice the short glance she gave to a direction that was awfully close to Speck's still unconscious frame before she continued, now in a much softer tone, "When Speck was able to develop the Neuroskel to affect adults, including him, based on everything I'd told him about the Institution, he used me in multiple experiments to confirm whether I could project my immunity to his system."

   Of course he did. Just when I thought that man could not repulse me more than he already did.

"The only person I can make truly and consistently immune is me. I can't destroy the Neuroskel or a mind-control device in anyone's head, not even mine. I can only fight against the effects and even with that there has to be skin on skin contact, which is impossible with various people. And even if I'm able to do so, my system is only strong enough to project one at a time. And even after that, all that is needed is for the not-destroyed device to be reactivated for all my efforts to go down the drain. I'll have to project again, at which point my system will be too weak to do anything. And–"

"Cami!" I had to interrupt before her rambling turned into a panic attack.

"What I'm just trying to say is, I can help Dorian feel much less pain than he is now. He won't have to feel as much of the effects of what he's doing," She breathed. "So, please let me. This is literally the least I can do. Please."

   I turned to Rav.

   My heart soared when this time, he didn't hesitate. "Okay."

   Still maintaining an icy stare however, he said, "If in five minutes, nothing changes..."

   Somehow, the threat, left unfinished and hanging in the air, was much scarier than whatever he was actually going to say.

   I couldn't help tensing up when Camila sat across Dorian on the floor. Her hands made their way to his. She took in a long breath before shutting her eyes. It didn't take long for creases to appear on her forehead. Dorian, however, remained the same.

   Until he wasn't.

   I watched with my mouth agape as Dorian's hands, once loose in her hold, caged Camila's hands in a grip that would have had anyone else screaming in pain.

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