It is after lunch that Hailey pulls me aside from the rest. All of the other teens and adults make their way down the corridor, barely a few sparing me a glance. Audrey is one of them, concern floating in her gaze. Soon enough, she turns away and I watch her curls bounce against her shoulders as she becomes smaller and smaller.

"Leane wants to see you," Hailey smiles. Her eyes seem to hold an unspoken sense of distress. Nonetheless, she leads me in the opposite direction of the others and through a locked door.

As soon as I step in, I'm met with the sight of many tools and machines. Leane sits on a padded stool with a tablet held firmly in her grasp.

"Le, Summer's here."

Leane glances up from her tablet with a small smile. Excitement bubbles within me as I stand beside Hailey. Leane, the leader of this awesome place, wants to see me!

The blue-haired girl dismisses Hailey with simply her gaze. Soon, I'm left alone with Leane, who signals me closer with her hand.

"Summer," she grins, her pearly whites gleaming in the artificial lighting. "How are you?"

"I'm good? How are you?" I respond politely, fidgeting with my fingers as I begin to feel slightly nervous.

"I'm astounding!" She beams, radiating energy I had no idea she could possess. "Now, you're probably wondering why I've summoned you here."

I wordlessly nod.

"Well, my dear Summer, there is something special about you."

"Special?"

"Yes!"

I tilt my head to the side, eyebrows furrowed. What could be special about me besides the fact that I have amnesia?

"You see," she begins to explain, still seated on her rotating stool, "before your incident, you agreed to help me out with something."

I could trust her word for it, right? Something in me begins to doubt the words that come out of her mouth. I mean, it's hard to trust a world you don't remember. "I did?"

She nods a little too enthusiastically. "Yes! So, you have something that other people don't. It's this thing called a Chip that is in your right wrist."

In horror and curiosity, I stare at my wrist, holding it with my opposite hand. There is a slight scar outlining where it must have been inserted, but no physical pain or indication of its presence.

"Don't worry, it's the latest technology. It won't hurt you, it's going to help you. But it's our little secret until we've tested all the effects of it."

I frown. "Why? If it can help people, shouldn't everyone have one?"

She solemnly shakes her head. "I'm afraid not. First, we want to see just how well it works and what it can do for you. You're the first one with my Chip, Summer! You should be ecstatic!"

For some reason, I feel more terrified than ecstatic.

"So, I'm the only one that has one?"

"Yup! You agreed to it, back before everything happened and you lost your memory. But, if you're willing, I'd love to continue researching this Chip!"

Researching? I don't like the sound of that. Then again, what could it hurt? If I truly signed up for it, I can't back out of it now. "Of course!"

"But, please, don't tell a single soul. Not any one of your friends. Because, then, word would get around and people would get excited before we have enough Chips for everyone!"

I slowly nod, my brain attempting to absorb all the information it's being presented with all at once.

Leane's smile grows. Then, rises from her stood with her device in hand. "Okay! Let's get started, shall we?"

"Okay." My voice is barely more than a whisper. I can feel myself trembling, but I force my mind to think of the best rather than the worst.

"First of all, I want you to focus your mind on the Chip. You have never used it before, so you're going to need to make your brain used to controlling it. It's connected to nerves, so you need to spark that connection."

"How?"

Her patience seems to be growing thin, and I'm not sure this is the same woman who greeted me when I awoke from my coma. "Just think. You know how you tell your arm to move and it does?"

"Yes."

"It's the same concept. Just try to think of using your Chip."

I squeeze my eyes shut, not exactly sure how I'm going to make this work. Trying my hardest to concentrate, I focus on the Chip in my wrist. I want it to activate. I want control of whatever benefits it possesses.

"Come on, Summer!"

I begin to panic. Nothing in me wants to disappoint Leane. So, I force myself to focus more and more. I'm not sure what to expect. There has to be something, but I'm not feeling it.

"What am I supposed to feel? What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, I'm not really sure. Try to do something you couldn't do normally."

"You mean to tell me you have no idea how this Chip works?"

"It's a prototype. That's why I need you to help me. I need to know exactly what it's capable of."

Suddenly, agitation rises within me. I just woke up from a coma. I couldn't even remember my own name. Now, she expects me to figure out how to work some stupid chip in my wrist?

Suddenly, I feel something crackle in my wrist. Next thing I know, I open my eyes to find everything enhanced. The chemical smells are more abundant. The hums of machines I couldn't hear before are now audible. I'm suddenly aware of the contacts in my eyes.

However, something in me doesn't want Leane to know of everything I've just discovered. I feel power surging through me, and it feels so surreal, so unnatural.

I'm not sure why, but I find myself lying. "I-I can't. I can't activate it. There's nothing different."

"You flinched! You had to have felt something!"

"I felt a slight shock in my wrist, but nothing else is different."

"Well, try to make something different! Can you move things with your mind? Can you hear what you couldn't hear before? Can you generate electricity? I don't know, anything?"

I find myself squeezing my eyes shut once again, pretending to concentrate. The Chip seems to have resurfaced something, something I used to know. I don't remember everything, but I have a feeling of distrust. And I'm going to trust that feeling.

Something flashes across my eyes almost too quick for me to see. Leane was there. I think it was in a garden. I have no idea what happened, but I yearn to find out.

I open my eyes. "I can't. Sorry."

She grumbles under her breath. "Alright. Meet me here at the same time tomorrow. By then, try to have figured something out, alright?"

"Alright," I smile, turning on my heel and exiting the room. Everything seems so might brighter, so much louder even in the absence of other people.

Something about Chips seems all too familiar, all too terrifying. I want to know who I used to be. I long to figure out what exactly is going on, because things seem to have trouble adding up.

As I trudge down the hallway, trying to remember where I'm supposed to be, I search for cameras. None. So, I glance at my hand and stretch out my finger tips. All the emotions bubbling within me seem to reach a crescendo and I see electricity connect each of my finger tips.

I gasp, stumbling back. It didn't hurt, but it did tingle. However, that's definitely not what caught me off guard.

I force myself to continue walking. This is so crazy. From the coma and resulting amnesia to this weird thing implanted in my flesh. My head just can't wrap around everything. It's all happening too fast.

Finally, I find the room I should be in. People are fighting one another. A buff lady walks up to me and wordlessly leads me over to a rather scrawny girl.

"Being part of this place, you never know when it might come down to fighting for your life. So, get practicing."

"But, I don't know how-"

The lady scoffs and walks away. How rude. I'm not even strong or remotely trained. Then again, if I was truly a part of this place, I must have some muscle memory.

As the girl swings at me, I find myself batting her hands away. Then, something takes over me and I feel a surge of strength. In a mater of seconds, the girl is on the floor, hands held over her head.

Whatever this Chip is, it scares me.

----
Yay, an update! Thoughts? Is it moving too fast? Please share with your friends and comment and vote.

I might change the names of the two books because I feel they might not be attracting enough attention. And if so I'd need cover makers. And it might also be because SOMEONE had a dirty mind. >.<

QOTD: What do you think Leane's angle is?

-Sarah