Spark's POV:

I was shaking badly, and the scientist holding me could tell. She was glaring at the place where she was holding my arm as she dragged me into the laboratory, clearly feeling me trembling beneath her tight grip. Terror gripped me to the point where I couldn't think straight, and I numbly made my way through seemingly endless hallways. 

Now, let me get something straight. I wasn't entirely upset about whatever would happen to me. To be honest, my death was probably long overdue. I was an old man, who had lived a long life, and I would be satisfied if I was to pass now. But right now, there was an innocent boy being beaten to death outside the laboratory, and I couldn't do a thing about it. Unlike me, he hadn't lived his full life, and he deserved to live on. 

Plus, what I was most terrified about, was what would be done after I was operated on. Galena wasn't just going to casually brainwash me and toss me out like they did to everyone else. I had no powers that they could drain, so they couldn't take that from me. 

So why did they want me, and not Cypress?

That was what I was scared about. 

What did I have that they wanted?

"What are you doing?" one of the guards gasped as I was pulled past him. "What's going on?"

The scientist stopped, and looked back and forth cautiously before explaining. "Apparently, he and this guy named Cypress helped Safire steal the memories. Cypress has been sentenced to death, but this man," she said, smiling at me, "is from Ruxomar."

"You aren't going to..." the guard's voice trailed off, his eyes widening. "You're actually going through with the plan?"

"We need the information," she answered with a shrug. "This is the best way we can get it, is it not?"

"I guess," the guard answered nervously. "What are you going to do once you've taken his memories? Brainwash him and dump him on the streets?"

The scientist let out a long sigh. "That would be the nicer thing to do, but it might be better for us if we just kill him."

"Alright." The guard followed us through the hallways, checking to make sure that nobody else was around. "Just make it quick. Nobody can find out."

The scientist brought me into a small room and started to close the door behind her. "Don't worry. Nobody will."

Cypress's POV:

I watched, dizzily, as drops of blood fell from my face and formed small pools beneath me. Every part of me was screaming with pain, but nothing more than the thought of Spark entering that laboratory. I had grown up in Galena. I knew what they were capable of, and I knew what they were truly like. Monstrous beings, willing to do anything, no matter what it involved. 

"Just sit up, alright?" the guard told me, letting out a sigh. "This bullet's going to go clean through the back of your head, and you won't have any pain. Got it?"

My hands, the only things holding me upright, were shaking at the thought of my life ending right here, right now. As I shook for a minute, I realized that I wasn't going to go down without a fight. I wouldn't let him stand there, smiling, and take my life for no reason. It wasn't going to happen. I had earned a reputation in Galena for being brave, and standing up for myself and others. I was going to keep that reputation, even if nobody could see me now. 

"I have done nothing wrong," I snarled as my blood began to touch the edges of my hands. "I haven't helped Safire, and, to be honest, I really don't think you think I did."

"You're saying that... you think I'm lying?" the guard gasped, using the same fake voice that all un-brainwashed people used. "I'm not lying. Galena is a place where people..."

An idea began to form in my head. It was an idea that wouldn't work, most likely, but it was my only option. If it didn't save my life, then, at least, it would let this idiot know that he couldn't get away with everything. "You just lied to Spark," I reminded him. "You're operating on him now. You told him you wouldn't."

"Well, that's harmless," the guard said, trying to cover it up. I didn't know why he bothered to argue with me, but all leaders were like this. Desperately trying to save their egos, and make themselves seem perfect and incapable of doing any wrong, no matter who they were talking to. "You were operated on. Hasn't it made you a happier person?"

"No," I replied, letting my head sink closer and closer to the ground. "It's made my life miserable, and it'll be much worse for Spark. I know it will."

"Miserable?" the guard let out a short, humorless laugh. "I'm done with this. I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm done listening to you. Get up."

I didn't respond, and I didn't get up. 

"I said, get up!" the guard yelled, putting his gun to the side and using both hands to lift me up. I went limp under his grasp, making him think that I was dying. That I was helpless. 

Except that I wasn't. 

I lifted one of my blood-soaked hands and struck him across the face with as much force as I could muster, making a scarlet smear across his cheek. "Don't you dare touch me," I snarled. 

"Sit DOWN!" the guard screamed as I began to punch him, fumbling for the gun at his side. "Do you not trust Galena?"

"No," I replied, finally getting hold of the gun. I tried to kick the guard over, but he was too heavy, merely stumbling back a few feet. "I don't trust anyone in this disgusting place."

"Disgusting?" the guard tried to grab the gun back, but I pointed it at his face. "Listen. Just give me the gun, and... and I won't kill you. I'll let you go. Deal?"

Blood dripped down the side of my face. "That's a pretty petty deal. Predictable, though, coming from a Galena leader."

"What are you... how do you..." the guard stuttered, beginning to panic. 

"I'm not brainwashed," I answered. "Believe it or not."

"You're not..." His eyes flew wide, and attempted to start up a conversation to avoid getting shot. "You're not brainwashed? Really? You were so convincing. I guessed that maybe your sister wasn't, since she was so grumpy, but you..."

"Oh, she isn't brainwashed either." I held the gun upright with my trembling hands, and pointed it directly at the guard's forehead. "There's a bit of a fault in your system, you see."

He opened his mouth to reply, but I never got to hear what he had to say. I pulled the trigger, and the gun roared. 

The noise echoed throughout the area, and I didn't doubt that it could be heard all over the city. Gripping the weapon tightly, I took off in a sprint. 

If I had looked back, I would have seen the guard's pool of blood connecting with my own.