A/N: Hey all! Thanks for all the wonderful covers you guys submitted! I had a hard time choosing just one to win :) And woah... guys... this story has just surpassed 400 views! And I've only published five chapters (including this one)! Crazy... but thank you! I am eternally grateful!

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01 - 20 - 2089

Freezing. That's the one word that runs through my mind as I sit, huddled up in the corner of solitary. I hug my knees to my chest, shaking. The temperature can't be more than forty degrees down here. And it doesn't help that there are no lights in this room either.

Well, I say room, but it's more of a box. Barely high enough for me to stand up in and only a couple square feet of space. I can't even stretch out my legs. And after three days, they are tingling, burning to be stretched.

I just have to hold on until they come back. I'm sure it will be any time now. By the extreme hunger pains I feel, I know they won't leave me alone much longer. Not because they care about me, but because they can't afford to risk my death. I'm their experiment, their first.

I mange to drift in and out of sleep, sometimes just hovering in a state of deliriousness. During those times, pictures of people I know float through my mind. Doctor Acosta, Barr, and even the new orderly, Cade. He's a strange boy, for sure. Unlike any of the other orderlies, though I hadn't noticed that at first. He's younger than most of them, perhaps just a little older than I am.

The way his black hair was tousled across his head in an uncaring way stood out to me. Everyone else here is so stiff and white-like. But he's got color. Especially in his eyes. They're like two deep, pools of blue, mesmerizing and hypnotizing.

"Gis? What in the high heights are you talking about?" I mutter out loud. My scratchy voice echoes around the metal walls, magnifying, and I flinch. "Great. Now you're talking to yourself."

I shake my head, gripping my hair between my fingers, trying to maintain sanity. Sanity. A funny word, and I'm not sure I'm ever really known what it means. How could I? I don't even know what reality is, since I'm stuck living in a lab.

I'm a rat. A lab rat, to be more specific. I'm poked, prodded, manipulated, and what is it all for? I asked Doctor Acosta that one time and she told me I was the world's miracle, whatever that means. She said that I was a breakthrough. That I was the first.

Screeech.

Metal on metal. I perk up, knowing that sound means someone is letting me out. My head lags back with nausea, but I steady it with my hands, anxious to be back in my room. To eat. To drink. To warm up.

When light finally breaks into solitary, a dark haired figure blocks the door. Cade. His eyebrows are scrunched in a V and deep, dark spots rest beneath his eyes.

"Can I leave now?" I scratch out, my voice sounding a lot more like gravel than I expected.

Cade flinches, something flashing in his eyes for a split second before it's gone, replaced by the calm exterior. "Yes." He beckons me out, taking a step back while I lock my legs and try to stand.

"It's gonna be a minute," I say, my voice obsolete and empty. Needles prick my legs as I slap them, trying to get the feeling to subside. Cade looks on awkwardly while I struggle to walk.

I manage to take a step out of solitary before dizziness floods my vision and I go down.

But warm, strong hands catch me before I hit the ground, sending relief flooding through my cold bones.

Cade lifts me up into his arms, and I can feel the muscles in his arms. My fingers prickle to touch them until I chide myself. Gis, quit it.

When heat rushes up my neck in a most uncomfortable fashion, I push away from Cade. "I can walk," I protest, my voice spiteful. I don't want anyone to think I'm weak. I'm strong; I can walk on my own.

Cade raises his hands in surrender, looking stunned. "Sorry, I just thought--" He rubs the back of his neck before shaking his head. "Let's go." Then he heads away from small door to solitary and up the hallway to the world of the living. I follow after him, going much slower and leaning against the hallway for support. But I refuse to ask him for help. I make my legs cooperate no matter how much they hurt.

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I shift around the small tub, watching as water laps over the sides and onto the cement floor. The water soothes my bones and warms me up. It was the first thing I did upon arriving back at my room.

The tub is filled to the brim and I lounge in it, feeling relaxed. This tub was a gift from Doctor Acosta when I was just a little girl. She said it was for behaving. And personally, I like taking bathes more than showers. They give me more time to myself.

A knock on my restroom door sends me sprawling. I grab the grey towel from the floor and step out of the tub, wrapping it around myself. "Yes?" I call out, not bothering to hide the spite in my voice. I've been punished for three days in solitary; can't they leave me alone for just an hour?

Apparently not, I think begrudgingly. I guess they think of solitary as my 'time off' or something like that. I wouldn't put it past them at all.

"Gis? It's Barr. Doctor Acosta is ready for you. And I brought some food."

Food. My stomach growls at the thought. "Okay, I'll be right out!" I call back, quickly pulling on my white cotton pants and t-shirt before draining the tub and heading out for the food.

Barr sets down a meal tray with my usual gruel as I come out. I ignore him and sit down, facing the food. Without hesitation, I begin shoveling it in my mouth, barely pausing to chew.

Barr stands back, shifting restlessly. Probably because he knows I'm not too happy with him. He turned me in and just had to follow regulation. And he knows he could've just let it slide. So why didn't he?

"I know you're not happy with me," Barr says.

I make a grunt of agreement, scooping in another bite of food.

"But you know I didn't have a choice. You shouldn't have acted out," he continues, trying to make peace with me. I've been angry at him before, and it usually goes something like this. I ignore him until he apologizes and then, if I feel like it, I stop ignoring him. Right now I don't feel like talking to him at all.

"Fine. You can ignore me. But just know that I..." he pauses, lowering his voice, "I didn't want to do it."

I take note of his words, but continue eating nonetheless. Then, once I'm done, he escorts me to the regular testing room.

Doctor Acosta greets us as usual, and I take my spot on the table. The only thing different I notice right away is that the room is almost vacant. Only Doctor Acosta and Barr are in the room.

"So, what's for today? More secrecy? Maybe another eyeball burning drug?"

Doctor Acosta looks up from her A-book, her usually solemn face showing a hint of surprise. I raise my eyebrows expectantly.

"Gis, we didn't mean for that to happen," she says plainly. "Indeed, that's why you were rushed to our emergency room. You were close to a critical condition."

"Well..." I hesitate, trying to formulate a single thought. The pain wasn't intentional? "What did you mean to do then?"

Doctor Acosta studies my eyes, like she always does. Then she focuses her gaze back on her A-book. "I can't tell you, you know that." She says it with so little care that it gnaws on my mind. It's my life, my body. Why can't she tell me?

"Why?" One single word, although I know it won't do any good. I instantly wish I can take it back.

Doctor Acosta taps the screen and it fades to black. Her eyes narrow. "I thought you had learned to behave," she says as an offhand comment. "I've told you why. It can distort the findings of the tests. We can't risk it."

I should leave it at that. I should just nod and be quiet. I should let her do her tests and obey. But a nagging pull in my gut makes me want to demand more. It makes me want to argue with her and demand answers.

"Lie down."

Two words, and my fight deflates. I'm weak. And controllable. And it disgusts me. I'm worthless, I think as I lay back on the table, arms down at my sides.

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