Meanwhile somewhere...

Posted on Thu Nov 3rd, 2022 @ 10:42pm by Aurora Summers & Bobby Drake

1,098 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 2: Northern X-Posure
Location: Undetermined

The streets were quiet as Aurora walked along in the rain, though for Aurora nowhere was ever quiet. The voices in her head were always there. A constant noise that never went away, there were times she wished they would. Life on the streets was hard, she’d used her abilitíes to steal food, to pick pockets, right now she was heading back to the underground lair where other mutants lived.

She turned a corner suddenly come to face with two butch looking men, neither wanting to move out of her way. Moments later two more showed up behind her.

“What is this?” She smiled a wry smile. “Trust me you don’t want to mess with me..”

“We know” One of the men in front stepped forward, as her attention was drawn by him one of the two behind pulled a needle quickly jabbing it into the back of her neck.

“What the hell?!!” Aurora concentrated hard, her power downing the man who’d jabbed her as she reached into his mind. “I’ll...I’ll...” moments later she was out cold on the floor.

~ Sometime Later ~

Aurora awoke with a gasp, looking around from where she lay. She had shackles on, and for the only time in her life the voices in her head were silent.

Where she found herself was a fairy nondescript, windowless hospital room, or at least some kind of medical facility by the look of the institutional-style bed she was occupying and the drab privacy curtains that separated her area from the room's other occupant.

He was quiet for a moment after hearing her wake, but eventually his bare feet touched the floor with a quiet thud. He could be heard as he stepped closer. "You're awake?"

Aurora was silent for a moment trying to get her bearings, she suddenly missed not having the constant hum of voices in her head. She answered the question, “Who are you, and Where in the hell am I?”

"Wish I knew," the young man, somewhere between seventeen and twenty-two in age with short, light brown hair, answered candidly as he pulled back the privacy curtain. He was standing and not restrained, but he was wearing the same grey institutional clothing. "They brought you in two days ago, I think."

“Two days!” Aurora stood up her legs were a little shaky, and her stomach rumbled. “Are you...a mutant? You still didn’t tell me your name.”

He backed up a bit. Even though she was restrained, he didn't know her intentions or aptitude for violence yet. And indeed, if she was a mutant, if she was still powered. Even weak, she could be a threat. "I told you... I wish I knew. I can't remember anything from... before." He put his hands up. "Listen, try to keep calm. If you get worked up, they will just come in here and sedate you." He subtly jerked his head upwards to the left, indicating a surveillance camera with a red blinking light in the corner of the room. "What's your name?"

“Aurora...” She looked around. “I...I can’t...hear the voices anymore.” She looked at the shackles on her hands. “What have they done to me?” She looked at him with misty eyes. “Why am I here? Why are we here?”

The young man had few answers for Aurora and resigned himself to shaking his head pathetically in response. He went over and sat on the edge of his bed. After a moment he said quietly, "They come in a couple times a day, I think. Administer medications, leave food. The medication... it interferes..."

“They drug us!!” Aurora was starting to pace, her emotions were running on a high and for her that wasn’t a good thing. “What in the hell do they want with us!? I’m not some lab rat!!” Her skin was starting to perspire as her temperature rose. “I want the hell out of here!!” She paced towards the door. “Hey! Out there! Are you listening!? Let us out!!!” She stepped back before looking at her hands. “Oh no...” She looked towards the young man. “Get down!!”

Moments later the shackles on Aurora’s wrists started to melt, before her whole body suddenly erupted in flame.

The man's eyes went wide and he processed her command just in time to miss a fiery eruption. He dropped to the floor.

An alarm sounded somewhere outside the room right before the facility's advanced fire suppression system began a rapid injection of inert and anesthetic gasses to offset the ambient oxygen, extinguish the source of the fire, and neutralize the occupants.

Aurora’s flames started to fade, the fire suppression system and the anaesthetic gas doing its job. She slowly sank to the floor, before losing consciousness altogether.

~ Hours later ~

Opening her eyes again, Aurora felt woozy as a heavy dose of sedation flowed into her arm via drip. Her arms strapped down to stop her getting free. Shackles back in place holding her there. It took effort just to try to form a sentence let alone speak. “Are... you... there?”

"Not really," the young man replied weakly from his bed. He'd been sedated as well in the ensuing chaos. Though he had no memory of it, he was sure that was what had happened. And now he was also restrained. He pulled at the cuffs on his wrists and groaned. The privacy curtain was drawn between them, just out of reach of being pulled back from their positions in their respective beds. "I told you, you have to stay calm. They won't tolerate it."

“I...don’t have...much choice anymore.” She fought against the sedation that was threatening to put her right back to sleep. “I’m sorry!” She closed her eyes before forcing them open again. “Can’t... stay awake.”

"Rest if you need to," he assured her. He was content to remain quiet or carry on a low key conversation, whichever. He'd seen a few people come and go from the bed she occupied and he was still piecing together the whole thing. "So that's your thing, then? You're combustible? Must come in handy."

Aurora shook her head trying to keep herself awake. “I’m telepathic, and... telekinetic. The fire is newer.”

"A delight at parties, then," he replied lightly, wishing he could even remember who he was or what, if anything, he could do. "They don't like parties here, I think," he added.

Aurora stifled a yawn. It wasn’t long before she was asleep once again.

{OFF}

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