Alex – Heart Of The Vanguard

I awoke some time later, a couple of hours maybe?, certainly still night time judging by the lights-out that was still in effect. I raised my head to check on Sam, still breathing, good...

Me: "Sam? Can you hear me? Sam?" I even gave him a shake, no response, he was still out of it. I was starting to think that it was odd that their drugs had little effect on me but could put anyone else out for hours. I managed to slide my arm out from under his head and get up to walk round in front of him,

Me: "Hey, Sam?"... still nothing, I sighed and looked back to the bedroom, laying on the floor probably wasn't the best for either of us. So I laid down next to him, more or less on my front, pulled his arm and his top half over my shoulder, stood up and half carried, half dragged him to the bedroom, much like he had done with me on the first day, though not as gracefully, I stumbled as I stepped down into the pit bed and I collapsed down with him in top of me,

Me: "Oof!..." escaped me as most of his weight landed on me... 'So this is what it would be like to have his weight on me if he was mounting me...' the feminine side of my mind got carried away thinking... "...Eww! No no no... stop it Alex! For fuck sake..." I said aloud as I scrambled out from under him and sat away from him. I looked at him lying in what looked like a rather uncomfortable position, I sighed again and moved back toward him and did my best to make him comfortable. Once I was satisfied that he would be, I got back up to go and shower, remembering that I still hadn't after being pulled out from the Scenario again earlier, so I went and did that, waited up a bit to dry off before going back and settling down next to Sam again, facing him this time and waited to doze off.

__________

I woke up early next morning, Sam apparently having come out of his drug induced sleep at some point during the night as he had wrapped both arms around me and pulled me in close so that I was nuzzled into his neck, it was nice, but again I also felt disgusted by it. I started to pull away when I felt something hot pressed against my belly, fear started hitting as I already had a feeling I knew what it was. I managed to pull myself free enough to see down between us... yep, humans weren't the only ones to suffer with morning wood it seems... I gasped and scurried away which stirred him. I watched wide eyed as he woke up, my eyes fixated on his retreating member, 9 or 10 inches of pink-ish red, veiney meat, throbbing with his pulse, gradually retreat back into his slit that I had seen before, but had no idea it was hiding that monster. He rolled onto his belly before it had completely gone and he finished waking up and looked at me.

Sam: "Morning..." He greeted with a yawn, I didn't reply, I was too scared by what I had just witnessed and felt, "...Are you ok? look like you've seen a ghost." He asked. My eyes were fixated on the spot I last saw... it... and I replied without making eye contact.

Me: "Fine. Just fine." I said abruptly, trying to hide any fear in my voice, he, and... 'that'... Had been that close to me, touching me! I finally managed to pull mygaze from his lower abdomen to make eye contact with him.

Sam: "Okay...? so why so wide eyed?" I shook my head trying to rid the image and realising I hadn't blinked.

Me: "Nothing... I'm fine." I said stepping out of bed to head for the shower room to use the facilities. I hurried to finish my business as I heard Sam come in as well to do his business, rushing out of the room before I saw that again. I sat by the window, watching the facility lights steadily come back on, Sam came and sat next to me.

Sam: "Something's bothering you."

I quickly tried to change the subject,

Me: "Sorry about yesterday."

Sam: "What do you mean?"

Me: "Getting us into that fight, if I had kept my trap shut then Bruticus wouldn't have bothered us or hurt you."

Sam: "Oh, well, there was no need for him to bother us really eh. He did have you pinned down by your neck though, so are you ok?" I nodded in reply,

Me: "Thanks though, for standing up for me."

Sam: "Someone's got to..." He said shrugging his shoulders "...what did you call him though?" he said smiling.

Me: "Ha, 'Bruticus'... well he was just a big brute that came rudely smashing his way through weren't he?" I chuckled, and Sam chuckled as well.

Sam: "Yeah I suppose... so, what were you gonna say yesterday before he came along?"

Me: "Oh yeah, we're not speaking English right now, I don't think so anyway, every time I go in to talk to them, Skiff and Paul that is, I hear a click noise in my head and they can understand me. I hear the click again on my way out and they can't anymore. It's like someone throwing a switch and turning my... Well, 'my English off' I suppose?"

Sam: "Oh right... but that's not what I was referring to, I meant the other things they spoke to you about? Whatever it was that couldn't be said in public?" My mind raced again, what Dr Skiff had said then what I had just experienced in the bed... suddenly I didn't want to tell him in case he got ideas, especially given what I just experienced... but was not telling him any better? In case something 'accidentally' happens later down the line.

Me: "I, I can't tell you now... later."

Sam: "Ohh... but now is as good a time as any, we're alone and I thought you said we need to be completely honest with each other?" I sighed at his last comment... damn my sense of nobility.

Me: "They said..." I struggle to find the best way to word this, "... Sam, we've only know each other a couple of days, but we get along well right?"

Sam: "Yeah..." he replied unsurely, "...I feel like there's a real bond formed between us quick, but where are you going with this?"

Me: "I'm getting to it... Sam, how do you see us? What do you see in me?" Sam looked taken aback and delayed answering,

Sam: "Well, I... well, I like to think we're really good friends, you seem nice enough and I care for you... and I think... I'm really starting to like you."

Me: "Nooo!" I said getting up quickly and walking down the room.

Sam: "What? What's wrong?" Sam said turning to follow me.

Me: "Sam you can't... stay there!..." I demanded, turning to look at him and realising he was coming towards me, "...Sam, you can't like me, this isn't me!..." I said gesturing down myself, then pointing to my head, "...I'm a guy in here, I can't... I can't accept how things are for me, this is not how my life is meant to be, I have a fiancée waiting for me at home, who I'm head over heels for and I miss dearly..." Sam's face dropped to the ground, 'Great... now I'm the bad guy' I thought "...Look, Sam I don't want to be rude and ungrateful, you're a nice guy, you really are, had circumstances been different then I might have even considered it..." 'Did I really just say that?...' "...but you haven't got your memories back yet, you might even have a gorgeous wife waiting for you at home or something..."

Sam: "I said yesterday, or when ever it was, I don't want my memories back, I don't want to be alone and afraid again, I want to make new memories, with you." he said looking back up to me. Again I sighed, I knew the feeling of being let down by the girls I liked, and I did feel torn for making him feel bad... but I just couldn't.

Me: "It's not that simple... Look I can't stay like this Sam... I'm sorry"

With almost perfect timing 'Wake Up' flashed across my eyes, followed by 'Proceed to tunnel' and I shook my head clear, looking back to the rather hurt looking Sam, who was slowly nodding,

Sam: "That's fine... I don't want my old life back... I'm happy as I am... so I guess you're on your own Alex" and he stepped up to the pipe and darted through.

Me: "Sam! Wait Sam please!..." and I watched him disappear through the pipe, "...fuck it." I said to myself.

I followed into the tunnel realising I still had the wing restraint from yesterday still, I had already gotten use to it to the point I had forgotten it was there. I walked through the tunnel system arriving in the dining hall and looked around for Sam. I spotted him, he was on the end of a table, he had chosen a place where there were no spare seats around him. I was abruptly pushed from my feet from behind, landing on my jaw and hand landing on top of my head holding me down. 'Bruticus's' head snaked in down next to mine, the gashes on his cheek and jaw line still very prominent and fresh indeed,

Bruticus: "Don't think I have I haven't forgotten about yesterday." He growled at me, pushing me away with some force after as he went to find a place to sit. I unwillingly got up to do the same. I found a place between 2 dragons I had never spoken to before... I didn't like 'making new 'friends' ' ... Apart from the scientists, Sam, and recently, Bruticus, I hadn't really spoken to anyone in here, I didn't really want to, I knew Sam had spoken with others but he was a bit better with his social skills than me, he liked to talk more. My buzzer beeped, recognising me as D24 and my breakfast appeared.

Me: "Hi" I said to the one on my left, the female turned to me, looked me up and down,

"Hi." The female replied back bluntly, then turned more the other way to give me the cold shoulder.

So I turned to the male on my right,

Me: "Hey." I said, not realising I had accidentally interrupted something amusing he and the female he was with were laughing about, he stopped his laugh short to address me.

Male: "he he, oh, erm, hey... Wait, aren't you the one who got tasered yesterday and dragged out of here?"

Me: "Erm... Yeah, that's me"

Female: "Oh cool, does it hurt to get shocked like that?" The female leaned over in front of the guy to ask.

Me: "Err, yeah, quite a bit... So wait, neither of you have been tasered yet?"

Male: "Nope, we just do what we we're told and everything goes smoothly. I'm D42 and this is D12."

'D12' as he had gestured to gave me a little overly enthusiastic wave before returning to her breakfast.

Me: "Oh, I'm Al..D24..." I forcefully smiled "...so, you guys remember anything before all this?"

D42: "Nope."

D12: "Nada."

D42: "Amnesia they say."

Me: "Aren't you at all curious about your pasts?"

D42: "Oh yeah, but they'll come back to us, well, I hope anyway, we both do"

Me: "Do you... What would you think if I said we had past lives, that we were kidnapped, brought here, to this prison and experimented on and they've wiped our memories?" They turned to look at each other before bursting out laughing.

D12: "Ha ha ha, you-?..., ha ha, you're one of those conspiracy theorists aren't you?" she said between laughs, I sort of half laughed along,

Me: "Ha yeah, yeah I am a bit." but my laugh quickly faded and I carried on eating my breakfast in silence.

Once we were all done we were ordered to fall into single file outside 2 tunnel entrances, I lined up behind D12 and D42, I couldn't see where Sam was though, I couldn't stop feeling guilty about what I said. I mean, I stand by what I said, but maybe I could have delivered it and let him down in a better way.

Bruticus: "Mmm... I'm soo going to mount that at some point." A deep familiar voice said from behind, I turned slowly to see Bruticus eyeing me up.

Me: "Urgh... get the hint, NO!" I shouted at him

Bruticus: "Oh that wasn't a request." he said in a menacing way, I actually felt a chill of fear pass down my body... 'If... IF... I really, REALLY, had to do it with anyone in here, he'd certainly be at the bottom of the list... and there my mind goes again... thinking about doing it as a woman... nope, not gonna happen'. Anyway, the line dropped as the dragons were directed by one guard in between the 2 tunnels, 

"...D12 left, D42 left, D24 Right, D50 Right...". Unfortunately, Bruticus, was directed down the tunnel on the right as well, so I just ignored him. We headed down the tunnel, yellow lit arrows and bars blocking junctions again were dictating our route, we rounded a couple of corners when my tail was grabbed and yanked hard, pulling me off my feet and landing on my belly and jaw with an "Oof" and I was dragged backwards. I turned to see Bruticus towering over me with malicious smile and chuckle as he started putting his weight on me.

Me: "NO!" I screamed, I kicked his ankle taking it out and he only just recovered himself from nearly falling off to one side and I gave an upper cut to his jaw, smacking his head on the roof of the tunnel,

Bruticus: "ARGH!..." he shouted in pain, then, using his falling momentum, I pushed him off to one side and dragged myself from beside him and away to face him. "...YOU BITCH!" he screamed at me scrambling to his feet, I tensed up my throat muscles as I had done before and spat some fire on the tunnel floor between us and he stumbled back wide eyed.

Bruticus: "How did you do that?!" He growled over the flames.

Me: "LEAVE ME, THE FUCK, ALONE!, Or I swear, you will regret it!" I sneered back and I turned and ran down the tunnel before the flames died out.

I ran through our designated route, catching up with the few others up front,

Me: "Move please!..." I jumped behind them, they looked back but steadily walked on "... please, let me through! Oh!!, fine then!" I barged down beside them much to their disgruntled remarks. I burst out of the tunnel and into a room where we were lining up but I ran toward the closest guard, who got worried that I was charging for him raised his weapon at me.

Guard: "STOP! OR I WILL FIRE!" He shouted at me and I skidded to a halt.

Me: "Please! You got to help me!" Taking slower steps.

Guard: "STAY BACK!"

'STOP' flashed up in my eyes, dazing me slightly.

Me: "I know you don't understand me but please, I need help!"

Guard: "LAST WARNING! STOP AND GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!" More guards approached weapons raised, I looked behind me to see Bruticus pushing his way out of the tunnel and eyeing me up. I got down on my belly and elbows and laced my fingers together, begging.

'STAND DOWN' flashed in my eyes...

Me: "Jesus... how much more have I got to beg... Please, help..." I still shuffled forwards, as I kept  checking over my shoulder, I needed to get away from him... one of the guards lowered his weapon flicked his taser baton out and marched toward me and jabbed me in the side. I screeched in pain, collapsing entirely to the floor, twitching and spasming yet again, curling up in a foetal position.

Guard 2: "What do we do with her?" I heard one of the guards ask.

Guard 1: "Leave her to one side, let her recover, if she becomes a pain again then sedate her ass." Another said.

They dragged my twitching body off to one end of the line, I watched Bruticus smirk at my misfortune and joined the line further down.

Drill Sergeant: "Good morning sweet hearts!" a guard started addressing us all, walking up the line as he spoke, almost like a Drill Sergeant, "...We're all here because you sorry lot apparently completed Scenario 3..." he laid eyes on me, shaking on the floor, "...Somehow..." he aimed directly at me and walked back up the line... yep, just like a drill Sergeant. "...So, next step for you lot is to learn some more about your bodies, defensive and offensive capabilities. Not something I can teach you myself as I lack the certain parts to be able to. Who I am about to introduce you to has been with us a long time, allow me to dumb this down for you simpletons... he is you teacher, he is not in charge of this operation, but he is in charge of you and he has the authority to dispose of you anyway he deems fit without consequence..." I pulled myself up slightly just as large gust of air and a thud landed unexpectedly right in front of me, causing me to gasp and wobble as I was trying to stand, this dragon adjusted his muscular mass, similar size to Bruticus actually, but  maybe larger still. He stood up on his hind legs, folded away his wings and looked down at me and pulled a face of disgust like I was a mouldy half eaten mouldy sandwhich.

Drill Sergeant: "Ladies and Ladies, allow me to introduce to you to Skylen." The drill Sergeant finished. This 'Skylen' walked down the line, eyeing up each and every one of us, but didn't even make it to the end of the line before turning back to look down upon the drill Sergeant.

Skylen: "A rather pathetic batch you bought for me today." Skylen said with a deep grumble in his voice to the man. The Sergeant's mean demeanour had suddenly changed into that of a scared child, being told he was a naughty boy.

Drill Sergeant: "There's still more to come, sir, these are the ones who just passed Scenario 3 yesterday."

Skylen: "I wasn't referring to the quantity, I was referring to the quality!" Skylen growled back.

Bruticus: "What makes you so special? You're just one of us aren't you?" The familiar deep cocky voice said further up the line. Skylen turned very slowly to face Bruticus with a slight growl then stepped towards him.

Skylen: "Stand up." he said to him, but Bruticus suddenly didn't look so cocky, "...I said STAND UP! ON YOUR BACK LEGS!" and Bruticus very unsteadily stood,

'Seriously? It's easy to walk upright, what's up?, forgot what it was like to be human?' I smiled to myself. Skylen's face was now an inch from Bruticus's. And like a blur Skylen swung a fist and in one swift motion smacked Bruticus in the jaw and put him on the floor. I sniggered unintentionally loudly and Skylen glanced at me, then back to Bruticus, picked his moaning body from the floor using one hand on his jaw, turned his head to eye up the scratch marks, then looked back at me, I snapped my attention away.

Skylen: "Did she do this to you?..." Skylen asked Bruticus, pointing down at me,

'Oh shit...'

Skylen: "Well, DID SHE?!" Skylen growled after not getting an answer.

Bruticus: "Yes." he replied in a pained mumble. Skylen growled and dragged Bruticus by the head out of the line, toward me and stopped in front of me.

Skylen: "Did you do this?" Skylen asked me, I didn't dare test his patience so I nodded enthusiastically straight away. He looked back at Bruticus then back at me.

Skylen: "Did he deserve it?...", again I nodded, he huffed a small snigger "...would you like to hurt him again?..." I looked to Skylen confused then to Bruticus and he and I made eye contact, his face strained from being unable to break free of Skylen's grip, I shook my head "...Speak Woman! You have a voice do you not?!"

Me: "I do..." I said shakily, "...but no, I don't want to hurt him again."

Skylen: "Why not?"

Me: "I... er... justice was served."

Skylen: " 'Justice was served' eh..." Skylen gave an amused yet respectful huff, "...What's your designation?"

Me: "D24" I said doing my best to just look at one spot straight ahead of me.

Skylen: "I like that you have the ability to control yourself,..." He turned to address all of us in the group, "...but you also have to know when to be able to do what is needed and that is asked of you, without question..." and he turned and threw Bruticus, with ease, a couple dozen feet away ahead of me, crashing to the floor in a roll and landing sprawled over the floor. "...STAY THERE! PREPARE TO DEFEND YOURSELF AND ONLY DEFEND!" Skylen barked at Bruticus, he turned back and stepped up beside me so we were both looking at Bruticus, "...Attack him." Skylen said quietly next to me, I turned to him,

Me: "What?" I said worried.

Skylen: "You heard me, I gave you an order... attack him, anyway you like..." He said while walking around behind me and Bruticus pulled himself off the floor slightly. "...Get going!" Skylen shoved me forward and walked with me.

I stopped in front of Bruticus and we just stared at each other, I wasn't sure I wanted to do this, even after what nearly happened in the tunnel, Skylen had already belittled him, no need to do anymore surely?...

Skylen: "HIT HIM!" Skylen growled. I drew my fist back and went to punch him in the mouth, but Bruticus easily blocked me.

Skylen: "NO NO!, properly, so that he doesn't even see you... COMING!..." and like a blur on that last word Skylen gave a left hook swiping downwards, knocking Bruticus to the ground again "...and doesn't even have time to block your attack!" Bruticus pulled himself back of the floor, wobbling as he did, blood drooling from his mouth.

Skylen: "Do it..." he whispered, his head near mine. I stood up on my hind legs so that I can get more power in my swing "...HA! she stands better than you do!" he aimed at Bruticus. I still didn't want to do this, he was injured, not allowed to fight back. Maybe yes, he deserved it, but this wasn't meS. kylen looked to me, impatient, I had no choice, I drew my fist back, and Bruticus started raising his hand to block already, so I swung my fist upwards instead brought and my elbow down on top of his head smashing him back to the floor.

Skylen: "HA HA! I'm starting to think you have potential, go back and join the line..." he said to me, I did as I was told, dropping to all fours again as I turned and feeling partially guilty on the walk back. Skylen turned back and kicked hard into Bruticus's ribs "...AND SAME FOR YOU! BACK IN LINE!" Bruticus groaned and dragged his sorry self back to the line.

Skylen: "So, with you all witnessing that little demonstration, you will do as you are told, no hesitation, no questions asked, if any of you wish to object do so now..." The line stayed dead silent, "...Good... before you is essentially a firing range starting but you won't be firing at targets with guns, no. Today you will learn how to use your bodies to their full potential, stealth techniques, claws, tails and tail blades..." 'Wait... "Tail Blades"?' I looked back slyly at my tail,  not knowing what he was referring to, "...and how to breath fire." Skylen finished and as he did a load of manikins appeared from the floor on supports, evenly spaced along the width of the room and Skylen walked towards one. Looking it up and down,

"There's many ways to kill a man... any of which will depend on the situation, for example, when stealth is essential for a mission the last thing you want to do is set him on fire, they tend to scream too loudly, you're best off using tail blades, he turned back to the group and brought his tail up in front of him. 4 boomerang shaped blades appeared like lightning out of the diamond section of his tail from a small slot either side of it, the outer pair merely spread outwards in an arc, the inner pair spread out and up, almost meeting at the top over the diamond shaped shell of his tail. He spun on the spot and stood back up, a couple of seconds later the manikins head toppled off and rolled off onto the floor, I refrained from letting my mouth drop in awe, I never saw him touch it!

Skylen: "Try extending your blades, I shouldn't need to tell you that they are sharp..." he ordered, stood in the middle of the range cross armed watching us all try, I looked at my tail and tried to think about blades coming out of it, then I thought back to how I was able to spit fire, needing a correct use of certain muscles... I tensed the muscles in my tail, then sort of forced them in a wave up my tail and I saw movement in the grooves and a smile started to creep over my face, I duplicated my muscle usage, focusing more toward the tip, sure enough the blades popped out then immediately returned. Skylen snapped his attention quick to me upon seeing this and kept watch. I tried again this time to hold them out in place, again they sprung out fully and sort of dithered half way, I focused my mind to it, to get them to stay out and they did after a few seconds.

Skylen: "Are you trying to be my star pupil?" I gasped and my blades popped away as Skylen silently stood in front of me.

Me: "Well... not intentionally..."

Skylen: "Why not?"

Me: "Well, I don't like to be the center of attention." I replied shyly, looking at my feet.

Skylen: "Bull shit..." I looked back up at him "...you remind me of someone I use to know... she was... a bit of a, celebrity, you could say, she claimed to be down the bottom with the rest of us and I tried to help her, but in actual fact behind our backs she adored the spot light, didn't listen to me and ended up getting her and myself in a lot of trouble."

Me: "What are you saying?" I asked sheepishly.

Skylen: "I'm saying, don't bull shit me, I've been around a long time, seen a lot, met a lot of people, I'm a fairly good judge of character and already I can tell you're going to go far, as long as you do as you are told and don't lie, is that clear?" I nodded again sheepishly. He stared at me for a long time before finally pulling his head in very close to mine, so close I could feel his breath hitting my snout, his eyes darting analytically between each of mine,

Skylen: "You know... don't you?" He asked in a deep hushed tone.

Me: "Know what?" I asked, rather scared now. He pulled back out of my face and walked off...

'shit... did he know I retained my memory? if so then how?!'

We spent the rest of the morning going through all our abilities, except for flying, Skylen explained this would come much later, as first we must learn to fight and defend on our own and in teams on the ground before aerial strategies could be learnt. We were shown how to breath fire, and properly, not like the odd spit I had been doing here and there. And finally through out the afternoon we practised the techniques that Skylen had shown us on the manikins, combining moves and employing strategies to take them down, it was quite fun actually, the manikins didn't scream, complain or bleed when you hit them.

After many hours of practice, Skylen announced that that was all for the day, good thing too, I was starting to feel worn out I had to admit. We all piled for the exits then Skylen spoke up,

Skylen: "D24, stay here."

 '...fuck...' I waited off to one side as the room gradually emptied, leaving nothing but the guards,

Skylen: "Guards, I want a moment with D24 alone, leave us". Skylen demanded, none argued and they all left the room as well via the double doors at either end of the room reserved obviously for the staff use. Once the last door had shut Skylen headed for a panel on a wall and pulled the casing off, behind it was a screen, and he touched some controls and a red message blinked on screen, not that I could read it because he was in the way. He replaced the panel before walking back over to me to speak again,

Skylen: "So what's your name?"

Me: "D24."

Skylen: "I said, what's you NAME?" he growled, I decided it was best to play it dumb still.

Me: "It's D24, that's all I was given"

Skylen: "I could quite easily find out on that console there, but I just used that to lock this room and freeze the cctv and audio in here so I'd rather you be honest and tell me what I want to know. We have about 5 to 10 minutes before they realise and reboot the system, longer you take, the more likely you are to be busted. You might have them fooled but I'm not stupid, so don't insult me. So, let's try again...what is your name?"

Me: "Alex... Alex Crawford" I stated fearfully.

Skylen: "Hmmm... so you're memory block hasn't worked then..." I looked down at the floor... this was it, either he was about to kill me or he was about to turn me in and I'd forget who I am, I'd forget I was a guy and end up shagging one of the males in here... and Kayley, dear sweet Kayley, she'd be gone from my mind forever.

Skylen: "Do you know why you are here?"

Me: "You're all training us up for something."

Skylen: "Indeed, I'm not going to give you any details yet but I will tell you this. Like it or not, you are stuck here, a mere pawn in this game, but I will give you 2 options. Option 1: You resist what I just told about being stuck here and I turn you in, they take another attempt at the memory block and you will forget who you are and will have no place here like the rest of these standard drones you're training along side. Orrr... Option 2: We can keep up this charade until the end of time, what you will gain out of it is preferential treatment after the training is complete, you get to retain your memory and I will make you my right hand woman... so to speak... So, choice is up to you."

'Let's face it, there's only one real option there isn't there...' I told myself.

Me: "I have a request" I asked sheepishly again.

Skylen: "Go on?..."

Me: "I have a fiancée at home... if I agree to option 2, can I have permission to go and see her occasionally, please?"

Skylen: " 'Her'? ohhh... you're a McGriffin syndrome sufferer... but sure, I'm not unreasonable, it will be up to you how you explain this to her though." He said gesturing to me. He did confuse me with the 'McGriffin Syndrome?' Thing, but I wasn't about to ask.

Skylen: "Do we have a deal then?" he asked extending an offering hand out. I looked down at it...

'What choice did I have?... better to be as much as myself as possible than a nobody...' I took his hand and shook it.

Skylen: "Good..." He said with a dirty smile and let go. "...This stay's between us, not a word to ANYONE, understood?..." I nodded "...best be on your way then..." as he walked to the panel again removing it, touching some buttons on the display and the tunnel in the wall opened again and he gestured me through it. "...Oh and D24..." I stopped at the tunnel entrance to look back at him "...You're on your own, at least until the end of the training, best behave because I'm not going to help you." he gave me a serious look, again I nodded and proceeded into the tunnel.

'What have I let myself in for...'

(-Deamau5)