I stared blankly at the desk I was leaning on. A timer went off, letting me know I had a half hour left. Not that I needed it, let alone wanted it. Around me, most of the kids were still staring intently at the lengthy test, scribbling down answers or tapping their pencils almost frantically, deep in thought.

I was the only one done. I sighed and closed my eyes and considered going back through the test to change the answers, I knew I'd have enough time. I couldn't, though, and I knew that.

Just this morning my Aunt Valarie had told me not to worry if I didn't get in, that it didn't matter, but I knew they both secretly wanted me to get in, so I had an excuse not to stay here and take over the family business.

The program was called INTEL, short for International Network To Extract the Largely intelligent. For the past hundred years, every child twelve and older has been required to take the test. They have different ones for each age group, they're very difficult, very harsh.

If you score high enough, your entered into some database or another- they don't particularly like giving information about this project- and your examined intellectually until you're officially old enough to leave for the base.

Sixteen, that's the age. The base? A large, circular-shaped community, orbiting the Earth, capable of housing one hundred thousand people. Currently, however, they say it only contains about five thousand.

It doesn't sound particularly appealing, being shipped off into space at age sixteen, definitely not to me, so they have lots, and lots of benefits.

You can return to Earth at any time if you want to quit, you get paid a boat ton, you get free, highly advanced medical and dental care, a free place to stay, and, of course, a readily available job. They also say it's just like life on earth; you can get married, have kids, etc.

For the last three years, I've been purposely messing up the test. I don't want to go, thank you very much. I'm very happy here on Earth, where I can watch the sun come up and go back down all I want, where I have all my friends and my remaining family.

I like the little things. Like chocolate, and beaches.

They don't have chocolate there. And they don't have beaches. Sure, they've got a pool, but I somehow know it won't be the same as the beach, where you can bury your toes in the heavenly warm sand.

"Micah Viano." A voice calls, interrupting my perfect beach daydream.

I frowned and stood up, handing the crooked from age teacher my test so she could stack it neatly on the top before flipping it over.

She dismissed us, reminding us that by tomorrow, we will have our results. Within the week, she says, we'll receive our letter if we have, indeed, been accepted.

On the way home I hoped silently that I was full of myself, that I wasn't nearly as smart as I thought I was. My brain didn't help, casually offering what it thought, what it's almost certain, I'll get.

98.5. The number rang bitterly around my head, and I angrily kicked the rock in front of my feet. I bit my tongue and scrunched up my nose at the pain. Okay, maybe that wasn't smart.

If I get in, there's no way I can just say no. It's supposed to be this huge honor, and my aunt and uncle aren't exactly rich. Quite the contrary, really. They're under threat of losing their house. Since my uncle lost his job a few months back, they've been extremely on edge. Of course, they wouldn't tell me, but I saw the letter, and I'm good at reading people.

This job will allow them to live into their ripe old age comfortably, with plenty enough for me to spend on what I need at the base. So, I decide, if I get in, I have to say yes.

It won't be so bad really, there'll be other people, and even kids my age.

Wow, I sounded like a parent trying to reassure a child a family reunion is going to be great fun. Pathetic.

2: Chapter 2

We got our test results the next day, as promised. INTEL is punctual like that. I got a 98.5. I mentally kicked myself in the face. I always had to be right, didn't I?

No one ever saw the tests after they were taken; every kid in the country, maybe even the world, took them at the same time. They were different each year.

You aren't really supposed to share your score, but come on, did they really expect high school students to be able to keep their mouths shut? The room, of course, was filled with flutters of various conversations.

The test is by far nowhere near easy. Your average, straight A student will score about a fifty. This particular classroom was for advanced math students. The gray-haired woman who administered the test yesterday was the teacher. She insisted everyone call her Mrs. P. I don't think anyone knew her real last name.

A teacher with an INTEL qualified student is looked very highly upon. We've ever only had two in the entire fifty years at this school, not including myself.

I suppose it made sense for the old woman to be beaming when she gave out the slips that held our scores. I bet she would've made a graph of our scores just to show off one of her students was INTEL-qualified if it wasn't illegal. Mrs. P also had a thing for graphs. They were literally everywhere in her room.

One of my friends up to me.

"Hey, Mai." I said, particularly glumly. That's what she insisted everyone call her. It kind of annoyed me really- I don't like one syllable names. I'm weird like that.

Her real name was Maine. She absolutely despised, with a burning passion. I think maybe it was because she shared said name with a state, but she never really elaborated.

"Morning to you to, Mic." I frowned and glanced up at her from the algebra problems on the board. I hate one syllable names, especially when it's my own, and pronounced like 'meek'. She refused to call me anything else regardless.

"Mic sounds so stupid." My other friend- I had a grand total of two- added when she joined us. Zora smiled at main and flipped long blonde hair off her shoulders.

I recalled how she hated have her hair on her shoulders. I told her once maybe she should get it cut so it couldn't touch her shoulders, and she looked at me like I was insane. Maybe I was. I'm not girly, really, but Zora's hair was a thing of worship.

"It sounds cute, Zor." I involuntarily shuddered, and shook my head, and Mai cackled. A real, honest to God witch-style cackle. It was hilarious.

Mai was ridiculously tiny, she weighed eighty pounds at the most and clocked in at about 4'5. She had her dark brown hair chopped short, with a vivid blue streak running through it. I loved her hair, too. She had a delicate face, and innocent dark brown eyes that nearly matched her hair color. Her puppy dog eyes were irresistable.

Zora groaned and covered her face with her hands.

"Don't ever call me that again." She grumbled, narrowing her eyes. Mai stuck her tongue out at her.

Zora was the exact opposite of Mai, she was tall and slender, approaching 5'10, with long, dirty blonde hair and brown eyes several shades lighter than Maine's. The girl had a temper hotter than hell fire. You never want to be on her hit-list. She really has one, too. I've seen it.

"Ok, now that were done being childish," Mai began, Zora very nearly returned with a 'you started it' "What'd you get?"

"53.2" Zora smirked. She went up 2.9 points from last year.

"53.3" Mai followed, looking particularly smug.

"No way!" She shrieked, snatching the paper out of her hands and nearly sending the tiny girl to the floor.

I stood on my tiptoes, trying to look over her shoulder. It read 53.3.

"Seriously?" She groaned again before dismally handing the piece of paper back to Mai.

The two had a running competition going since seventh grade to see who could score highest. So far Mai was winning.

They both turned on me at the same time.

"So what did you get anyways, Micah?" They didn't look particularly interested and I didn't really blame them. I tried to keep my score no higher or lower than 51. I'd miscalculated once; I got a 50.8 that year.

"98.5" I murmured, hoping perhaps they wouldn't hear me and just forget about it. They didn't, of course.

"You're pulling our legs." Zora said, rolling her eyes and putting one hand firmly on her hip.

'I wish I was', I thought glumly to myself, and then, 'I hate that expression'.

"See for yourself." I passed them the half-sheet of paper, knowing now that they were interested, there was no getting away.

"No. Freaking. Way!" Zora half-shouted. I refrained from covering my ears.

"Let me see, let me see!" Mai half chanted, half whined. I sunk down in my chair at the attention they were drawing.

"You're actually going, Micah? How did you pull this off?"

"I know the world is unfair, but why is it never unfair in my favor? Bill Watterson." I quoted, but the two took no notice. Quoting people was something I just did, especially when I'm nervous.

"I can't believe you're actually going to The Base," Mai said when she'd finally wrenched the paper from Zora "You are so lucky!"

"Yeah…" Not many people shared my view of not particularly wanting anything to do with INTEL.

"You've gotta let us help you pack!" Zora chimed.

"Oh, and we'll throw you a going away party!" Mai added.

When I stayed silent, Zora slowly narrowed her eyes at me. I squirmed uncomfortably. I was in the danger zone.

"You are going to go, aren't you?"

"Of course." I mentally gave myself props for not squeaking. Don't judge; she could be extremely intimidating.

"Aw, don't sound so glum! This is amazing!" Mai said

"I know." Zora frowned at me

"You can video call us every day." She smiled a tiny smile.

"And…" Mai stretched out the word dramatically "We'll send you tons of chocolate!" She nearly squealed and started bouncing in her excitement.

I couldn't help it- I smiled. My friends knew how to draw out my happiness, I suppose.

"I'm sure there are lots of hot, smart guys up there, just your type." Mai added with a wink. Zora and I both groaned. She'd been forever trying to set me up.

The bell rang than and we started gathering up our stuff for the next class.

"Saying goodbye doesn't mean anything. It's the time we spent together that matters; not how we left it. Trey Parker." It was Mi and Bailey's turn to groan.

"'I'll see you at lunch' isn't that hard to say, is it, Micah?" Mai whined

"Mmm," Bailey tucked her books under one arm and put the other thoughtfully to her chin as we began to flood the hallway "For her, it probably is." I shook my head at them, but we all went our separate ways with smiles on our faces.

A/N:

Mai is pronounced like: May, as in the month

Zora: Zore- Uh

Micah: Meek-Uh

3: Chapter 3

A/N: In this chapter I reference a com watch and a 'com' in place of a call. Com is short for communication, and this is basically how people communicate; the com watch is basically a mini super computer- it holds all your important information, medical stuff, identification, etc.

I frowned at the mass of clothes and other miscellaneous objects on my head for a moment before sighing and flopping into my swivel chair. Packing could wait. I watched my reflection lazily in the mirror as I swung myself back and forth.

My hair was in it's never-changing side braid, though not as neat as usual. Flecks of dark brown hair floated about it. My eyes were gray. Aunt Valarie liked to tell me they were blue, but they were definitely gray. I didn't really care, I liked my eyes the way they were.

I was very much a cross between Mai and Zora when it came to stature. I was pretty average, topping out around 5'6, with an oval face, thin lips, and a straight nose.

My temperament was pretty back and forth, I'm not a very outspoken person unless I want to be and it takes a lot to get me riled up. At least, I think so. I'm the quietest out of my friends, if you don't count my random quoting, which was mostly due to my photographic memory.

Sometimes it felt like if I just didn't get information out, my head would explode. I never forgot anything, even things I didn't want to remember, despite how much I might have tried.

I sighed again and stood up, having grown quickly bored of swiveling, and left my room, making sure to close the door tight, in search of adventure. Sort of. More like food.

My aunt and uncle always kept the cupboards stocked, so it wasn't hard to find some chips. Nowadays they had some sort of machine that got your food for you and organized it and what not, but they'd always hated technology. More than once they'd gone into rants about how lost society would be if all the tech cut out. Not that they're wrong.

It was then I realized I was missing something. It started out as a small niggling when I took a chip out of the bowl, and grew increasingly uncomfortable. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what I was missing.

I went through the obvious. Yes, my hair was still up, of course I'm wearing clothes, duh, yes the door is locked, my aunt's at work, remember now, uncle's at a job interview… So what was it? Did I forget the dog outside?

I whistled sharply and our German Shepard mutt Mitts came bounding in. She was brown with lighter colored feet, hence the name. We'd gotten her when I was three. They let me name her.

As I pet Mitts I still couldn't figure out was awry. Dog fed and watered, yes. All windows shut, yes. Air conditioning on? Yup. Faucets left on? Nada.

I frowned and stood up to look in the mirror. Mitts whined and followed me, not at all happy at being abandoned. I scratched her head absently as I stepped into the bathroom and examined my face.

Nothing on it. No food in my teeth.

My eyes fell on the empty spot just below my collar bone. I frowned and pursed my lips tightly. Of course.

I stormed almost angrily down the hall to my room; snatching it up and fastening it around my neck.

It was a wooden symbol- A cross within a circle- attached to a leather cord.

I don't know where it turned up or why. It was just sort of… there. I don't really remember, and neither does my aunt or uncle.

I'd tried to get rid of it many times. It unnerved me, that I couldn't remember where it came from, especially when I remembered everything. Honestly, I don't like things that are out of my control.

Every time I took it off, though, I got that same feeling. That something was missing. And it never stopped until I put the thing back on. If I thought the necklace was unnerving, the feeling of going without it was a thousand times worse.

By the time I'd entered the livingroom again, the doorknob was turning and my Uncle Jack was stepping through the door.

"Afternoon, Micah." He smiled wearily at me and rubbed his eyes, throwing a manila folder on the stand next to the armchair.

"What'd I tell you about this?" he said with a frown and gesturing at my empty bowl.

"Sorry, got distracted," I replied, scooping up the bowl and swiftly taking care of it. I grabbed my favorite book from it's eternal resting place on the kitchen counter and returned to the living room, sitting down on the floor next to Mitts.

"So how'd it go?" I asked, and opened the book up to the first page but glanced at Uncle Jack instead, whose eyes scanned what was most likely today's top news stories on his com watch. He grunted before answering.

"Not sure yet. I'll know in a few days or so." I nodded respectfully and turned to my book. I started to re-read it once more.

I would've pushed for more information, really, but Uncle Jack was in one of his moods where he didn't feel like talking much. He'd had a lot more of these since he'd lost his job. Besides, it didn't take a genius to guess he didn't think it went spectacularly well when he acted like this.

But then again, he was never really the optimist type. That was Aunt Valarie's job.

The book was a favorite of mine; a fantasy novel, nearly a century old. I loved it. I was definitely a fantasy person, though really, I'd read anything, from com casts to biographies. I didn't like not having anything to do or doing something un-occupying, so reading anything was usually my go-to.

"Did you finish packing?" I glanced up at his voice, startled.

"No." I mumbled. I could never lie to my aunt and uncle.

"You should go do that, then. Instead of re-reading that book for the millionth time." I refrained from rolling my eyes.

"I haven't read it a million times. And I'm leaving on Sunday. It's only Tuesday."

"You're a horrible procrastinator."

"I know." We were both smiling.

On Saturday, Maine and Zora showed up to take me to our favorite restaurant, Pang's Roadhouse. They served everything from hamburgers to pasta to tacos. Maine knew the owners, so we always got a discount. It was pretty sweet.

We all ordered the same thing; a double bacon cheeseburger and seasoned fries. This place had amazing burgers, though I've never really been a meat person.

Maine flirted shamelessly with the waiter, sipping her strawberry milkshake and batting her eyelashes. He was practically tripping over himself.

"You're a disgrace to us." Zora joked rolling her eyes.

"Disgracefully adorable at least, Zor." Zora glared at her.

"They're not gonna let us see you off at the hangar." She commented afterwards

"Why not?" I asked, genuinely curious. Maine shrugged and wiped milkshake off her face.

"So did you actually pack anything? Or were you planning on packing on the jet?" Zora nudged me. I scowled.

"I'm not that bad."

"Yes you are." They said simultaneously. Maybe I did tend to occasionally get distracted from things. "Are you excited?" Mai continued.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I replied sagely.

Honestly, I was pretty terrified. As much as you heard about The Base, we really knew so little. I didn't want to leave my perfectly normal life for the adventure of a lifetime. I'm not brave, not by a long shot. I have not and never will like the unknown. Human nature, right?

"What do your aunt and uncle think?" Zora asked.

"Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it. Benjamin Franklin." Usually, when I'm distracted by my thoughts and not the conversation, my quotes come out. Like now, how I'm too busy being scared.

"She's doing again." Maine said

"I think it's cool." Zora said, crossing her arms.

"In a weird 'who-wants-to-know-what-dead-people-said' sort of way, I guess."

"Hey, not all of them are dead." I told her defensively. They both dissolved into laughter.

We left when we'd finished, Mai with the waiter's number, and we traded goodbyes. I told them I'd com them when I got to Base.

4: Chapter 4

I don't know what I'd expected. It was so normal… it seemed surreal. I was being shipped off into outer space with no more fuss than it would take to fly to a different state.

The jet-plane-whatever looked normal, too. The outside was a little different looking- probably whatever high-tech metal they were using for space travel nowadays- but the inside looked exactly like that of a normal plane, except on a smaller scale, which included a few smaller cabins containing beds.

Needless to say, at the end of the three day long trip, I was miserable. Nauseous and jet lagged still I practically stumbled off the thing, carry-on bag clutched loosely in my hands.

When I stepped onto the solid metal platform, I nearly tripped and fell on my face.

Again, the wide, open space seemed normal, like an airport, really. Most of the space was empty, but there was still quite a lot of people.

On the far side of the room were three long rail roads that twisted off into separate directions. There were turn stiles in front of them and benches running along their sides, where people sat scrolling across com screens or doing nothing.

I looked around the large room. Was there some sort of customer service or something? The instructions they had given me had been very vague. Wait by the other new comers until your escort arrives.

How was I supposed to know where the newcomers were? You'd think for a place filled with smart people, they could at least give better directions.

I'd been on the flight with about fifteen other people I hadn't bothered to talk to, but now they were long gone, having disappeared to wherever they'd been heading while I'd stood there gaping like an idiot.

I took a few steps forward and glanced around me, looking for a group of younger looking people, teenagers.

Eventually, I found one, a group of benches huddled against the wall to my right.

Five or so teenagers milled about. From here, I couldn't tell what they were doing. Some looked like they were talking, but I couldn't hear about what above the din of the crowded room.

I squeezed my way through the crowd carefully, muttering the occasional 'excuse me' or 'sorry'. No one paid me much mind. Eventually I was close enough to see them. Turns out, there was a sign. A small one, posted on the wall next to the first bench.

The area seemed to have a bubble around it, where no people came in or went out, despite there being no fences or anything roping the area off. I was relieved when I finally left the bustling see in exchange for the clear area. Too bad it was still loud enough to deafen me.

Total there were six of them, not counting myself. Four boys and two girls. None of them looked particularly intriguing, though a petite blonde girl was chattering excitedly to a bored looking red head next to her, who nodded every once in a while so her friend didn't think she was being ignored.

Two of the boys looked absolutely identical. Maybe not completely identical, my brain revised for me. One was slightly taller than the other. That one had freckles, lots of them. The shorter one had a small scar above his right eyebrow.

They both had dirty blonde hair cut into matching uniformly short styles. Both had sharp blue eyes trained on their com screens. Oddly, they didn't speak to one another. I wondered idly if they were close or not.

"Oi! You just going to stand there all day?" A deep voice startled me from my thoughts. I probably wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been shouting loud enough to make the twin next to him- the shorter one- send him a glare.

I shook my head and silently approached the benches taking a seat next to the guy who had shouted.

He was tall, intimidatingly so. He easily had a good six inches or more on me- and I'm not short. He had brown hair, maybe a few shades lighter than my own, and hazel eyes that seemed to produce and aura of mischief and authority at the same time.

I recognized his accent, easily placing him as an Australian.

His eyes buzzed over the crowd almost hungrily. Every now and then I tried to spot what exactly he was looking at, but his eyes had already darted away before I could. Eventually, I gave up and took to studying the room myself.

The ceiling had to be a good seventy or so feet high, with a domed, see through roof, giving me a good view of nothing but darkness and stars. The walls were all bare and painted white, and the floor was a sparkling white tile. Everything was meticulous. How could something so busy be so clean? There wasn't a spot of dirt anywhere to be found.

The occasional trash can stood against a pillar, and simple but effective lights adorned the walls. There were a few other waiting areas like ours, most likely with their own respective signs.

"You don't talk much, do you?" the boy had shouted earlier said, nudging me with his elbow. I nearly fell off the bench. I considered glaring at him for startling me again, but deemed it too childish. When I didn't answer him, he stuck out his hand and grinned toothily, shrugging a navy blue backpack farther onto his shoulder.

"Name's Damon. Damon Holt." He stuck out his hand and I took it cautiously before speaking.

"Micah Viano." I supplied. He grinned a little wider and went to dig for something in his bag.

The fourth boy had platinum blond hair, green eyes, and a hazy expressing. He looked quite terrified, really, and a little out of it. He was scrawny and a bit shorter than me.

Every now and again he would glance at his com screen, tap at it a few times and then glance away, occasionally pushing his glasses farther up his nose as he did so. This, I assumed, was most likely the reason said glasses looked as if they were about to fall off his face. It was probably more of a nervous habit than anything else.

When I turned away from the scrawny boy, Damon turned towards me as if to speak, but didn't get that far.

Instead, a woman with mouse brown hair, matching eyes and a friendly smile stepped in front of the group.

She wore black pants and a plain white shirt of which she kept pulling on the collar, as if she was uncomfortable.

The twins didn't look up and the blonde girl didn't stop talking, despite the red-head trying to hush her, until the woman spoke.

"I'm your escort," The woman began. She had a soft kind of voice, and I almost didn't hear her over the noise "Linda Cade. I'll be instructing you to your new apartments as well as give you a tour and your schedules. Shall we begin?" Despite her soft sounding voice, there was a clear note of authority in it that was definite and respectful at the same time.

No one said anything as we all rose quietly and followed Linda as she walked easily through the crowd, not bothering to check if we were still behind her. Eventually, we stopped by the tracks that had a flashing sign with a '3' on it just as a sleek, high-tech looking train appeared.

We were still silent as we stepped aboard it.

5: Chapter 5

The train ride wasn't very long, ten minutes at the most. After a few minutes, the blonde girl had given up the silence and was talking again to the red-head, albeit softer.

Linda explained to the rest of us that the base was divided into three sectors, and each of the sectors were divided into three towns. She told us we were all going to Sector 3 C.

"Creative." The taller twin muttered. He had a British accent, I noticed.

"Most towns have created their own names for their town. However, their all labeled respectively." She seemed to ignore the boy's comment.

When the train finally stopped, we stepped out.

Sector 3 C was at least two times larger than the room that had contained the trains. The walls were metal, as well as the floor, and they stretched up nearly four stories. This one also had a glass roof, though it was flat instead of rounded. There were stairs that led to all four stories, and they were dented and darkened with age. Next to the base of the stairs was an elevator that I assumed went to all four floors as well.

People flooded the giant space, filling it with noise that echoed of the metal walls and hurt my ears, as well as a subdued roaring sound. Talk about rush hour traffic.

Linda's voice startled us, and by us, I mean everyone except the taller twin and the blonde (who was still talking), from our gaping at the large structure. Thankfully, she was close enough and it wasn't loud enough for her to have to shout so we could hear.

"The first floor is dedicated to shops, mostly. You can find nearly everything you'd ever need here. Food, clothes, whatever," she said, motioning out towards the scene in front of us as if to emphasize her point.

Most of the storefronts were glass, and the insides seemed to hold torrents of colors and posters, a startling contrast to the metal walls, which while clean in comparison to the stairs, were still just metal, and boring. After we were done taking in the first floor, Linda herded us up the stairs to the second one. The elevator next to the stairwell read 'HANDICAP USE ONLY. PLEASE USE OTHER ELEVATOR'.

"The second floor consists mostly of recreational activities and the school. A few different departments have offices here, as well as on the third floor."

"Recreational activities?" The red-head asked. The tall twin rolled his eyes at her.

"You know; a gym and pool. Things like that. Free time activities."

"Oh," A blush painted the girl's cheeks.

We continued on to the third floor, which Linda informed us contained housing and offices, and up to the fourth floor, where she said we were heading, and contained housing as well as the rest of the offices. It seemed simple enough to remember.

She opened a heavy-looking wooden door labeled 'OAD' and ushered us inside.

"OAD is an acronym for Orientation And Data." She told us before ducking behind the stretched counter and sitting down in a black leather office chair and typing away at a keyboard.

There was another woman next to her, who looked quite older. She was heavy set and dark skinned, with black hair pulled into a tight bun at the base of her skull and dark eyes scanning the information on the screen. The name plate in front of her read Suzanne Colfer.

The office seemed welcoming. The walls were painted cream and a spotless white carpet covered the floor. Behind the counter was another door marked 'EMPLOYEES ONLY'.

A printer on a table behind the two women beeped and spit out a page.

"Cameron Woods?" Suzanne asked, grabbing the page and handing it to the shorter twin, who said thank you. Oddly enough, he didn't have a British accent like his brother. It wasn't one I recognized.

"Samuel Woods." This one, of course, went to the taller twin.

"It's just Sam." The boy replied, jaw twitching slightly, as if annoyed. Suzanne pursed her lips and shook her head before grabbing the next piece of paper.

"David Lynam." She passed the paper to the wiry boy with glasses. It didn't seem as if we were going in any order.

"Micah Viano." I muttered a thank you and glanced over my paper as Damon got his.

HOUSING: Floor D 13

I assumed my room was on the fourth floor. The rest of it was a schedule, letting me know I had to be at the school, floor 2, or B, At seven-thirty, where I'd take a variety of classes until three on weekdays. I had free time from then until eleven O' clock, which was listed as the curfew for minors, aka myself. It didn't seem much different from home.

"Terri Simmons." Terri was the chatty blonde girl. She was short with pretty blue eyes and features that made her look innocent. Her blonde hair was cut to her chin.

"Ella Roy," was the last to get her schedule. I noticed now that Ella, the red-head, was very pretty. Her eyes were a soft green and her hair was down to her shoulders. She had almost impish features that made her look mischievous. She smiled at Suzanne as she took her paper. I liked Ella better now that she didn't seem constantly annoyed.

I was oddly pleased to find no one in our group had one syllable names. Well, Sam did, but he didn't seem particularly friendly anyways.

"It's five O' clock now," Linda informed us "Minors have an allowance of three hundred a week until they're assign their jobs. I suggest getting something to eat on floor B, and you can do whatever you like until then."

We all gave affirmations as Linda shooed us from the room.

It was much less crowded now than it had been only twenty minutes before. We all stuck together, probably because none of us wanted to go off by ourselves.

We got something to eat at a restaurant called McCary Burgers. Their double bacon cheeseburgers were almost as good as Pang's. Almost.

I listened to Damon and Ella as they talked about rugby. I couldn't really contribute, considering I knew nothing about sports. Ella, thankfully, made the switch to books and movies. Happy that I could actually be a part of the conversation, the three of us talked until we disbanded. Apparently, Ella had a thing for horror movies and was terrified of water. Damon, obviously, liked rugby and didn't like movies at all.

Overall, Ella seemed much more shy than I'd thought, and Damon liked to be funny. I wasn't sure where I fit into that circle.

By the end of the night, after watching Damon go pale and nearly throw up after he looked over the fourth floor railing, I was thinking that maybe the base wouldn't be so bad after all.

Even though the rumors were true, and there was no chocolate.

6: Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry about the short chapter! I would've written more and was thinking about it when I saw how short this was, but I think I like where it ends and with the content it has.

My first two weeks on the base went normally. I sat next to Damon and Ella in school, which obviously, was much harder than regular school, but I was doing pretty well.

My favorite part was the history class, where they taught us about the ruined cities. A hundred years ago, before the base'd been started, several of the world's major cities were obliterated. D.C., London, Hong Kong. They never pin pointed what did it, and they never really talked about it. By now, most of them have been rebuilt, but they left some untouched. Like New York City.

That's what the people in Sector 3 C called their town.

As promised, I've Commed Zora and Maine every day since I left. They tell me not much is going on,, except for some crazy weather, apparently. No snow in Wisconsin in the middle of January? Yeah, a little weird. We've always gotten snow, and Zora says they don't have a single inch.

My roommates were both born on the base (most of the kids here are, actually). They're nice enough I guess but they pretty much ignore me. I'm fine with that, really; I've never been the most social person. In fact, I don't even think I know the blonde one's name.

"Micah?"

"Take what you use and let the rest go by. Ken Kesey." I blurted out. Damon laughed. He thought my whole quote thing was funny. I glared at him "What?" He held up his hands as if to defined himself.

"Hey, I was just trying to keep you from running into that pole." Sure enough, I was standing about a half-foot away from a metal pole. Yeah, that would've been embarrassing.

"I would not have." I muttered.

"Yeah you would have." Ella giggled. She did that a lot, but I didn't really mind. Maine giggled a lot, too, and I was used to it.

"You're supposed to stand up for me, Ella." I tried for a glare but ended up smiling. Ella wasn't the type of person you couldn't glare at.

Eventually, Damon split off from us to buy something or other.

"What's the necklace mean?" Ella asked

"Huh? What necklace?" I cocked my head at her, confused. She rolled her eyes at me.

"The one you're wearing, genius." I glanced down. Right, that one. I always forget I'm wearing it…

"Helloooo? Earth to Micah?" She waved her hand in front of my face. I blushed, realizing I'd zoned out again.

"I don't know what it means."

"What, did it belong to your parents?" I stopped in my tracks and turned away from her, pretending to browse the books I was standing in front of.

On many occasions, I'd wondered if it'd belonged to my parents. I'd even asked my aunt and uncle once, and I never asked them anything about my parents. It almost hurt to see the awful, pitying look on their faces. They gave me the look when I asked about the necklace. They didn't know where it'd come from, and Aunt Valarie said she'd never remembered my mother wearing anything like it.

"Nope." I answered, instead of simply saying 'I don't know'. I didn't like not knowing things.

We fell into silence and I started to browse the books for real. They had a lot of good books here.

"What do you think of Damon?" Ella asked. I glanced over the top of the book I was previewing

"I don't know. He's our friend. Why?" Ella shrugged

"I don't know. Just, um, never mind." I shook my head at her and shrugged. If she didn't want to tell me, then I wasn't going to pry.

"Are you just going to stand there and read that entire book?" Ella asked, growing impatient.

"No, sorry. Let me go and pay for this. You can pick where we go next." Ella wasn't as big on books as I was.

"Damon is going to meet us in front of the video game store, remember?" I did remember. See, my problem wasn't my memory, it was my ADD. I was way too easily distracted.

"Right, let's go then." I said, sliding the plastic bag over my wrist and tucking a strand of loose hair behind my ear.

I followed Ella as she sped-walked towards the video game.

"You just passed it Ella." I told her. She paused and turned to me rolling her eyes.

"I know where I'm going, Micah. You were looking over the railing, how would you even know?" I shrugged, and pointed three stores behind us, where Damon stood. He waved, and shrugged as well. Ella sighed and shook her head. She didn't like being wrong, even if it wasn't very often.

"Hey Damon. We going to McCary's or not?"

Okay, I wasn't completely oblivious. During lunch Ella kept sneaking glances at Damon. I had a feeling I was missing something. Okay, maybe I was a little oblivious.

"You have milkshake all over your face, Micah." Damon said

"Really? I'm not even drinking a milkshake." Ella giggled.

"He's telling the truth, Micah. It's all over your cheek." I took and napkin and it came away with chocolate milkshake. I glanced suspiciously at Damon. He shrugged, but his grin gave him away.

"Hey, don't look at me. It's not my face."

Surprisingly, I didn't believe him.

When we finished eating, we left and just walked around. After about half an hour, Damon put his arm in front of me so I had to stop.

"That guy's been staring at you for like, the last twenty minutes." He said. I looked where he was looking, and there was a guy, maybe somewhere around thirty standing there. He wasn't looking at me.

"What a creep." Ella commented. I rolled my eyes at her.

"I don't think he was even looking at me. I don't know him."

Still, I felt the uneasiness of being watched for the rest of the day. And I hated that feeling.

A/N: This kind of a filler chapter I needed to introduce in the plot.

7: Chapter 7

"100 years ago, out of the ashes of the Fallen cities, INTEL was created. It served, mainly two purposes. 1, to discover and annihilate any further threat to humanity, and 2, rebuild the damage cause by the Falling," I took in every word. Ms. Ichen, our history teacher was an excellent story-teller. "INTEL scoured the world for it's best and brightest. Without opportunity, many genius minds were left to rot with poverty and misfortune. The Base was created from this need. 100% self-sustaining, The Base can house nearly a million people, and is continuing to grow. It generates all it's own food, as well as recycling its water." The screen behind her flipped to the next picture with a wave of her hand, showing a large water plant "Here, most struggles do not exist."

The screen behind Ms. Ichen faded to black, and the class shifted in their seats, anxious for the bell to ring. I was almost disappointed when we had to leave; I had questions to ask. I told Damon and Ella to wait up for me and approached our teacher.

"Why aren't some of the cities rebuilt?" I asked her. She smiled fondly at me, typing something quickly into her com watch before answering.

"Their left as a tribute to the people who lost their lives in the Falling."

That was the story and they were sticking to it, weren't they? It was what everyone had said when I'd asked. Word for word.

For some reason, having been part of the INTEL program for nearly 3 months, I didn't really believe the whole 'tribute' thing. I'd met one of the INTEL leaders, there were 9 of them, one for each town, and they didn't exactly seem like emotional people, with cold smiles and greedy eyes. At least, that's how the one I met seemed. They didn't fancy answering questions either, nearly always deflecting them.

Irregardless, I nodded my head like a good girl and thanked her, before leaving the room. I stepped out of the room just in time to see Ella slug the taller twin in the face. Sam, that was his name.

I glanced at Damon, who looked just as surprised as I did. Ella wasn't a violent person. Sure, she had a bit of a temper, but didn't everyone? I'd never seen her this angry.

"Someone's going to hear about this, Roy." Sam said, clutching his nose angrily. Honestly, it didn't seem like much of a threat. And it was hard taking him seriously when there was blood dripping from his nose. Man, could Ella punch.

"Go ahead, you coward. Like anyone will believe I gave a guy nearly twice my size a bloody nose." Ella crossed her arms defiantly. I looked around the hall way before smiling at the boy. It wasn't a nice smile.

"Weird, no witnesses. Funny, I don't think the camera can see this part either…" I cocked my head and looked around "Nope. You really should get that checked out, by the way. It could be broken."

When Sam left, glaring daggers, I turned to Ella.

"So… what did he say?"

"He was an ass. Not a big deal."

"Whatever." I shrugged. I played the role of good friend. I'd done my job.

"You know, when she says 'not a big deal' you're supposed to ask for more information, Micah."

"Not a big deal usually means someone doesn't want to talk about it."

"You've never had a whiny friend that says one things a means the opposite?"

"Nope," I said, popping the P, and taking out my hair tie and untangling my braid " My friends are pretty simple. We're not a complicated bunch."

"I can see that." He snorted. I contemplated elbowing him, but my hands were busy re-braiding my hair. Ella did it for me.

"Yeah, I can totally imagine you hanging out with a bunch of whiny girls. The only friends you can get."

"So what does that make you?" Having finished my braid, he got an elbow from me this.

"You know, you're-" I stopped in my tracks. Was that woman staring at me? Her black hair was chopped short and her eyes were dark. She reminded me of the town leader I'd met, but I didn't recognize her. I knew instantly that she was, in fact, staring at me, because when I looked up at her, her eyes darted away. She looked like someone important.

"You guys know who that is?" I murmured. Damon and Ella had stopped when I had, and were now looking at the same woman who was now chatting to some guy.

"No, why?" Ella asked.

"I…" I shook my head "Never mind, I'm probably just imagining things." I said and continued on

"So, the great Micah Viano is finally losing it." Damon grinned at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, whatever…" but I wasn't in the joking mood anymore.

Why would someone be watching me? I hadn't done anything wrong. Were they some sort of stalker? No that's ridiculous. It's not like she was following me. Probably completely coincidental.

By the time Ella waved her hand in front of my face I'd convinced myself that the odd woman's staring was simply a figment of my imagination, and that suited me just fine.

~THIS IS A LINE BREAK~

I was being chased. As I ran down the metal halls, feet clanking loudly off the floor, I could feel myself growing tired.

Somehow, I knew the people chasing me wanted to hurt me.

I took too many turns to keep track of.

"Micah! Stop running, dear!" I didn't recognize the voice. It was full of fake cheerfulness "We're just going to take you to your parents, you silly girl." This tone leaked venom, but the sentence made me slow down. My parents…

No. They were lying. My parents were dead. My mother died when I was so young I couldn't even remember… I never knew my dad.

Even though I knew it, I couldn't keep running. I was slowing down. I turned right when I wanted to go left. Suddenly, I was no longer in control.

I was watching myself, now.

I watched as I stopped moving completely, turned around, and leant against one of the metal walls. I looked terrified. My hair was down and wild around my face, my eyes wide with fear.

'Run!' I wanted to tell myself, but I couldn't speak.

"Micah…" a woman rounded the corner. She had a fake smile on her face and one hand behind her back. Still, other-me wouldn't run. She just stared at the woman. I recognized her as the woman who'd been staring at me…

"I'm sorry, Micah. We had to do it."

"Do what?" Other-me said. The woman ignored me and shook her head sadly

"I'm sorry, truly," She frowned, one hand still behind her back "But they wouldn't stay away. We couldn't let them take it. Not after we'd worked so hard…"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Other-me screamed at her "You're insane, that's what you are!"

"Oh, dear…" She touched my face and other-me tried to jump back, but I was already against the wall.

"Don't touch me, you crazy bitch!"

"You don't have to end up like them… You can help us. We want you to help us. You have so much potential… Beauty, smarts, an iron will."

Suddenly, I was myself again. The second I found out I could move, I tried to dash away from her, but she caught my arm and frowned, a malicious glint in her eyes.

"Oh, Micah…" she said, shoving me back into the corner of the metal room "You had so much potential…"

Then she moved the arm she'd had behind her back into my view.

And she shot me.

8: Chapter 8

A/N: I really didn't want to make Micah an orphan in this story, because I felt like it made her sound a bit like a mary sue and I DESPISE those types of characters, but I couldn't for the life of me find a way for the plot to work if her parents were still alive... I'm really sorry if it makes Micah seem stereotypical

After this chapter a lot of plot development stuff is coming, and if it seems like I'm leaving a lot of things forgotten (Micah's necklace, the people watching her, etc.) I have lots of plans, and I promise you things will make sense eventually

Over the course of the story I plan to incorporate in more about Micah, Ella, and Damon's personality.

Please tell me if there's anything specifically about one of the characters you'd like to know and I'll try to include it. Sorry for the long A/N

I woke up suddenly, and drenched in sweat.

"Hey, are you okay?" My roommate, a broad-shouldered seventeen year old brunette girl named Kristin, was leaning over me.

"Yeah, just a dream." I said, feeling a large sense of relief. Just a dream.

"Well, you were shouting, so..."

"Sorry. I hope I didn't wake you up."

"Eh. It's fine." She said, heading back towards her bed and flopping down on it.

"Night. Thanks for waking me up." Kristin shrugged

"Not a big deal. Night."

I glanced at the clock. It was one a.m.

I didn't sleep anymore after I'd woken up from my nightmare.

~THIS IS A LINE RBEAK~

When I yawned for maybe the hundredth time, Ella grinned at me.

"Tired Micah?"

"Not at all." I muttered, trying to focus on the worksheet in front of me and failing miserably. It wasn't really that hard, I was just exhausted. This two hours of sleep thing didn't fly for me.

On the brink of my losing consciousness the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. I sighed in relief.

"You're lucky we didn't have any tests today," Damon told me. I wasn't really feeling the whole friendly banter thing today.

"I'm going to go take a nap." I muttered. My friends shrugged and waved me off, Ella giggling quietly.

"Do you recon she'll make it to her bed before she falls over?"

"Probably not."

~THIS IS A LINE BREAK~

When I woke up from my nap at six o'clock, hungry, I jumped up and went over to the fridge before pulling out the stuff to make a sandwich.

Chewing happily, I sat back down on the couch.

I don't know when I stopped thinking about books and started thinking about the nightmare I had last night, but I did.

Unlike most people, I didn't really like dreaming. Probably because my dreams were rarely nice ones with fields full of flowers and rainbows. They were almost always nightmares, and never in my control. Thankfully, I didn't dream very often.

The worst kinds were the nightmares that you couldn't remember, in my opinion. Have you ever just woken up from a dream with a horrible feeling you can't shake? You go about the rest of your day carrying around the feeling that something is very wrong, even though you know it's just because of a dream.

I no longer had an appetite. Last night's dream was the worst kind, of course. A nightmare I couldn't remember. I sat there, still, for a while, but every time I thought I remembered a bit or a piece of it, it flitted away before I could comprehend what it meant.

Before I could drive myself any closer towards insanity from thinking about the dream, there was a knock at the door.

I sighed and got up, setting my unfinished sandwich on the kitchen counter as I passed.

When I opened the door, I was surprised to see Ella, grinning.

"Oh good your awake!" She said

"What're you doing here?" I asked and she pursed her lips and gave me a look "Not that I'm not happy to see you," I quickly revised. I was happy to see her. It was better than stewing alone in my own thoughts.

"Well, you seemed down today. So, I brought movies," she held up a plastic bag "I assumed your movie collection was pretty scarce," She was right. I didn't own a lot of movies, though Kristen did. "Plus, I haven't seen your apartment yet!" she grinned a little wider and flopped down onto the couch, taking my spot.

"I suggest you quiet down a little," I warned her "If you wake up Anabell, she'll probably strangle you."

"Anabell?"

"She's my roommate, along with another girl named Kristin. They're both in the grade above us," I informed her, flipping through the movies she'd brought. There were five to choose from.

"Why's your roommate asleep? It's like, six o' clock."

"She's an insomniac, according to Kristin. Sleeps pretty much whenever she can," I selected an action movie and waved it in front of her face.

"How about this?" She agreed and I put it in. We watched in silence for a while.

"You know, eventually I'm going to teach you to be a regular teenage girl. Then we can gossip about boys and do each other's hair." I must have made a face at this statement, because Ella laughed "Or not. You're more fun as an abnormal teenage girl anyways," I snorted

"Who're you calling abnormal?"

"Didn't say I wasn't," I grinned and shook my head before turning my head back to the screen. A thought crossed my mind.

"So…" I started "Why did you punch Sam?" I asked, readjusting on the couch, and watching her carefully. Because of Damon's whole 'not a big deal means they want you to ask' thing, I was curious.

"Said something about my parents," she muttered. She sounded more angry than anything else, really.

It wasn't a big secret that something bad had happened to Ella. She wouldn't elaborate to anybody, and I didn't pry. I wasn't the prying type of person; not to my friends at least. Which led me to wondering what Sam knew about Ella. And how.

My knowledge of Ella's background consisted of a.) She was an orphan, and b.) She hadn't been one for very long.

It turned out most people who came to the Base didn't have a peachy past. I found it odd an odd sort of a coincidence. I guess the Base turned out to be a sort of haven for most of the people who came here. Maybe that was why almost everyone who was accepted went. Because most of them wanted escapes from their crappy memories.

It wasn't really like I could blame Ella for not wanting to participate in story time. Whatever happened seemed like a big deal.

"I hope you broke his nose, then." I told her, and turned back to the movie.

We were silent for the rest of the movie, and we watched one more after that, switching to lighter conversation topics.

It was a little after ten o' clock when I'd helped put away Ella's movies, sent her away, and went to bed myself.

Thankfully, I fell asleep quickly.

A/N: Personally I thought it was a really sweet thing for Ella to bring movies to cheer Micah up.

What do you think? Please R&R

I need all the feedback I can get!

P.S. THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS COINCIDENCES.