Camilla

Camilla wasn't sure when she had passed out, but when she awoke next, she found herself lying on her front, her head centered on a cushion with a hole in the middle for her face. Her view was filled with clean, white tiles, along with a pair of black combat boots standing in front of her.

"Subject three-four-two-zero has regained consciousness," a voice said. "We are ready to begin the procedure."

"Good," a crisp, chipper voice replied. "Two-five-four-three: restrain the subject, but leave her conscious and feeling."

"Yes, Doctor Hester," a woman replied, and Camilla recognized her voice as the one that had spoken to her inside her mind.

A second later, Camilla felt the hands on her head again, and her body went rigid. She could still feel the hands on her head and the cold metal table against her skin, but when she tried to move or speak, nothing happened. All she had control over was her breathing and blinking.

"Subject is restrained," the woman reported back.

"We'll see about that," the doctor snapped. "After all, you couldn't even wipe what was left of her. Honestly, I did the hard part—all you had to do was as easy as nudging a baby down a flight of stairs."

Camilla heard the light clattering of metal, and the next moment, she felt a blinding pain erupting from the base of her skull. Immediately, she wanted to scream and thrash around, to fight off whoever was hurting her. But she couldn't do any of that. The only thing that happened was that her breath caught in her throat, and tears began leaking from her eyes, dripping to the tiles below.

"I guess you are still useful," the doctor commented. "Alright, let's begin."

What followed was a blur that engulfed Camilla in a tidal wave of searing pain and warm blood. She didn't know what the doctor was doing, and the woman in her head refused to tell her, but Camilla could feel absolutely everything. She could feel a blade slicing her skin at the bottom of her head, and the reverberations of a drill chipping away at her skull. She wanted to pass out, but she couldn't; every time she felt her mind slipping away, the woman in her head would simply bring her back without an explanation. She couldn't escape.

After what felt like hours, the doctor finally sighed with relief.

"The Seed has been planted," the doctor said. "Powering on now."

Suddenly, Camilla felt her body go rigid again, but it felt different than before. It felt stronger, cold, and merciless.

"Report on the signal," the doctor ordered.

"Signal's strong," another voice said. "Ready to commence preliminary testing."

"Hold her steady," the doctor replied. "Two-five-four-three, release the subject and remain on standby."

"Yes, Doctor Hester," the woman replied, and her hands left Camilla's head immediately.

The doctor's clicking heels echoed throughout the room, and she didn't speak again until the sound stopped.

"Subject three-four-two-zero," the doctor began. "Open your hands."

Before Camilla could stubbornly clench her hands into fists, they opened automatically.

The doctor's heels clicked again, and when they stopped, the silence was taken over by the light clattering of metal. After a few seconds, Camilla felt a cold, thin, metal rod against the palm of her left hand.

"Subject three-four-two-zero, close your left hand."

Camilla's hand closed around the metal rod in her hand, completely against her will.

"Subject three-four-two-zero, stab your left thigh with the scalpel in your left hand."

Camilla did everything in her willpower to hold her hand back, but it didn't make a difference, and the cold metal became warm with her blood as she plunged it into her own leg.

"Report on the signal," the doctor repeated, her voice now bubbly with excitement.

"Signal is still strong and steady."

"Perfect," the doctor hummed in pleasure, and her heels began to click again. "Two-five-four-three, come with me. The rest of you, clean up here, and let me know when you're done. I'd like to see her one more time before we do a reset."

"Yes, Doctor Hester," a chorus of voices replied, and the clicking heels echoed out of the room shortly after.

As the other scientists got back to work, Camilla could feel them putting her back together. She felt the weight of something being placed on the back of her head, then the sensation of the skin of her scalp being pulled taut, and the punching of staples pounding into her head. When they were done, Camilla couldn't help but notice a strange weight pressing against her skull, as if to remind her that she couldn't escape what they had done to her, and whatever they had planned for her.

"Subject three-four-two-zero," one of the scientists suddenly said. "Heal your wounds."

This time, Camilla's instincts were stronger than whatever control these people had over her, and she suppressed her abilities before she even realized what she was doing. It was ironic, she thought belatedly, once she recalled what the woman had said earlier while in her mind. They had conditioned her to not use her abilities when they wanted to keep her in line, and now that they wanted to use her abilities, they couldn't override what they had already done. If Camilla hadn't been in so much pain, she would have laughed at the unexpected turn of events.

The scientists tried a few more times to get her to heal herself, but Camilla resisted each time, utilizing a combination of her own stubbornness and the unexplained fear that had been ingrained into her body. Eventually, they gave up, claiming that she would easily comply after the doctor was through with her, and one of them left to retrieve her.

While they waited, Camilla focused on the only things she could truly remember: her name, and Elsie's. She wasn't sure why the doctor wanted to see her, but that didn't matter. They were going to try and erase her memories, possibly using whatever they just did to her brain, and Camilla couldn't let that happen. She couldn't lose what little she had left.

By the time Camilla heard the doctor's heels again, she knew she wasn't ready yet. She only had to remember two names, but she didn't think she would be able to do even that. Her mind felt groggy and heavy, and her entire body ached and burned. She still felt the sharp throbbing pain in her leg where the doctor made her stab herself. If the doctor could make her do that, then what else was she capable of?

But Camilla never got a chance to find out.

With no warning, an explosion burst through the room, shaking everything and sending debris flying through the air. A flurry of shouting and smaller explosions quickly followed, but Camilla was helpless as she lay face-down on the table, unable to move.

Suddenly, a burst of air hit the table and knocked it off its feet, sending Camilla tumbling stiffly across the tiled floor. She ended up sprawled out on her back, staring directly into one of the ceiling lights. When the brightness made her head throb incessantly, Camilla squeezed her eyes shut, trying everything in her power to make herself move.

"Camilla!" a low voice suddenly exclaimed once the explosions settled down to mere muffles, and a pair of hands grabbed onto her shoulders and shook her gently. "Camilla, are you okay?"

Camilla cracked her eyes open tentatively. There was a man crouched down beside her, shielding her from the blinding light. His face was pinched in a mixture of relief and concern, but Camilla couldn't figure out why. Did she know this person?

"Camilla, can you hear me?" the man tried again, panic creeping into his voice.

"She can't move," another voice explained, and it was the woman who could control minds. "That computer over there can disable the program."

"I got it!" another voice exclaimed, and Camilla saw another woman darting across the room towards the computer.

Camilla couldn't see what she was doing, but a few seconds later she felt her body loosen. She clenched her hands a few times experimentally, then let out a sigh of relief when they responded accordingly. She had her body back.

"Camilla, are you okay?" the man repeated, reaching for her again.

But Camilla scrambled backwards as fast as she could, ignoring the way her entire body painfully protested at the movement.

"It's okay, Camilla, we're gonna get you out of here," the man said, and he moved towards her again.

"Stay away," Camilla demanded, her voice weak and hoarse.

Just as the man was about to argue with her again, he looked directly into Camilla's eyes. Whatever he saw made his jaw go slack, and the only emotion on his face was pure horror.

"C—Camilla?" he whispered, his voice barely audible over the fighting across the room. "It's just me. It's just Mack."

Camilla stared at his face, trying to see if she could recall anything. But there was nothing.

"I—I don't know you," she whispered back.

"Mackenzie!" the woman who had worked the computer suddenly shouted. She had returned to the gaping hole that they had made in one of the walls, tossing aside enemies that got too close. At her side was the mind-controller, along with two others that looked like teenagers.

"Do you have her yet?" the woman continued. "We have to leave now!"

The man turned briefly to the woman, unsure of what to do, then turned back to Camilla.

"What about her?" he asked, gesturing to the woman that had just yelled at him. "You remember her, right?"

It was hard to see the woman's face with all of the fighting, but the number of faces Camilla could recall was in the single digits, and that woman wasn't one of them.

"I don't know," Camilla admitted, her voice shaky. Was she supposed to know any of them?

"Mackenzie!" the woman repeated urgently.

"Hitomi, get over here!" the man called back, his voice just as shaky as Camilla's.

When there was a break in the fighting, the woman joined them, and Camilla did her best not to back away from her too.

"What is taking so long?" the woman complained, breathless. "Mitaka, I know you are stubborn, but if you cannot walk, can you please just let Mackenzie carry you this once?"

"She doesn't know who we are," the man explained, almost tearfully.

The woman's face went blank at once, and she slowly turned to look at Camilla. Camilla tensed under her watchful gaze, unsure of what the woman was searching for, but she forced herself to remain still as the woman approached her and slowly crouched down.

"What about Elsie?" she asked. "Do you remember her?"

It hurt to nod, so Camilla roughly cleared her throat and replied with a soft, "Yes."

"We are friends of you, and of her," the woman explained. "She is not with us right now, but we are going to see her once we leave. Would you like to join us?"

Camilla wasn't sure if she wanted to go with people she didn't know, but the woman who spoke in her mind seemed to trust them, and Camilla knew that she definitely didn't want to stay. With that reasoning, the decision was simple.

"I'll go," she said, her voice soft but determined.

Camilla couldn't stay upright on her own for more than a few seconds, much less run around, so the man named Mackenzie helped her stay on her feet while also using his abilities to replenish her strength. When they regrouped with the others in the room, the fighting had stopped, and the mind-controller nodded at her as if in solidarity while the two teenagers peered at Camilla curiously.

"Not now, kids," Mackenzie said gruffly, cutting off the shorter of the two just as he opened his mouth to speak. Before the kid could protest, Mackenzie added, "Seriously, not now, Finn."

"But—" Finn started, then paused when he looked at Camilla, as if he expected her to say something. When she didn't, he turned to the other teenager. "Nakia?"

Nakia had also been looking at Camilla, but they seemed more aware than Finn was, and nudged him away. "Listen to Mack. We can talk later." They then looked to the mind-controller. "You must be AJ."

"That's me," the woman confirmed with a tight smile. "I heard what you all were planning, but I didn't think you'd make it this far. Did any of you see where Hester went?"

"I did," Hitomi said. "She ran once we broke through the wall. Why? Do we need her?"

"No," AJ replied, looking slightly disappointed. "I just wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine."

"Next time," Hitomi agreed. "But we cannot afford to stay here much longer. I trust you are familiar with the way to the roof?" When AJ nodded, Hitomi continued. "Then you and Nakia will lead, and Finn and I will watch the rear. Mackenzie, stay between us with Camilla."

Then, Hitomi turned to Camilla, her expression filled with concern.

"Mi—Camilla, I know it may be difficult, but please trust us. We only want to get you out of here safely."

Judging by the pained look on Hitomi's eyes, there was history behind her words that Camilla couldn't remember. Nevertheless, Camilla nodded, wincing only slightly at the throbbing in her head.

AJ led them through the maze of white hallways with impressive efficiency, stopping every once in a while at Nakia's guidance to take down the opposing security guards. All of the twists and turns made Camilla dizzy, or maybe it was just the movement in general.

Regardless of the reason, it didn't take long for Camilla to give in to her nausea, and she pushed away from Mack just in time to keel over in a corner to dry heave. When she noticed that everyone quickly halted their progress to wait for her, Camilla tried to apologize, only to be overcome by another bout of nausea as soon as she opened her mouth.

When Camilla felt a hand rest on her shoulder, she almost flinched away, until a familiar voice filled her head.

Please let them help you, Camilla, AJ said.

You could just force me to comply, if you're desperate enough, Camilla thought back. Maybe she was still a little bitter that AJ forcefully restrained her while the doctor dug out her brains.

I could, but I don't want to, AJ said. You may not remember, but I do. I recognize them from the memories you showed me in the past. They're your friends; they're your family. You would trust them with your life.

Camilla didn't trust AJ's words completely, but she didn't have much of a choice either. Even as she kneeled on the ground, leaning against the wall, Camilla could barely keep herself upright, and she could feel her body about to collapse at any second. Eventually, she gave in, and when Mack extended an offer to carry her on his back, Camilla accepted it.

They moved much faster when they didn't need to match Camilla's pace, much to her embarrassment. A few minutes later, they emerged on the rooftop of the building, and Camilla's eyes widened at the sight.

All around them was the ocean, dark blue and stretching all the way to the horizons. The sky was a mixture of orange and purple, and in the midst of it was the soft sun, low in the sky and partially obscured by pink clouds. When a breeze went by, Camilla inhaled it deeply, awed by its freshness and the taste of salt that lingered on her tongue.

In her amazement, she belatedly noticed another group of people that had already been on the rooftop when they got there. These people were similarly dressed for a fight, but instead of attacking them like they had done with everyone else they encountered, AJ ran up to one of the men and gave him a tight hug, which the man returned eagerly.

"I hate to break up the family reunion," Hitomi said after a moment as she examined a small black device in her hand. "But we really need to go. This place will be filled with guardians in about ninety seconds."

AJ and the man split apart, and while AJ glanced over the rest of the new group frantically, the man glared at Hitomi, annoyed.

"What about Ian?" AJ asked the man, drawing his attention back to her.

"We sent him ahead," the man said, then hesitated. "But... he didn't recognize me. I... I thought he would, but..."

"I know," AJ replied, patting the man comfortingly on the shoulders. "I know, and I'll fix it. But she's right. Right now, we have to go."

The man nodded, then looked over Hitomi's group, his eyes stopping at Camilla. For some reason, he glared at her, but Camilla could only stare at him blankly in return. Not only did she have no idea what the man disliked about her, but Camilla hardly had enough energy to keep her eyes open.

With the reminder about the criticality of their escape, everyone quickly got to work. Most piled into a large helicopter, while some remained outside, Nakia included. Apparently, the helicopter was overloaded as it was, and the metas that could fly were to help keep the helicopter airborne as well, at least until they could rendezvous with their main transport several miles away.

As Mack and Hitomi helped ease Camilla gently into a spot in the helicopter, they heard a loud scoff and turned to see the man AJ had spoken to, watching them bitterly.

"She can't fly?" the man asked snidely.

"Absolutely not," Mack snapped.

"We had planned for this," Hitomi added. "We knew it was likely that none of the captives would be in the best condition."

"Which is why we sent those people out first," the man spat back. "Whatever happened to the great Camilla Wyatt and all her power and glory?"

"Quentin," AJ said, suddenly appearing at the man's side. The look she gave him was dark and cold, as if her eyes alone conveyed thousands of unspoken threats.

Quentin faltered at AJ's intervention, then cleared his throat awkwardly. "If you're ready to go, get on board. We have to take off now."

As expected, the helicopter struggled to lift off the ground when it was way over maximum capacity, and everyone did what they could to help. Camilla, on the other hand, began to feel nauseous again with all the movement, and she huddled along the side to stay out of the way. Unfortunately, this ended up putting her right next to the wide opening in the helicopter's hull, and Camilla hoped that she could maintain her consciousness just so she wouldn't accidentally tumble outside.

Just as the helicopter managed to lift off the ground, there was a series of muffled shouts. Before Camilla's groggy mind could figure out what the noise was about, she felt a firm grip wrap around one of her ankles, and the next moment, she was yanked out of the helicopter and sent sprawling back onto the rooftop below.

"Camilla!" she heard someone shout from above.

Camilla tried to jump to her feet, but the best she could do was to sit upright and scramble clumsily away from the man that had grabbed her. His long white coat was covered in dust and blood, and the look on his face made Camilla feel like prey being cornered by a rabid predator. She couldn't even take her eyes off the man to look for the helicopter out of fear that he would strike when she was unaware.

"You can't go, Camilla," the man said, his eyes wide and wild. As he approached her, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a long plastic box. "We still have one more experiment left."

He took out a needle and syringe from the box, then tossed the box to the side.

"This is off the record, of course," he continued, holding the syringe up to eye level and flicking the side a couple times, then squeezing it until a small amount of clear liquid spewed from the tip of the needle. "It's a drug of my own design. I may have taken some hints from your father's work, but I'm expecting this to have the opposite effect.

"As brilliant as your father was, he was wrong about one very important thing. What's the point of metas if you're just going to suppress their abilities? Their potential is meant to be expanded, not hidden away. Why do you think we reset the calendar, all those years ago? We're in the AE era now—the Age of Evolution; so we need to evolve."

When Camilla's back hit the wall lining the edge of the roof, the man stopped with her.

"Although, fair warning, I haven't tested this formula out yet." The man sighed, disappointed. "I guess that's not very professional of me, but I can't help it. I was only just able to perfect the formula, thanks to the data from our experiments, and I didn't have a chance to run my usual tests. But if you're leaving now... well, I can't let such an opportunity slip away without trying something, no matter what the cost. Even if that cost is my life."

And suddenly, he striked, running up to her with the syringe ready in his hand.

Camilla rolled out of the way at the last second, but she couldn't crawl away quick enough afterwards. She felt the man's grip wrap around her ankle again, and before she could kick him he was already beside her, seizing one of her arms. With one knee pressed to her back, right on her shoulder blade, the man easily ignored Camilla's weak protests and, after briefly examining her arm, he jabbed the needle into her forearm.

A few seconds later, he released her, and Camilla spun around as fast as she could. The man had stepped back, and he watched her from afar, his eyes wide with anticipation.

But Camilla didn't feel any different—at least, not at first. It wasn't until about ten seconds later when Camilla suddenly felt a rush of power flowing into her.

At first, she felt better than fine, and she finally had the strength to stand on her own two feet. But that feeling quickly shifted to discomfort, nausea even, as if she was stuffing herself full after a large feast. Then, she felt like she was about to explode.

Only then did she realize what was going on: she was using her abilities to draw in energy from all around her without even realizing what she was doing. Not only that, but she couldn't stop, not even after she had taken more than enough, not even after her body screamed at her to stop.

Around her, the air had gone from pleasantly warm to icy cold, but Camilla couldn't tell with the fire raging inside of her. She didn't realize that the waves of the ocean crashing into rocks had quieted and that the water stilled completely, leaving nothing but a sea of deep blue glass. She didn't notice that the few trees and sparse greenery surrounding the building had shriveled up and died, as if there had never been life in the first place. She wasn't aware of the world around her at all when she was too focused on trying to contain the energy growing uncontrollably within her.

But she couldn't bring herself to take hold of her own power. Every time she tried, she would stop herself suddenly, as if her body feared what would happen if she used her abilities, but couldn't realize she was already using them. Apparently, it didn't matter if Camilla's mind couldn't remember what she was so afraid of when her body evidently did.

Camilla had felt the same fear before, when she had to attack AJ earlier, but she had managed to overcome it. And at the time, she had shut her mind off to everything, every single memory, and every single emotion. And so, she focused on clearing her mind once more.

It took a little longer this time, but that was understandable. When she had attacked AJ, Camilla hardly knew her own name, and she had accumulated a relatively large amount of memories since then. Eventually though, she managed to clear her mind of everything—of pain, of fear, of longing—and she felt herself instinctively regain control of her abilities and stop herself from absorbing any more energy. And after some time, she succeeded.

But Camilla couldn't relax just yet. Because as soon as she had regained control of her abilities, she realized how little control she had over the energy she already absorbed. Neither her body nor her mind knew what to do with it, and with every second that passed, she could feel it growing hotter and hotter within her, ready to explode. And then it did.

Before Camilla knew what was happening, she felt the energy burst out of her uncontrollably, leaving her body even more violently than she had taken it in. She felt it burning every single cell in her body, and her vision was engulfed with a blinding light. Surprisingly, she couldn't hear anything, but the silence that rang in her ears was so eerily still that Camilla wasn't sure if her ears were even working in the first place.

Suddenly, the explosion of energy calmed ever so slightly, but Camilla was sure it wasn't her own doing. In fact, the change was so subtle, that Camilla swore she had just imagined it. Until it happened again, and again, and it kept happening until the energy escaping her felt more like a crackling fire instead of an active volcano. She wasn't sure what was going on, but it happened just as she could feel her consciousness fading, threatening to leave her in an instant.

So when the weight of a hand appeared on her shoulder, and she heard a distant whisper tell her not to worry, that she was safe, Camilla believed them. And with that, she let herself drift off into nothingness.

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