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xxxIt was obvious that she wasn't, not only could he feel her discomfort (now that he was focusing on the hivemind more), it was in her entire appearance. Faerai's tattoos dancing in an almost hypnotice pattern, and her fingers glowing faintly. Zaq would have found it pleasant if he didn't know better. 'I'm sorry.' He thought, 'I should have at least told you what I was doing.' He breathed in a bit, doing his best to understand her emotions.

xxxStepping towards her daringly, knowing how she tends to react. One thing was certainly special about Zaq when it came to Faerai, he was never afraid to get burned. He would endure the pain if needed, and was more than willing. 'I'm sorry.' He thought towards her again, now stepping within arms reach. He took another step and placed his hands on her shoulders and pressed his forehead against her's. "I'm sorry..." This time speaking, his voice cackled a bit from being unused for so long.

xxx"It wasn't fair." Zaq continued his apology, he didn't need to fly them out of the bog. There was no reason he needed to fly other than him wanting to try. He had scared her, made her have to push herself for control, and put her into the state she was currently in. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly, his head still pressed against Faerai's. It was as if he was trying to make the connection stronger, but it was to no avail.

xxxThe Zaq started to notice the calm, taking it in, adding it to the Hivemind. He was hoping that she would start to feel comforted and lose interest of what she was thinking. "I won't do it again..." He had to think about the next words carefully, as he was unsure of the events to come. "I promise." This was when he pulled his head away and gave her a reassuring grin. It was one promise he intended on keeping.

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xxxZaq couldn't understand what was going on, but she was at war with her own powers. She shouted her thoughts, making it clear that her energies may injure him, making it clear she was losing control. Her pain was radiating through the hivemind, making it impossible for him to think clearly.

xxx"Let it go!" He shouted, his voice still hurting from it's lack of use. He went back to the hivemind, forcing his own strength into her, 'It's your power, you command it!' This wasn't the first time he heard about this, only the first time seeing it. 'You can't hurt me unless you hurt yourself.' He was genuinly in pain now, feeling her painful thoughts. One thing the scientist's failed to perfect. Travelling in a group made the Hivemind extremely powerful, but it was easier to harm them, as injuring one would resonate throughout the group. Zaq could feel a drop of sweat forming over his brow, wincing in pain.

xxxHe could feel wetness form in his eyes, 'Please, I'm tired of it being my fault.' He was sure it sounded bad, but he just couldn't think past all of this pain. It was intense, and it was amazing that Faerai could contain it. 'I'm sorry... Just stop hurting yourself.' His entire body was shaking, as he was forcing himself to stay standing.

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xxxZaq was unable to believe that it was not his fault. With every part of his soul, he knew he triggered it, he felt it. Pulling his legs up to his chest, he peered over them, unsure of what to do, what to say, what to even think. He was calm, but not enjoying it like he usually does. Maybe he was tired or maybe he was restless, either way, he was uncomfortable. He already started to bring a small air stream from the base of the volcanoe to their position. He had hoped it would carry the aroma of the trees, but it did not. Instead, it was bleak, no fascinating scent.

xxxWith a sigh, Zaq finally release his grip around his legs and laid back, look up through the small cloud of ash that lay over head. He thought about the blast of flame Faerai sent out. Maybe no one noticed, maybe they would think that it was a reaction within the volcanoe, or maybe they would be lucky somehow. They were small hopes, knowing that none would be likely if there were indeed a large group of Unborn on the island with them. He turned to see Faerai's hair dance playfully in the small breeze, making him smile for a moment before he remembered what had just happened. He turned back to the sky.

xxxHe laid that way for at least a few moments. 'Nothing's wrong with you.' Zak finally told her. It was something he had always wanted to tell her, ever since others pointed her out for her odd appearance and temperment. 'You don't need to be fixed.' He couldn't look at her directly, still ashamed of himself for having her do such damage to herself. He felt that everything about her was interesting; her hair, her ears, her tattoos, everything. The scientists, however, found flaws. Imperfections about Faerai that needed improvement, always running experiments on her to try solving what they considered to be problems. In the end most, even Faerai, came to think of her as being less. Came to think of her as needing repair.

Faerai Daegen
Hivemind

XXXFaerai looked at him and sighed quietly. She lay back as he was and looked up at the darkening sky. 'There is plenty wrong with me. I can't control my anger, I know this, and yet I can't change it. My power, it feels like it's a separate part from me, like it's something other. That's not right, is it?' She shrugged a slight smile appearing as the first star showed through the ash above.

XXX She sat up, bracing herself on her arms and looking at Zaq. 'It's not your fault, you know. I'm just... broken.' She trailed off, just looking at him. Faerai slowly reached out, laying her hand on his arm. "It's alright," she whispered softly on the wind. 'I know there's much about me that still needs to be fixed. There is much wrong. I know that. And that's okay, it's a part of who- no, what- I am.'

XXX She patted his arm once and lay back down, looking up at the stars. 'You know, one of the scientists told me about the stars. She said they were really just balls of fiery gas light-years away. That the light we see from them now was actually the light they were shining a long time ago.' Why the scientist had told her that was still unknown. Perhaps it was just a side thought that she had thought Faerai might enjoy seeing as how she was practically a creature of fire.

"It seems that experiments 26117 and 13474 are very close to each other," Renko reported into the recorder, "They share a bond stronger than what most hiveminds share. It seems that hiveminds can freely develop strong bonds and emotions for those around them. However, it still has to be seen whether or not the Unborn can do the same by themselves." Of course, she knew about the close relationship that the Unborn in the tracking had for each other; however, that relationship was instilled into the two Unborns to maximize their performance as a pair. While it was true that it worked much better than the scientists had expected, it was still something that the scientists had controlled This interaction between experiments 26117 and 13474 wasn't something that the researchers had caused She looked at her clock, in ten minutes their shift will end.
Five minutes later, her partner finally appeared. He yawned and slouched into a chair, not even bothering to set up his station. Renko thought to herself as she watched her useless partner come in just to look as if he was working. Another five minutes passed and the next pair came in, ready to relieve Renko and her worthless partner of their shift. The two interns came in and started setting up. With distate, Renko thought,
"You shouldn't drag the speakers and mic so far to the front and slouch in the chair. Furthermore, you should supply yourself with notebooks," she corrected, her partner had already long gone.
The new pair rolled their eyes. One of them said with disdain, "Shouldn't you go?"
Renko shrugged and turned arrogantly, if those two weren't going to do their job probably then it wasn't her fault. The new pair both grimaced at each other as Renko exited the room.

Renko made quick stop to the cafetaria to get something to eat, and bringing the food up with her, she went to her room to look over the notes she had written down as she observed the experiments. The ones that she had to watch over were quite interesting and unique.
Before she started, she turned on her computer and TV and connected both of them to the video cameras that had been hidden all over the Island. The same cameras that provided the live footage that she had been analyzing in the observation room. While it was best to watch the experiments in the observation room, that didn't mean that the footage was only limited to those screens. All scientists on the Island could access it if they wanted to.
She programmed the screens so that her computer showed experiments 13474 and 26117 while her TV screen, which was a part of the wall, was divided into three different screens that showed experiment 31245, the tracking team, and experiment U-273. Each separate screen was about as big as the computer monitor.
As Renko looked over her notes, but she kept her recorder nearby and her eyes on the multiple screens just in case something interesting happened. While her notes won't be synced with the videos, she was alright with that. It just meant that she needed to describe what happened in slightly more detail.

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xxxAlthough just as comfortable, Zaq was not as tired. On the contrary, he was restless. He pulled himself even closer to Faerai, still holding her hand, and brushed some remaining bangs from her face. He stared at her sleeping form for a few more minutes before he turned away and watched the sky again. "Lights from far away, huh?" He whispered. "The brightest light in my sky is laying right next to me." Rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.

xxxZaq wondered why he wasn't asleep as well, maybe it the rocky ground. But he should have known it was because of the potential of an encounter. He had to protect Faerai, he simply had to. If any Unborn came, if any saw that flare from earlier, he had to be able to keep her safe. He felt the wind, felt motion within it, but it was only the wind he controlled, otherwise they were primed for an easy assault. Not to mention the motion could be anything really. A small leaf could feel like a boulder to him. Yet it was the only way to detect others, and the Unborn must have thousands of ways to detect them.

The various scenes on her TV were buzzed out and then replaced by the face of an elderly man, the head professor of the research facility. He ordered, "Renko, report to my office immediately," and then buzzed out. Once again, the various scenes that the experiments were in appeared. Renko immediately turned off her computer and TV and quickly organized her notes.

She stepped into the office of the head professor, Professor Greene, who was also the head of the whole operation. "You asked for me, sir," Renko asked professionally after she closed the door, standing up tall with her hands behind her back. She wasn't muscular, but she was definitely fit.
"Yes I did," Professor Green looked up from his papers, he was a wiry old man with neatly trimmed hair and large wire glasses, "Now, I'm certain that you know that the research on Unborn and Hivemind have reached their final stage, correct?"
Renko nodded, still as stiff as ever, "Yes sir, all that is left now is to observe them and see which one is more efficient was weapons. Through this elimination process, we also won't have to worry about getting rid of the weaker experiments either."
"Yes, yes," Green nodded at Renko's explanation, "I see that you're well informed. Now, there is another project we are working on that is also connected to the Experiments. As you must have already figured out, we require a method to completely control them."
"Don't we have the brainwashing technology?" Renko interrupted, sure of herself.
"Yes, but we require something more if we are to fully control them," Green continued, "Which is where you come in."
"If there is any research that you would like me to do, I will perform it to...," Renko started to say but was cut off.
Green waved her off, "No, no. What we require is something more… important than research," he stood from his chair and Renko started to do the say, but he waved her to sit down, "It's alright, please sit," Renko sat, "Now, where was I? Oh yes. All of the Experiments have been raised ever since they were embryos, correct? However, that doesn't make them as obedient as we need them to be. What we need is to give the powers that the Experiments possess to those who have proved their loyalty, without losing their loyalty by torturing them with the tests that the Experiments had to undergo. In reality, the experiments were simply test subjects, they were never meant to be the final product. The true final product is this," Green showed Renko a case. He opened it and pulled out a liquid encased in a glass tube. Renko was about to ask a question when she was silenced, again, by the wave of Professor Green's hand, "This… is a serum that will alter the genetic structure of whoever takes it over a prolonged period of time to give them the powers that the Hivemind and Unborn have. At the moment, we can only alter the DNA structure on a very broad basis. We don't know how broad, but it will definitely not give the user the powers equal to the power that the Experiments possess. Furthermore, while we are sure that there will be little to no harmful side effects from previous experiments run on this serum. We are not sure if this improved version will have no side effects."
"Sir," Renko quickly interrupted before she could be stopped, "All of this information is fascinating and I believe I can be responsible for it, but I doubt that this information is freely given to interns. Why me?"
"Renko, you have one of the best combinations of mental and physical aptitude out of, not only the interns, but everyone here, including the scientists and soldiers. As a result, we see you worthy of being one of the first to use the serum."
"You mean," Renko saw right through the cover-up, "one of the ones to test out the new serum."
"Yes," Professor Green calmly professed, "We know that the strain will be…."
Renko felt that Green was about to condescend her so she snobbishly interrupted, "I will test the serum to prove its efficiency. Furthermore, as I will be the one testing it, it will simply make it easier to collect data on it. It will also greatly help me analyze the experiments now that I possess some of the powers that they do," and in a few short sentences, Renko agreed to not only become a test-subject, but play an active role in the research of the serum while continuing her analysis on the experiments.
"Very good," Professor Green said with a knowing smile, as if he knew that Renko would agree. He then proceeded to explain the details of the experiment.