It turns out after I collapsed in the meeting room the woman quickly contacted a medical team. Where she then found out that several other students and staff members were also collapsing. Everyone who had collapsed was rushed into emergency surgery, not everyone made it.

The ones who did had mutations that were caused from minor radiation exposure in cryostasis. Micah said he collapsed a few days after I did, but his mutation affected his physical capabilities and it included his recovery time. It only a week and a half for him to recover compared to my 3 weeks.

Judy arrived back to our room during that time. She was covered in bandages and in a medically induced coma due to the extent of her injuries. Micah said it was a mentally exhausting period of time as all he could do was watch the two of us as we were poked and prodded at while sleeping.

Judy was sleeping under a vent that provided oxygen, it just so happens that  she got the brunt of the radiation when a purifier broke. Several other kids experienced the same thing she did. However, most didn't make it, Judy was lucky she survived, and she would forever bare the scars that showed just how close to death she was. They were lucky they got it back up and running when they did or all the people in the rooms affected would have died.

I looked over at Micah and Judy as they quietly played a game of tic-tac-toe Judy has already won five times compared to the one win Micah pulled off after Judy pretended to make a mistake. They seemed about as happy as they could be in these circumstances and I was happy for them.

My chest ached and I looked back down at the book in my lap. It was one of the books made specifically for the Shelters. It took classic fairytales and changed them to match the circumstances. Apparently they didn't want to encourage younger generations to leave too soon. So, they taught them about how to make sure the vault stayed self sustaining through childish takes such as Benny and the Shelter Stock. Where Benny climbed up a shelf into the vents and found what he thought would benefit him and his family, it was freedom, but ends up alerting a mutated creature. It follows him back down into the Shelter where Benny sacrifices himself to keep the creature from entering the Shelter.

These books were stupid and I couldn't comprehend how anyone wouldn't be able to see it was brainwashing. Put the Shelter and it's inhabitants before yourself is the running theme of all the story books that were altered.

Only in a few books was cryostasis mentioned. It told children that we were friends from the past, that they needed to take care of us to advance the future. Our blood had an easier time purging radiation, something that they still couldn't quite understand. We shed the poisonous cells and purify ourselves so we were essential for the future of our society.

Once again I glanced over at the other two. My eyes lingered on Judy as the terror that lingers in the back of my mind made itself known once more.

Shedding.. was a pretty accurate way to describe it. While we may not have radiation flowing through our veins anymore after the vent broke, it still left a mark on several of us. My eyes were no longer the same and I didn't really want to think about any other changes I have underwent, all I know is that my recovery speed is the same as before and I could now see things I wasn't able to previously.

I touched the black veins spreading from my eyes and willed them away, I didnt want to deal with them right now. It came as a surprise when they seemed to listen, the bumpy texture smoothed out beneath my finger tapes and I let out a small gasp before gingerly getting out of bed, still wary of my unexercised limbs. I carefully walked towards the bathroom connected to our room, my hand still feeling around my eyes for the veins. When I stepped in and locked eyes with myself in the mirror I watched as they widened in surprise.

The veins were gone and my eye color was back to normal, no more black sclera although they were still a grey and my iris was back to its original brown.

"Kei? Are you okay?" I heard from behind me, I turned around and saw Judy and Micah watching me from the doorway. They noticed my eyes right away and they both looked surprised. Judy and Micah walked towards me to take a closer look and I sat on the bathroom counter as my legs were beginning to feel exhausted.

"The... Black is gone?" Judy observed my face in curiosity and gently touched the skin around my eyes. Micah did so as well, he leaned closer his eyes narrowing and his finger tips skimmed the skin under my left eye.

"This is-" He was cut off by the sound of our door sliding open and the sound of several footsteps rushing in. Within seconds the bathroom was swarming with people. Men and women in lab coats pushed the other two away asa wheelchair pushed by a guard was brought into the room.

I could feel my heart begin to race as I watched my two friends get shoved to the back of the crowd and pushed out of the small bathroom. Our Doctor was here again, the same cold lady as before, she took out a tool, a small flashlight to see how reactive your pupils were to stimulation and began checking me over.

That's when I realized that they were watching us. I should have known considering they knew Judy was dying without either of us calling for help. I was guided to the chair forcefully after she checked my eyes. I didn't want to be a lab rat again but it seems like that was going to happen regardless of what I wanted.

The stress of all this seemed to have caused the black to come back, everything was sharper and it was overwhelming all over again. I struggled against them trying to get their invasive hands off of me. They managed to force me into the chair and when I felt straps latch onto one of my wrists I snapped.

I felt my jaw lock down on someone's arm and I scratched someone. Hoping that they would get away from me if I hurt them. Everything went quiet and suddenly there was no more invasive hands, just the feeling of warmth of my fingers and dripping down my throat and face-

My eyes snapped open, infront of me was a doctor dying on the floor, the contents of her stomach spilling out of the gaping wounds on her abdomen. The doctor that I bit still had his arm in my mouth he was turned the other way bracing himself against the pain as my suddenly razor sharp teeth had managed to bite halfway through his arm. I quickly unlatched and tried to push myself away, stumbling because of the forgotten strap still attaching me to the chair. I fell out of the bathroom and tried to catch myself on the door framed when I saw the black pointed nails on my hands.

What the hell was wrong with me? I look like a monster!

I killed someone!

I didn't mean to I swear!

My heart was pounding so loud that it was all I could hear. The thick metallic tasting liquid that coated my mouth and tongue made me gag and I quickly reached up to cover my mouth when I saw the grotesque claws that adorned my hands once more and immediately averted my gaze. The blood was caked onto my fingers and it made me feel even more sick. I could feel the rapid rise and fall of my lungs, they feeling of familiarity as the fear and panic crushed me once more.

I could distantly hear yelling and suddenly I was grabbed again. I felt a growl reverberate in my chest as I went to slash at whoever dared tried to take me against my will again.

I may not have meant to kill that person and hurt the other but I would NOT be forced to be a science experiment. I don't want to be taken apart and put back together again, I refuse!

They stopped my attack, this time a smaller hand grabbed my other arm and pulled it away from the other person.

A gentle humming snapped me out of my panic.

The lethargy of suddenly dropping from my emotional outburst made me feel exhausted and I could barely comprehend the forms of my two friends keeping me close and shielding me from the guards that had their rifles out. Judy tucked herself against my side and Micah continued to kneel in front of me. Blocking them from being able to take a shot without hurting him.

The humming was coming from Judy, and as my eyes drifted shut, the only thought I had was that she really improved in the last couple of weeks.