#mind!reader

March 18th 2023

It wasn't long before they were sitting on the plane to Italy in the morning. While they had all their tactical gear in rucksacks, Price had required they bring multiple pairs of civvie disguises. They'd be walking around a popular tourist area trying to check out both their target and Makarov's men. Laswell had also requested that they avoid the local authorities and not get spotted by anyone, so the conclusion was to try and blend in. The Captain had pulled out two boring-looking suitcases from storage for their use. At 6 am sharp they loaded up on the plane and Soap had deeply enjoyed teasing Ghost that he'd have to take off his mask and wear Bermuda shorts. But much to the Scot's disappointment Price just rolled his eyes and told him Ghost would be the surveillance. It would be Gaz, Soap, and himself walking around playing tourist while Ghost slinked in the shadows and provided overwatch. As much as he tried to hide it Ghost was silently grateful for Price's choice. He didn't think he'd do very well as a tourist, he felt like stuck out too much, even in his civvies. Gaz quickly organized the two suitcases and their rucksacks into a neat pile up against the wall, strapped them up, and plopped himself down in a seat grinning at the rest of them "You know what… I've never been to Italy before. Get to check that off my list." "You have a list?" Price huffed as he looked up from his phone. "Course I have a list, sir. Keep track of everywhere I've been. Parents got me this map that you mark the countries you've been to" Sergent Garrick said with a grin "Don't you keep track?"

"Not anymore. Lost track years ago" he said as he ran his fingers through his beard and smiled. "Won't fault you for your fun though Kyle. If my folks got me a coloring sheet I'd be doing it too." There was a deep cough covering an obvious laugh coming from Ghost and the older sergeant leaned back in his seat and smirked at Price "Ahh being cheeky with me are you sir?" "Always."

The rest of the 141's time in the air was without incident and spent fairly quietly. The four men reread the notes they had taken, which were the only physical notes they were allowed to bring. Laswell had wanted things kept on the down low. Which then meant no texts, emails, or other electronic communication during the case other than their secure comm units. With the leak in the CIA still unidentified she wasn't risking anything. They had been allowed to take their phones which had been a surprise but Price had made it clear they were not to place any personal calls or messages, or even think about touching their social media without his approval. But Laswell had pointed out that tourists without phones were suspicious and they all agreed with that fact. It also helped that they could use them to translate too. None of the 141 spoke Italian. It wasn't in their skillset. But they'd learn as they go and get by. Gaz had already learned a few basic words over the flight and Soap had downloaded some language-learning app onto his phone. As there was some shuffling and movement on the other side of the plane Ghost slowly looked over at Soap and asked in a perfectly deadpan voice "You brought enough sunscreen for us all right Johnny?" Soap, leaning over and rubbing sunscreen on his legs, looked up at the masked man with an indignant look. "Oi piss off mate, leave me alone."

Gaz snorted loudly, unable to keep a straight face as the youngest member of their team immediately started bitching. The Scot nearly ran his sunscreen-covered hand through his mohawk but quickly thought better of it as he wiped the excess off onto his forearm. "Come on I don't want a sunburn. That shit is annoying as fuck, I peeled the last time I got burnt and it fuckin hurts!" They all watched as the Scot started grumbling, mostly to himself as Ghost's shoulders were silently shaking a little "I don't know how the fuck you're wearing jeans Ghost. It's gonna be like 24 when we land. You make fun of me but you're gonna roast. Actually, I have an extra pair of shorts if you want mate? I got Gaz and Price some too." Soap continued to spit out at Ghost as he began to dig through his backpack. Ghost had worn clothes as casually as he went on an operation. The skull mask was just too much on such a delicate op, even a plain black balaclava would draw too much attention in the sleepy tourist area. He'd get the cops called on him if he went out like that. Instead, he had settled on a thick black fabric facemask and a grey ballcap pulled down low. At least the pandemic had made using face masks much more commonplace, it would work well enough. He wore dark jeans, a lightweight zip-up hoodie, and a dark blue t-shirt underneath. He had the hood up, feeling strange without his usual full mask, though there was no anxiety. The looks the Sergeants had given each other when he had arrived that morning had been silent but surprised. Ghost had never actually worn anything less than a balaclava on any of his operations with the 141. But Price and Laswell had both been very serious about keeping an extremely low profile and the Lieutenant was not one for insubordination.

The masked man who was hunched over in his seat looked at the Scot in disbelief and then at Gaz who nodded while trying not to laugh, confirming that Soap had seriously just bought everyone shorts, "Johnny are you telling me you went to the fockin' store last night…?" Soap blinked, looked down at his pale blue shorts, and tugged them. "I mean, yeah? After the briefing. They were open to 11, and I needed socks anyway. The ones I got were pretty stretchy." He dug around in his pack and grinned " I got you a bigger size anyway. Here! They're green." Price was shaking his head at all of them as Soap aggressively tossed the dark green shorts over to Ghost who reluctantly picked the bundle of fabric off the ground, pinching it and holding it like a dead rat. He watched the amusing scene and then looked down at himself with a grimace. He was not a fan of the blue patterned button-up and white tank top he had put on but it gave him enough room to carry his pistol in the back of his khaki shorts and keep it concealed. The Captain sighed at himself, he looked like a dad on vacation… He then looked at the youngest Sergeant bickering with his Lieutenant and then at Gaz who was snickering. Bloody fucking hell… He felt like a dad on vacation. He cleared his throat "Sergeant MacTavish… did you… buy us all matching shorts?

"Course I did Captain" Soap said looking extremely pleased with himself as he then tossed an orangey peach-coloured pair at the bearded man who caught them reluctantly. The Captain considered them for a moment and tried to hide his sigh and eye-roll before leaning over and shoving them into one of the suitcases. "I'll look ridiculous in these…" Ghost added as he locked eyes with Gaz who he now recognized was indeed wearing matching shorts with Soap. They were a light pink colour that only Gaz could pull off and he had paired them with a loose brown t-shirt. "You blokes just decided to keep dressing like twins then? This a kink thing? You two into some weird shit?" Ghost's goading did not seem to work very well as Gaz just threw him a beaming grin "Like you could talk sir. You remember what Laswell said. Need a cover story for us being there and may I remind you Lieutenant… you and the Captain were the ones who decided we're just a good ol' group of friends from the same football club on vacation together." "Didn't have time to make us matching vacation shirts sir." Soap sassed back as he smeared some more sunscreen on his hand and began to rub it on his nose. He leaned over and handed the tube to Price who took it with a reluctant sigh. Grunting in disbelief Ghost quickly shoved the shorts into his rucksack. In all honestly… he'd rather die than let Soap have the satisfaction of seeing him in them.

The first few hours of landing in Italy were a bustle of getting organized. They disembarked the plane at the Naval base and were greeted by some Italian Navy personnel. Thankfully AISI, the Italian Foreign Intelligence Agency had a good working relationship with the C.I.A. and Laswell personally knew a few people. She explained that she had thrown them a red herring about her looking for weapons dealers. And so they didn't question her or their activities. They just told her to keep a low profile. And it had seemed to go over well because they only asked Price a few quick questions in English and checked their military IDs before they were allowed to go on their way. They quickly got loaded up into a jeep that they drove for about an hour until they arrived at a small house. A newer building with plenty of trees and bushes on the small bit of land around the home. Orange tiles on the roof and a slightly dirty white stucco exterior, not that much different than the surrounding homes and apartment buildings. To no surprise, Laswell was already there to greet them, she had caught a red eye on a civilian flight over from England with one of her many alternate passports. She'd likely be holed up here for the duration of their search until they found their target and she could meet with her. Price radioed her over their secure comms, letting her know they had arrived. She came outside to greet them and let the four of them in. Slight bags could be seen under her eyes but the older woman did not let on that she was anything but ready to help track their new target. There was a short visit as they switched vehicles to a very beat-up-looking station wagon with a hidden compartment in the trunk and were quickly given a paper list full of notes on recommended motels. Given to Laswell by her agent who had been working here for a while.

The weather as predicted was sunny and incredibly warm for it only being late March. It beamed down from the sky as they drove along the water that was dotted with small and large boats alike. Soap who had been scrolling on his phone ("Aye, Captain I'm just readin' the news") had informed them that Italy was currently experiencing a late spring heatwave. And boy if it wasn't true. The 141 had dealt with hotter temperatures for sure. But it didn't change the fact that the sun was bearing down on them without a cloud in the sky. Ghost would never admit it… but if he was on leave and along somewhere this hot… he'd absolutely be wearing those shorts. A half-hour ferry ride and some more driving later they had finally reached Reggio Calabria. Price took the time to silently drive around the busier parts of the city to get a feel for it before filling up on gas. Ghost, who had been sitting in the passenger seat for hours now was reading directions out to the Captain as they drove around scouting out the different motels on their list. The bearded man driving spent half of the time questioning the recommendations Kate's agent had given her. Turning down the first six ones they had scouted out for various reasons.

"What bout this one sir?" Gaz tried as they slowly drove by a fairly run-down building. A surprising amount of litter was scattered around in the neighborhood, and behind the motel, they could see a small pile of broken furniture. Price drove around the block slowly and then glanced at Ghost who gave a small nod in return. "As long as they take cash and don't ask questions like Kate's agent said, then I think we've got a good spot." "Aye, looks quiet" Soap piped up in agreement as he leaned forward and looked out the window. "How you wanna play this Captain?" "Think we best pair up, there'll be no denying we know each other. We'll arrive separately though, so keep a low profile. You know the story. On vacation as friends." He said as he was cut off by Gaz's cheek. "Sure, 'friends'," he said with a grin, air quotes and all as Soap tried not to snort or laugh in response. "Sharing rooms and all." With shocking speed, the Captain took off his hat and turned in the front seat so he could whip it at Gaz "Kyle!"

"Sorry sir," The young man said with a beaming grin on his face barely managing to catch it before it hit him. Price could only huff in response his cheeks flushing ever so slightly, Gaz wasn't sorry for his cheek at all. He'd been annoying as all hell the past few weeks. The Scot sitting next to Gaz in the back seat rolled his eyes and leaned over, half-hardheartedly whispering to Gaz "Pish, fockin lier" "Shhh MacTavish don't you say a-" Ghost cut them both off "Zip it you two. Now, John how 'bout you go round the block and park? Let's figure this bullshit out." It only took a few minutes for Price to find a spot he could park, there was a run-down and mostly deserted building two streets down with an empty parking lot. Where he quickly parked in the one patch of shade provided. "We are paying cash, no callsigns or real names." Price reminded the group as they sat parked down the street from the motel. Price was in the driver's seat and half turned around to talk to everyone

"So who am I then?" Gaz joked from the back seat with a much more muted playful tone "Steve?" "Oh sod off Kyle." Price rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. Everyone sound off, match your first letter." Gaz huffed slightly but knew what that meant. This wasn't the first time they've done this. He shrugged and answered "Kevin." Soap shifted a bit and scrunched up his nose "Jacob." Price nodded as he picked his "James." Ghost was silent for a good moment and he said flatly "Steve." Kyle Garrick looked like his eyes would pop out for a moment but he turned to the masked man and said to him as he narrowed his eyes a little "With all due respect sir. That was extremely uncreative." "Doesn't say nothin' 'bout creativity in the field manual" The lieutenant smirked, they could tell because the crow's feet around his eyes, ever so slightly crinkled. "Excellent" Price said ignoring the sass. "Now…. I was going to go in and get a room… Now I'm well aware I look like a nondescript white guy so hopefully, I'm forgettable enough now… but we should pair up. I don't know how many rooms this place is gonna have empty. The notes say it's a pretty small place, only 5 rooms."

After a long moment of silence sitting in the car Ghost turned to their Captain and raised an eyebrow. Even Price found it odd seeing Ghost so purposely expressively but eventually he sighed. The four of them knew what that meant, knowing from the briefing that all these places that had been recommended were borderline hostels and rooming houses. "Alright… Garrick, you're with me." Price said, firmly motioning for his hat to be returned. Gaz looked like he considered another round of cheek before thinking better of it and immediately handing it back. "Why do I get the mouthy one?" Ghost snorted as he looked behind him at Soap's smirking face. "They're both mouthy. But If we put them together they'll be far more mouthy and memorable." Price grumbled as he opened the door to get out "You take the Scot. Half the base already thinks he's warming your bed. Good enough cover to be believable." There was a genuine splutter of surprise from the normally stoic man as he watched his Captain get out of the car. Sure their Taskforce wasn't exactly fully integrated with the SAS base. They more or less just lived there and had a few small facilities, not actually interacting with the rest of the SAS soldiers much. Some sort of agreement between the CIA and SIS. So the base was usually rampant with rumors about all of them.

Ghost was a vampire and did animal sacrifices on the full moon. Garrick had slept with the head cook's daughter. Soap was secretly Irish but disguised his accent. Price was shagging Laswell (which was quite possibly the most laughable of all of the rumors). Price was shagging Nikolai (weirdly that one was far more believable.) As Gaz and Price slipped out of the car Soap moved forward to the driver's seat. They watched the two men walk down the motel, Gaz with his backpack and the Captain with a small rolling suitcase. Mostly for show. Blend in as a tourist… but Ghost was well aware there were more than simple clothes stuffed into the bags. "Well… I guess why don't we go grab a few snacks then sir." Soap carefully suggested as he looked at Ghost. "We'll join them in a couple of hours then?" The lieutenant was quite obviously frowning under his mask but grunted and nodded nonetheless. Though Soap doubted he was truly annoyed, his two superiors got along incredibly well. There were many post-mission evenings the two of them spent chatting and drinking in Price's office.

Amusing enough it seems despite the difference in skin colour the clerk wrongly assumed Price was Gaz's dad. He was a much older man, with scraggly grey hair and squinting over a pair of thick glasses. He barely spoke English and his Italian was heavily accented, But the Sergeant had been able to translate that he said something along the lines of "Have a nice family visit with your son." Price didn't deny it, it sounded like a great cover. However, it was weird because they had asked for one room which he knew from their intel only had one bed. But honestly, the man at the front desk had been so spacey that he seriously wondered if he was maybe on medication or drugs. This, in turn, caused Gaz to nearly break down in laughter once they got to the small, musty room. Price of course was far less amused and grumbled as he tossed his suitcase on the bed "I'm only 37 for god's sake. I'm not that old!" "Still nearly 10 years older than me, sir." Gaz snickered as he quickly radioed Soap that they were in. Though he did continue to prod the beast "Come on Captain. He was so open-minded too. We look nothing alike and he still assumed you were my dad-" "Better than the fucking alternative" The Captain grumbled as he checked over the room. "Oh and what would that be sir?" Gaz asked in false innocence, knowing exactly what the clerk could be thinking they were. He had his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, trying very hard to hide his grin. Price slowly turned and glared at him before rolling his eyes in exasperation "For fuck's sake Sergeant, can it." "See, now you actually sound like my dad." The younger man snorted as he pulled out a laptop from his backpack. "You aren't helping your case, John." Price responded with something unintelligible and began to check the corners of the mattress, before then going in and checking the bathroom. Gaz did his best not to laugh out loud at his superior, he was hounding him solidly, but they did have a job to do now.

Ghost and Soap returned to the motel around an hour later, awkwardly showing up at the desk where the old man was still working. Not really willing to say anything himself the older man had just sighed and told his Sergeant to get them a room. What followed was Johnny smiling and being his usual friendly and chatty self, asking for a room for them in very broken Italian as he looked down at his phone trying to translate. The old man at the desk was eating a tomato like an apple, sprinkling salt and pepper on it. Not paying much attention to them. He simply nodded and put out his hand expectantly. He didn't say how much but Price had radioed him earlier what they had paid and Ghost simply shoved that plus an extra twenty Euros into his hand. The clerk quickly counted it as he took another bite of tomato, accidentally spraying the juice onto his arm and the money. Soap tried his best to hide his look of mild disgust as he simply wiped the juice off with his bare hand. And then had to hide the flush that wanted to fill his cheeks when the older man looked up at Ghost and raised an eyebrow. He looked back at Soap, smirked and chuckled to himself and then reached into his desk and pulled out a key. Tossing it to the tall man and mumbling something in Italian with a smirk that went straight over Soap's head. Ghost held in his heavy sigh and merely nudged the Scot on the shoulder "Come on now. Let's go unpack." "Yeah yeah, I'm coming Steve." Soap said, rolling his eyes once he had turned away from the clerk.

The two of them quickly found that the place did indeed only had five rooms. Three along one side of the hallway and two on the other, their room was at the end of the dim skinny hallways. And by a thankful stroke of luck Price and Gaz had been put in the room next to them. The next couple of hours were spent settling in and sweeping for bugs before all four of them silently slipped into Soap and Ghost's room. It was the farthest from the desk, facing the rocky outcrop the crumbling apartment building turned hostel was built next to. It did make the most sense, they could stay quiet and not be overheard. The snacks Soap and picked up at the store while they staggered their arrivals went quite well with the group. But he had been paying attention to their choices, and got some sour candies since Price and he both seemed to like sour things. A few different types of biscuits and crackers, he knew Ghost liked them, even if he didn't admit it. Chocolates for Gaz to nibble on though he was pretty sure they were going to melt during the day. It was nearly 3 pm when the four of them began to prepare for their first sweep of the area. A table in what they now dubbed 'Steve's room' had a map unrolled on it, areas where Makarov's men and the spots their target had been spotted were circled in red and blue ink. "Alright, we should get eyes on her and see what happens." Ghost said, his voice low. While they had teased each other earlier they were still a group of top special forces members. Finding a single woman who didn't want to be found was not the easiest task. But putting their skills together was more than possible to find her. "I don't want to approach her until we know what we're dealing with." "Agreed" Price said from his spot sitting on the edge of the double bed that was topped with an incredibly ugly floral blanket "Kate's advised us not to get within 20 meters of her until we are planning on speaking with her. She seems to think the girl might be able to sense us."

"What's the difference between sensing us specifically and any other person walking by her?" Gaz asked looking up from the map on the table and raising an eyebrow. In a moment of mild frustration Price vaguely threw his hands up "I'm not sure ok. But I'm inclined to take any warnings she's given us very seriously." "Can't hurt to be careful." Ghost drawled and spoke slowly, considering the possibility seriously for the first time. She might be able to read his mind. Oh, he didn't like that. Not one bit... And the more he thought about it the more he realized he realized that while this mission might not involve violence... It might still involve some other unpleasant things. Ghost leaned back and looked at the group "I certainly don't want her digging around in my head..." Soap sucked on his teeth and nodded in agreement. "... Aye. Won't lie. Gives me the willies." Gaz looked incredibly uncomfortable for a few moments and looked up at the Captain, his brown eyes hid a small flicker of uncertainty. But Price took a breath and exhaled and spoke in a calm confident voice. "Now lads, I know this could get weird... I still don't know if I quite believe Kate about the whole 'powers' thing but... really want to go the polite route. Let's not do anything to antagonize her, be nice, be polite... don't be cheeky with her. I think a sense of empathy for her situation will get us much farther than we think."

The other three men in the room nodded in agreement. Soap sighed softly and leaned back in his chair as he adjusted his shirt a bit. He had switched out his t-shirt for a plain white tank top with a loose beige button-up shirt on top since he was also playing tourist now. They had seen quite a few men going around in white undershirts so it seemed to be a common style choice in Italy. Though he was still minimally armed of course two knives and a small pistol hidden in the back of his shorts, the same as Price, Ghost, and Gaz. Price finished handing out a generous amount of local currency ("Courtesy of the CIA") and packs of local cigarettes with lighters ("Courtesy of Kate"), before they all got ready and headed out to scout.

It was 3:27 pm local time when the 141 hit the streets, with Soap, Gaz, and Price wandering beaches and markets hoping to spot their VIP. Ghost took the car around and checked the places Makarov's men had been spotted. They quickly noticed that while the city was nice, everything did look very old, including most of the buildings. Unfortunately, the day started going by pretty quickly. Price, Gaz, and Soap all found themselves wandering around for hours. Buying the occasional gelato or ice lolly to tide them over and keep themselves busy. And before they knew it, 8 pm came up quickly and they regrouped when Ghost picked them up on a quieter road near one of the beaches. Gaz was sipping on a bottle of water as he slumped in the back seat "We'll nothing so far. I'm fucking beat though… could use a small break boss." "Aye, listen, I just vote we get some pizza…" Soap declared sitting next to the other sergeant in the back seat. "We are in Italy after all." Taking off his hat and wiping his forehead Price sighed but agreed. "… I suppose so. Not like we can work on an empty stomach. Simon are… you okay eating at a restaurant or should we take it back to the motel?" There was a small bit of awkwardness being asked directly in front of the others, but he appreciated the Captain checking his comfort level. He understood why. He ate in front of them all the time with the balaclava, it was generally a non-issue.

Except he was only wearing a facemask, eating in public would mean exposing his entire face, while out on an operation. Something he had been extremely careful to avoid since returning to the force post-Roba. But they were in fuckin' Italy right now… He had never been to Italy before. Real Italian pizza seemed like a bucket list item even he couldn't turn down. And the three of them had seen his face before… That's right back in Las Almas. Took his whole mask off. Sure it had been a bit arrogant of him. But it had been a show of trust to Alejandro and his men. "I'm okay going to the restaurant as long as it's not too crowded. Maybe we can find a quiet place." Ghost replied after thinking a moment. "Not gonna lie… Wouldn't mind trying the real thing too Captain." "Yeah, we should have some food, come on, If even Ghost wants pizza, then I think we should grab some," Gaz said in agreement "Alright, I hear you all. Let's get some food." Price pulled out his phone and began looking up options. As he sat in the passenger seat trying to find a good option Gaz looked over his shoulder intently muttering suggestions into the Captains ear.

Ghost had to admit he did feel a bit weird about actually eating at a restaurant, especially knowing that just for a little bit, he'd be fully exposed. It'd be one thing if they were on leave but right now they they were on location during an operation. So willingly exposing his face seemed a bit risky. But this mission was already pretty different than what they usually did. Makarov's men didn't even know they were there. And Soap was right. Being in Italy and not getting pizza… It almost seemed like a crime. They drove for about ten minutes, parked, and walked a few blocks after Price picked a spot. Thankfully they found the place pretty quickly. A old shop, with peeling paint and faded signs. But it smelled incredible, the aroma of tomatoes and cheese hovered in the street. It was surprisingly quiet though, not many people were around even with it being dinner time. Two older women sat out front gossiping loudly in Italian while two men, who they all assumed were their husbands napped on a bench in the shade. Soap did his best to order in broken Italian before they sat down around the side of the building on a tiny three-table patio. Price made sure his back was to the wall so he could watch the road and gave a subtle nod to the hulking masked man. Ghost somehow fit himself into a chair with his back to the road and the other tables… Meaning he could hide his face from the public while eating. He stared at Price for a long moment but nodded back. The Captain had his back. Always did.

They watched an older bald man make their pizzas from their table. He had been at this for years, decades maybe, because he barely looked while going through the motions. Within a few minutes, he got out a paddle and began loading the food into an ancient-looking pizza oven. They were all a bit shocked at just how fast everything was done. Within ten minutes he had pulled out, plated, and cut all the pizzas. As they got their food Soap immediately tried to dig in and almost burnt his fingers and Gaz tried not to snort. "MacTavish this isn't Dominos. That's an 800-degree oven over there. Give it a second to cool." "Ah, damn it…" Soap muttered quietly, feeling his fingers after the burn and blowing gently on the pizza. Gaz snorted at the display and immediately took his phone out to take a picture of his pizza covered in peppers and olives. "Only personal-" Price started before he was cut off. "Only personal use. I know sir. And I'll wait till after the mission is done to send it, don't worry I know the rules. But come on, I gotta brag to my brother about this later." Gaz cut him off and smiled. They all had a lot of strict rules and regulations about social media and taking photos at work so he did his best to smooth out any worries. "Don't worry boss, no one's in the photo, just the pizzas!" "Send it to me too!" Soap said as he licked his thumb a bit and his eyes widened at how good the sauce was. "I wanna send it to my parents after we get back."

Price nodded, satisfied with the answer and took the cans of coke the staff member handed him. Quickly he handed it out to the other three men before he sniffed his pizza which was covered in melted mozzarella and groaned "Bloody hell that smells good." Ghost could still see the cheese bubbling on his pizza. God, it looked good but he didn't wanna burn his mouth so he gave it a minute. He just chuckled and took a second to unhook his fabric mask from his ear and let it hang to drink some of his soda. Price had seen him without the mask, even before Las Almas. They went way back… back to before Roba. He had met the old man as a Corporal before Price wore that ugly mop on the bottom of his face. Had even shown himself to the older man after he joined the 141 a few times while drinking with him. The sergeants however had only seen him once before… in Mexico. Soap looked like he was torn between saying something and just letting it be. Gaz wasn't much different and looked at him for a moment and nodded to him. Before bravely picking up his piece of pizza and blowing on it before taking a bite. They all knew Ghost was probably feeling more on edge than usual without his usual mask or balaclava. Eventually, the Scot settled for giving Ghost a slightly raised eyebrow but then just slightly shrugged and took a sip of his drink as well.

He took a piece of his pizza and started to eat. He had to admit, it was really good pizza. It had a crispy bottom from being in the stone oven. And the top was melty and flavorful. Eating the still-steaming pizza with their hands quickly became a balancing act, but it wasn't long before everyone's fingers were a slight mess from the tomato sauce and melted cheese. Price even had it in his beard. Real Italian pizza? It was a 10/10 experience the 141 quickly decided.

The rest of the day didn't turn out to be any more exciting for them. There was nothing noteworthy to report to Laswell unless you counted eating an obscene amount of sweets and cannolis for dinner instead of actual food. They kept going about it till it got pretty dark and nearly midnight before returning to the motel. They squabbled for a few minutes over the rooms and the bathroom schedule for a few minutes before finally settling on their original arrangements. Gaz slept with Price in one room and Soap with Ghost in the other. And honestly with being military, sharing a bed with a fellow soldier was fine. At least there was a bed. Sleeping straight on the ground was quite common to them. Ghost had showered and gone to bed first and he was already settled in bed and the lights had been turned off before Soap hopped out of the shower. He found he was already dozing off by the time the still-damp Scot crawled into the bed with him. "Oh sod off Johnny, your still wet." He muttered tiredly. "Aye feck off. I'm tired." Soap groaned as he tried to pull some of the blankets onto himself. "You're gonna get the blanket wet you dumb fuck!" Ghost grunted as he half-heartedly kicked the Scot in the thigh "Do you know what a towel is? For fucks sake!" There were some more nasty swear words and loud insults between them before Price banged the wall from the next room. Shouting through the thin wall of the motel building. "Both of you muppets shut the fuck up or I'll order you to hug it out." Silence immediately and awkwardly filled the room for a few moments. Ghost shifted back onto his side of the small bed and grumbled loud enough for Price to hear "Sorry sir." Soap ran a hand through his mohawk trying to smush down the embarrassment in his chest "I'll towel off tomorrow ok? Promise. Don't gotta get your knickers in a twist, Simon." "Johnny?" "Aye?" "Shut the fuck up and go to sleep." "Yes sir."

March 17th, 2023

"Absolutely not Kate." Price said bluntly as he slapped the folder that contained basically a blank briefing in it straight back onto the table. "I told you yesterday I am not sending out my men with zero details. You want to give us a target, but you won't give us any information? I trust you but you need to give me something here."

Laswell currently stood in the 141's briefing room, hands crossed across her body with a pained look painted on her face. She sucked on her teeth a moment and sighed "John, you don't have clearance and I don't have permission to divulge."

"Well then get me clearance." the Captain said as he leaned back in his chair. He jerked his thumb towards the other three members of TaskForce 141. Ghost and Soap sat on a ratty brown leather couch glancing at each other, but staying silent. Gaz, however, was standing behind the couch, leaning on it casually, but he was calmly watching the interactions. All three men looked slightly uncomfortable and awkward, likely since disagreements between their Captain and CIA Station Chief Laswell were rare. The two of them were good friends and rarely got into such arguments. Price grumbled at the older woman "Get them clearance too because I am not sending them out uninformed."

The blonde woman pinched the bridge of her nose, it had become pretty clear that Price was not going to give in "Is that your official stance, Captain?"

Price leaned back gave her an incredulous look and nodded "That it is."

Gaz glanced over at Soap sharing a look and shifted quietly. Both Sergeants had accidentally dressed nearly the same in light-wash jeans and blue t-shirts, earning various 'twin' comments from Price and Ghost all morning. But neither of them would relent and go and change and were now in a childish standoff about it. It was a far different mood now than when Laswell had first arrived at the briefing and laughed at them good-naturedly.

This was the third briefing they had sat in about this target this week. The first was with Alex Keller on behalf of Laswell but… he wasn't told anything either. Just that there was a 'concern' in Italy and it needed to be brought in. Then yesterday Laswell had tried with Price during a private meeting, it had ended with Price storming out… and now she was trying again.

The masked lieutenant sat up on the couch a bit straighter and crossed his arms as he watched the interaction. He didn't bother hiding his frustration, his furrowed brows quite visible even in the balaclava. "Listen, Laswell, you know us. We're trained not to talk for god's sake, we'll sit through torture if ya need us to. We have before. What the fock is this all about?" He had been up half the night with Price trying to figure out what she had been on about. It was incredibly rare nowadays that they got jerked around like this. The Taskforce was now well-established and considered quite trustworthy.

Kate Laswell glanced over at him "I know that Ghost. And I don't trust anyone else handling this. It needs to be you four… I just-" She paused a moment, exhaled deeply and looked back at Price "I'm sorry John… Let me make a phone call"

Price nodded and untensed his shoulders, he trusted Kate, with his life many times over. But for her to hide mission information from him wasn't something she did. And if she had to, usually it was something like a name or location. But right now she hadn't shared anything. He spoke a hair softer this time "Use my office if you need."

Swiftly Laswell left the briefing room as she looked down at her phone. The door clicked shut behind her and her footsteps could be heard walking towards Price's office.

"Fuck… what's up with her? We already have top-secret clearance? What more could she want." Gaz wondered aloud shoving a hand in his pocket and rifling around. Eventually, he pulled a pack of gum out of his pocket and popped a couple of tabs out.

Soap put his hand out, reaching behind him and wiggling his hand expectantly. There was a mumbled insult from the older Sergeant but needless to say: two pieces of gum were dropped into his hand. The Scot looked at Ghost for a moment and then over to Price as he tossed them in his mouth "How high up does it come from if she can't tell us then?"

The Captain shrugged and leaned back in his chair: "Maybe presidential or international orders? Or something far too sensitive for the normal chain of command…"

Rolling his eyes Gaz immediately snorted "Don't I feel special."

The group of men chuckled at the sarcastic comment. Honestly, it wouldn't be the first time they had been sent to take care of things by world leaders or an organization outside their normal chain of command. A few months ago they had been requested by a friend of a friend who worked for the UN, to step in and assist in a hostage situation.

Price had immediately accepted the job the second he cleared it with Command and Laswell. It had been in rural Spain and the situation had been going on for days, they had needed help badly and lacked resources. The 141 had quickly managed to do an excellent job solving the situation. They had saved a classroom full of children and only needed to neutralize one of the hostage takers, taking the rest into custody and handing them over to the Spanish authorities.

The UN afterwards sent them a nice little letter of thanks and then a page that all the kids had signed. Price had immediately had it framed and put up in their briefing room. It had been nice to get recognized for their work for once, it had left them all with a very satisfied feeling. So the fact Kate was now hiding shit from them was starting to drive a wedge between her and Price, which was making Soap and Gaz very nervous. The two younger men glanced towards the door in anticipation for her return.

It was an agonizing ten-minute wait. Filled with awkward shuffling and silent scrolling on phones. Soap accidentally played a video out loud, something with a car engine and an explosion, which earned him a lazy smack on the arm from Ghost.

But finally, her footsteps could be heard in the hallways once again. The door opened back up and this time her face looked marginally less tight. The blonde woman was holding multiple file folders clutched to her chest.

"Alright, John. I got permission for you four but…" She trailed off as she started placing folders down on the grey table her blue eyes carefully looked over the four men in the room "I'd like to make it very clear that less than 100 people in the world know anything about this. It's extremely sensitive information. Classified except for exclusive permission."

That caught even Ghost's attention, and he sat up straighter on the couch, briefly making eye contact with the Captain. The men in the room quickly gave the CIA Station Chief their full attention. Laswell sighed heavily, pulled out one of the chairs and sat down as she pulled some

A jammer was turned on and tossed onto the table, scattered across the surface loudly, which caused Price to raise an eyebrow. They had top-notch security at their headquarters already, for Kate to take this many extra steps did mean she was serious… or she didn't trust them. But he didn't react and simply nodded.

"It has to do with an experimental project run from 2001-2009 by four psychiatrists, six scientists, and another dozen medical doctors. It was located in rural Kentucky, up in the mountains in a very small town. That being said, the project was not approved by any government or regulating body. It was done completely off the books."

"Alright…" Price said, he sighed as he sat on the other side of the table from Kate looking down at the folders in front of her. "What exactly are we looking for? What was this project?"

She slid the files across the table towards Price and the other three soldiers quickly got to their feet and approached the table. The sergeants pulled out the metal folding chairs and sat themselves down, each on one side of the Captain. While Ghost hung back a little. The masked man stood behind Price and gazed down in interest.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. That's why I brought the paperwork." Kate said with a heavy exhale as she absentmindedly rubbed her thumb on the folder "You may read the files, but you are not permitted to make any type of copy or pass them on."

Adjusting his hat Price nodded towards her "Understood. This information won't leave this room, Kate. I can assure you."

Kate sighed "It was human experimentation." She said bluntly. "These are copies. The originals were destroyed years ago, along with 99% of the documentation from the work they did. This was all that was left that was able to be salvaged."

Sighing heavily Price muttered something under his breath about needing a smoke, then picked up the three file folders and quietly began to spread the contents over the table. Gaz watched silently his eyes scanning the documents. Most of it was blacked out as expected. The first few pages gave some insight into what she said. Human experimentation. But it didn't say what type. Were they hunting down a doctor or something? That would make sense.

"I'm going to need you four to bring someone in for me." Laswell bluntly stated "Alive and unharmed. Do I make myself clear?"

"Listen we don't go around just snatching people up." Soap protested slightly but trailed off for a moment as Price gave him a stern look before continuing, "Aye…ok we aren't above it, but there's got to be a good reason. Is this one of the doctors or something?"

The massive lieutenant leaned back slightly in his chair and rubbed his nose through the balaclava he was wearing "You need all four of us on this, Laswell? Really?"

All four men watched her glare at him in mock-annoyance "Yes Ghost. I want all four of you."

Price sighed and opened the last file folder but froze slightly and Ghost who was watching had the same hesitating body language. Gaz sighed and leaned over, pulling the file down so he could see. He let out a small sound of disbelief and his eyes flickered to Laswell and then back down.

The file was a subject file for a child, a black-and-white fuzzy picture of a young girl. Again most of the information was blacked out including her last name and birthdate… but her first name was there. There was some unredacted handwritten shorthand at the bottom but who knew what it meant? Probably codes relating to the project.

Finally registering what he saw Gaz immediately stood up and glared at Laswell. "Nuh-uh! No way. We don't do kids!? What the fuck Kate? Government-sponsored kidnapping now?"

"If you just give me a few minutes to explain first, Kyle. The picture is from around 2008, she'd be in her early twenties now. Last living test subject." Laswell did her best to explain to the group and calm them down.

The four men glanced at each other and relaxed. Bringing in an adult wasn't an issue with them. Price shifted a bit as he glanced over the papers. Kate had said they were copies… that the originals didn't exist anymore. So this was all they had to go on. Considering how much was blacked out… it wasn't much.

Soap looked at some of the papers and back at Laswell for a moment as he muttered "Figured we'd be lookin' for one of the doctors…"

"The girl… a test subject then?… So… she's been experimented on then? What'd they do to her?" Ghost asked Laswell, the tension and curiosity in his voice were apparent.

"We don't know exactly what happened with her or what they did to her… but yes, last living test subject. To get to the gist of it, she essentially developed mental powers-" Laswell started but Price immediately interrupted.

The Captain turned to Laswell, disbelief written all over his face "Kate that's a crock of horseshit-"

A tired look crossed Laswell's face as she immediately shoved a couple of papers into Price's hands. "Not superpowers as in those dumb movies you all watch. Have you ever heard of a sixth sense? Well, they found it. Test subjects showed various abilities from mind-reading, and mental manipulation, to minor telekinesis. As I said. All documentation on how it was achieved has been destroyed. We don't know what they did. But it certainly was brutal on the test subjects, half of them didn't survive the first few months of testing. The girl we're looking for was their first and most successful experiment. Kept separately from the rest of the children for… safety reasons."

All four men looked over at Laswell, staring hard before looking back at the papers. Gaz slowly looked down at the file of the girl and then over at Soap, the expressions on both of their faces conveyed deep uncertainty and hesitation. It wasn't like Laswell to pull their leg like this… but she had been reluctant to share in the first place… it so had to be true, at least to some degree.

A few quiet minutes passed as the information was slowly digested. Papers were shuffled back and forth as four sets of eyes skimmed through the information. The air in the briefing room was slightly stuffy and uncomfortable, not exactly helping the mood.

Laswell began speaking again. This time in a less rushed manner as she tried to explain her point "We're not actually that concerned about her potentially hurting anyone or causing problems. The girl's been on her own since she was around 8 or 9, managed to escape all on her own. But hasn't harmed anyone since she escaped from what we can tell. We know where she's lived for the past year and a half. I've had a few of my most trusted agents observe and check on her regularly. She knows that we know where she is but hasn't been combative or anything… seems she's pretty happy where she is, and lives a quiet life and stays out of trouble. The problem is that the intel with her name and location was stolen two weeks ago. We heavily suspect one of Makarov's men… Andrei Nolan. He was spotted on security video of a hotel in Washington two days before that."

Soap immediately groaned in annoyance at the mention of the Russian. The Scot passed the papers to Ghost and sarcastically grumbled, "Just what we fuckin' need…"

"I already have an investigation going on my end. I need to find out how such critically sensitive info was leaked… we're thinking someone got paid off or there's a mole." Laswell sighed in frustration as she gestured to the file "But I need her moved. Now. Before Makarov gets his hands on her."

Raising an eyebrow as he read over the papers carefully, Gaz muttered in a low voice "This almost sounds like science fiction. Course Makarov is involved. Bastard has his fingers in every single pie, the piece of-"

Ghost read over Price's shoulder now, looming over the table and his brown eyes squinting slightly skimming the pages. He immediately interrupted Gaz before the younger man could begin ranting "Do we have any idea where she is now? Keller mentioned Italy?"

The blonde woman leaned back in her chair and adjusted her brown jacket "Alex was right… Seems she's been living there for the past three years or so. She probably used the Covid Pandemic as a cover to settle down there."

Soap was carefully looking at the page with the girl's old photo on it attempting to make sense of the handwritten notes. He sighed slightly "Aye… so Makarov wants her then… for sure?"

The CIA station chief nodded at the men and explained "I imagine so… and I don't want to risk it otherwise! If Makarov or anyone else questionable for that matter gets their hands on her, they'll likely try to get the information on how she got these powers out of her. I don't know much about her… if she'd be able to withstand torture or escape from them if captured. Because we all know that Makarov isn't above such things, and it would only be a matter of time before he'd try to replicate the results. Someone very deliberately stole or leaked the information about her and now people know where she is. I will say, if she's willing to come into protective custody willingly then that would be the most ideal situation. But I can't send just anyone in to talk to her. She does have a history of violence."

"Not going to lie… mental manipulation you said… And gettin' in people's heads… makin' them do who knows what." Soap murmured as he looked at Price and then back at Laswell "If she actually can do stuff like that, then yeah… I can see Makarov chasing her down. Imagine if the bastard got it out of her and tried to use it…"

"It'd be a fuckin' disaster" Gaz finished, wincing at the thought.

Laswell sighed and nodded "We do know that somebody has already looking for her, that's what's making it so urgent. My agent spotted one of Makarov's known men in a few towns north of where we've spotted her. It's how I was able to get the four of you clearance. We just had another spotting of him yesterday too, so they are actively trying to find her. Makarov has likely sent someone in to try and make her an offer… to get her to come to him willingly. So if we don't get her first, Makarov will."

The room was suddenly filled with an impressive amount of colorful language. But Laswell didn't sen bothered in the slightest. She simply continued the briefing her voice getting a hair lower "Now I will warn you all. You will want to stay on your toes around her. But not the way you think. She isn't a physical threat. From the notes and talking to my agents who observed her and attempted to interact with her. She is apparently… from what I've been told, actually very nice. But she can be a master mental manipulator. She can quite easily mess with your head, and there's no way to stop her. Agents who were given permission and talked to her one-on-one told me they were left in a state of mental confusion wandering around and didn't realize what had happened until she was long gone. That said, she hasn't hurt the agents we sent in to observe her in the recent year and a half. She just seemed to… redirect them. But we can't ignore what she can do… And has done in the past."

"Lass sounds dangerous," the Scot said, "don't get me wrong… She doesn't sound like a bad person… But messing with your mind like that shouldn't be something to take lightly."

The Captain turned to Soap and sighed "It's beyond dangerous. From what I can tell… it seems we don't even know the actual extent of these powers. That's why we need to keep her out of Makarov's grubby little hands. Imagine if he figured out how to manipulate people and they couldn't resist."

Laswell was in the middle of opening her bottle of water and nodded "That's precisely why, our advantage though is our intel on her wasn't enough for them to pinpoint her location. Aside from my agents, Only my supervisor and I know which town she's been spotted in, and that information has only ever been shared verbally. And even we don't know exactly where she lives. So Makarov's men are missing a piece of the puzzle…"

"Well, that's good news… " Gaz murmured "So where is she located? We'll need to know if you want us to find her Ma'am?"

'She likely lives somewhere near Reggio Calabria." Laswell explained, giving them the information they needed. "We don't know where she lives but I suspect it's not in the city. She's always given agents the slip quite easily. So we don't have a lot to go on. Thankfully Makarov's guys are off by at least 50 miles, they were spotted in Gioia Tauro"

"Alright well… we've had less info before and come out on top" Ghost said, "any intel on what she has for protection?"

Price looked over at Laswell with a raised eyebrow. Kate barely glanced at a file of recent notes and then looked up "Nothing. Looks like sometimes she has a purse when she's out and about… But it seems she isn't a fighter. Honestly, she doesn't need to be."

Laswell pointed out some photos in the file that Price was holding. Some polaroids fell out the bottom and scattered over the table. Flipping them all over properly Price grimaced as he looked at them "Bloody fucking hell! so that's what she can do…… Lovely …"

They spread out the seven polaroids on the table. Each one was a photo of a body. Three women and four men, huge pools of thick, coagulated blood under each of them… Some of them… their heads were just… non-existent and their limbs contorted in unnatural ways. Two women were lying together crushed under what looked like metal and glass. A vending machine? The most worrisome one was the security guard… dead on the ground with a pool of blood under his head where the bullet hole was obvious.

"Jesus… Who are they?" Ghost asked, his voice a little hesitant."How the 'ell did she do that?"

Adjusting his cap slightly Gaz leaned over and looked at the photos and made an unpleasant face, they didn't paint her in a very nice light. It was an incredibly gruesome scene.

"She killed in total: a security guard, 3 nurses, one of the doctors, and 2 of the scientists when she escaped… I want to make you aware… she did this as a child. Probably 8 or 9… And to give you an idea of the lengths she can go to with mental manipulation… She likely made the security guard shoot himself, by manipulating him, the gun was never recovered, and two were crushed by a vending machine that had been slammed onto the ground. With a worrisome amount of force… and the rest she ripped their heads off with telekinesis… She did not like the people who experimented on her." The CIA Station Chief explained as the four men looked at the photos, varying degrees of disturbed painted on their faces.

Soap exhaled loudly looking a bit stunned "She was just a wee bairn when she… steamin' bloody Jesus. Okay, so she's dangerous if she wants to be then. But… she hasn't been violent recently? You said she… essentially just redirected your agents. Messed with their heads a wee bit."

Looking a bit heartbroken Kate nodded and confirmed "Correct. These photos were from about 14 years ago. I hate the idea of having to disturb her but… she's in a very risky situation right now. We all know Makarov doesn't care about the word 'no'."

"And we know 'bout the things he does to people who do say no." Ghost said, his thick voice trailing off a bit. While he was wearing his balaclava it was still easy to see a pained look underneath. Just last month they had discovered a small mass grave behind one of Makarov's abandoned warehouses. Seven bodies, all Russian men in varying degrees of rot, old 'employees' of his.

Gaz thought for a moment a piped up "If she knows what Makarov is capable of, then hopefully she'll come with us as long if she knows it'll keep her safe."

"And if she doesn't?" Soap asked vaguely glancing at Price.

Their Captain exhaled "Okay, We can do this but Kate, you understand if something goes wrong with her, my men, the 141, we can't afford to deal with any of the possible consequences or any lose ends, The photos more than prove she's dangerous… and especially with Makarov being involved."

The other three soldiers all shifted slightly. It wasn't exactly something they were too happy about… but if the situation went south…

Her voice quieted a moment but Laswell calmly stated "Permission to terminate her if she becomes too volatile has already been granted by Command."

"Understood. Hopefully, the girl knows it's for her own good. We'll try to solve this peacefully first of course. The lads an I will bring her in Kate." The Captain smoothed over though he saw Gaz wince slightly at the statement. The last thing they wanted to do was to kill their target, especially considering it seemed like she'd been living peacefully and they were much more interested in protecting her than taking her out.

The two unfortunately matching Sergeants looked past their Captain who sat between them at each other, then up at Ghost behind them who met them with his usual 'well this is our problem now' look. Well, the Captain had made his decision and accepted the mission.

"Thank you John. You'll have my backing the whole mission." Laswell leaned back in her chair which creaked slightly and stayed quiet for a few moments before speaking "If we need to give her something: Information, deals, I.D., money, preference on a safe house location. I'll do it. A goddamn puppy. Anything. I don't care what it is. If it gets her to cooperate, then I'll arrange it. Feel free to negotiate on my behalf. If you can persuade her to come willingly and without any trouble, it will be better than any other option."

"She's already possibly turned down Makarov's offer," Soap said, mostly mumbling to himself, "if she's as dangerous as Laswell here says, then the only reason it hasn't been a blood bath is because she's letting it be."

"We need to make sure she knows we are doing this to keep her safe. Not because we want her powers like he does…" Gaz said in a firm voice as he looked hard at Kate. "Otherwise I don't know if we can convince her…."

"Agreed. I've pushed back on Command about this too. They want her interviewed but I told them I'm not forcing anything on her. Honestly, I don't think she wants anything to do with anyone and I don't blame her. Makarov included." Laswell assured him and she could see Kyle raise his eyebrows slightly but he nodded. Which at least makes the job somewhat easier. But we know the man is persistent. He's shown an interest in her now. I don't know if he's going to give up until he has her."

The youngest Sergeant was now looking at some of the handwritten notes on one of the pages in one of the files. "Aye, we'll read up on these before we go. See if we can make heads or tails of the notes or figure out what was going on."

Leaning back in his chair Price exhaled and started to pull out his cigar case. Well… this wasn't how he was expecting the meeting to go. A girl who could read minds… He glanced at the polaroids again… and apparently kill people easily if she truly desired it. The Captain looked at his three soldiers "Alright. Make sure your gear is ready to go to Italy. Pack mostly civvie disguises. We're going to have to be as subtle as we can-Ghost I mean it this time, you can't stick out."

Ghost in return plopped his ungloved hand on Price's hat and gave him a light playful push, "I got it, boss."

The sound of shuffling papers filled the room for a few moments Price sat there silently trimming his cigar into an ashtray. After pulling up a map of Italy on a tablet and putting it down on the table Gaz looked up to Laswell "Have we got anything on where Makarov's men could be?"

Kate patted a folder next to her and opened it, handing them another couple of papers with a few photos, a report from her agent, and a map with some circled spots in red and blue. "These documents you may keep and bring with you to Italy. There have been four sightings of men who are known to be associated with Makarov in the past week, including Nolan. We don't have enough trusted agents on the ground right now to track them properly, but I have one person there who's been working her case with me for quite a while. The blue circles are areas where we've spotted our girl pretty regularly over the past year. She's usually selling little pieces of jewelry and trinkets to tourists. Sometimes she's been spotted at the beaches or local markets. There's no clear pattern to her appearances, and she isn't around much at night. So it might take you a few days to spot her."

Price looked carefully at the map and the most recent report "Makarov's men are a risk for sure. But it looks like they have been trying to keep a low profile. I have a feeling they probably know what she's capable of. Can you get your agent out on surveillance right now if they're on the ground there?"

Picking up her phone and pressing a few buttons to open her emails Laswell replied. "I'll get on that immediately. If he can track Makarov's men then it frees up you guys to track the girl. I'd like it if you lot could try to keep this all very quiet. Getting the local authorities' attention is going to cause a lot of problems."

Gaz began taping the map down to the briefing table so they could get a better look. "We don't want that agent to be seen with us then. Dead drops only then Laswell."

The 141 hadn't engaged in an manhunt mission for some time, and this one required more subtlety than they were used to. It sounded more like Laswell had contacted them for help because of Makarov's connection, his men already trying to contact the girl. It was … entirely possible if they were polite and honest with the young woman, tried to be friendly with her and show her they weren't interested in her powers… It might not be too much of an issue.

Leaning back and looking at Kate and his three men Price firmly made his decision as he pulled out scuffed metal lighter "Once we get eyes on her I don't want to approach her right away. I want to observe her first for a day or two. Get a feel for her personality. We want to be polite and honest with her. Believe it or not… This is a mission that's going to depend on social graces boys. So get your manners in order."

"Yeah… I have a feeling that this is going to be a little different than what we're used to." Soap said, looking at the pictures of the circles. He gazed at the map and appeared a bit anxious… these abilities she supposedly possessed were unsettling him.

Price stood up and patted the Scot on the shoulder in reassurance, he then lit his cigar. "I'm fine with taking our time on this, but I'm not sure how much patience Makarov and his men will have."

Laswell looked thoughtful for a moment "Well hopefully we won't find out. We can afford to take it slow as long as Makarov's men don't make any sudden movements. Getting surveillance started and watching her is a good idea, John."

The group of soldiers began pulling out notebooks and laying out all the papers for easy viewing while Laswell finished typing a quick email on her phone then pulled out her laptop and began to boot it up. She was more relaxed now after getting everything out in the open. Hee blue eyes caught Price's and her voice fell to a more casual tone "I offered to go there to speak with her myself but that was rejected instantly. While I am a field agent, my superior is forbidding it. I know too much confidential information. If she can read minds and she suddenly decides to side with Makarov. Me meeting with her is an extremely poor idea. I've been advised not to meet with her until we confirm she is cooperative. I wouldn't ask you and your men to do this if I didn't have to John. I'll still be on the ground in Italy but I'm going to stay separate from you until I'm needed."

There was a moment of understanding and Price sighed a little and nodded "No I understand, Kate. I'd much rather go than you. But can you at least tell us what you're going to do with her after we bring her back? She's going to want to know."

Laswell answered confidently. "Protective custody. If she is cooperative and willing to work with us, we can find somewhere else for her to live. As I said before, I'm happy to give her preference within reason too. It won't be the Italian countryside… but I can hopefully find her somewhere nice. She would be under observation. Closely for the first few weeks and then we'd back off, though that does depend on Makarov's activity. I'd also be personally keeping in contact with her to check up on her, but we have no interest in utilizing her powers or questioning her on how they achieved it. The government would honestly prefer that knowledge ends with her…."

Ghost looked over at the photo of her as a child again. She must of been very young when they got a hold of her the experiment started in 2001… she probably would have been 1… 2 maybe? His voice was quiet "Did you ever find out what happened to her parents?"

Laswell wrung her hands and sadly shook her head "We don't even know her last name or birthdate. Not sure if she does either. We don't know where the program got the children they experimented on. None of the children's bodies were ever identified and never matched any missing persons reports, DNA was a bust. We suspect they were taken from the foster care system… possibly runaways… possibly homeless. Kids that wouldn't be missed… There were only 25 subjects."

Gaz sighed heavily and thought about what Laswell had just said, and looked at the photos again. "We don't have a name… Or even a birthday. And I'm honestly not sure if that she'll want to come along with us. She's been living her life fine and dandy it seems, and now we want to ruin it by taking her from it…"

"Do we at least know what happened to the other 24 subjects?" Ghost asked abruptly.

Tucking a stray hair behind her ear Laswell just stared at him for a moment and sighed deeply "I said last living test subject Lieutenant Riley."

Dead silence filled the room as it quickly became apparent what she was implying. Ghost muttered a soft "right." Under his breath.

There was the sound of uncomfortable shifting, but she continued "It seems that none of the other children survived the testing, even when they started showing results…. And believe me Kyle. The last thing I want to do is bother her. She's not hurting anyone and seems to be fine on her own. But we know that if Makarov gets to her…."

The older woman trailed off. The 141 knew better than what Makarov would do to her. They had seen the results of his work firsthand before. Without any hesitation, he'd likely have her tortured a thousand different ways until she revealed how she got her powers… And then he'd take advantage of that in the worst way possible.

As he pulled out a bag of candy as stealthy as he could Soap spoke up. "What about the other nurses? Doctors who worked on the program? I know it's not exactly related to finding her but if Makarov is looking for her… He'll probably be looking for them too."

"The ones she didn't kill? Unfortunately in the wind. FBI wasn't able to catch them. They did their best to cover up the crime and fled, bodies weren't found till about two weeks later. Many have escaped internationally almost a decade ago. But I'll update Interpol and put out critical warrants for their arrest." She said as she began typing on the laptop.

Price looked at both Laswell and then his group of soldiers, "Alright lads, we have our mission. We go in, we find her, and we do everything we can to convince her to come with us. Kate, do we have a takeoff time?"

"Wheels up morning at 700, you'll be landing at the Naval airport. I'll arrange for a car you four can use for the operation. I was going to set you up with cash and a list of places to stay that don't require credit cards. My agents had a couple of recommendations for quiet motels that don't ask a lot of questions."

Looking down at his watch as Gaz cleared his throat "It's not even dinnertime now… plenty of time to go over these files and prep for tomorrow."

So that's what they did.

For the next three hours, they looked over the files carefully. with at least two more cigars in the ashtray and a half dozen or so cigarettes between Laswell and Ghost.

They had been able to piece together a few things from the very little information Laswell had access to. According to the files, none of the other test subjects had shown even 10% of what their target could do. Most of them had basic telepathy or could read the minds of an unaware person. Some were able to move small objects around with telekinesis or cause painful sensations in others.

The 141 wasn't able to quite figure out what she could do exactly, her powers weren't listed but the handwritten notes on her file, once Price had managed to decipher them into their full meanings, were unsettling.

-Recently been suffering from depression? No. Anxiety. Various mental health symptoms

-Do not speak with her alone. 3 people minimum. Can read minds.

-Daily sedative mix. Instruct nurse: Call them Vitamins.

The next morning you knew it was all true. You dug down into the nurse's memories. This time not caring to be gentle or subtle. Just brute-forced your way in, causing the older woman to stumble over to your bed and sit down in confusion. The vitamins… weren't vitamins. they were a cocktail of mood stabilizers, CBD, and sedatives. They had been drugging you to keep you calm. To keep you malleable. Pliant. That was the first time you manipulated someone mentally. The nurse was your first experiment. You somehow managed to reshape her memory smoothing over the wrinkles you had caused. 'You had taken your pills and eaten your breakfast as normal.' To your intense relief, she didn't know any better now. But the strain of the manipulation had caused a headache and a nosebleed for you. Nothing terrible thankfully, it went away quickly enough and it had been more than worth it. Though you did get blood on your shirt. You flushed the pills down your toilet. And every day passed that you flushed them. Within a few days, a fog that you didn't even realize was haunting you finally evaporated. Everything was sharper and crisper. Reading minds suddenly became second nature. It was easy to thumb through thoughts and memories nimbly. Your previous methods now felt clunky and clumsy. God…. it was easy now. The final nail in the coffin where you decided you needed to get away was when the bearded doctor visited you one evening. He didn't say much, just that you had been acting off and he wanted to take your vitals. Was worried about you being sick. He wasn't, you could tell. So you stood quietly, and let him take your temperature with the ear thermometer. You tried not to flinch away when he put two fingers on your neck to feel your pulse and your forehead. And a hand on your upper back to count your breaths. But you could feel the crimson red… the black… intent to harm. The streaks of dark purple he was trying to hide made you feel queasy. But to your utter relief, the colors quickly simmered down and he sharply concluded the visit. Telling you to get some more rest. Once the door shut you immediately collapsed and threw up into the toilet. Before you threw yourself crying and sobbing as quietly as you could into your blanket and pillow. You couldn't breathe as you hyperventilated. It hurt your chest but you couldn't stop until you vomited the second time onto the floor before stumbling over to the sink and attempting to clean up but you were crying too hard. There was no memory on how you got to bed, but you woke up in the morning crusted in sweat and sticky clothes, sick to your stomach. The nurses fussed over you and you played sick. Hammed it up best you could to them "I guess the doctor was right, I was getting sick." You couldn't stay here. You remember those next few weeks leading up to your escape with mind-numbing clarity. The constant internal panic and hyper-vigilance. The absolute paranoia that wracked your body at all times made you unable to eat. You couldn't handle it anymore, crying yourself to sleep every single fucking night. You began to sort through their memories even deeper, trying to figure out as much information about what they would do if you ran away. There was an alert system in place of course. Most nurses knew to sedate you completely if you became unruly. The Doctor's answer horrified you, something about hiring private mercenaries to hunt you down. They'd capture you… or kill you. The thought terrified you. But the idea of staying and submitting to whatever this brainwashing cycle wash couldn't happen either. It was only a matter of time before they found out you weren't taking your pills. They regularly took your blood for testing. So you had to get out of here.

Within five minutes you were stumbling back to your room after unlocking the door. Your head was already pounding from using your powers so much but you kept going, there was no other choice. Now sweat was running down your back as you finally reached the door to your room.

Your cell.

As you stumbled into the room you couldn't contain it this time and you vomited all over the toilet. The sound of yourself gagging made you feel even more nauseous. The acrid taste burned your nose, still full of congealed blood, making you feel even sicker. But you couldn't stop now. You had to keep going. You were so close to being free now.

You managed to get to your sink and quickly ran the cold water, washing out your mouth and trying to clean your face. Blow your nose and get it all out. Finally, you took a long, slow breath, doing your best to calm your heart, which was slamming against your ribcage trying to escape. Leaning on the sink heavily and gripping the sides so hard your fingers hurt, you tried to figure out if anyone else knew what was happening.

They hadn't exactly been quiet when you killed them.

Doing your best to focus, you exhaled and expanded your mind. Spreading your senses to the very edges of the building. You slowly began to read the area, being able to pick up the walls and doors, and sense slight auras. It wasn't consistent and it was kind of fuzzy. Like the old TV that was in one of the lab, the one the scientists had used to play golf. There were three more people in the building. Two in the basement in the break room. And one in the entrance area, likely the security guard who you had only met a handful of times.

Cutting off the focus you groaned loudly and began using the water to try and get the blood off your face. But once you looked down at yourself you knew it was useless. Small flecks of blood spatter were all over your clothes. Your shirt was stained from the nosebleed you just had. Shit! It was on your shoes as well… had you left footprints?

"ugh… FUCK" You groaned out, weirdly delighted to be able to express yourself and swear. Doing that in front of someone would usually get you punished and locked in your room for a few days.

The knowledge that you were going to have to go kill another three people so that you wouldn't be followed today made you nearly dry-heave again. But you knew you'd be found out within the hour if you didn't keep going. The night shift nurses would arrive at 6 pm and it was almost noon. You needed that time to get as far away as possible.

Standing up you exhaled and dried your hands on the bottom of your dirty green shirt. You were going to have to get going, suck it up, and deal with them. You glanced around your room and made your way over to the bed, lying on the cold floor and pulling the messenger bag out from where you had hidden it under the mattress. You opened it up on your bed and looked at the contents through shaky tears.

You could do this.

Before you could change your mind, you force yourself to whip around and storm back out of your room. Leaving the purse for a moment, you begin to make your way towards the break room in the basement.

Disgust with yourself…. a dark dirty brown color that surrounded your mind is quickly stomped down. You knew you had to do this. So you found that little flare of red that was still there deep in your belly. Thinking about how badly they mistreated you… abused you… what they planned to do to you.

They were going to put a fucking chip in you.

And so you stoked that fire till it was red hot, enough to burn flesh.

And the next thing you know, with hot angry tears pouring down your face you ran down the stairs and slammed the break room door open with every ounce of strength you had in your little body. And to your relief, it was two nurses that you hated.

"Ah! What the fuck?!" The older woman shrieked. She was the redhead who took great joy in belittling you every chance she got. Calling you stupid and emotional, claiming you threw tantrums for no reason.

"Whoa, kiddo what the hell is happening?! What's on your shirt?!" the younger brunette woman stood up as her eyes went wide. Spotting the fact you had blood and puke all over your shirt and pants. Ah yes, this bitch used to pinch you all the fucking time when you were younger. She only stopped when you were old enough to tattle on her, so now she had some massive grudge against you.

For a second there was a thick silence in the air as you looked frantically around the room. You weren't quite sure if you still had the strength to pull their heads off like the others but you could at least keep them busy and confuse them.

The pounding in your head came back with a vengeance as you slightly raised a hand and inhaled sharply. With no subtly you bashed into the brunette's mind and screamed orders into her brain.

"Bite her"

Now… you didn't actually expect it to work. But to your utter disbelief and horror… she got out of her chair and lept at the redhead. And both women slammed into the floor as she locked her jaw onto her forearm.

"Nancy what the fuc-OW! STOP OW FUCK!" The older woman's screeching hurt your brain even more. It took only a few seconds to look around the room and decide upon a course of action. With the two of them already on the ground, this would be straight forward than the others.

Balling your little fists up hard you focused on the vending machine behind them. It was heavier than anything you had ever attempted to pick up. Fresh blood began to run under your nose again. Fuck it was heavy.

But through the pounding of the headache, you jerked both of your hands up and to your shock and awe the entire vending machine was lifted to the ceiling. The plug was ripped out of the wall and the wire swung wildly around in the air.

You could hear both women scream but you ignored it. And with every ounce of strength, you drove it down and you smashed it down onto them. The crunch of bones and metal filled the room and the glass shattered and went everywhere

Then once again: silence.

You could tell they were both dead if the puddle of blood was anything to indicate, but you didn't stick around. Tearing your eyes off the scene and quickly heading back to the stairs that would take you back upstairs.

There was only one more. The security guard.

You had only seen the security guards a few times over the years when you had been taken outside to the back garden. And extremely rare treat that they would bribe you with to get you to behave for something they desperately needed. Last time it was a CT scan and that machine was terrifying. It was the only way they could get you to do it. You knew they didn't like doing it; they probably worried about you trying to run off. You had to have almost ten adults with you each time.

As you got to the top of the stairs you took a moment to lean on the door frame. That's right…. once you were done you could go outside. You could go outside and leave… See the world for the first time that wasn't through a screen or someone's memories. All that was left was the old man you had seen a few hours ago before your training session. The guy was at least 60 and his white hair and beard were trimmed very short, and he reminded you of a character you had seen in a movie once.

Once more you closed your eyes and began to reach out with your…. senses? Was that a good way to put it? It took what felt like forever, but was only three minutes to find the guy. He was in the front lobby like usual. Good.

As you leaned on the door frame you took the opportunity to try and steady your breathing. Oh god… this was exhausting. You had used your powers a lot before but this was… intense. You shook your head a bit and tried to wipe up the blood on your nose with the bottom of your shirt. It didn't help much but your face felt less wet.

Your pace had slowed down now. It took you a few minutes of walking hallways before you came across the locked door to the lobby. It had multiple locks on it of course, but all that was useless when you could just manipulate one more person… One more then you could get a break…

The glass and metal door was at the end of the hall and you carefully peeked through. A few scattered blue chairs were in the front next to a counter. A water cooler was in the corner and you spotted the old man and exhaled before focusing on him. He was thinking about football, and how he had lost another bet. Thank god he wasn't paying attention at all, it was quite easy to flood his mind with your instructions.

"Come here… Open the door… Help me…"

Concentrating was now harder than before and you could feel your nose start to run again, though at this point your face was just wet with blood. There wasn't any point in wiping it away.

While you knew you were manipulating his thoughts, you also scrambled the guard's mind enough that you had confused him. His muffled voice could be heard behind the glass as he rushed to the door. "What's going on? What happened? Are you hurt?"

As the heavy door opened and he stood there with a weirdly glazed look on his face your eyes traveled over him and you stepped forward into the lobby. You saw the gun on his hip.

You didn't want to… you really didn't want to… this guy didn't seem that bad compared to the rest. But it was the only obstacle left. You watched as he reached for the radio on his hip. Shit… it's how it was going to have to happen.

Taking a few steps back into the lobby you brute forced the manipulation in his brain and instructed him again.

"Shoot yourself."

With a disgusting lack of hesitation, his hand moved from the radio to his gun. He pulled it from the holster, seemed to click something, and then immediately held it up to the side of his head and-

BAM!

You jumped and screamed out as the loud noise echoed in the room and reverberated through your ears. You couldn't look. At the last second, you had turned and covered your eyes. Standing there shaking for what seemed like forever. Though afterwards, you did glance over and wince.

He now lay there dead in a pool of crimson, gun dropped two feet from him.

And suddenly an intense feeling of guilt and relief washed over you as you burst into tears. Your knees went weak and you collapsed. It went silent. Only the hum of the fluorescent lights existed.

It was over now. You were free.

The next few hours were a blur. You had to leave, and soon, the night shift employees would start arriving around 5:30. But you physically felt like collapsing and sleeping for the week after using your powers to that extent. But you forced yourself to stay awake and get started. Though you did give yourself time to clean up. Going out into the world covered in puke and blood was not going to work.

With the doctor's keys, you unlocked the bathroom down the hall from your cell which had a bathtub. First, you showered, scrubbing the blood from your face and hair, before sinking into a long hot bath.

You cried in the tub. Sobbed until you had to dunk your head in the water. You had killed people… done exactly what they were planning on using you for. It felt awful, the guilt settling in your stomach heavily. A weight that didn't go away for a long time. Years.

Feeling a bit like a slug you slowly exited the bath. Drying off and wrapping yourself in a towel, dragging your feet back to what was once your room. And avoiding the puddles of drying vomit you quickly dressed yourself.

Your favorite jeans were now covered in blood, discarded in the bathroom. So you picked the next warmest clothes you had that you knew wouldn't fit in your bag. Brown overalls and a grey long-sleeved top. And you pulled on the old black hoodie you had as well. It was nearly fall now and the weather was getting colder… and you were now on your own.

Gathering your things in a blur of tears you pulled on your soaks and sneakers and made your way back to the lobby. As the security guard's body came into view you nearly puked again. Stopping at the doorway you leaned on it, breathing and trying to talk yourself through it. It wasn't as bad as the other bodies thankfully… He almost looked asleep except for the sticky puddle of crimson.

As you timidly walked by him you stopped. The metal gun sat there… just outside the pool of blood.

Well… it seemed very silly to leave it. They were going to know it was you no matter what. So you crouched down and carefully picked it up, shocked by how cold it was. You looked over the gun, it was big and heavy in your hands. You didn't know anything about guns… but you knew enough to not put your finger anywhere near the trigger. Maybe you could read the mind of a cop or something to get an idea of how to use it or just at least unload it.

So you slipped it into the brown messenger bag you now had over one shoulder. Thankfully there was just enough room to slip it in. You pushed it down to the bottom and covered it up with a squished protein bar.

Inhale. Exhale. There's the exit…. the front door. You could do this.

The outside air was crisp and it shocked you. The last time you had come up it had been burning hot out. The once dry landscape was now dotted with small, glistening puddles reflecting the soft, golden light, as a gentle breeze swept through the air.

When you think back on it… A fitting day to escape.

You walked ten long blocks before you found a decent smattering of shops and people. You couldn't get over how exhausted you were. But you had to figure out how to get out of here. You did your best not to be distracted by every single thing… The first car that drove by nearly made you jump. They were much larger in person. So were the dogs that people were walking.

To your surprise, the drifting thoughts of the small crowds of people were not that imposing. You didn't even hear anything definite, and it just washed over you. You did quickly do your best to stay out of site though. From what you could gather it was a Friday and it was September… Children should be in school and wouldn't be wandering the streets alone like you.

After a bit of wandering through quiet alleys to stay away from people, you came by a coffee shop. Three old men sat out front drinking coffee and eating sandwiches, you could hear them murmuring to each other. From your spot near the edge of the building, you watched them with interest and scanned through each of their thoughts.

You were dead tired though, and the massive use of your powers earlier made it far harder than it needed to be. You couldn't go very deep. But you were still able to dip in and slowly figure out what was going on.

They were all old friends. Military buddies, it seemed, something about the Navy. All in their 70's. One was going to be rushing back home… about twenty minutes away to babysit his granddaughter. Another was heading to a meeting with his lawyer in an hour, something about selling some property.

But the last man wasn't from around here… He was from a town about four hours north. Had taken the day to drive up and see his buddies. He lived alone and you got a sense that his two daughters didn't want him to make the drive by himself. Considered him incapable of such a long day trip.

Him. He was your ticket out.

So you patiently waited in the shadow of the building. And staring longingly into the windows. There were pastries all up and the display and they looked amazing. And you suddenly had a desperate thought.

New foods! Holy shit. It had been nothing but the same foods for years and years. You could try things now… all those different things you saw on TV. Pizza. Oh god, you wanted to try pizza so badly. It looked so good in all the shows and commercials you had seen on TV.

You promised yourself it would be the first thing you bought.

Thankfully tricking the old man went surprisingly smoothly, and considering the morning you just had… you couldn't be more thankful. He had said goodbye to his buddies and began ambling down the road with his cane. You did your best to follow him and stay out of sight before he got to the parking lot.

To your immense relief: the simple and exhausted mental instruction of "Open the back door and drive home. Eyes on the road, drive safe, prove your daughters wrong." Seemed to work wonders. Without even paying attention he opened the back door of his car before slowly walking around to get into the driver's seat. And with zero hesitation you ran forward and quickly crawled into the backseat, shutting the door behind you. You did your best to mentally smooth away any worries he had about someone being in his car and scrambled onto the floor out of sight.

The feeling of being in a moving vehicle initially scared you, but you eventually got used to it. Your head throbbed from using your powers on the man. You couldn't see out the window from where you were but soon enough the sound of the radio helped you relax and you ended up falling asleep once he got on the highway.

You didn't wake up for nearly 3 hours.

And you were fucking sore afterwards. The floor of a car was not a good spot for a nap at all. When he stopped downtown to pick up dinner at the grocery store, you slipped out of the car. As nice as the old man seemed to be… you wanted to avoid staying near anyone who might be connected back to where you came from.

This area was busier than the last place. People bustling by didn't seem to pay you any mind thankfully and you slipped into an alley by a coffee shop and a… flower store.

You caught your breath for a few minutes. Still exhausted even after sleeping in the man's car. Looking around you spotted a clock in the coffee shop and could just barely see it was about 4:28 pm.

The night shift would arrive in about an hour. You couldn't help but spiral and worry about it. Fighting back the stinging in your eyes as you wondered how they'd react to the gory scene you had left there. Did you have to go that far? There had been so much blood

You're a monster. You ripped off their heads.

The brick of the building was cold as you slumped on it and tried to relax. You couldn't change it now, but you knew they'd come after you…

You just killed six people.

A small choked sob escaped your mouth as your face burned with shame. What other choice did you have? Go along with their plans? You wouldn't be surprised if your picture was plastered all over the news tonight.

"Night Henry! We'll see you Monday right?"

The loud and perky voice belonged to a young Asian man who was wiping down some of the outdoor tables and caught your attention. You could see he was talking to a middle-aged man in a large green jacket, who seemed to be closing up the sidewalk sign for the flower shop. He waved back and laughed "No Wednesday! Taking the wife for a little getaway this weekend. Figured a couple extra days wouldn't hurt. I already gave my overflow stock to Browns. But don't worry Danny I saved a bouquet for you. Take it home to your daughters ok."

"Oh Henry you're too kind, the girls will love them. And that sounds fun! Where are you going?" The worker asked back. This 'Henry' quickly walked over to join 'Danny' and chat.

You quietly listened for a while, unashamedly eavesdropping on the whole conversation between them quickly picking up that this flower shop was going to be empty… for almost a week…. That would work.

With a final push, you stared at them only trying to figure out a few specific things. Trying to concentrate one last time and softly opening Henry's mind to search around as best you can.

"Does the flower shop have cameras?"

It didn't… Danny had been telling him to put some up for months now.

"Is there a back door to the flower shop?"

Yes, there was, straight into the alley. Oh my god, this would work.

Glancing over at the young man: Danny. You watched as he chatted with Henry and you quickly skimmed the top of his mind too. Good. The coffee shop was closed on the weekend too. They had cameras though, so you wouldn't be able to sneak in and nick food.

So you ended up waiting around almost another forty minutes, sitting on a cold wet box in the alley until they finished their chat and Henry returned to the shop to close up. You checked on him every few minutes with your senses, but he puttered about for quite a while while cleaning up.

Finally… finally he started to leave. As he grabbed his backpack and headed out the front door, you mentally reached out one last time.

"Lock the front door. Go out the back door…. leave it unlocked…. drop the key."

There was a pause as he backed up, locked the front door and began to make his way to the back of the shop.

The heavy metal door creaked open as he stepped out. As the older man passed you with a glazed look on his face, there was a soft jingle as he dropped a couple of keys. Your breath caught in your throat as he meandered away, disappearing around the corner and out of sight.

You moved faster than you had all day. It worked! You snatched up the small key ring with the three keys and slipped through the steel door that he had left ajar. You turned and pulled it shut with a heavy thud, grunted as you turned the stiff lock, before slumping down onto the cold tile floor. Empty and drained.

Tears flooded your vision again.

You had done it. You got away. You could rest.

But it felt like it had cost you everything.

The first few days of your free life thankfully went smoothly… mostly cause you didn't do anything. There was a futon in the back office of the flower shop that you began using as a bed. Sleeping constantly wrapped in the green plaid blanket that was left there, trying to get your energy back. It felt like you were only awake a handful of hours at a time while you recovered from your escape.

Food was a different story though. You did sneak out that first night and ordered yourself a pepperoni pizza. But you had been too scared to go into the store alone, though you could probably pass it off. Instead, you got your prize by mentally manipulating some greasy-looking teenager who had some spare cash. Rushing it back to the flower store and devouring the entire thing within an hour. You hadn't eaten since breakfast, you had been famished.

It was everything you dreamed of: Greasy, cheesy, and the best thing you ever tasted. It was so good that you got one again the next day, this time you ended up with sausage and peppers. However, you quickly learned over the next few days you were going to have to steal and manipulate to eat, while your picture didn't run in the news you were still worried about being spotted

You tried all sorts of different things over the next few days: chocolate, bananas, crackers, avocados, and lots of sweets. You had never realized that there were… so many different options. God knows you were never going to eat oatmeal ever again.

You'll always remember the flower shop… It stayed in a special place in your heart even if you can't remember the name of it… or even the town it was in. It was the place where you were able to recover from the escape. It smelled fresh and green, even without any flowers in the buckets. You remember collecting petals off the floor and pressing them into your book. Later on, you glued them in, sealing that little memory into what was now your journal.

But you had to move on.

Particularly since it was quite a miracle you didn't get caught, even with your powers. By the end of your stay there, you were ready to leave. Eventually managed to score a ride on a truck heading to Iowa, the driver was a woman and had felt quite safe. It had been easy to get her to believe your sob story: that you were running away from an abusive father and were going home to your mother. She had fattened you up the entire drive, spoiling you with Chinese food and candy, before you got off at a suitably small town. You got her to stop at some park and drop you off, leaving her with the false memory that you had had a lovely tearful reunion with your mother.

She had done you a favor after all… you wanted to at least leave her with a good feeling. You had quickly found a policeman and read his mind from across the street. Perfect, it was a failing town. Lots of empty houses, drug activity, and a bunch of other issues on its plate… and tons of home-schooled kids running wild in the streets. Who's gonna notice another random kid buying snacks in the middle of the day?

So that's where you lived for the first six months of your life.

You had been lucky. A very old native man, angry and bitter, lived out on a farm, refusing help from his grown children constantly. His name was Charlie and from what you could tell he hated the cops, the military, and any form of government.

You didn't know then but now, you knew he had dementia. His mind was always so fuzzy and nearly blank, with memories floating around. It was unfortunately very easy to manipulate him. Enough so that he just…. didn't question the random kid living in his house. You'd check in his mind sometimes and he mostly thought you were a ghost. He was nice to you though, and you slept in his attic for a long time.

You made sure there was always enough food in the fridge for him and that the place was decently clean. He had a bad habit of leaving the stove on and you'd be turning it off at night a few days a week. It felt like the least you could do, you felt a little guilty for taking advantage. But he was nice enough and Charlie did seem to care about you… as much as he could anyway.

But it wasn't long before his kids came to collect him though, to put him in a 'home'. You remember the screaming and crying. He was distraught and needed to be drugged which caused you to panic once they left. His house was going to be cleaned and sold the next month. So you took that time to steal and scavenge what money and supplies you could and moved on again.

You then traveled away again and lived with three old women on a South Dakota reservation Charlie had mentioned a few times. Claiming you had run away from your abusive father. It wasn't too hard to make them believe you were older than you were. To your relief, they asked very few questions as long as you helped out with the housework and cooking. They had been pretty good to you, though they had been very caught up in their own families at the time.

Then after you got sick of one of them harping on you, you switched countries and hitchhiked with a family going up to Canada. The idea of going to another country did make you feel a bit better; perhaps it would be harder for them to find you there.. Crossing the land border was surprisingly… not that complicated. You had already gotten much better at mental manipulation by then. Soon enough in a busy Manitoba town you found a pair of college boys who had bragged that they were going on vacation to Italy for the summer. So you promptly went and stayed at their empty house for a few months.

After that you took a train west to Alberta and found a great spot living in the basement of an apartment complex… and before you knew it… it was September again. You had been free for a year now. Some of the worry and tension of them finding you had been lifted, and maybe if you were lucky some of them got caught and ended up in jail. But you still had to survive and you certainly didn't dare trust anyone. You knew you were on your own.

And so you just… drifted…

It was really hard on you. Moving from place to place on your own every few weeks or if you were lucky: a couple of months. And you couldn't stay in one place for long, especially when you still were a child. So you drifted around Canada for a while longer. Before coming back to the States, this time staying on the West Coast and traveling south slowly over the next couple years.

Eventually, you traveled to Mexico too, and you were pleased to discover that mind-reading helped you learn languages and you picked up Spanish fairly quickly. It felt so amazing to be good at something… after you escaped you hadn't bothered to keep up on any schooling. You were more concerned about being street-savvy and leaving how to get by.

You found out that an old woman who was an informant for a cartel was looking for farm help. To your delight Maria (not her real name, she had lied) didn't ask questions. But you also weren't a small child anymore. You had grown taller and you had eventually acquired some bigger clothes and a proper backpack.

You still weren't sure exactly how old you were. But about four years after your escape, right after you settled into the farm life, you got your period. So you guessed maybe 12? 13? You still remember bursting into tears at the discovery of your bloody underwear one morning and having to find the local gang of chain-smoking teenage girls down at the corner store to help you. Of course, they made fun of you, but they showed you the ropes. How to put a pad on your underwear, talked you through how to use a tampon, and what kinds of pain medication to take—told you to buy yourself a hot water bottle and eat lots of meat. Then they made you drink something vile from a bottle, congratulated you on becoming a 'woman' and told you to go buy yourself a bra.

It tasted disgusting but it sure tasted better than what you imagine the bearded doctor would have done once you got your period. You didn't even want to consider it.

You knew what the dark purple meant by now. Lust. Though if it was a lighter color like lavender, it just kind of signaled basic sexual attraction kind of like a green light that they were into you.

The interesting thing about reading minds is that… people didn't filter their minds. Sometimes it was a policeman directing traffic thinking about how he was cheating on his wife with his male coworker that morning… but other times it was some sweet young woman on the bus thinking about the sex she had had with her boyfriend the night before. In disturbing explicit detail.

You tried to censor it yourself. When you were young it sounded gross, and it reminded you of the doctors… the lab… and you unfortunately learned a lot of things very quickly and very young. It became painfully obvious when two people had the hots for each other. They fucking radiated purple and you found it annoying as fuck

But eventually, once you got a little older, you finally did need to buy yourself a bra. And there was no denying it, you quickly became interested in sex. Which led to a lot of guilt in turn… You wanted to learn about it. But reading people's most intimate thoughts felt… beyond violating and gross… Though now and then, if someone was thinking about it too loud… you couldn't help but listen in.

So you ended up borrowing computers and phones, distracting and manipulating their owners so you could look things up. You were eternally thankful that you got directed to planned parenthood early on. But you looked up…. other things as well. You cringe now because you never erased the browser history… Those people were probably very confused by all the random sex searches they didn't remember doing. And until you were old enough to use computers regularly by going to the library or internet cafes alone, you sucked at using technology.

A few years on the farm passed and when Maria was shot dead one morning after church you decided Europe might be the next best thing for you. You didn't want to get involved in any more of the gang stuff and they had started snooping around the farm after her death. You quickly left for Spain. The plane ride was stressful as fuck, constantly manipulating people and sneaking through the border crossing. It was a massive headache but in the end, you had managed to get away with it.

So then your later teenage years were spent backpacking across Europe and popping into different countries. You knew you probably didn't have to be as careful anymore but… the travelling was kind of fun… and about the only thing you could do to keep yourself busy. At one point you considered getting a phone, even just to listen to music with… but you were just too fucking paranoid. So you just sort of lived off the grid and kept up to date by listening to the news on radio and TV.

Spain, France, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, and Slovakia were just a few of the countries you stayed in. Picking up the languages as you went. It was your only talent and you insisted on being good at something. It did make manipulation a lot easier that was for certain.

And you kept moving on.

Never really settling down or opening up to anyone. It was sad, and you cried about it plenty. But how would you ever be able to have friends…. a boyfriend? A girlfriend?! You didn't even have a last name and you were a mystery. Telling someone you escaped from a lab where you were experimented on since before you could remember was not exactly a get-to-know-each-other conversation. There was no one that you could trust with that information.

You think you were about 16 or 17 when you finally started having sex. Really when you thought about it now, it had really seemed like you had just… acted out a lot. Sadly, the first few times were kind of a letdown. Of course, you read their minds first… some guys didn't have good intentions at all and you quickly sent them packing. But if they were happy to wear a condom and at least attempt to make you feel good well… you jumped at the chance.

It was mostly just clumsy teenage boys who didn't know what they were doing for the first couple of years. So you figured you might as well try fooling around with a girl. Which turned out to be a lot of pressure… but it had still been nice. You had your first orgasm with her which had been a pleasant surprise.

Though it did seem you weren't exclusively gay, the next guy you had slept with was a little older at 22, and he had been much more confident. You had a great time with him the few times you slept together. He had been your first partner that had tried to make you cum before even sticking his dick in you.

But that's all it was though… Meaningless sex and chasing the high it gave you. It's not like you could even date someone, so you made sure to never get attached. But you took a little comfort in the fact that you were at least pretty enough that you could find someone to go home with when you were horny.

Once you hit Italy though…. that's where you finally stopped. You were at least 20 now… and tired of running. It had been over a decade and now your powers were much more honed than what they used to be. It took a few months but eventually, you found a smaller town on a bus route and wanted to settle down. Italy was beautiful… one of the most stunning places you had been and you found yourself dreading the idea of leaving.

It had taken weeks of manipulation and arranging but you finally managed to find a little place for sale. It was run down and kind of dreary: an old one-room house with a bathroom in a small run-down farming neighborhood. The old man living there had died and you kind of…. just moved in… made people think you had bought the place.

Whenever officials came by you just changed their minds and sent them on their way and slowly they stopped coming. Living quietly and keeping to yourself would keep you off everyone's radars. You could do that.

You felt happy here… and this time you weren't going just to run away from it.

You don't know if anything came before the white room. You only remember what happened once you were there. The room was small, with a bed, a toilet, and a sink. Otherwise empty. The walls were cold with peeling paint. You remember picking at it and getting flecks of it stuck under your fingernails. The glaring white ceiling staring down at you. Mocking you. Later on, you learned it was essentially a prison cell. It was your home until you escaped when you were around 8…? 9? You aren't sure how old you were, hell you didn't even know your birthday. But that white room was the place you died. The place that broke you into a thousand pieces and rearranged you to fit their needs. Honestly, you still don't know exactly what they did to you… Sometimes you get flashes of memories. Nightmares that you can't wake up from. Being strapped down to a table surrounded by people. Beeping. Nurses shushing you and telling you to hold still. Needles. A doctor pumping something cold into the tube on your arm. Shivering. You know that it must have been bad if you don't remember. But you knew enough. And as you grew up and learned more about how the world worked it became self-evident… you had been some sort of medical experiment. Tested on day in and day out. Everyday. For years. Oatmeal for breakfast. Grilled cheese with an apple for lunch. Pasta with meat sauce and steamed broccoli for dinner. It never changed the entire fucking time you were there. Didn't matter if you ate it or threw it at the wall. You remember the feeling of the threadbare black t-shirt and sweatpants. You only had two pairs and who knows if they were washed regularly. Didn't even get underwear or socks. Looking back now you're horrified. Who could do that to a child? You weren't much more than a babe too, you didn't quite know how old you were but it must have been pretty young. In the beginning, you had trouble climbing into the bed by yourself. It's not like you remember anything else. You barely remember them taking away your pacifier. Telling you "You are far too old for that thing now. Can't believe we let you have it this long." And then you cried for days. Even if it was true. But at the time you did your best to appease them. You did their activities, 'training' they called it. Answered their questions… did the tests. You didn't know any better really. If you misbehaved or caused issues… You were quickly sent back to your room and promptly ignored for the rest of the day. And it was already so lonely. Going to your room without dinner you could handle. But it was the way they looked at you with annoyance and frustration the next day, the way they barely would talk to you… You just wanted them to like you. Desperately doing everything they said to the letter. Just for the slight chance of getting a whisper of affection from them. There were other children you think, not that you ever saw them. You were all kept separate from each other. So the first time you moved something with your mind was the day it changed. The Doctor called it telekinesis. A cup with water on the table. You had made it float up for a few seconds, then knocked it over. Spreading water all over the metal table until it ran onto the floor. You were a success. Their first success. Their only success. And suddenly you were their focus. You were whisked away to a new room in a different building. It was the only time you remember riding in a car, even if you were sleepy the entire time. Then you remember the new clothes. The T-shirts with pretty designs. Your favorite had a picture of a pink animal, one of the staff called it a 'Pokemon'. Pants that fit you, even a pair of jeans with little yellow flowers on the bottom. The nurse had to teach you to wear shoes and socks after that. You had to be presentable after all. But you were also given toys… blocks and some cars. And then a few stuffed animals appeared on your new bed.

You had done something right. And now the center of their attention. Suddenly… it wasn't so bad. They liked you far more. The nurses paid far more attention to you and you were suddenly getting sat down not just for testing, but also reading and writing. Full days of questions, learning, testing, and moving things around with your mind became the norm. And sometimes the work would run so late it was dark outside the windows. More them once you remember getting shaken awake after falling asleep at the table. But you quickly got better at it. Much better. It was nearly impossible to explain how the powers worked back then. It was only when you were much older that you understood the complexities of what you could do. So the rounds and rounds of questioning soon became exhaustive, you'd burst into tears every time they started. But you still desperately tried to please them, trying to do tricky tasks like putting together a puzzle without your hands and only the telekinesis. You learned how to read in record time and begged for books. And you were doing so well that they obliged and you were rewarded by being given a different book every week. And you devoured them. You did your best to behave, going along with all their tests and experiments and begged them for a book of your own. And to your shock, they rewarded you after a particularly good day. Your very own thick blank journal and two pens. It wasn't a pretty book. Plain and a dark maroon color. Like something one of the doctors would have to write it. But it was yours. So you immediately began listing every single book you read in it. Writing little notes in the margins. Doodles on the corners. You still list the books you read to this day. You slowly got better with the increasingly complex tasks. Controlling multiple objects with your mind god incredibly tricky. You had to focus on each object and pay attention to everything as a whole. But you were very proud when you managed to control both a screwdriver and a loose screw, put it in the hole and tighten it up. And soon enough it wasn't just telekinesis. There was one day you remember them pushing you to the limit. You were tired and had been up since early morning and it was past dinner at this point. The doctor observing you was your least favorite staff member. You didn't remember his name but he had a thick black beard and disgusting aroma. You didn't know it at the time but it was cigarettes, and god you hated the smell. He reeked. Stunk. It was vile. "We want you to thread this needle." He had sternly instructed. It was a simple enough task. Putting a string through the hole. But fuck it was finicky, trying to focus on floating the needle perfectly still was already hard enough. You couldn't get it and nearly wanted to scream in frustration. And he mocked you for it. Only he didn't say so out loud. His mouth didn't move. 'Fucking brat. I know you can do it. This is taking forever.' For the first time, you felt unbridled rage fill your little belly. Tears ran down your face as you dropped the needle and screamed at him. "I'm not a brat! I'm trying! I'm trying really hard!" You had climbed off the cold metal chair, kicked it and ran to the corner of the room collapsing in tears. Shoving your face into the corner of the wall, cool cement on your hot wet cheeks. The two nurses quickly burst into chatter that echoed in the small room. "What the fuck? what does she mean?" "Christ she's fucking emotional today." "Did you say anything?" "I didn't say shit!" The dark and nearly gleeful tone of the doctor's voice only made you cry harder as he slowly informed them. "That was me… I called her a brat…." "But sir you didn't say anything?" "No… No, I didn't." The silence that followed had been painful as you sobbed into the corner. The reality of your quickly developing powers hit them. You could read minds.

It took a little while for you to figure out a basic understanding of the whole mind-reading thing. When you first started doing it you had to be able to see the person, worked better if you looked into their eyes. The surface thoughts were easy. Things a person was thinking about at the moment. But figuring out anything specific was way harder. You had to focus incredibly hard and dig around, similar to digging out a toy from a cereal box (one of your more recent telekinesis tasks.) It was a strange sensation. Dipping your hand down into a pool of memories and thoughts of another person… reaching down to pull things up. The less aware they were of you doing it the easier it was. However, what was the easiest was when you became familiar with reading the emotions that radiated off of people. Aura's you could call them. But it was weird to explain, that you weren't physically seeing these colors. But you could just tell. It came as a surprise but you caught on quickly, being able to know how the staff was feeling just at a glance was a huge advantage. It helped though… You were able to avoid setting off nurses and doctors who were feeling particularly cruel that day. You'd feel it… and in a way you couldn't explain, you could see the colors in your mind. Anger and hate were a dark deep maroon.. the color of blood. You'd shrink away when you felt it… did your best not to anger them any further. The man with the beard always felt that way. He terrified you. There were many other feelings though… the amount of colors felt overwhelming… even more than a rainbow. The most common ones were easy to figure out. Sadness was a range of blues depending on the intensity. One of the nurses was prone to jealousy, emanating a muddy green color as she loudly thought that everyone else had it better than her. Fear was a pale and sickly yellow… which you knew well since it was how you saw yourself most of the time.

As the next few years passed you slowly became more aware of the world. They started letting you hang out in the rec room, now allowed to watch the TV that was hung from the ceiling. It played the new 24/7. Some of the stuff you didn't understand much at first. But that, coupled with being able to read people's minds and explore their memories. You quickly figured out something wasn't right about your situation. Weren't kids supposed to live in houses and go to school? You started hiding some of your progress, pretending to have reached your peak and plateaued. Only demonstrating small improvements for them. It suddenly felt wrong to share too much, a indescribable feeling would cause your stomach to feel sick and heavy. It wouldn't do to have them be aware you had begun reading their minds nearly all the time. You didn't want to think about what they would do to you, with you. You knew all their secrets now. One of the Nurses was cheating on her husband with the bartender of her favorite bar, whatever that was, it was all the gossip. You also knew about the scientist who was doing drugs in the bathroom, he was painfully addicted. Worst of all was the bearded doctor… he liked to hurt people and was fantasizing about it all the time. As you sorted through the mountains of information in all of the staff's heads over time… it became abundantly clear that something was… wrong. You were just trying to learn more about the world but you bit off far more than you could chew. You were only 8 or so at the time. You weren't exactly sure. There were constant thoughts that were worried about getting 'caught'. Fears of the FBI or CIA raiding them. Thoughts about how to hide you. No one was supposed to know about you. That you were going to be a weapon. You were now good enough that you could read minds through some of the walls. As long as you knew the area and where the people were. The bearded doctor was always having meetings in his office. Calling in the other doctors and some of the scientists. One day after a challenging training session, you watching the news in the rec room could sense them on the other side of the training room's wall. It took a bit of focus to reach through the wall to hear, but you knew quickly what was going on. "She hasn't had any progress for 3 weeks now." "Honestly, I don't think she's been putting in effort. She's been off lately." "Thrown three tantrums just this week." "Doesn't matter. We'll keep training her. If she keeps acting up… just up her drugs again. Once we finish the brainwashing cycle and flush her with the treatment she'll be perfect for us. Much more obedient." That's when your entire world came crashing down. A whole tower of haphazardly stacked stone. Suddenly you were surrounded by the debris of the carefully curated world they had built up around you. 'Finish' brainwashing you? Wait… had they already started? You took pills every morning. Did they already drug you? …They said they were vitamins though. You had checked in the nurse's mind… or at least you thought you had. Maybe she had tricked you somehow… Maybe she didn't realize and wasn't told? You'll have to read the morning nurse's mind again, dig in there and find out. "You just want her obedient for when she's older." "And you have a problem with that?" "Not if you share." A flash of dark purple flooded the crimson red that accompanied the bearded doctor 24/7 and your stomach sank. Bile flooded your mouth causing you to vomit all over yourself in the rec room. You weren't as familiar with what a purple aura meant back then. But you were right to be so afraid… so sick about it.

The next morning you knew it was all true. You dug down into the nurse's memories. This time not caring to be gentle or subtle. Just brute-forced your way in, causing the older woman to stumble over to your bed and sit down in confusion. The vitamins… weren't vitamins. they were a cocktail of mood stabilizers, CBD, and sedatives. They had been drugging you to keep you calm. To keep you malleable. Pliant. That was the first time you manipulated someone mentally. The nurse was your first experiment. You somehow managed to reshape her memory smoothing over the wrinkles you had caused. 'You had taken your pills and eaten your breakfast as normal.' To your intense relief, she didn't know any better now. But the strain of the manipulation had caused a headache and a nosebleed for you. Nothing terrible thankfully, it went away quickly enough and it had been more than worth it. Though you did get blood on your shirt. You flushed the pills down your toilet. And every day passed that you flushed them. Within a few days, a fog that you didn't even realize was haunting you finally evaporated. Everything was sharper and crisper. Reading minds suddenly became second nature. It was easy to thumb through thoughts and memories nimbly. Your previous methods now felt clunky and clumsy. God…. it was easy now. The final nail in the coffin where you decided you needed to get away was when the bearded doctor visited you one evening. He didn't say much, just that you had been acting off and he wanted to take your vitals. Was worried about you being sick. He wasn't, you could tell. So you stood quietly, and let him take your temperature with the ear thermometer. You tried not to flinch away when he put two fingers on your neck to feel your pulse and your forehead. And a hand on your upper back to count your breaths. But you could feel the crimson red… the black… intent to harm. The streaks of dark purple he was trying to hide made you feel queasy. But to your utter relief, the colors quickly simmered down and he sharply concluded the visit. Telling you to get some more rest. Once the door shut you immediately collapsed and threw up into the toilet. Before you threw yourself crying and sobbing as quietly as you could into your blanket and pillow. You couldn't breathe as you hyperventilated. It hurt your chest but you couldn't stop until you vomited the second time onto the floor before stumbling over to the sink and attempting to clean up but you were crying too hard. There was no memory on how you got to bed, but you woke up in the morning crusted in sweat and sticky clothes, sick to your stomach. The nurses fussed over you and you played sick. Hammed it up best you could to them "I guess the doctor was right, I was getting sick." You couldn't stay here. You remember those next few weeks leading up to your escape with mind-numbing clarity. The constant internal panic and hyper-vigilance. The absolute paranoia that wracked your body at all times made you unable to eat. You couldn't handle it anymore, crying yourself to sleep every single fucking night. You began to sort through their memories even deeper, trying to figure out as much information about what they would do if you ran away. There was an alert system in place of course. Most nurses knew to sedate you completely if you became unruly. The Doctor's answer horrified you, something about hiring private mercenaries to hunt you down. They'd capture you… or kill you. The thought terrified you. But the idea of staying and submitting to whatever this brainwashing cycle wash couldn't happen either. It was only a matter of time before they found out you weren't taking your pills. They regularly took your blood for testing. So you had to get out of here.

Escape ended up being a three-step process in your young brain. Prepare first. Then escape. And lastly, evade. It was a lot to figure out in the beginning. You vaguely knew how the world worked outside the lab. Between the T.V. that sat in the main rec room where they sat you in the evenings and reading the minds of every adult you had access to, you learned a fair bit. The first thing you needed was money and supplies. You knew a kid wearing a big backpack would attract attention out in public so you decided you needed a messenger bag or purse. One of the nurses had a pretty old but clean bag. It was dark brown and leather, and it was small enough that you could pass it off on your own. So you stole it. Manipulated her mind so that she brought it to you. With everything she had in it. Then made it so that she believed she left it on the roof of her car and it must have fallen off on the freeway that morning. You tossed the more useless items like her makeup and diet pills. But kept and carefully organized the rest of her stuff including 74$ in her wallet. Sure you felt guilty at first. But the next training session you spent with one of the scientists quickly changed your mind. It had been the other redheaded nurse with the mean streak who had belittled you for hours. So you began to take money from people, any of the staff that you could. Just manipulated them into quickly slipping you 5$, and making them think they had got some candy from the vending machine in the hallway instead. It ballooned up over the next little while, you nearly had 550$. Which you stuffed into the Nurse's wallet that was yours now. You acquired things like a small flashlight, extra socks and underwear, your favorite shirt, a pair of shorts, and a hat… and tightly rolled it all and packed in the bag. Your special book and some pens. There wasn't much space left once everything was in, but you managed to stuff some protein bars you swiped from a staff member. You already knew once you were out and in the world, you were going to have to lie and steal… manipulate people into leaving you alone. If the authorities found a mysterious 8-year-old kid who didn't even know their last name wandering around. Well, your picture would likely get plastered nationwide… and that certainly would get you found. You spent days brainstorming the best options to get away… where to go. You read their minds for what they thought was the most likely and decided to do the opposite. They thought you'd flee to a bigger city, like New York or Nashville, to try to blend in and look for help. So you decided to try and make your way to a small town instead. A farming area might be a good choice. They assumed you'd take public transit as a kid, a train or a bus. So instead you planned on acquiring as much money and cash as possible and taking taxis pretending to be sent to your dad's from your mom's. Divorced parents were a pretty good excuse for a child to be traveling alone, you watched a movie about that once. Though you knew that manipulating someone to drive you might have to be something you would have to do. The knowledge that the only way you could get away was to take advantage of people bothered you a lot. But you resolved to try and only steal money from rich people who wouldn't miss it… and take advantage of people who were being dicks. It's not like you wanted to hurt anyone Well… at least they hadn't destroyed your sense of empathy.

So you had prepared. And you planned on how to evade them. But the concept of actually escaping scared you shitless. You kept putting it off. Every night you said you'd do it the next day. Until there was no other choice. It had felt like any other morning training session. You ate the goddamn stupid fucking oatmeal without complaint and were brought to the plain beige room they used for training. A heavy metal desk and a leather chair were in one corner. One of the nurses was typing notes onto the laptop. She was the one you stole the bag from. Uppity ever since she had to replace everything she thought she lost. While the bearded doctor, who just reeked violently of stale cigarettes sat at the metal table across from you. Two other scientists also were in the room—both men who you did not like. One was an old blond man who barely talked and thought about golf all day. While he had never been mean or anything he just treated you like… you were an animal or something. That you weren't human. The bastard considered you a dog they were doing testing on. The other was a younger black man who was busy trying to deal with the fact his wife was cheating on him with his brother, whatever that meant. You know had recently decided to kill them both. But you just couldn't bring yourself to care about them anymore. You fucking hated them. You were so sick of everything. But you sat at the table dressed in your flower jeans and an old green shirt as you fiddled with your fingernails. But… Something was a little bit off and… so you gently dug in. Pretending to go along with the training. It took a bit of swimming around obstacles but you found it. "Orders are to sedate her so he can insert the tracking chip and tattoo and identifier barcode on the back of her neck." Holy fucking shit they were treating you like an animal. Sedate you?! Chip you? That was insane. You managed to keep a straight face and continue floating the small pile of sand in the air. A few stray granules fell onto the table every now and then but you were doing pretty good. You quickly started to search everyone's minds. Where was it then? The sedative it was… The older scientist had it. In the front pock of his white coat. Two syringes. Panic immediately billowed in your stomach when you did your best to sense their aura and all you saw were tinges of black. Was this it? Now? Fuck! You were hoping to do this at night and slip out. But there were four people in the room. You had never manipulated more than one before. "Now that you're older we have some routine vaccinations we'd like to give you." The bearded doctor rambled on calmly as he motioned to the older scientist. "Let's finish those up and you can have some TV time before lunch alright?" Your stomach tightened as a flash of black seemed to overtake the entire room. Looking over you can see him reach his hand up to his pocket and before you can stop yourself you spit out "NO." You stick out your hand and gently wave it downwards. And almost as if you were extending your hand across the room, you smacked the older man's hand away. He stepped back in shock, and opened his mouth in protest as his hand was swung down by an invisible force. He stuttered defensively "Listen now we aren't going to tolerate another tantrum young lady." Warmth begins to flood into your cheeks and tears prick at your eyes. "Shut UP! I said NO!" The four adults in the room were stunned but you could sense their sudden alertness. They were on edge. The bearded doctor immediately snapped back "Get yourself in order or you will be locked in your room alone for the next week!" Your neck cracked loudly as you snapped it back to look at him and you saw a flicker of fear in his eyes. He was afraid of you. Good.

The fear that usually wracked your body was gone and only rage remained. Red. You didn't care anymore. You wanted out, to be gone of this place. You wanted to be free. If it was between you or them, you would be the one walking out of here alive. "I said. No." Your voice didn't even sound like yourself. "Listen here you little s-" It was easy to cut him off. "You think I'm stupid?" The resulting silence was heavy. And the tension hung thickly in the air all of a sudden. You could suddenly feel everything tenfold. The nurse. She was about to pull out her phone and dial the alert number. Not on your watch. Spluttering at your attitude he tried to get a couple of words out until you cut him off in a eerily calm voice. "You think you're gonna chip me like a fucking dog?" You could see him processing for several seconds that he was completely found out and you quickly went to work. Drawing all your focus you manipulated the old man with the sedative. You flooded his mind with your decision. And to your satisfaction, you saw him take three large steps backwards till he was nearly at the desk and he turned towards the Nurse. In a quick smooth motion, he pulled out both syringes, uncapped them and drove them down into the unsuspecting woman's neck. The second after he pushed the plunger down he stumbled back off balance. At first confused, but then horrified with himself as he whipped around to look at you. The woman's screech is loud, panicky, and a problem. You hadn't thought about them screaming. But what's done is done. And now there wasn't another choice. You were going to have to kill them. A million thoughts rushed through your head within a millisecond. You didn't even know how to kill people. Oh god… what was easy… what would work? All three men quickly stood up but you stayed in your chair. All the little training exercises that they had done with you and they hadn't seemed to clue them in at how good you had gotten. You moved both your fists forward and grabbed the air. Except you were grabbing the legs of the table and holding them still. You could see the nurse slump to the floor in the background. "Send an alert!" The younger man screamed as he stumbled back, grabbing onto a chair in shock. He didn't have time to. You felt something warm drip down your face as you focused hard and with all the strength you could muster. An unholy screech of metal flooded the room as the flat top of the table was ripped up and off all four legs. All the thoughts suddenly flooding the room are burning your ears, everything felt hot, but you don't stop. "FUCK-" The top of the table flips sideways and you shove it forward hard. Sending it slamming into the bearded doctor and knocking him much farther than you thought it would. He ended up pinned to the ground under the tabletop. He groaned in pain though you promptly ignored it. The blonde scientist screamed out your name in anger but it was too late. You had already started and now you were going to have to follow through. You froze their feet in place. The two scientists couldn't move and pale and fearful yellow dominated the area. Now tears were pouring down your face, adding to the blood that was now dripping off your chin and onto your shirt. So with those table legs you were holding, you motioned your hands up and they flew up in the air. And with a simple movement of your fingers, you rotated the legs. Aiming the raw exposed metal, you took a deep breath… and flung it forward as hard as you could. Successfully shooting them through the air and into their targets.

The amount of blood that sprayed everywhere when they shot through the necks of the scientists honestly surprised you. It was splattering all over the room and coloring the ceiling and walls. A gaping hole in each man's neck poured out more blood than you could ever imagine as they gurgled and swayed. Heads just flopping around. You remember pulling apart stumps of wood in one training session, remembered how you had to brace on each side and pull apart. So you put out both hands. Grabbed. Braced. Ripped. The blonde one's head came off with little fuss, torn off his body at the neck. You weren't even processing the absolute horror of what was before you. You could even see the bones sticking out of his neck, surrounded by gushing blood before the body collapsed to the ground. "NO! WHAT THE FUCK! STOP STOP!" You completely ignore his screams as the doctor does his best to try and pull himself out from under the table. You turned to the second scientist, the younger one. And once again you reach forward with your hands, controlling his body, bracing for a split second, and ripping his head off as well. Only now did you notice the two loose and bloody heads strewn around the room on the floor staring blankly and leaking crimson. The grey office carpet was quickly stained red in huge pools under the bodies. Just one left. Now you could focus on him. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS! STOP!" The bearded man now begged desperately as he struggled to get to his feet. Finally standing up you brought your hand to your face. Your fingers quickly found the blood dripping from your nose which you smeared onto your cheek by accident. But you just looked at him and projected your voice into his mind. "Of course I can. It's what you were training me to do right? A weapon?" The backpedaling was immediate as it seemed he knew his fate "No no no no! Please we just want you to be safe! Know where you are! We care about you an-" Tilting your head to the side you sigh heavily and reach forward with both hands. and you smile tiredly as tears continue to fall down your face. "No…. nobody cared. You don't have to lie anymore. Don't worry, I know everything. Goodbye." His face was ashy and pale as he began to cry… Pathetically trying to beg for his life but you had already committed. And with little ceremony, you ripped his head off. Without the table leg damaging his neck first, it had been harder. He even had time to scream in pain. But your anger won out and his head popped off violently and bounced off the ceiling. And you could see the blood shoot up, squirting out of various veins and arteries that flailed around like worms. It continued for a moment for the last couple of heartbeats and the body dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. And suddenly the room was dead silent and the results of your actions surrounded you. Tears blurred your face as you tried to wipe the blood off your face. Bile was curdling in your stomach at the sight but you did your best to force it down. You couldn't stop now. And almost as if you were having a tantrum, just like they accused you of: you picked up the very heavy metal desk in the corner with your telekinesis, raised it to the ceiling, and then slammed it down on the unconscious nurse's head. The wet crunchy sound was disgusting and you felt light-headed as you saw red chunks fly everywhere. You weren't going to leave survivors who could help track you down, that was for sure. Exhaling deeply, head swimming and heavy, you mindlessly walked forward and removed the wet red keys from the Doctor's belt.