Painted in Blood

Above__Present

Marl Zildjian P.O.V

Normally exactly 11:30 is when Echo comes down to the common room before she goes to bed, but today she comes at 11:31, so I know she's had an extremely difficult day. She comes into the stuffy little room and sits rigidly trying to conceal her fatigue and failing. The lights in this room are always on because every hour of the day is someone's time off. The feelings Echo does show though are practiced and controlled, so she doesn't seem robotic and unapproachable. It's not an easy tick to identify but I've been on her team for a long time now. Emrok enters the room looking annoyed as usual and he flops into a chair with a huff. We sit at a small round plastic table, one of the five in here, the chairs are metal an unforgiving on my back. There are a few cushy chairs and one large couch that are rarely empty, but today the other people that are usually in here before us are late, so with a glance to Emrok and Echo we head over there. Echo speeds to the couch and lays out like a cat, leaving Emrok and I the chairs. Echo gives us a guilty smile then her eyes open and she gives Emrok a curious glance he flinches away from. He refrains from giving her a stinging remark which is progress I guess. I notice the split second twitch in Echo as she tries to cover up her reaction to Emroks ice but she regains composure quickly. She yawns as if she's never been more comfortable in her life.

"My clients today were a depressed telepath, and a level two telekinetic" she starts and Emrok huffs petulantly. "who was definitely spliced with incarnate DNA." she finishes and Emrok perks up. I heave a sigh of relief I disguise quickly after with a cough. Echo nods then goes to get a food unit then leaves. Emrok moves to follow but I grab his hand.

"Korme" I snap his name in its respectful form angrily. I usually don't address him directly so my message is clear to him.

"It's not like I snapped at her this time!" he retorts. I glare at him silently. "You can't force me to respect her, she freaks me out plain and simple" He whines. I tap the second smile scar on my neck.

"That's outside differences, differences I can see, explain and get used to. Vyn's magic is creepy. It's always changing and hidden unless she uses it. And then there's just her as a person." Emrok continues. Proper nouns are to be said backwards in respect. To said it forwards is to hate it unconditionally, however, saying someones last name forward is simply cold and distant. I roll my eyes and dismiss Emrok with a sharp wave of my hand. He shrugs frustratedly and walks off, bumping into other people as he exits the common room. We may all be around the same age, but sometimes I feel like Emrok is a blind child, and Echo is 1000 years old.

Narit Emrok P.O.V

A bird. A coyote. A fox. A bear. A stag. The STEM matter in my hand changes rapidly. We have a teleporter. Only level Two. She has incarnate blood. Pretty much everywhere has protection from unwanted visitors. Small advantages. Small powers. Remember the little things. My room is small and mostly empty, my few personal effects I keep hidden in various parts of the room. Suddenly there is a knock on my door, quiet, unsure.

"Come in," I tell Echo. She does and sits on the small metal chair across from me. Slight little thing. Dark skin, and darker eyes. Obsidian eyes. They unnerve me, even though mine are almost the same color, mine are stormier I've been told. "Why do you want Nyv?" I sigh giving her full respect. I don't want to fight right now. Her eyes flicker over to my STEM fluid and I realize it's still moving. I turn it into a spiked ball and Echo flinches. She moves like a snake, tensing an coiling up in fear then relaxing smoothly but forced. I can hear the effort behind her even breaths then her eyes hold mine.

"you are not on my team tomorrow," She says finally. I nod.

"Klif told me a few minutes ago" Flik is a hardass but an easily manipulated one. I'm on cameras tomorrow. "Whats your day tomorrow?" I ask casually.

"Same as today plus a bipolar animorph. Should be an interesting day" Echo says cheering up at the mention of her work. She lights up for a brief moment then. I hear the click at exactly 11:55 telling me the visual cameras are off but the audio is still on. In five minutes anyone not in their dorms will be found and prosecuted. Empaths especially are not permitted to have relationships here. Regardless once the visuals are down the shy girl charade is gone and Echo's arms are around me before I've even taken a full step towards her. Her head rests on my chest and she takes a deep breath then as quick as she came she spirits away, my door shutting behind her trapping me alone with my thoughts. I have 29 more years before I am legally allowed to retire from Cora, I am 25 now. Since almost every crime above a misdemeanor gets mandatory counseling, then occasionally arrest if the counseling isn't wanted, working, or the crime continues, counseling is a large business. It almost always needs more workers, nearly all empaths get drafted, and all the other workers needed get paid stupid-high wages. However, there are a few cases of trafficking where someone is sold into the business. When a place is short on workers every now and then it buys people and gives them a number of years to work before they are given protection and freedom for the rest of their lives. Almost every major business does it. Screw that, no one gets to tell me when I'm free.

    Speaking of, suddenly I scramble around my tiny one-room flat in search of my phone. When I find it I text Echo.

[how long have you been in this compound? Do emps get field trips or anything?] I text, though I can guess the second answer. She texts back in a few minutes though, the first answer making me feel nauseous.

[I've been here ten years, started working at fifteen. And no.] she responds curtly.

[what the hell?!]

[I had fifteen years outside this compound learning free life, I like helping people. This was the best place to do that.]

[you're being taken advantage of. You died at fifteen, you're a slave here]

[unlike you and Naijdliz, I am allowed to leave whenever I want.]

[you need to come with us tomorrow]

[no]

[is Ohce Nyv even your real name? it seems so demeaning now] I fire back angrily. Suddenly the little indicator telling me if Echo is online or not goes red meaning 'do not disturb'

    When I first got here I thought I'd be trapped, but then I met Zildjian, and he told me about Echo, who he knew helped free people who got trafficked into this unwillingly, or who were breaking under the job. It was the first time I felt in control. I want Echo to come with us but honestly, I know she won't, she's too deeply rooted here. I text Zildjian.

[change in plan. We need to take Echo with us] it is a few agonizingly slow minutes before he responds.

[O.o what did you buy from Turc this time?]

[go screw. I'm serious] [and sober]

[Nyv doesn't want to leave, she'd lay our asses out if we got her out of here]

[it's worth it.]

[want to free all empaths? Dude a lot of them like this work, including Nyv.]

[we'll need an emp on our side]

[we have Semaj I already told you this]

[didn't you also tell me he was old? He's likely to die quickly if s**t goes south]

[korme, just no]

[Naijdliz you know I'm right] [besides, sooner or later she'll be found out, and killed for her love of helping people]

[emps are too passionate for war]

[telepaths are too schizo to function]

[jackass]

[dumbass]

[fine, if she dies, if this goes south, if she breaks, if ANYTHING goes wrong, it's your fault]

[hey, she's going to work on an animorph tomorrow, wanna take him or her with? we could use one]

[oh my s**t shut up before you get the entire Storms Diamond after our asses. We are never going to war if we get caged first]