As the conversation continued, I found out that Lira could also feel the electricity easily, but Liam had not noticed that until we explained it. Liam could also hear other people thinking as I could. We were all able to psychically shield ourselves, and block each other out when we tried.

The meal ended and we were escorted back to our rooms for a rest period. Our rooms were all on the same floor, but in different halls. After that would come another class, today should be mathematics. It was my favorite class, manipulating numbers and seeing them work. I lay down on the bed, and closed my eyes. I sent a thought out to Liam and was please to hear him respond. Lira did as well. I kept a straight face, giving the impression I was asleep. There were six cameras in this room alone, and there was someone watching them at all times. There were years of information stored on all of us, first on old floppy disks and more recently on tiny secure digital cards.

On more than one occasion, I had disrupted power to the cameras as I tested myself. As I figured out more of the things I could do, I didn’t need to turn off more than one or two at a time. I had the unique ability to disappear or appear as I wanted, blending in to my surroundings like a chameleon. I had a stash of contraband that I kept concealed in my room in a box behind one of the wall panels. When I wanted to go through it, I had to blank out the camera so it would not record what I was doing. I wasn’t quite sure how I did it, but it worked. The cameras just recorded the empty room as if it were on a loop. I would make it appear as if I were sleeping in the other room, projecting the image of myself, in case they were watching closely. I knew if they had known about it, I would also have disappeared like the others in our group.

The three of us decided that we would try to meet together in two nights, after we were locked in for the night. I explained to them how to unlock the doors, focusing mentally on the electronic tumblers in the locks. The lights in the hall would be dimmed for the night hours and it would be easier to slip out undetected.

The door to my room clicked, the warning sound of someone coming in. I sat up and pushed the blankets off. A different tech came in this time, announcing time for class. I used the bathroom, then splashed water on my face. Walking to my closet, I changed into a different tunic and pants. Today there was a green set. While I slept each night, they would take my worn clothes and replace them with clean ones. Each day there was a different color. We had all been taught the basic concepts of time and how it was recorded, but inside the mountain we had no real experience to understand it. The night we would meet would be a grey day, even better for concealing us.

I followed the tech out and he led me to one of the classrooms on the same floor as our rooms. The room had seven desks, the others had been removed as the missing members of our group each had gone. There was a holographic computer screen at the front of the room, the desks set in a semicircle facing it. Our teacher stood before it, waiting for us to take our seats. Today we would be working on the concepts of theoretical fractional dimensions. This was one of my favorite classes, it felt more like creating art than anything else to me. Most of our classes dealt with science, math and physics. At times, I felt that they were using us to advance their own theories, several of us had made startling breakthroughs in the classes. We were mildly praised for this, but not so much that we believed any of it was important. They were very careful not to let any of us become aware of the outside world, believing us content to think that this facility was all that existed. I didn’t know how much Lira or Liam knew about outside, but I had learned about it from some of the techs. I had managed to make suggestions mentally that they believed were their own ideas. After they had done what I wanted, I wiped those memories clean, in case they were questioned. I didn’t want to cause them any problems for their weaknesses.

The teacher called me up to the screen. The mathematical set I came up with appeared on the screen and burst into magnificent colors. When I was finished, I returned to my seat, winking at Lira. The rest of our class each took their turns at the screen and returned to their seats. The teacher began giving out more instructions and I listened with half of my attention.

I knew there was a world outside of the one I was confined to, a place with color and beauty. I knew things that I was not supposed to, everyone that came into contact with us strictly professional and had no time for small talk. I daydreamed about a time when I would be able to leave this place and see outside for the first time.

After personal time, we were all escorted back to the dining room for the last meal of the day. Our little group of three gathered at the end of the table again with our meal trays. I picked up the water glass to take a drink, but there was a funny smell to it. I put the glass back down, sending the other two a message not to drink it. There was a separate water dispenser for the technicians to use, and after seeing them drink from it, I decided that we should only drink from that one as well. Ever since the day I have woken up with the IV in my arm, I was convinced that the doctors were doing something wrong to us. I felt fine shortly afterwards, but the grogginess and drowsiness were not normal for just getting vitamins.