As the light began to fade in the Aeire, the remaining girls gathered near their bunk beds, waiting in anticipation for Yrix's next move. There were many amongst their ranks who, like Lila, were still reeling from the effect of Psionic awakening.
But for those with natural talent like Ivy, there was nothing but the long, awkward intermission. What all the students shared in common, however, was their collective state of disbelief at their current predicament. It no longer mattered which colony they were from or how they were brought to the Aeire. Yrix would kill them all if they faltered.
"Hey, look!" Lila beamed as she ran to the back of the chamber. "This door! It's opening!"
Ivy nearly snorted at the idea of the Earthling wandering into the eerie hallway that awaited her, but to her surprise, Lila had already begun to skip through the back door.
"She can't be serious." Ivy raised an eyebrow as she spoke.
Sonera was the second girl to push into the dimly lit doorway, leaving Ivy in a state of disbelief. But before she could climb down from her bed and chase after the two girls, she heard another door swing open from the direction of Yrix's office. After quite the long delay, it was Lunae who came walking through, her eyes still clearly watering.
"Can't wait to hear the Earthling gloat about this one." Ivy sighed, storming off in the direction Lila had chosen.
Lunae was still trembling in silence, her visible fear silencing the room with its mere presence. Eventually, Yrix spoke, announcing the next event with her chilling voice. She appeared even more agitated than before, adding another layer of weight to her demanding presence.
"Food. You need it." The Arch-Flayer pointed to the back doors. "You will be brought back here in an hour for rest. Do not make me say it twice."
Without question, the entire room began to migrate, leaving Lunae all alone standing in front of Yrix.
"You too, Lunae."
"I'm sorry, Yrix." The girl sobbed, wiping a tear that stuck to the markings beneath her eyes. "I did my best."
"You are an anomaly, thus far, little one. Not a failure." Yrix spoke more softly. "Go on now. I'm sure Lila would like to hear all about your story."
__________________________________________
"Damn, she cooked," Lila smirked as she fiddled with her fork. "It's pretty good."
It wasn't unfair for Lila to assume the food of the Aerie would be unfit for humans, which made its quality all the more surprising. Yrix had once again shown her observant nature, handcrafting an entire cafeteria for her students a mere walk away from the bechambers.
The appearance of the room was familiar, with the same style of windows and the soft red carpet making a return. What changed primarily was the presence of a bathroom and a series of silver trays and platters, alongside several chafing dishes filled with corn beef and rice.
It felt almost surreal for Lila to receive perfectly human food in a nightmare.
Without Lunae to accompany her, however, the Earthling girl found herself sitting alone at a large wooden table, choosing to place herself closer to the window where she could try and peek outside. But just like before, the room was sealed shut, with no visible environment to be seen outside the Aerie's walls. Lila was almost content sitting alone, her body finally beginning to feel stable.
"You gave me advice before," Sonera spoke from behind, catching Lila completely off guard.
"Wah!" Lila jumped. "Hi Sonera. Didn't see you there." Lila grinned awkwardly.
"Why aren't there armed gaurds?" The strange girl continued, tilting her head as she spoke. "I wanted to ask you."
"Well, you're smart, I'm sure you figured it out. This place was designed by Yrix with a lot of care. If anyone breaks out, I'm sure she has a lot of safeguards in place. I don't know much about this Consortium, but...they showed up to my home with ships the size of a town. We'd be insane to think they don't have something equally absurd out there waiting for us to do something stupid." Lila explained, showing her nerdier side as she began exuding passion in her body language. "Ya know what I mean?"
"Yes." Sonera nodded. "I'm sorry about your home."
"Really?"
"I had mine taken by her."
"Yeah...I get that. Thanks for bothering to talk to me. You seem like the loner type."
"I do prefer to watch from the shadows but..." Sonera hesitated, looking down at her plate. "Forget it."
"Aren't we all."Lila joked.
Sonera produced the faintest of smiles, staring at Lila with thinly veiled curiosity.
"Hey, wanna do something funny?" Lila beamed, realizing she had the potential to make a friend. "Let's go over to Ivy and exist in front of her."
Sonera looked disapproving.
"Cmon, it'll pass the time."
Lila then hobbled her way over to Ivy, who was sitting by herself, her food untouched. Sonera came in tow, glaring at every other girl he came near. There was still more than enough for the faces to blend together, making them all inmutable strangers. Many of them came from colonies vastly different compared to Earth and Mars, giving them unique accents and hair colors.
Lunae didn't care. She just wanted to be with the one person she was beginning to trust, albeit barely. Something about Lila's authenticity made her feel, at the very least, like she had control of the situation.
Much to Lila's dissapointment, Ivy didn't have any reaction when the two sat at her table. All the girl seemed to be capable of was staring longingly into her food. At the very least, she touched some of the water Yrix had provided in a nearby dispenser.
"Something wrong?" Lila asked with a mouthful of rice. "Eating is pretty good when you're on the verge of dying to a psycho alien."
"I shouldn't be here," Ivy muttered. "This...is all wrong."
"I mean, it's pretty good if you ask me. What do you think, Sonera?"
Sonera sat across from Lila, giving her a prompt thumbs-up expression as a response.
"It's trash." Ivy retorted. "I can't eat this."
"What are you some kinda rich girl?" Lila shrugged.
"Rich girl?! I'll have you know I'm the heiress to the Tesselation, the largest colony organizer in the solar system. My family owns a moon."
"Then how the hell did you end up here?"
"Why you-."
Ivy did her best to contain herself, taking several deep breaths as she extended both hands. Pursuing Lila's taunting would only expose her. And so, for the time being, she would have to pretend she wasn't livid. Luckily for the heiress, a new distraction had arrived.
"Hey, it's Lunae!" Lila waved, signaling for the girl to sit down. "Grab a plate and join us!"
Lunae seemed confused, wandering the room with an unsteady posture. Even compared to the other humans from distant colonies, her ethereal features caused her to stand out from the crowd. Locking eyes with Lila, she shook her head in dismay.
"Don't be silly, we're all friends here." Lila smiled, thinking of how she had felt just a minute ago. "Sit."
"I...a-alright." Lunae nodded as she stepped closer to Lila. "Thank you."
Ivy couldn't help but stare at the girl in disbelief, her eyes squinting into a scrutinous gaze. As far as she was concerned, Lunae was quite the shameless attraction, with her shapely figure and exotic features forcing even Sonera to observe unabashedly. Or in simpler terms, one might describe her as jealous.
"What are you?" Ivy crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow as she glared at Lunae.
"Human...I think." Lunae smiled.
"You think!"
"Where are you from?" Sonera spoke softly, her more curious side emerging as she spoke.
"I don't know, I'm sorry. All I can remember is...this place."
"And before then?" Lila added.
"I'd rather not talk about it. If you don't mind." Lunae looked down in shame, pressing her palms against her knees.
"That's perfectly fine, just enjoy the food." The Earthling shifted her plate over to Lunae as a friendly gesture. "I'll go get another plate."
Lunae fiddled with her fork, unsure of how it worked. But after watching Ivy, who performed perfect etiquite, she was quick to learn.
"Mmm. It's amazing!" Lunae beamed. "I wonder who made it."
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Ivy rolled her eyes. "Girl's acting like she hasn't had food before."
"I like it," Sonera replied, regaining her willingness to speak. "Not so bad."
"See? Not everyone's so picky." Lila chimed in as she took her seat with another plate. "And Yrix made plenty for everyone."
"How kind of her." Lunae nodded.
"Is that a joke?" Ivy sneered. "You think it's funny that we're here?"
"Speaking of funny." Lila deflected, keeping the attention away from Lunae, who already began to look hurt. "Check this shit out."
Lila grabbed a napkin and began to fold it into a strange shape, placing it between the tips of her fingers.
"Sonera, hold out your hands like a big U."
Sonera followed the instructions, staring curiously at Lila before the tiny napkin came flying towards her face. The object bounced right off, causing Lunae to giggle loudly. Sonera paused for a brief moment before producing a smile.
"See? She liked it." Lila gestured towards Ivy. "We can have fun regardless of the circumstances."
"That's it, I'm done." Ivy slammed her hands against the table before storming off. "I've had enough of Earthling drivel."
Lila sat in silence, her expression becoming agressively plain as a response to the insult.
"What does that mean?" Lunae asked.
"She doesn't like us," Lila replied. "That's basically it."
"Oh."
"I've seen her kind before." Sonera frowned, reminiscing on her past work. "They squeal just like anyone else."
"Well, okay now, it's not that serious. Maybe she's just shy." Lila shrugged as she tried to lighten the mood.
Despite her own words, Lila watched closely as Ivy left the chamber. Something about the heiress had her morbidly enamored. More so than Lunae and Sonera, something was off with her.