Jackie, aged 13, was sitting on top of the benches. She looked down at the A.R. projection, eager hut laced with anxiousness.

Made up of geometric shapes that formed into an endless, “appealing” mascot—it was the thing delivering the latest siVis/Shift warning for all kids to see. The voice, airying and “reassuring”, was a terrible mistake. All the information it spewed, it felt like it was telling it in such a detached, uncaring way.

“Remember! siVis Trends deep down are people as well! But at the same time, understand that people can also be dangerous and inhumane!”

The girls’ nails dug constantly under her seat, her trembling fingers scrapping at her sides, breaking chunks on the floating, disconnected bench.

“These people have experienced the Shifts in ways we have yet to define, and maybe will take a while to do so,” the two-frame animated, gap of a smile flapped away. The face of the construct was just a simple, dots for eyes and curve for mouth. Head was a circle, “hair” was just three trapzoids layered onto each other, and the body was just a bulging square.

“So, with this in mind, these people are mentality overwhelmed, end up displaced from their living situation, and faces deteriorating humanity on a near-daily basis. While siVictims end up as their namesake, victims to their unusual plights—siVisTrends are the certain victims that take their interesting experience in ways that we couldn’t have possibly predicted, and remain on public file to gauge the destructive capability of what siVis is. If you run into one, run! And contact your local Extant to handle your situation! Run, hide, and survive until Extant has arrived with the possible help. And you must give it your all, or you will become yet another statistic to said Trend!”

The metallic, dry taste that spread in Jackie’s mouth was palpable. Never mind the decision of teaching this to kids, she then realized where she was right now.

Mindspace.

Meaning, in her head.

And judging by the metallic taste turning into iron, and the dryness instantly flooding with a then-familiar red fluid—she could be hurt bad. Knocked into this bad.

She wiped the corners of her mouth that dribbled with blood. She just wanted to know what this trauma hallucination from the past was trying to tell her. Hoping it wasn’t a coma dream. Or a dying one.

“Only try the following when they are charging at you, and you are totally out of options!” the shape-man lectured. “Grapple or contort their ‘ReBirthmarks’ to cause a momentary spasm in their motion! siVis-based action apparently works on moment-to-moment, step-by-step basis! With that, sequence-breaking is the key in curbing the threat—but good luck in finding things that can break said sequences! Don’t be a hero! Remember you are mortal!”

So, things that she already knew. Great.

What was left was the issue to getting out, waking up. If she could.

The girl primed her hand against her cheek, patting it softly to work herself up.

It wasn’t until it hit her that she slapped herself on the forehead with astonishment.

“Sequence-breaking!” she continued to dope-slap herself, this time across the face. Then the left. Then the right, and this left her puzzled.

She kept slapping and slapping, until she realized that her hand wasn’t her own—it was Maddie’s.

***

“Wakeupwakeupwakeupwakeup--!” Maddie breathless choked out.

Jackie huffed, shot up, and coughed. She looked around, despite her brain still swirling within her skull.

The entire hallway was covered in white, a mixture of cement dust and River’s steam, creating a unique haze layering everything.

“Good! You’re up, now let’s fucking run because she’s coming out any--!” a voice said. River’s?

Jackie realized that she was still woozy, and deafened on the left side of her ear.

So she could only hear a faint muffle when N’atural exploded onto the scene.

She was hunched over, sharp—alabaster plates protruding out of her arms, back, legs and even the back of her hand and down her fingers. Speaking of, her claws not only extended out of them from the finger tips, but have fused the fingers together, creating a clawed hand with two fingers and a bloated thumb. Her feet were no better, becoming raised with the heels disappearing with a sharp talon, the same talons that became her toes—black, thick and dug into the ground so she doesn’t fall over. She became gaunt, her beautiful dress hanging off her, her skin so close to her bones, and despite breathing heavily—you could barely see her chest move.

She looked over, in what could be described as a manic look… Had she been able to express anymore.

Her face was scrunched due to her skull structure, to the point of jutting outwards—becoming more like a falcon with sharp edges and sunken, beady eyes. She tried to grin, but most of her teeth were missing—becoming jagged remnants that can work perfect for tearing at least.

She was coated in debris and sweat, her claws mostly caked in white, as she stood there in place.

“I can’t see you that well, but I know you’re there, my fellow strangers…” her accent was gone, she could only hiss out her words, and her vocal chords only registering low octaves. “I thought I would ussse my hearing and dig straight to where you are… Of course, it took a lot out of me, but that’s the lovely thing about my ability… The more I get hurt, the faster the transformation takes hold!”

There was a disgusting, raspy sound that followed. Short, almost in cadence with dryheavings. But the girls knew it was her laugher.

“It hurts,” N’atural confessed. “It hurts so much… But the funny thing is… I can already feel something else take the place of the pain. My feeble, human skin is just hardening into one of a beast’s. I know you tried to leave, so I made sure to block the exit—and we’re going to set here until I can move again! I want to meet you all so badly!”

“Shit! Shit!” Maddie could only exclaim, as she practically shrieked.

This was bad, and Jackie knew it. There was something she needed to do, she knew what to do—they all did. But once again, reality crushed her before she could do anything.

She found herself struggling to get up.

“WE ARE NOT DOING HERO MOMENTS!” again, a voice screamed. Had to be Tracy, that time.

Jackie stood… And then prowled forward.

Even N’atural, who was behind the layers of smoke, perked up in confusion.

Even Jackie herself wasn’t sure what she was doing.

But she continued to move forward… And then moved to the left, hitting herself against the locker.

It finally occurred to Jackie, who was practically having an out-of-body-experience, that she was still out of sorts mentality due to what kind of hit she was taken.

Looking into the reflection of the locker, her eyes were glazed over.

Essentially, if it wasn’t for siVis, Jackie would have been completely under it. Her body was trying to do it’s best, but can’t just rebound from blunt force trauma.

“Oh dear…” N’atural tried to sound sympathetic. “I’ll try to ease whoever you are first. Brain damage is far too unforgiving…”

Possibly concussed again, trapped in a body that’s barely functional, with the idea on how to possibly survive locked behind all of this. Somehow, this takes the cake of the worst thing that’s happened to her this ordeal.

But she was able to track one thing.

She saw Tracy step forward, beside her. Dripping with sweat and tears, she moved her arms forward.

siVis Ability!

“…Hold on, just caught this—you haven’t even named--?” N’atural could muster before getting cut off.

The lockers flipped open, forward, as if they acted as a door. N’atural grunted in surprise, but to surprise her more, she heard the steps of her attacker coming to her left.

Tracy then used her ability again, flipping up a slab of floor to cover her up next, connecting to the locker-wall.

“Trapping me, hm…?” N’atural sounded nonplussed. She heard steps behind her, and looked back to see yet another set of lockers form the makeshift cage.

Jackie felt someone grab her, and ran with the rest.

They bolted down the halls, trying to find anywhere to hide. But knowing N’atural can just crush them without laying a claw on them aided in the anxiety.

“WHAT DO WE DO?!” Maddie screamed. “THE FUCK DO WE DO?!”

“Tracy,” River said out of breath, “You have to use your ability again—something, anything!”

“Uh-uh-uh-uh—” Tracy could only respond.

siVis Ability!

Tracy struggled to lift up the slab of floor that provided their escape. What was lined with wires and pipes was a makeshift hatch to the lower floor.

Maddie instantly leapt and jumped into the mess, getting tangled but falling down.

siVis Ability!

River turned into steam and floated down the hatch.

“Ready, Jackie?” so it was Aiko was helped Jackie this whole time.

They jumped together, getting caught but struggling like madwomen to get undone, eventually falling through and landing on the lower floor.

Tracy quickly leapt after, getting entangled but falling in record time.

The girls continued to run, now in a spacious, featureless floor with it was nothing but green-tented white.

“HF—Girls, stop—” Jackie was able to muster some words.

She couldn’t explain it, but she found the spot in her head where it hurts the most. Stark warned about brain activity, but it wasn’t oddly her head this time. It was near the ear, and focused on keeping it from aching.

“There’s no point in hiding…” Jackie felt it easier to talk. “She’s going to stalk and bring this place down if we continue to do it…”

“Dude,” Maddie said, pointing at her. “You’re so fucking lucky to be alive right now. You were as close to the impact than any of us.”

Jackie’s eyes widen. “R-really--?”

“You got hit by something, but because you instantly got knocked the fuck out--?” Maddie asked, trembling as she says it. “You were limp, so you weren’t tensed… We got out with scraps and shit because we ran instantly, but we had to dig you out and…”

Jackie held her head with both hands, looking across equally scared, equally hurt girls.

“You… Risked everything to save me…?” Jackie felt her eyes well up in tears.

“It was the stupidest decision we’ve made… But we couldn’t make the smart choice.”

Jackie used her thumb to mop the tears before they could form, shivering as she did. She then felt something in her mouth, spitting in her hand to look at it.

The sparkle-like dust that’s replaced her blood, resided in that hand. It simmered in her hand, showing that her siVis-structure has taken a beaten within.

“Well, there’s no reason for me not to make this plan of mine the best I ever fucking managed,” Jackie proclaimed.