Peppermint's Room, Lambent Laboratories, Cell 3,

Africa Dome

Peppermint hugged the toilet bowl, her forehead pressed to its chilly rim. A shudder raced through her, forcing her eyes closed as her fingers clutched at the lid. She cringed at the sound of footsteps behind her. Her head wobbled as she tried to lift it with a neck made weak from puking.

"I'm sorry." Her voice echoed, trapped in the confines of the toilet.

"You exhibited a perfectly natural response," Onyx said.

She didn't know how to respond. She sat back on her heels and flushed the toilet. Steadying herself on the rim, she pushed herself to her feet. She leaned against the basin, splashing water over her face and rinsing out her mouth.

"Do you still feel nauseous?" Onyx enquired.

"A little."

"Phoenix, dispense a med-bot with—"

"No!" She twisted her head around, clutching the basin. "I'm fine."

Onyx's eyes narrowed, but she pushed herself away from the basin, lifting her hands. The man grimaced and took a hurried step back from her. She ran her hands over her face. Did she have puke in her hair or something?

"You should—" he began, his lips still twisted.

"Really, I'm fine. I'm just... overwhelmed."

There was no way a med-bot was coming within a meter of her, never mind injecting her with shit. Her head still reeled. And not from nausea or residual effects from the drugs she took last night.

A psi?

It was pretty obvious she was going to be waking up in a few minutes, discussing how lucid dreams became after consuming psychotropic chemicals. Maple was going to flip out over this.

Scorn cooled Onyx's eyes to shards of dark-blue ice.

"Overwhelmed? I haven't even begun telling you everything you need to know," he said.

"There's more?" She heard the humming of tiny motors as a mop-bot cleaned up her mess. Onyx shook his head, turning away from her. "Well then tell me. You said something about... seeing things? What does that mean?"

"An Augur's consciousness can transcend space and time." He paused, only his head twisting back as he looked at her. "They can look back at the past, or into the future."

"Like a fortune teller?"

His eyebrows lifted. "Clairvoyants formed part of your studies?"

"Uh... sort of. It was in the 'biggest fails of the old world' section of our training."

The man's face could have been chiselled from pale marble for the warmth and expression it held. Peppermint stared back at him, waited for him to respond.

He blinked at her. "Biggest fails?"

"Yup. Along with the petrodollar, big pharma and..." She decided not to complete the list — his eyes had narrowed dangerously.

"Fascinating," he murmured.

Onyx retreated into the bedroom. Peppermint tensed, straining to hear the mop-bot, but it must have disappeared. When she poked her head out of the bathroom Onyx was standing in the middle of the room, staring at the room's exit.

"Life as you know it has changed." His eyes met hers, and she flinched at the heat in them. "You are now a psi-recruit. Training commences in thirty minutes."

He made to leave, and she managed to force out the words stuck in her throat.

"When can I go home?"

He paused mid-step and glanced at her over his shoulder.

"Never."

Peppermint's eyes widened. She opened her mouth, but he was gone, obscured by the closing door.

"Hey! You can't do this—" she shouted, rushing after him.

Her forehead crashed into the sealed door and she staggered back, clutching at her face. She stared through her fingers at the door, her lips trembling.

"Phoenix, open the door," she managed, her voice warbling.

"Good p.m., Peppermint. Unfortunately, this door has been locked. An authorisation code is required to proceed."

"He can't do this to me," she whispered.

"The non-disclosure agreement you signed upon entering this facility included a clause wherein you agreed to reside at this laboratory throughout the duration of your training."

"But..." Peppermint forced back the tears, her hands pressed to either side of her face as she sank down to the carpet. "I didn't read it," she said.

The AI didn't respond. Peppermint sat on the floor, her legs tangled under her, staring at the closed door as she replayed the man's casual words. Breath froze in her throat. Her skin slowly turned to ice.

Never. Never. Never.

. . .