Today, the dormitory was bustling with activity as numerous voices sounded their excitement at something.

  Grunting, Leo lifted himself up from the bed to see what was happening. Anthony had long disappeared from his bed going to who knows where, along with the mirror that usually sat at the table.

  That’s when it dawned on him.

  Today was the day he’d get mindtapped, whatever that really meant. Although the Lieutenant had explained the process, he was skeptical whether the Lieutenant had truly told him everything about the procedure.

  But there wasn’t much he could do to stop this. Even now, he still saw it as a good thing for Anthony. He’ll be getting whatever demon was inside him out while clearing his name of this issue.

  But that still begged the question, how long had that demon been there? Leo knew it wasn’t during their 5 year travel, or else the changes would’ve happened way before they got here. His eyes widened as he came to a slow realization.

  That dog!

  Anthony only began to change once that dog came in. He doubted the dog was the demon he contracted with, but perhaps there was another they weren’t aware of. Even then, how did he get in contact with it? If he could just figure out this small detail, perhaps he could resolve this issue altogether.

  His head shot with pain from the stress.

  ‘Why’d things have to get so complicated…’

  Leo was about to leave the room before a woman’s voice caused him to stop.

  “Wait, this is the perfect time to talk, and shut the lights for a sec, will ya?”

  A sigh of relief escaped Leo as he sat back down on his bed as he flicked a switch, darkening the room. Across from him, a shadowy figure slowly rose from the opposite end.

  Connie had finally awoken from her deep sleep.

  Her hair was somehow still neat and proper as it had been yesterday. If anything, it was neater than before. Additionally, her complexion was looking much better as her skin looked healthier, slightly reducing the pale look she had.

  She yawned, stretching before sitting on Anthony’s bed. “Mmmh, that was a great sleep. How’ve things been since I slept?”

  ‘Ah shit.’

  How could he break it to her that he had completely disregarded her note’s instructions? And wait, would he really die this time?

  “I see it’s gone to shit…Thank the stars…”

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  Connie rolled her eyes. “Your face says it all. Now, spill it and I won’t be too mad. I bet it has something to do with my note, doesn’t it?”

  ‘Can she read minds?’

  “Looks like that’s a yes. Great, now that that’s settled…”

  She got up, brushing off her pants as she quickly walked up to Leo. Looking at her, he saw a smile appear on her face. It was the last thing he saw before a fist planted itself into his face.

  “You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me!”

  She stopped punching Leo. “Is it that hard to follow simple instructions?! I know you’re pretty young but man, really? A toddler could’ve listened better than you!”

  All Leo could do was lower his bruised face. “I have no excuses…I’m sorry.”

  She sighed, massaging her forehead out of frustration. “So, who saw it? Please don’t say Anthony…”

  Leo quietly said, “Lieutenant…Eicholtz…”

  Hearing this seemed to have somewhat calmed her down a bit. Only a little bit, though as he could see the wrinkles between her brow, highlighting themselves on her expressionless face.

  “Well, at least it was somebody that wouldn’t harm us too badly. He was bound to find out anyway.”

  Leo looked up confused. “You’re…okay with this?”

  Connie sat back down, taking a deep breath. “Not ‘okay’ per say, more so accepting about it. My Refraction was bound to be discovered anyway, so I’m not too mad about who found out. Plus, it’s not like they know who wrote that note, right?”

  Leo thought back to his conversation with the Lieutenant. Although he had asked about the sender of the note, he never really said her name outloud.

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  She nodded. “Great, that just means he has information on some anonymous note giver. It literally will have no effect on me. If it were a trial participant or your contractor friend, then we’d be in trouble.”

  Leo asked, “You keep mentioning that Anthony’s a contractor. How do you know, exactly? You said something about smell?”

  She stayed silent for a moment before answering. “It’s got nothing to do with my Refraction, but I have this weird ability to just sniff out contractors. I’m sure the government’s got some nice official title for people like me, but the gist is that the stronger I can smell it, the stronger they usually are. Of course it’s disgusting when I’m around demons themselves though.”

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  Leo thought for a second. He wanted to confirm something. “I see…I’ve informed the guards but they seemed to also be aware of the situation. They’ve sent someone to do a procedure called a mindtap, do you have any idea what that is?”

  “Mindtapping? From what I know, some person goes into your head and looks around. Usually, as long as you’re no threat, they simply look but not touch.”

  Leo grew concerned. “Usually?”

  “Well, only if you’re not a threat. If they deem you a threat, they could leave you as a vegetable. Y’know, braindead.”

  His eyes widened in disbelief, drooping his head down. They could just do that? Holy…Knowing Anthony’s stubbornness, he wouldn’t just give in so easily, but he hasn’t done anything to bring any alarm to anybody yet so there’s no way they’d deem him a threat.

  Right?

  Connie looked at Leo with a much more serious expression. “But that’s going to be an issue.”

  Leo whipped his head up. “What do you mean?”

  “The mindtapping, if they do it, the Mindtap, not Anthony, will be in danger of corruption. The demon I smelled was far stronger than anything I’ve experienced before, perhaps the strongest I’ve smelled in a long while…”

  At the last part, Leo could see her eyes looking somber as if remembering something, but quickly refocusing on him.

  “But either way, we need to be ready for a disaster.”

  Leo asked, “How? If he’s so strong like you said, then we don’t even have a single chance of beating him.”

  She looked at him like he was dumb. “Beat him? Are you insane? We’re not damage control, we’re going to prepare to survive. Prepare to run the moment things go bad.”

  “Oh. Okay, good. I’m all for this plan.”

  Heaving a sigh of relief, they discussed a few plans depending on how bad things would get, ultimately deciding on their escape plan after thirty minutes of discussion. Meanwhile, the outside grew more excited with talk of other people’s fights or their personal victories.

  Connie let out a yawn as she laid back on the bed, her black hair spreading everywhere as she looked at the ceiling. “Thank god, I thought we’d never finish up.”

  Leo remembered something. “I’ve still got another friend, Diego. What about him?”

  She brought her head up. “What about him?”

  “Well, shouldn’t we find him for this too?”

  “Uh, is he in this dormitory?”

  He shook his head. “Nope.”

  She looked back to the ceiling. “Then there’s no need, he’ll be fine if he isn’t here.”

  He nodded. If anything, it was probably the best outcome that Diego ended up in another dormitory. At least he didn’t have to deal with all this nonsense. Now that he thought of it, Diego should’ve fought by now, or should be fighting today at some point.

  ‘He’ll be fine, right?’

  Leo shook his head. He couldn’t worry about Diego right now, he had to focus on the situation at hand. “Right, all that’s left is to tell Patrick.”

  She waved her hand. “Also no need. That idiot will probably catch on and act with his judgement.”

  “Are you sure? Aren’t you a little worried for him?”

  “Not really. He’s not a baby, he can take care of himself. Plus, he probably wouldn’t even remember the plan anyway, it’s best if we just let him act as he would naturally.”

  Leo awkwardly looked around. “So…what now?”

  “Now, you wait for the Mindtap to arrive. In the meantime, I’ll just relax in your shadow for a bit. I’ll be ready though, don’t worry about my sleep.”

  With that said, she walked to Leo and sank into his shadow. Before she sank completely, she raised her hand to give a thumbs up.

  Now alone in his room, he got up to stretch before leaving.

  Going into the dormitory, it seemed that everybody in this dorm had finished their fights. But the outcome was less than optimistic. More than half the dormitory had been eliminated in this trial, with only roughly 20 people left, including himself. In the loudest corner, however, he could see Patrick causing a scene, laughing with the group. On the opposite end, he could see Anthony sitting at a table eating his dinner.

  With a breath of confidence, Leo grabbed his dinner and sat across from Anthony, who didn’t seem to register his arrival.

  “Yo, sorry I woke up so late.”

  “Mm…”

  ‘Yikes…’

  Anthony’s complexion looked anything but healthy. His eyes had dark bags under them as if he hadn’t slept in days while his once bright, joyful eyes had become lifeless and dull, remaining unfocused as he ate his dinner.

  But what stood out was his right eye had seemed to change. Before it had been hazel like the other eye, but now the pupil was white, as if he had been blinded on one side. But he didn’t appear to be phased by it, eating and acting normally.

  Looking closer, he saw that Anthony’s arm had gradually turned paler with cracks on his skin as if it were becoming minerals.

  The sight made Leo realize the situation. With what he discussed with Connie, he could see the extent of the changes from contracting. Such a change in the body just screamed complete conversion as a contractor.

  The fact made Leo’s stomach churn.

  He couldn’t deny it anymore. With the evidence sitting right in his face.

  They were all right, he had truly become a contractor. He had just been too blind to see it. No, it was more like he didn’t want to see it.

  He knew he couldn’t change it now, so all he can do now is his best to remedy the situation. Salvage what he can. They had lost too much to break here now.

  “You good?” Anthony curiously looked at Leo as he chewed his food. At least out of everything else, his voice kept its pitch.

  Leo waved him off as he took a bite. “Just thinking how stupid you look.”

  Putting on a smile, all he could do now was hope for the best.