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[i]Present day. . .[/i]

[i]'New arrivals scheduled to board at 1PM! Farewell party for graduates scheduled for 4PM.'[/i]

Eli stared at the notification before she turned off her phone and tucked it into her bag. She adjusted her position in the uncomfortable chair, leaning back in a dejected slump. Her eyes lifted towards the almost lifeless man before her. In the three weeks after homecoming night, Eli spent a lot of hours in this very spot. It wasn't because she wanted to be there when he woke up, or even if she could get any updates on his condition by being there when they checked in on him. It was because Eli only felt truly comfortable sitting next to the fallen officer.

[color=E5D0FF]"I can't believe they're bringing more of us up here."[/color]

She spoke softly, moreso thinking out loud than talking to Radvi. If he was listening, he gave no sign. There was a momentary silence before Eli spoke again. This time she was speaking directly to Radvi.

[color=E5D0FF]"I almost applied to go home, today. This is the only time I've ever [i]really[/i] wanted to leave."[/color] She scoffed, a melancholy smile skewing her lips. [color=E5D0FF]"We both know its way worse down there, though."[/color]

Her hands came to her face, which was void of any makeup, and rubbed her eyes. Faint dark circles lingered under them still. A sign of her continuing lack of sleep. She liked to think that she'd gotten enough sleep in the few days that it took to recover from the incident to last her for years. The last two weeks, unfortunately, weren't as giving. Although the initial aftershock of overextending her abilities were gone, and she could fully function without instantly tiring, Eli still felt fatigued. This time, something was different about her recovery process.

After the breakout, Eli only took a week to get back to her usual groove. The shock of the massacre still haunted her, but it was easy to go on with the day as if nothing had happened. Ezekiel's death had also been devastating, but Eli shared the grief of his loss with her friends. This time, Eli felt alone in her grief. Her friends had never understood her affection towards the security officer. They'd reached out to make sure she was okay, but they were unable to understand exactly what Eli was going through this time. They knew nothing about Arianna-

[b]Arianna.[/b]

Eli felt sick to her stomach with anger, but there still lingered the bitter taste of fear in the back of her throat. She couldn't sleep when she knew that Arianna was still on the loose. A combination of frustration, shame, anger, and anxiety had lingered with Eli since that night. It was a nasty combination. Something Eli had never faced before. Her entire core was shaken.

Amidst the sounds of beeping machinery, Eli released a heavy sigh. Her head lifted once more to look up and she took a deep breath to calm herself. She was trying to look at the bright side- she was desperate to see a silver lining. Radvi wasn't dead. That was the one thing she could hold onto. She hadn't lost a second friend to this [i]terrorist[/i]. For a moment, Eli closed her eyes and listened to the sound of Radvi's heartbeat. She could still feel his pulse against her fingers. It beat in time with the EKG she heard now.

The heartbeat soothed Eli, and she found herself returning to a relaxed state. It was this type of emotional turmoil that Eli was having difficulty managing. She'd never felt this unstable before. It didn't help that she hadn't had a proper rest in a while. This would take a lot longer to heal from than Eli wanted. She had things to do, and she wasn't letting her mental exhaustion stop her. In fact, she'd already dragged herself out of her room quite a few times since she felt better physically. 

She had to remind herself that she wasn't completely alone. Archie was there for her in the hospital. She wasn't sure how she would have gotten herself home without his literal and figurative support. The lunch with Lynn had also been oddly healing. Their dynamic had changed substantially since their awkward encounter at the mall. Even if Lynn didn't fully trust her yet, they still shared a mutual understanding. Keaton even came to visit Eli multiple times in the first few days after the incident. She brought her food and supplies when Eli could barely make it out of bed. Eli grew to appreciate her company, and even though they hadn't seen each other in two weeks Keaton still sent text messages to make sure Eli was doing alright. Lynn even surprised Eli one day after their lunch with a bootleg DVD compendium of WWE's greatest hits, with a lot of Mike Tyson in it, and two 40's for when Eli was feeling better.

The only people Eli hadn't been in contact with were Amelia and Natalie. The latter probably wasn't as familiar with Eli as Lynn and Keaton. They had only met once before that night, and they didn't even get to speak at the party, which Eli regretted. The former, though, Eli felt obligated to thank for her actions. Amelia was even more of a stranger than Lynn, but her quick thinking saved Radvi's life, too. She could have been hurt by Arianna as well, and Eli wasn't happy about that either. She made a note to get Amelia's number from Keaton or Lynn next time she saw them. She'd treat her to a meal, like she'd done for Lynn.

For a brief moment, she wondered what everyone was up to today. Would they go to greet the new arrivals? She highly doubted it. None of them seemed to enjoy that type of thing. They were most likely avoiding it at all costs. Maybe Eli could meet up with them. Did she have the energy to do that? She wasn't sure if she wanted to sit with Radvi, or head back to her apartment, too. She brought a book along with her. She could sit here and read until the nurses kicked her out to change his dressings. She wasn't family, and whoever had brought him flowers never came again, so it was just Eli that visited. Trevor could have come by again, but Eli hadn't seen him since their encounter.

What was he up to, now? Was he in the Spire, preparing more tasers or developing new weapons? She'd thought about what technology they may have already produced in these past few weeks. What dangers worked below? How were they testing the weapons abilities? It seemed like Trevor was going to say a different name, but had Eli heard wrong? She bit her lip, glancing at Radvi. How much did Radvi know about this? Her head turned to look out of the window, into the snowy landscape of The Promise outside.

In the four years that Eli had been aboard The Promise, she'd learned a few facts about the Spire. The number one fact was that no student nor approved staff were allowed to enter. Anyone that tried never returned. The paths that led to the Spire were visible to all of the people aboard The Promise. The spire only blocked a small portion of their view to the other side of the Ring, but there was no seeing inside no matter how good your eyesight or binoculars were. It was widely known that it contained R&D, and housed parahumans that were too young to join the schools aboard the Ring but too "dangerous" to live on Earth. Eli also liked to think that the Spire is where Misters Black and White came from, but she wasn't sure where, and she still didn't know who commanded them.

Recently she'd done a little investigating. She'd discovered a few little details about the Spire, like ways to enter it, and how tight security was on-board. The threat of disappearing forever was enough to keep Eli from actually planning a heist, but the thought of discovering The Promise's secrets remained in the back of her mind. Like a small ball and chain she took with her everywhere. She even knew a few technopaths that could help her accomplish such a task, but they were flaky and unreliable at the moment. Bottom line, Eli would never step foot on the Spire any time soon. Perhaps even ever.

She'd even done a bit of research on Wrath. [i]Markus Wrath.[/i] The guy had an extensive background. Born in Scotland, general researching career in eugenics and engineering (which made Eli wonder if he was using his [i]eugenics[/i] degree aboard The Promise), no wife or children to hold him back. Hell, the guy even helped [i]create[/i] The Promise. A little bit more digging into public government records and Eli even found a-

[b]BEEP BEEP BEEP[/b]

A monitor from the room across the hallway was blaring. Eli jumped in her seat, her heart racing. All thoughts before now were gone in an instant, and Eli suddenly worried that Arianna was here to finish Radvi off... When no blue goop came seeping through the doorway, she realized how irrational her fear was. She moved to the door, quietly shutting it to the noise outside, and pressed her back against it. Maybe she wasn't ready to leave his room yet.

When her nerves finally calmed down, Eli grabbed her phone and book from her bag. She moved to the small couch by the window and made herself as comfortable as she could manage. It was going to be hard to focus on the words, but she thought that reading would keep herself sane. Briefly thinking of her new friends again, Eli turned her phone back on and laid it next to her. For now, she would sit with Radvi in peace, and if the nurses kicked her out or Lynn and Keaton or even Archie wanted to see her, she would then leave.