"Sanna! She would be great," Maximillian tapped his chin, pleased with his own idea. I watched as every single person nodded in agreement, seemingly content with his choice.

"That is indeed a great idea," said kind-eyed Elliot "She is from the IT division, a really nice girl," he nodded approvingly.

"But, wait Maximillian! I need to know more... You mentioned my mother-" I started.

"-Sanna will answer your every question and show you to your quarters. And when you are ready to talk about your mother, I will send for you to join me in my office," he gently squeezed my arm "Sanna will show you where to find me. We will also review your daily plan while we’re at it. But not now, it's time for you to rest. It was a thought couple of days for you, you need some time to process everything."

I wanted to protest that I wasn't tired, not knowing if the main reason was need for information or the fear of him leaving me fend for myself.

"I can take her to her room for now and tell Sanna to visit her later in the evening," Daniel said.

My body went rigid at the thought of Daniel accompanying me. I wanted to protest, but he interrupted me "I need to talk to you in private. Please," he pleaded with urgency in his eyes.

"All right-" I hesitated, nervously looking at Maximillian's back, as we were exiting the room. Was he seriously leaving me at the mercy of Daniel Ryce?

"I won't hurt you," he said offering me his hand.

I ignored his extended arm, widening my eyes "While I appreciate the change of heart, excuse me but I cannot ignore nor forget the fact how you behaved toward me. I won’t lie, you scare me. And you’ve threatened me!"

"I sincerely apologize for my rude attitude, but I acted out of fear. This is my family," he said, spreading his hands to point at the whole building. "And Maximillian is like a father to me, I owe him a lot Korina. When I had my metamorphosis, he took me in, not hesitating when others left me to die. You have to understand, you were a threat to me - to all of us," he said in a defensive voice.

"I understand as I would do the same for my family, but that doesn't mean I can just instantly trust you," I told him honestly.

"And I will try to change that, I promise you. I've been watching you, back on the island for quite some time, you are a good person – you have a good heart. Not losing your soul changes everything. I realize I've been acting like a fool and I hope you can forgive me, eventually," he looked at me, his eyes apologetic.

"Well, considering you've saved me from those two maniacs on the street... I guess I can, eventually," I put the emphasis on the last word.

He smiled at me, his face considerably softer than before, however no matter how much he was smiling there was still a sharp edge permanently embedded into his features. "Come on, I will show you the way to your place."

"I have a place?" I said amazed.

"Yes, everyone here has one. The harder you work, the better your life here will be," he explained to me.

"Oh," I said baffled "You work as a warrior, right?"

"Exactly, this whole division is mainly based on warriors, but we also have other sectors. IT and warrior sector are close-knit as we work side by side, same goes for medical and science sector," he explained.

We went out of the med bay and retraced our steps back to the entrance of the two linked sectors, where the glassy octagon stood. Five minutes later I found myself standing in a great hall, probably meant for entertainment. "This place is huge," I muttered to myself, completely stunned by the vastness of the structure.

"Wait to see the rest. This is the fun part of the whole building," he beamed "We are in the commons, here we have two nightclubs, one bar, gaming room, a smaller version of cinema, swimming pool and other means of entertainment. There are also two bigger gyms, one in the warrior sector and one in the science sector, that way everyone gets a fair chance to exercise."

"Dear God... this is incredible," I said gaping at the huge open space before me, turning around in awe with the intention to soak it all in.

"I agree, it’s also a necessity. Everyone here works hard, warriors are risking their lives daily. They need their share of fun, you know – to blow out some steam," he shrugged. "The commons are - besides the gardens you saw earlier in the middle of the four sectors and surrounded by apartments."

We stepped into the spacious elevator with glass walls, taking us to the third floor. The view was magnificent as we lifted higher, revealing the commons below us. As the glass doors opened, we stepped into a corridor where the apartments were. Each door had a number tag on them, containing a retina scanner.

"How many inhabitants are here?" I asked him as I saw the maze of corridors before me.

"324 in total. There are 158 warriors, 44 IT workers including hackers, 68 people in the medical sector and 54 in the science sector," he explained "Here we are, yours is the number 325. Go ahead and get scanned, it has already been modified for you."

I stood still in front of the optic camera as the beam of infrared light traced my retina, running through the data integrated in a database. The green light appeared on the scanner, indicating a match, allowing me to enter.

I could only do so much to hide my astonishment. The apartment was breathtaking. It was spacious, bright and modernly equipped. The first floor held the kitchen and the living room with the spiral stairs leading to the upper chambers. The kitchen was made from dark oak with shiny silver appliances. There was a wide kitchen island in the middle with four bar stools around it, but no table. I stepped into the white-painted living room with dark laminate flooring. In the middle of the room lied a comfortable, smooth white sofa and an armchair. There was a brown coffee table standing in front of the sofa with a greenery on it. At the farther wall were bookcases with storage baskets on them. I watched in disbelief as I saw a huge TV stand, with broad-screen HD television standing on top of it.

I hurried up the spiral stairs to check out the bedroom. Walls of this room were painted party white and partly gray. There was a soft, fuzzy white carpet on the floor and on it was a huge cream-colored bed, with silky white covers. The room was tastefully decorated with paintings and small lamps on the nightstands. The closet was integrated and so big that it looked like a whole separate room. Directly from the bedroom I continued toward the bathroom with dark, glossy tiles and a gigantic, circular-shaped standalone marble bathtub. Rectangular-shaped indentations were scattered across the wall, containing sweet-smelling lavender candles.

As I turned around toward a washbasin, I caught my reflection in a mirror, gasping loudly. I looked truly terrifying, my face barely visible underneath the layers of dried blood. My clothes were torn and my hair looked like a bird's nest. But what truly scared me were my eyes. They weren't clearly blue anymore, instead, they had an unnatural mixture of green, gray and yellow layers inside of them. I noticed they had a strange shine to them, like they were illuminated from the inside.

"I like it," I jumped as Daniel spoke from behind me, stepping closer. "They look more like wolf's eyes," he was looking at me intently, standing a little to close for my comfort. "They are beautiful," he said, a slow smile spreading across his face.

I nervously stepped away from him, putting a space between us. "I really need to take a shower. The smell of blood is turning my stomach."

"Of course. I will leave you to it. Sanna will be here after you wake up, she will also bring you some food," with that, he nodded and left the bathroom. I felt safe to take off my ruined clothes after I heard him close the door of my apartment. He was kinder towards me after he found out I was not some evil, murderous monster, but I still felt uneasy around him.

I left a sigh of relief as I stepped into a pleasantly warm water, washing off the dirt that was clinging to me like a second skin. As I looked down at myself, I could barely believe it. I was always skinny before but never fit like this. Muscles covered my body, making it tight and beautifully shaped. My breasts were deliciously curved and my belly was now flat and muscular. This transformation truly did miracles.

I did feel renewed, full of energy as the strength vibrated inside of me. I couldn't wait to see what can I do with my new found abilities.

My senses were improved, making me almost painfully hypersensitive. My brain worked and processed in a blinding speed, dates and events running through my head as I remembered every good and bad memory dating back to my childhood – the way me and my friends sang to radio hits playing in Mark’s first, rusty car, screaming over each other, or the moment my dad brought a tiny furry pup inside of our house and the way my mother screamed at him, yet later she named out beloved dog Barica, the time I had my first day of grade school and Ria took my hand and comforted me and maybe the time I painted my first painting, with my mother peaking behind my shoulder.

And with that said, my emotions were a roller coaster, I felt alive but also very miserable.

I missed my home, my beloved parents and friends. I wished I could at least call them, tell them that I love them and that I will always love them. But that was impossible because they didn't remember me anymore. Tears slipped down my cheeks as I recalled my gentle, loving father and my hardworking mother. I promised them that I would take care of the store, but instead, I was forced to abandon them. The only thing that gave me a bit of consolation was the fact they would be taken care of.

I put on a pair of clean jeans and a blouse, no doubt Daniel left them for me right before he left. I dragged my feet to the bedroom, dying to take a nap.

Even though I was full of new energy, I felt mentally exhausted and drained. I threw myself on the soft, silky bed and sighed in content at how warm and cozy it was.

I twisted and turned for a while, horribly missing the happy chatter of my parents, the smell of baked fish and rosemary and Barica's gentle snores beside my bed. I was overcome with worry for Mark and Lena and the safety of my family.

At last, I fell asleep as tears dried on my face and my mind stopped assaulting me with memories of my parents and my two best friends.