Aster slipped in and out of consciousness. A low groan escaped his lips as he felt his body get lugged around without a care in the world. He felt his body weight shift as he was placed upon something.

Aster weakly opened his eyes, squinting when a bright light from above blinded him. He clenched his teeth when something sharp dug into his right arm. He attempted to move his arms and legs, only for his heart to pound against his chest when he couldn't move them an inch.

Aster's eyes widened when something sharp dug into his other arm. He tilted his head to the side to see a vial being filled up with his blood. "Where the hell am I?" he complained. The more his eyes focused on his surroundings, the clearer and less blurry they became.

Panic flooded through Aster's veins when his memories started to come back to him. We crashed landed, and then a bunch of damn psychopaths broke into our spacecraft, Aster thought, his eyes darting around the room.

"It appears that test subject fifty-six is awake," a woman mentioned out loud from Aster's left. She was wearing an all-white outfit and transparent goggles over her eyes.

"The hell did you just say, lady?!" Aster angrily grumbled. He struggled again and looked down to see gray restraints on his arms and legs, keeping him against the bed he was strapped to.

"The subject's heart rate is accelerating as well," the woman pointed out after turning around and looking at a large computer screen after it beeped out loud.

"I apologize; you must be very confused right now," a man spoke out as he approached the right side of Aster. He had short brown hair and dull gray eyes. "After you crashed, you were taken into a faculty. My name is Lucas, by the way, the lead scientist," Lucas explained.

Aster was about to speak up before he closed his mouth when a needle was painfully ripped out of his arm by the woman. "Where the hell is Null? What did you do with him!" he yelled with rage in his eyes.

"Oh, that must be the name of the man you were traveling with. He's currently in another room right now. So, there is no need to worry about him," Lucas mentioned. He reached forward and ripped the needle out of Aster's right arm, causing him to flinch.

"I don't believe a damn word you're saying. I haven't forgotten about one of you punching me in the face before I was brought into this shitty place," Aster hissed. He shifted his body around, struggling to break loose.

"You're wasting your time. You'll never break out. So, why don't you be a good little test subject? We might consider letting you leave," Lucas said with an evil grin on his lips.

"Like hell, I will," Aster shouted and started struggling harder against the restraints holding him hostage.

"We don't need any damage done to him. Knock him out, will you?" Lucas spoke to the woman to his left.

A howl of pain escaped Aster's throat when a searing pain ran through his body like a tidal wave. You have to be kidding me, he thought as the ceiling above him started to become blurrier the more he stared at it. He struggled the best he could before he faded off into the darkness.

***

A gasp left Aster's lips. His body was slightly slumped forward. He glanced down at his hands, realizing they were strapped to the chair he was sitting in. Aster lifted his head up and looked around, realizing he was in a room all by himself.

Creak!

Aster ground his teeth when the door in front of him flung open. His eyes narrowed as Lucas walked through and headed toward him. "I swear when I get out of here, you're going to be sorry and wish you had let me go sooner," he threatened with narrowed eyes.

A laugh escaped Lucas's throat. "Oh, please. You won't be going anywhere. Why would we let such an interesting specimen get away from us? We can learn so much from you," he claimed with a crazed look in his eyes.

Aster's jaw tightened as anger dug into him. "You damn psychopaths already took my blood, what more could you want!" he yelled. He pushed his body forward and back, trying to break out of the chair. An annoyed growl left his mouth when he realized the chair was secured to the floor.

"We've never seen someone from another planet before. Based on the information we collected from your blood, you hold extraordinary powers that we want to take advantage of, which is why you're in this room," Lucas claimed with a twisted smile. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote.

"After the time I spent locked up in that prison. I don't think I'm capable of using my powers anymore because I don't feel a single ounce of it. So, give it a rest already, would you," Aster explained with a glare. He was begging to be released to beat this guy to a pulp.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to find out, won't we," Lucas said with a smirk. He pressed a button, causing electricity to strike Aster.

Aster's eyes widened, and tears welled up in his eyes. He yelled out in pain before he panted when the electricity stopped hitting him. Before he could yell at Lucas, another bolt of electricity that was more powerful than the last ran through his body.

"Hmm, that's unfortunate. There are still no signs of your powers. But that doesn't matter. I'm sure they'll show up eventually," Lucas claimed as he watched Aster suffer.

Aster stared absentminded at the ceiling as his vision grew dark from the pain. At some point during the experiment, he ended up fainting, and the last thing he saw was Lucas smirking at him.

***

A groan left Aster's lips. He reached up to rub his forehead when his head throbbed in pain. He glanced over, realizing there were bars in front of him. You have to be fucking kidding me? I escaped only to end up in another cell, he thought, laughing out bitterly.

"I did tell you that trying to escape was a bad idea. If you had listened, you wouldn't be here right now," a familiar voice scolded him.

Aster's head sharply turned to the left. "F-Finlay?" he called out, seeing the blonde frowning at him from outside the bars.

"To make matters worse, you didn't prepare for what was going to happen next. You're unbelievable," Finlay scolded. He tilted his head to the side with a concerned look on his face as he looked at Aster.

A tear ran down Aster's cheek when a sudden realization hit him. "That's it. I get it now. You're not really here, and I'm just hallucinating, or maybe I'm dreaming. But does it really matter in the end?" he stated while clutching the sides of his head. Whatever you are, you sound a lot like the real Finlay, he briefly thought, wishing he had been really there.

"Why not break out then? You did it once, so why not just do it again?" Finlay suggested. He reached out and clutched onto the bars. "Snap out of it, you idiot, before you end up dead!" he barked loudly in anger.

***

Aster groggily opened his eyes. He reached up to rub them. It looks like I'm still in the same cell, but this time, Finlay isn't here. So, I must be awake...at least I think so, he thought as he weakly rose to his feet.

Aster halted in his tracks when the air was sucked out of his lungs. He reached up and clutched onto his shirt. His eyes widened in shock when he felt a surge of mana flow through his system that he hadn't felt in ages. He let out a shaky breath when he was finally able to breathe again.

"Damn, Finlay. Even when you're not here, you're still scolding me. It's annoying," Aster grumbled to himself, crossing his arms before a small smile appeared on his lips. He walked closer to the bars and grabbed them.

Click! Click! Click!

Aster glanced over to the right when a woman entered the room. She wandered over to a large table and placed a bunch of different colored vials into a glass container.

"Hey, lady! Hey, I'm talking to you, you damn psychopath!' Aster barked, causing her to turn around.

"Will you be quiet already? I have no interest in talking to you," the woman pointed out, moving a bit closer.

"Oh yeah? Because if I remember correctly, you claimed you wanted to let me out," Aster spoke in a smooth tone, activating his powers.

The woman's eyes turned golden. "You're right, I did say that. Hold on, let me grab the key," she stated. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a silver key. She walked over to his ceil and unlocked it.

"That's extremly kind of you. Also, I just remembered you wanted to tell me where you were holding my partner in crime, Null," Aster asked with a triumphant smile on his face, knowing he would be able to obtain the information from her.