After that small but terrifying demonstration, Amayda took me back to my "room" which was actually my cell. She said goodbye, but not before leaving me with a warning.

"Be careful, not everyone is as nice as me."

That warning sent shivers down my spine, but deep down I already knew that this was how things would be. No one can be hanging around in a laboratory where they experiment on human beings. Now that I was alone, the adrenaline dropped and both the pain and an infinity of feelings and emotions hit my body, ending in a small anxiety attack.

I spent the rest of the day lying on my bed crying, scared and lamenting how things have ended for me.

🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀

The next day, some people left me a pile of books and documents saying that it had been Amayda's order. Along with them came a small note: "READ, LEARN AND SURVIVE"

Her words seemed very vague, but remembering how she was with me yesterday makes me believe that it is quite the opposite. When I started reading I understood that she was right. One of the books was about fantasy creatures, with illustrations and detailed descriptions of each one of them. 

To anyone it could seem like the typical book of a fan of this genre, but, if these creatures and their information are correct, then this book is a gold mine for survival. 

Personally, I think I prefer them to be like this, it will be easier for me to memorize something that seems like a story than to memorize a textbook like the ones at school. 

A couple of books talked about fantasy worlds in general, a few gave basic survival tips (how to get food and shelter, etc.) and a few talked about fighting techniques and swordplay. 

I had already deduced that our world had somehow been submerged into a fantasy one, but the fact that these people were giving me this kind of information only confirmed my theory. Overnight we became characters in a role-playing game and there's not much we can do about it. 

—Hey, are you back yet?

I don't know how many hours I spent buried in the books until I heard Mina's voice.

—Yeah, they finally gave me a break.

—Me too, these have been very tiring days. I'm glad you're back, not everyone can handle the beginning of the experiment.

—Beginning? I thought assimilation was all.

I heard her laugh on the other side. 

—That would be nice, but it's not like that. After you get a soul they make you train and take all kinds of tests to measure your progress. If you progress, well, you could join the team and get out of here.

—And if they don't see progress in me, will they kill me?

—Who knows, maybe, but I don't want to find out.

—Yeah, I understand you.

Amayda was the only more or less sane person I've seen so far, the rest seem to be crazy enough not wanting to know what they would do to me if they see that I'm not useful to them. I have to get out of here, I want to tear down these walls and escape, but I'm unable to do it, I'm too weak.

—Relax, the worst is over. If you manage to survive that, you can survive almost anything.

—Almost?—I knew she couldn't see my bitter smile, but she could surely hear it.

—Hey, I'm trying to be positive, okay? Just think about it, we already have the power, we just have to learn how to use it. And once we achieve it, we will be invincible.

—Power?-—I looked at my hands, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't believe that there was really a strong power in me.—-Do you think we can be?

—Of course!— I shouted excitedly— You've met any of those guys right? They're strong, they can defeat any monster on their own. If we become like them we won't have to be afraid of those things again...or anyone else. And besides...

—Besides?

—We can finally be free.

In other circumstances her words would have sounded like someone trying to escape from their kidnappers, but the mysterious tone of her voice made me realize that there was something else hidden in that phrase.

—If we become strong we will work for them.

—If we work for them we will save the world.

I frowned upon hearing her. I knew it was Mina, I knew it by her attitude and the tone of her voice, however, that doesn't sound like something the Mina I met the first day would tell me.

—But we'll be puppets, we won't be able to live our lives as we want. We won't be free.—I tried to make her see reason.

–No. We'll be free. I'll be free.

—Are you... okay?— I asked when his tone of voice sounded more somber.

—Me? Sure, I'm fine.

—Are you sure?

—Yeah, it's just that...it's been a long few days. I think I'd better go to sleep.

—Yeah...get some rest.

What should have been a friendly conversation ended up becoming something intriguing and worrying. Something changed, I don't know what, but I can feel that something is different.

I just hope that this little change isn't a big deal and that I'm worrying too much.

This time I really lost count of the days I've spent here. My days are made up of reading, experiments, and training.

I've read all the books they send to my room, one after the other. All about the same topics: survival and monsters. Since that time, I haven't seen Amayda or that teenager again, or anyone who seems to belong to the much-acclaimed survival team.

From what I heard some guards say, they are all on important missions. Missions that we cannot know anything about because they are classified.

After that strange conversation with Mina, she has not said such strange things again. It is as if she has returned to normal, which is why I saw no need to even ask her what happened to her that night. 

The day after my meeting with Amayda, training began. At first it was a real hell, I have had to train until my body could not take it anymore, sometimes I have even fainted from exhaustion. 

Someone like me who could barely move a muscle is forced to run kilometers and kilometers, do strength exercises with my own body and go through obstacles that test my balance. 

With the latter they tend to be very creative, they always do something different. I was once made to walk on a thin metal bar that was suspended two meters above a small pool filled with electrified water. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what would happen if you failed. 

Another time I had to keep my balance standing on a small platform that barely fit both feet while someone threw knives at me. Standing there without falling over was hard enough, but having to stand on the sidelines dodging the knives took it up a notch. 

Part of my training was also learning how to handle weapons and hand-to-hand combat. 

I've been beaten to death, and I'm able to successfully dodge some of their attacks but can barely throw a decent punch. 

My aim with a pistol has improved noticeably, but I still have a lot to learn when it comes to handling melee weapons. 

I'm obviously still a novice in all aspects of my training, but compared to the first day I've improved quite a bit in physical strength. 

I dare say that all this is fine, after all I am getting stronger and learning to survive, the only big problem is the experiments. And the fact that I am still a prisoner in this place.

They have continued to evaluate my body using machinery that I have come to detest so much. They examine me and study me as if I were a simple object. They have even gone so far as to stick knives in my body to see if my body has a faster healing than a normal human.

The training is hard, but I prefer that, a thousand times over their cruel experiments.

The wounds, scars and pain invade my body and make it difficult for me to believe that I am as special as they say I am. According to Mina, I am already strong enough just by still being alive, and it seems that everyone here thinks the same.

 The scientists placed a thick metal collar on my neck, claiming that they did it as a security measure. I discovered that they place it on all the candidates to keep us under control. We are trained to be a murder weapon, so they put these collars on us in case someone wants to reveal themselves and betray them. If you become a threat to them, they will not hesitate to activate the collar, which will explode, to get rid of you. 

So technically, I wear a bomb around my neck at all times. This fact terrifies me so much that the mere thought of revealing myself vanished from my mind long ago. 

 Amayda did not have this collar on her. Either she gained enough trust to have it removed or she simply does not mind following the orders of these crazy people and gladly works for them. 

Whatever the reason is, I will not be able to know until we meet again. 

And right now I have something else to worry about.

—Wrong! Your stance is still incorrect, haven't you learned anything?

He pierced my defenses and hit my sides effortlessly.

—Are you even trying? That defense won't protect you from anything.

The burly man in charge of teaching me hand-to-hand combat scolded me before throwing a right hook followed by a punch to the face. Both landed.

—Do it like I taught you!— I felt a metallic taste in my mouth— If you can't do it, just give up and die.

I clenched my fists even more and straightened my posture. I was starting to get angry at my helplessness and at this man who never measures his words. It's always been like this since the beginning, however, before I couldn't do anything but complain, little by little that complaint has turned into anger and hatred towards this guy.

—We don't need a useless person like you.