Dear Fictioners,

No, this is not a hoax. You really, truly, actually are reading the opening A/N to a new chapter of Code X. I know, right? HOLY SMOKES! The muse bunny has returned from its six-month vacation to another galaxy. (-cheering-)

Yes, it has been forever and a day since I last updated poor Code X. I've had several pokes in the side and a couple of concerned PMs since then, so I felt it was time for me to do something for the loyal readers who showed true concern for the welfare of this story. To everyone who pestered/questioned/reminded me in regards to Code X, this update is for you, along with my thanks.

Please note: I seriously struggled my way through this chapter. It was so hard to write. So take that into consideration if it seems a little different to the previous chapters. To the authors of the OCs in this chapter, I apologise if they're a little OOC. I confess I'd practically forgotten who they were before I started this chapter, so I had to reintroduce myself to them all. (-nervous laugh-)

I hope you enjoy this sporadic, unexpected update, and please drop a review if you read this. I'd really appreciate it :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew. I also do not own these OCs.

... Day Two ...

...

... Day Three ...

...

... Day Four ...

"Is it working?"

"Yes... The process will be complete in a mere few days."

... Process?

... What process?

Their voices were faint; very, very faint. I don't even know if they were real at all – they were probably part of a strange dream I was having at the time.

I was vaguely aware of the strange bubbling noise around me, and that I didn't seem to be able to do anything but think... If I was even thinking at all... I really had no idea what was going on. It was all very hazy.

"A few days," the voice said again, whispery, fading as the exhaustion consumed me once more, dragging me back into the darkness.

... Day Five ...

...

... Day Six ...

...

... Day Seven ...

My thoughts swirled around my mind at a hundred miles an hour. Random images flashed to the surface of my consciousness, making absolutely no sense at all. Buildings and faces, appearing rapidly and disappearing just as quickly, like a slideshow on extreme fast-forward. It was exhausting me; my mind was reeling from the effort of trying to keep up, trying to make sense of what I was seeing... or being shown.

The bubbling was around me again... Though this time it was much louder, more realistic. It didn't sound quite so much like it was part of a demented dream anymore. I became aware of other noises, too, when I paid closer attention. Sharp taps against what sounded like a tiled floor... footsteps? They were quite rhythmic. Whoever it was, they were either pacing, or they had a very polished cane. Somewhere beyond the tapping noise was what sounded like a heart monitor, or several. My extended consciousness was filled with shrill, consistent beeps, but they were sort of muffled, like they were in another room... a sound-proof room, or something.

Curious, I slowly opened my eyes.

And received the shock of my life.

The world was blue.

I tried to turn my head, to examine this absurdity, to see if the blue-ness stretched all the way around my peripheral. But then – shock of my life number two – I discovered I couldn't move. Anything. Not my head, or my arms, or my legs, or my neck, or my eyes, or my mouth, or even my little pinky. I was frozen, like a statue.

So I stared straight ahead, panicking internally.

And then I realised that, somehow, I had managed to open my eyes.

A person appeared before me, his skin tinged blue. Were my eyes doing this to me? Was there something wrong with me? I examined him carefully, a sense of familiarity washing over me, one that I couldn't place.

He was tall, and thin, almost like a girl in his build. He had long arms and long legs, and a thick braid hanging down his back. Not only that, his ears stuck out either side of his head... What a funny-looking guy...

He gazed up at me, a strange expression in his eyes. It was fond... sort of the way someone might look at a favourite pet, or a baby, even. It didn't suit this strange dude one bit.

"Good morning," he said softly, sounding somewhat mystified. Oddly, his voice was distorted. Again, I had that impression of a sound-proof room. His voice was sort of muffled.

And then a few bubbles floated in front of my face.

What the...? Bubbles?!

I attempted to move my head again, and was pleasantly surprised when I had some success. I was now able to turn my head just a little to the left and right. But it still wasn't enough to properly check out my surroundings.

And then it hit me, in one big epiphany.

The world was distorted – the sound muffled, the whole thing painted blue – because I was inside a huge, cylindrical tank filled with some kind of liquid.

Want to know how I knew?

Because, directly opposite me, on the far wall, were two cylindrical tanks, filled with blue liquid. They seemed to glow, providing the only light in the otherwise dim room. Two plus two is four.

Inside each of the tanks was a person; one a boy and one a girl – I could tell from their body shapes – and an assortment of tubes and wires were connected to various parts of both. As they breathed – their chests rising and falling rhythmically – the tubes let little bubbles of oxygen, or whatever they were breathing, escape somehow, and they rose towards the top of the tank in little trails that floated past the occupants' faces.

What the hell were we? Some kind of mutant aquatic pets?

I blinked at the strange man standing before me, again feeling as though he were somebody familiar to me, but for the life me not being able to figure out why.

"Are they awake yet?" a purring voice asked from somewhere in the room. A bright square of white light on the left wall indicated a door had been opened, and the white was the light from the outside world flooding in. Whoever had spoken was silhouetted in the doorway – a figure of black against a blinding backdrop.

"One is."

The figure from the door moved to the side of the man before me, and they both gazed up at me, their eyes wondrous. I examined the newcomer with interest. He wasn't as tall as the first, and his hair – I had no idea what the colour was; the blue of the tank obscured colours – was tied in two low pigtails. His eyes, gleaming up at me from where he stood, were actually pretty captivating – the total opposite to the other guy's, which were practically dead – if they weren't so damn terrifyingly sinister. He smirked at whatever he saw in my eyes, his lips curving up in a smile, revealing a set of pointed fangs.

"Amazing... You've really outdone yourself this time, General." The purr was mocking.

"Come, Lieutenant," the taller, boring-voiced one said stiffly. "Let's not waste any more time."

They both ghosted away into the shadows, and I had no idea what they were doing – they obviously hadn't left the room, or I would have seen them in the light from the doorway – until the tank shuddered once, quickly, and a ripple pulsed through the liquid – water? – around me. Alarmed, I glanced about, trying to work out what the hell was going on.

And then room started moving. The floor started to rise, and I watched as my vision was cut off until I could hardly see anything. That's when I realised that it wasn't the room moving.

It was me.

Or, to be more precise, my tank.

I saw nothing for a good while. Nothing but the interior of my cylindrical prison, and the darkness of its exterior. I guessed I was in some kind of tunnel, and guessed correctly (I assume, anyway).

Eventually, after a period of time I have no idea of the length of, I found another room coming into view from underneath me. I stretched my neck, trying to see more, and found that, again, I had more leverage in my movements. I twitched my fingers and wriggled my toes. But I still couldn't move my arms or legs, or anywhere around my torso. I quickly came to the conclusion that the ability of movement was working its way inwards, towards my chest.

The next room was painfully white. I had to squint at first, until my eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. I gazed around curiously, taking in the computers along one wall, the electronic equipment set up all over the place. And the bench-like beds that reminded me strongly of operating tables, dotted evenly across the white linoleum floor.

The tank came to a rest with a little jolt. Another pulsing ripple swept around me, then the liquid stilled. The thought of how I was managing to stay alive in a tank full of water hadn't hit me until now, but somehow I immediately knew better than to panic. Something in the back of my mind registered this as unnatural; this placid acceptance of an unlikely survival underwater, but I let it go, because my instincts (instincts I'd never used before) told me to.

So I just accepted what was happening, and waited for the two men to appear (I assumed they would), which they did, a few moments later. Their footsteps echoed sharply against the floor as they walked towards me. In the light, it was easier to make out their features. Both, for example, had very pointed ears, and, even from behind my glass wall of blue, I could tell they both had chalky, white skin.

"Drain the tank, General," the smaller one purred, his eyes fixed on me, his expression one of anticipation. The taller one silently crossed to what looked like an extremely modern computer contraption, and tapped at the keys for a moment.

With another ripple that pulsed through the tank, it shuddered once again with a definitive thudding noise. Then, to my alarm, a loud gurgling filled my ears; surrounded me. I glanced at the swilling liquid, feeling it swirling against my oddly sensitive skin. With a jolt, I realised that it was being sucked out somehow; the water level was sinking, creeping past my forehead, my eyes, my nose, my chin...

The tank felt strangely hollow when it was empty of the liquid. I felt like I had echoes bouncing around me, like I needed to refill the tank somehow. But I didn't really have a lot of time to think. Pleasantly warm air rushed around me, gusting in from all directions, like I had several hair-dryers pointed at me. As my hair was blown out of my face, I heard rather than felt the tubes connected to my body retracting. Strangely, it didn't feel weird, having thick hoses clicked into your skin. It's hard to explain, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

There was silence for all of two or three seconds, while I wondered what the hell was going on.

And then the glass wall around me retracted into the floor, and I suddenly was exposed to the atmosphere in the room.

Cold. So, so cold.

I wanted to shiver, but, of course, in my current state of paralysis, it was physically impossible. But my eyes winced, portraying to the pair of men watching on the feelings I was experiencing.

It was so freezing, the air against my skin, that it felt like fire, burning all over my body. I felt extremely sensitive to my surroundings – I wanted to relieve my tender skin of its torture, wanted to throw something over my body, to protect it. I took a breath in through my nose, and, to my surprise, I found myself dissecting the different components – the elements of gas – in the atmosphere. Pure oxygen, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen, sulphur... They were strangely distinctive to me.

And I'd failed Chemistry magnificently last semester.

As I stood there, unable to move, my alarmed, confused gaze fixing upon the two men watching me intently, I became aware that the burning against my skin wasn't quite so bad. After the initial searing pain, it became rapidly more endurable, dulling down to an uncomfortable swelter, a bearable heat, and soon, merely a pleasant warmth.

I was growing accustomed to the temperature, I realised, without having to think about it. It was so strange, I mused, the sudden speed and ingenuity of my brain (well, it was an assumed ingenuity. Nothing about me had been particularly ingenious before, so I figured this must be what smart peoples' brains felt like). It felt full, heavy, and, in some fantastic way, absolutely supreme; like it was a computer of the highest, utmost technology. I almost felt awkward accepting it as my own; I'd always been a notoriously lazy student with a known disregard for school.

Three more figures materialised in the room. Seriously, how the hell did they keep doing that? It was freaky enough the first time they randomly appeared out of thin air – why couldn't they just use the door, like every other normal human being?

A thought hit me, causing my stomach to sink, and I came to a realisation that my newfound intelligence supported wholly.

The men standing before me were not human.

Several options jumped to mind immediately. The first was that they were a supreme race of human being, and that they might have changed me into one of them. It would certainly explain the newfound ingenuity of my whirring brain, and the strange sensitivity of my skin. The second was that, like that weird little kid had suggested before, this really was just some big television hoax. Disappointingly, my brilliant mind automatically rejected this idea.

The third was that they were some kind of alternate life form. Aliens, if you wish. One with a similar physical build and basic appearance of human beings, but with a different genetic make up and chromosomal balance.

Ooh, chromosome.

I didn't even know I could spell that word, let alone have a sudden, sound understanding of what it meant.

Go, new brain! Unleash your brilliance!

Wait a second.

What the heck happened to those other people? The ones I'd been stuck with before? The little girl I happened to randomly think about roughly four point six-eight seconds ago (holy smokes; I could calculate nanoseconds!)? Were they the people in the other tanks back in that creepy, dark room? Maybe they–

"Bring him here."

I snapped my gaze back to the potential super-human-TV-drama-aliens as the shorter one (the one that kept purring) crossed towards me and, his thin lips curling into a wide, dark smile, clasped his pale hands behind his back while he walked in a semi-circle around my once-glass-tank, now-cold-podium, gazing up at me speculatively.

The three newcomers who'd just materialised surrounded me, reaching up with rubber-glove covered hands to grab at my arms and legs.

If I'd had full limb movement, I would have kicked one of them in the face.

As it was, I was restricted to shouting profanities at them and squirming my semi-moveable arms and legs.

"Don't touch me!" I began, then felt the air catch in my throat. Was that my voice? That weird, echo-y, technical drone ringing clearly across the room? I sounded like a robot! Like there were two of me speaking at once. Ugh. Weird. At least my tone was the same as usual. It was like someone had recorded me speaking, then played it back twice, at the same time.

Oh well. Better just make use of the only weapon I had.

"Get your hands off me! Let go!" I snapped, feeling stupidly like a statue as I was lifted off the podium. The scientist dudes paid no attention to my demands, carrying me horizontally to one of the operation tables and setting me down, their eyes peering down at me with the now familiar expression of wonder.

I felt like a mutant animal at the zoo.

"What are you staring at?" I demanded furiously, summoning my strongest dirty glare and levelling it up at them. All three of them jumped back, their faces unquestionably alarmed.

Yeah. Take that, sissy scientist freaks!

"Relax, gentlemen," the cold voice of the 'General' rang out smoothly. "He's harmless at this stage."

At this stage? What the heck did that mean?

The tall man came into view above me then, gazing down at me coldly with cruel steel-grey eyes. They swept down the length of my body in one ceaseless movement, then flicked back up to my face.

"Fascinating..." he murmured quietly, his eyes intent as he bent closer to me, scrutinising me. Err... what the hell, dude?

"What do you want?" I growled, squirming uncomfortably under his inspecting gaze. Was it just me, or is a tall, sinister, potential alien who goes about randomly disappearing and appearing all over the place and stabbing big, huge, freaky needles in innocent kids' arms, and then closely examining their naked bodies considered 'creepy' in this day and age?

Well, I was damn creeped out, that was for sure.

He didn't answer me; just straightened up again, shifting his gaze to his minions.

"Move him," he demanded silkily. "Leave him in one-eighty-five, for now."

I didn't like the 'leave him' part of that sentence.

"Hey!" I cried, as the white-coat disciples hefted me up again. "Where are you taking me? What are you doing?!"

Just as I knew they would, no-one answered. Perhaps they couldn't understand English.

No. That wouldn't make any sense; the extra-specially freaky one spoke English. I could understand what he was saying. Unless I had somehow acquired multilingual abilities...

It seemed plausible enough, actually.

I experimented with moving my arms as I was relocated, and found that I had even better movement than I had a few minutes before. If my superior brain was anything to go by (and I strongly suspected it was) then I would probably have total mobility again soon.

The 'doctors', as Tall-and-Creepy had referred to them before, dumped me in a room not unsimilar to the one I'd met the other kids in – the big white one with the seats we'd been buckled into. It was smaller, though, and there was just one big square couch thing, which was seriously lacking in the back and arms departments. So really, it was just a huge cushion on legs.

Two of the doctors stayed with me while the third left again, returning a very short time later with a piece of folded material over his arm. He held it out to me wordlessly, and I took it, equally wordlessly.

Then they left. The lock clicked loudly behind them.

I sighed, my heart still hammering in my chest, and considered my options. I could holler and make a racket and pound my fists against the locked door until they got so sick of it they'd let me out to either move or torture me, at which point I could make my great Hollywood-worthy escape. Or I could just sit here and await my next fate.

I opted for the latter, ruling out the former as an ineffective strategy of survival.

If I did manage to get out of this room, where the heck was I going to go? Even if I made a mad dash, these crazy freaks would no doubt capture me again, and then my chances of being horrifically tortured would be majorly increased.

Hmm... torture... No, thanks.

I crossed slowly to the cushion-on-legs and let the material unfold in my fingers. It seemed to be some sort of body suit, made out of a fabric similar to that of a wetsuit. I assumed it served one purpose, unless it was some kind of demented blanket, and pulled it on without a second thought. I hadn't realised how uncomfortable being stark-naked was making me.

The suit was skin-tight, yet oddly comfortable. The legs cut off at the ankles, and the arms circled my shoulders, kind of like one of those wife-beater shirts all those American 'gangsta boiz' wore. The suction-suit was black, with strips of silver down the sides, and neat, careful lining. I realised I probably looked like an Olympic swimmer. I just needed the awesomely unflattering swim cap and shiny goggles...

I dropped down carefully onto the cushion-on-legs with a heavy sigh, and ran my hands over my face. My skin felt weird; soft and smooth - sort of like silk. I couldn't tell whether it was my fingertips that were so sensitive, or my cheeks. I came to the conclusion that it was probably both. My hair felt strangely fine when I ran my fingers through it, too.

Ugh. The sooner I could get out of this damn spooky place, the better.

I had no idea how long I lay on my back and stared up at the boring panels on the roof. It could've been hours, or it could've been a mere few minutes. Time was incalculable to me. I wouldn't have known if it was moving fast or slow. World Wars Four and Five could have come and gone and I'd've been none the wiser.

Eventually, though, loud shouts echoed along the corridor, muffled through the walls of my makeshift cell. Whoever was yelling was putting a considerable effort into it. They were shrieking and screaming like a banshee dancing on hot coals. With a loud click, the door was unlocked, and I sat bolt upright as it swung open loudly on its hinges.

"Don't touch me!" a female voice shrieked. "Let go of my arms! You're hurting me!"

"Just get her inside," one of the doctors instructed emotionlessly. A figure, manned on either side by the two other doctors, who had iron-like grips on her upper arms, struggled and flailed in the doorway, hooking her heels around the frame and arching her back to restrain against the pushing forces.

"I won't go in there!" she declared furiously. "I won't! Get OFF ME!"

The third doctor gave her a square shove in the back and she stumbled into the room, landing ungracefully in a splayed heap on the floor. It looked extremely painful, and I imagined it was, judging by the wails escaping her lips as she slowly picked herself up.

The door slammed quickly behind her. The lock clicked once more.

I examined the newcomer, wondering what to do. Part of me wanted to help her up – no matter how much of a stranger she was, inside I was raging at the way those men had treated her. I was not a guy who let the mistreatment of women slide. But a larger part of me hesitated. The girl had displayed potentially lethal violence, and I was not eager to be on the receiving end of it.

I watched her peel herself off the floor and sit back on her haunches, her face scrunched up in what could only be pain. This baffled me a bit. Sure, the fall had been a bit nasty, but she looked like she'd been hit by a bus. My eyes trailed over her as I tried to work out what it was exactly... that she was.

Her skin was extremely smooth – so smooth it actually looked silky – with the strangest colouring I'd ever seen. Like the rainbow shine of a patch of oil; it subtly shifted colour in the light, a strange mixture of metallic blues, greens and purples. Underneath it all, it seemed to be a basic metal-grey silver. She had long, straight hair that fell down her back, a shade of platinum blonde so white it almost hurt the eyes to look at her. She had slender limbs beneath her similar, wetsuit-like attire (also black, like mine), and highly attractive, modest curves; I couldn't stop my eyes from drifting automatically to her chest.

"My face is up here!" she suddenly snapped, and I forced my eyes up quickly. Whoa, she was a pretty little thing. Her facial features were sharp and angular, yet delicate. She had full lips and a slightly pointed nose, and long, neatly maintained eyebrows, which were narrowed over big, expressive eyes lined by long lashes. Right now, she was glaring at me hotly.

Now, I'd never been able to explain it, but something about me had always been extremely attractive to women. I was like honey, and they were like bees. They flocked to me in masses. Not one had ever been able to ignore me. I'd always gotten reactions out of females; I'd come to simply accept that as part of who I was.

And so, with this thought in mind, I rose casually from the cushion-on-legs and sauntered over to her. She stood quickly when she saw me approaching, her expression wary.

"Look, uh..." I said lazily. It always seemed to have a higher success rate if I seemed casually and comfortable, and this was bound to work. "I don't have a library card... But I'd like to check you out."

The silence was so heavy it was almost loud in itself. But it only lasted for two seconds.

The clap of her hand against my cheek rang sharply, wiping away my languid smile. Pain shot through my face. Excruciating, burning pain.

I bit back a yell and instinctively raised my hands to my searing cheek. It felt like someone was trying to rip the skin away from my bones. Before I knew what was happening, my knees had caved and I was crumpled on the floor, fighting the tears stinging my eyes, and willing the screaming pain away. I felt like screaming myself.

"Oh my God!" the girl's hazy voice cried above me, shocked. "I-I... I'm so sorry! Jesus, are you okay?!"

She sounded astonished, like I felt. Sure, I'd had my fair share of whacks from unhappy women in my lifetime, but nothing had ever been as agonizing as this. I fought against the roar that wanted to escape from between my clenched teeth.

I sensed rather than felt her collapse down beside me, her arms flitting around my shoulders and head in a kind of flurried desperation. She clearly had no idea what to do. But it was clear enough that she wanted to help somehow. I must have looked shocking.

I don't know how long we sat there. Eventually, the pain slowly subsided, ebbing away until I was just lying on the floor, half curled into a ball, my breathing slowly calming. The girl had taken to rubbing my back rhythmically.

I let out a long sigh. The back-rubbing came a halt.

"A-are you okay?" she asked cautiously. I nodded weakly and dragged myself up from the cool tiles. Her eyes raked over my face, examining the damage.

"T-there's no mark..." she trailed off, biting her lip. "I'm sorry... I didn't realise I hit you that hard..."

"You didn't," I replied, still astounded myself. Confusion warped her expression, then it shifted to annoyance.

"Ugh," she said, suddenly disgusted. "You're pathetic! You mean, you made a huge fuss out of nothing just so I'd touch you? Get a life, Pretzel!"

"No, I seriously didn't!" I protested quickly, catching onto what she was thinking. "I swear I didn't, I – hey, wait a second! You know me?!"

She stared back at me, unimpressed.

"You shallow bastard," she spat. "What the hell is wrong with you, pipsqueak?"

Pipsqueak.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed suddenly, looking at her in a new light. "Kumori Princess?!"

"Who the heck did you think it was?" she demanded, folding her slender arms across her chest. I couldn't reply; I was too shocked.

"What?" she snapped. "Even though you look even more like a freak, I could still recognise you. Does it surprise you that we're not all as low as you are?"

She was sneering at me – baiting me – but I wasn't in any position to banter with her. I gazed at her face, my eyes narrowing as her metallic skin shifted under the industrial lighting. She stiffened, frowning at me uncomfortably.

"Don't look so shocked," she said loudly. "You look just like me, you know."

"What?!" I exclaimed. Was she for real? I glanced around hopefully for a mirror, or a window (even though my brain had already told me there was neither), to see if my skin had the same colour-shift sheen to it.

"Are you that stupid?" she demanded disdainfully. "You've got it all, pal. Creepy skin, white hair, freaky eyes..."

I hadn't even looked at her eyes properly. I did so now, leaning closer to her face. Her pupils were jet black – darker than the average human's – with the strangest irises I'd ever seen. They immediately made me think of computer chips; they were a kind of flat, army green in colour, with tiny, technical lines of gold crossing from one side to the other, and an extremely faint, hexagonal pattern detailing them.

I knew immediately that if any normal being looked at these eyes, all they'd see would be a strange, unnatural-looking shade of green. Only my superior vision, which must've accompanied my newly acquired superior intelligence, could make out all that detail.

But she'd seen it all, too, which meant she was probably a heck of a lot smarter as well.

Damn it. And I'd thought I was special.

"You can back off now, pipsqueak," she snapped hotly, and I obediently retracted my face from its close proximity to hers.

"What the heck have they done to us?" I asked quietly, my stomach twisting uncomfortably. I glanced up at her. Her expression was suddenly clouded with troubled dismay. I could almost picture her heart sinking in her chest (I craftily used this as an excuse to subtly examine her chest again, while she was gazing sadly at the wall).

We sat on the tiles in a glum silence, lost in our thoughts, neither of us feeling the desire for conversation, the weight of our predicament hanging heavily over our small, lonely confinement.

... Day Eight ...

I glanced around the room, hoping to find some sudden new detail in the boring furnishing. Sadly, the tiles were still as shiny, the wall paint still uncracked, the roof still as strangely clinical. I'd come to the conclusion that the lights in every room were those big, ugly, bright ones you normally found in factories.

Whoever had designed this place didn't design it to be very fun or pretty.

On the bunk above me, Tsuki rolled over, one of her pretty, shiny arms dangling over the edge of her bed. I couldn't resist; I reached up with my fingers to run them across her skin. It was just so beautiful – like rainbows in the sky after it rained, or like those strange puddles of water I sometimes found in shopping centre parking lots – the blacks ones that shone rainbow in the sun.

Tsuki's fingers fought my hand away, and she mumbled something I couldn't understand in her sleep. My momentary fun ended, I reluctantly dropped my hand back to my lap, trying to stop the pout that wanted to spread. I didn't want to sulk – I'd always been told that people didn't like girls who sulked, and I wanted my new friends to like me – but it was really hard trying to find something fun to do in such a boring room.

We'd been here for hours and hours now – maybe even a whole day - and I had no idea why we were in here, or what we were waiting for. The small room had two bunk beds against either wall, and a door leading to a toilet in the corner. We'd been locked in, and the big boy whose name I still couldn't remember had thoroughly searched the entire place for some kind of exit, so we could try to escape.

There weren't any. I thought we could maybe pull up a tile and dig our way out, like those prisoners did in that famous movie I'd never seen, but the big boy said that wouldn't work. There weren't any vents in the roof for air, either, so we couldn't escape that way. Even the bathroom was carefully secure.

"I hate it here," Pretzel complained. I looked over at him.

"I want to go home," he continued. Tsuki sighed above me.

"Me too," she mumbled. So she wasn't really asleep, after all. Sneaky! She was a good actress. She could probably even be on TV, if she wanted.

"Stop thinking about it," the big boy advised from the top bunk above Pretzel. "It'll only make the time pass slower. And we're clearly not going anywhere anytime soon."

Tsuki started to cry softly. It broke my heart, listening to her sobbing. I rolled off my bunk and scrambled up to join her, climbing across her curled body to sit near her head and stroke her hair. It was the only thing I could think of that might be comforting.

"Please don't cry, Tsuki-chan," I whispered. She was making me sad, too. I didn't like it when other people got upset.

"Sorry, Kuro," she mumbled into her pillow, hugging it tighter. The big boy and Pretzel glanced over at us, then looked away uncomfortably. Boys couldn't deal with girls crying. I knew that because once, when I was in third grade, and I was playing with my friends at school, a boy and a girl were fighting, and then he pushed her and she fell down and scraped her knee. When she cried, he looked horrified. Then he quickly apologised, and went to find a flower for her, maybe as a peace offering.

And that's how I knew that boys didn't like it when girls cried.

Tsuki let out a shuddery sigh, and reached up to wipe at her eyes. She sighed again, then rolled over to look at me with puffy eyes.

"Sorry," she said again. I smiled at her, pleased that she wasn't crying anymore.

"We'll be okay, Tsuki-chan," I promised. I knew that somewhere, our parents were worried about us, and would have called the police. Right now, there were probably teams of men looking everywhere for us, and our pictures would be all over the television, and stuck up in shop windows. It wouldn't be long before someone found us, and then we'd be safe, and we'd be able to go home again.

"Someone will find us soon," I said, voicing my thoughts. "And then the bad men will go to jail, and we can go back to school."

Pretzel laughed.

"Screw school," he said. "I just want to get out of here."

"You don't like your school?" I asked, shocked. How could anyone not like school? It was so much fun! "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing," Pretzel replied, shrugging. "I just don't care about school."

"But why?" I asked again. "Don't you like seeing your friends and your nice teachers?"

"School gets harder when you get older, Kuro," the big boy explained. "Kawaki here probably just doesn't like the work."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I turned back to stroking Tsuki's pretty, white hair. My hair used to be black, but it was white like hers, too, now. I didn't know how we suddenly all came to have rainbow skin and white hair, but when we got out of here, we'd be our normal selves again, so it didn't really matter, anyway.

"Tsuki-chan?" I asked. She glanced up at me. "Will you play a game with me?"

"Sure," she replied, pushing herself up until she was sitting. "What do you want to play?"

"Mary Mack," I said immediately. I loved clapping games. She laughed lightly.

"I'm not sure I even remember how to play it," Tsuki confessed. But she seemed eager to learn, so I taught her as best I could. Pretzel and the other big boy watched us quietly as we clapped our hands together in a series of fun formations. Soon, Tsuki was as good as I was, and we were clapping our hands faster and faster, until we were both laughing.

Suddenly, the lock clicked, and we dropped our hands to turn expectantly.

The door swung open, and the three white-coated doctors walked in, along with the scary scientist with the purple hair.

"It is time," he announced to us, with a sort of grim, sinister smile. His grey eyes moved slowly from one of us to the next. "Come along easily, and there will be no need for extreme measures. Of course, you can try to escape, but I warn you, the consequences will be dire. And they won't be worth it."

A chilling silence settled over us, as we all decided on the spot to just go quietly. My skin crawled at the thought of being tortured. I didn't like hurting. And as long as there weren't any more nasty injections, I didn't mind going with them. If there was no pain, I was fine. Besides, maybe they were going to let us go home. You never knew.

"Fine," the big boy said finally, the first of us to speak. I guessed he was the leader of our little group; he was the oldest, anyway.

We slowly moved from our bunks and gathered in a small group. I reached for Tsuki's hand and curled my fingers through hers.

"It'll be okay," she whispered in my ear, offering me a weak smile. I smiled back.

The scary scientist led the way out into the bright, clinical corridor, and we were marched along for a while, one of the doctors in front of us, the other two behind us. We didn't speak; we were probably all too nervous to even swallow. My heart was beating very quickly in my chest.

"In here," the scary scientist instructed, and we followed him into a big square room with four chairs set up in a line, and a long desk with lots of computers. It was dark inside, and one wall was made up entirely of large, rectangular screens.

"Take a seat," the purple-haired man said with a wry smirk. He gestured lightly with one thin, bony hand to the seats, sweeping his fingers gracefully around. He was very elegant, for a man. As we reluctantly took our places, he crossed to the computers, clicking buttons and tapping away on the keyboards.

"You are no doubt wondering why you are here," the man's voice echoed around the room. None of us answered. It was obvious enough that that was what we were thinking.

"I'll start from the beginning, shall I?"

Again, we sat silently, simply waiting. The man nodded to the doctors at the back of the room, and one of them shut the door quietly.

"My name," the man said, "is General Pai, and I am the leading Professor of Scientific and Technological Research in this base. Well," he added as an afterthought that he seemed to find funny, "for the whole universe, really. Right now, you are being detained in the Astrophysical Centre for Development and Research – the ACDR – the Cyniclon intergalactic research base currently hovering several days from Io, and currently three hundred and seventy million miles from Earth."

"Wait, what?" Pretzel interrupted, sounding shocked. "You mean, we're in space?"

General Pai surveyed him coolly.

"That is correct."

"What the hell!" the boy exploded. "Who the hell do you think you are, just taking us away from Earth like this? And what the hell is a Cyni... Cyni... whatever you called it!"

"Cyniclon," General Pai said distastefully, glaring icily at Pretzel. "I ask you to hold your tongue, Kawaki Puretsu, or you will suffer the consequences of continually interrupting me."

Pretzel fell silent, glowering angrily in his seat.

"Now, the Cyniclons are a race superior to the human beings," General Pai continued, bringing up several pictures of people who looked like him on the screens. They all had pointy elf ears and pale skin. And they were all tall, for whatever age they were. Even the little ones. "We have an immense history that spans many millennia, however, the only history that concerns you is the one intertwined with your own history."

"Excuse me?" I piped up, sticking my hand in the air, having stumbled upon a question I really needed answered. He turned his steel eyes to me, and ice hit my stomach.

"Yes?" he said, permitting me to speak. I suddenly didn't really want to, but I did anyway, because I wanted the answer.

"A-are you... an alien?"

He surveyed me with a flat expression, and I knew my question was stupid, even though it was honest, and out of innocent curiosity.

"Yes, Kuro," Tsuki whispered quickly. "They're an alien race."

I nodded, my eyes huge. So aliens really were real!

"Now, I have brought you here to partake in a–"

"Excuse me?"

He turned his glare to me. I shrank in my seat. It was just a question...

"What?" he snapped, slightly impatiently. My cheeks reddened as I made my next inquiry.

"Is... Is ET real?"

The silence in the room was so thick it was like a balloon that was so full of air it needed to be popped to release the tension. One of the others – I don't know who – coughed violently, stifling a laugh.

General Pai chose to ignore my question, which frustrated me, because I had always wanted to know.

"I have brought you here to partake in a recent Cyniclon project," he said, "called Code X. Long ago, before human existence, the Cyniclons lived on the Earth. For thousands of years, we lived at one with the environment, ensuring that our every advancement left the natural surroundings untouched. But a glitch in our genetic makeup caused us to become incompatible with the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere.

"Over time, our species became as good as anaphylactically allergic to the atmosphere. We endured for as long as we could, but when the deaths started increasing almost exponentially, we had no choice but to evacuate our people. We relocated to a planet known to our race as Proxis, in the thirty-eighth galaxy of the universe.

"There, we restructured our society, adapting ourselves to our new environment. Almost immediately, we began extensive research into finding a technology that would allow us to survive in the Earth's atmosphere. After centuries of trial and error, at last, we found our cure. One of our more dedicated professors, Doctor Suponji, stumbled upon a natural spring by chance, in which millions of stores of a purified substance we named 'Pure Aqua' had manifested over the ages.

"We discovered that, by inducing the Pure Aqua into our systems, we became adaptable to almost any atmospheric substance, enabling our survival in almost any climate. We tested this theory by dispatching squadrons of our people to experiment in establishing life on planets with different atmospheric substances. If we were talking exclusively in regards to your meagre solar system, it would be like testing to see if life could survive on Jupiter, Saturn or Mercury.

"Our research having proven correct, we decided to return to Earth to continue our inhabitation of our home planet. But of course, upon arriving, we discovered that our beloved planet had been reinhabited by the humans. Not only that, but, to our dismay, the new race seemed to show little regard towards the natural environment. We watched on for several years as our waters and forests were gradually destroyed, as the atmosphere became polluted, and the insolent beings below us filled the land with un-disposable waste.

"We simply couldn't stand by and watch our planet rot from the inside out. Eventually, it was agreed that drastic measures needed to be taken in order to ensure the safety of our planet. We launched several invasion tactics, but found that with each assail we were met by a force created specifically to counter us.

"After many futile attempts to overcome these pathetic excuses for environmental heroines, our leader decided to launch a full-scale attack himself. The battles were long and exhausting, but somehow, our enemy, Tokyo Mew Mew, managed to overthrow us. We were exiled, and returned to Proxis to start afresh, our determination concreted.

"And that is where you come in," General Pai turned back to face us, having watched the images flashing on the screens. The pictures of the rotting Earth, the colourful half-human-half-animal girls who made up Tokyo's infamous, heroic Mew Mew team, and the photos of the planet during the alien's time living on it had come to a standstill, and the screens had frozen on a comparison of two images: the Earth before human life, and the Earth after human life.

I had to admit, it looked a lot prettier 'before'.

"You are no longer human beings," General Pai announced. My stomach flipped over. I felt the colour draining from my cheeks. I was suddenly cold all over.

"What do you mean?" Tsuki stammered weakly.

"Exactly what I said," he replied silkily, turning his back on us again. "Your DNA has been warped and modified in a process we call H-Evolution. Your cells have been duplicated and customised, and your old, human cells have been replaced. You are now known as the first successful assembly of our latest experiment – a species of ultimately superior human beings known as Human Elite."

He turned back to us, smiling with a kind of sick pride.

"H-Elite."

None of us could speak. To be honest, I didn't really understand what he was talking about. But whatever it was, the others looked very scared, so I knew it was bad. Very bad.

"You four possess the abilities to annihilate the human race with ease," General Pai continued. "You will find your bodies have acquired a sudden surge in brainpower and physical strength. This is not unusual. Your new cells have presented you with a sort of self-re-energizing nucleus, which will allow you to use extreme amounts of energy without causing detrimental damage to your health.

"However, you have much training to do before you will be able to control your power levels. The physical stamina, strength and speed you have acquired is beyond that of any other human being – beyond that of any robot a human could design. You are virtually indestructible, unstoppable figures of power."

His words sank in, and my heart rate increased. Was he trying to tell us we were some kind of superheroes? Like Batman and Superman? I was momentarily excited. Maybe we could fly!

"What does this mean for you?" the big boy asked suddenly, in a low voice. A dark, scary smile spread across General Pai's face.

"We will train you in Proxis for the next week or so, until you are perfected specimens of H-Elite," he said. His cold eyes drifted along the line of us, coming to a rest on me. His thin-lipped smile widened, but it never reached his steel eyes.

"Then, you will be sent to Earth to destroy Tokyo Mew Mew."

He said it so lightly, it would have been less scary if he'd laughed evilly as well. The fact that he was so confident, so cold-blooded and calm about the whole thing made it so much more terrifying.

"No!" Tsuki and Pretzel cried in horror. General Pai held up one thin hand for silence.

"Unfortunately for you, you have absolutely no say in the matter," he said. The way he said it made it clear he meant every word. I knew immediately that we really had no choice. It made my breath catch in my throat. Before I could help it, tears sprang up in my eyes.

"I don't want to hurt anybody! I don't want to be your monster!" I cried, clenching the arms of my chair so tightly my knuckles protested in pain.

"Dear child," General Pai said coldly. "Calm yourself."

But he couldn't make me do this. He couldn't make me go home and kill another person... other people. He couldn't! I didn't want to hurt anybody!

"I'm not a mean person!" I cried, tears rolling down my cheeks. "I won't go! I won't, I won't, I wo–"

My words were cut off by a sudden ear-piercing scream that filled every corner of the room. Excrutiating, mind-controlling pain pulsed through my body, searing through my brain. I realised the scream was coming from me. I clawed at my head in desperation. My ears felt like they were going to explode. My skin suddenly felt like it was being stretched over my bones. Burning pain flowed through my veins to every muscle in my body. I could feel them twitching and tightening – cramping up.

And all this was coming from my mind. My brain was the epicentre of the agony.

"Stop it!" I heard Tsuki's voice shriek wildly. "What are you doing to her?! STOP IT, YOU MONSTER!!!"

As quickly as it had started, the pain stopped. I lay frozen where I was for a moment, unable to move, my eyes as wide as they would go. Salty liquid dripped across my lips; a torrent of unstoppable tears ran rivers down my face. A slight dull ache resided in my mind as a reminder of the torture that had just been inflicted upon it.

I had no idea what was going on anymore. My head was spinning dizzily.

"Kuro!" Tsuki's faint voice called to me. Her blurry face appeared above mine, but it was difficult to make out her features. "Kuro, look at me! Kuro! What did you do to her?!"

"What you have just witnessed," General Pai's hazy, icy voice explained lightly, "is a simple method of punishment we have installed in order to control you. With the simple pressing of a button, your mind goes into a state of self-torture, firing motor neurons off to all muscles in your body. Thus, your body believes it is in pain – a pure, agonising, excruciating pain that fills the senses and renders you utterly helpless to its magnitude.

"Of course, the body spasms are nothing compared to the horror of the pain inflicted upon the brain. While you are not, of course, actually experiencing real pain, your brain is unable to tell the difference. Imagine the worst kind of headache you can possibly suffer, and multiply it by approximately four hundred and thirty-eight. That is the strength of the pain that will crush your mind."

He paused to let the enormity of this sink in. I felt arms around my body, and I was heaved up – from the floor, I realised. I'd somehow jerked my way out of my seat, and had ended up curled into a ball on the tiles. Tsuki's horrified face appeared before mine once more, her concerned, computer-chip eyes focused intently on mine. Her expression twisted to one of pure dismay, and I wondered vaguely what she saw in my eyes. I still felt like I had no control over my body.

"You can see by the state of little Komira, the effects this punishment will have on you," General Pai continued delicately. "Right now, she is like a puppet. She cannot think straight, she cannot move her arms or legs. She is completely unresponsive. She is not, however, brain-dead. Think of it as more of a state of temporary mind-paralysis. The effects will, of course, wear off. But she will need a decent amount of sleep before she will regain her consciousness."

In front of me, Tsuki's pretty eyes overflowed with clear, sparkling tears. Her lips trembled and pulled back from her teeth in a kind of snarl.

"You..." she spat out through furiously clenched teeth. Her voice wavered with rage. "You are a disgusting waste of life! How – how could you do this to a child?"

"If you don't watch your tongue, Kochou-san," General Pai said coldly. "You won't be in much better a state."

More tears pooled, dripping from her eyelashes as she reached up with her hands to touch my cheeks. I wanted to assure her that it was okay, that I wasn't hurting anymore, that I could hear and see her. But I couldn't move. I couldn't even blink. So I just stared back into her pained eyes, trying to speak through mine.

"Now," General Pai said with a sense of finality. "From this point on, you will no-longer be known by your human names. I strongly advise you all to just accept your fate, and forget your old names."

A sharp intake of breath from my left indicated that either Pretzel or the big boy didn't like this idea.

"From now on, if you show signs of disobedience to any instructions issued, you will suffer the same punishment as dear Komira. Am I understood?"

The thick silence seemed to satisfy him.

"Tasukatai, you will now be known as E-four-two. Kawaki, your new name is E-six-eight. Kochou, you are now E-nine-five. And little Komira will be known as E-fifteen."

"We're numbers?" Pretzel cried. General Pai chose not to answer.

"I suggest you memories these, as it will make life much easier for you," he advised coolly. "After your training, you will be dispatched to fulfil your mission. Let me warn you now. You will be expected to complete your mission within the set time. You will have little under one month."

"And then what happens?" Pretzel demanded angrily.

General Pai was forebodingly silent for a moment, observing us with an expression of vague amusement curling his thin lips. He looked cruelly triumphant for a few seconds.

"If you are successful, your previous forms will be restored."

"And if we fail?" Tsuki snapped. Again, it was answered by a frightening silence. His shadowed face was unreadable this time. When he eventually spoke, his pale lips parted to murmur only two words.

"You die."

Ooh, sinister. (-grins-)

Okay, I really can't be stuffed writing a post-A/N. I don't have the energy haha.

Oh! I do have one point to talk about here. The H-Elites' names will actually have the numbers in them in the coming chapteres. The spelling was just there so you all know how to pronounce them :)

So:

- Tasukatai, Tai is: E-42 (ee-four-two)
- Kawaki, Puretsu is: E-68 (ee-six-eight)
- Kochou, Tsuki is: E-95 (ee-nine-five)
- Komira, Kuro is: E-15 (ee-fifteen) -- the one different one :P

Thanks for reading. PLEASE REVIEW!

Yours,

Cherrie xx