Small people

"From what little he told us, that's not far off..." Carston said quietly, hooking a finger over his shoulder at me

"...Thats cruel. What if they run out of supplements? We'd starve-" I felt like I was about to cough up the apple. After a few seconds, though, it went back down. "..."

"they havent run out of them, not in the 60 years we have been here... generation after generation of kids come here, but then dissappear.... ive whitnessed them, seen them taken in the night, and i had to fake sleep, else they would kill us all..." i said, groggily waking up and sighed "should have figured you would come at this hour carston, you never sleep... and Risa... try to focus on some act while eating, something that requires intense consentration, like remembering a rhyme, or doing math... it helps you adjust back to normal food faster...." i said, noticing her difficulty with the apple, and i sighed again, putting on my glasses "i wish you had told me sooner, so i could have gotten your food mashed up as to make it easier and quicker to swallow, freinds dont let other freinds suffer..." i yawned tiredly, blinking slowly like an owl

"Im sorry..." I said, looking down.

"Dont be, i am just saying it would be nice... i dont want you of all people to suffer... you dont have to be sad, and you dont HAVE to tell me anything, its just hard for me to see anyone suffer, especially someone like you..." i said with a slightly worried smile, patting her shoulder and looked at Carston "watch her for a moment, i need some water now that you have woken me up..." i said, and he nodded, the girl behind me shocked and sat down next to Risa with an excited expression "Hun, i think you just caught the attention of a cute guy, never have i heard him utter words like that to ANY girl, and to have him actually force himself to pat your shoulder?! he HATES physical contact, and doesnt socialize much with anyone for some reason, but for him to do stuff like that is a first when its outside the line of duty!" she said excitedly, and i sighed, having heard the first part of her excited speech, knowing it would turn into gossip sooner or later, and i was glad for the dark, my face bright red as i went to get some water

"..." I thought about what she said for a moment. I didn't really smile, but anyone could tell I was quite happy.

"Thanks..." i said, carston nodding as he left with the girl, and i glanced at Risa with a slight blush, turning over in my bed to hide it, wrapping myself tightly in my blankets, shivering slightly

"...?" I curled up as well, even though I felt uneasy, I managed to doze off.
(I dont know where to timeskip to. you pick)

"time to wake up Risa..." i said, gentally shaking her awake, my voice a singsong instead of its normal tone, and i sighed, taking a step back

"...?" I rolled over to look at him, then sat up. "Um....what time is it?" I asked, rubbing my eyes tiredly.

"judging from the sun, id say about 10 in the morning... we all sleep in alot, they prefer it that way, and besides, the doors dont open until that time..." i said, and the doors near us unlocked with a loud click and i nodded with satisfaction "on the ball... anyways, ready for breakfast?"

"Um...I don't know..." I answered nervously. The apple hadnt exactly settled well with me...

"well, we still have some nuetriant paste left over from when the last batch of beta's were here if you would like it...." i said, my face worried, but i tried to keep my tone happy

"...Okay..." I said,getting out of bed.

"you alright? your quieter than normal..." i said, waiting paitently for her

I stood by him. "I dont know...I guess im afraid of eating..." I said meekly.

"Then take things slowly, don't force down entire meals..." I nodded with understanding

I nodded slowly. "I'll try..." I said softly.

"come on then...." i said, taking her hand and pulling her gentally towards the food room where everyone was gathered and whispering quietly as to let others sleep in, and i began handing out the meals, and handed her a tube of the neutrients, and a smaller food package with a gental smile as i got my own

I looked at the tube, apparently inspecting it. How was I supposed to get the food out of the tube? Because what I vaguely remembered were like...solid liquid like tabs you swallowed. I had lied about not remembering anything. I remembered that small piece. But for now, I had to figure out how to get food out of the tube.

"theyve probobly changed a few things since i was there, but this is what they did when a new batch of alphas came in, and they never took the food with them..." i said after a moment, looking to the side after i spoke, unsure of what to say to her

I suddenly started gnawing at the tube, trying to open it, though I was paying attention to what he said. "Why?" I asked between gnaws.

"tubes are to hard for exhausted test subjects to open, the clothing is less able to be used for suicide..." i said simply, yawning

*gnawgnawgnaw* "Suicide?"

"here, let me...." i said, holding my hand out with a courner of my shirt, and kept going "most of the testing they did was very painful or shaming, were woman were put under the most painful tests they could stand, being raped several times over in several ways, or where they would make one freind kill another or a lover kill their other... unfortunatly, my case was the last, just to keep her from going through the first and second options, and to this day, it haunts me, and ive attempted it once or twice to make it stop, but its really hard now, only 3 people have done it on their own..." i said simply, eating with one hand while waiting for the tube