"Sarah! Stop picking at it." Eric grunts, swatting my hand away from the band.
I glare at him, and it takes a second for the glare to soften.
"I can't help it." I sigh and shrug.
We've been in this place - this compound, this...ghost town - for an hour now, and I can't stop messing with this thing on my arm. I don't know why.
It doesn't itch, or hurt.
I don't think I'm allergic to it or anything.
But...it's been driving me nuts. Just the weight of the thing on my arm is...annoying.
I can't seem to leave it be. The moment I'm not consciously thinking of not messing with it, my hand is there and picking and poking and fiddling.
Mia is off to the side, laughing.
I narrow my eyes at her, then turn to Eric and stick my tongue out at him. "It's not funny!"
"Leave her be, Eric. If she wants to pick at it, it's fine. It's not like she's going to break it or something." Mia's giggles have finally settled.
Eric sighs and settles back in his seat.
I still don't really know where we are. But this town seems...Earth-like. Maybe the better term for that is human-like.
There's nothing alien or out of place here, just a city that I could find anywhere on Earth. Except for the part where it looks like it's been damaged from heavy artillery fire. And that it's in the middle of nowhere on the wrong planet.
But inside the buildings, despite all the glass in the windows having long been blown out, it's much cooler than standing out in the sun. It'll probably be warmer than laying out in the night, too.
Though we still need some kind of manner to light these dark buildings once night falls, since not even multiple full moons will light these buildings inside.
"...As long as we have these wristwatches on - and not tampered with - we can assume our hosts will leave us alone and stop watching us so closely." He crosses his arms.
I frown down at it, resisting the urge to....poke again.
"But how are we going to get through to the rebels, then? Won't we just lead the aliens to them...?"
Mia hums and shrugs. "If this is normal and they really did prepare for this like you said, they probably have a way to spoof the tracker. Hestia, sweetheart, don't poke at it."
I can't see Hestia from here, but Mia is sitting next to her and probably saw her trying to pick at the thing on her wrist, too.
It makes me feel a bit better that it isn't just me who can't seem to stop messing with it. Though...I'm not sure why Hestia can't stop, either. She doesn't look like she dislikes it the way that I do.
Mia's fingers tap on her knees. She stares at Hestia, a soft frown on her lips.
Eric is leaning back in the remains of a desk chair, his expression thoughtful. He hums and looks up at me. "Sarah. Don't worry about it. If they want us to join up with them this time, I'm sure they've already got a plan."
"...But it's possible that they don't." Mia says, lifting a finger. "If they need us to be inside men still, we have to be prepared to weather whatever this test is, too." She purses her lips, staring down at her own wrist.
Eric's expression sours, and his face twists into a scowl.
I look between the two of them.
I...can understand Eric's argument, I suppose. But. Mia's makes a lot of sense, too. I've been thinking about both possibilities.
I just...
The idea of finally getting to spend time away from our captors, even if it's on this planet...
It's selfish to say I don't want to be an inside-man. It's unlikely they'll even ask much of me, compared to Mia and Eric.
But...
Eric flicks a pebble at me. I blink, rubbing my nose and scowling at him. "...Stop doing that." I sigh, and shake my head.
"What's got your head so wrapped up, Sarah?"
I purse my lips and shrug. "I...just don't understand why we have to go through a second test. Isn't the point of re-educating us just to teach us not to be...not to rebel, or something? Why the test at all? And what are we going to do about these things?" I gesture at the wristband. I haven't even asked how to get it off yet.
Eric shakes his head. "I don't know." His eyes narrow. "They don't make much sense. Not even when you can talk to them, frankly." He rubs his chin. "The tracking band must mean they're not going to near us for awhile. Long enough they don't want us getting any ideas."
"Okay...but it's still not saying why."
Mia is the one to sigh at my comment. "...The truth is they never even tell us what we're on this world for, Sarah. Just to prepare us to be 'useful'." Her voice has an odd lilt to it when she says useful. "There's never been an explanation about the tests, or anything. They're just. There."
...I do remember that.
The alien that said I'd be useless if I couldn't...something.
Probably speak the language. Which...still feels unfair, honestly.
Hestia taps my knee, making me blink and look down.
"Right. I...I know." I rub the bridge of my nose.
It doesn't seem fair.
I don't think this is a test to make sure we can communicate, though. Otherwise it would defeat the purpose of testing me or Hestia.
They'd already know we weren't good at communicating with our captors.
This must have some vague connection to the predator test. If the rebels know where they take us the second time based on the first - and there's only two times - it must have some connection.
But.
I don't understand how their reasoning works at all. They've barely communicated anything. They don't tell us anything, just force us to do these things with no context, no reasoning behind them, just...doing them because we'll die if we don't.
I'm still scared. My hands are trembling.
I'm terrified, because if I don't make it through this test - if we really have to go through it and we can't make it through this test - we can't go back to Earth. We'll never see home again.
We'll just die here. Alone.
The thought makes me sick to my stomach. The thought makes it hard to breathe. It makes my hands shake, and the trembling only seems to make me more angry and more scared.
"Hey. Don't freak out, Sarah. It'll be okay." Eric's hand settles on mine, his fingers gently prying my own from the band that I hadn't realized I started pulling on again. "There's nothing to worry about."
"You can't say that." I say. My voice is thick and hoarse. "You can't promise it. We don't even know what they're doing to us or why. They won't explain anything. They don't care if we're hurt or we die-"
"Sarah." He sighs, and squeezes my hand.
His voice is firm, but I'm not looking up. I'm not sure why it matters, I just don't want him to see my expression. "Look. It'll be fine." He squeezes my hand. "It'll be okay. It's almost time now. We've been waiting so long, but it's almost time."
Mia is quiet for a few minutes. I can see her fidgeting, even with my eyes on the floor.
It isn't until Hestia comes over to sit next to me and pat my leg that I feel a little bit better.
"...Right." I mutter, finally taking a deep breath. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize." Mia sighs and shakes her head, and smiles. "We're all stressed."
She stands then, slapping her thighs. "Come on. We don't know when the rebels will make contact. Let's go look for some light."
It seems a bit early to try to prepare for night, but...it is a good idea.
"...Okay." I push myself to my feet and follow her outside the building. Eric and Hestia follow us both, silent.
It's a strange thing to be hunting around in the ruins of this abandoned place. It looks like some kind of city that's been bombed out. It looks a lot like some sort of post-apocalypse thing. Like something I might see on the big-screen or read in a book or something. Not something real, and especially not on an alien world. It feels wrong to see it here, of all places.
Other humans are milling around aimlessly.
It doesn't make the place feel more alive.
But...
When I look in any direction, for once, I don't see any of my captors.
The weight of the band on my wrist tells me I'm not free yet, but...this is as close to freedom as we've ever gotten on this world.