The first thing I realized when I woke up was that Johnny was gone and my hand felt heavier than usual. Opening my eyes, I saw that I had a watch on my left hand and it wasn’t there last night. I jolted up, scanning the room to see that Johnny was nowhere to be found—my heart pounding in my ears as I staggered out of bed.

“Johnny!” I yelled out. I couldn’t hear myself speak and I ran up to the second floor. Not here. I pushed open the door. Not here. Where would he be? I steadied myself against the wall, trying to regain control of my body that was acting up when I pushed open the door of the lighthouse.

Why was it so quiet? The screens in the transportation area were off and I couldn’t hear the sounds of cars like I would every morning. Where was everybody? I ran, my legs rushing towards the dorms hoping I would find at least one person I was familiar with.

With I reached the dorms, I rushed to my floor just to see that the rooms seemed like they were rummaged through. Chenle’s unfinished computer was still on the floor and I proceeded to go see to Jisung’s room to see that he had unfinished laundry on his bed.

What was happening? Where were they?

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Kyungsoo, Johnny, Jaehyun, Doctor Zhang, Jisung, Jaemin and Xiaojun were in a room. They were in a place outside of SM, watching Dana closely through a screen. They wanted it to be as believable as possible and Jaehyun was keeping a close eye on her vitals through the fitbit that put on her. She wouldn’t be able to take it off and Jaehyun watched as her heart rate increased.

“Her vitals are spiking,” Jaehyun said, Dana looking around the dorms. She stood there and they all saw her try to assess the situation. “Look at it.”

The beeping sound of her vitals rang throughout the room and they all saw Dana run down the stairs to go check the gym, skidding to a stop when she saw a pool of blood on the floor. They had scattered blood where they knew she would see it and they saw her stare at it.

“She’s wondering if it’s real,” Jaemin said, watching his friend through the screen. He was brought in with the rest of the Seasonies in hopes that he would be able to make them understand what was going on through her head. “She’d then check if it is real.”

And like Jaemin said, they saw Dana place a finger on the blood and tasted it.

But it wasn’t an expensive test for no reason and the blood Jaehyun had put was real enough. Dana made a face, her face hardening when she realized that the blood wasn’t fake.

“What would you do now if it was you?” Kyungsoo asked the Seasonies.

“I would arm myself,” Jisung replied. “with weapons.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I needed to protect myself.

That was the only thing that my mind was saying and I made my way over to the labs to find Jeffrey. I ran my eyes over the cameras on the wall, going to the infirmary to see that it was as empty as the other places. Why did they take everyone away but not me?

It didn’t make sense.

If everyone was taken away, that would mean that it wasn’t one person but a group of people. I needed something to protect me from a group of people. Guns wouldn’t do… bombs? Where would I find bombs in the Medic’s area. I knew the Technology department was always locked unless Winwin was around. To get it, you had to scan your eye.

What were people scared of?

Pain.

What should I do it keep them away? My mind whirred and I was greeted with a lot of ways to keep people away. I reached up to grab my head, memories of Johnny smoking flashing through my eyes. Why? Why was I thinking of Johnny smoking?

“Stop smoking, Johnny! Give me that lighter!” I heard Jaehyun’s voice in my ears, back to a memory when I saw Jaehyun take Johnny’s lighter from him. I shook my head, my memory of Jaehyun placing the lighter into the cabinet of his desk popping up when—

“Dana, look at this. Isn’t this cool?” Jaehyun asked, the vision switching to one summer as he showed me the video of a man holding a lighter and insecticide. “When you click the lighter and use insecticide, it magnifies because the can has propane, butane and—”

I lunged towards Jaehyun’s cabinet, grabbing the lighter before looking for the insecticide. He always kept it underneath his desk and the moment I saw it, I grabbed it. Why couldn’t I stop myself from thinking? It was like my brain reminding me over and over again, forcing memories out.

Images of the video Jaehyun showed me made me shake my head as I tried to pocket the lighter.

At least I had a flamethrower.

I saw files on the table and I instinctively flipped through them to see that it was a profile on each of our agents. There was a stamp with the words ‘Eliminated’ plastered across their faces. Suddenly, I heard footsteps in the hallway and I ducked behind the desk, seeing men in masks sweeping the building.

“Clear!” they said.

They were looking for me.

‘Clear’? They were either security or military if there were making a battle drill. Before I could stop myself, I found myself reciting the protocol when it came to room clearing. I’ve seen it before when Lucas was training. If they were to enter the room, they would come in on opposite of the door hinges.

They would come in but not too close, which meant I would have to stay by the left side of the walls.

“Clear!”

They were coming and I crept to the side when my eyes went to the open window.

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“She’s going to go out of the window,” Jaehyun said when he looked at her vitals. “That’s weird. Her heart rate is normal.”

“What?” Johnny asked. “How is that possible?”

“I don’t know. It was spiking a moment ago but it seems like her vitals are going back down. Is it normal for it to be like that?”

“It’s her brain telling her body to calm down and think straight,” Doctor Zhang said. “Her survival is her first priority right now. The Marvel drug does that but I’m not sure for her since what Dana took in was an enhancer. But I do know that when things get a little bit too stressful, sometimes, I find myself working on autopilot.”

“It means her brain knows what is good for her and works on it. No skills yet,” Kyungsoo said, lifting the walkie talkie to his lips. “She went out of the window. Attack her.”

“Where is she going?”

“The lighthouse,” Jaemin said. “It’s like my church. She probably thinks she’ll be safe there.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“She’s there!” a voice said and I turned to see the men run after me. I began to run towards the lighthouse, my first instinct was that I had to be where I started. My legs sped forward and I heard a few gunshots behind me. I felt my speed increase when I reached the lighthouse.

Why was I here?

My brain reset and I could see people approach me, their guns in the air when I grabbed the lighter and the can of insecticide, lighting it up and spraying it out at the same time. A gust of fire blew out and they stood back.

But a few of them were braver and I stumbled back onto the grass surrounding the lighthouse, the insecticide rolling away when they stepped closer. I ducked onto the ground, grabbing the man closest to me before I heaved myself up. I pushed myself towards him, wrapping my legs around his neck as I brought him down to the ground.

Grabbing the lighter, I clicked it on and burned his jacket before pushing him away. He flailed, trying to get rid of the flames when I had only one thing in mind.

I wasn’t safe on the island.

I had to go to mainland.

I darted forward, my only thought leading me to go to the Transportation department. They were following me and I could only hear my brain think.

Car? No.

Submarine. No knowledge on how to drive it. Can’t study it in time.

Jetski?

You have to find your balance.

As long as you find your balance, you’ll be able to ride it.

I will help you.

I looked at the jet ski in front of me, the sounds of the men following me from behind when I saw that it wasn’t on. How do I hotwire a jetski?

“I am not going to go on the jetski! It doesn’t even work, Seojun!” I heard my voice in my ears, my brain replaying a memory from a few years ago.

“It does. Jam it with the screwdriver and the lock pins will turn,” Seojun replied in my head.

I grabbed the screwdriver closest to me, jamming the jetski and turning it. Much to my own amazement, the jetski started and I hopped on, turning the right handle of the jetski.

Balance, Dana.

The jetski zoomed forward on the water and I felt like I would tip over.

Balance. Right, a bit more.

Or you will fall.

I tipped my body to the right and found myself regaining my balance.

“Stop!” the man behind me yelled, and I could hear the hum of the jetskis. “Stop right there! It’s dangerous!”

Balance.

Left.

I followed what my brain told me to do when my heart began to pound against my chest so hard it was hard to breathe.

Too much adrenaline.

You need to calm down or your heart will go into shock.

You need to calm down.

Jump into the water.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Her vitals are spiking,” Jaehyun said. “It’s too high.”

“She jumped,” Kyungsoo said, all of them staring at the screen. “She jumped into the water.”

Dana disappeared under the crashing waves and Jaemin frowned.

“Why would she jump? Especially if she was being followed?” Jaemin asked.

“Would you jump?”

“No,” Jaemin said, shaking his head. “I would try to lose them but I would not jump.”

“Her vitals are rapidly dropping,” Jaehyun said, looking at the device.

“She should be up now. Why hasn’t she resurfaced?” Kyungsoo asked, Jaehyun shaking his head. He didn’t know. He didn’t know how Dana’s brain worked. “Grab her. Grab her and bring her back to land. We can’t continue this. We might break her. Tranquilize her.”

Kyungsoo spoke into the walkie talkie and the men complied. They watched as the men dropped into the ocean, grabbing Dana from beneath the waves. Jaehyun frowned, looking at the paper where he had taken notes.

“What do you think?” Kyungsoo asked. They hadn’t seen any new skills and it just looked like Dana was trying to survive. “What makes her special.”

“We won’t know what until we ask her what she went through,” Doctor Zhang said. “But to be honest, Kyungsoo. It seems as if her brain has control of her body. The way it brings her vitals down when it needs to, the way she was able to balance herself on the jetski when she has never been on one before.”

“I agree. Some parts of the brain control the body, that’s true. But Dana jumping off the jetski is not Dana. She would never do that,” Jaehyun told them. “I think her brain had been upgraded to the point where it does everything to make sure she survives even if it’s against her decision. It also explains why she’s so… attached to Johnny even if she wasn’t before.”

“If I had to guess, her brain knew that her vitals spiking was not a good sign and therefore made her jump into the water to calm her down. It’s like it’s working on its own. If this is the case, she may not have gained one skill but a system of defense,” Doctor Zhang said, sighing. “People with the Marvel drug have a mind of their own, Kyungsoo. But it seems like the Marvel-U drug had made her brain have a mind of its own. Literally.”

“It’s because it works full power. She can’t control it,” Jaehyun murmured to himself.

But Jaehyun had a bad feeling about this and he and Doctor Zhang shared a look. A Seasonies brain is so complex, it would break itself down simply for the human to handle it. It was worse now to think that Dana may not have control over her actions when faced with a life and death situation.

“Interesting,” was all Kyungsoo said.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I woke up to Johnny telling me that everything was fine and the moment I saw his face, my body hurt all over. The next few days were of people coming to me and asking me what I went through. I explained to Kyungsoo how I could hear my memories in my ears and could see flashbacks of things that were relevant for me to connect to each other in order to survive.

I told Jaehyun about how I remembered Johnny smoking then my mind jumped to the video that he showed me years ago. I understood why they did it—I was now a test subject. And as much as I hated being one, I knew I brought it upon myself.

The following few days were filled with Johnny trying to assure me that he wouldn’t leave and I had clung to him as close as possible. It annoyed me how I couldn’t stay away from him but Johnny kept telling me that it was okay. As time passed, I realized that it was true and I didn’t have to follow him around anymore. I hoped it was beginning to thaw out and if I was on call with him, it came to the point the point that I could go out of the tab on my phone and watch something else as long as I heard him.

However, I still could not about my day without any contact with Johnny and still relied on him immensely. The night before, I lay on the bed watching him move around the lighthouse. He was humming to himself and I rolled to my side, seeing him place clothes into a bag. I frowned.

“Where are you going?” I asked, Johnny freezing. “Johnny, where are you going?”

“Nowhere,” Johnny said slowly, shaking his head. “Remember that mission I was supposed to go to with Yuta? I’m just packing for that.”

Oh. Well, it would mean that it would be in a few days and I would worry about it when it came. Johnny shoved everything into his bag, sneaking a look at me before placing the bag by the door. I moved to the side of the bed, arms up and Johnny instinctively bent down to pull me into a hug before pressing his lips against my cheek.

My relationship with Johnny was still unknown. We never talked about it and I didn’t have to look at him to know that whatever we were doing, we were blaming the drug. But Johnny was my comfort zone and I knew better than to allow my emotions to run wild.

Johnny was a man of duty and he was doing what he could because I was part of his job scope; was what I always had to tell myself.

And I was now part of his life, another complicated relationship for him to sort out later.

But I was Oh Dana, and I didn’t need clarification. I just needed to make sure I survived and if I needed to have Johnny by my side, I would keep him beside me. At this thought, I found myself wondering if Johnny felt anything on his part. His actions and words definitely didn’t make me feel like it was just because he needed to do it.

Other than hugs, cuddles, and small kisses; Johnny had never once tried anything beyond that. Other than the one kiss that he had initiated (that we also never talked about once I woke up), he was never one to come for hugs if I didn’t demand it from him. I felt him move to the bed and almost immediately, my body relaxed, my arms fumbling to go under his shirt to feel his skin.

I yawned, closing my eyes when Johnny shifted, trying to put me to sleep. It was a habit now for Johnny to pull the blanket only over my body while he would be uncovered. I felt him tuck my head under his chin when I told him that I didn’t have class the next day.

“Mhm? Why no class?” he asked.

“No idea. Jeno texted us in the group to tell me no class,” I told him when my brain began to whir. I struggled to shut it down. These days, every time I thought of something, my brain would jump back and forth and it was hard to shut it down. Sleep was never a problem for me before but now, on days that I didn’t have anything to do, it was almost impossible for me to fall asleep.

It was like I always had to tire myself out every single day and on some days, Johnny had to rock me back and forth for a few hours until I would fall into deep sleep.

“What should we do tomorrow?” I asked Johnny to didn’t reply immediately. “Maybe I can h