@hyaciiintho moving from Wire because to no one's surprise, it long--
Finding himself in a bed was, quite frankly, probably the last way that Silas had expected to find himself upon waking.
The steady beeping of a machine next to him was familiar enough. It wouldn’t have been the first time that he’d been hooked up to one for the sake of some test, either to simply monitor his reactions or to shock his system into producing one - sometimes both. That alone didn’t make it much of a comfort, given that the noise was always a precursor to something unpleasant.
The fact that his last coherent memory had been of a needle’s prick in the side of his neck certainly didn’t help either. From there, however, the fuzzy memories that he could recall as he’d slid in and out of consciousness had been… strange, to say the least. At one point, he faintly recalled a commotion just outside of his cell, voices both familiar and otherwise echoing in what could have been an argument of some kind. The world had gone black again for a time, until he was stirred to the sound of his chilled cell hissing open, and a set of hands drew him up from the floor. Heavy eyelids had blinked open once, twice - long enough for him to see a distraught face that he didn’t recognize, his gaze drawn to the flash of wild blue hair atop the stranger’s head. A new researcher, perhaps?
Odd, he thought blearily, the man’s voice sounding far away as his eyes slid shut once more, his head lolling forward - he’d never seen a scientist going about shirtless in the facility.
The next time consciousness returned to him, Silas found himself staring up at a white ceiling that he’d, oddly enough, never seen before. The persistent beeping that continued next to his bed drew his confused, groggy gaze as he, slowly, took in his surroundings. This didn’t look like any of the testing rooms that he’d come to know, with a lack of intimidating apparatuses or tools anywhere to be found. As he tentatively pushed himself to sit up, another surprising realization dawned of him, only baffling him further - he couldn’t see or feel any restraints on him, though a number of wires were taped to his skin beneath the new, clean clothes that he wore, and an IV drip caused his wrist to ache. There was no one overseeing him, no researchers hovering and waiting for him to regain his senses, or any sign of an experiment that was ready to otherwise begin.
There was a window though. The sight of that alone had Silas freezing in place, already wondering if he was, perhaps, dreaming. Regardless of whether or not that was the case, Silas found himself scrambling up from the bed, the sedative that was still in his system causing his head to swim and his legs to feel weak. He barely noticed as the movements nearly tore the IV from his wrist, causing the saline bag and metal pole to clatter behind him and pulled the wires off of his skin, far too intent on seeing whatever lay beyond the glass pane.
Because the facility didn’t have windows to the outside world. Not a single one.
~*~
Just how far did Kray go in his experiments?
It had been as though walking into a waking nightmare, an underground facility full of people in cages with the tell tale signs of neglect and daily ‘treatments’ on their person. Galo’s heart had sunken to its lowest depths once the doors had opened, armed forces marching in to storm the facility and forcing scientists to relinquish any and all control. Burning Rescue’s relief efforts in aiding those captive had gone by in a blur, it felt, but the results of such help always felt the same. Each and every member bore the same solemn expression as the last. Even Lucia’s usual energetic demeanor was muted in contrast.
And after Galo’s efforts in aiding those he could, he felt the weight of responsibility atop his shoulders.
How could I have been so blind…?
His leg wouldn’t stop its bouncing as he sat and waited for the medical staff to give their reports, arms having folded across his chest as the rest of his body vibrated with anticipation. He had his questions, his concerns, but none would be answered should the patients not be conscious.
Until he heard the clamor from one of the rooms nearby, spurring him to act quickly and investigate the chaos. Worry that someone in a delirious state might have begun to lash out was the first thing on his mind— instead, the sight before him was entirely unexpected. The determined attempt to reach the window might have been concerning to some, but Galo saw on the stranger’s face nothing but marvel and wonder, as though seeing something exciting and new. It was a far cry from what Galo thought to expect from someone rescued from the facility.
“Whoa, hey!” Finally did he decide to announce himself, spurring into action in order to help the other, mindful of the wounds and needles now exposed. “Careful! You’re gonna hurt yourself like that! You’re not supposed to be on your feet, you know? Come on, get back into bed.”
~*~
Normally, the sound of a door flinging open would be more than enough to draw Silas' attention - that, however, was the key word in this instance. Normally. Nothing here was normal though, as far as the young man's day to day life was concerned. The sight of a bright world outside the room's window - so glaring, in fact, that his eyes find themselves squinting against light that they're not used to processing - had him unable to pull his attention away. He's almost afraid that doing so will shatter whatever dream he's in completely.
His mother had told him stories about the world outside the facility when he'd been small. Silas had often listened in awe as she'd woven him tales about her life before being brought to the lab where he'd been born, about how things had been before her burnish abilities had manifested. She'd told him about cars that drove down busy roads and buildings so tall that they could have touched the sky. Ava Kaio had recounted to her little boy how streets could be so busy that it was difficult to squeeze around the throngs of people, and how food outside the facility tasted so good that he'd never want to eat the meager meals that they were provided in their cells ever again. It wasn't exactly how she'd described, mind you - Silas could see the remnants of a number of buildings that had clearly been toppled, rubble that must have been a result of some force that would remain unseen to him, but even so...
It was still enough to remind him of those stories that he'd held so dear as a child.
It was a voice that finally pulled him from his daze, wide eyes turning to find it's owner as bewilderment continued to shine in their depths. The stranger - who looked somewhat familiar, though he couldn't yet recall why - sounded concerned, though Silas found himself unable to really process the man's warning. Instead, he simply stared for a beat or two before turning to look back out past the glass, somehow feeling far more dazed than he had when he'd first woken up. Overwhelmed didn't even tip the iceberg, and it was hard to tell if his trembling came from his body own weakness or from how shaken he felt.
"Where... Where am I?" Silas finally asked, his voice hoarse as thin fingers gripped the sill until his knuckles turned white, "This... isn't the lab, r... right? So... S-So where is it?"