August woke up to a miserable few rays of grey sunlight peaking through the curtains of his new room. He had been given a temporary room while he stayed on the island for "initiation" - he still didn't know what that meant.
After his meeting with Raven, he had momentarily blacked out on the floor outside of his office. He had been unable to explain to Catriona and Dex, but they hadn't asked. Perhaps it was a common occurrence for them. August didn't really want to know. He hated Raven for reminding him of his regrets, but perhaps he was right to. He couldn't keep ignoring his failures. He had to act.
August stretched and turned over lazily. It was strange to have a place to his own that wasn't something abandoned or broken, or both. Catriona and Dex had let him keep his gold and jewels from earlier, which had now been safely stored away in a safe hidden behind a painting in his studio.
It wasn't very large, but it was a lot more than what he was used to. There was a single bed in the corner by the window, a comfortable office-chair and wooden desk, a kitchenette, and a loveseat fitted snugly into the corner. He had a small dresser as well, which Catriona had promised was stocked with clothes which were probably his size. He had his own bathroom as well. To August's amazement, everything here was powered by electricity - even the stove. Catriona had explained later on, after he had regained his consciousness, that the stones called Deusite was what people here did research on. August learned that this was where Ichor came from, and that it was also a powerful source of energy. When he had asked where this stone came from, Catriona had simply rolled her eyes and said "God, apparently". August wasn't really sure what she had meant but knew better than to question it.
August felt his stomach rumble. Just as he was about to get up and hunt around for food, he was startled by the shrill ringing noise. He looked around, panicked, wondering if he had set off some sort of an alarm. He noticed that the sound was coming from some sort of an electric device on his bedside table. It was a telephone.
He picked it up tentatively, holding the receiver as if he was afraid it would explode in his hands.
"Hey," Dex's voice drawled over the phone. "You're awake! That's great. I'm going to come pick you up for breakfast in a few minutes."
"What?" August asked. When Dex started to repeat himself, August said, "Wait, what do you mean? How are you speaking to me?"
"Um… on the phone?" Dex said. "Just be ready."
August heard a click, and once he put the receiver back and picked it up again all he could hear was a strange, continuous shrill note. August was confused, but he moved on and attempted to "be ready". He turned on the tap in the water and sighed in satisfaction at the warm water running over his skin - it was not a luxury he had ever been able to afford before, not even when he was living with his father. He had never been allowed to have such a thing. He cleaned his hair as well, carefully reading the labels on the products that were in the bathroom. He did not recognise most of the ingredients, but he felt it was important to know them. He got dressed, putting on a random selection of clothes from the dresser.
He looked at himself in the mirror, making a face. He reminded himself of his mother for a moment - he knew he had inherited her eyes. He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to picture her face, but the harder he tried to remember the more blurry her face seemed to get. He opened his eyes when he heard a quick, impatient knock at the door.
He walked up to the door slowly, holding his knife behind his back in one hand. August opened the door slightly, peering outside. He only saw Dex there, smiling at him from the hallway.
"Good morning, you paranoid freak. Put the knife down." Dex said, immediately noticing what he was doing. August, a bit embarrassed, put the knife down on the kitchen counter. August shut the door behind him and started walking in the direction that Dex led him to.
"So, you really don't know what a telephone is? I mean, I get that they're a lot less common now since mobile phones and all…" Dex started asking after a few moments of walking in silence.
August gave him a blank look.
"Oh, come on. You have to know what a phone is. You're not even that old." Dex said, exasperated.
"Yes," August said, unsure.
Dex clearly did not believe him, but did not pursue the topic any further. "So, Raven told us that you accepted the role. Welcome to the club. You'll probably be working with me and Catriona most of the time. There's also Dare, but she's away on a… business trip of sorts at the moment. There was also Wren, but - " a look of pain flashed across Dex's face, just for split second " - he's not with us anymore."
They walked the rest of the way in a sombre silence. August wondered who Wren was, but he didn't care enough to ask. He found Dex's ways of speaking and interacting with him strange. No-one had ever been that casual around him before.
The hallways of the building were well-lit, as it had been built with regular gaps between the rooms for windows. August guessed that it was mostly a residential area. Catriona and Dex had also shown him the "lift", which was a sort of box which moved up or down through the power of electricity. August preferred the stairs. Dex found August's aversion to technology greatly amusing and continued to tease August about it.
August and Dex made their way to the very end of the floor they were on, where Dex pushed open a large set of doors. August stepped inside and was immediately hit with the smell of food - he could smell frying eggs and meat, and freshly baked bread. He realised just how hungry he was. He saw a table at the end of the room with dishes piled with just-cooked food and fresh fruits. There were already people sitting at tables around the room, eating and filling the room with sounds of their chattering and laughter.
"How can I pay for the food?" August asked, realising he left his gold back in his room.
"You don't have to." Dex grinned. "That's the best part - if you come here during meal times it's free."
August was both impressed and annoyed. He had spent too many days starving and at the verge of collapse for this to be real. He wished he had been found earlier.
"Come on," Dex motioned for him to follow. They selected whatever they wanted to eat and sat by the window. As August ate, he wondered if joining Locusta was so bad after all. He wondered how big the organisation truly was, and how they made enough money to feed so many people. Something about it didn't sit right with him, but he wasn't one to complain about free food. He ate to his heart's content, and almost smiled at how good the meal had been.
"What did Raven mean by my initiation?" August asked.
"Hm?" Dex started speaking through a mouthful of food. "Oh, did he say that? He probably just said that to scare you. It's not that bad - just your average training and entry tests. They might do some tests on your intelligence and stuff like that too. It's nothing serious."
Somehow, this did not make August feel any better, but he did not ask any more questions. After breakfast, Dex walked around the island with him, showing him around. The research labs were mostly underground, for safety and security reasons. There were training facilities, dormitories, food courts, areas for sports and games. August got the impression that it was like a sort of zoo for the agents, but he chose not to comment this aloud. Dex seemed excited to talk to him.
When the sun began lowering in the sky, they were already at the west-side of the island. They sat together on the sandy beach, watching the waves. August felt calm here, in front of the ocean. They sat close to the waves. August slowly drifted into a daydream, and didn't notice a particularly large wave crashing on the shore.
Dex muttered in annoyance as he moved away, his shoes and trousers now wet. He moved away, and began to take them off when he stopped and looked at August still sitting where he had originally been. Dex frowned, looking carefully. August was completely dry.
"Can you control the water?" Dex asked him.
August looked at him, confused. "I've never tried to."
"Try it," Dex replied, looking at the next wave coming towards them. "I think you might be more capable than you think."
"I don't know what to do," August said. "I've never really tried to control something."
"It's like a funny feeling in my stomach for me," Dex said. "just focus on that feeling, and open your mind. Be aware of everything that's around you. It should be as easy as breathing."
And it was - it was almost subconscious. The wave came rushing towards August, but the water stopped mid-air before it touched him. He created a sort of sphere of saltwater around him. August slowly smiled as he got an idea.
Dex exclaimed and backed away as the water began to float towards him slowly.
"August," Dex said, looking between the water and his face rapidly. Before he could finish talking, August release his control over the water, making it fall directly on to Dex's head. He laughed, feeling better than he ever had in his life. Controlling the water made him feel like he had scratched an itch he had had all his life but never realised it was there. He sighed in relief, feeling his body become lighter.
Dex was absolutely drenched, but he smiled, surprised to see August laughing. Dex was impressed, but he was worried too. He had never seen someone use the power so easily - especially on their first try with no training. There were people who spent weeks or even months training to achieve what August had just done. Raven really hadn't been exaggerating about his power.
August's skin almost seemed to glow in the golden light of the setting sun. He smiled, wondering what else he could achieve. August suddenly felt a little bit more prepared for whatever fate had in store for him.