General Mike responded to allow the soldier to bring in his guests. He hated his job right now. He watched as his office filled with people. He asked the guards to wait outside. Mrs. Green immediately tried to see Lana but the friends refused to part.
Vorden was straining under the weight of carrying her. She had gone back to sleep a few minutes after leaving the agricultural area. He had to carry her upstairs while she slept. He was cursing Sil silently. He saw a couch and took it upon himself to sit while keeping a firm hold on Lana. The friends all stood firm as they waited for an explanation, apology, something. Mrs. Green was stunned by the defensive display in front of her. She looked to the General then to the group then back to the General. "Leave us."
General Mike sighed and did as he was told.
She turned to the students. She still had not seen Lana and had no idea what state she was in or what had been done to her. In a soft, motherly voice to the group, "I'm Logan Green's mother. Logan told me she went missing last night. I'm here to find out what happened and ensure it never happens again."
Dobin stepped forward, "I'm her twin brother Dobin. We don't know what happened either but her state is not a good one. Is it possible for you to take off your lab coat before we move and allow you to talk to her?"
"That's a really odd request. May I ask the reason for it?"
"We grew up in an orphanage. The children there were tortured by people in lab coats. Lana is asleep right now. When she wakes up, I prefer she not see a white coat first thing and start screaming. She has nightmares from that place as it is."
The coat was already off before Dobin finished his explanation.
The friends cleared the way for her to get to the couch.
Vorden stated, "There's dried blood on her head and neck here," as he pointed. "Can we get Doctor Hayley in here?"
"Dobin, can you ask the general, please?"
Dobin was already moving the minute he was shown the blood. The request was quickly made.
"Hey, Lana. Wake up…" Looking around, "Does anyone have any water?"
Alto found a glass and some napkins and brought some to him. Vorden started cleaning her face. She scrunched her nose at the cold once Vorden had gotten through enough dirt to get to her face. It had mixed with the blood and was pretty yucky.
"Wake up."
"No.
"Open your eyes. Logan's mother is here to talk to you?"
"Excuse me?" She sat up quickly then grabbed her head as the shooting pain was excruciating. She started crying and Vorden held her tightly.
"Do you remember what happened?"
She nodded and told the group everything from being grabbed by the invisible man until she was grabbed by the roots. She didn't remember coming to the surface.
Hayley got there in the middle of her story and healed her head. She was confused by the blood on Lana's neck so she waited for the story to end to get her questions answered.
"So the two boys who attacked you are dead? In the dungeon?"
Lana nodded.
"And you escaped? How? I know you told us but…"
Lana was coming to her senses more and more even though she was still exhausted. "It's not shocking at all. There is a reason they have Truedream take the person's ability before sending them to the dungeon. They didn't do that with me nor put me to sleep. I'm guessing that was supposed to happen. Pucket liked to play with live prey. It would not have been fun for him if I was asleep. Simply put, I got lucky."
Dr. Hayley nodded.
"There were shackles in the cells. I'm guessing those were used for those with abilities that were waiting investigation. Shackle them so they can't use their ability in case they are found innocent though I'm willing to doubt that never happens."
She studied Mrs. Green's face. "I can see some resemblance. I want to thank you for the opportunity and support you have given me."
"Nonsense! We professionals need to stick together!" She gave a small, sad smile. "I'm sorry you have had to endure such troubles. I assure you, the rest of your days at this school will not be so rough. Would you like a bigger room?"
Lana shook her head. "I'm happy in the room I'm in with Kattie. She's from the Bree family. I just need to be afforded the time and space to get my research done. We have less than three months now until the end of term. I have papers to finalize so I can publish them."
Mrs. Green looked quite happy and clapped her hands together. "I remember when I first published my research. Such a milestone! You will have everything you need."
Dobin decided to test his sister's watch because it wasn't lit up like it should be after the area was cleaned. Her watch didn't respond. He took it off her and handed it to Almin. "Take it to Logan so he can fix it, please." Without even checking if the adults were okay with him missing some class, he left the room to get her watch fixed.
Vorden looked at the others, "You guys get ready and get to class. I'll stay with her. She needs rest and has been traumatized. I don't think it's good for her to be left alone."
Mrs. Green agreed. "Not only that but I want guards on her. Clearly someone wanted to give her ability to Truedream and it wasn't those students. Can I get your names?
Vorden sat still, holding Lana and looked at her. Dobin decided to be the one to give all the names to her. Just then a small sound came from under her armor. It sounded like a "Meow".
Everyone held their breath.
Lana had no choice but to share the story of Caser. Of course that meant showing off the little guy. Mrs. Green was not impressed with the little beast but recognized the importance to Lana and thought it might even be good for the girl to care for the baby, though she didn't say so. She just nodded when the story ended and agreed with Vorden's plan for her care for the day.
"Do any of you know my son's plans for the day?"
It was Lana who responded. "I don't know his exact plans but yesterday he asked me to come by this evening because he was busy."
"In that case, I will respect his research and allow him to focus. You guys get about your day. I need to have some words with the general."
Kattie filled the kitten's bottle and the group left after securing him and his food. Lana also withered her phase 2 armor but not her phase 1. Hayley went to back to her office.
General Mike came in as he saw the others leave.
Mrs. Green stood in front of him. "This is what's going to happen. She is now a VIP student. She has a rescued infant beast she is caring for. She is to get whatever support she needs for this. I will talk to Mona Bree about it and see if she can offer anything to the poor girl. I don't know if she needs anything, though. She is friends with a Bree family member so she has probably gotten everything under control. I will ask anyway. What you will do is have guards on her at all times. If any harm comes to this child at any point for her remaining time here, we will have a problem. The person responsible for this needs to be stripped of their uniform before the end of the day. You will make that happen and send the report directly to me. I won't tell my husband of the deplorable actions committed at this school as long as this is done. Any questions General?'
"None, ma'am. And I would like to apologize to you for having to come all this way…"
"Stuff it and do your job!" She turned and left.
General Mike contacted the teachers of the students letting them know they will be late or absent today.