Nolie nodded. "The same. Only she looked human today." She sudied the fry. "Sorry, but this doesn't look anything like a French fry to me. More like a half-raw piece of potato."
"Now you see why I bring my own luches to school," Kira replied. She stared at her hand. "I just wish we could get these things off. I got chewed out by Lisa this morning during inspection..."
"We're working on that." A voice said behind her. Kira looked around. A girl in an NJROTC uniform with cherry red hair, gold eyes, and brown skin was holding a tray right behind her. "Mind if I sit here?"
"Go ahead," Kira replied. Amria took the empty seat next to her. "Why are you here?"
Amria looked up from her pizza. "What are you talking about?" She asked.
"Why you're going to the high school." Toria clarified. "And how are you looking like a human?"
Amria took a bite of her corn and frowned. "Yick. Simple; a dark-toned human serum." She said.
"Wait; you took a human serum? Like the ones on Gaia?" Nolie asked. This was sounding way too crazy.
"Bingo," Amria replied. She picked up a fry and cringed. "They don't taste very good, but they do the trick; once you take them you turn into whatever race the serum is for a month. Well, there is one that's got a glitch..."
"Which one's that?" Nolie asked.
Amria put down her fry and started on her pizza. "The vampire serum," she said. "I don't know how it affects humans quite yet, but from what Edmund said it doesn't have the one-month-rule the other have; once you take it, you're a vamp for life. But the real kicker is that there's no cure for it; even the human serums don't eliminated the serum. They'll only have the effect of the rest--one month, then you turn back."
Kira tore into her sandwich. "So what you're saying is that once we take the vampire serum in this world, we're a vamp for good?"
"Pretty much." Amria replied. "Blech! How does this crap pass as food? Tastes more like flavored cardboard."
"I think it is," Toria said.
"Again; that's why I bring my own lunches," Kira said. "I think school food when my mom was in high school was better than this crap..."
Amria dropped her half-eaten pizza back onto her tray. "Well, I know that it's not even good enough to feed fish. See you next hour, Kira."
"Right," Kira mumbled. She munched a sushi roll in thought. "Has anyone else here noticed the lack of reaction?"
Toria shook her head. "It looks like no one cares about what's going on." She said.
"They're probably thinking it's just a big joke that'll end soon," Nolie said. "Something's telling me they're wrong."
***
The days passed as they normally did. Get up at some ungodly hour, head to school, go to class, crappy lunch followed by more class, stay after school for drill practice, and go home to eat supper and hit the rack. No Animated incursions, no insane fighting, nothing. For the moment, things were looking peaceful.
But the real world was beginning to mirror Gaia.
Every night there were new reports of the Animated attacking all over, and no one seemed to know what they were doing. As far as she could tell, nobody believed that a bunch of crazy monsters were coming to life and attacking everything in their way.
A weekend came. Still nothing. And still, it wasn't a dream.
The damage done to the school in the attack was still clear, and people all over town were trying to repair their homes. The damage was even worse in the country, with more open space and fewer people. Even on this first attack, people had been killed.
Who knows what it could be like the next time? Nolie thought. This one was insane enough. We don't need another attack, expecially if it's worse than this.
When she got out of school the fifteeth day after the attack, it was pouring. "Agh! And here I am with no umbrella!" Rosalyn yelped. She was in a bad mood. As usual.
"Did you take a look at the weather this morning?" Nolie asked.
Rosalyn grimaced. Apparently she hadn't. "I'm just wondering when the next Animated attack is going to be," she said. "If they don't attack again, then okay; but something's telling me they will."
Nolie raised an eyebrow. "And you're saying this why?" She asked.
Rosalyn's face took another turn for the worst; now she looked like she was going to be sick. "I'm the one who let them loose in this world," she said in despair.
Nolie facepalmed. "Oh, man." She groaned. "What the hell were you doing? No, scratch that: what the hell were you thinking?!"
