It was a silent Sunday night, rain drizzling on the slick black pavement. All the lights were out, except the dimmed streetlights by the alleyways. And in the dark alleyway in the rain, were three drenched girls, huddling together for heat. One girl leaned on the brick wall behind her, pulling her knees in. Her drenched pale blonde hair covered her gray eyes. Another girl leaned on her, letting her long caramel colored hair fall on the blonde's shoulder. She closed her eyes, shielding her vibrant green eyes from the rain. Her small delicate hand was holding her last friend's hand. The last girl kept her hazel eyes wide open, on the alert. Every once in a while, she would look over to her friends, seeing if they were okay, or brushing her short black hair out of her face. She was in deep thought, about herself, and her friends, and how everything had gone wrong since that fateful day in June.

---

The hazel eyed girl, named Avalon, was walking down the sidewalk with the other two, on the way home from the pool.

"Vivian," Avalon began, "How's it going with you and your boyfriend?"

"If you're talking about my friend from a long time ago, he's not my boyfriend," the blonde girl replied, blushing as the other two laughed at her. "I haven't seen him in a year, ever since his dad's last business trip."

"You look like a sad puppy whenever you talk about him," the brunette laughed. "I personally think Viv here has a crush."

"Awww..." the two chorused as Vivian blushed.

"Evangelion! Shut up!" Vivian yelled, fuming.

"Oh, I got her that time," Evangelion said, "She used my real name!"

"Don't worry Eva," Avalon said, holding back from laughing, "Viv is just embarrassed that's all!"

The three went to Avalon's apartment, where they found that all three of their parents were waiting for them in the kitchen.

"Hey mom! We'll be in my room if you need us," Avalon said, dragging the other two into the hallway.

"Hold on a sec," Avalon's mom said, "Us parents want to talk to the three of you."

The three girls walked over to the living room with the parents. Avalon, Evangelion, and Vivian sat on one couch, facing the other parents, who were on the other couch.

Evangelion's father sighed, and came out with the news. "We're sending you three to a science camp next week."

The three girls sat in shock. "You can't do that!" Vivian yelled. "We had the whole summer planned out and now we have to go to a science camp?!"

"It's a new camp. You'll learn about neuroscience, genetic modification, and other things! You'll even get hands-on experience!" Vivian's mother raved.

"This sucks," Avalon muttered.

---

The month-long camp had gone well during the first week. The U.S. army funded the camp, so all the equipment in the Phoenix Lab was the latest technology. The first week they learned about the brain. The main discussion was what might happen if they could tap into dormant parts of the brain. But after one night, everything had turned for the worse.

---

Evangelion awoke to the buzz of her alarm clock. Yawning, she ran her fingers through her hair. She went into the girls' bathroom in the dorms, to freshen up. When she began the water and washed her hands, she noticed a hint of red in the water. Looking at her hands, she noticed smudges of the red. She grabbed a lock of her hair, and saw her brown hair was stained with blood.

She ran back to her room, and saw that her pillow was smeared with dried blood. Frantically, Evangelion ran her hands through her hair again, seeing if there was a cut. Instead, she felt stitches running across her scalp. But not just a random place either. It was right next to the dormant part of the brain.

---

Evangelion wasn't the only one like that the same morning. Actually, the same had happened to everyone attending the camp. Except this wasn't a camp. The whole thing was a scheme cooked up by the Army. Every student had been "tampered" with. The whole purpose of the camp was to recruit people to test on for the newest experiment of the Army: awaken dormant parts of the brain to create superhumans for the armed forces. Through the night, they had managed to surgically open everyone's scalp, and they woke up the sleeping parts of the brain. Out of the 30 students that had enrolled in the camp, only 27 survived.

For the rest of the camp, the 27 campers were drilled physically and mentally. They were taught to develop their powers they had gained. Vivian had the power of psychokinesis, moving things with the mind, and telepathy, communicating through thought. Evangelion had the ability to regenerate lost body parts within seconds and the ability to manipulate life force and communicate to animals. Meanwhile, Avalon had perfected the art of retrospection, seeing into the past. She had the power of precognition, seeing into the future, but she had not been able to control it at all. At random fleeting moments, she could see a moment into the future.

When the campers were brought home, the parents were shocked. Some parents threatened to sue, but they had signed the contract, saying that all harm done to the camper was not to be blamed by the Army. Many parents rejected their child, including the parents of Vivian, Evangelion, and Avalon. Everyone who couldn't go back to his or her home was forced back to the Phoenix Lab. There they formed a society of superhumans, known as the Phoenix 27 by the public, learning together with free boarding, education, and food. The only way they made money was letting the scientists help them develop their powers.

Only two weeks ago, exactly a year after the "brain tamper," the first of the Phoenix 27 tried escaping the grounds, only to be caught. Since then, no one had seen him. And last Friday, three more tried and successfully escaped. The worst part was that the three were the prized experiments of Phoenix Labs. They were the only ones with multiple abilities: Avalon, Evangelion, and Vivian. As the Avalon sat in the dark alleyway with her two friends, she wished she could see into the future, because none of the three knew what was in store for them.