Futuristic Those That are Hunted

[Ch3rryBlossom28]

Walking through the exit lead to the helipad where a helicopter was waiting for them. "You are being sent to the nearest Academy, which lucky for you is in Austin." They helped Manjano into the helicopter and took off. It didn't take them long to get there and once they did they landed on top of the building that looked like an academy that you would see on tv. It was two floors above ground and had a few below. The government tended to like building their building like this because that way if something were to go wrong they only had to block off one exit. One of the guards helped Manjano off the helicopter and led him too the the door. Once they were through and the doors were locked, the guard took off Manjano's handcuffs. "Don't try to run, they wil snip you in seconds." In the past they have had prisoners say they wanted to be agents and then attempt to escape at the academy. So they had to stat taking precautions. At the bottom of the stair a woman with glasses and in a pant suit was waiting for them. Once she spotted them she clasped her hands together. "Welcome! My name is Mrs.Frey and I am the Headmistress of this school. Here you will learn how to advance your gift and get an education in the process! The Ground and second floor are where you will be taking classes and the underground floors are where you will be sleeping and training." At some point while talking the Headmistress had started walking, so the guards moved Manjano forward. "You file should be arriving through the computer shortly. Till then do you have any questions for me?"


"You really think I'd care if you actually did get scars?" Amelie decided to follow him back to his room. Despite wanting to be in her own bed right now, she was more worried about Vulcan. After she walking she closed the door, not following him to his bed. Looking around at the room she realized how small everything was compared to hers. Once he got up her head snapped to him and she saw how badly bruised and swollen his leg was. Ill put my ice on it once he is done. She didn't know how much she would be able to do,but she would try. She took his spot on the bed and laid down. She couldn't remember the last time she was in a bunk bed before. She knew that she had shared one with Alec before when they were young but that was so long ago. By the time Vulcan came out Amelie was asleep in the bed. Exhaustion along with the stress of everything she had to deal with today made her fall asleep pretty fast. She tried so hard to stay awake since she didn't want to take his bed but ended up giving in to the sleep.

 

[Lioness075]

Manjano was silent the whole trip, watching the scenery fly by outside, as they approached the Academy. He wasn't exactly keen on any of this, but if it meant keeping him out of a cell and being treated like he was nothing, then he'd take it. Upon entering the building, Manjano was relieved to finally have his handcuffs removed. Feeling the energy of his gift flowing through him once more, Manjano no longer felt a constant tension. Rubbing his wrists a bit, Manjano smirked upon hearing that he'd be sniped for trying to run. No surprise there. Even after agreeing to work with them, he was still treated much like a prisoner. IT was a wonder any of the gifteds enjoyed their work here. Manjano then looked up when a lady nearby spoke to him. Looking her over, Manjano raised an eyebrow, but remained silent otherwise. He was quickly learning that the less he spoke, the less trouble he could get into or cause. Learning the woman's name, Mrs. Frey, Manjano then wondered what kind of education he'd be getting. Would it just be the basics? Or would it be like college? Either way, Manjano wasn't exactly looking forward to it. He hadn't been to school since his freshman year of high school when he'd dropped out and well, everything went to hell at that point. Interrupting his thoughts, Manjano looked back up at Mrs. Frey upon hearing her asking him if he had any questions. Smirking, Manjano replied, "None that you can answer." He could've asked if it were going to be like college in the education fields, but he really didn't want to appear that interested in things around here.


Larassa continued to silently watch, as the nurses finished wrapping up Tucker's injuries and then they left him on the bed without a top on so that they could better monitor his injuries as they healed. One of the nurses put an IV into Tucker's hand and then they all moved over to Xander's sides. While they began cleaning, stitching, and dressing Xander's numerous wounds across his whole body, Larassa continued to quietly watch. Larassa looked away though, when the nurses began to cut off Xander's suit in order to better clean up and deal with his numerous wounds scattered over his body. When Larassa looked back, they had covered up Xander's lower extremities with a small towel and were working hard at fixing him up. Luckily, Alpha had been able to fix his inside injuries and get all of the bits and pieces that had entered Xander's body, but he was still in pretty bad shape. Considering he didn't have Tucker's speedy healing, Xander would definitely need more time to heal. Soon, most of Xander's body was wrapped up. Both of his ankles were wrapped, his right leg was wrapped from the ankle to the thigh. Both of his arms were wrapped from the fingers to the shoulders and his chest was wrapped as well. Half of Xander's face was soon wrapped on top of everything else, as one of his eyes was a pretty nasty looking black eye and while the nurses didn't seem too concerned with the eye itself, Larassa was unable to tell if it had been injured on top of everything else. Once they were done dressing all of his wounds, a nurse brought over some odd looking contraption and then produced what looked like an oxygen mask. Putting it over Xander's mouth, they soon had him breathing more normally and his heart rate slowed down to a normal rate. They then hooked Xander up to an IV like Tucker, before finally walking away from him while a nurse began to carefully put a hospital gown onto Xander. Once the nurse was done, she carefully lay Xander back down and then covered him up with a light bed sheet. Walking away from Xander's side, the nurse then bought over a similar oxygen supply by Tucker's side and put the mask over his face as well. Once the nurse exited the room, Larassa let out a sigh and then grabbed a rolling stool before sitting on it and leaning back against a wall. While the prisoner was injured and unable to be restrained to his bed, Larassa wasn't planning on going anywhere.

 

[Verena]

When he got out and saw Amelie asleep in his bed, Vulcan gave her a soft loving smile, then dried himself off with the towel and got dressed up in another agent's suit. It was tight around his ankle and felt good. He then walked out and quietly closed the door behind his back. He didn't want to wake Amelie up only for her to make him a handful of ice. They were all tired and needed to rest. Vulcan headed for the medical labs to get some medicine and maybe a bandage if it was needed. He also wanted to see the condition Xander was. He would live but Vulcan was worried about him nevertheless. Once he reached the labs and asked for some quick medical attention, a nurse appeared and he was led to a doctor's office. He was mentioned to take a seat and put his leg up. The nurse removed the boot and looked at his ankle. She then pulled out a ACE bandage, wrapped it around and gave him some ibuprofen tablets to swallow. "Try putting a pillow underneath and don't put weight on it." She instructed him, then looked at the cuts and burns on his face. For that she just smeared some antibiotic ointment on it. "That will be it." she said and pulled away to let him get up again. "I'm looking for Xander. He's a friend of mine. May I visit him?" he asked as he was putting his boot back on. "Yes. The surgery was a success and he's stable but I wouldn't stay too long. He'll need to rest." she said and led him to the emergency department of the building. When they reached his room, the nurse opened the door and let him in. Vulcan saw Xander and Tucker both wrapped up in bandage, sleeping, as well as Larassa, who was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. Vulcan gave her a slight nod and pulled the second chair to Xander's bed, taking a seat in it. His heartbeat had normalized and it looked like he was just sleeping. He was no doubt injected with those serums that sped up the healing process as well. Alpha had done a great job with healing him, so he was out of the danger zone. Now it was just a matter of time before he woke up.

 

[No one92233]

Hugo directed Kytha to solitary confinement telling her to hurry up whenever she started to slow down. Arriving at a empty cell Hugo slightly pushed her inside and locked the large metal door. She has those cuffs on so she should be fine. Hugo walked down the cell door's until he arrived at Seth's. Turning invisible he looked in through the small window to see how his playmate recovered. He fared better than most of the people I've used to get Braen to calm down. Hugo thought about his other victims, usually they would end up insane or committing suicide. I guess I went a bit easier on this guy...Oh right we are releasing a prisoner today..maybe it's him? I better call Larassa Hugo walked away from Seth's cell and talked into his radio. "Hey Larassa are we still releasing one of the prisoners in SC? I'm already there because I had to escort Kytha so we could do it now if you want."


@Sh3w0lfSp1r1t


@Lioness075

 

[Lioness075]

Larassa raised an eyebrow at Vulcan when he came into the medical bay's emergency room, but she otherwise remained silent. She wasn't overly concerned for either the agent or the prisoner since they were both stable now. She just wanted to make sure the prisoner didn't try any funny business. Hearing Hugo over the radio, Larassa let out a small sigh and then responded briefly, "Yes. His name is Seth. He should be down a flight of stairs and separate from where Kytha and Toron are being held." Still not liking the orders, but knowing better than to go against them, Larassa added, "Don't forget that our last orders for Kytha were that she was not to be harmed in any form or fashion. Until those orders are changed, you are to not harm Kytha, okay?" Looking at Vulcan in her peripherals, Larassa wondered if he would object to this after what Kytha had just done in aiding another prisoner's escape and then consequently hurting a gifted agent and apparently one of Vulcan's friends.


@LOLMAN101 @Sh3w0lfSp1r1t @Vulcan

 

[No one92233]

Larassa raised an eyebrow at Vulcan when he came into the medical bay's emergency room, but she otherwise remained silent. She wasn't overly concerned for either the agent or the prisoner since they were both stable now. She just wanted to make sure the prisoner didn't try any funny business. Hearing Hugo over the radio, Larassa let out a small sigh and then responded briefly, "Yes. His name is Seth. He should be down a flight of stairs and separate from where Kytha and Toron are being held." Still not liking the orders, but knowing better than to go against them, Larassa added, "Don't forget that our last orders for Kytha were that she was not to be harmed in any form or fashion. Until those orders are changed, you are to not harm Kytha, okay?" Looking at Vulcan in her peripherals, Larassa wondered if he would object to this after what Kytha had just done in aiding another prisoner's escape and then consequently hurting a gifted agent and apparently one of Vulcan's friends.
@LOLMAN101 @Sh3w0lfSp1r1t @Vulcan

"Oh she should be with Toron? I'll move her. Why would I hurt her you are the interrogator." Torturer Hugo thought smiling. Hugo began walking back to the cell he put Kytha in.

 

[Lioness075]

Larassa quickly sat up at what Hugo said and then replied, "No, Kytha is not supposed to be with Toron. They're to stay separated." Hearing what Hugo said about her being the interrogator, Larassa raised an eyebrow since she still felt suspicious of Hugo. She then added in her response, "I didn't mean you would be doing anything yourself. Just...leave the prisoners be and escort Seth back to his original cell. He's alone in it for now, but make sure to bring him a tray of fresh food and water after he's back in his cell. He'll need it, trust me."


@LOLMAN101

 

[No one92233]

((brb 30 mins at most I think))


"Oh ok small miscommunication." Hugo said turning back to head to Seth's cell.

 

[Panda_Roleplays]

(Lol I'm supposed to be on the same floor as toron but not same cell xD )


Kytha obeyed the stupid guard and avoided his push for her into the cell. Once hearing the door close behind her she sat on a wall patiently before thinking of an idea. Slamming on the door to get the guards attention, she stood there with a grin. Don't make me use my knife..





Toron sighed and had given up a long time ago. His wrists were raw, eyes drooping, and felt like he had a hole in his stomach. Tired of being stuck in this hell hole he let out an enraged scream at the walls around him. "GOD DAMMIT!!!" He yelled and slammed his fists into the wall.

 

[Verena]

Vulcan couldn't help but listen to Larassa's conversation. They were in the same room after all. He was confused as to why Kytha wasn't supposed to be harmed but decided not to question her decision. Maybe they had to keep her in a good condition for the scientific tests that would surely follow after witnessing her shifting into that chimera.

 

[Lioness075]

Larassa put her radio back onto her belt and then let out a small annoyed sigh. Glancing over at Vulcan, Larassa muttered, "I'll be back in a bit." She then stood up and left the room, heading to the cafeteria. After all, she was heading there earlier before everything went down. Now that she'd used part of her gift and gotten injured, her hunger had only sharpened.

 

[Verena]

When Larassa told him she wouldn't be long, Vulcan just nodded and watched her leave. Then he focused back on the two injured men. They both looked horrible, as if they had fallen under a huge lawn mawer. It was nevertheless a very relaxed setting. Vulcan watched as their chests rose and fall at a slow constant pace, he could hear the quiet sounds of the oxygen concentrator, the heart monitor machine beeping and if he focused on it, he would be able to hear their heartbeats for himself. It smelled like medicine, fresh beds, dried blood. The environment was peaceful, yes, but it was a hospital nevertheless. It was a house of healing but also a place of pain and death. Vulcan quickly shook the thought away and tried filling his head with positive thoughts.

 

[Lioness075]

A nurse entered the medical emergency room and paused when she saw Vulcan sitting by Xander's bed. Furrowing her brows and pursing her lips, the nurse thought for a moment, filled with indecision, before she walked up to Vulcan and said, "Sir?" Another nurse then entered the room, pulling a trolley behind her that had several items and devices on it. While the nurse went to work on attaching various things to Tucker and putting small pads on his chest, the nurse by Vulcan said, "We need to attach some equipment to these two patients in order to aid them in their recovery. It should only take a few minutes and then you can come back, if you don't mind."


@Vulcan

 

[Verena]

When the nurses entered the room, Vulcan looked up at them, wondering what all the devices on that trolley would be used for. He thought they were done stitching them up and it was just a matter of time for them to heal. When one of the nurses asked him to give them the room, he nodded and stood up from the chair, walking out. Even though he didn't understand what was going on, he wasn't a doctor after all, he was sure they knew what they were doing. Once he was out into the hallway, a small curtain was pulled over the window on the door so that no one could see what was to be done in the room. Vulcan leaned on the wall next to the door, crossed his arms and waited patiently for them to finish and for him to ask what this was all about.

 

[Lioness075]

About half an hour passed before one of the nurses exited the room dragging a now empty trolley out with her. The other nurse was still in the room, finishing up hooking up an EKG to Xander. Once she was done, she began looking over everything a second time to make sure it was all working correctly and reading what it needed to read. Satisfied, she moved to Tucker's side and began looking him over as well before she remembered the agent from earlier. Finishing her final checks on Tucker's equipment, the nurse then exited the room and looked from side to side before she saw the agent nearby. Walking up to him, the nurse furrowed her brows before saying, "We're done now. You can continue visiting with your friend if you like."

 

[Verena]

When the first nurse finally exited the room, Vulcan watched her drag the trolley away but stayed where he was. Soon, the second nurse left the room as well and came up to him, telling him that he could return. "May I ask why those things have been attached to them? Is this some new enhanced healing technology you are developing?" he asked. He hadn't visited many hospitals over the years so this was a completely new topic to him. All he and Ivan knew was how to fix someone's wounds up. And that had always been enough.

 

[Lioness075]

The nurse shifted on her feet and intertwined her hands before her back before saying, "Not exactly. The patients are both in deep comas from their extensive injuries. Without Alpha's gift, they both would have surely died. Despite the great healing, their bodies are still reacting as if they're in grave danger." Pausing, the nurse then added a bit more quietly, "We have no way of telling when either will wake again. There's also the chance that when they wake up again, they'll have memory loss, confusion, or perhaps forget how to do everyday things. There's no real way of telling though."

 

[Verena]

The moment Vulcan heard the words deep and coma, something in him snapped. He could feel it as a pain deep in his chest. "But... isn't there anything you can do?" he muttered, slightly stuttering, his voice getting raspy. He sensed there wasn't anything they could do but it wasn't like he wasn't going to ask at all. "It's 2076, woman! Are you seriously telling me you can't fix this?!" he suddenly almost yelled at her, accusing her for things she couldn't do anything about.

 

[Lioness075]

The nurse flinched and took a step back from Vulcan, a slight fear in her eyes. Feeling her heart skip a beat, the nurse took a deep breath and then calmly replied, "Yes, medicine and science if far more advanced now, but we still can't just magicaly wake someone up from a coma. Doing so could cause far more damage than whatever they may have upon naturally waking up on their own." Her expression softened as the nurse added, "I'm sorry. I wish there was something we could do."

 

[Verena]

Vulcan didn't want to hear her answer. He knew what she was going to say. No we can't. Sorry for your loss. No! This was wrong. This wasn't fair. Not fair at all. How come the two people that have saved them all, now had to suffer through this? He brushed past her and slowly entered the room again, carefully closing the door behind his back. He looked at the two. All the apparatus looked so scary, like something that have come out of someone's bad nightmare. All the tubes and machines, all the quiet noises and the new smells. They horrified him. Vulcan couldn't make himself go and sit in the chair by Xander's bed. He couldn't make himself sit there and look at his friend. He would never hear a single word from him, never listen to his silly and sometimes mean jokes, never see his devilish smile again or feel a nudge on his shoulder like he always did. Vulcan stumbled back and as his back hit the wall he slipped down to a sitting position, pulling his knees to his chest with his hands clasped over his lowered head. Tears ran down his cheeks and dripped onto the cold hospital floor. He clenched his fists and teeth with rage and despair but didn't make a sound.

 

[Lioness075]

Larassa was finally eating her chow, enjoying every bite since she had missed breakfast and then recovered from recent injuries. Her meal was interrupted though, by the quiet ringing in Larassa's ear from her bluetooth comms. Sighing, Larassa finished her recent bite and then tapped her comms to answer the incoming call, which was encrypted and on a secure channel. Larassa knew who it was though, even with the voice being disguised. "Larassa, we've got a new mission for you. You know where to go." Quietly frustrated that a mission would be called up so soon after the recent events, Larassa calmly replied, "Roger, Larassa out." She then stood from where she'd been eating and cleaned up her half eaten food before she headed back to her personal quarters and began packing her things. Pausing at the secretary's desk, Larassa left a note for Amelie, which was in a sealed envelope and simply stated that Larassa had been called out for a classified mission. There was no definite timeframe for how long she'd be gone, so Larassa simply wrote that Larassa would call ahead to let Amelie know when she knew she was returning. She also added a P.S. stating that Hugo would be in charge of solitary confinement while she was away on her mission. Leaving the sleeping quarters, Larassa calmly left the prison through the front gate after being cleared to go. With just an assault pack on her back along with her uniform, Larassa looked more like she was going on a short vacation than some mission. Putting on the motorcycle helmet that she'd been carrying in the crook of her arm, Larassa then uncovered a sports motorcycle that had been hidden in some brush near the entrance to the prison. Gunning the engine, Larassa soon was speeding away from the prison and into town, where she'd meet up with her contact and then begin her mission. Larassa had no doubt that it was going to involve some interrogation. The only question was who and why.

 

[Ch3rryBlossom28]

Amelie woke up to the sound of her watch beeping. Groaning, she rolled over and slowly opened her eyes. Seeing the room dark and empty she wondered where Vulcan went. she lifted her hand up to look at her watch, she had been asleep for an hour already. ~Probably didn't want to wake me. He can't be too badly hurt if he just walked out.~ Sitting up she opened the mail she got on her watch. It was from the receptionist saying Larassa had left a letter for her on her desk. At this, Amelie was confused. Why would Larassa leave a letter for her? Getting out of bed she walked to the bathroom, turned the light on and fixed herself up so she was presentable. Realizing she was still in a tank top and shorts she decided that she would go change into her uniform. Turning off the light she left Vulcan's room and went to hers to do just that. Amelie planned on taking her time to get to her office but once she was outside and saw the security dome still up she quickened her pace. Kepping it up like that cost money and it had been up for over an hour. How stupid could she be? Taking it down should have been the first thing she did after Tucker was taken away.


Reaching her office, she sat down at her desk and typed in the release code so the dome could go back down. The doors to the cells and the exit of the camp slowly slide opened and the dome creaked loudly before opening up to let the sun shine through. After she did that she opened the letter on her desk. Redington it over she began to get furious. Who the hell gave her that mission? There were people above her but Larassa was a necessity in the prison and Hugo was new here and she didn't want him in solitary by himself. When she finished reading the letter she ripped in half. There was no use in making a fuss over it. What was done was done and she couldn't do anything about it. After a moment of just sitting in her desk, Amelie wondered what happened to Tucker. She couldn't exactly tell how much Alpha healed him since she was more concerned about the healer herself. "I think I'll go visit the medical bay." She stretched her arms and legs out before getting back up. She still felt a little tired but the nap definitly help. Heading back down she stopped at the receptionist. "If you can, can you find the information on who gave Agent Larassa her mission?" The receptionist looked up at Amelie and shrugged. "It didn't go through any of our phones. She must have gotten a message on her watch." Amelie thanked the man before walking outside into the sun. The metal dome was still closing but the sun was shining down on them.


Amelie took her time getting to the medical bay. It was then that she remember that Xander was still in there was well. There was a pain in her chest when she thought of what he did to save them and how he almost died for them. Xander was one of the few people she could call a friend and as annoying as he could be sometimes she enjoyed his company. When she reached the medical bay she caught a glimpse of Vulcan in the room by Xander's bed. Stepping back she looked through the little window on the door and couldn't believe what she saw. Both Xander and Tucker had machines attatched to them. Having Tucker alive was good but in a coma, not so much. The scientists have been dying to get their hands on his body when he died and this was them being one step closer, and she didn't want them getting their hands on it. She didn't want the possibility fo something like that being replicated. But Xander, Xander was someone Amelie never thought she'd see like this. He looked so calm, like he was just asleep, and seeing Vulcan the way he was crushed her heart. She decided to back away to leave them alone. Vulcan had a far stronger connection to the boy than she did and didn't want to say something that might upset him. Yes this upseted her but she was used to people dying on the field.

 

[Verena]

Hearing the loud creaking and tugging noise, Vulcan lifted up his head a bit, brought his arms to the side and looked through the window. The barrier was lowering itself and revealing the sky again. While there was lighting attached to the metal structure, it was definitely better to see the sky and sun, even through the second shield. Meanwhile he had stopped weeping but he wasn't feeling any better. His eyes were dry and red, his mouth dry and his lips chapped. Not only from dehydration but also still from the burns. He didn't change his position but instead of hiding his head between his legs again, he was simply staring out as the barrier was slowly retracting underground.


 
When the barrier was fully submerged and he heard the last part of it close with a loud thud, Vulcan still stared out of the window for a bit, then shifted his gaze to Xander. What would he say if he saw him like that? He would probably laugh at him and call him a woman for being so emotional. The thought of it almost made him smile but that didn't show on the outside. He sighed and pulled himself up, losing his balance for a bit because all the blood that had gathered in his head and the pain in the stiffened leg. However, he caught himself quickly and moved over to Xander's bed, pulling the chair closer again and taking a seat in it, watching his friend lie there. He looked like he was just sleeping, the heart rate monitor beeping at a normal pace and if one was to push aside all the systems attached to them, one would think there was nothing wrong with them. The same way Vulcan thought when he first saw them. He didn't know anything about coma, except that it was really bad. Half the people that had such a condition didn't make it. Even less were able to recover after waking up. Their chances were low but Vulcan didn't want to think about these possibilities. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again moments later. What was he supposed to tell him and could he even hear him? His hand then went to hold his but pulled away only inches away from his. Maybe a patient wasn't supposed to be touched. On top of that, there were still cuts across his whole body. Last thing he wanted to do was produce more pain, especially when the other had no way of telling him it hurt. That's why he simply sat there and watched him. What else was there to do?

 

[No one92233]

Hugo descended the stairs and walked to Seth's cell unlocking it and opening it abruptly. "Well time to let you go...sorta." Hugo said looking at the frail body that slouched against the wall. Wow Larassa didn't lie he does need some food fast. Hugo pulled the hood off Seth and placed it on the nearby chair.


Seth was startled when he heard the lock in door open. Was this more torture? or will she just kill me already?! He was confused but still tense when a unknown man walked through the door. After the man said that he was being let go Seth was still uncertain and said from his dry throat. "Do you mean kill me?"


"No! Jeez did Larassa deprive all hope from you? You're going back to the normal prisoner life." Hugo said then realizing that he probably contributed a lot to what happened to Seth. Perhaps I could make it up to him? After all it was only to appease Braen.





Seth was too hungry and thirsty to sound happy but on the inside he was. "Did you bring any food?"


"No but I will after we get you into you're cell." Hugo walked up to Seth and unlocked the locks attacking the prisoner to the wall. "Come on lets go. Can you walk?"


Seth slowly stretched out his arms it felt so good to be unbound even though he still had the power restricting cuffs on. "Yea I think so..." Seth slowly got up only to fall back down again. The next try he stayed up but wobbled and almost fell again. Using the chair to regain his balance Seth walked out the door slowly with Hugo close behind.


Hugo held the cuffs attached to Seth to make sure he didn't try anything and to also easily direct what way Seth should go. The pair remained silent the whole time until they reached Seth's cell. Walking into the cell with Seth, Hugo turned around and locked the door before heading to the food hall. "I'll be back with something for you to eat."

 

[ANONASAI]

( I'm back! Prox in da haus! WOOOOOHHH!!! xD )


Hayden just kept staring at the concrete wall. "This cannot happen to me." He whispered to himself as he used his hand to strike the wall with the titanium blood binders. Although it would do nothing, it at least could release his anger. "I have to find a way out."


Imprisoned as the deadliest person alive, betrayed by his friends... betrayed by Kytha who he thought never did an effort to free him. Insanity raged in his mind. "I need to be free." He said under his breath.