When Felicia finally awoke, the first thing she was aware of was the silence. The hum of machinery was gone. A fraction of light bled in from the hallway, outlining the wreckage of something terrible. She sat up, remembering the blinding pain she'd been in. Somehow, it didn't hurt any more.
"Daddy?" Her voice shook, weak. "Walter Hardy," she said louder, firmly, and yet found herself shaking. She pushed to her feet, looking down at herself. She was still wearing the clothing that had been given to her prior to going into the machine, but it was filthy, and torn. She looked over to the hyperbaric chamber, and walked over to it. When she gripped the lip of the device, her hand tightened and she felt her stomach churn violently, the memory... pain and blinding light... keeling over, Felicia emptied the contents of her stomach. After a moment, she stood to her full height.
"Hello? Where is everyone? What happened?" Her voice echoed off dead walls, swallowed by the place. Her left hand tightened, and she felt... the stone... when her father was distracted, she'd taken it from his coat pocket, thinking that despite all rational attitudes, she could stand to make her own luck.
"Hardys make their own luck," she whispered, and was about to toss it in the corner. Her finger felt a shape carved into it, and she held it up to her eyes, trying to use what little light there was. She didn't recognize the symbol, but it made her curious. Pocketing the stone, she climbed over burnt metal... the steel door of this chamber had been completely blown off its hinges. Whatever caused that could be back.
Felicia was alone in this place. Her father was gone, again. Like he so often did her whole life, he vanished without a word. She could care less about the other people who'd been down here. She had only herself to rely on. It was time to leave.
Stepping into the hallway, she glimpsed a dirty reflection of herself in the mirror. She didn't look different, but she could feel something inside... something powerful. The serum. She squinted her eyes and held her hand up to the reflection. Her hair... it was pale, like death.
"Snow," she corrected herself, out loud. "Like snow."