"Harrington Gray." Charles and I said in unison as our eyes met. Everyone looked between us, skepticism evident in their eyes. I averted my eyes, suddenly growing conscious from the stares.
"Ehem, Harrington Gray is a doctor and a scientist, also our mentor. Twenty years ago he led a project called Project Tree of Life." he swiped the control panel once more and another image appeared. It was a symbol of a magnificent tree sprouting golden leaves. "The tree of life was to be believed as a symbol of knowledge in ancient times and so it was represented. The project doctor Harrington led was to accelerate a human body's physical and mental dimension. Exceeding that of the normal limits of a human, being able to move faster, become stronger and smarter." another image appeared on the hologram, it was taken during the experimentation… "The test subjects were children between the age of 3 to 12." I was filled with dread. How could you possibly experiment on children?
My reaction was mirrored by everyone else on the table, their eyes widened as they stared at the images of children being experimented on. "All of the children you see are all orphans. The laboratory posed as an ordinary orphanage that housed five hundred children but the reality was, they were being used as test subjects for the experiments." images upon images of children flashed one by one long enough for us to see what were being done to them.
"I can't even imagine what that felt like, being abandoned by your family and used as a test subject for some sick experimentation." It was the blond girl, I think I heard her being called Ange by the redhead next to her. We all nodded in agreement to her statement.
"Don't worry, none of them were harmed during the experimentation and they were taken care of but I understand where you're coming from." Charles assured us but it was still wrong no matter how you look at it. "As I was saying, these children were tested, observed and evaluated upon the effects. They were injected with a serum engineered to biologically alter their DNA, to become super-humans. Not the kind you're thinking about, wearing capes and tights but the kind that are extremely hard to kill. Brainwashed soldiers controlled to do the bidding of an organization called Nightshade." the images were slated and new faces appeared along with a symbol. It was a Robin wrapped with nightshade vines. I saw Charles get called out by one of the soldiers and he followed them outside. "I'll be right back, Lennox." then he was out the door.
Lennox stood in place of Charles and continued "These people are the five heads of Nightshade." an image of a beautiful blond woman with crystal blue eyes that looked like winter. Her hair was tied up in a neat bun, she wore a blue pinstriped suit and she carried herself with a sophisticated elegance. "Her name is Rivenna Caravaggio and she is also known as the Belladonna."
Belladonna?! She was the woman the scarred man mentioned that night when he said "Oh you know exactly what we mean doc, the Belladonna is not a very patient woman." he was actually referring to her.
"The Belladonna is like the Godfather, she's basically the head of the whole organization, she also instigated Project Tree of Life because she herself is a doctor and biochemist. She co-created the life-serum with doctor Harrington. Rivenna is an idealist, she's actually a very respectable woman and people look up to her. She gave out speeches and lectures but the most interesting lecture she gave was about the world. Her words exactly" then he played a video clip of Rivenna behind a podium, with hundreds of people listening to her.
"A chance to save humanity. Imagine a world where children no longer get ill, children whom excel in all kinds of situations, the capability to rise above all others. The true meaning and purpose of becoming the future of humanity." the clip ended there. Idealism isn't all that bad, but this is just insane. You can't change what people are forcibly and what's more, using children for her own ideals that can never be possible.
"There are four other people who works with her and runs the organization in different parts of the world." images of four men appeared on the screen. "The man on the first image is Marcus De Luca, he runs Nightshade branch in Florence, Italy. He's a Historian and Archeologist that co-founded Nightshade, he and Rivenna worked in a lab together－don't ask how." Marcus De Luca was a man in his mid-thirties, with dark brown hair and deep-set green eyes with sharp features and a hard expression that is embedded on his face.
"Now we proceed to Anthony Corealis, a famous multi-billionaire tycoon and CEO of Core Tech, one of the biggest technological companies in the world. He runs Nightshade here in America, and he supports Rivenna with all the technology she needs." the image taken of Anthony Corealis was from the airport whilst he was getting on one of his private jets surrounded by armed men all in black suits.
If I didn't know better I'd have mistook him for a president of a country with the amount of security he needs. He was dressed in a white button-up collared shirt and a pinstriped pants, sporting all his riches from head to toe with his expensive leather shoes. He looked young, late twenties with slicked-back blond hair and blue eyes, tall with broad shoulders.
"Moving on to Dominik Skoviche, one of the Russian Deputy Prime Ministers that run the Nightshade within the government of Moscow, Russia. As you can see, he is very well protected by the government and the organization but as an old crone who uses his power on women and pleasures of the flesh." Dominik Skovich was the epitome of any Russian man, with a bulky body and a long mustache and beard. Probably late forties and if I didn't know better, I'd think he was the body guard.
"Last but not the least, Chen Liu. One of the most influential and notorious Mafia leaders in Beijing, China. His connections are a great asset to the organization, by just pulling a few strings and you have yourself a strong defense." Chen Liu was young for a Mafia boss, a man in his late twenties with multiple ear piercings and tattoos adorning his arms and neck. "These people are powerful and incredibly smart which makes them as dangerous as they can get."
Lennox continued "Rivenna succeeded in creating the serum but when the human trials began it didn't come out as she wanted it to. You see, not everyone has the same genetic structure so some of the children possessed great outcome from the experiment and some weren't as successful." then images and video clips of children with unusual powers came into view. Our eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets from what we were seeing.
"Is this real? How is that even possible?" it was the redheaded girl with a half bun held by chopsticks on her head, she looked like an anime character.
"Exactly, I've seen doctored videos and Photoshopped images before, these can't be real." it was the guy with the shaggy hair who spoke next. Everyone was giving their opinions and insights but Ley was unusually still. Her gaze was rooted on one particular girl on the screen moving objects with her mind.
"Hey, what's wrong? What is it?" I shook her shoulders, slightly getting worried. This doesn't seem like her, she would've already reacted by now but she her eyes were glued to that girl so I watched it too and there stood Harrington but he looked younger then, he was trying to comfort the girl with levitating abilities.
Lennox was trying to calm them down, reasoning with them that they were all real "Please, all of you need to calm down--" then Charles entered the room but that didn't stop everyone else from fighting.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Charles' voice resounded throughout the room that made everyone stop and look at him. He walked towards the front and faced Lennox saying "I leave for ten minutes and this is what happens?" motioning towards us? He narrowed his eyes at me so I raised my eyebrow at him.
I pointed to myself and said "I had nothing to do with this, why are you looking at me like that?" so it was my turn to glare at him.
"Nevermind. Since none of you would want to believe Lennox, then I'll explain." the images and footage of the children continued to play on the holograms. "Please observe the images and videos and tell me what you see, Ethan." he indicated towards the shaggy-haired guy. I guess that's his name.
Ethan looked at the pictures again and narrowed his eyes "I see children with powers, which is impossible--" he was cut off by Charles raising his hands for him to stop.
"And what about you Lillian, what do you see?" I turned towards Ley and her blank expression. She was fidgeting with her hands and looked restless. Her eyes turned towards the same footage as earlier, the one with a girl being comforted by doctor Harrington. She stopped fidgeting and stood up from her seat and the sudden movement surprised me. Now everyone was looking at her, anticipating her answer. She slowly raised her hand and pointed to the footage. "That's me." my eyes grew wide at her answer and so were the three other people sitting with us. "And that's my…" she hesitated. Not sure of herself, "Father. He's my father." she pointed at Harrington. Charles and the others don't seem to be fazed by Ley's answer. I stood up and faced her
"Ley, there must be some sort of mistake. You're just probably confused, because that," I indicated pointing to the same girl she kept looking at "that can't be you. And your father is Mr. Calvin Grant--"
I was cut off by Lennox "She's right. I think this may clear the confusion." he was handing out a glass-like tablet to everyone on the table. Charles walked towards Ley and helped sit back down slowly on her chair and handed her the same glass-like tablet. "I hope this might answer some of your questions." he turned towards me and lowly said "Look into it, and it might answer some of yours."