"I've been working with Harrington for over thirty years. I was there when the trials weren't even possible yet." we entered a separate lab, this time it looked like it was made for human testing which either is good nor bad. "Don't worry, I won't be doing anything unnecessary, all the soldiers and people here have medical check-ups in this lab. The only needles you need to worry about is when I take your blood for testing." two more people entered the lab, they looked like nurses wearing white scrubs.
"These are my assistants, they'll be assisting me with your full body check-ups." the two nurses entered and took the things necessary for taking tests. "Ever since the shut down of the operation tree of life, it wasn't necessary for me to stay any longer. I've walked away from that life, and now I serve these people. I still do research but not anything that involves what happened to you people." he took a tablet from his table. Our information showed up on the screen. "It was our life's work but we soon came to realize how much of a bad decision it was."
He read through my file, "I see, one of you had an episode yes? Which one of you was it?" and by episode he meant my sudden vision going in complete zoom. I raised my hand, "Ahhh, HDV correct? Sit." he motioned for me to sit on the test bed and so I did as told to quickly get it over with. "Open up your eyes, wide. While I'm at it, the rest please approach my two assistants to take your blood. The rest who aren't here for their check-up, please leave and wait outside."
"We'll be outside if you need anything." said Charles before leaving with the other three, Alexander, Nicole and Lennox. Lennox though still looked apologetic which I just shook my head and gave him a small smile, before they went out of view.
"I remember you, you were the one they considered as the greatest sniper. You were only six years old when they took you out of the site to test your abilities. Shooting a target five miles away like it was nothing, on top of a fifty storey building at that." he shone the light on both my eyes getting a slight reflex--it zoomed a bit again. I saw his skin in extreme close-up but not as much as earlier.
"I see, don't worry. Ty to relax for me," and I did, "close your eyes, count to ten and open them again." I followed his exacts instructions and counted to ten in my head. I heard Ethan's sharp inhale, I imagine because of the needle being injected on his skin and extracting his blood. Ten. I opened my eyes and it was back to normal. "The expedite are like boosters to counteract the effects of the suppressors you've been taking since young. I take it that Lennox has already explained it's purpose and reason you should take it."
"I did and what I got was this," I said pointing to my eyes.
"It's always been a part of you, just suppressed. It'll take time to adjust to but there's nothing we can do and it can't be changed anymore. It's what makes up your biological DNA now." he explained.
I took a deep breath, clenching my hands I said, "I know now that this is part of who I am, but you can't exactly expect me to adjust to it on the go. These experiments--these abilities are all too alien to me. Explained or not, you can't exactly blame me for being so hesitant and skeptic. Just two days ago I was living peacefully in my one bedroom apartment employed as a writer, and the next thing I knew strangers want me dead, or worse--experiment on me like I'm a lab rat." I stared at my hands, fiddling with them. Biting my lips until I tasted the metallic texture of blood.
He sighed, grabbing my hand "These abilities are what makes you special, as funny and awful as that may sound to you. Alien and abnormal indeed, but just think of all the possible good you can do with these abilities. Not everyone who were tested are as lucky as you are right now." he took my pulse and blood pressure.
"After you were considered as rejects and defects of the experiment the project was abandoned and Harrington started an uprising against Nightshade. We were able to gather allies in able to set you free but some weren't as lucky as you were." though I do believe that, I imagine all the other children like us being shipped everywhere, with no places to call home and growing up with these strange abilities not know what to do with them.
"Though you did grow up with these people posing as your parents, may have been difficult to imagine for you now, but some of you didn't even have a roof under their heads. So please reconsider cooperating, we are the only chance you have left." I turned to look at everyone, having their own check-ups. Thinking what a lucky bunch we were, having jobs of our own now and being independent despite whatever it was that happened to us in the past. After listening to Dr. Sutton, it doesn't seem like we have a choice either.
Sighing, I resigned "I'll talk to them, but I can't promise you anything." Dr. Sutton's face brightened up with relief. Growing up I used to belief that there were just some things that are impossible and there are those which are made possible. I'm a writer, I've written fiction since I was thirteen and I know a sci-fi genre when I see one but living through it is something different entirely. But there is one thing that just makes me curious so I asked, "How about Charles and the others, are they like military soldiers or something?"
He was taken aback, hesitating whether or not he should answer, "If you're wondering if they were also test subjects then you are assuming wrong. Though they are also special in their own ways I suppose." he put his hand in his chin, "Well, they are highly trained--assassins, or was. They were raised in special conditions such as yourself, though they had it worse." woah, like assassins that go on missions to kill people? No wonder.
He continued, "You see not only did Nightshade have an experiment for you but they also trained young assassins and Charles were one of those, so don't mind their cold appearance and attitude. They were raised to contain emotion and remain unattached." I understand now. No wonder they seemed so highly professional, calm and collected, but not entirely cold.
"Now then, there is one more test I would like you to have. It's for your abilities, to test them so we can analyze what training are suited for you. Are the rest of you finished?" he asked, we nodded in unison. "There is one more lab I would like to take you to. Please follow me." we followed him to another door inside the laboratory. This time it was bigger, like the whole room itself was a machine, with monitors and large glass screens with a white chair at the centered.
"It's a machine Harrington and I created in order to find out the abilities of the test subjects. There was one in the lab but we destroyed it along with everything else before leaving, so we built an entirely new one here. Who goes first?" we all looked at each other urging who goes first so I sighed and walked towards the chair. "Sit down and attach the
ECG electrodes to each side of your temple."
It was in white leather, with metal armrests and two wires with two flat round disks attached to it. I slowly sat down and swung my legs on it, I grabbed both of the flat disks and like Dr. Sutton said, attached them on each side of my temples. "Good, let's begin people." the rest of the scientists inside the room had their own monitor, and the glass screens had all these vitals and graphs being displayed.
"Put your arms on the arm rests please, don't be alarmed, you'll fee a slight pinch." I rested my arms on top of the metal armrests and indeed metal clasps went around my wrists and I jolted when I felt the sharp pain of needles on each of my wrists. "Sorry, it's standard procedure to monitor your vitals. This will only take a minute, try to relax." I tried to relax as much as I could while two needles are simultaneously stuck to my wrists. I took a look at my friends and they watched, the look of uncertainty evident in their eyes. Ley looked outright worried, and fidgety, playing with the hem of her shirt. I gave her a small smile assuring her I was fine. "Run up the machine now." I heard a whirring sound and a slight static shot through the electrodes attached to my temples before I lost consciousness.
I opened my eyes, I was somewhere unfamiliar, looking around I scanned for Ley and the other but they were nowhere to be seen and I was not in the lab anymore. "Hello? Is anybody there?" I was inside a dark room, sitting on a small bed stuck to the wall, it wasn't hard but neither was it comfortable.
A large glass window was on the wall in front of me, and a metal door was next to it. I stood up but when I looked down I was small, short and thin legs, small fragile hands. I walked closer to the glass only to see my reflection wasn't who I expect it to be. I was a child. "Where am I?" I tried to open the door but there was no latch nor know. I tried banging on the door when I heard alarms blaring outside.
I heard the door unlatch and it swung open automatically. "All test subjects, leave your respective rooms and proceed to the mess hall." I stepped outside and children came rushing out of the rooms next to mine. They were all wearing white overalls, ages range from 5 to 13 years old. I bumped into one, "Hurry up or you'll get into trouble." said a boy not older than 9 with pale skin, blue eyes and jet black curly hair.
I followed him when suddenly all my surroundings changed and I was in another scenario. I immediately realized that this was my past memories as a child. I was standing on top of a building, everything looked small from where I was, it all seemed so near and yet far away from me.
The wind was fluttering my hair and my clothes were too thin to withstand the cold that seeped through my body. Behind me were three people in lab coats holding glass tablets and surrounding them were five men wearing all black combat gear while holding guns. "Let us begin, test subject 050 initiating first and second ability testing now." I heard one of them say, "Show target now."
I was on the floor, flat on my stomach and a sniping rifle was propped against me as my eyes refocused, and zoomed so far it felt like I was looking through the scope of the rifle. "Confirm target 050."
I saw the red target in the distance, "Target confirmed." my voice was so small and fragile, it was hard to believe I was holding something used for assassinating people. My finger was on the trigger, relaxing it and once the muzzle was in position, "Target locked." I pulled the trigger. There was a suppressor attached that minimized the noise but the recoil was awful, it was like a jolt of electricity to my body. I saw how the bullet pierced through the middle of the target.
"Bullseye." said one of the scientists. I was about to stand up when once again everything changed. This time I was inside a large room filled with things that looked like toys but wasn't exactly that. Kids played or more like studied the "toys" while some were holding books of advanced science and mathematics which I didn't understood one bit. I was sitting down on a stool, in front of me was a boy a bit older than I currently am. I was holding some sort of gadget but it looked like it's meant for children.
The boy grabbed the gadget I was holding, "That's mine!" I yelled. He didn't care and continued to play with it. I stood up, anger washed over me as I glared at him intensely, my small hands were in fists by my side and I felt some sort of force being stretched out from me. Then the boy suddenly lost consciousness in front of me. I remember this scene, I saw it on the monitor Lennox showed us. A few seconds later he woke up again and then fell back on the floor. This kept on for three more times before the scientists or observers noticed then sedated me.
I jolted awake when I felt a surge of electricity went through my body, "Holy shit!" I yelled. I scanned my surroundings, my breath heavy and ragged. My forehead covered in beads of sweat and my friends stared at me with the look of worry. Dizzy I sat straight, the two electrodes connected to my temples were removed and my hands were free. Red marks were evident form the lock that held my wrists in place. The puncture marks from the needles were red and slightly bloody. "What happened?" I slowly asked.
"What the hell Liz! We were so scared and worried about you! You have to stop surrendering to what these people want, look what they did to you." Ley shouted hysterically, grabbing my wrist and showing me my marks.
"You were out cold for a ten minutes, images from your brain was being played out on the large screens. How is that even possible?" said Ange, her left arm was wrapped around Thea who also looked worried.
"Let me explain." said Dr. Sutton, as he approached us. Ethan stood in front of him blocking me from his view. "I didn't mean no harm. It's true about assessing your abilities, but through simulation. Those images were her past memories that was buried in the deepest part of her brain. All of you have memories hidden in the depth of your consciousness. It was just a matter of time before they surfaced." I scanned the screens and there it was, the scenes or memories of my past, played on repeat.
"I wont force you to go through with it, but I promise you that it will answer all your questions much faster. Think of it as dreaming, but these dreams actually happened. Now will you let me treat her wounds?" he asked holding two bandages and a cloth. Ethan was hesitant but he stepped back and let Dr. Sutton pass. "May I?" I nodded. He took both my wrist and put a small bandage on each puncture wound. Handing me the cloth I took it and used it to wipe away the sweat that accumulated on my forehead.
"So, what you're saying is that we'll just relive our past as dreams? Nothing else?" Ley asked.
Dr. Sutton nodded, "It is completely safe. It may put a strain on you and you'll feel weak like Elizabeth afterwards but what's gain without sacrifice right? I won't force you." he assured. Ley looked at me for confirmation and I nodded.
"I know I look awful but it was like deja vu. That moment when you feel like it already happened when in fact it did, and your body kind of does all the work for you automatically. But the decision is still up to you." I explained to keep them from worrying any longer. It might've been a bit surprising at first but it kind of did answer a lot of questions. The sensation of the rifle on my hands and the feeling of ecstasy from pulling the trigger was just different. Like I was born for that and I guess I am.
They looked at each other, exchanging looks until they all nodded and sighed. Ethan stepped forward helping me up, "I'll go next." he said then sat on the chair. I helped him with the electrodes and he placed his arms on the metal armrests, the metal cuffs locking around his wrists. "Ouch!" he yelled as the needles punctured his wrists. "This better be worth it." he said lowly.
"Let us begin again." said Dr. Sutton and Ethan lost consciousness. "Prepare the sequence!" and a few seconds later the screen lit up with Ethan's memories. A past that were buried in the depths of our consciousness, unable to resurface. Secrets that were kept hidden for years and questions finally answered.