Chapter 2: Luck of the dead
Seventy Five sat in his room, his hand in his pocket fiddling with the ring. It was too big for most of his fingers. He's only able to fit the band around his thumb. Wet hair was sticking to his face in a way that he'd normally correct, but his mind was too deep into his newfound trinket. His entire life was about making Father proud. Why did he steal the ring? He knew it was important. He's aware that Father will notice in no time. The fake band he had gotten from a vending machine in one of the few rare times he was out of Sanctus. Seventy Five's mind faded as he stared numbly down to the floor.
He recalled standing beside Father, the man's hands in his pockets as he stared down at the gravestone. Seventy Five looked around, eyeing the flowers that were placed on other people's graves,
"Father," he spoke cautiously, his head pounding from training earlier in the day.
"Must you talk right now? Can you not see I'm mourning," Father said with a roll of his eyes, withdrawing his hand from his pocket to check the time on his watch. Gray clouds had started to roll in, promising rain which sent a shiver through Seventy Five's frame.
"I…am sorry Father, but why doesn't Mother have no flowers?"
"Any flowers, Experiment Seventy Five. Not 'no' flowers."
"Okay, any flowers."
Father let out a loud, dramatic sigh as if answering the question was annoying to him.
"She died because she was a kidnapper. You know she tried to take you from me. Kidnappers don't deserve flowers," he said simply. "We can be sad she is gone, but she deserved what came to her. The universe always punishes those who deserve it."
Seventy Five nodded at this, staring down at the grass that stood tall in front of her stone.
"Come, I have a meeting. You have to demonstrate what you can do," Father said, turning and starting to walk back towards the building they entered. Seventy Five nodded numbly. Every year on his birthday they came to this spot. He didn't fully understand why. His eyes danced over the words on the grave one last time before settling on something that shone on the floor.
He leaned down and picked up a shiny quarter, he hadn't seen it before. He wondered if Father had dropped it. It glowed in the harsh, watery sunlight of the dying sun. The clouds were moving faster, letting a few droplets of rain fall.
"Experiment Seventy Five," Father called out. The child grabbed a dandelion from a patch beside the grave. Placing it down on the cold stone before turning and racing after the other. The pair made it through the small building and the man inside waved at them.
"I'm going to use the restroom, Jon. Can you watch Forrest?" Father's voice was pleasant as he spoke to the other adult.
The nickname was what he called Seventy Five when 'normal' people were around. Father often spoke of how stupid these people were. The only smart ones were living and working at the Sanctus. Seventy Five stood just outside the bathroom door. The large, dark skinned man sitting behind a counter waved at him.
"You're getting big," Jon chuckled. Seventy Five just nodded at this before glancing down at the coin in his palm. He was running his fingers over it. It was cold and felt nice against his skin. The migraine was causing him to overheat.
"You know, pal," Jon said, standing up and walking over to Seventy Five. He eyed the bruise on Seventy Five's cheek. Jon gave him a smile as he leaned down.
"I just put in a cool little machine. If you put that coin inside it'll give you a prize." Jon nodded towards the back of the small room. Past a few shelves of candy and assorted chips was a strange looking gumball machine with a red top and crank. Inside of the bubble where gumballs normally sat was a random assortment of rings in plastic balls.
"You can wear a ring just like your daddy," Jon whispered, holding out a second coin. "Here's another quarter just in case you don't get a cool one first."
Seventy Five looked at the coin in confusion. Did he take it? Jon stared at him in a way that made Seventy Five feel safe, even just a little. He hesitated before quickly taking the coin, turning and marching to the machine. He let his hands roll over the plastic bubble before they fell to the metal crank with a coin slot. He placed one coin inside, turning it hard a few times making it groan and click. A small metal ring bubble fell into the slot just below the crank. He picked it up and examined it for a few heartbeats before opening it with a pop.
It was silver with a fake diamond in the center. He tilted his head curiously before placing it in his pocket. He put the other quarter in and twisted. At first it wouldn't budge. He wondered if he broke it. He tried again, but it didn't move. He took a step back to examine the instructions in case he had messed something up only to be startled by the crank clicking to the side by itself. A ring fell out with a clunk. It wasn't encased in a ball and didn't bounce like the first one had. He grabbed the golden band, shocked to see it was nearly identical to Father's. All but the missing gemstone in the middle.
"Forrest," Jon called. "Did you get something good?" Seventy Five pocketed the crown ring, making his way back to Jon and holding out the silver ring. Jon plucked it from his fingers and chuckled, "Now that's a beauty. You think it's a real diamond?"
Seventy Five snorted, shaking his head. "No, it would be more expensive," he said with a touch of pride in his voice for knowing the answer.
Jon went back behind the counter. He pulled out a cloth and some spray, splashing the ring a few times with the chemicals and rubbing it down. "There we go, nice and shiny. Maybe someday you can give it to a nice lady, hm?" He held the ring out so Seventy Five could take it.
"Thank you," Seventy Five murmured.
"Hey Forrest."
Seventy Five glanced up to the other. Jon suddenly had a look of concern on his face which made Seventy Five antsy. He glanced at the door where Father had vanished to and wondered what was taking him so long. This wasn't like Father and he couldn't place why he'd been acting off for the whole day.
"Forrest,"
Seventy Five turned his gaze back to the bigger man who was spraying down the counter with the solution and running his cloth over it.
"No one's hurting you at home, are they? Or in your Daddy's school? Even just a little?"
Seventy Five was shocked by this comment. Before he could answer, Father stumbled out of the bathroom clearing his throat and brushing white off his nose.
"Come," he said to Seventy Five and walked past Jon. "Thank you for watching him."
"Anytime, Howard," Jon whispered. "Hey…Howie," he said with the same concerned tone.
Father stopped, hand on the door he glanced back towards the other with a look of puzzlement on his features. "Yes?"
"You know, I only see you 'bout once a year…but if you ever need'a babysitter. Well, you can count on me," Jon said with a smile. "I can give you my email a-"
"Oh, thank you Jon. Is it the bags under my eyes?" he asked with a chuckle. Father stuffed his hands into his pockets and grinned. "I appreciate it a lot, but my school is a boarding school. Forrest always has someone keeping an eye on him."
"I get that," Jon started, glancing down at Seventy Five before moving his eyes back to Father. "But the gir– boy might benefit from playing with my kids a little. Getting away from studying and all."
Father nodded slowly at this, "I'll keep that in mind, Jon. Thank you." With that he turned and left the room with Seventy Five at his heels.
"Father, am I really going to stay with Jon?" Seventy Five inquired.
"No, he'd just feed you sugar and make you watch cartoons," Father replied. "I don't want your brain to rot with those things."
As they left, Seventy Five wondered why Jon was always nice to him and why he didn't seem to like Father.
***
"Experiment Seventy Five,"
The voice shook him from the memory. For a few heartbeats he wasn't inside his own body as Father stepped into the room, a gun holstered to his hip. Seventy Five felt his heart sink. His body shook involuntarily, but he couldn't seem to get himself to move. Run run run, his brain told him, but he didn't want to disappoint. He had made a mistake that he needed to pay for.
"Come," Father said this with such a coldness to it that it sent a river of goosebumps against his arms.
"Yes, Father," he murmured, shakily getting to his feet. Walking felt alien to him as he followed father and two guards out of the room and down the hallway. The morning sun was starting to peek into the windows. He could see where he'd dragged the axe against the floor. It left a long, thin scratch from one end of the hall to the other.
The small group walked in silence out of the building and into the cold of the night. Seventy Five shivered in his thin school uniform. He eyed the thick wool coat that sat on Father, keeping him warm against the crisp air that turned to a cloud whenever he'd breathe out. A car sat outside and the driver waved at them. Seventy Five blinked in surprise at the taxi cab but didn't ask any questions as he climbed inside the warm vehicle.
"Train station," Father said, glancing down at Seventy Five before shutting the door. The teen eyed his father's belt where the weapon had been strapped to.
"You got it," the man said with a snort. The car jolted to life. Father glanced down at Seventy Five which sent fear down his spine.
"F-Father, why are we going to th-"
"You're going on a trip. A friend in the next town over is looking to improve our research."
"And…I'm going to…help him?" Seventy Five asked, feeling a small wave of relief roll down his shoulders.
"Yes," Father said simply, leaning down so that he could whisper into Seventy Five's ear. "Experiment Seventy Five, I want to be honest with you so you're prepared. You will be dissected." He sat up, leaving the air around the teen cold.
His body tensed as he stared blankly at the floor. He couldn't move. Dissected. His body felt numb. 'I'm going to be a lab rat', he thought to himself.
The ten minute drive felt like only a few seconds for the teen as he attempted to understand what he'd done wrong. He had taken care of the threat. Was it possible that Father was wrong? He recalled Fifty Eight calling him brainwashed. What did that mean? The car came to a halt, but it was all a blur as Seventy Five was taken from the car and walked through the station. People's faces were distorted to the teen as they moved past in hurried fashions, his thoughts moving fast. He needed to escape. He had to, but how? The ring burned against his skin in his pocket. Something about the warmth made him feel stronger.
An idea started to form as Father guided him through the station, down a flight of stairs, and into an empty terminal. There stood a train with the doors opened. A few of the guards from the school he recognized. He knew this train well. It was what he and Father took whenever they had to go into the big city for meetings. Seventy Five usually enjoyed this as he got to show off his abilities to a room of astounded onlookers, but this time around he knew what was going to come. He knew. He had to escape.
-
The guards moved their way towards him, he knew this was his only chance. Before they could grab him he blinked, appearing behind them. He turned to run only to have another guard leap onto him. The man had predicted what Seventy Five was going to do and took his chance. Pain flashed through his body as his chin hit the pavement, glasses falling from his face and onto the cement. He struggled against the guard, turning and punching the man in the nose causing him to yelp and tumble back. The other guard grabbed for him but Seventy Five teleported again. Appearing behind Father, he raced up the steps.
"Experiment Seventy Five," Father yelled after him.
He didn't stop this time. He was going to escape. Despite his blurry vision, he climbed the steps, desperate to get away. He could hear them yelling, but something pushed him forward. He just had to run. Teleporting was becoming too difficult with the pain that throbbed in his skull, but he could run.
As he made it to the top, he hadn't expected another guard. He gasped in surprise as the guard grabbed him. He threw his bodyweight away from the man, trying to squeeze past him only for the guard to shove him hard. He was sent down the steps with a yell. The sting of the harsh pavement against his back nearly made him black out. Landing hard halfway down the steps and tumbling down, he groaned as he laid on the bottom of the stairs. The other two guards came back to him, one of them holding his glasses and the other a taser.
"Father," Seventy Five called out as the men pulled him to his feet. He looked up at Father who was shaking his head. Tears burned in his eyes. He couldn't understand why Father was doing this. He was the man's own flesh and blood. "Please don't let them dissect me," he begged, but Father didn't say a word.
He could feel himself falling into a cold darkness as he was dragged into the train.
"Please, Father, please!" He called out with the last of his consciousness, looking back to see Father walking up the stairs. Something happened in that second. "Father…" he murmured as the door to the train opened up.
"Fuck you," he spat, suddenly aware of the boiling rage. He felt a burst of energy as he tried to fight the men holding onto him, turning to face the man against the men holding him back.
"You can't just abandon me too!" he shouted. Pain exploded through his body as a loud hum turned his body to electricity.
***
Seventy Five woke up in a panic. His head throbbed in agony as he whipped his head back and forth quickly, drinking in his surroundings. He was lying over a few of the train seats in an isolated room, his hands duct taped together. He blinked a few times. A small, thin crack on his glasses brought his vision into focus. What happened? He sat up, wincing painfully as the train roared around him. Confusion was replaced with anger.
Father had left him. He didn't even look back. Seventy Five screamed in rage, slamming his hands against the chair beside him. He shakily got to his feet, sucking in air he kicked at the chairs across from him a few times. Attempting to rip the duct tape off, he rubbed his hands together til the skin started to turn red around the silver.
"Fucking fuck," he shouted, his voice cracking as tears raced down his cheeks. The multiple voices in his head started to talk at once causing his rage to grow. He blinked but didn't teleport causing him to scream again. He jumped to his feet and kicked at the door a few times.
"I'm going to kill all of you!" he shouted. "I'm going to find every single one of you and teleport your brains out of your damn heads! If I can fucking find them," he shouted. He knew the guards must be standing outside the door.
They'd hear him. They'd-
"Listen"
He paused, a voice. It wasn't like the other voices in his head, the ones he talked to when he was lonely. They brought him great comfort on the worst of days but this, this was outside his head. He glanced around a few times. "Listen?" he said under his breath. "I've never had auditory hallucinations."
"Listen"
It was then he noticed the sound of a soft hum coming from his pocket. The ring. He shoved his tied hands into his pocket. Feeling the sharp, crown-shaped band. He slipped it onto his finger and put his hands up to examine it. It was too big for his middle finger but the gold felt warm, beating like a heart. The soft hum went quiet as it settled on the skin.
He could feel the universe move around him like a current, dancing before the tips of his fingers. If he could just grab the universe with his hands together. He opened his fingers, closing them in a grabbing motion. A small spark of a universe appeared as excitement flooded his body. He was going to escape. He was going to fucking kill everyone on this train.
He grabbed a few more times. The portal started to grow with each grab. He just needed it big enough to walk through. The ring let out a small, soft breath. He swore he heard it. Energy flooded every inch of his body, washing over him like a bucket of cold water. Power melted between his fingertips and shook his bones to the core. He giggled to himself as he grabbed the universe and screamed, ripping the tape off his hands and opening the universe around him. Vivid gold reached up through the train. He gasped in shock as the entirety of the train entered into another universe.
"Holy hell," he whispered.