Johan felt the worst pain imaginable even for an adult. For a full hour, the boy had been repeatedly induced with MX4 until two three-liter canisters were emptied, contrary to the half and below half canister used during normal procedures. At this point, an involuntary action like blinking would stir intense pain.
Dr. Ilene gave the order and another canister of MX4 was brought in and connected to Johan. The once friendly lady watched on coldly as Johan twisted and screamed his voice hoarse from the pain. A normal procedure would require at least a month for the body to recover from it, but Johan barely had three days of recovery.
"Any results?"
Dr. Ilene asked.
"None."
"Then induce more."
At her command, more MX4 was induced into the boy, while his screams resounded throughout the lab. Soon enough, the boy's screams gradually ceased as blood flowed from the orifices of his face. Johan's breath became weaker by the second. The only thing he could do at this point was groan miserably. Shortly after that, Johan's vitals flat-lined.
Dr. Ilene had no change in her expression.
"Clean it up."
She ordered.
Johan's corpse was brought down from the chair and placed on a stretcher, carried to the crematorium on Dr. Ilene's orders. This was where the children gunned down earlier were taken, and they were still in the process of cremating them when Johan's corpse arrived.
"Another one?"
A staff working at the crematorium asked when he saw Johan's corpse.
"Yeah."
"Just put it over there."
The staff gestured.
After placing Johan's corpse aside, the person who brought it stood beside the staff, sighing.
"It gets worse every time."
"I know," replied the staff.
"I've lost count of the children I've set ablaze here, and each time, I can't help but feel sorry for them. If only they weren't dragged into this hot mess... who knows, they might have been something in the future."
The staff member was melancholic when he remembered what had happened to these children. The person beside him also sighed and turned to leave.
However, they suddenly heard a low rumble and felt a light tremor. They exchanged confused glances before looking around to find the source of the tremor and the sound. Little time passed and both the rumbling and the tremor intensified so much that cracks appeared, traveling along the walls and the ground, shaking the entire structure.
"Run!"
The crematorium staff shouted and sped for the exit. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough as a huge chunk of stone detached from the ceiling, heading straight for him.
Boom!
The entire crematorium went up in flames as the ground around it cracked and caved in.
The alarms went off loudly at the main facility. The control room was chaotic as everyone tried to understand the nature of the situation.
"What is going on?"
Dr. Ilene hurriedly walked in and inquired.
"There was an explosion at the crematorium. The entire structure has been destroyed!"
Dr. Ilene was puzzled.
"An explosion? That's impossible! Bring up the satellite, I want eyes on the island now!"
"I don't think it was only an explosion…"
One of the operators announced, causing those who heard to stare at him.
"Look at this," he pointed the monitor before him, bringing up an aerial view of the island.
"This is the view from the satellite, and when I zoom in…"
A video of the current situation at the crematorium was brought up and what Dr. Ilene saw boggled her mind, there was something bizarre going on there but when the video was zoomed any further, the signal was cut off, shutting down the entire control room.
"What happened?"
Dr. Ilene inquired.
"I don't know, the signal was cut off somehow."
"How long till you get back online?"
"We'll need roughly five minutes to re-route the signal."
Dr. Ilene nodded. But while she was waiting,
"Ilene!"
Dr. Curtis called and hurriedly walked into the control room.
"You have to see this quickly."
Without waiting for her reply, he took her hand and rushed out of the control room. They rushed out of the main facility where the dispatched security team formed a barricade about a hundred meters from the crematorium.
"Stand back, it's not safe here."
A man saw Dr. Ilene and Curtis approaching and called out.
Dr. Ilene saw the situation and marveled. There were bits and pieces of debris suspended in mid-air, forming a partition.
"Otto, what do you have for me?"
"Nothing yet ma'am. We're having a hard time understanding the situation ourselves, and this happened when we tried to open fire…"
Saying this, Otto signaled his subordinate and the latter understood the command and fired his rifle.
However, when the bullets neared the site of the devastation, they suddenly veered off course and scattered in different directions.
"We used rockets the first time but it veered off course and killed some of my men," Otto added.
Seeing this, Dr. Ilene's eyes widened as she looked at Curtis who nodded, confirming her suspicion.
"Explain," she said.
"In simple words, gravitational distortion."
Dr. Ilene was a scientist. The term 'Gravitational Distortion' was not alien to her.
"How did that happen?" she asked.
"It could be one of ours, but there's no way to find out if we can't get close."
"That shouldn't be…"
Dr. Ilene's reply implied that the crematorium only housed the deceased and thus none of theirs should be there.
Looking straight ahead, Dr. Ilene contemplated the situation carefully. Though she thought it was unlikely, there was only one explanation for it aside from an external attack.
As everyone contemplated the situation, the ground suddenly rumbled as cracks appeared, spreading out like a spider web.
"Fall back!"
Otto shouted and provided cover for Dr. Ilene and Curtis.
The suspended debris started to open up from the center, and a small figure could be seen slowly walking over.
The security team readied their rifles to shoot.
"Don't shoot, lower your weapons!"
Dr. Ilene hurriedly intervened.
While she gave the order, the figure drew closer, becoming clearer until a little boy walked out amidst the suspended debris. The boy had blood stains on his face and his body, and a light flesh wound on his left arm. His breathing was slow and unsteady, and so were his footsteps.
The little boy was already a distance away when the suspended debris came crashing down. But just then, the boy stopped moving and plopped to his knees. His eyes suddenly glazed over as his body started to tremble violently with froth sipping from his mouth.
"Get help immediately!"
Dr. Ilene rushed over to the boy as Dr. Curtis tried to stop her from getting hurt. Both were scientists and they more than anyone present knew exactly what happened. A gravitational distortion was no joke, and though it might have happened on a small scale, it was clear this boy was the center of it all. The scientists exchanged pensive glances as they tended to the boy.