“Roughly a minute. But that’s not all. Her eyes opened.”
“Impossible.”
“It’s not! She opened them for ten seconds.”
Fingers drummed the worn tabletop and the Supervisor said in a dangerous tone, “You told me the subjects would not be able to resist the drug.”
“W-well I assumed that no one would.”
“I dislike being made a fool of, Professor.”
“I swear that was never my intent!”
“But if mistakes occur during the operation, then you have made a fool of me and my plans.”
“I-If 1X poses a problem I can eliminate her without any trouble-”
“No!” The hand slammed it’s palm hard onto the table, knocking over a glass of water. The crystal liquid streamed across the wood and the Supervisor swore. “What a waste of resources...But no, Professor. I am beginning to think that Subject 1X will prove more useful than I had previously anticipated… Move her up into the advanced tests.”
The alarm in the Professor’s voice was clear, “There are no guarantees that those tests will work! There is a seventy percent chance of death and a twenty-eight percent chance of the subjects being permanently incapacitated, that leaves only a two percent chance for them to be a success-”
“I can add and subtract, thank you, Professor.”
“O-of course! My apologies.”
“Return to your work. I’ll expect reports on 1X’s progress in the days to come.”
“I’ll send them to you directly.”
“Good. Oh and Professor, send someone along to clean up this mess. This table is an antique and water is horrible for the wood.”
More voices. Ember was growing tired of them. This was the fifth time in...how long was it? Minutes, days, years could pass between bouts of consciousness and she would never know the difference. As she had every time she had awoken, Ember forced her eyes open. But this time it was different. There was no longer the dark grey shroud that always surrounded her, but blinding white light directly above her. And there were voices other than the ones in her head. Muffled voices as if heard through a wall or water. Shadows flickered across the light and something red drifted into view above her, slightly clearer than the shadows. Thread-like, the red twisted and swirled like a fluid. Like blood.
Dawn. Gunfire. Navan’s neck being torn open by bullets. Her arms coated in the blood of her dyad. Ember felt a surge of energy and shock that drove her to try and sit up. Her forehead struck a solid surface and she lifted her hands in a panic, feeling walls on all sides. She opened her mouth to shout but some thick liquid filled her mouth and throat and she retched.
“Water? What’s happening? How have I been breathing?”
But whatever it was that had been filling her lungs with oxygen was no longer functioning and Ember’s body convulsed as it tried to dispel the fluid in her lungs and replace it with air. Her vision flickered and faded to black as the shadows over the light reappeared and the muffled voices grew louder, becoming a ringing that soon faded to the utter silence of a drugged sleep.
“Supervisor? The tests are complete and the results are in.”
“And?”
There was a pause. “Two sets of subjects made it through the testing phase. You have their files already. However one set is proving to be...unpredictable. We should not attempt to wake them until it becomes clear that we have no other choice.”
“I will be the one to decide that, Professor. What of the other set.”
“That set appears to be far more mentally stable. They should awaken within the week. You might be interested to see the side effects of the tests…”
There was a long silence filled only with the rustling of papers. Then, “Good lord...This is unexpected.”
“Yes. The tests marked them all in various ways like that. I’m considering changing 1X a little though. That side effect seems far too, well...vivid.”
“We wanted to make a statement to the Medic, did we not? Snatching these survivors from his clutches was a start and I believe this will, at the very least, be a harsh slap in the face to him.”
“I’ll abide by your orders, Supervisor. We are all in your hands.”
“No, we’re in theirs now.”
Ember woke up to an insistent beeping noise close to her left ear. Her eyes opened and she stared ahead at a blank grey concrete wall. Where was she now? Her throat was dry and she felt sore all over. Her head ached and those infernal beeps weren’t helping at all. Ember took a step forward and stumbled, wincing as pain flared in her back all along her spine and in her arms, legs, and neck. Raising an arm, Ember stared in horrified fascination at the needles that were stuck into the veins in the crook of her arm, at the wrist, and in the back of her hand. She could only assume that similar needles had been inserted along the length of her spine as well as her legs.
“What…?”
Her voice sounded strange, as if she hadn’t used it for a long time. She coughed and attempted to wet her lips with little success. Steeling herself, Ember jerked her right arm free of the wires and needles. She winced as dots of blood appeared along her arm and slowly trickled down towards her hand, then repeated the action with her other arm and her legs. She stumbled forward and fell to her knees, the remaining needles tore free from her spine with the sickening noise of tearing skin.
“Owwww…” moaned Ember. The steady beeping now came from behind her and she turned to look for the source. Her green eyes widened.
Roughly six feet in height and four in width, the object resembled a glass pill capsule turned on end. It was held upright by thick bands of steel around the top and bottom, which in turn were bolted to the wall. Wires hung uselessly all around the interior, leading into a large metal box covered in buttons and dials. A black screen showed a blue-green line progressing in a series of steady peaks. Below the transparent pod was a small drain surrounded by a silvery liquid. It was then that Ember realized that her entire body was soaking wet, drenched in whatever substance had clearly drained from the capsule she had been in. It plastered her hair against her head and back and looking down, Ember found that the clothes she had been wearing during the Celebration of the Medic were gone and replaced with a flimsy grey hospital gown. She frowned, not liking the idea that anyone had been in possession of her body while unconscious.
Reaching up, she felt out another wire attached to the side of her neck and irritably pulled it off. The blue line on the monitor went flat and the obnoxious beeping became a continual, high-pitched whine. Grimacing, Ember massaged her temples, mentally cursing the noise.
She tensed as the sound of stone grating against stone sounded to her right and she whirled around to see the apparently solid wall sliding open. From the shadows beyond stepped a slender woman with black hair streaked with grey and pulled into a tight bun. She wore a pair of loose black pants tucked into tall boots and a stained white coat over a beige shirt. Standing tall, the woman immediately gave the impression of authority and her brown eyes were intelligent, looking at Ember with such intensity that it almost seemed that she was looking at the girl’s soul. Ember could not suppress a shudder and forced herself to her feet so she could be closer to standing on a level with the woman.
The two stood watching each other for a long moment before the tall woman broke into a warm smile.
“Well I’m glad to see that the heart monitor flat lined because you removed the wire and not because you had died! It would have been a pity after you seemed to make such a complete recovery.”
Ember blinked in surprise. The woman’s friendly tone was a total odds with her tough appearance and it only served to put Ember even more on her guard than she already was.
“Who are you?”
“Ah my apologies!” The woman bowed ever so slightly at the waist. “I am the Professor, and it has been my job to patch you and the others up after the tragedy in Khinas.”
Ember’s lips pressed together into a grim line, then said,
“Where am I? I take it that this isn’t Khinas since even the sewers don’t smell as bad as it does down here. Trust me, I know; I’ve been down in the sewers for a lot of jobs.”
The Professor chuckled, “A Noxx with a job? I have trouble believing that. I assume your “jobs” involved gang banging and general mayhem? Well that isn’t my concern I suppose...I’m sorry about the smell though, the solution you were healing in has a rather unpleasant scent. It should wash out after a few showers.”
Something moved in the shadows beyond the doorway and Ember’s hand flew to her waist where she usually kept a dagger. Her fingers only grasped empty air and she swallowed hard. She could make out the dull gleam of light reflected on the barrel of a rifle and a soft laugh escaped her.
“I’m disarmed and barely able to stand. How much damage to you honestly think I can do?”
She expected the Professor to laugh a little or smile that tight smile that seemed frozen on her face, but the woman’s face went suddenly grim, nervous even.
“That’s what I intend to find out. Come with me, I’ll get you some clothes to change into and take you to several other refugees from Khinas.”
The Professor turned on her heel and walked out of the room leaving Ember with no other choice than to follow. She did so reluctantly, stepping into the shadows and sensed rather than saw the man holding the gun fall into step behind her. The solution in her hair was rapidly drying, plastered against her neck and itching the bare skin. The only noise was the muffled echoes of their footsteps in the dark hallway. The lighting was bad and greenish, but it was enough to illuminate the heavy steel door at the end of the hall. The screech of metal against metal sounded as the Professor turned a wheel-like handle and then shoved the hatch open. The light on the other side was almost blinding compared to the near darkness Ember had been in since awaking and she winced, hanging back and squinting to let her eyes adjust. A sharp jab from the gun into the small of her back sent the girl stumbling forward and she barely managed to right herself, turning to glare at the man behind her, his face still cast in shadow.
“Point that somewhere else you-”
“Careful girl.”
The deep growl sent a shudder down Ember’s spine and she averted her gaze to the rest of the room. The room resembled the school locker rooms that Ember had seen in shows from before the Fall. Khinas had nothing like this as far as she knew. The lockers were dented and rusted, but clearly still in use. This place was old, older than anywhere she had been before.
“Here, I believe that these will fit well enough for now.”
The Professor handed Ember a pile of folded clothes and some well worn boots. Ember accepted them and then glanced over her shoulder in irritation.
“Do I have permission to change in private or will your friend continue to grace us with his presence?”
With a slight nod, the Professor indicated that the man should stand on the other side of the door they had just entered through. Wasting no time, Ember donned an oversized black shirt and tied it in a knot to keep it from falling to the middle of her thighs. She tucked the too-long brown pants into a pair of tight boots. Straightening, she turned to look at the vague reflection in the locker and frowned at the distorted image of herself. Was that just the rust on the ancient metal or was it really her reflection? Ember grabbed a strand of hair, grimacing at it’s stiffness and held it in front of her eyes. So it was not her imagination, each strand of hair appeared stained with drying blood and it took everything in Ember to keep from screaming as she remembered the nightmare she had lived through. Her voice soft and deadly, Ember said:
“Professor. What the heck did you do to me?”
The tall woman looked uncomfortable, swallowing hard and saying quietly: “You’ll understand in due time. I think it would be best if I introduced you to the others we rescued and then the Supervisor can explain it to all of you at once. It will save us all time. And right now time is of the utmost importance."
Moving faster than she had before, the Professor called the guard back in and led the way out a door on the right, through a maze of underground hallways lined with what appeared to be unused offices, and finally stopped at a plain, windowless door. Leaning up to a panel at eye level, the Professor allowed it to scan her eye and Ember heard the click of the door unlatching. The tall woman pushed it open part way then pause.
“Don’t do anything foolish. The last thing I want to do is play doctor again like I’ve had to do with the others I let in here. You Noxx are far too quarrelsome,” She flashed Ember a strange smile. “Good luck.”
The butt of the gun slammed into Ember’s back between her shoulder blades and at the same moment the Professor opened the door enough to let the girl stumble through. Off balance, Ember tripped and fell, hitting her chin on the floor hard enough to make lights dance before her eyes. A heavy foot pressed firmly onto her back as she tried to rise and forced her back down.
“So where’d they find you, ginger?”
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