Secretary of defense office - Washington D.C
Tick. Tock.
The large clock on the wall was all that was audible in the office as The Major stepped passed the door's threshold and presented himself in front of the desk.
He stood there silently and watched as the Colonel read over the report on the boy.
After a few minutes, the Colonel coughs into his hand and looks up from the thick file.
"I swear Valentin lives to make my job more complicated." The Colonel said in a deep gruff voice. He was a short portly man, with pale blotchy skin, balding gray hair and battle-hardened brown eyes.
The Colonel pushes the files away and gets up from the thick oak desk and walks over to the drink rack and pulls out a glass.
"What's your thoughts on the Kholer boy?" He asks while filling his glass with a clear brown liquid.
The Major twitches slightly at the mention of the boy's name and a deep scowl forms on his face.
"May I ask, why the sudden interest in the boy?" The Major responds.
The Colonel lumbers back to his desk with his drink takes a seat and considers how to answer the Major's question.
"Have you been keeping up with Valentin's reports on him?" He asks
"No, I gave up on the kid when he took my eye." The Major instinctively rubs at the thick black eyepatch over his left eye.
"Did something happen?"
"No, and that's the problem. Valentin says he has run all the usual test, plus some new... 'creative' ones he came up with, but the boy isn't showing any signs of having an ability." The Colonel takes another long sip from his glass.
"On top of that, the United Nations rep has been on my ass about funding and conditions of the facility. If they find out, we threw a normal child in there for years...we're done."
He downs the rest of the glass and slams it on the desk.
"So... what do we do? We can't just release him. That would just cause more problems." The Major states.
"I know, releasing him is out of the question. But I am recommending him to be transferred from Valentin's level to general population. That way, the boy will at least have a trace of comfort." The colonel draws in a deep breath and a small fiery burp escapes his lips.
"Lord knows what years of only being cooped up with that man have done to the kid's mind."
.....
Evo Rehabilitation Facility – Level 36
"257...258...259..."
A bead of sweat rolls down and settles in a small puddle forming on the stone tiles of the dark, musky cell.
Isaac tightens his grip on the rough metal pipe at the top of the ceiling and, with effort, pulls himself up one more time before letting go and dropping to the floor.
His breath is ragged, a shine of sweat coated his muscled frame, and his thick curly black hair clings to his face. With another quick motion, he moved to the ground and started a round of pushups.
"1...2...3..."
He goes on like this for another hour before standing up, grabbing the black prison uniform shirt off the thin dirty mattress and walking over to the bathroom, which was basically just a toilet and a sink in the far corner of the room. He turned on the facet and ran his face and hair under the light brown water.
As the cold water hit his face, Isaac thought hard about the last 11 years he's been trapped in this cell. He knew he probably wasn't getting out, he learned a long time ago that no one was coming to save him. The rest of the world thought of him as the son of the devil and as Valentine always says, 'No one wants to save a monster'.
He dried off using the uniform shirt and moved to walk away but caught his reflection in the small grimy mirror above the sink. Isaac stared into the mirror and found the person staring back to be unrecognizable. His once smooth dark skin is now covered in small deep jagged scars up and down his body, the aftermath from Valentine's 'testing', and the shadow of a beard line his face. Nothing remains of the scared little boy who arrived here, nothing expects his cold russet eyes brimming with rage.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
A siren bellows throughout the room and the small red light above the door begins to flash. Isaac peels his eyes from the mirror, pulls on the uniform shirt and positions himself in front of the doorway.
After a minute the entryway slides open and a tall burly man with short brown hair lumbers into the room. He has to bend his neck in order to not scrap his head against the ceiling and in his hands, he holds a clear pair of bracelets and a collar. His pale green eyes roam around the small cell until they land on Isaac.
"Morning kid." His voice is deep and coarse like he smoked six packs a day.
"Nick." Isaac holds his wrists out toward the man as he wraps the bracers around them and the clasps the collar around his neck. Once they are attached, they let out a mechanical whistle and start to glow an ashen blue.
Isaac looks down at the new jewelry and back up at Nick.
"Is all this necessary? We're just going to the lab... right?"
Nick moves to the side and motions for him to start walking out to the hall.
"Nope, change of plans today."
Out in the hall, four prison guards stood dressed in the usual white and gray combat armor with prison's symbol, a small black heart with a spiral running through it, embroidered on the chest. They surrounded each end of the hall blocking all exits from his cell.
Isaac eyes them then turns his head back to Nick as he touches the sensor to close the door of his cell.
"What's changed?" He asks as Nick signal for the guards to start marching down the hallway.
"Valentine wants to be the one to tell you."
Isaac kept his face impassive but his heart started to beat faster in his chest. In his time here at the facility, he knew from experience that Valentine's 'surprises' were never anything good... for him at least.
Nick folded his burly arms behind his head as he walked. "Don't worry so much kid.. life is brief, and you should enjoy every second of it."
They arrived in front Valentine's office door and Nick raised he fist to knock twice before pulling open the door and pushing Isaac through it.
Catching himself, he glared back at Nick then turned his head to survey the large room. The office had a medieval Victorian style to it, bookshelves lined the walls with ancient looking weapons propped above them. Isaac eyes roamed the room but stopped when they landed on the figure sitting at the desk.
He was browsing something on the computer, a cup of coffee in his left hand and his long gray hair tied into a small ponytail. Valentine just kept staring at the computer screen, not even bothering to acknowledge the new arrivals in his office.
After a moment Nick meekly cleared his throat and Valentine's eyes shifted over to them. He stared down at Isaac's scowling face and a faint smile came to his lips.
"Mr. Kholer, my favorite patient." He put his coffee down and rose from the desk, walking over to the line of file cabinets behind him and pulled a large file from one.
"It saddens me to say this...but today will be your last day with us."
Isaac kept his face cold, not showing his surprise to Valentine's words. He knew this was a trick, it had to be. Valentine wouldn't just release him, he's way too sadistic for that.
"You're being moved to the general population on the upper levels. Seems the brass thinks you're being 'treated unfairly' and made this choice without even consulting your doctor."
Isaac just stood in shocked silence, waiting for the other shoe to drop as Valentine neatly placed the folder on his desk and pulled out a black metallic collar, similar to the restraint collar he was currently wearing.
"But while I don't agree with the transfer, there's not much I can really say." He opened the file and started tinkering with the collar.
Isaac opened his mouth to speak but decided against it, he knew that with Valentine it was more beneficial to listen to his ramblings then speak.
"Now, I know how disappointed we both are that you're leaving... so I made you a little gift."
He strode from around the desk towards Isaac and removed the clear collar from his neck and replaced it with the black one.
"This is a power restraint collar, all the other prisoners on the upper levels wear them at all times. But since your so... 'special', I installed an additional function in yours."
He clasped the two ends of the collar around Isaac's neck and pressed a small button on the back. Suddenly Isaac's skin starts to burn as the thick collar sinks deeper into his neck. His legs buckle underneath the pain, but he doesn't let it show. That's what Valentine wants. Isaac looks up defiantly at the old man as if asking for more.
Valentine stares into the boy's eyes for a long moment before letting a sickly callous smile slow spread to his lips.
"That collar won't come off." He reaches out his hand and taps the thick band twice.
"The men up top seems to think you've had enough, that just because we don't know what you can do makes you harmless." He straightens up and fixes his tie.
"Idiots." Valentine motions for Nick to get me on feet and pulls out a long cylindrical tube with a button at the end. He reaches forward and presses one end to my forearm. Black ink stretches from the tube in an intricate pattern of numbers.
He pulls the tube back into his coat pocket and slaps me lightly on the cheeks like a grandfather saying goodbye.
"You're officially released from level 87." Valentine nods to Nick and a huge rough hand engulfs my shoulder, pulling me towards the door.
"Oh, and try not to die too quickly up there. I'd hate to lose the research."
Nick shuts the door behind us and leads me to a large black elevator. Valentine was obviously unhappy with this new arrangement and was trying to scare Isaac while he could. But in the back of his head, Isaac was excited about the readjustment. This was his first time leaving this level and his first real chance at escape. They step into the lift and a subtly smile come to his lips as the door shuts on what has been his cage for eleven long years.
Time to greet the other monsters