When Henarie awoke, the sky above her was littered with stars. She jumped to her feet, looking around for any sign of Terra.
When Terra had been suddenly launched off the roof by that mask that had kept her entrapped, Henarie had scrambled to grab her hand but missed, landing painfully on the ground. It had only taken her a few seconds to recuperate, but in that short time, Terra was suddenly cocooned by an enormous mass of crystals, both corrupt and dead.
Henarie had sprinted into the nearest building and ran up the stairs as fast as her legs would take her, jumping from a window to land on the roof of the building next door. By then, Terra’s prison had risen into the air well above her head and there was no way Henarie could reach her, even with a good leap from the tallest building in the city. As she calculated how to get to her destination, a mass of black crystals zipped by her head. She instinctively grabbed at it, lifting into the air as it approached the growing mass.
Once she was inside, she’d bring Terra to her senses and they’d get out of this hell-hole together. This wasn’t the first time she’d had to get Terra out of this certain predicament, and this time around at least she knew what to do. Which was why Henarie was caught by surprise when she slammed into the side of the crystal mass despite the crystals in her hand being absorbed.
Henarie rubbed the back of her neck and groaned. She must have landed on her neck and shattered her spine; those ones always took forever to heal. Judging from the time of day it, she’d been out for a few hours at the least, which meant Terra could be practically anywhere. She grabbed her sword and sliced a small cut on her forearm, counting the seconds it took for it to heal. 72. Cursing, she replaced her sword and glanced around, hoping to find a vehicle she could steal and begin her hunt once again--if it had taken that long for a small inch cut to heal Terra was within a fifty-mile radius. In which direction she didn’t know but she’d best start figuring that out now otherwise she’d lose Terra again.
She paused, remembering the blank look Terra had given her when she’d announced herself. How had she lost her memory? Could she get it back in tact? Exactly how much did she remember? Did she know who she was and what she could do? What if Terra herself had been the one to erase her memory? For the time she’d known Terra, there had always been a weight on her shoulders and, although it was never explicitly mentioned, Henarie was certain Terra would have erased her memory if given the opportunity. If that was the case, then should Henarie even try and jog her memory? Henarie’s head hurt from her conflicting thoughts, though it could have also been from a skull fracture.
“Priestess!” A woman cried out. Oh, right. The women here were still calling her that. Henarie turned to see a woman barely illuminated by starlight walking with purpose towards her, the ghost of tears on her face. “How could you do this to our people! We worshipped your god and followed all of your commandments, and yet you bring destruction to our city! All those who are blessed, even with small blessings, are dead!”
“Uhhhh,” Henarie floundered, unsure what the woman was talking about. “My god was angry and believed too many blessings were dispersed, so she removed them.” Perhaps if she played along this woman would go away.
The woman’s eye twitched and then she released a guttural scream, lunging at Henarie. Without blinking, Henarie withdrew her sword and decapitated the woman, kicking away the head as it rolled toward her. Well, now that she was paying attention to her surroundings, there were an awful lot of bodies on the street. She was ninety-five percent sure they hadn’t been there when she’d entered the city, but then again, she was never the most observant person.
She meandered through the streets, stepping over the bodies she could see and tripping over the ones she couldn’t, running into only a few survivors. Luckily, none of them recognized her so she was able to move along without any more interruptions on her hunt for a mode of transportation.
It was discouraging coming across so many aesthetically pleasing vehicles that would be absolutely rubbish on the dusty roads outside this haven, one, in particular, Henarie felt inclined to take; a bright red, sleek thing that was low to the ground and was clearly made as eye candy. However, she was sure it would have broken down less than a hundred miles into the desert and she doubted she would find anyone to fix a car that technically didn’t exist except in this area. In the end, she settled for a motorcycle that had beautiful suspension and looked like it could hold its own during a fight. She was incredibly pleased to see that it went up to two hundred miles an hour and even provided an attached respirator that fed her oxygen and protected her eyes. Judging by the treads, it had been used minimally and only used speeds that would have disappointed her. After throwing away the helmet, she mounted the biped and thought about what she would do if she found Terra.
Henarie had been hunting Terra for so long that it hadn’t occurred to her what would happen if she found her, especially now that Terra had lost her memory. Did Henarie want to continue chasing after someone who didn’t even remember her? Hell yes. She wasn’t going to stop her fifty-year search just because the girl had lost a few key moments in her life.
She revved the engine and burst through the night, using a pile of bodies and a vehicle as a ramp to speed along the rooftops of the buildings, just high enough that when she gripped the accelerator and propelled herself off the last building she managed to clear the large fence that ringed the edge of the Oasis. As she burst into the red foggy exterior she grinned to herself.
If this was the same Terra she’d followed for all those years, she knew exactly what to do to draw her out. A smile cracked her stony demeanor as she formulated a plan. Henarie was tired of chasing down a ghost; Terra was going to come to her.
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7714S shifted uncomfortably as the walls closed in around him. No, not really, but with three much larger men crammed in the tight quarters with him, they may as well have been. By this point, all the air in the compartment had passed through everyone’s lungs and it was tasting stale. He could tell that the man sitting directly in front of him had forgotten to brush his teeth this morning.
He’d awoken with a stiff neck and sore limbs to the stares of three other strangers, none of which looked like they’d voluntarily give up any information regarding his kidnapping. Well, considering he was Greenhouse property this technically wasn’t kidnapping, but that didn’t dampen his pounding headache. Were drugs really necessary? Where would he even go if he attempted to run?
His stomach pitched as the container he was in came to an abrupt stop. Was he where he needed to be? He began standing up when the room suddenly began rising. Wait, did he hear an engine? As he unsteadily sat back down again he strained his ears to hear anything from outside the container to at least give him a clue as to what was happening. Yup, those were the engines of the Greenhouse freight plane. His stomach churned at the thought of being miles up in the sky going hundred of miles an hour; it took all of his concentration to not upchuck on the lap of the man ahead of him. As if the man could read his mind, his eyes narrowed and he bored holes in 7714S, issuing the threat that if he threw up, it would be his last act as a human.
The flight took too long for 7714S' taste and he was sure he had blacked out part way through, coming too when the freighter he was in landed roughly on the tarmac. But they had landed, and that was the best news 7714S had gotten all day. However, the container began moving again, this time clearly on a ground vehicle. How far away was his new job? He had no indication as to how long he’d been knocked out previously and he’d been seated for a good few hours (at least if felt that way), he wasn’t even sure if they were still on Wyvern. Would they even tell him where he was when he landed or was that supposed to remain confidential as well?
He thought about the girl encased in crystals. What would they do to her? Considering she was shielded in impenetrable material, they wouldn’t logically be able to do anything to her, but the nagging thoughts in his mind reminded him that he’d been able to converse with the girl when she’d had a single eye exposed. For her sake, she should stay hidden. The voice in his mind told him that they’d found out that he hadn’t reported their conversations and that this was an elaborate scheme to get rid of him. But Greenhouse wouldn’t spend this much time, resources, and manpower to simply kill him, so either the girl he was supposed to be observing was a freaking miracle, or this was a wasted effort on everyone’s part.
7714S suppressed a sigh of disappointment when he remembered his new job. All of his education in the sciences wasn’t going to be much use taking care of a kid unless they wanted him to teach her how to identify the different parts of the cell and clone them using synthetic chemicals. Whoop-dee-doo. He was sure a young child would love that, right after picking their boogers and licking walls. Dread flooded his innards as he pictured a screaming child with tears and snot running down their face. Oh man, he was not cut out for this.
With his stomach upset of the thought of the task ahead, the container stopped, sending even more waves of unease over him. Where they finally at their destination? As if to answer his question, the men around him stood up, making the cramped quarters even more claustrophobic, though they didn’t seem troubled breathing in each other’s faces. Come to think of it, their faces looked awfully identical, the only variations in a few scars and different length hair--they were all identical clones. 7714S felt his ears go red when he finally looked at their faces, ashamed it took him so long to realize this blunt fact. Some scientist he was.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
The wall to the right slowly lowered so that it provided a ramp to those exiting the box. 7714S was eager to leave the close quarters and leaped up after the others, pausing at the mouth to let his eyes adjust to the sudden influx of light.
The stepped out into a much larger room with light brown ceramic tiles covering the floor and pale stainless steel walls. A large pane of dark glass covered the entirety of the south wall with a small audience of chairs in front of it, and bookshelves covered in literature lined the one to his left. To his right was the door he assumed led to the rest of the facility. The screeching of metal against metal caught his attention and he whipped around, catching the wall behind him closing shut on the container he’d spent a good portion of the day with the three other men. Speaking of, the men stood wordlessly around him, not even bothering to make eye contact with him. 7714S wanted to explore the room a bit and take a look at the books, but the men who stood directly next to him both whipped their arms out in front of him, blocking his path. Was he seriously supposed to just stand here until something happened? Luckily for him, he didn’t need to wait very long as the door to the right slid open and a man with a coat strolled through.
“Sorry about the wait, we’ve been a little busy.” The man spoke. “My name is Dr. Jamir and I’ll be guiding you through your initial process. Please approach the screen and take a seat and we’ll get started.”
7714S cautiously took a step forward, half-expecting the men to stop him again, and sat down at the center of the aisle. The men removed the chairs around him so they could continue standing at attention.
“Just ignore them,” Dr. Jamir said with a sigh after noting 7714S' discomfort. “They’re just here to make sure you don’t do anything stupid. First things first, you’ll be assigned a name. Please choose from one of the names ahead and we’ll continue.”
On the surface of the dark glass, a large block of names appeared and 7714S had to squint to get a better look at it. He had to stop his legs from shaking from excitement as his eyes glanced down the list. He was finally getting a name! 7714S didn’t actually believe he’d even get the right of a name, but here he was! With a shaking finger he pointed out his name--he was certain his voice would shake if he attempted to speak at this moment in time.
“Not much of a talker are you? Alright, Pater it is. If you direct your attention to the screen, you’ll see the layout of our facility, Center 7. We are currently here, in the orientation room. In a few minutes, we will guide you through our research labs. Please do not touch anything. We will not stop by the chemical research area as it would require a full hazmat suit. Do not venture any further than your designated floor otherwise it will trigger alarms and may result in an accidental death, presumably yours. There is no reason for you to explore any further anyhow as your job will keep you on the first floor and occasionally going outside. Our doors are all biolinked so whenever you pass through a doorway, the data is stored, so be cautious about where you travel. In addition, the biolink chip has enough power to paralyze you permanently if you somehow find yourself speaking to someone without clearance. If you’ll please follow me, we’ll begin our tour.”
Pater followed, prickles of fear poking at his skin at Dr. Jamir’s words. By the way the man was talking this chip monitored his movement and speech. Was there a way to avoid this invasive breach? Wait, had they already installed the chip? His head pounded in response.
“As you can see, there are no cameras as our surveillance software will detect where you are in a moment’s notice. We do want to provide some sense of privacy here after all.”
Exactly what part of this is private? Pater wondered if his small loft hidden in the scientist lab provided more privacy than this with its semi-soundproof walls and lack of constant monitoring.
The tour was over before he managed to pay attention, although Pater did note that there were no windows at all. He’d already grown accustomed to living in a place isolated from the outside, but he’d at least hoped to get a glance at something that wasn’t illuminated by fluorescent lights.
They ended in a small apartment that looked like it had been recently added to the building as it still smelled faintly of paint and plaster. At least this room wasn’t muted colors of grey, white and brown like the rest of the hallways and rooms he’d been on that day. The walls were a soft blue, and although the floor was still light brown, it at least complimented the rest of the room. He wondered if his minuscule amount of personal items were brought ahead of him. Probably not.
“Our tour isn’t over.” Dr. Jamir cut in as Pater started wandering the kitchen. “You still haven’t even seen where you’ll be working or who you’ll be working with.”
Pater sheepishly walked through his three guardians and fell in behind the doctor as he guided him to his task. He’d honestly been hoping they’d forgotten he was going to be taking care of a child and instead transferred him to the labs he’d passed through. It’d taken all of his strength to keep his fingers off the large laser that called for him in the robotics lab or the atomic microscope in the bio lab. That’s where he belonged, not with a little kid.
The next room he entered reminded him of the aftermath photos he’d seen of Headquarter 3, minus the dead bodies. Books were strewn around carelessly and there were remnants of, what Pater assumed were, toys underfoot. The walls were splattered with paint and food. The lone table that sat in the center of the room was upturned and the chairs were broken in pieces in the corner. Considering the chairs were make of hard plastic and metal, he hoped it was a large man that had lost his temper and thrown the chairs, and that Pater wasn’t suddenly supposed to care for a superhuman child.
“As you can see, she’s been keeping us very busy.” Dr. Jamir stated, the tiredness weighing in his voice. “She only calms down when she’s outside, where I assume she is now. It takes ages for us to catch her when she is outside, so we don’t let her out often. She cannot speak despite having the brain of a five-year-old due to our rushing the growth process. In reality, she is only a few weeks old. This is her file. Please review the information before continuing.” He handed Pater her file.
“Oh, you want me to read it now?” Pater asked after a brief few seconds of staring.
“And here I thought you couldn’t speak. Glad to see you still have your tongue.” The doctor commented.
Pater opened up the thick file and saw a few phrases stick out immediately, mainly because they were written in bold letters. Little monster. Ball of chaos. Child devil. The rest indicated her lack of response to orders and her name. Considering they were calling her ‘specimen 2,’ he didn’t really blame her. At least his number identification had been unique. What were they going to do when she found out what the word ‘specimen’ meant?
A high pitched scream broke him from his file and he heard the patter of small feet running down the hallway behind him. He turned just as he saw a small girl holding something barrel through the doorway between the legs of the men that crowded at the mouth, slamming into his own.
He hid his surprise when he saw that the girl was a spitting image of the one he’d secretly been conversing with. Well, of course, she would be; she’s a clone. It would have been odd if she weren’t identical. Pater kicked himself mentally all the while wondering if this girl would have any answers regarding those odd crystals.
She quickly hid behind him as two men coated in a thin sheet of sweat followed close behind.
“You little!” One of them cried as they went to grab her arm.
She squealed and dodged, right into the hands of the other, making her drop the thing in her hands. Squirming, she screamed as she struggled to get out of the man’s grip, unable to use words to demand what she wanted.
Pater knelt and scooped up the dirt and roots from the plant that had fallen from the girl’s small hands.
“This is a Copper Amethyst Daisy.” He said in disbelief. “These are supposed to be extinct.” He glanced over to Dr. Jamir for an explanation.
“This moves us to the next portion of our orientation. You see, Center 7 is unlike other Greenhouse facilities. Throughout our search…Can someone please shut her up?” He angrily shouted over the girl’s incessant screaming.
The men both roughly grabbed her arms and lifted her with the intention of moving her to a different room and let her scream until she grew hoarse.
“Wait,” Pater called out, surprising even himself. He placed the handful of dirt and flower in a cup he found and placed it in one of the girl’s hands. She immediately quieted down as she stared intently between Pater and the flower.
“Throughout our search for any remaining weapons of war across the continent, we stumbled across an oddity. We have yet to fully explain why this abnormality has come to be, but we found several across the globe. There are nine in the total of what we know. It’s...hard to explain. Follow us outside.”
Intrigued, Pater followed. As they walked down the hallway he heard the girl screaming behind him again when she was held back to stay in the room. He felt guilt well up in his stomach for an unknown reason even though it was no fault of his she was upset.
As they approached the door, he wondered if anybody was going to put on a respirator. Perhaps they’d forgotten? He opened his mouth to ask, but Dr. Jamir was already opening the door. Well, as long as he didn’t breath in more than an hour’s worth of air he wouldn’t succumb to atmosphere poisoning.
His jaw dropped when the door opened.
“Yeah, that’s everyone’s first reaction.” Dr. Jamir laughed.
As far as he could see a lush forest stretched, matched only in majesty by the blue sky above him with clouds floating lazily through it. His brain didn’t compute what he was seeing and he feared he’d been drugged.
“In order to go outside, for personal or educational purposes, you must have approved permission. Granted, if the girl escapes your grasp and you have to chase her outside, you will be permitted to leave after first reporting it. Don’t worry, our bureaucracy is nearly immediate as we have real-time vocal recording, so all you have to do is verbally ask permission. All you have to do is say your name and then your request. For example, ‘Dr. Jamir requesting the girl be put in stasis in five minutes.’ Please remember that there can be grave consequences if you don’t ask permission to leave.” The doctor lifted his arm and tapped the base of his own skull.
Pater unconsciously mirrored the man and touched the area the implants that recorded his location, audio, and had the power to paralyze him, feeling the scarred area. To his surprise, it wasn’t tender in the slightest. In fact, judging by the minuscule amount of scarring in the area, it had to have been implanted years ago. He shivered at the thought of Greenhouse implanting such a thing without his consent. Then again, he was technically their property, so they could do whatever they please with him. Wait, they couldn’t have implanted it at birth, could they?
“This ends our tour. Please follow me back to the orientation room to have an overview of your duties and Center 7 etiquette.” Dr. Jamir turned on his heels and strode back inside.
Pater was practically pushed back in by his escorts. It was disheartening not being able to get one last look at the strange world outside. Even more disheartening was the fact that he had to pass by the girl’s classroom and happened to look in as the small screaming child was forced into a stasis tube. Her cries were abruptly cut off when he was partway down the hallway; the weight of guilt in his stomach was heavier than ever.