“Yes,” Regina said flatly, “He did think very fondly of you, but what he did was too little too late.”
I looked back out of the window, I couldn't argue with her, she probably knew him a lot better than I did and who seemed to be making more sense than I felt comfortable admitting. But regardless of what he did or didn't do, he was dead now because he decided to help me and I wasn't going to sully his memory.
“So, your name's Regina?” I asked, hoping to move the conversation on.
“Yes.”
“And the babies name is Jason?”
“That's what I call him, officially he is Number 24.”
“Number 24?” I repeated, giving her a confused look.
“The amount of attempts.” Regina muttered, looking away quickly.
“The number of attempts? You mean you had 24 transplants?”
“Yes.”
“And only one implanted?”
“Something like that.” she answered.
I had never enjoyed the tests and experiments that were done on me at the facility, but now I felt even sicker. What other types of tests were they doing that I never understood? I thought. A sudden surge of horror ran through me as I wondered exactly who the father of the baby was, but deciding that I'd heard enough bad news for today, I opted out of asking.
We were now on a motorway and I had no idea where we were going. “How long will it take to reach the facility?” I asked.
“It's about 20 hours away.”
I sighed loudly. I wasn't sure if I would tell Charles what was happening and where I was going, but I knew I had to tell him something before he found out I had gone missing. I reached down for my school bag only to find it wasn't there. “Dammit.” I said, realising I must have left it where I had been sitting with Solomon. “Do you have a phone? I need to make a call.”
“I don't use mobiles. Besides it's probably in your family’s best interest that you keep them out of this.”
“Stop telling me what to do. I'm not an inmate in your facility anymore.”
“I know, but you really should heed my advice in this matter. I know how you received your ability. Or how your father did anyway.”
“My father? He doesn't .. have any abilities.” I said. Nobody knew about Charles' abilities, why would I talk to her about them?
“Claudia please.” Regina said, a sly smile returning to her face. “If he really is your father, and for some reason I strongly believe he is. Then he has the same ability as you. And just as you inherited your ability from him, he inherited his ability from his mother.”
I faked a laugh, “I honestly don't know what you're talking about. Veronica doesn't have any abilities either.”
“I'm sure she doesn't, but we both know she's not his mother, don't we?” Regina said looking over at me and tilting her head slightly in a mocking way. “It's up to you Claudia. I can tell you what I know or not. It doesn't affect me either way.”
I glared into Regina's eyes, I certainly didn't trust her, but she obviously already knew about Charles and she also knew about his mother.
“Fine.” I said “Veronica isn't his mother, he's an orphan, but you know that already don't you?”
“Yes.”
“So? What do you know about his real mother?”
“There was another facility, similar to Wendell's, called 'Wickham's research facility'. They ran some tests on a trail drug about 60 years ago. The drug was supposed to manipulate the DNA in a predetermined manner. They recruited people, mainly woman, from homeless shelters for the tests with the promise of a place to live and money. From what the records say they managed to generate all kinds of abilities in the participants. The actual number of volunteers is unrecorded, but we know a lot of them died during the tests. The ones who did survive must have fought back at some point and, after escaping from the facility, went into hiding.”
I stared at her, my eyes widening with every word. “What happened next?”
“Well, the facility was partially destroyed in the escape, so they finished the job and moved on. No one ever heard from the participants again and they were believed to have died out. However, every now and again someone, such as yourself appears on the scene. Normally, it's hard to restrain them, but you were freely handed over to the facility and your DNA was matched with one of the participants of the original experiment, her name was Philippa Edwards.”
“Wow.” I gasped.
“A lot of the children who have appeared to have abilities generally have one parent who was an orphan.” Regina continued. “So we believe that the participants who managed to escape didn't have very long lives, which is probably why not many children with abilities were born.”
I leaned my head back on the headrest; a huge weight lifting off of me. For so long I had wondered why I was the way I was, sometimes even thinking I may not be human, and finally I knew. Although it wasn't the happiest story, it was my story and it somehow removed that lost, incomplete feeling that I sometimes had.
Regina continued for a little while talking about some of the abilities that they managed to produce and then after a while she went silent, concentrating on the road instead. I closed my eyes allowing myself to drift to sleep as I imagined how it must have been in the old facility and how liberated the participants must have felt when they finally escaped. Half awake, half in sleep, I chuckled quietly. Visions of people running through halls throwing fire bombs, creating flashes of lightening and electrical charges and scurrying across the walls and ceilings like lizards flashed through my mind. Wish I could have been there, I thought sleepily.
* * *
“You never asked me how I found you and your father.” Regina said shortly after I woke back up and straightened myself into my seat to look out the window.
I shrugged dismissively, hoping to take the attention away from Charles.
“For someone who has a family to protect, you don't seem very concerned.” she said, coaxing some kind of response from me.
“Fine R, how did you find me?”
Regina laughed guilefully. “I've always known you were in Westpoint. Well, at least since you started school.” she looked over to gauge my reaction.
“The school contacted you?” I asked.
“Yes, you used the ID papers I made up for you.”
Right! I thought, nodding my head. “So why didn't you come for me sooner?” I asked.
“I did! At least I came to see how you were doing. You had friends, and you looked happy. I just thought you deserved the chance to have a normal life, so I never bothered you. I only came today because I need your help.”
“I guess you're not as bad as I always thought, but it's just a little case of 'too little too late” I giggled to myself as I turned Regina's words against J against her. And then attempting to appear callous to my remark I focussed on the radio and began flicking through the channels. When I found a channel that played music that I considered neither relaxing nor calming I turned it up slightly and sat back in my seat.
“You like this kind of music.” Regina asked with an alarmed look on her face.
“Yep.” I lied. I really didn't like that type of music, at all. But I did like the fact that it appeared to annoy Regina and I also knew it would be easier to bear the ride without the awkwardness of Regina's attempt at friendship. Hence, the rest of the journey was made mostly in silence, except for the radio and the odd attempt at conversation from Regina. Until she finally pulled into a motel so we could sleep for a few hours.
There was a payphone in the lobby, so before going to the room I called Charles.
“Hello.” he said after a few rings, he sounded tired.
“Dad, it's me.”
“Claudia, where are you? Solomon showed up here earlier with your school bag and said you just disappeared!” It wasn't tiredness, he was obviously upset.
“I know, I'm sorry. Someone came to see me today, I had to go with them.”
“Solomon said a woman from your orphanage cam
e. Who was it and where have you gone with her?” he asked.
“She's from the facility Dad. And I can't tell you any more than that.” It hurt cutting him out of what was going on, but I knew it was definitely in his best interest to keep him as far away as possible.
“Claudia, you promised!” His words were fast and desperate.
“I know. I'm sorry.” I said quietly. “I'll call you again when I can. Bye.” I put the phone down before he could say anything else. My chest was already heavy enough without having to hear the pain I was causing him. Maybe I shouldn't have just left like that, but what else could I have done. I didn't exactly have a chance to tell him and now it would be safer for him if he didn't know anything. Tears burned at the back of my eyes as the sound of his voice ran through my head again. I'm so sorry Dad!
The presence of tears only added to the surrealism of the whole situation. For over half a year I had thought about returning to the facility, determined to avenge J and face whatever consequences I had to, but now that I finally had the chance all I could think of was being at home, eating one of Veronica's dinners and talking with the rest of the family.
I rubbed my hands briskly over my eyes to remove any trace of tears and went into the room Regina had booked for us. Lying on the small single bed, I closed my eyes and thought of all the people I had left behind in Westpoint, with Solomon and Charles dominating my thoughts. I just need to help Regina rescue Jason, that was all, I told myself. But what would happen if I did meet up with Q? I pulled the covers over my head hoping I could somehow shield myself from what was about to happen. Please don't let something happen that I can't return home because of, I silently prayed, and then I sobbed quietly until I fell asleep.
I was woken shortly after sunrise and ate a small breakfast, hoping we could get back on the road and get things over with, but Regina insisted it would be better to wait until afternoon as she planned to reach the facility at night fall. So we stayed in the motel room until 12, Regina briefing me with her plan. She had gone over it a few times already, including giving me a general description of the layout of the facility, but each word or new reminder only increased the anxiety that I was already filled with that I was almost blotting out her voice completely in the end.
“I'll just follow you Regina. We get to his room, grab him and run, okay?” I said getting a little exasperated.
“Let's hope it's a simple as you keep imagining it.” Regina replied. Shortly after noon Regina went to get us some lunch, and when we had eaten we finally left. I didn't feel in the mood to talk so I rested my head on my window, watching the trees pass by. Regina leaned forward and turned the radio back on to the station we had listened to last night.
“I don't mind if you listen to this for the next few hours, we should be there by early evening.” she said, smiling softly.
Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to pretend I liked this kind of music. I groaned quietly, as the music blared though the car and looked over at the clock, just 7 hours to go, I sighed.
CHAPTER 19
It was shortly after 8 o’clock when Regina pulled into a long narrow path, winding its way through the trees until the path suddenly vanished into the undergrowth.
“It's about a 10 minute walk from here." R said as she stopped the car. "We'll find a gateway which is really intended for emergency exit, but I can get us in from there. We'll have to walk underground for a while and then we should be able to make our way to Jason's room.”
“You lead, I'll follow, remember?” I said, the knot in my stomach growing tighter as the seconds passed by.
The path that lead to the gate was thick and barely trodden and the gates were barely visible. 62935 with two symbols pressed simultaneously before and after, I reminded myself of the code as she entered it into the pad.
A strong scent of dampness hit as we entered the passageway, reminding me of some of the abandoned hallways in the facility I grew up in. It was a sharp, irritable kind of smell, but the memories it brought of the young and vulnerable girl I had been was the most nauseating thing about it.
Staying close to the walls we slipped down the first passageway to a small flight of stairs, which seemed to lead to nowhere except for a closet-sized room. Regina took out a small tool kit she had and began loosening the panels from two cabinets in the wall.
“The electricity runs through these circuits and the cameras run through these.” R said pointing from one cabinet to the other. A small device which looked like some sort of hard drive was at the bottom of the cabinet which controlled the cameras with a number of wires attached to it. Regina had told me the name of the device but as I hadn't paid much attention to her brief I couldn't remember.
“It was safe enough hiding this in here. They only run tests on these circuits once a year, and no one ever checks them in between that.” she said.
She had already explained that she had taken several hours of recordings from one night’s surveillance and was planning to attach the device which contained the recordings to the main system for the cameras. I watched as she fiddled around with the wires that ran through the camera circuits, stripping them and then attaching the alligator clips which were attached to the cameras wires. She had her hair tied back in her usual bun today and was wearing a black turtle-necked top and tight black trousers. If I wasn't already feeling so anxious I could have been impressed, I never knew she twilighted as a cat burglar, I thought.
“Where did you learn how to do this?” I asked.
“The internet mostly.” She said. She was smiling now, obviously proud that she had managed to pique my curiosity. “I also have a cousin who seems to know everything about technology, so I ran a few ideas by him. But I couldn't really tell him what I was planning to do.”
When she had finished setting her device up she reattached the panel and then took a small pair of clippers out.
“I'm going to cut the electricity now and after a few seconds the backup generator will start and my video feed should take over the main cameras.” She said before snipping the wires. The room went black then, just as she had predicted, the electricity came back on. She didn't bother putting this panel back on instead she started making her way back up the stairs, with me following.
“Hold the door.” she said when we reached the doorway that lead to the stairs. She took her screwdriver back out and used it to break the panel from the back of the code lock machine. When the panel was off she simply pulled all the wires into a bundle and cut them. “So they can't get in.” I couldn't help smiling at her. She would have been so cool if she was like this when I was at the facility, I thought.
We continued walking back through the corridors. Left, right, right, I thought, going over the instructions she had given me and then we reached the final hallway, I recognised it from her description, it was a lot longer than the earlier ones and had small dinosaurs painted along the wall on one side. At the end of the hallway, she took a pass card from her pocket and swiped it through a panel in the last door.
“This is it.” she said.
The anxiety that had been simmering finally bubbled over, I inhaled deeply and tried thinking of my 'opposites' to help calm me down, but Peter in all of his monotony was of no use at that time.
Through the shadows of the dimly lit room I could make a number of computers and machines, which also accounted for the faint beeps and murmurs I was also aware of. It was very unlike the room I had held at the facility. But there were a small amount of toys lined along the top of a play table and there, at the end of the room, was a cot surrounded by even more computers and machinery.
R was already attending to one of the machines; pressing buttons and switches in a rushed but completely focused way.
That's him. My heart rose as I approached the cot to see two large, green eyes, seemingly darker than they should be, watching me from behind fluttering eyelids.
“Jason.” I whispered “Are you okay?” I tickled him softly under his chin and watched as t
he corner of his lips twitched. He was trying to smile.
It's not fair, I thought, as he took a gasp for air and then sleepily closed his eyes. They still won.
I stood over him as R frantically collected items from a set of drawers near the cot. His hair was the same golden brown as mine and it hung in small curls around his ears. Slowly I brushed a curl behind his ear which immediately bounced back onto his pale cheek. I had never seen a baby photo of myself but I imagined I could have looked just like him.
Eventually R came over to the cot and dropped some tubes and bottles next to him on the bed.
“We need to hurry up Claudia. Get the bag from the closet.” I looked over to the closet and vaguely remembered her instructions from earlier in the day. I ran over and pulled out the only bag that was in there then I started putting the items Regina had dropped onto the bed into the bag, exactly as she had told me.
“Can't we just grab him and go?” I said.
R sighed out of frustration, “No. I told you, we'll need to take him out with some of this equipment. We can't just disconnect him.”
I looked around the room nervously, wishing I had heeded her instructions more closely. I hadn't anticipated that I would feel so anxious once we got here and now all I could think about was leaving. “What else should I do?” I said.
“Let me just finish getting these things together and then you can lift him out and carry him.”
I nodded. R had told me that I would have to carry him in case he had one of his random surges of heat. I looked back down at Jason who was watching me with heavy, sleepy eyelids and cupped one hand under his head, sliding the other hand under his legs as I waited for her instruction to pick him up.
It was a loud click at the doorway that caught my attention first, before the door swung open to reveal Dr Q, wearing his usual evil smirk, behind it. He looked the same as I remembered him, tall and intimidating.
“I underestimated you Regina.” he said “I knew you would try to get the boy, but I didn't expect you to deliver a replacement.” he looked at me as he spoke.
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