by Jason Luthor
We were placed in separate cells just across from one another, and we were always taken together to the labs. Geller worked on us, among others, but he took the most care to keep us alive. Johnny had worked with him during his time as a research assistant, and Geller had performed the first experiments on him. This was before Johnny was freed by Carthage, only to be captured again. This time, Geller had two subjects. Still, he was never cruel to us. Not like the other scientists. He reserved his cruelty for others.
Yes, there were others in the labs, but it was Johnny they cared most about. During experiments, we were placed in separate rooms and strapped to chairs. They drew blood and injected us with chemicals. I never forgot the feeling of the needles as they punctured my skin, the nausea swirling in my stomach, or the sensation that I was floating on air. I never forgot the wires they stuck to my skin, or the currents of electricity they shot through my body. I never forgot how they placed a cover over my eyes, how they placed a headset over my ears, and how they cut me off from any ability to see or hear before shutting me in a tank full of water. I can still see the lid as it closed, sealing me inside as if I was being buried in a coffin. Then it was just me, unable to hear my own voice, unable to see a thing, and shut away as the chemicals in my system tore my mind from my body.
But what I will truly never forget is the day I became aware of Johnny going through the same process. It was like a vision approaching me in the darkness, a sensation that I was no longer alone, as if I could feel the agony of another person going through the same thing that I was. I like to believe it was the connection we shared. The connection only a brother and sister can have.
The weeks that followed were not merciful. Every day, there was another trip into the water tanks, but now Johnny and I shared something no one could take away. We could touch each other’s minds. We could speak to each other, even if we were in other rooms. We comforted each other when we would be trotted away. We spoke to one another from our separate cells, using the connection in our minds, and we shared each other’s pain when we were tortured. I shared every current of electricity they ever ran through his body, and he shared every painful injection I endured.
Everything changed the day that the researchers decided to introduce the Creep into their studies. They were aware of the powers Johnny and I were manifesting. We could tell them about things happening in distant parts of the Tower. We could look into their bodies and tell them what was happening in their blood, or find diseases in them not even their machines could detect yet. They reported all this to the Builders, and the final decision was made to test Johnny. To see if he could control the Creep. They did the same with me.
We were electrocuted alive. They filled our cells with currents of electricity, but he and I shared each other’s pain. Otherwise, I don’t know if I could have kept on. Then there was the Creep. Day by day, a little more, dripped into the rooms, until it was growing along the walls. I could feel it on my skin and feel the darkness eating into my mind. I shared it with Johnny, a double insanity. Every day, he told me to hold on a little longer. Every day, I told him I loved him. And every day, we cried in agony as they continued to torture us, electrifying our cells and watching as the Creep fed on our despair. It was alive, and growing, and becoming stronger.
And then, one day, Johnny’s mind was cut off from mine. When I woke that morning, it was to scientists and researchers gathered around his cell. There were screams and shouting, and people yelling he was dead. That my brother, my Johnny, was dead. I couldn’t feel him, couldn’t reach him, but when the scientists opened his cell, there he was. He was limp, covered in the Creep, as if it had consumed him overnight. He was just lying on the floor, a translucent layer enveloping him from head to toe. Johnny didn’t move, didn’t breathe. He was gone.
He was gone.
And that was the first moment it ever happened. The first time my mind touched something else . . . something alive and terrible. My rage burned inside my chest like an eternal fire, like a hatred I had never known, a fury I could not understand. And I . . . I screamed, and in a moment, the Creep around me became a whirlwind of death. It grew until it broke the walls and burst the glass doors of my prison, stretched and pulled and became stronger, until it was a writhing sea of tendrils that swept through the prison halls. And I screamed, and I screamed, and I screamed, until the whole of the prison had been wiped clean. Until there was no one left living except for me.
Johnny was the first to bond with the Creep, but I was the first to command it.
There is no wrath like that of a Judge.
The violence may have gone longer. It might have scoured the entire floor, except for the one sudden sound. Except for the sudden gasp that shook me, that instantly quenched the fire inside of me. It was the sound of Johnny breathing. I ran to him, and the Creep withdrew, as if it was frightened by me. It slinked away as I walked to him, disappeared into the walls and into the vents as I approached. And then, I just held my brother, cradling him until he could speak to me.
When the armies of Security were sent to take us, I didn’t resist. Johnny still needed help, help I couldn’t give him. Still, things were never quite the same afterward. They started treating us differently, less like prisoners and more like guests. After seeing what I had done . . . I was horrified. I couldn’t believe the destruction I’d caused. I wanted them to help me control it. I wanted to find a way to help the people in the Tower. Johnny never agreed. He grew angrier and angrier, even as he started becoming capable of controlling the Creep as well. He never trusted them. I didn’t either, but something had died the day Johnny stopped breathing. The Johnny I knew was gone. The new Johnny still wanted to protect me, but he couldn’t imagine any way of doing that while Tower Authority existed.
I wasn’t surprised the day I woke to the sounds of screams and men dying. I wasn’t surprised to find the entire hallway utterly destroyed. Johnny justified it all by saying he had to protect me. That the Tower would eventually betray us. Maybe he was right, but I couldn’t justify the death. Johnny wanted to start a war, one that would take tens of thousands of innocent lives. He didn’t even care about leaving the Tower anymore. He just wanted to wipe the entire place clean. He kept justifying it, saying he was doing it for me, always saying it was for me. I couldn’t convince him otherwise, couldn’t make him see that it was wrong.
And so our war began. I know Johnny was wrong for what he did. I only want you to know what made him begin his battle in the first place. No one can imagine what it’s like to lose your family, to see the person you love most tortured, and through it all to be tortured yourself. Johnny lost himself the day his mind went dark to me, but he didn’t ask for that. We never asked to be made into weapons. Whatever else you remember about us, remember that we didn’t ask to be made into what we became.
An Unidentified Recorder
“Good morning, Jackie Coleman. Happy Birthday.”
The voice snaps me from the nightmare I’m having. When my eyes open, they’re still burning with images of destroyed hallways and people firing thousands of rounds into Johnny. I can still feel the pain of being electrocuted as Tower Authority fries me through dozens of wires attached to my skin. It’s all so overwhelming that it almost feels impossible to breathe, like the anxiety and pain of my dream is still too real. Then everything starts to calm down, and I actually get a good look at where I’m sitting. That’s when the last real memory I have comes back to me: the memory of the rose patch. Just thinking about it makes me snap, and I grab at my chest and stomach because I fully expect to be bleeding out all over the place. That’s the tricky part. I’m not wearing my vest or my uniform anymore, and the weird reinforced bodysuit I have on doesn’t let me see if I’ve got open wounds. Still, I don’t feel any pain, which is weird since I’m pretty sure I remember dying.
“What happened to me?”
“That’s quite the intriguing question, with even more tantalizing answers.”
At this point,
I’m sick of riddles. “I know you like talking like we’re in a game or something, but just for once, could you be straight with me? I did what I had to, right? Judge is gone. I mean, he is, right?”
“He is. Your point, though, is taken. No riddles. Not for the one who has already found so many answers. Perhaps a more straight forward approach is in order.” The open air I’m staring into suddenly looks like it’s splitting apart. It’s like watching a Pocket Space window opening up, except this one’s full of crimson light. A silhouette forms in the open portal and completely materializes before the window closes behind it. The Stranger. “Let us speak, Jackie Coleman.”
“I just need to know what happened to me. How am I here? Did I . . . did I die?”
“Is that so surprising? It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“The hole . . .”
“A fall so far that no one could have survived. There was no cushioning to save you. Or did you naively think that you survived it?”
When he says it, it’s like a memory I’ve been blocking that suddenly sparks to life. It’s painful, like I feel the crack of my body when it hits the floor. It feels so bad that I grab at my chest, as if I’m feeling the impact for the first time. “You said you just sparked me back to life or something. You told me you didn’t do anything to me.”
“Because you have accomplished such an amazing feat, I feel, at least in this moment, that you deserve a full accounting of what happened. Though, I should warn you, never be so convinced of my power that you think I am withholding from you.”
“What do you mean?”
“My part in your resurrection was only a minor one. Indeed, I only sparked the life that was already in you. When I came to you, there was already another force at work inside your body.”
“The infection. The Creep infection.”
“Of a sort. Your infection was unique in all the world. Unlike all other hosts, unlike all others possessed, even unlike Judge, you were infected by a second form of cells. What you call Sally Cells. And, unlike in all other cases throughout the history of the Tower, these cells did not consume you. They were already rooted to your body, like tree roots on a river bank. You were on the edge of the void. I only applied the spark that anchored you on this side. And now? I’ve played no part in the fact that the cells inside of you still refuse to cannibalize you.”
“Then what’s keeping them from eating me from the inside out?”
“Perfect symbiosis. You’re not like them, Judge or Sally. You don’t possess the powerful psychic potential they did, which made them ideal first candidates for bonding. And yet, here you are, the first human in five centuries to survive this deep an infection.” He pauses and smiles, looking too amused for me to enjoy. “The energy in your cells that keeps the Creep at bay.”
“Yeah, Sally mentioned that. That’s not you?”
“No, but it’s yet another intriguing mystery. That energy is uniquely you, but we might solve its secrets in time.”
I’m just nodding as I slide to the edge of the bed. Before I even try and put any weight down, I test the floor, just to make sure I have the strength to stand. It’s actually a little surprising that I feel as strong as I do. “I feel like nothing even happened to me.”
“The cells in your body performed what some would call a miraculous work of repair. All your fractured bones sealed, and all your internal hemorrhaging stopped. All your organ damage regenerated. Why, if you didn’t have your sanity about you, I’d swear you were a Creeper, Jackie Coleman.”
“So, my body heals because of this Creep infection. That’s what you’re saying?”
He laughs when I say it. “Jackie, you delivered a blow that knocked loose the jaw of an advanced evolutionary creature whose body was adapted to withstanding gunfire and explosions. You are capable of far more than just healing.”
“I’m strong.”
“That’s all you are, for now.”
“You mean there’s more that’s going to happen?”
He stops. The Stranger never seems confused, so it’s scary to see him hesitate. “The cells within you are still making you stronger. I didn’t wake you up this time, Jackie Coleman. I merely unsealed the stasis chamber keeping you restrained to that bed. You are becoming . . .”
“What?”
“Something very intriguing.”
“I’m not going to get possessed, am I? I’m not going to become like one of the Creepers? You just said the cells were—”
“In symbiosis. Supplementing you instead of overpowering you. These cells, by their nature, seek to consume. In your case, they have chosen to limit themselves. Such a crude way to describe such a complex process. Still, you are in no danger of becoming, as you put it, possessed.”
“That’s about all I really wanted to hear, actually.” I’m patting at my stomach and sides as I’m walking around. The suit’s fine, just not what I’m used to. “I guess my uniform’s pretty torn up.”
“After your battle, it was beyond recovery. But do not think so small. The suit you’ve been encased within was quite the gift. I have a suspicion that the doctor who attended to you thought you might recover.”
“Why do you say that?”
The Stranger gives me this odd half smile. “What you’ve woken up in is an ancient Security battle suit. You must feel it, the reinforced parts around the chest, arms, and legs. I imagine it’s enough plating to take a bullet to the chest and not lose a step. You may find it interesting that the nanite repair technology inside the suit is also capable of regenerating any damage to it. It’s almost like a living, second skin.”
“Why would he give this to me?”
“The good doctor isn’t stupid. I assume he felt you were the person best suited to using it. Now, press the button at the side of your neck.”
I do, but I almost jump out of my body when I feel a buzzing around my face. It creeps up the back of my neck and over my head, like someone running fingers just over the edge of my skin. It tingles and sends my heart almost beating through my chest as I feel a sudden weight on my skull. Then I’m just standing there and watching as everything in front of my eyes changes, like out of nowhere some sort of visor just pops into existence and changes my view. Suddenly, I’ve got labels on every piece of tech in the lab, plus these readouts I don’t understand. It happens quick enough that I’m left grabbing at my skull, only to push into hard metal that’s wrapped around my head. “What is this?”
“My, my. I haven’t seen that occurrence in centuries. Just now, the suit drew from Pocket Space and literally materialized the helmet you’re now wearing. Even a person who doesn’t care for the Builders would admit that, at the height of their technology, they were quite impressive.”
“And all the stuff I’m seeing on this visor?”
“The helmet grants you information concerning everything you see, although you may be interested in the ways it allows you to see the energy that fills the air. All the wavelengths of the universe painted in front of your eyes.”
“So, basically, night vision? Heat vision? That sort of thing?”
“Precisely.”
“Cool.” It is, but I’d rather see with my own two eyes for now. A press of the button on my neck is followed by that same tingling, and I can literally feel as the helmet vanishes back into whatever point in Pocket Space it’s come from. When it’s finished, I just stare around the room for a second, trying to find any signs of where anyone else might be. “So, this doctor you were talking about. Where is he?”
“Gone from the Tower, along with your friends.”
“Which was . . . when?”
“Time is not a river, and it passes differently from my perspective. For you, it has most likely been almost seven weeks since he departed.”
When I hear the words, I nearly slam against the wall. It’s like my body refuses to believe what I’ve just heard. “What the hell? Two months?”
“Jackie, you don’t appear to be happy.”
&nbs
p; “Well, where are they? Where did they go?”
“Eventually, you will accept that I am not the omniscient being you believe me to be. In fact, I am only now regaining lost memories, now that Judge’s presence is no longer in the Creep. His very existence blocked pathways to certain thoughts and history, even if he did not do so consciously. Still, my point remains. I do not know where they might have gone.”
“But they were alive? Safe?”
“With all their limbs intact.”
I nod as I look around. “That’s all that matters.”
“You’ve just discovered that you have the incredible ability to recover from near-death, and that you are now encased in one of the finest pieces of Tower military technology ever created, and yet your friends’ safety is all that matters?”
“Yeah.” I glare at him. Maybe beating Judge just made me cocky, but I’m not scared anymore. “It’s the only thing that ever matters.”
“Well, I did say I chose you to follow because you were so intriguing. Don’t make the mistake that I’ll be so forthcoming in the days following this conversation. It is simply that victors deserve spoils.”
“You’re just happy I freed up some of your memories.”
“If that’s what you want to believe.”
“Well, how do we get out of this place?”
“Through the door and down the hall. The first floor of the Tower was always home to the most robust Security station in the whole of it, complete with the medical technology that kept you alive.” He grins. “And restrained.”
He’s barely gotten the words out before I’m walking down the hall. “I don’t suppose there’s a way to keep a record of what I’m thinking in this tin can?”
“Back from the dead but still obsessed with that hobby of yours?”