by Azalea Ellis
Blaine was looking at the three of us with a lot of confusion, but with much too much curiosity and not nearly enough naked terror.
His eyes met mine again, and I smiled calmly. “There are other ways to make you talk, if asking nicely doesn’t work.” I wasn’t bluffing. I would do anything necessary to get the information from him, but I hoped that he saw my resolve and would spare me from having to do anything messy.
“I think you should see this!” Adam called from the doorway.
China stood behind him, eyes open wide and breathing shallowly, her body almost vibrating.
“What is it?”
Adam smiled. “I’m not sure yet. It’s best if you see for yourself, I think. It’s downstairs.”
Blaine’s eyes widened, and I saw the first hint of true fear come into his eyes.
“Well, Blaine, let’s see what you’ve got down there, shall we?” I said.
He looked between Adam and me. “How do you know my name? Who are you? Why are you doing this?”
I nodded to Jacky. “Bring him, please.”
She drug him by his bound legs, bouncing him painfully behind us down the stairs to the cement and metal basement door, where Adam proceeded to override the electronic locking system.
China was as tense as a coiled spring, ready to shoot toward whatever was on the other side.
The door opened into a large lab. It had stone chemist tables and drains in the floor, research equipment and electronics everywhere, half-built gadgets, a wall lined with computers, and vials of strange liquids all laid out haphazardly. There were several other closed cement doors leading through to other basement rooms.
I started to walk through the room, examining the pieces of scattered machinery and the samples he’d been working on, while Adam and China started opening the other doors.
Jacky bumped Dr. Mendell down the last few stairs, ignoring his loud protests. “You’ve been quite naughty, have you not, Doctor?” she said, her Spanish accent growing strong.
Sam grabbed him by the arms and helped him to sit on one of the stools. “Why don’t you tell us all what you’ve been doing here? We’re not here to hurt you, if you’d just talk to us…”
He swallowed, but croaked, “I’m doing medical research. Attempting to find a cure for cancer.”
My heart beat faster as adrenaline surged through my veins. He was lying. I knew, because on the table in front of me lay something that definitely didn’t look like cancer research. Pinched between two slides, under one of the microscope lenses, was a fluid that sparkled like a Seed.
I looked through the lens and saw wiggling, teeny tiny microscopic organisms, so thickly packed I could barely tell where one ended and the other began. Little bug-like creatures. I snapped my head back, away from the microscope’s eye piece. I unclipped the slide and gently took it out, holding it up to the harsh light above.
It shimmered and swirled over and under itself, moving constantly.
My breath came hard, and my hands shook. I cradled the slide in my hand and walked back to Blaine, showing it to him.
His loud protests, declarations of innocence, and wriggling ceased.
I touched him under the chin with the forefinger of my free hand and forced him to look at me, barely holding back my sharp nails from sliding forth. “Do you know what this is?”
He didn’t shake his head this time. He didn’t say anything. He just swallowed and looked into my eyes, desperation growing in his own.
“I know what it is,” I said. “And I know you do, too. I also know who you work for. You absolutely are going to tell us what you know. Because we’re patient, you haven’t been trained to withstand torture, and no one is coming to save you.”
I turned to Jacky. “Please pulverize the pinky finger of his left hand from the last knuckle to the tip.” I turned to him. “Oh, and do it slowly, please.”
Sam’s voice came out, almost silent. “Is this really necessary?”
“If he’s going to talk without it, then no.” I raised an eyebrow. “Well, are you? Tell us everything you know and we won’t hurt you, how about it?”
Blaine had stilled, but he said nothing.
“So be it. This is my question. What are you working on, down here in your secret lab?”
Jacky had grabbed his left hand already, a vicious, white grin stretching behind her mask. She pressed on the tip of his pinky, pinching it harder and harder until his face grew white with shock.
He turned red, and then white again, and started to pant and buck against his restraints.
Sam stepped forward. “This isn’t right. Torturing him makes it like we’re the bad guys.”
Jacky looked to me, still pressing, obviously reluctant to quit.
I nodded to her and motioned with my hand, and she dropped his bound hands with a disappointed sigh.
Sam sighed as well, and smiled at me.
“Move on to the next finger,” I said.
Sam’s eyes widened, and he moved to stand in front of Blaine. “Come on, guys. Just stop!”
I stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm, and murmured so that the scientist couldn’t hear. “I know this is difficult. But you have to understand we’re not the ones in the wrong. He knows about what NIX does. He helps them. Think about the people whose lives he’s had a hand in destroying, how many people he’s helped them kill. He’s part of the people that did this to you, to us. He doesn’t deserve your protection.” I pulled gently, and as if the strength to oppose me had left him, Sam stepped away. “If it’s too much for you to watch, why don’t you go explore the other rooms with those two?” I pointed to Adam and China.
He swallowed. “No, I’ll stay.”
Blaine held his trembling hands in front of his face, and I saw that his left pinky was flattened unnaturally, a white color that was quickly turning purplish red as it filled with blood. Jacky had pulverized it, similar to what she’d demonstrated with the tree limb in China’s backyard.
She shook her head ruefully. “That’s gonna be hard to use from now on. You shoulda cooperated from the beginning. There’s no mercy to be found here.”
Sam swallowed again, staring at the crushed finger intently. He looked away after a second and took a deep breath, but his own hands were clenched at his sides, and he didn’t try to stop us.
“She’s right,” I said. “Now, once again. What exactly are you working on?”
Blaine sputtered and panted. “I’m working on a cure for cancer,” he repeated.
Before Jacky could start to press again, China stomped past her, grabbed Blaine by the hair on the back of his head, and held a knife to his throat. She was panting and red-faced. “Where is she?” Her voice cracked.
I looked over my shoulder to Adam, who shook his head. All the doors were open, but apparently none of the rooms contained human subjects.
When the scientist didn’t respond, her voice morphed into a scream. “Where is she! Where? Tell me, right now!” She pressed the knife forward, and a generous line of blood started to run down his neck.
He held himself still to avoid cutting his own neck. “What? I don’t know who you are talking about.”
She screamed again, spit flying into his face. “Don’t. Lie! I know you took her. NIX took her to do research on. I know you have her. My sister! Where is she?”
His shoulders slumped, whatever had been keeping him strong slipping away. “They took your sister?”
“Why the hell do you think I’m here? They were supposed to bring her here. You’re doing research on her! I’m going to save her, and if you don’t tell me where she is, I’ll slit your throat, right now.”
He closed his eyes for a second, pain radiating from him. “I’m sorry. She’s not here. I don’t have her.” He looked at me, over her shoulder. “I’m sorry. I was told if I revealed information about them, they would…” he swallowed against the blade. “They took my niece and nephew, too. As hostages.”
* * *
“
What? You have to have her. If she isn’t here…” China stared at him for a few moments, and then slipped away like she’d been de-boned. “Where is she?” She looked to me.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. But it’s not the end yet. There’s still hope.”
She leaned forward until her head rested against my torso, and wrapped her arms loosely around my waist. “Promise me we’ll find her, Eve. I can’t stand it, imagining what she’s going through. If they haven’t killed her…” Her small body shuddered, and she squeezed tighter.
Despite myself, my heart clenched in response. I petted her blonde head and said, “She’s strong. She’s a fighter. You know that better than anyone. We’ll find her. I promise.” The last part felt like it might be a lie, but even I couldn’t tell for sure. I looked up at the doctor. “You’d better start talking, right now.”
He nodded quickly as Jacky reached for his bound hands again. “I was a researcher. Before all this. A physicist, an engineer, and I loved it, the work, the respect, the money,” he blurted. “Then, my sister got diagnosed with cancer, and when she died I quit all that because I promised I’d take care of her kids. NIX contacted me, requested I work for them, but I refused. So they took my remaining family to use as blackmail against me. I had no choice but to work for them. They furnished this place with equipment and deposit money into my bank account every month. In return, whenever I’m able to produce something valuable—research, or an invention—for them, they give me proof of life.”
Adam’s eyes narrowed. “How do you turn over your results to them?”
“I send them a message,” he jerked his head toward the computers lined up against the wall, “and they respond with a time to meet, and GPS coordinates.”
“How far away and how far in advance is the average meeting they give you?”
“It’s usually quite immediate. A couple hours of warning, and most of the time is used up driving to wherever they want to meet.” He looked at China, who had calmed down, but was still letting herself be petted by me, and then to me. “I’m sorry. I had no options. I didn’t know what to do. I had to keep my sister’s kids safe, and it’s not like I could go to the police. Even now, if they learn that you were here, I don’t know what they will do. But if they are doing this to other people, too…you’re the same as me. I don’t know what, but if there is anything I can do to help, I will do it.”
I nodded immediately. “I’ll take you up on that offer.”
Adam’s head snapped toward me with a deep frown, but I ignored him and continued talking. “But you must be willing to accept the risk involved.”
Blaine smiled for the first time, despite the fact he was still tied up by four masked people who’d tortured him, and his crushed finger must have been screaming with pain. “I’ve been in danger since they decided they wanted my help in the first place. I don’t want things to continue on as they have been, so something must change. It is insanity to keep doing the same fruitless thing in the hope that it will suddenly become profitable. They’re never going to give my niece and nephew back on their own.”
China pulled back from me, and gave him a weak smile. “Sorry for threatening to kill you.”
“I would have done the same,” he murmured, “if I thought the kiddos were being held here.”
I untied Blaine’s bonds, and nodded to Sam, who I knew had been itching with the desire to heal him. “Go ahead.”
Blaine’s eyes grew wide as he watched Sam’s Skill go to work. When it was done, he gently touched the healed finger, his mouth hanging open. “Spontaneous regeneration. That’s amazing. This is decades ahead of the research in the field right now. What did you use to do that? Could I see it? I’d like to examine how it works.” His eyes searched Sam’s empty hands for the cause of his healing, and then went back to his finger.
“Do you know what NIX does?” I asked.
He drug his eyes to mine for a second. “From the things I’ve been asked to research, I’ve gathered that they’re an arms manufacturer. Advanced weapons technology, biological warfare, that sort of thing. Maybe selling on the black market to the highest bidding country, or maybe they’re a military operation.”
“Do you know what this is?” I held up the slide of shimmering Seed material.
His face brightened. “It’s the most amazing thing—completely autonomous organisms that seem to share a common consciousness, I’ve never seen anything like them before. I received that sample just a few days ago. Honestly, I think, I think they might be a cure to cancer.” he blinked, “Isn’t that ironic? But of course that’s not what they want me to do with them. Even so, my research could be beneficial, if I could release it to the world.”
DO IT AND YOU’LL DIE, DUMBASS. NIX WOULD NEVER ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN.
—Bunny—
“Have you heard of the Game, Blaine?” I ignored Bunny’s warning to Blaine, who’d couldn’t receive our Moderator’s message anyway.
DON’T YOU DO SOMETHING STUPID, EVE. DON’T YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST RULE? YOU CAN’T DIVULGE INFORMATION TO NON-PLAYERS.
—Bunny—
“Are you going to kill him if I do? He’s already unable to tell anyone else. And he’s already involved in all of this. Hell, he’s studying the Seeds! Just because he doesn’t use them like we do doesn’t mean he’s not the same as us. He’s trapped, too, already dealing with everything. He just doesn’t know what that is. I’m not going to reveal it to him, just explain it.”
Bunny didn’t respond, and I knew it was because he couldn’t technically argue with my logic.
Blaine was staring at me strangely. “Umm, who are you talking to? Are you wearing an earpiece?”
I laughed. “No. It’s the voice in my head.” I ignored his look of bewilderment, and explained the Game and Trials, our status as Players, and the little we knew about NIX. While Blaine’s head still seemed to be spinning from that, I had him show us around his laboratory and explain what he was working on.
Projects in various states of completion were strewn all about the room. “I prefer to work on defensive capability things, rather than weapons, though I do both types of projects. I’ve got a few going on right now, as you can see.” He gestured all around us. “But most recently I’ve been examining the samples they sent to me…the Seeds, you called them, and something else, which I’m assuming are the samples from…the ones they took, like your sister. I’m trying to figure out how exactly they work, and from there how I can make them do other things. Other than that, I’m working on a lightweight synthetic armor—better than Kevlar, a serum that temporarily stops the pain receptors in your brain from working, and a substance that can stay strong while being thin enough to slice apart molecules. I just finished a mecha suit, an electrically powered framework for soldiers to wear, but the energy requirements make it unfeasible for extended use in combat. Of course, I’m particularly excited about the Seed material, and the things you’ve just described to me. I’d gotten some things from NIX to research before. Things that made me wonder why they even needed my help, if they had technology like that. I even considered that they might have excavated some ancient alien city.” He laughed.
That gave me pause, and I didn’t know how to respond, but Adam spoke up. “Why does NIX need you? I find it hard to believe an organization like theirs is lacking in scientists of their own. And even so, why do they allow you to do your research here? Why not just keep you wherever their actual base is and have you work there?” he challenged.
Blaine shrugged. “They need me because I’m very, very good at what I do. And I’ve always preferred to work in solitude no assistants, no distractions. I’m kinda known for not wanting a research team; idiots only hinder me. Maybe they want to preserve my working environment. Or maybe they don’t want me anywhere near my niece and nephew, or they don’t want me within their base for some other reason. Honestly, I don’t know.”
I walked around to investigate the connecting basement rooms. One was a quara
ntine room, with an air-sealed large glass box within, and I wondered just what he worked on that might require such precautions. Another was a storage room for supplies and equipment, another a small closet with a cot in it, but the last was pay dirt.
“Hell yes,” I said aloud. Windows cut into the concrete walls near the high ceiling right at ground level would have let light into the large room, if there were any outside. But it didn’t matter, because my eyes automatically compensated.
It was dusty and cobwebby enough to be on the set of a horror movie. Random, rusty bits of metal, tools, and various boxes laid all around and stacked against the walls. Two staircases on either side of the room led up to a second-story loft that ran a third of the width and the whole length of the room. I stepped forward. “This place is awesome.”
I waved away a spider web and stepped onto the bottom step of the nearest staircase. A probing push with my foot proved it to be stable. “Except for the dirt.” I turned to Blaine. “You said you wanted to help, right?”
He nodded, tilting his head to the side in an unspoken question.
“Guys,” I spread my arms wide. “Behold our new base.”
Chapter 16
For evil to triumph it is enough only that good men do nothing.
— Edmund Burke
I crept back into my house late that night and curled up in bed. Adam had of course protested my decision, not trusting Blaine or his house-slash-secret-laboratory. We’d compromised by locking Blaine in the quarantine room and changing all the passwords to his security system. The scientist hadn’t enjoyed that, but I’d told him to suck it up, because as punishments go, the things he’d participated in deserved much worse. That shut him up, and I told him I’d be back for him soon. I’d even left him the rest of the pizza and some water.
I’d told Adam to work on making our base safe from NIX, cutting off their access to the security cameras and microphones without them realizing. China would then thoroughly comb the house, making sure there weren’t any other monitoring devices. My house was next on the list, but I figured the base took first priority.