by Thomas Shaw
It was a long process, but we got it done considerably quicker than I had envisioned, it helped greatly that we didn’t sleep. I started to notice that the others were showing signs of irritation. They bickered and argued over little things, but seemed to snap out of it quite quickly, apologising to one another and continuing with their jobs.
Very late, the next day, Two and Five returned with ten more people. They were struggling and complaining that they had changed their mind, that they didn’t want to be here.
They restrained the new people in an empty room whilst myself and Three prepared new stasis tanks.
Once ready, we placed the machine in the room with the, now bound, people. Five inserted a container of the Cure All drug version 3.3 into the machine and we left the room. The machine was on a timer, and from what I could gather during its construction, it would detonate like a smoke grenade. I closed the door and watched as they struggled and tried to break free of their restraints. Their screams echoed along the halls, Two had the idea of gagging them, however I thought that might prevent them from inhaling the drug. It didn’t matter anyway, it wasn’t like anyone was going to hear them. I haven’t told them what was going to happen, but I explained that what we were doing would benefit them greatly and that in the end they would be grateful.
We waited, watching the people got tired from trying to break out and finally relax.
And then... it went off.
It was more extreme than I had anticipated. With a low boom, a cloud of gas exploded out of the device, instantly fogging up the whole room. A murky green smog was everywhere, and we couldn’t see anything inside. I went to open the door, but a hand laid on mine, stopping me. I looked up and saw Five. He shook his head and flicked a switch by the door. A whirling sound started, and the gas began the dissipate. I watched as it compliantly disappeared, and noticed, in the corner of the room, a small ventilation shaft with a fan.
“Where does that go?” I asked myself, but out loud.
Five let go of my hand and switched off the fan, “There is incinerator underground. Gas is highly flammable. Vent goes down there, gas is taken care of”
I nodded then opened the door. The people were all laid on the ground moaning and coughing. They hadn’t changed yet so I ordered them moved to the stasis tanks. As we removed the bonds that kept them attached to the walls, they collapsed on the floor and their skin started to lose its colour. I crouched down by the side of one of them and touched the side of his face, he was cold, like he was dead.
Then his eyes shot open and his pupil looked directly at me. He breathed out, like he had been holding his breath for an eternity. I looked up and saw the others doing the same.
They all sat up and looked at us. I questioned him immediately, “Do you know where you are?”
The man shook his head. Large clumps of hair started dropping from his head. He didn’t even look down at the ground. He just kept his eyes on me, “Where am I?”
I smiled, “Home”
I sent all the subjects to the stasis chambers to rest and had the others meet me in the room where we had all awoken. I stood in front of them like a general inspecting his troops. The lack of sleep seemed to be affecting us all now physically. We were all hunching over, eyes were bright red from the strain and some of us were twitching every now and then.
I cleared my throat to get their attention, “We've had a very lucky break here. We know now what we can do. We need a larger explosion and a large crown to detonate it in- “
Three spoke up and stepped forward, “No, we can’t do that, we could hurt someone!”
Three just couldn’t see it. Still! I explained to them all my full plan: I intended to turn the whole island into these compliant minions. Then we would get to work on a newer chemical which would turn them into advanced creatures like ourselves. We had seen that these new drones were already one step away from human: Five had informed me that during the creation of the distribution machine one of them had burned themselves whilst mixing some chemicals but his arm had healed with no scar tissue. Another had a bolt shot at high velocity into her shoulder, but it didn’t even penetrate the skin! The only thing that was missing was the raw strength and agility we had. Three bowed his head in agreement and stepped back in line.
“New Year’s eve. I saw a sign for a large party at the city centre plaza. We take the explosive there and catch everyone off guard. That way we can guarantee that we will have a large number of new subjects, and a good majority of them will be young and able to do more” I have them new jobs to do, Two and Three were to work on plans for transport, Five was to make a bigger distributor and Four was to oversee the development of the new Test subjects. I headed back to the office, to continue reading through the files.
I was still going through the interview reports:
Date of interview: 07/02/2109
Subject: 006P
Interviewer: Dr. Edward Wright
Testing Phase: 2.1
Dr. Wright: Now if we could just start with-
(At this point Subject 006P started scratching at his own arms deeply. Blood pouring on the table. Dr. Wright called for guards to help restrain Subject 006P)
Dr. Wright: Peter, why did you do that?
006P: My body. It doesn’t feel like my own. What’s happening to me?
Dr. Wright: Right now, your bodies DNA is getting corrected. Eliminating the bad stuff, and replacing it with newer better tissue.
006P: Newer? Better?
Dr. Wright: Yes. We’re trying to help you Peter. Don’t worry.
(After this interview, Subject 006P was sedated and kept at Site 3 overnight. He was released the next day after being supervised and no more self-harming incidents arising)
Transcribed by Dr. E Wright
Seemed like the serum was the cause of Six’s anger and agitation. I continued:
Date of interview: 30/05/2109
Subject: 004T
Interviewer: Dr. Edward Wright
Testing Phase: 2.2
Dr. Wright: I’m glad to see you Tim. The others haven’t turned up or responded to our messages.
004T: I had nowhere else to go. I’ve been kicked out of the house.
Dr. Wright: I’m sorry to hear that Tim. Now if we could just-
004T: I hardly touched them. But they just wouldn’t listen.
Dr. Wright: Sorry, who wouldn’t listen?
004T: My girls.
Dr. Wright: Your daughters? Samantha and Katie?
004T: (Nodding) Yes. They just wouldn’t shut up.
(Subject 004T started to become agitated so Dr. Wright tripped the silent alarm)
Dr. Wright: Why don’t we just focus on our latest-
004T: I told them to be quiet. I made myself clear that I had a headache, but they just kept going, louder and louder.
Dr. Wright: Did you hurt them?
004T: Katie. I put my hands around her neck. I started to squeeze, and Samantha called for her mother. She came in and shoved me off of her. She threatened me with the police if I didn’t leave straight away.
Dr. Wright: Was this today?
004T: Yes. You know what’s scary doctor? Even after I realised what I did, I didn’t regret it. They should’ve known not to do it.
Dr. Wright: It's ok, I understand. Now I have the next stage of the drug right in my pocket. Let’s get this injected in you now and you can be on your way.
(Subject 004T agreed. Dr. Wright sedates Subject 004T at this stage and moved him to containment. As of the 2nd of June 2109, Subject 004T still under lockdown)
Transcribed by Dr. E Wright
What the hell! I had found my hands covering my mouth in shock. He hadn’t mentioned that he had had kids, although I’m not fully sure even he remembered. I didn’t want to see what was next and went to close the file, but I saw the subject name. It was me:
Date of interview: 26/06/2109
Subject: 001C
Interviewer: Dr. Edward Wright
&nb
sp; Testing Phase: 3.0
Dr. Wright: How do you feel today?
001C: Cold
Dr. Wright: Can you explain to me what you did?
001C: Where am I?
Dr. Wright: For your safety, we’ve moved you into a more secure area.
001C: For my safety? What’s wrong?
Dr. Wright: Charlie, can you remember what you’ve done?
001C: Charlie? Is that me?
(Interview cut short. Following interviews with all subjects shows loss of memory. Interviews suspended for time being)
Transcribed by Dr. E Wright
What had I done? I looked at the date then remembered the date from Darren’s email to the scientist. Just over two weeks from Darren asking why there’d been murders. I couldn’t have, I wouldn’t have. Even now I didn’t want to kill anyone. I just wanted to make this world a better place. I closed down the computer and headed out of the room. I needed to clear my head so I went for a walk.
I found myself in the surveillance room with Seven. He hadn’t even noticed me come in.
I was still shocked at what I had read, and was trying to get my head around it.
“Seven” I murmured.
He spun round, as if he knew I was there all along, “Yes One. What is it?”
“Do you have any recollection about our testing? Or what we went through to become what we are now?”
Seven stared at me and then smiled, “No. nothing. Why?”
“You don’t remember murdering anyone? Or hearing about any of us committing murder?”
He shook his head, “No. I think that would be something I wouldn’t forget. How are we doing with our new recruits?”
“We now have a total of twenty-one people now all willing to obey our every word”
“Good. Good” Seven said and he turned back to the screens.
I walked over and started looking around. I watched people walking to work, cars driving down the streets and...
“It’s her!” I gasped. I raised a hand and pointed to a screen with a woman entering a shop.
I couldn’t have mistaken her for anyone else.
“Who?” Seven asked and he shuffled over to see mother screen I was watching.
She was still as radiant as the first time I had seen her. She had large sunglasses on, strange for this time of the year, but the sun was bright out today. She was wearing the same coat as last time and same turquoise hat. The colour of her hair was amazing on the screen, her perfect coiled hair bobbing up and down as she walked in to a clothing store.
“There’s a woman I saw. I don’t know why but I’m drawn to her, like she’s important to me or something”
“Then why don’t you- “
But before Seven could finish I was already leaving. I headed immediately back down to the laboratory and grabbed a large cloth poncho (We had found a large box of them in a store room, presumably made for us). I needed to get close to her and the last thing I wanted was to be stopped by people. The pockets felt full, but I was too concerned with getting to her in time than to start checking through the pockets.
On my way through the corridors I saw Two. I told him to keep the plan going until I returned. He asked where I was going but I lied and said I was getting more people. Luckily, he bought it and went back to work.
I left the building and stepped out into the car park. The air was cold and crisp, and the sun shone brightly in the sky. I took a deep breath and ran as quickly as I could down the road towards the city.
8
I perched myself on top of the building opposite that I had seen the woman go inside. I opted for watching from a distance. And as I crouched waiting, I wondered why this woman drew me close to her. The obvious came to mind: she was my wife, my fiancée or girlfriend. But someone that important to me would surely have left even the smallest memory ingrained inside of me. But I did not know this woman or recognise her. She was just captivating.
Then she walked out. Time seemed to freeze, and my heart started beating a little faster. She walked out and turned right, heading off down the street. I jumped down from the roof and slid down the wall, landing and the ground in between the two buildings. I walked out into the street and attempted to blend in the crowd, following the woman. As I followed, we passed through the City Centre Plaza and I could see all the final preparations for the New Year’s Eve party. Surrounding the plaza were bars and restaurants and each one had staff members putting up banners, lighting and tables and chairs. Posters were up on lampposts advertising the 24th annual New Year’s Eve party. I was too focused on the woman to even think of my strategy, however a part of me was excited that everything should go according to plan.
We walked and walked through the city. She entered two more shops and I loitered around outside, looking around at the people going about their day. It was now a few days after Christmas and life was returning back to normal and the crowds weren’t that big anymore. The woman left the second shop and headed out of the city towards the suburbs. The crowd was thinning now, and it was getting harder to be kept hidden. Instead I slowed down and increased my distance. But she never looked back, never had the feeling of being watched.
The houses were all built in the same way and at a glance looked exactly alike. But inside they were all decorated differently, and the outside of some of the houses had unlit Christmas lights still hung around. The houses, although looked brick built, were prefabricated. I remembered seeing a note attached to one of the files in the DarkWatch regarding planning for the island had deemed that for simplicity, all the houses were to be built the same, in one, two and four-bedroom models. It really was like a little toy town, with the planned-out design of the island, the pre-designed and purpose-built homes.
She walked and walked till we came to a little cul-de-sac. She got to the end of a garden path and stopped, looking at a white, red roofed home. This house had no Christmas lights and was quite plain. The grass was growing long, like it hadn’t seen any attention in a long time and the front door to the house had a large chunk of the white paint scratched away. It wasn’t in that much disrepair, but compared to the others on the street, it looked very much out of place.
The woman continued walking, opened the door and went inside, closing the door behind her. Lights on the house come on, first behind the door, then one upstairs. Now she was gone I sprinted down the street, ran down the path and stopped at the door. I thought of knocking, I thought of knocking the door down. But I didn’t do either. I just stared at the closed door.
This place seemed to trigger something inside me. Powerful memories of belonging, warmth and then a sense of worry. My heart started beating a million miles an hour as I rested my hand on the door.
This was home. This was where I lived with...
“Lydia” I muttered to myself, she was my wife. It wasn’t a shock to me that that's who she was, but it surprised me that I was remembering. Anxiety and worry began to kick in and a feeling of dread came over me, like I had forgotten something extremely important. I went for the door and pulled down the door handle. The door opened with ease, but once the door was opened, I immediately noticed that all the lights in the house were actually off! I stepped in and closed the door behind me. I tried the lights, but the switch didn’t work. I placed a hand on the bannister of the steps and started to walk up slowly. There was no sound at all coming from upstairs, but something compelled me to go up. The darkness made the house that little bit creepier. As I reached the top I looked into the bedroom, adjacent to the top of the stairs and saw how...abandoned it looked. Like no one had slept in it for a very long time. The little bit of light that shone through the blinds hit all the dust particles in the air, so they looked like minuscule snowflakes.
I turned at the top of the stairs and looked towards the door of the master bedroom. The door was open ajar, and I crept foreword. I placed one hand on the door, pushed it gently and walked in. I felt dizzy, my heart was going even faster now and I was finding it ha
rd to focus. Sat on the end of the bed was Lydia, still wearing the brown coat. She had taken off her hat and it had been tossed carelessly on the floor. I looked around: the bedroom was bare, no pictures on the wall and no personal items atop any of the surfaces. The bed had been stripped so there was just an uncovered mattress, with no pillows. The plain white curtains were open, letting in the little bit of light that the room could get from its position. It looked like the house had been stripped bare. I approached Lydia but stopped as she raised her hand at me. I could see the dark green eyes clearly, the deep red lipstick she was wearing, but her skin was very pale. In the deepest part of my brain, where my old memories were coming from, I couldn’t remember her being this pale. She looked ill, which concerned me gravely.
“Lydia. Do you-“ I started but didn’t know how to finish the sentence.
”You shouldn’t have followed me Charlie” She said, with no emotion in her voice. She lowered her arm and placed her hand on top of the other in her lap.
“I had to. I couldn’t remember anything, but you’ve helped me remember”
“You shouldn’t have followed me” She repeated, in the same bland tone. I felt like getting down to her level but as I moved she raised her hand once again. She stood up and looked up at me, “Why did you come here?”
“I just said, I saw you and you- “
“No, why did you really come here?” She interrupted me, “Was it to see if I was here, or was it to make sure you had finished your job?”
“What are you talkin- “
“Because let’s face it Charlie, you’ve never finished anything in your life, never completed any of your goals. Why would this be different?” She snapped with a hint of spite, “You’re a failure Charlie. Everyone knows it. Even now you’re thinking about putting your plan behind you and running away with me”