by Thomas Shaw
The voice faded away quickly, and my head became cool again as the woman was no longer on my back. I turned around and as I gained focus I could see Four wrestling with her. I stumbled as I was still in a lot of pain from her heated grasp and went to my knees. I saw as Four tossed the girl towards the stage. She hit the wooden decking with a thump and the other members of the team met with her. They grabbed her and headed behind the stage to hide.
Two, Three, Four and Five all joined me by my side.
“Where’s Seven?” I growled, still clutching the sides of my head, I was feeling better rapidly and finally stood back up straight.
“Seven” Three asked, “What are you-“ He was cut off by the sound of crashing behind us. We turned around to see a gaping hole in the ice wall. The minions had broken through!
“Get the bomb!” I shouted over to them. I turned back to the others, “We turn them, we have a lot of power on our side”
“They’re keeping us contained. Why” Two said, looking up at the ice dome.
“To make sure we don’t escape” Three answered, “They don’t want us getting away”
“Why would...no...” I had a thought but a whistle from the stage called our attention. Stood on the stage was the girl with glasses. She placed both hands out and a large chunk of the ice ceiling crashed down and landed behind us with a tremendous crash! It quickly melted, and I watched as the water started covering our feet. It rapidly began to freeze. I lowered my head and started running towards the stage. To keep the water from sticking them down, the others did the same. I called over to a few of our underlings that were staying by the opening in the ice wall, and they joined the charge.
I jumped from the ground up to the stage in one movement. I landed, went to strike at the woman as it looked like she wasn’t paying attention. However, with amazing speed, she turned to me, threw a punch but as her fist swung towards me, water formed a globe around it which froze solid as it bashed into the side of my head! I was knocked down hard and watched as the underlings climbed on to the stage. The woman had turned her attention to them and was controlling a spray of water which was coming from a large ball floating behind her. She was using it to knock them off the stage.
I got to my feet and went to grab at her again, however I was intercepted by the electric man. He dived in between us and tried shocking me. I was ready for it this time and ducked in time. I clutched at his throat but suddenly I couldn’t move my legs. I looked down and both my legs were stuck together with ice. I lost balance and fell to the ground again.
The man was about to shock me when he stopped, arms raised ready. He looked down at his watch, it was making a sound. He tapped the watch face and answered, “Zero, where are you?”
A voice from the watch answered, “I’ve found the entrance to the lab. I’m heading down now but I may lose communications. How’s things on your end David?”
“Just get the data and destroy the place” The man now revealed to be David answered, “We’ve got things contained, we'll meet you at the rendezvous point”
David hadn’t noticed but I had shattered the ice. I got to my feet and knocked him on his back. I had a chance, but I needed to be elsewhere. I turned and jumped off the stage. As I ran towards the hole in the wall, Three entered my mind, “One, where are you going?”
“They’re a distraction! They’re intending to destroy the lab!” I dived through the hole. The minions were dragging the bomb through the opening at the same time. I turned back and looked at Three, “You detonate that bomb now!”
Three nodded and I turned and ran down the street. All around the dome stood a huge crowd. They were holding phones and cameras. I saw a news crew around a corner, reporting on what was happening inside. People saw me and screamed and shouted in fear. I ignored them and climbed atop of the closes building. I scaled the five-story clothing store to the top and looked out across the city. I could see the building in the distance and started jumping across rooftops to get there as soon as I could.
10
As I walked across the car park to the building I could hear the bells of a clock tower striking midnight in the distance. They were barely noticeable due to the commotion in the city, but I caught the first clang when there was a brief patch of silence, after that I heard every one.
I noticed the car park had been cleared, the cars and the bodies were gone but the marks on the ground were still imbedded in the tarmac, still showing signs of a fight.
The doors to the building had been smashed down. I stepped through the entrance and looked around. All the doors down the long corridor were open and for the first time I had seen, every light was on in the building. I came to the board room, with the hidden entrance to the underground facility at the back of the room, and I stepped inside. The door to the cupboard was open and so was the entrance to the lab. I turned, thinking I should find Seven first and as if he also could read my mind, he was stood in the entrance to the room.
“Seven! Why aren’t you with the others?” I asked. I was kind of relieved to see him. God knows what sort of powers this fifth team member had, I appreciated the back up.
“I chose to stay behind. I’m not needed with them” He answered, looking past me at the open door, “What’s the situation here?”
“You don’t know?” I was surprised. Seven had supposedly been watching the cameras, how had someone infiltrated the building without him knowing, “Seems that our efforts have been noticed. There’s a team, called Sentry, trying to stop us. Apparently, one of their team is here”
Seven frowned and pushed past me, “Then we need to stop him”
I quickly followed, and we started descending the stairs.
When we reached the bottom there was a loud, electronic beeping coming from the ground. It echoed down the hallway. Seven looked down at his feet. He had set of an electronic trip wire alarm. His ankle was caught in the beam, and the device projecting it was causing the noise. He kicked it and it was crushed against the wall. The noise stopped and we looked at each other.
“He knows we’re here” Seven said to me in a low voice, “We need to separate, make it easier to catch him”
I agreed so once we got to the end of the hallway, he turned right and I went left. The doors down here had also been opened, however this time, the lights had been either left off or turned off. I checked in the first room, which was the room we had created our second batch of minions with the gas. Nothing. The next room, which looked kind of like an interrogation room, along with a single table with a chair at either side, was also empty. I heard a clicking sound outside of the room and immediately stepped back into the corridor. At the end stood a man. He was in the process of loading a pistol. I watched him load the magazine then he raised it up. For a second, a red light flashed in my eyes and I could see he was aiming at my forehead.
“Stand down!” He shouted. I could tell, even from the distance between us that he was shaking whilst he was pointing his gun. I stepped forward, testing the waters. He didn’t fire. I didn’t think he would. I took a few more steps, then a few more. He still didn’t shoot. I smiled and was about to break into a full sprint when I heard a gunshot, followed immediately by three more! I dodged the first two, the third grazed me on the shoulder but the last one hit me in the arm. It stung, but wasn’t as intense as I expected. I looked down at the wound. The bullet was lodged in my skin, the chrome end protruding out slightly. I ran after the man as he darted down the corridor. He was speaking into his watch, but I couldn’t make out exactly what he was saying. He turned into a room. The large containment unit where all this had started. I got to the doorway and he was slamming his hand on the button to close the door. I managed to get through just in time, however he had already passed the second doorway and had the door slammed down shut. The door behind me closed as well and I was locked in the small corridor. I pressed my face against the reinforced glass. The man stood at the other side, gun still in hand. He stared into my eyes. Unlike his teammates
, he was afraid. I could see his trembling slightly. He was young, seemingly younger than the others. His hair was waxed up and back and it was very dark in the low light. The black suit had white dust marks all down one side and his tie were crooked. He placed the gun in the holster and approached the glass.
“Where’s the database?” He asked with more authority. He had probably guessed that I couldn’t break the glass.
“What’s your name?” I didn’t really care, I was buying time whilst I worked out how to get through.
“Zero. Where’s the database” He repeated.
Zero. Obviously a designation, but I accepted it. I didn’t answer him. I tried using the key code panel to unlock the door, but it had been smashed.
“Let me in” I ordered Zero.
He shook his head and turned, walking down the metal staircase towards the centre of the room. He looked around and saw the door to the office. He looked back at me and smiled and headed towards the scientist’s office. I pounded on the door. He continued to walk away. I crouched down and looked down at the base of the door. I dug my long claws underneath the door. It was a tough job, but I made quick progress. Eventually, I had lifted the door up enough to get my hand under it and started to lift it up further. I couldn’t get it all the way but after about halfway up I dived through, letting the door slam down to the ground with a thud. Zero had turned at the loud noise and was already running towards the office. He got inside and closed the door. I slammed against it, banging my shoulder on it, trying to barge my way through. I could hear the computer making sounds in the room. I hit the door again. It came loose, and I managed to knock it down. I crawled in through the opening and stood in front of Zero, who had the gun aimed at me. He fired and quickly ducked away from any attack I made. He climbed over the door and headed out of the room. I followed, ignoring whatever he was trying to do on the computer. He dived down off the metal platform and started running under the metal grating below me. I grabbed the floor and ripped up some of the metal, exposing him. He moved quickly, keeping out of my reach. I followed him again and repeated the method till eventually there was hardly any flooring left. He climbed out and fired more shots at me. Then his gun clicked. He was out of ammo.
“Empty” I taunted him and dived across the large opening I had made in the floor. I tackled him down to the ground, and he shouted out in pain. He rolled away as I tried punching him, my fist leaving a large dent in the floor. He crawled out between my legs and stumbled towards the office again. I slowly stomped after him. He wasn’t going anywhere, the only way in or out was still locked, and even if he could get through, Seven was on the other side waiting for him. He got in the office and lifted the door up against the doorway.
“Come out Zero!” I called as a I drew nearer, “You know you can’t hide!”
Below me, under the walkway, came a fizzing sound, followed by a beep. Then another and another and another till the whole room was beeping. Then, in a blinding flash, the room exploded! I was flung upwards and hit the ceiling! I landed through the small part of the walkway and crashed through the stone and rubble below. I got on all fours and watched as Zero ran across the smoldering ruins towards the exit, which was now open. I jumped up and ran after him. The corridors normal lights were out and instead were illuminated by a pulsing red light. As I chased Zero down the hallway, an alarm went off, followed by an "Evacuation" notice. Zero got to the stair well and tried closing the door behind him. I barged into it, knocking the door from the frame and into the wall opposite. Zero cursed and started running up the stairs. I was a nanosecond behind him as he dived over the table in the board room and turned right. Mistake, as the exit was left. I had him.
He was running down a long corridor, I outstretched my arm and grabbed his collar and yanked him back. I pulled him in close towards me and grabbed at his throat.
“You're mine” I snarled. Zero choked and his face started turning a shade of purple. He raised his arm and eyed the device in his hand. I looked as he pushed a button with his thumb.
A low rumble went off below us and the building shook. It felt like the floor dipped down slightly and finally gave way. We fell down, down to the level below us, the room with all the stasis containers. Zero broke free from my hold and ducked inside one of the pods, sliding it closed. Collapsing bricks and pieces of foundation didn’t break the pod, it seemed they were built to withstand a lot of damage. I, however, was pinned down by two pieces of steel and a whole ton of stone. After the dust had settled and the building had folly collapsed, Zero slid the pod open and climbed out. He limped over to me, and pulled out a handgun out from the inside of his jacket. His watch started beeping and he raised it up. A woman’s voice came over the speaker, “Zero? Please respond. We’ve stopped the Five here. Turns out that gas is highly flammable, managed to take them out pretty quickly. Just need to take out the one there”
Zero smiled, “Way ahead of you Laura. Got him trapped under rubble. So that’s all of them down”
I laughed at him, “All of us? You missed one!” I nodded my head to behind him. He turned. Seven was stood behind him, arms outstretched, ready to attack him. Zero turned back to me confused, “What are you talking about?”
Now I was confused. And so was Seven. He looked at me, “Don’t listen One”
“There are Six of us” I clarified and watched as Seven raised his arms again.
Zero shook his head slightly, “What? There were seven test subjects. One died in testing and the other you killed?”
“You’re wrong, one of us didn’t...” I trailed off. The building rumbled again, “Which one died in testing?”
Zero pulled out his phone and scrolled, “Subject 007S” He read from his phone.
“But he’s right there!” I nodded once again to behind him. Seven wasn’t there.
Zero turned and then looked back at me, “Think you’re seeing things” he was holding back a smile which really pissed me off. I tried to get out of the rubble, but the weight of the metal and stone was pinning me down, I had no maneuverability. Zero raised his pistol to my head.
“Aren’t you out of ammo?” I chuckled.
“Not this gun, found it fully loaded in the laboratory”
“Where in the laboratory...”
Zero checked the magazine. The bullets had a red glow about them, “Under one of the stasis tanks.
I struggled to get free from the rubble. I was panicking, it was the guards gun, the one that Seven had killed...Seven couldn’t have...the who did?
My mind flashed back to the first time we awoke. I had pictured Seven killing the scientist and the guard...but it was me I had killed them. I had also killed the mugger and...
Before I could think anymore, Zero raised the gun to my head and pulled the trigger.
11
I regained consciousness after a while, my vision was blurred, and it felt like my head weighed more than this entire building. I laid, with my head resting on the dust covered ground. Zero was talking to the others, as he was climbing out of the ruins, “Files all copied over too. David, don’t worry, the building’s down. Whatever information is on there, it’s destroyed now. I’ll head there now. Oh, and by the way guys, happ...”
His voice trailed off, he must’ve gone. I tried to get up, lifting a large steel bar with my back but I fell back down on my front. I felt my forehead. There was a huge, wet opening there. I scrapped the end of the bullet that was still stuck inside my head and cringed. I looked around, but it was dark, the only light was by my side, flickering dimly. It was a computer screen. On the cracked screen it had the words "All files copied" in the middle. There was a smashed keyboard, close to my arm, I dragged it over, hoping it was linked to this system. I mashed my palm in the middle and the screen changed. I was in the interview files and I accidentally opened one. I dragged myself closer and squinted at the damaged screen:
Date of interview: 01/05/2111
Subject: 007S
Interviewer: Dr. Edward Wr
ight
Testing Phase: Reboot Serum
Dr. Wright: Now Shaun, we’re going to inject you with what we’re hoping to be a cure to what’s happened to you so far.
007S: Will it make me look human again?
Dr. Wright: Hopefully, yes. Now I understand the procedure can be painful, but it needs to be done if we’re to cure you.
(Serum administered by Dr. Wright.
Dr. Wright: How’s that feel?
007S: I feel hot, like (screaming)
(At this point Subject 007S started shaking violently. Sounds of popping could be heard throughout his body. Subject 007S perished at that moment. No cure to be developed due to potential threat to experiment. Serum to be taken and reworked into defensive capabilities)
Transcribed by Dr. E Wright
I hit my head on the ground, frustrated with this revelation. What was wrong with me. Seven was in my head. It wasn’t even Seven, just my mind making me thinking that this thing I was seeing was him. How had I been so stupid? I looked back at the screen and behind the opened window was another file, one I had seen before but up until now, hadn’t meant anything me. It was simply named Lydia. I navigated to the file, using the keys I could on the keyboard and opened it. It was an interview file...with Lydia...dated after I had killed her!
Date of interview: 01/08/2109
Name of Interviewee: Mrs. Lydia Hadfield
Interviewer: Dr. Edward Wright
Dr. Wright: May I first extend my deepest apologies for the actions of your husband and the unfortunate testing which led up to his unprovoked attack. I was wondering if you could explain what happened between the two of you?