Inside

by Kyra Anderson

  We turn into the west side of Ward Ten—the side I have never been in.

  “We’re going to see Rehan?” I smile, skipping next to Dana and latching onto his arm like a child.

  “No,” Dana shook his head. “I have a new pet for you, since the others are locked away in their kennels. You can do whatever you want with this one.”

  “You gave me an experiment?” I laugh. “Again?”

  “I would have given you the old one, but Mykail died before we got him back to the Commission,” Dana shrugged. “We probably wouldn’t have been able to save him anyway…”

  “Oh, too bad, he would have been fun to play with…” I pout, though I can’t really remember who Mykail was.

  “Here we are,” Dana announced, turning around the corner of the more complicated half of Ward Ten and motioning to the figure in the back corner of the cell. My whole body perks up and excitement runs through me at an alarming pace.

  “Really?!”

  “He’s all yours.”

  I grab Dana’s card, running it over the lock, entering the cell and approaching the shocked experiment in the corner.

  “L-Lily?” Clark blinked, terrified.

  “Clark.”

  He stands and starts toward me, but stops immediately, retreating.

  “No…” he hisses. “What happened to you?”

  “What do you mean what happened to me?” I chuckle. “What about you? You’re all bruised and bloodied.”

  “I’ve been fighting back, what about you?” he snapped.

  “Ooh,” I shiver, excited by the sharp tone of his voice. I feel Dana walking into the cell behind me. “I fought as long as I could, but then I realized I was fighting for the wrong side. Isn’t that a bitch?”

  His eyes go wide and he shakes his head, looking hurriedly back and forth between me and Dana.

  “No…you gave into him? After everything? After all that Griffin and Tori died for…after Josh and Mark…you give in to him?!” His voice is tight with tears as he looks between the two of us. “And you became like him?”

  “I don’t know who you’re talking about, but you need to let go of the past,” I tell him with a shake of my head. “I did. And it helped me immensely.”

  “You motherfucker…” Clark growled, tears falling down his cheeks as he turned to Dana. “You destroyed her.”

  “I think it’s an improvement, personally,” Dana shrugged.

  “What the hell do you want?” Clark barked. “You want to show me what happened to you? Well, I’ve seen it. You can get the fuck out now.”

  “Was I this much fun before?” I gasp, turning to Dana.

  “That and more,” Dana laughed. “I wanted to play with him a little, but it turns out that my time with him before still has him obedient to me…so, I give him to you. He is your pet and toy until you tire of him. But you will have to figure out something to do with him, eventually.”

  “What the fuck?!” Clark gasped.

  “You belong to me, now,” I tell him, walking forward as he backs away, pressing himself into the corner. When I get close enough to touch him, he tries to shove me backward, but I grab his arms and pin them to the side of his head, leaning close and looking at his dirty and swollen face with a dark smile. “And I am going to have so much fun with you…”

  * *** *

  Rehan is pregnant—at least for now. It was a little worrisome at first when we were not sure if her incredible immune system was going to reject the embryo, but it took and, two weeks later, the embryo is beginning to grow in her uterus.

  This meant seeing Eyna to discuss how he felt about his offspring. Dana accompanies me and we both move excitedly toward the cell, where Eyna is bound with The Teeth and sedated just enough to still be coherent for our chat.

  “Eyna,” Dana calls as we close the door behind us. The first Machine of Neutralization lifts his head slowly, blinking at us with forced exhaustion. “Kyle tells me that you have been trying to destroy his equipment when you’re getting your checkups.”

  “How could you?” Eyna hisses.

  “How could I what?”

  “Rehan…” He lowers his head and breathes heavily. I turn to Dana and smile.

  “When I was in the Dome with him, he was able to see things that weren’t there…he seemed to be able to read my mind…” I look over Eyna. If possible, he is even more beautiful now than when I last saw him. His skin is so flawless and perfect, and despite his poor nutrition, his body is in amazing shape. Kyle tells me about his incredible health, and I look over his charts all the time, excited to see how resilient he is. He heals from injuries within hours, his hearing is so acute he can hear through the soundproof walls, and his speed is unparalleled.

  “Well, considering everything else he is able to do, I would not be surprised,” Dana laughs. He steps forward two steps and Eyna growls. I resist the urge to growl back and protect Dana. I know that we are not really in danger, but I am very protective.

  “Is that the case?” Dana presses. “Can you see into people’s minds? How do you know what’s happening with Rehan?”

  “I…I can feel her…” he whispers, his eyes drooping as he tries to fight the drug-induced exhaustion. “And I feel the other life inside her…”

  “You can feel her?” I press. I know the feeling. I can tell when Dana is nearby, but the two Machines of Neutralization are separated across the Commission from one another. “What does that mean?”

  “I can’t explain it…”

  “Come, now, Eyna…” I smile, walking closer, ignoring his growl and crouching to look him in the eyes. “Remember? We were able to talk in the Dome…”

  “You’re different now,” he shakes his head. “You’re just like him, now.”

  “I know,” I grin. “And I’m proud to be like him.” I lean closer. “But you told me about a lot of things in there. You told me about the angel, about the rebellion…about a dragon…”

  “A dragon?” one of the guards blinks, skeptic.

  “Go with it,” Dana laughs behind me. “He’s been on about a red dragon ever since he was finished.”

  “He’s real…” Eyna growls, glaring at the both of us.

  “You know that the same way you know about Rehan being pregnant, right?” I continue, trying to stay on subject and away from the strange fantasies of his mind. He turns those beautiful hazel eyes on me and then slowly nods. “You feel it?”

  “Yes…”

  “Do you want to kill the child?” I ask bluntly. His eyes widen, surprised. Dana is quiet and apprehensive behind me. “Eyna? If the infant is born as a Machine of Neutralization, would you want to kill it?”

  He is torn, his eyes moving back and forth quickly along the floor as he thinks about my question. I allow him time to consider. I do not entirely understand how he can still have such intense human morals. I have no particular feelings toward the offspring of the two Machines of Neutralization. There is a lot that can go wrong. They are brother and sister, and the inbreeding is a problem we might be facing until we can find another strand of animal DNA that works with the genetic anomaly in some of our current prisoners. If the child is born with defects, there will be no choice but the put it down, so getting attached is pointless.

  “Why…why are you asking me this?” Eyna asks, his head slowly moving as he tries to think around the drugs.

  “Here’s the thing, Eyna,” Dana states, crouching next to me. “We’ve had two successes, and we’re working toward making more, but to create a sustainable force, we need to be able to breed you and the others. But infants need care, and they need to be raised to understand themselves and their bodies. The offspring of the Machines of Neutralization stand a great chance of needing care of older Machines of Neutralization, like yourself, in order to learn how to live.”

  Eyna started chuckling, shaking his head.

  “How…how the hell…am I supposed to teach him anything…when I don’t know what I can do myself?” he breathes, lookin
g at us with an exasperated expression.

  I glance at Dana, who returns the look. We share our silent conversation before Dana sighs and turns back to the experiment.

  “What do you want us to do to facilitate you learning your abilities?” he presses. “We do not know how to set up an environment for you. I will admit, you are the guinea pig. We don’t know what to do for you, so everything is going to be trial and error.”

  “I want to go outside…” he pleads, looking at us with sad eyes. “I want to feel the sun on my face, the wind…I want to be out in the open air…”

  “Do you think that will help you learn more about your abilities?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “Or is that just something you want?”

  “I don’t know…” he practically sobs. “I just feel like I’m suffocating down here…I need the sun…”

  Dana sighs.

  “That is not going to be easy at all…”

  “You’re letting me out soon anyway…” Eyna growls. “You want me to kill Chris.”

  “I do.”

  “If I do that for you…will you find a way to let me be outside? I know I will be able to learn more about myself up there,” he whispers.

  “As if you have a choice to kill Chris,” I bark a laugh.

  “I will turn against you if you double-cross me…” he snarls, the growl coming from deep in his throat. “I may not know what I am capable of, but I know I can overpower the both of you…”

  “I know you’re not foolish enough to threaten us, Eyna…” Dana warns. “We put you together, and we can take you apart.”

  “You won’t, you need me.”

  “Do we?”

  “Why else would you be here now?” He leans close. “I want to go outside…I want to have room to run at top speed. I have no means to test my limits down here and it’s killing me…”

  “If we provide a facility for you to be outside and to hone your skills, will you care for your offspring and raise it to know its abilities?”

  Eyna looks between the two of us, his eyes trying to focus. He finally sighs.

  “It’s my child, isn’t it?” he whispers. “Of course I will. I will want him to know himself better than I know myself…”

  I smile at Dana.

  “Very well, Eyna,” Dana grins. “We will see what we can come up with. It might take a while, and you will have to deal with Chris before we can deliver our portion of the agreement. But we will be sure to let you in on our plans when we have them.”

  Dana places a hand on my back and leads me out of the cell.

  “This is a hiccup…” he murmurs.

  “How? We can build him a facility. It would be more beneficial to put our money toward him so that he can train the others.”

  “But the funds are not spread that way. The sponsors of the Machine of Neutralization project are expecting numbers first,” Dana whispers. “This is the new nuclear arms race. People saw Mykail and Chris and the international community quickly moved to make something stronger. Now that we have it, we need to market it, but we can’t do that if we don’t have the supply to match the demand. And we sure as hell can’t risk the information leaking.”

  “Kyle is working on some more DNA today,” I assure. “He told me that by the end of the week, he should have something for us on other possible animals we could use for the same strength.”

  “It might not be the same,” Dana shakes his head, leaning against the wall next to the door leading out of the eastern portion of Ward Ten. I lean next to him, watching his face. “This project has incredible potential. But we need to cover our asses as well and be sure we don’t get fucked over…”

  I sigh and thoughtfully stare at the ground. It’s true. The Machine of Neutralization is an untested weapon. There is no way of knowing what Eyna and Rehan are capable of. Having come late into the game, I still do not know who is sponsoring the project and for what reasons. That is what Thursday’s meeting is for. There is still a lot I need to learn, but I am just as interested in the project as Dana, and I want to ensure its success.

  “Maybe we can pitch something to the sponsors,” I suggest. “Who are the big spenders?”

  “The Great United Kingdom at the moment. Germany is also heavily invested…” Dana sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “And that woman will be at the meeting, as well.”

  “Veronica Harris?”

  “Yes, who apparently has no birth certificate, no known contacts, and should not even exist according to records. I have checked databases across the globe, and instead of finding answers, I have discovered I am not the only one searching her…”

  “Are you going to let her invest?” I raise my eyebrows. He looks at me with a shrug.

  “I think if she buys into this idea of building a facility for the Machine of Neutralization, absolutely,” Dana nods. “If she wants to fund, the least I can do is milk her of her money.”

  I chuckle. There is a large part of me that is thrilled at seeing Miss Harris again. I feel myself already starting to plan what to do when I see her again.

  “We release Eyna tomorrow,” Dana sighs. “It’s going to be a tough sell to the public…”

  “I have been thinking…” I say slowly. “Don’t let Eyna kill him immediately. Let him get away, let Chris make a few scenes over the next few weeks, and that will swing the people in favor very quickly.”

  “Be a dear and call General Matthews and General Perkin,” he grins, tucking some hair behind my ear. “Tell them that I want to speak with them and tell them they will have cameras following them.”

  I see the plan immediately. Release Eyna, be sure that we are in close proximity in case he gets any ideas, but then let him work with the military and have the military superficially sponsor the Machine of Neutralization as a weapons acquisition against the threat of Chris.

  “Come on, we have a lot to get done in the next few hours if we want to plan Chris’ next few moves…” he says, standing straight and turning to leave.

  “Dana,” I call. He turns back, curious. “There is one other problem with introducing this to the public…”

  “Which is?”

  “Well…if we start breeding them, then we’re going to create a new class of people in America…particularly if we build Eyna a facility. That is going to start us spiraling on the path of discrimination again, and people might see that as us taking a step backward.”

  “We will simply make sure the people know that these things are not human. They are weapons to be used, and that is all,” Dana grins. He turns again. “Come on.”

  “I want to see the puppy,” I hiss, walking toward the door to the western section of Ward Ten. Dana chuckles behind me and I throw a devilish look over my shoulder at him.

  “Fine, enjoy him,” he nods. “But be sure you come back soon. We have a lot of work to do.”

  “Will do, sir,” I tease with a wink before opening the door and walking past the guard.

  Forgetting everything we discussed for the moment, I skip toward the far end of Ward Ten, rounding the corner and glancing at my little puppy, who is crying in the corner. I feel my lip extend in a pout, though I am not sure what I expected to begin with.

  I slide my card over the lock and open the door, grabbing his attention as he lifts his head. When he sees me he stands, his eyes wide, watching me approach as fear and anger passes down his spine.

  I smile, approaching him slowly, not wanting to startle him.

  “What do you want?” he snaps. He doesn’t want me any closer. I stop and smile, looking over his swollen eyes and red face. He looks very different without the glasses I always remember him wearing.

  “Has your eyesight gotten better?” I blink, tilting my head to the side.

  “What?”

  “You’re not wearing your glasses.”

  “There’s not much point back here, is there?” he bit. I sigh and shrug.

  “I guess not.”

  “What do you want, Lily?”

>   “I want to play,” I say, deciding there was no need for formalities in this setting.

  He immediately tenses. I can feel his muscles flex. His heart beat begins to pound against his ribs. I chuckle and shake my head.

  “No need to worry,” I assure. “I won’t touch you.”

  “Lily, please, listen to me, there has to be something left of you in there…”

  “There is,” I nod. “But it’s not the part you want…or maybe it is the part you want. Who knows? You have a more devious side in you than your simple appearance would suggest, if memory serves.”

  “If memory serves…” he hisses. “You remember me, but you don’t remember the others? You don’t even remember Mark?”

  “No.” I shake my head. “He’s dead, right?”

  Clark’s tears began to flow again.

  “How could you?” He swallows hard. He is in a very high emotional state, and I know that it will be easy to shake him up. Clark is still clinging to the idea that I am the bastardized character I was a few months ago…that, somewhere, the false person still lingered. Forcing him to realize I had shed the façade is going to be fun, and could even lead somewhere fascinating in our play.

  “Clark, really, I’m much better now that I’ve let go of everyone. You should be happy for me that I finally have some semblance of peace.”

  “Peace?! You’ve completely lost your mind!” Clark darts forward and grabs my shoulders. I feel how desperate he is. I am the one he’s clinging to in order to believe there is still a reason to fight. I am his four-eleven forty-one. As long as he did not see me, I was the image he could hold to strong against the testing and torture. My new reality is too much for him.

  I had him set up on a simple testing schedule for the last two weeks. Basic tests that might make him a little stronger, but really were just to give him experience on the table until I can find something brilliant to do with him.

  I decide to glance over his blood work again and see if he shares the same anomalies as Dana and myself.