The Undergrad

by Mela NoLeuca

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Robyn's POV

  Have you ever teleported before?

  Well I have. Lots of times. And trust me, it's not fun. Honestly, maybe no one would ever consider it as teleporting. But fainting at one place and waking up in another is not what any normal person would consider as teleporting.

  Okay, so maybe I didn't teleport. But can we please just stop calling it as kidnap? Or hostage? Or whatever?

  It's so annoying being the damsel in distress! What is this? A drama series? Why can't I at least be the badass chick who wins at the end of the day and not some lame bait the hero is burdened with to save at the end of the day?

  My hero isn't even some prince charming. Okay, maybe he isn't a prince, but at least his highness was royally hot. And though he wasn’t as charming like your average gentleman, at least he was charming enough to share some good laughs with.

  He was a 'Golden Boy' at some Academy for crying out loud. But unfortunately, he was kicked out. My head was hurting simply thinking about it. Everything about him made it sound less and less valiant. Don’t ask me again why he was kicked out, I'm not telling you the story all over again from here. That was also because I also didn’t know what the exact reason was.

  Never mind, I have too many things to think about right now. Like how to escape in thirty seconds, or maybe how to persuade the enemy to set me free and never come hunting me down again.

  Granted that Fate has its own favorites, I very well knew that I was in the 'Not Favorite' list, otherwise, I wouldn't even end up being tied to this gurney!

  The irony of it all is that I'm a nurse, an occupation that I haven't practiced the moment I was registered as one. My life, being so full of the unexpected, can not be simple labeled off as depressing. I can, however, consider my life to be exciting if I ever survive all this and look back to laugh at how I managed to survive all this crap.

  "Are you comfie enough, love?"

  Simply hearing that voice made the hairs on my spine stand on edge. The freezing metal gurney turned colder against my skin. I had the choice to peek through my eyelids but decided against it, not really looking forward to temporary blindness with the light brightly angled right into my eyes.

  The footfalls of high heels echoed in the chilly room. By the way the pinkness dimmed away behind my eyelids, I knew by then she moved it. Which also meant she was standing very closely to me.

  "Don't you want to open your eyes?" she said, feigning endearment. The proximity of her lips from my ears made me shudder in fear, "it would be stupid to pretend you're asleep, because your EEG tells us otherwise,"

  "I'm not feigning sleep," I muttered, regretting every moment as each word slipped from my mouth, "I just don't want to see your hideous face,"

  The next thing I knew she grabbed a fistful of my hair, a whimper escaped my lips. She hissed, "Look at me you bitch!"

  "Enough of that Green,"

  Another voice spoke. She released me, making sure she banged my head so hard against the unforgiving surface that my brain throbbed in a dull sense of pain; I could almost throw up from the building pressure. "Oops," I could feel her smiling as she said that.

  "Green, that's no way to treat our guest," the man said but showed no genuine concern. I heard him step into the room and was, no doubt, walking towards me.

  He pried open my eyes and flashed the light briefly across my field of vision. The moment he did that, I struggled violently against his hold just to keep my eyes shut.

  The light felt like a jagged knife searing through my socket that embedded deeply to the back of my head. I whimpered in pain, which was the best I could do, since it hurt so much I couldn't make anymore noise; just like the way when you laughed too hard. Only I'm not laughing.

  "It seems to be working," he muttered as he drew back, "how are her vital signs?"

  "Slow but steady," reported Green.

  "As expected, and her vital organs, no signs of hemorrhage?"

  "None, unfortunately," she answered nonchalantly.

  "Adverse reactions?" He went on.

  "None so far in the last twelve hours," she answered curtly.

  "Good, dim the lights if you please," said this man.

  "Yes, Colonel,"

  And soon the lights were pleasant enough for me to adjust to. I was in an empty black room with a single gentle beam directed right above me.

  Strapped down and lying spread eagle on the gurney, I was once again garbed in a patient's gown. The nostalgia that went along with it made my stomach churn. Who could forget my horrible previous 'situation.'

  A man, whom I suspected to be the Colonel Green was talking to, stood right next to me, watching me with eyes I couldn't get through. He was a strong looking man that looked to be in his late fifties. His cropped graying hair matched his mustache like a uniform, he was wearing a green military uniform with badges on his chest looking every bit of the title he dignified. Everything about him was Authority.

  "Age nineteen, female and single. Born to Samara Nathaniels and Engineer Antoine Van Hausen, born on the first of December in your hometown in Maine," he announced, "are you that woman who fits into this background?"

  My mouth hung open despite my efforts to stay calm. How did he know all this? I felt so invaded! What else could he possibly know about me? The way he looked at me made it so difficult to keep my facade firm and straight. His influence was too intimidating that I just needed to nod and say yes.

  "I am Colonel Lincoln Marduk, the co-founder of this organization, the Elite Recombinant Agency," he began, his voice so firm and monotonous he was talking to me as like I was a soldier, "you young miss have been summoned forth by the organization's board of directors to partake in a project that has been recently on going. Agent Green, if you please,"

  The redhead took out a tiny remote control from one of her many pockets and summoned a colossal holographic screen emanating vividly by just a few feet away from us; it stretched right across the room in a concave manner.

  "What we have been working on is an upgrade of our competitor's work. To sum things all scientific, what makes ours different is that it can divide itself so that we wouldn't be needing any more future doses," he went on as the screen showed a highly magnified version of what those nanobots looked like that ran through Ethan's and Ares' body.

  They looked like tiny platelets that had a blinking center: those were the Neurovascular Invasive Electronic System. Next to it was another one that looked just as similar, but had a more pliant look as it seemed to jiggle a bit to make its point.

  When the general said it could divide, as if on cue, those upgraded bots showed an animated series of an artificial mitosis.

  "Another upside is that, unlike the NIES, when injected on a female, ours can be passed on to the offspring," he said with a hint of amusement in his voice, the way he said it made it look like he was talking about animals instead of humans, "meaning we don't have to continuously borrow one from your boyfriend Ethan so we could make an exact replica, all we have to do now is just find our host and start spreading the creation!"

  Speaking of that guy I immediately asked, "Where's Ethan?"

  "Aww, how sweet, this little tramp misses him," Emily cooed mockingly as she annoyingly batted her lashes at me.

  "Is this why you're going to kill him off?" I asked, ignoring the girl as I focused intently at the Colonel, trying to be very clear on how much I hated him.

  "That's one of the many reasons, yes,” He nodded before clearing his throat, “why?” 

  “Did you know how highly he spoke of you?” I interjected, “He looked to you like a hero! And after all that, once you found a replacement you’re just going to throw him off?”

  A pleased smirk framed itself comfortably on his lips, “I know. It’s a shame yes, but I knew that the moment ARC gets hold of him his views towards us would change. I’m guessing my hunch is right, though. He seemed to hold so much angst lately like a teenaged tramp PMSing, I wonder why.”


  “And you!” I spat at Emily, “how dare you treat him like that! He treated to you like a mother!”

  “And I treated him like a son!” She shrieked, tears were visibly forming in her eyes, “it’s both your fault my husband is dead!”

  “Enough with the drama, please,” the Colonel demanded and she instantly held her breath. Muttering her apologies, she dabbed the tears away from her face. He shook his head and then kept a stern gaze fixed on mine, “I don’t seem to understand why you’re bringing this one up,”

  “You just can’t kill Ethan!” I quickly answered, suddenly feeling more helpless than I already was, “if he told me his stories right, he was your Golden Boy! One of the Agency’s finest you could ever had! All he ever wanted was to just make ERA proud of him!”

  I looked searchingly in his eyes. There must be some good in him. He needed to spare Ethan, he needed to let him go. If they didn’t need him any more, then why won’t they just let him go and live a normal life? I could show him and teach him everything that he missed: his childhood. I could give him that.

  I don’t know why I wanted to. But after being through so much with him, that was what he lacked. That was why he always seemed so hard to reach out to, to try and relate with. He didn’t even know what an Xbox is for crying out loud! He was always too reserved and when he spoke, he only spoke with so little emotions. 

  Without a normal childhood, he grew up missing a part of himself.

  “And he can do that by dying,” He cut me off my train of thoughts, “he won’t be dying in vain, I tell you that. I don’t understand why you can’t see that any speech you make right now is useless. What are you even trying to make me do? Feel bad for him?” He chuckled darkly, “It has already been agreed upon. I’m just here to make sure that the project is working,” 

  “What project?” I asked, my eyes narrowed. My brain did a quick flash through the recent information that it received just now until I came to a conclusion I didn’t want to embrace. My fortress of denial only crumbled away faster than a sand castle wrecked by the sea was when Emily spoke with a sinister grin on her face.

  “It’s the only reason why you’re dragged into this mess," the Colonel spoke slowly, as if debating whether or not he should tell a secret he had sworn to never escape his lips, "Dealing with business does not make an organization a bad person. Let's just call it compensation, ARC did not do their end of the bargain, so we didn't either,"

  "What do you mean?" I began slowly, not quite sure with what he was trying to get at. His ambiguity was not playing well into my brain.

  "Simple, Ares stole our agent since their real objective was to experiment the Rubrix on him, which of course stung since that was only supposed to be the geek's cover," Emily rambled on like she was telling her story during her weekly trip to the grocery, "it only turns out he played us, so we all thought, why not pull the prank on him and see how that feels!"

  I was so confused now. Was Ares the bad guy? Because the way they put it, he was the one that actually agreed to this Marduk guy's plans. I couldn't believe Ares! I felt so much more betrayed than ever that I didn't know who to believe anymore. Wait, did they say that they actually want revenge? But how...

   “Oh hell no! I will not let you experiment that thing on my body!” I bellowed, frantically thrashing against my leather bound restraints. I will not let them violate my body! Lord only knows so much with what this new technology of theirs can do to me!

  She pouted mockingly, “Too late, love,”