"Come on! Pick up the pace, all of you! We have only a short amount of time until our escape window is open, we need to have things ready to get out of here now! Take only the most necessary research with you! Everything else must be shredded or burned! Live specimens terminated now if you are incapable of moving them on your own! Let's move it now!" Scientists scurried left and right, flinging papers into the air, shredding them down to bits, or burning them in large batches. "We must leave nothing behind here for them to find!" The doctor gritted his teeth, they were cutting this far too close for their liking. The Vatican would not wait for them forever, and he knew that the Major was impatient already. If only they could just have more time!
"Doctor! Doctor!" He looked up, and saw a woman running up to him. He was familiar with her, she was one of the top researchers in the base, though he honestly had almost no idea what it was her research was about. Her work was ordained by the Fuhrer himself, or so he heard. And here she was, running up to him. "Doctor! I need your assistance! My subject-"
"I have already given out orders. If it is too big to be moved, it must-" He was cut off, because the woman grabbed him by his collar and yanked him close to her.
"I know what you have said! But I refuse to terminate this experiment, you hear me! If I do that, then my research will have been set back by over ten years! I cannot take that kind of setback!" She looked him in the eye, and he saw, despite the tense moment, how brilliantly gold her eyes were. "This experiment will change the world, doctor. Now you will help me get my experiment out of this laboratory, and I promise you, you will discover that you never should have doubted the necessity of saving it."
He stared at this woman, and how brilliant her eyes were. She looked so wild, yet so certain about this. Could what she have been doing really be that incredible?
"...Where is it?" The woman looked relieved for a moment, but this passed as she nodded and motioned for him to follow her.
"This way, Lab 10." They rushed down the halls, passing by other scientists and doctors who were going their own ways, to save the research they needed and destroy all the rest. "I only need another pair of hands to help me move him. He cannot be taken in anything but his bed, he is still under heavy anesthesia and the stitches are still fresh."
"He? You were doing this on a human?" the doctor asked as they walked through. The scientist looked back at him as they came to the lab door, eyebrow slightly raised.
"And you have done no human trials, herr doctor?" She didn't wait for a reply, she was already opening the doors and leading him inside.
It was odd how orderly and quiet it was in here, after the chaos of movement out there. The only sign of any sort of chaos was the small fire in the waste-bin next to her desk, where he could see various sheets of paper still crumbling to ashes; he could safely presume that this had been the research she deemed unnecessary. There were two large folders on her table, written on the front with large, gold letters emblazoned into the leather covers. In the corner, he could see what she called her experiment.
There was a body there, lying on his back on a small, pristine white bed. He breathed calmly and slowly, seemingly unaffected by the bedlam of the other scientists outside in the halls. From what he could see, it was a child, with their small body making very little impression from under the white blankets. The blanket covered their body up to the chin, while a smaller cloth hid everything from the top of his head down to just above his nose. Had she not mentioned that it was a boy, he would not have been able to tell gender from how the child was now, he was so small he could only be a child.
"You can examine him later, come on!" The doctor shook his head, and went to the foot of the bed. Alongside the notes, the scientist had placed two leather briefcases on the bed. With a bit of maneuvering, they had the bed through the door and down the hallways. As he was pulling while she pushed, the doctor was able to catch a glimpse of the writing on her folders.
"...The Schrödinger Project?" He read aloud, gazing at the title through his lenses. "This does not seem to have much to do with particle physics, Fraulein."
"Oh, it does," she responded, pushing as hard as she could so they could get the subject to the escape doors, where all were running. "Believe me, when you see what this will do, you will see that it has everything to do with this. And so, so much more."
At last, they reached the helicopters that the Vatican had provided them with. In no time at all, they had loaded everything up; scientists, papers, research, specimens, soldiers and all; and were flying away, watching as someone set off the last charges by remote. The last thing the doctor saw of the facility was the rising flames as the whole thing went up in smoke.
–
It had been about a year since the Millenium group had been aided in their escape to freedom by the Vatican, and the big dogs (so to speak) of the organization were currently gathered in the large briefing room, looking impatient, and only slightly expectant. Zorin leaned her arm on her scythe in a seat next to Rip van Winkle, who was polishing her long rifle. The Captain stood silently in his own corner, stewing in his own thoughts as usual. Finally, the Major was up in his own seat, with the Doctor just by his side.
"I hope that this so-called 'project' the Fraulein is bringing us is worth her interrupting our busy schedules," Zorin muttered to the other female. Van Winkle only smiled and gave her rifle a twirl in the air above her seat.
"Oh, come now, Zorin. Let us not be too hasty in dismissing the girl. I hear she has been hard at work, shut up in that lab of hers since she was brought to our new facilities here. Let's just give her a chance~" Zorin huffed, and was about to say more, but at that moment the door was opened by the two soldiers standing guard there, and two figures entered the room, continuing on even as the doors were shut behind them.
"Ah, so the fraulein scientist finally arrives," the Major grinned in his usual, unnerving way.
"Yes, I apologize for keeping you for so long, Major," the woman said simply. "But my research with my project has finally come to fruition. I assure you, you will not be disappointed by what it is I show you here today. Schrodinger, step out and show yourself to these nice people." There was the sound of movement, and a small body stepped out from behind her. He seemed to be no more than fourteen years of age, blonde haired, with rose eyes and, of all odd things, a pair of black cat ears atop his head.
"Guten tag, herr Major," the child greeted towards their leader.
"Guten tag," the man responded in turn. He adjusted his glasses and looked towards the woman expectantly.
"Well fraulein, begin your exhibition of your 'project'. I want to see what it is you have made here."
"Very well, Major." She cleared her throat and went to the child, placing a hand into her pocket. He was still looking straight ahead at the assembled people, while she stood just behind him as she spoke aloud. "Now beginning exhibition of project 'Schrodinger'. Utilizing experiment #66 as showcase example for special abilities." She spoke in a loud voice. Not quite theatrical, more as in a 'every word of mine will be heard by my recording device' voice. From her pocket, she pulled a small hand pistol, which made everyone train their eyes on it. It was small, probably only capable of holding about ten bullets at most. Did she plan to set up a difficult target for the child to shoot? Some sort of wunderkind child soldier? "Subject is fourteen years of age. Formerly brunet with brown eyes, serums used in the experiment have caused his hair to become blond, and his eyes to turn a rose pink. No mental illnesses, no detrimental physical deformities-"
"Will you kindly get on with it already? We don't have all day to listen to you prattle on, you know," Zorin said suddenly. The woman halted in mid-sentence, and gazed reproachfully at the other woman.
"Now, now, be nice, lieutenant. Let the good fraulein finish, just have a bit of patience." He folded his hands and nodded to her. "Go on, then. Continue." There was a long moment of silence, before the scientist continued on with speaking.
"...No detrimental physical deformities. No known hereditary disorders." She pulled out the clip of the gun, checked the load, and snapped it back into place. "Beginning experiment now." She held the gun out towards the child, and those present believed she intended to hand it to the child over his shoulder. However, this was proved wrong in just a moment. As they looked on, she suddenly adjusted her movement, and the muzzle was pressed against the back of the child's head. Before anyone could say anything, the sharp crack of a gunshot rang out in the room.
The blond child fell onto his face, blood flowing freely from the direct head-wound. However, she was not done yet. In a few moments, all the bullets were emptied from the weapon in quick succession. Until at last, the trigger pull let out nothing more than a small 'click', and the gun was empty.
"Weapon used was a small-caliber pistol, shooting .45 rounds. Ten bullets fired until gun emptied. Three bullets went into the head, five to the heart, and two to the lower spine." Her voice was still cold and analytical, as if she had only performed another, simple test, rather than just shooting a child ten times in cold blood.
"...And just what the hell was that meant to accomplish, other than being a waste of our time?!" Zorin snapped from her chair, standing up with a blaze of anger in her eye. "If you wanted to perform an execution, fine. Then you can do it on your own time. But if you think you can just come here and waste our time with your nonsense, then you can just-!"
"Hey! Don't you talk to her like that! Leave her alone!" Zorin actually jumped a bit, and whipped around in shock when she heard the small voice. The child was right there, beside her, without a single scratch or drop of blood on him. "What in the-?! How did you-?! You were just shot in the head! Multiple times! I just saw you!" She whipped her head to the spot he had been shot, and saw nothing there. There should have been a pool of blood in the spot, but the floor was absolutely spotless, just like the child.
"As you can see," the scientist went on, "Project: Schrodinger has the remarkable ability to recover from even the most fatal of wounds. He can be shot to the heart and heat, poisoned, decapitated, drained of blood, and many, many other things that were tested in previous experiments. Absolutely none of them will keep him dead. His body recovers, and he returns unharmed within moments."
Among the many shocked soldiers present, the Major was grinning, and he clapped slowly. The sound echoed through the room with a slow, steady pace. Like water dripping from a broken tap.
"Amazing. Simply amazing, fraulein." He stood up from his seat, and went to the child still standing near Zorin. "Such a wonder of science, created so as to become a creature who may truly be immortal, so spectacular. It is no wonder that your work was sanctioned directly by the fuhrer." He placed his hands on the shoulders of the child, then poked and prodded at his head and face, even tugged gently on the two cat-like ears that sprouted atop his head.
"Not quite immortal, Major," the woman said. He glanced at her, where she stood in her neutral pose.
"Oh? He seems so, able to survive so many different things which you described that might even kill a vampire. What could possibly kill a child like this?"
"Have you heard of the experiment with Schrodinger's Cat, Major?" The main raised an eyebrow at her, odd golden-yellow eyes gazing at her expectantly. "If you will recall the experiment in question, the cat which remained was neither alive, nor dead. The same applies to my project here," she motioned to the blond boy. "However, there is one thing that must be kept constant in order for him to remain in a state of existence. He must be aware of himself."
"Aware of himself?" Rip van Winkle spoke up for the first time, leaning on her long rifle. "And just what is that supposed to mean? He's standing right there, isn't he? So he exists"
"He is, at the moment. Because we are here, speaking to and of him, and he is aware of his own existence. This is the one issue with my project. She went up to the major, and gently pulled the smaller blond towards herself. "He exists only because he is aware of and believes in his own existence. Were he ever to cease being aware of himself, then he would also cease existing." She glanced down at him. "This has been the sad cause of my losses of multipile previous experiments. They all became doubtful of their own existences, and so they disappeared. The creatures created in the way of my project become beings that defy the laws of reality. They exist and do not exist at the same time, dancing at the boundaries of reality, thought, and dream." A small smile crossed her face. "Such magnificent beings I have created, sadly so fragile in their own existences."
"But I am here, fraulein," the blond smiled brightly. "I am here as your experiment, and soon I will be working for the Doctor and the Major, yes?"
"Yes, young one... if the Major will have you, that is." She looked up, and found the Major chuckling softly.
"Ah, fraulein, you believe I would not want to have such a magnificent creature under my control? You must be jesting." He placed a hand atop the blond's head, and rubbed his head between the two animal ears, almost as though petting a cat. "Once he is finished to your experiments, I want him to be under my command. I am sure he will make a wonderful soldier. Perhaps even a Warrant Officer."
"The privilege of having one of my experiments aid you in our cause would be the greatest of honors, Major," the scientist said as she bowed her head respectfully.
"I look forward to working for you, her Major~" the child chirped brightly.
"And I with you, little one. I look forward to the day you will be completed, and will be working alongside us, young Schrodinger."