Pain.
That was the first thing Newt noticed when he came to. Pain at an unbelievable measure passed throughout his body and he couldn't do a thing to stop it. He flinched and a sharp pain hit him.
Sleep. Why couldn't he go back to sleep?
"What's the patient's heart rate at?" a familiar voice demanded, a woman responded with, "Going steady, Doctor. Should we send him in?"
"Not quite yet," the first voice responded. "We need to run a few more tests. Is he responsive?"
"I believe he is aware of our conversations right now, Doctor, if that is what you're implying," the other woman said irritably. There was a small silence and Newt hoped it meant that he could sleep and that the pain would go away.
"Hello Newt," the first voice whispered. She was close to his ear. "My name is Doctor Yensen. Don't try to move. We are still working on fixing your nervous system. You might be wondering why you are in pain. I'll put it simply. Newt, you are supposed to be dead."
Something sharp poked at his side and he winced, having another dose of pain race through him.
"We watched one of your best friends, a boy named Thomas, shoot you. You were becoming a Crank, slowly losing your mind to the virus that has plunged Earth into chaos. You asked, begged in fact, for Thomas to kill you. You didn't want to end up like the other Cranks; blundering heaps of madness. We found you a few hours after Thomas left. We were going to give you a proper burial when something happened."
"Your cells had mutated," the second doctor, not Yensen, said very gently. Newt immediately liked her. "You went from able to contract the virus to immune in seconds. We were there when the change happened. We watched it all. We knew that that was too good of an opportunity to pass up. We managed to revive you, despite the gunshot to your head."
Newt's mind whirled. He was shot? He tried desperately to remember every detail, but thinking in general gave him a migraine.
"We are almost done repairing your systems, but sadly you regained consciousness during the most painful part in the whole process," Yensen finished, clicking her tongue. "I apologize, Newt, but we cannot stop the process. If we stop, then we won't be able to start again. Ms. Reynolds, you may begin again."
"Surely we can give him a sedative to push him back under?" protested the other woman, Ms. Reynolds.
"Are you questioning my authority?" Yensen growled, and Newt tensed up, despite the pain.
Reynolds was in trouble. He needed to help her.
"Of course not, Dr. Yensen," Reynolds gulped. There was a loud clicking noise, and Reynolds let out a breath. There was shuffling and Newt could feel a warm breath on his ear. "Newt, I need you to pay attention right now. Everything you know or think you know is supposed to be wiped. I'm going to lie and say I did it. I will probably be killed because of this."
Newt gasped, and tried desperately to find a way to reach out to her.
"Listen, Newt. You are going to be put into another Maze. I need you to remember this when you go through. Camelle is the objective. Get her out of the Maze and to the TumbleDome. And always remember this..."
Newt paid close attention, soaking in every detail.
"WCKD is evil."
