Here is the new Chapter 1. I've modified it a bit from before with content moved from chapter 2 into this chapter to make the story flow better. Chapter two is about to be replaced as well. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far I really appreciate it. This story is now finished and I'm working on the sequel. :) It's four chapters total. Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 1
The white washed hallways stretched out in front of the trio of scientists. In the arms of the leading scientist was a young child, around the age of two years old. Each scientist trembled with excitement and nervous energy. The experiment would commence in a matter of days, another chance to create a super soldier. They hadn't succeeded so far, with the few other children they had brought into the facility. This was the first female though; maybe the different body make up would yield results. The other boys of varying ages were held in this facility, each with their own room and training areas.
It was important that the growing children had an area to begin their training. If there was any hope of having a super soldier the experiments had to be trained right. So far, the oldest of the boys was performing promisingly. His muscle strength had increased exponentially as the experiment progressed. The child was a long way off from being a super soldier but it was one step in the right direction.
The hallways were a labyrinth behind the antique storefront guarded by one of the ex-servicewomen. It was a well-protected facility and even if you got through the first two or three layers of security it was nigh impossible to get close to the experiments. They were concealed within the deepest bowels of the facility, with very few having access to their living quarters.
The leading scientist, the one holding the young girl, headed through the security areas and down to the new room which would belong to this experiment. It was an average sized room with stark white walls, a single bed and no windows. The lack of natural light was overcompensated by the fluorescent lights placed high up in the ceiling. There was a cupboard off to the right, already filled with clothes for the female experiment. There were clothes that could be used from this time up until she was about fifteen. By then there would be a new set of clothes filling the wardrobe.
The toddler was placed onto the large bed, wrapped up in the blankets before the scientist turned to leave. He walked out of the room without a backwards glance, leaving the young and vulnerable child alone in new and terrifying surroundings.
A woman staff member walked in some time later, to comfort and feed the toddler. She would be the carer for this experiment for the next two years, for long enough that the child would be able to fend for itself.
O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
*Two Years Later*
A young girl looked up at the camera, smile splitting across her face. Small white teeth stood out against the pale face. Laughter filled the room as she ran forwards, around a corner up ahead. The cameraman follows, walking with precision, long accustomed to the actions of the young child.
Laurena's laughter can be heard as the cameraman walks forwards, turning around the corner. Right in front of him is a shooting range, designed to hold only two people. Laurena picks up one of the small hand held guns and holds it out for inspection. The man behind the camera grabs it and in the recording the sound of the gun being cleared is heard. The weapon his handed back and the little girl darts forwards, loading the weapon smoothly.
The hand held is levelled up with the targets and gunshots ring out. Laurena is concentrating hard, tongue sticking out slightly from her small mouth. The gun is brought down and unloaded before being placed on the table. The four year old girl turns around and looks up at the camera, smile spreading over her face yet again.
"Did you see that, I shot the targets all in a row! I'm getting better at this, maybe I'll get good enough soon so that I can use the bow and arrows instead."
The young girl is vibrating with her eagerness to learn, to be praised.
"You're doing really well, I'm sure you'll be allowed to use the bow and arrows soon darling," says the cameraman, voice full of sadness that Laurena doesn't seem to pick up.
This praise is rewarded with an even larger grin before a small alarm sounds somewhere in the room. The smile drops slightly on Laurena's face before she is running down the halls again, back the way she had come.
The cameraman follows at a quicker pace this time. He rounds a few corners before ending up in a medical room. Laurena is perched on a medical bed, jumper on the bed beside her. The nurse is checking the young girl's pulse and measuring her heartbeat. The examination is over within seconds and Laurena lies down on the bed without any prompting. Another nurse enters from a room off to the side with a small tray. Inside laid six needles, all identical to one another. There is a blue liquid in each one, looking thick and sluggish. The new nurse heads around to the other side of the bed. Each nurse picks up one of the needles and injects it into the arm closest to them. This is repeated until the six needles are used.
Laurena doesn't make a sound, doesn't flinch as the needles press through her skin. Her face scrunches up for a few seconds but smooths out again almost immediately. The liquid must burn as it is injected into her muscles but Laurena doesn't fight it. When the needles have been used up Laurena lies on the bed for a few seconds before pushing into a sitting position. She is no longer smiling.
The four year old looks over at the nurse, holding out her right arm. The nurse walks over and takes some blood from the little girl. Laurena just sits quietly, watching as her blood is drawn into a vial.
When the nurse walks away the pre-school aged child gives the camera a weak smile before looking off into space. Laurena's young voice fills the room, a soft and sad song floating from her lips. The child has been listening to the radio again and the tune flowing from her is heartbreaking to hear. She sings about being lonely and unable to escape her predicament. The song finishes on a sad note and the child offers the camera another smile. This is the last image of her captured on that day.
*1 Year Later*
Laurena laughs and twirls around. The weapon in her hand looks deadly as she levels it at the cut out on the range. She has a rifle in her arms, longer than her short arms but still lethal. The five year old girls shoots straight and true taking out the target. She reloads and sets up the clay targets. She shoots every single one, hits them dead on. She's a good shot, each of the scientists and medical staff knows it.
The rifle is unloaded, placed on the weapons table before Laurena whirls and gives the camera a smile. She's slightly taller now and her brown hair has lengthened so that it brushes past her shoulders. Her blue eyes seem brighter than they've ever been, piercing straight into the camera. When one of the scientists on exchange see the footage they have a moment of regret, the child is very photogenic and could have had a career on the big screen. The moment passes and Laurena is once again regarded as an experiment.
What you can't see from the camera is how much stronger Laurena has become. She is still small and skinny but she is powerful, more powerful than any five year old has the right to be. The scientists are happy; they know that this experiment is going well. The young girl has had the same six injections every day since she entered the facility and it is definitely paying off.
They, the scientists don't watch Laurena closely, only worrying if her health declines or something goes wrong in the training room. The pain the young girl is in isn't seen by anyone, not even the cameraman who can be often found in the five year old's quarters.
All of the experiments are monitored this way; each assigned a camera and camera man. They are observed during all of their waking moments but when the lights are turned off to allow sleep the cameras are turned off and the experiment's quarters become startling empty.
The rooms are silent, almost as if the whole complex is abandoned. Laurena lies alone on her bed, small body dwarfed by the rather large bed. She lies in the middle, eyes focused on the ceiling far above her. Each part of her body aches, her arms more than anything else. This pain has been constant ever since she can remember. It is different from the searing pain when the serum is injected into her muscles, different from a bullet cutting through flesh. It is hard for her to describe, a bone deep ache which never leaves her alone.
When the lights turn back on for the morning Laurena is already awake, just like all the other experiments in the facility. The pain in their bodies doesn't make for easy sleeping and many of them find that with each successive day they need sleep less and less. They think it's maybe a natural thing or maybe something to do with the serum; they can't be sure because they don't know anyone normal. None of them remember anything but this facility full of white.
Laurena dresses quickly before leaving her room. In the small hallway between the range and her room is a ventilation shaft. The scientists don't know she goes in there from time to time but the cameraman does. It is a secret just between them. No one else knows.
None of the other experiments leave their quarters. They are less adventurous, or more afraid of what could happen to them if they break the rules. There are guards at the complex, they've all seen them. They carry large guns and point them menacingly at anything that looks vaguely like a threat. Laurena doesn't like those men so she avoids them whenever possible.
Reaching the vent the young girl vaults up and pushes the grill to the side, sliding into the vents. She slithers along on her stomach towards the entrance to the complex. She's just following her usual route around the place. She always starts at the entrance and then finds somewhere interesting to listen in on conversations.
Today though, something interesting is happening below, right in the entranceway. There are a lot of the guards around, way more than usual. Laurena lies down, stays still as she waits for something to happen. It isn't long before a group of men are entering through, being patted down by the guards before walking through a door directly below Laurena.
The five year old waits, trying to figure out whether to follow the men or stay and see who else shows up. Two more people appear below Laurena just as she was about to move off. She smiles and follows their path through the vents. There is a lady, who speaks kind of weirdly. There is a man beside her, there is a smile on his face but it isn't like the usual smiles. He is thinner, thinner and smaller than anyone in the complex. Laurena figures he must be young like her and the other experiments.
The two enter one of the experimental rooms. Laurena has seen some of the other experiments in this room but she's never been taken there. There was a young boy once; he had come in here as well. He hadn't left walking though and Laurena has always pushed that specific memory aside. The young girl swings herself down out of the vents and onto a high platform above the room. She is shrouded in shadows, sitting perched above the action below. Young eyes are opened wide as the little girl watches the events below. The scream of agony sends the five year old into shivers but she does not move, sits there silently and watches as the scientists run backwards and forwards.
The steel casing swings forwards and Laurena watches warily, hoping this experiment has worked. The man from before steps out, now though he isn't so skinny. He is muscular, more muscular than the scientists that surrounded him. A face splitting grin appears on Laurena's face and it's all she can do not to laugh loudly. She sits quietly, keeping the happiness to herself. A man enters the room and she watches him out of the corner of her eye. The man is dark haired and holding a slim piece of metal in his hand. Laurena looks away from him, turning her attention back to the other experiment.
Suddenly an explosion rocks the platform the five year old is on. Laurena leaps upwards just as the platforms cracks in half. She swings herself up and into the vents and begins to crawl away from the fire that is struggling to expand into the vents. Laurena slithers forwards, pulling herself along with strong, thin arms. The experiment passes underneath her, running towards the door she had seen him enter through. Laurena wishes him good luck, lips moving in a whisper.
The five year old moves forwards quickly, rushing against the clock to get to her room. The facility is about to go into lockdown and she knows it. The scientists are going to be checking on her as soon as possible and she needs to be back. Laurena can't be caught exploring the facility; there is no knowing what would happen to her if the scientists found out.
The young girl makes it back just in time. Throwing herself into the range she picks up a weapon and starts shooting at the targets. The scientists come sprinting into the room, feet pounding against the concrete. They rush in, a babble of voices behind Laurena. She lets out a sigh of relief and slowly puts away the handheld gun she had been shooting with.
Hands grab her underneath her shoulders and she is hefted into the air before being placed on the hip of one of the female scientists. The scientists move off in a group of swirling lab coats and babbling voices. The talking never stops but Laurena doesn't try to listen, content to just be carried to wherever they wish to take her. It is difficult being alone for so long, occasionally it is nice to have some company even if the people don't really care about you. Laurena is carried to another room. This place is in the very heart of the facility, not far away from her quarters. There are other experiments here, the other young boys although they are slightly older than her. There is no one younger than five years old now, everyone is growing up. It is odd to think that they are all getting older especially when they never see anything change in the facility. The scientists are always the same, their rooms never changing. Nothing ever changes and so there is nothing for them to base their change on. The adults barely change, although sometimes their hair colour changes.
Laurena isn't allowed to talk to the others here, she needs to sit alone and be very, very quiet. This is how it works when you meet the other experiments. You don't talk and don't move. The scientists yell if you start talking. They are too busy discussing results to worry about the experiments. They look at each other from across the room. Curious glances are rarely intercepted but each of the children knows that they are being watched. Laurena knows the boy to her right is looking at her. His hair is rather long, not quite as long as hers but it is odd to see. The other boys have their hair cut short, almost so that you can see the skin on their heads.
The boy directly across from the young girl gives Laurena a wink. He is the oldest out of everyone there. He is about thirteen maybe fourteen. It is hard to tell considering he doesn't have any of the usual scrapes or bruises that are so common with the children outside the facility. Laurena doesn't know about age, about time. There are no clocks for her to see. All she knows is that she does things and can't go back and change them.
Sometimes she overhears the scientists or the doctors saying something about a clock or a type of day. It doesn't mean anything to her though, especially considering she has nothing to base her knowledge on. Life in the facility is a curious sort of thing, something which is hardly explainable.
Laurena wishes, not for the first time, that she would be able to see somewhere different. Maybe she could go out the door that the other experiment walked out of. What was out there? Were the lights quite as bright? Was everything white like these walls or was it different? Laurena didn't know any of the answers to these questions but she wishes that she did.
When the scientists finally let her go back to the room the lights are being turned off. It is dark but Laurena can't sleep, just like usual. The darkness is all encompassing; it fills the room which is usually so bright. IT's odd that the scientists don't realise she doesn't need very much sleep. Laurena knows that the door to her room is locked; she had tried to open it once, when she couldn't sleep. The handle would not move despite her best efforts to twist it.
Laurena lies on her bed, staring up at where the ceiling is usually. She tries to search for patterns in the dark but she can't. Instead the five year old thinks of the man she saw today. He was an experiment and it must have worked. IT would be the same experiment that she was doing, only differently. If he made it through then surely her experiment would work. One day she would be able to walk out the front doors of the facility, see what else was outside. Maybe the other boys would succeed as well and one day they would be able to talk to one another. She would be able to find out what their rooms looked like. Were they similar to hers? Did they get a firing range? Did they climb through the events and see things?
She wonders what they would see if they were climbing around the vents. Would they have seen the experiment today or had they seen other ones? Had they ever had this feeling before, a feeling of elation and of hope? She wondered about many things, most of which she had no words to put to. For the five year old, life was an endless cycle which she hoped would someday break.
*six months later*
Laurena jumped off of the medical bench and onto the ground. Her eyes were clear and a deeper, brighter blue than usual. Her eyes were piercing in their strength. The scientist who had overseen her check up for the day was looking pleased. IT was becoming easier to see the extra strength the five year old had. The young girl was growing taller, a little earlier than usual but that wasn't anything to worry about. Laurena still had the innocence of a very young child, something which the doctor was slightly worried about.
It wasn't a good idea to keep all of the experiments from the real world for long and here this little girl was, not knowing anything other than the facility. Already Laurena was showing difficulty in her social abilities, despite her amazing physical attributes. It didn't matter how much the doctor talked to the scientists, they wouldn't sway from their view of how the whole facility should be run.
The doctor sighed as she watched the five year old, now almost six, run from the room. Her laughter echoed around the room. The doctor went back to cleaning the room and ensuring it was ready for the next child that was going to bouncing through the doorway.
Laurena passed around a corner, heading towards her quarters. From a hallway not usually used she heard loud voices. Deciding to take a detour she crept down the hallway. There was an unblocked doorway towards the end of the corridor. The five year old poked her head around the doorway, eyes peering into the room she found there.
There was a large table, on it seemed to be a kind of drawing. Around it stood a few people, including the lady who spoke funny and the experiment that worked. Laurena smiled and watched them for a few seconds. Only her eyes and the top of her head could be seen from the room.
The young girl watched as the experiment lifted his head from the table and looked in her direction. Their eyes met, holding each other's gaze for a few moments. Laurena didn't dare move, she wasn't sure what the other expierment would think of her and she couldn't risk drawing attention to herself, not here. These people weren't meant to know she existed, especially the lady.
The man dropped his gaze and turned back towards the table. LAurena crept backwards and then ran down the hallway, heading back to her quarters. Later in the evening she swung herself up into the vents and set out to search for the man.
She found herself in luck as she crept through the staff quarters. This was where the scientists slept and spent their time. It was different to wear the experiments stayed. Not everything was white, although the ceilings were. There were pictures on the walls and larger beds in each room.
The young girl lay quietly over one of the vents looking into the room below. The man she had seen earlier, the successful experiment, was sitting on the bed, looking at something in his hands. Laurena smiled before slowly moving the grate to the side and dropping into the room.
The man leapt to his feet, falling into a fighting position. Laurena mimicked it for a few seconds before giggling and straightening up. She tilted her head slightly as she looked at the man before her.
"What are you doing here?" The man asked, his voice soft.
"I live here, well not here in this room but here as in over that way," Laurena replies, waving towards where her room is.
The man looks confused for a moment before he sits down on his bed at pats the spot beside him. Laurena darts forwards and sits on the bed beside him, swinging her legs around happily.
"So you live here?"
"Yes."
The man seems to think about this for a few moments, giving Laurena a curious look. She's used to such scrutiny so she just sits happily, looking around the room.
"Why are you here then? Do your parents work here?"
"Parents? I'm here because I'm an experiment, just like you," Laurena says before she leans in close, as though whispering a secret. "I'm going to be just as strong as you one day; you're the first experiment that's worked. I'm going to be the next one."
Suddenly the young girl hears footsteps in the corridor outside the room. In response she leaps across the room and vaults into the vent, sliding the grate into place just in time. The woman from earlier opens the door and speaks to the man. He gets up from the bed and leaves his room, looking up to the vent one last time before he leaves.
Laurena crawls back to her room, getting back just in time for lights out. She lies in bed that night, dreaming of the strength and ability that she will have one day. The day when she will be able to walk out of her room and see the world outside the sterile walls of the facility.
Thanks for reading please review. :)