Act VIII

June 26, 2010

Lake Arrowhead, California

0056 Hours

The first night was the scariest. They stripped me of my weapons and gear and tossed me into a holding cell. Literally. I didn't get up. No reason to. My face hurt like hell. I hoped it wasn't broken, but that's what it felt like. My chest had started to throb more as the bullets wedged in my ribs. The floor was bare concrete, no windows, no bed, just a solid metal door that locked from the outside. With nothing more to do, I rolled over to maybe sleep. But I knew that wasn't going to happen. All I could do was think.

They came for me at noon. Men in hazmat suits came through the door and picked me up by the arms, carefully watched by an armed guard. Any move I tried to make was quickly stopped by the guard, using his gun as a bludgeon. My head was forced down so I couldn't see where we were going.

Finally, after a few minutes, we went through an automatic door. They finally let my head go, and I saw the situation. There was a restraint chair in the center of the room, surrounded by all sorts of torture devices and medical tools. I could only imagine what they were going to do to me.

I was sat in the chair and tied down by my wrists and ankles. Looking closer, I saw that some of the devices still had blood on them. The three men walked out of the room, leaving me by myself. No screaming did me any good. No crying solved anything. No one cared.

Fifteen minutes later, a man came in the room. He had a viral mask on, an apron, and scrubs. The apron had blood on it already. This guy had no morality, clearly. He looked through a cabinet, and dug out a small bottle of clear liquid. He picked up an empty syringe from one of the metal tables, and extracted some of the clear liquid into it.

He then forced my arm over, or, at least, tried to. As he leaned in, a gave him a strong head butt. He fell back, and I laughed out loud. He got back up and scowled. He drew his hand back and backhanded me across my, already, hurting face. He picked up a towel and wiped off some blood that started forming at his scalp.

Then he forced my arm over successfully and pulled up the sleeve of my jacket. He planted the syringe into a vein and poured the liquid in. He disposed of the syringe, put the bottle back into the cabinet, and walked out of the room.

I started feeling sleepy, and after only one minute, I was lost in unconsciousness.

The doctor stepped back, the mutant had just been administered a sort of sleep aid. She would feel no pain, and she would be knocked out for twelve hours, guaranteed. Now she started to nod off. And in a few seconds she would be completely asleep. The doctor replaced the sleep aid where it was and disposed of the syringe in a container.

The mutant fell unconscious. Men walked into the room, one was holding a suitcase, and the other had an L96A1 rifle. The guard holding the suitcase gave it to the doctor, and they both walked out of the room.

The suitcase was marked EPFM47E. Electric Pulse Formula, Model 47E. The doctor opened the suitcase to reveal a set of three syringes. Nothing else. The syringes were marked P1, P2, and P3. The order they were supposed to be injected in. The doctor checked the subject's vitals and took the first syringe out of the suitcase.

These formulas were to enable the subject to have greater endurance and an increased heart rate. As for the 'Electric' part of it, she will be able to manipulate electricity once she gets the hang of it. A cooperation in Japan was willing to purchase this specimen in a year, once she retained the ability for infiltration.

The doctor only knew this because he had friends on the inside. He wasn't supposed to know this information, but it leaked eventually. They had been planning this for years. The doctor plunged the first needle in.

He held down the injector until all the fluid was gone. He took out the next one and readied it. The only reason he was involved was the money. They were paying him a thousand dollars an hour. He stuck the next needle in the subject. It was a good job because he never had any morality to begin with. There was no one else that worked in his position. All patients went directly to him.

The formula in the second one gone, he took out the final syringe. At this point, the subject's veins glowed brightly. He inserted the last syringe and pressed in down.

When the fluid in the last one was all gone, he called for a transport. They would take her to her new home.

When I woke up, It was night. I sat up in an unusually comfortable bed. I was in a colossal room, with dozens of beds, and a huge window on one wall. My first impulse wasn't to escape though. I didn't even know where I was. I checked out where my body was hurt before, but all that were left was red scabs. My jacket was still bloodied and encrusted with dirt. I felt perfectly fine. No headache or concussion.

The room's walls were pure white, the beds were white, and the floor was white tile. Looking around, I noticed that most of the beds were occupied. That made me wonder who was in them.

As the moon shone through the window, I saw that my backpack was at the foot of the bed. I hoisted it up onto my lap and unzipped it. Looking though it, I learned that they didn't tamper with it much. Why? Why not at least remove the files? They didn't care about the stash of bullets, but they took the Molotov Cocktails, why? Then I remembered, I reached into my Jacket pocket and felt the golden lighter. It was still there.

I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night, partly because I had already slept for God knows how long. But, for the rest of the night, all I could do was think. About the rebels. About Highland. About these other experiments that were in this very room.

As morning came, a few of the experiments awakened. I kept my eyes shut as they started to move around and converse. After most of them were already up, I opened my eyes and sat up.

I decided that now would be the best time to read the files I stole from New York. I had Jack's, Abaddon's, Heather's, and my own.

Jack's informed that he was born and raised in Manhattan, and at the age of six, Hakasho got a hold of him. It said that his sister was Nicole Baca, Heather. They grew up together, but in Heather's file, it said that she was moved due to "acts of violence against staff".

Abaddon's file said that he was raised in Highland, had a sister and a brother, and was taken when he was eleven. It didn't have any info on his real name, though.

I finally opened the file about myself, Subject Four. My real name was Selena, Selena Ramierez. My picture was from when I was eight, the time when I was first in Hakasho's custody. The picture caught my general feelings. I was looking at the camera with red eyes and tears streaming down my face. Looking onto the rest of the file, it described my general attributes, brown eyes, black hair, and all that.

But then I found something... Something petrifying. Something that I never knew.

I had a twin.

A few hours earlier...

The scientist stared blankly at the green pod that was in front of him. The pod contained a rare specimen. Something they had never seen before. The subject's DNA was set up so perfectly, you can't help but wonder how.

The small form inside the pod began to move.

He wiped something off his glasses, and pulled up a clipboard. On it were the readings from a test done fifteen minutes before.

The subject's vitals were reading normally, even though it had wings. It was time. The cloning process would take a month or so. The scientist stepped out of the room, and only screams were heard.

The moment only lasted a few seconds, but it was stupefying. All I could do was think. Where was she now? Was she like me? Is she still at home with... Mom and Dad?

A few experiments distracted me from that though. A fight had broken out among two guys, and they were going at it. Knuckles pummeled, feathers flashed, and blood spilled. In less than a minute, security was called.

They came through the large double doors on the other side of the room. They were holding machine guns. They pulled the already bloody experiments out of the room. They were never seen again.

Then they all noticed me, as my bed was third-closest to the door. One by one, they all figured out that I wasn't here the night before.

"Hey, newbie!" One of the guys called out. He was short, wearing a white shirt and shorts, and had short brown hair. "What brings you here?" His arms opened as if he was welcoming me, but his face was showing in condescension.

"It's a personal matter." I said with my 'supremely serious' voice.

"Oh." He said. "Something happened to you when you were young?" He put his hands up in the "Home Alone" position. "Oh my!" This guy was a regular bully.

"Yea. What do you care?" I said, injecting venom into my words.

"Nothing, It's just that you're being a big whiner about it." Snarkiness and sarcasm was clearly audible. The experiments that were asleep were starting to awaken because of the argument.

"You would know." I said to myself.

"What was that?" He commanded.

"I said, you would know!" It escalated instantly.

"No, you're right. I wouldn't, because I love what they did to me." He said proudly.

"Are you serious?" I couldn't believe what this kid was saying.

"Let's go!" He beckoned. "Right now, you and me!"

"No, I'm fine." I said. "I don't want to kill you." It was the sad truth.

"You're just scared! Aren't ya?" He yelled and danced around.

I paused. "Okay. It's your funeral." I decided. I cracked my knuckles and adopted a loose stance.

As soon as it started, I knew he didn't have a chance. His punches were wild, he never blocked, and he left himself open. Thankfully, I was quite adept to combat. I let him throw the first few punches, which I parried off to the side. Then he connected with my face.

The thing about me is, I don't mind getting hit, so long as it isn't my nose. But, unfortunately for him, he didn't know that.

He hopped back, feeling quite proud of himself for hitting a girl. I was already engulfed in rage. As he was mocking me, I socked him as hard I possibly could in the stomach. He clutched his lower body in pain, and as soon as he was standing straight, I sucker punched him straight in the jaw. I could feel it fracture.

Then he was just lying there on the ground. All he did was cry out every few minutes, but after a while security dispatched a medic to retrieve him. I hope I broke his face. That guy was a jerk, and he deserved it.

Still standing, I put the files back into my backpack. I sat down and rummaged through my backpack some more. I dumped everything out onto the clean mattress. The bullets clanging together made a lot of people look in my direction. I had about two pairs of pants, three shirts, all the files from New York, eleven dollars, my sunglasses, two Molotov Cocktails, my bottle bandolier, the lighter, all of the gun magazines, and the shotgun shells.

I looked at the clothes I was wearing. They were covered in blood and torn slightly. A section in the pants above my knee was clearly visible, an area of about two inches was ripped. My black jacket was doing alright, nothing but dirt and blood was on it. My shoes were fine, because I did more flying than running.

I put my sunglasses on and a bell rang. A few moments later, a squadron of armed guards walked through the door. "Let's go!" One of them yelled. "Form a line!"

Everyone else got in a line, I felt like a tag on at the end. I didn't know the routines here. They herded us down a hallway, where the line was allowed to become a mob. People moved off to the sides and started talking to each other, but I stuck to the line painted on the center of the floor. The guards just followed us, watching for anything suspicious or worth questioning.

We rounded a corner, and it stretched for about a thousand feet. There was a light at the end of it. We reached the outside, and the yard was revealed. It was about a hundred feet long and wide, with an aviary dome capping the top so we couldn't fly out. I looked back, but the guards stood in front of the door. Everybody quickly got to their spots, where they formed small groups and talked.

It was here where I was first approached. A small group of experiments, maybe four or five of them, walked up to me. "Hi." A girl was the first person to talk to me. "My name's Naomi."

No reason to hide anything here, I figured. "I'm Eleanor." Those words made her eyes wide and a smile arc across her face.

"Eleanor? As in Abaddon and Eleanor?" She asked, seeming way to excited to see me.

I took my sunglasses off. "Yes." Abaddon's name no longer phased me. Now, I was just angry. Angry for him. He never even got to see me like this. If he were still here, he would be right by my side, exactly how it was before.

She extended her arm. I took her hand and shook it. "We all know about you, what you did, where you were!" She exclaimed. "They let us watch T.V. Here, and we've been watching you since they saw you in New York." There were two other experiments behind her, both were guys.

I thought to myself, these experiments wanted to be my friends. And they were so ecstatic to do so.

Act IX

October 3, 2010

Lake Arrowhead, California

0004 Hours

"You got it?" Aaron asked, his blonde hair barely visible in the dark room.

"Yeah, I'm good." Phoenix whispered. He clacked a magazine into his MP5k and pulled the slider back.

I looked down and tightened the bottle belt strapped to my chest, the gasoline inside the Molotovs sloshing around. I pumped my Ithaca 37 Stakeout.

Naomi found her M4A1 and slammed a clip into it. She cocked the slider and released it, making an almost musical sound.

Aaron adjusted the sights of his M16A2 and looked at me. "We ready?"

I looked at him, everyone else, and then the door. "Let's do this." I kicked the door open, and alarms instantly began to scream.

We ran down the hallway and I kept my eyes on the posted signs, they led to the Security Room. "Turn left up ahead!" Naomi shouted.

Aaron, who was taking point, scanned the left side with his M16 before going down the path. We all followed him, our weapons at the ready.

Red lights began to flash. "Escape in progress, zone 11, heading West." Radios echoed off the thin corridors.

Phoenix, who was in front of me, noticed something. "They're close." The zippers on my backpack were jingling loudly as we slowed our pace.

"Hold up." Aaron said. "Flashlights up ahead." We all stopped in our tracks. "Eleanor, get behind me."

"Naomi! Where's the package?" I asked.

"Got it right here!" She replied.

"Hold on to it! This is gonna get crazy!" I said.

It only took a few moments, but they found us.

1 Minute Earlier...

"Raymond, we've got to get this alarm suppressed." Colonel Alice warned. "If they get out, it will start all over again."

Raymond Welles sighed and pulled the slider of his Desert Eagle handgun. "I'll handle it. Team Zodiac and I will get the job done.

Colonel Alice was a highly respected woman. She was always serious, always did the rounds herself, and never left without her choice of gun. She was tall, thin, and wore a dark blue beret. The pin on her black combat vest identified her as an Elite. She had the best skills, the most intellect, and an Army to command. She was great with her squad, knew how to get out of tough situations, and was easy to make friends with.

Now, the young Colonel and her squad prepared to go handle a DEFCON 2 alarm. It was triggered by the invisible tripwires outside of Gate 77. Mutants were escaping. Her job: to neutralize all participants.

"We're ready to roll." Raymond said. "The team and I are locked, cocked, and loaded."

"Okay," Colonel Alice acknowledged. "Let's be careful out there." She grabbed a G36C assault rifle.

"Haggard!" Raymond said into his radio. "Meet us at block 77-G-4!"

The machine crackled back, "Got it. Me and my squad are already moving."

Alice motioned to the squad behind her, and they proceeded to move down the small hallways of Hakasho.

A few minutes later, an infantry man was examining the remains of the door on Gate 77. It had been knocked off its hinges. Two lose bolts were lying on either side of the door that lay on the tiled ground. With the dim flashlights on their weapons and the red siren flashing, it was difficult to see the footprint on the center of it.

"Shots fired! Shots fired!" Haggard called over the radio. "Raymond! We were intercepted between block 77-G-4 and block 77-G-3!" The sound of a large battle emanated from the background, as they heard the echoes of it bouncing off the walls. "The enemies are heavily armed and half of my squad is down!"

"Copy Haggard, on our way!" Raymond yelled. He looked to Alice and the rest of his squad. "We gotta go."

Colonel Alice led the way down the confusing, snaky corridors of the large building. In thirty seconds, they reached the battle.

"Eleanor!" A girl shouted. "Behind you!" One of the loose Mutants spun around with a shotgun aimed right at the Colonel. She got wide eyed, and then pulled the trigger.

"We almost got 'em!" Aaron said. The fight had only been a minute long, but in these tight quarters it was easy to handle this.

"Eleanor!" Naomi shouted. "Behind you!" I quickly turned around, only to face another squad. I let loose with my Stakeout, and the woman in front fell. The rest of the squad took aim.

"Get down!" I shouted. Aaron, Phoenix, and Naomi all jumped for cover. Bullets started to spray as I got to the ground.

"Eleanor, get a Molotov in there!" Phoenix yelled.

I pulled a Molotov Cocktail out of my bandolier. I fumbled for the lighter in my pocket, and flicked it open. A small flame seared the old cloth until it started to burn. I tossed it at the direction the gunfire was coming from.

The glass bottle broke, sending drops of gas flying, and the fire igniting. As the last guard caught fire, we ran for the Security Room. I put some more shotgun shells in my Stakeout and pressed against the door. I turned the knob and entered.

A lone man sat asleep in front of all the camera feeds. Phoenix got behind him and pressed his MP5 against the back of his head.

"He's fine." I said, and Phoenix backed off.

I walked up the sleeping man and pushed him back in his chair. He had a small key strapped to his belt loop. Perfect. I ripped the small wire in half and gripped the key in my right hand.

"Eleanor." Aaron said. "You might want to come see this." He was standing over a locked chest marked 'Contraband'. It was locked, but I had the security key. I put the key in the lock and turned. Something clicked, and the chest opened.

"Oh, my, God." I said. My guns were still here. "Phoenix!" I called. "Take my shotgun." I tossed him the Ithaca 37 and picked up my own Remington 500. I strapped it to my back, and pulled out my M1911s. I holstered them and took out my M16. I checked to make sure that it was loaded, and strapped it to my back. I took out my sword, its blade still stained with dried blood. I sheathed it, and walked over to the command desk.

I looked at my hands, and looked at Naomi. "Do it." She urged.

I put both hands out in front of me, and concentrated. Electricity arced out of my palms and into the computers. Everything powered down. No lights, no power, no locks.

I looked at Aaron. "Let's get out of here." My veins started glowing, getting brighter and brighter with each passing second. Naomi took a flashlight out of her pocket. She clicked it on, and our path was illuminated.

"We should head for an emergency exit." Phoenix suggested. "The main entrance will be heavily guarded."

"Good call." Naomi said. She pointed her flashlight at a group of signs on the wall. "Turn right up ahead."

Our voices were quiet. So quiet that my enhanced heart was making very audible loud thumps every millisecond. My veins now lit up the corridor for five feet in front of me. I must have looked really eerie, my circulatory system glowing with electricity.

A minute later, we were standing face-to-face with a door marked 'Emergency'. I opened the steel door and a cool breeze greeted me. We were standing on top a cliff in the middle of the night. I could see a forest at the bottom, and a lake that was a mile away.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Naomi asked.

I thought for a moment, and then I looked at her. "Follow me." I said, and I dove down the edge of the cliff. The rocky terrain sped past my eyes as I angled upward. I gained altitude and turned around. The others followed me, and in the darkness I saw experiments escaping. They were pouring out of windows, elbowing their way through doors, and annihilating the security forces.

"We're going to Highland." I announced. "I know some people that will take care of us."

"How do you know?" Phoenix asked.

"Because I've been with them before." I explained. "They're the reason that we are out here right now. If they didn't find me, I wouldn't have found you."

"We better get moving!" Naomi shouted. "Security is going to be looking for us!"

"Yea. Let's go." I said.

I led the way all the way down the mountain, following the freeway. Highland looked a little better, but security was still everywhere.

Time to find some rebels.