Chapter two: Rebirth
Slowly waking up I felt stiff, my body ached all over, but when I tried to move, I couldn't. My eyes shot open as I remembered what happened.
Frantically I began looking around to see where I was and what was going on. I was strapped down to a table with metal restraints, in what looked like a futuristic medical room.
The room itself was large with white metal walls. High-tech equipment spread throughout the parts of the room I could see.
A bright light hung above the table, blinding me whenever I glanced up. A mechanical whooshing sound and footsteps filled the silence of the room.
A man walked into view, pulling up a chair next to me. He was older, with curly, short white hair and some stubble on his chin. He brought his arm forward and a hologram seemed to materialize over it.
Wait.
That's an omni tool!
That's something bioware came up with, that can't be real!
He waved it over me once and then brought it back, reviewing the readout while muttering to himself. He nodded then looked at me and smiled.
"It seems like you're in good shape, all things considered, now my name is Doctor Carter." He said with a warm smile.
"Where am I?" I asked, calming down a bit, he reminded me of my grandpa.
"This Hercules station, birthplace of project Hercules, and that's all you need to know subject ten" he replied sending a chill down my spine.
"But my name is R-"
"Your name doesn't matter anymore. You belong to us now, and there is no way off this station." He said as he began typing something on his omni tool.
"You will either be my greatest scientific achievement or a failure to be discarded with the rest of the trash" he declared.
"Now," he said as he finished his typing, "let's get you fitted so that we can begin!"
He reached under the table, pulling out a strange looking collar, grey in color with a blue strip around it.
I struggled to get free as he opened it and brought it closer to me. He simply grabbed my head to keep me still and clamped it around my neck.
I was about to ask what the hell it does when I was shocked, electricity coursing through my body. It was agonizing, every nerve in my body was screaming in pain as I thrashed around in my restraints. When it finally ended I panting for breath, having screamed the entire time.
"Good to see the collar works, if a tad low, that should have knocked you out," he muttered to himself.
"Oh well now you know what happens if you talk back, if try to escape or if fail a test set up for you." He said looking over his omni tool, before scratching his chin in thought.
"Actually some of the guards might use it because they're bored now that I think about it, no matter." He said before getting up, grabbing some sort of syringe from a nearby machine.
"You won't be awake for most of the process, so cheer up, if all goes according to plan you'll be reborn as the perfect soldier!" he declared as the needle pierced my skin, emptying its contents into my vein.
My eyes grew heavy and all sensation began to leave me and the world faded away.
I don't know how long out, but when I came to, I floating in a pod filled with blue liquid, a breathing mask over my face. My body ached, almost like growing pains, but much worse.
Looking out the glass door I saw a bunch of people walking around the room and talking to each other? It was hard to tell, details blurred by grogginess and my current cell. One seemed to take an interest in me, motioning to one of the others before walking towards the glass.
"-eeding any past attempts at this, his dna contains a rare sequence that allows successful modification." I heard one of them say as they stood in front of the door.
"How has the skeletal reinforcement progressed so far?" the other asked.
"Slow going but it has shown promise, his body hasn't shown any sign of rejection."
"The muscle reinforcement?" the second asked.
"Progressing about the same" The first scientist replied, looking at his clipboard, or was that a datapad?
"It's good to see you've woken up subject ten, you've got a busy schedule to keep, are you prepared?" the second replied, and finally I snapped wide awake.
That was Carter!
I began pounding on the glass, startling the other scientists in the room, but not Carter. He stood there typing away at something.
My blood boiled, rage taking over my mind as I began to strike the glass with more and more force. Just when I thought it was pointless, a crack appeared in glass.
encouraged by that sight I kept at it, the crack widening with every strike I landed on it. Without warning my whole locked up as a surge of electricity went through me.
"Now subject ten, did you forget about the collar already." Carter said in a condescending tone.
"That was a good show, though, I didn't think your strength had grown so fast." He continued, looking over something.
"Now, we have tests to get to, aren't you excited?" he said with glee.
From then on, my life spiraled down into a nightmare that I couldn't wake from. I do whatever tests they deem necessary then they put me under again to poke and prod at me. They punish me for the slightest mistake by using the collar. Adding to the agony my body is already in from the unnatural changes forced upon it.
Weeks or months, I don't know how long I've been their guinea pig, all I know is I'm starting to lose hope. Every time I wake up to another piece of me torn away, replaced by whatever they decide is more efficient. I don't even know how much of my body is mine anymore or how much more they plan on taking from me.
I'm not sure how much more I can take before I lose my mind, if I haven't lost it already.
When I woke up this time, I was wearing full armor, pure white, and it looked like the style they called heavy armor in game. I had no way of looking at the helmet I was wearing, all I could see was the HUD that showed me a readout of my vitals.
Before I could get my bearings and try anything, my body froze in place. Try as I might I couldn't move, it was like someone pressed pause on me.
"Well subject ten, I'd say the nano machines we put inside you work quite well don't they?"
CARTER!
"They were tricky to make, you see they track your vitals, speed up healing, and keep you in peak physical condition, with them you need very little sleep, poisons, germs and virus's that would kill most men will be broken down before you can even get a sniffle, you will be the ultimate soldier!" he prattled on, stroking his own ego. .
If I could just move, I would be able to end this monsters life in a moment.
"It was tricky to get them to work how we wanted though" he continued. "Couldn't risk sending you out without some way to stop you if needed and it had to be secure to prevent hacking."
He finally entered my field of vision, a smug smile on his face as he looked me over.
"I was able to come up device that put them completely under my control and there's no way to replicate it, isn't that fascinating?" he asked as he walked away from me.
"Now I'm going to release you in a moment, and then you will sit down in this chair here and my assistants will run you for the next phase, if you don't, I can send an electric current through the the nano machines until you comply." He gestured to a strange chair. It had clamps on the arms and instead of a headrest it had a crescent shaped device raised above it.
With no other choice I did as he said, sitting down in the chair and allowing myself to be clamped in.
"Doctor, why does he have armor on?" I overheard an assistant asked Carter.
"As soon as the procedure finishes we begin combat trials" Carter replied irately.
"I don't want to waste any more time, this is my defining moment and I won't have it spoiled by delays." He replied before handing him a device.
"This is the controller, if anything goes wrong don't hesitate to use it, I have to start on the next subject." he stalked out of the room with his head held high, leaving me with his two assistants.
They placed the controller on a nearby counter as they set the machine up. They took my helmet when it was time to lower the device on my chair. It clamped onto the side of my head and I could feel it expanding, to hold me in place?
When they were finally done the activated the machine and that's when it all went to hell. As soon as it started up I cried out anguish, it was like it was clawing around in my mind, driving me to the brink of madness.
I struggled with all my might, trying my hardest to get away from the torture they were subjecting me to. Fate seemed to favor me finally, as when I pulled against my restraints, my right arm came free. It wasn't closed right!
The two men that were to be my jailers were frozen in horror the moment my arm came free. I ripped the device off my head to end my suffering, throwing it at one of the men when he went for the controller. It was a solid hit and he fell, while the other man ran from the room terrified .
Setting about freeing myself I got out of the chair and stumbled to the counter holding the controller. I tried to get my wits about me, my mind still muddled from the effects of the device. I tried to think, to figure out what was the point of it. As I shook of the effects, I looked at myself in the reflection of my helmet. It's been so long since I saw myse-
No.
No.
NO!
My mind was clear and with a growing sense of horror, I realized, that machine was meant to wipe my memories. My name, my family's faces, parts of my whole life, they were gone! I could remember bits and pieces of things, but the farther back I tried to think the more holes appeared!
"CARTER!" I bellowed with grief and rage, tears beginning to fall down my face. Looking once more at the helmet, I let rage take over once more.
I put the helmet on and grabbed the controller, crushing it with a quick squeeze of my hand.
He had tried to take my very soul from me.
Now I was going take his life.