"Emma," the musical voice drifted through the blackness, sounding like it was flowing through water to her ears, "Emma," it repeated.
Emma tried to find the voice, but it was too dark to see anything.
Emma," the musical voice said again.
"Wha...who are you?" Emma asked.
"I'm Mrs. Chatham, dear."
Emma's eyes flew open and she bolted upright at the reference to the friendly elderly woman and friend that had helped them in the past. She immediately regretted her sudden movement, however, as the immense pain the scientists had inflicted on her came rushing back, staggering her under its weight. She moaned and closed her eyes, sinking down into a sitting position, resting her head against the back of the crate.
After a few minutes the pain gradually faded back to a bearable level and she was able to reopen her eyes. Mrs. Chatham's face was just outside the crate, a sad smile on her face.
"Emma," Mrs. Chatham said softly.
"Mrs. Chatham?" Emma croaked.
It hurt dreadfully to talk, but then it hurt to do nearly anything after what they'd done to her. The horrific images filled Emma's mind again as she remembered and she moaned again.
"Dear Lord," Mrs. Chatham murmured, her smile faltering for a moment, "What have they done to you?"
That woke Emma up the rest of the way.
"What did who do?" she forced the words from her lips, "Who are they?"
Mrs. Chatham thought a moment before answering, "We work for Itex, Emma," she said, "And--"
"'We'?!?" Rikki asked in a venomous voice from a couple yards away, just out of sight, in her own crate, "You're one of them?!"
Mrs. Chatham sighed, "I can explain, girls," she said, looking at Emma with a pleading look.
Emma just looked at her, trying to appear indifferent but looking more curious than anything else.
After a moment without response Mrs. Chatham continued, her eyes seeming to focus on something in the distance that no one else could see; remembering, "Before I say anything, girls, I want you to know that I'm sorry."
"For what?" Rikki asked in a guarded voice.
Mrs. Chatham acted as though she hadn't heard her, "The people in this facility are scientists," she said.
Emma's eyes widened, despite the dull ache from her swollen right eye, "Scientists?" she whispered, "They want to...study us?"
Mrs. Chatham smiled that sad smile again, eyes refocusing on Emma's crate and moving down Emma's bruised face to her eyes, "No, dear," she said, "At least, not like the others. These people already know what you are."
Emma jolted slightly as Mrs. Chatham said it, although she had guessed as much herself.
"How did they find out?" Rikki's steel voice asked with obvious implications.
"You really don't know, do you?" Mrs. Chatham asked, "No, of course not. Itex was always very careful," she sighed, that faraway look in her eyes again, "No, dear girls, they already know what you are; they have for a long time," she looked back down at Emma, "Because, you see, they created you."
The Eraser walked stiffly down the hallway inside the facility, eyes roaming for intruders. He never let his guard down. He couldn't, nor did he want to. Itex said that there could be intruders, and Itex was usually right. His creators had put the safety of this important facility in him and his fellow Erasers, and he intended to make sure that their trust was not misplaced. He reached the end of the hallway and jogged easily down the stairs to the floor below, where another Eraser jumped clumsily to attention as he saw him come down, relaxing as he realized who that it was only another Eraser, not an important scientist. The idiot. A clumsy dog could walk right past him and he'd never even realize it was there.
"Anything?" he asked, even though he knew the answer.
"No, nothing," the other Eraser said in a bored voice.
"Good," he replied, "Carry on," he nodded toward the staircase and the other Eraser headed gratefully down to a lower level, glad to have his shift over for a few hours. The Eraser's eyes followed his colleague until he was out of sight.
Idiot indeed.
He stood in a relaxed yet alert posture, eyes continually scanning the hallway's white walls for movement while his nose searched through the antiseptic smell for the odors that preceded intruders and ears searched for the noises that betrayed them. Nothing was out of place. He had actually come to enjoy the smell of antiseptic in the halls as the smell of home. There were other Itex labs, certainly, but they all smelled like this. He breathed in deeply and caught the rich, yet sour smell.
He suddenly heard footsteps on the stairs and mentally cursed himself for allowing himself to be so caught up in his thoughts. It was probably some scientists. He stood at attention, staring straight ahead; somehow the scientists were offended when an Eraser would stare at them.
"Hey! You!" a female voice barked loudly, causing him to flinch.
After a moment of no reply he turned his eyes to the side without moving any of his body. He nearly started at what he saw. There were five girls and two boys all coming down the stairs toward him. The oldest girl was in her mid teens by normal standards and the others were younger than that by varying degrees down to the youngest, who couldn't be more than seven, the Eraser reckoned.
One of the oldest girls was looking at him, apparently waiting for him to answer her previous question.
"Yes, Doctor?" the Eraser hoped he was not wrong in his assumption that this was another of the scientists. He had never seen her before, but if he accidentally called her by something besides her title she would be angry.
They were always angry.
But he must have gotten it right, because she took no notice and kept right on talking. He breathed a mental sigh of relief.
"Which way to the prisoners?" she asked briskly, "We need to administer some more tests,"
The Eraser tried to notice their appearances for later memory, but it was all he could do to answer her questions. The scientists rarely talked to the Erasers.
"Right down this hallway," he said, gesturing down the hallway away from the stairs, "Holding room 114B,"
"Thank you," she nodded once and walked with purpose down the hallway away from him.
He allowed himself a slight smile. These people were not supposed to be here. First, a doctor would know precisely where the prisoners were being held without having to ask a lowly Eraser. Second, she would not have given a reason for her inquiry; he would have been expected to obey because he was here to serve Itex. Third, she would not have thanked him.
His discipline had finally paid off.
He slowly and silently brought his hands from his sides and took his security handheld in one hand and his stun gun in the other. He pushed a button on the handheld while simultaneously raising the stun gun, aiming for the back of the older girl who had addressed him. She was probably the most important one.
He heard a disturbance of air behind him, but before he could react a foot connected with the side of his head, throwing him back against the wall and knocking the wind out of him. He recovered quickly and barely ducked under right hook flying toward him.
He turned and saw his attacker for the first time. It was only a young boy, about the age of the girl who had addressed him, with fairly long, dark hair that nearly covered his eyes.
The boy was slightly off-balance after the ducked punch and the Eraser saw his opening. He lunged forward and punched the boy in the jaw, sending him back into the wall and leaving him momentarily stunned. He picked up his stun gun from the floor where he'd dropped it a minute ago and raised it, aiming for the boy's chest. Suddenly a foot shot out and hit his wrist, snapping it to the side and throwing the stun gun clear.
He had forgotten about the others!
Instinct took over and he threw himself backward as a second kick flew harmlessly over him. He rolled to his feet and saw the older girl as she leapt toward him with a roundhouse kick. He blocked it with his arm and grabbed it, twisting the girl off balance and to the ground, body horizontal, as her face hit the wall vertically at a weird angle with a satisfying sound of smashing body tissue.
He used the advantage to quickly survey the area. The girl would be out of the fight for a few minutes. The boy was recovering more quickly than he had anticipated; he was already staggering to his feet. The other four girls and two boys were standing five meters away from him, not an immediate issue.
"Fang! Catch!" the smaller boy called, lobbing something through the air.
The Eraser reached out and easily snatched it out of the air before it could get to the older boy, the one called Fang.
"Down!!" the tall boy beside the smaller one yelled.
The Eraser spun to the one called Fang, expecting an assault, but instead he was collapsed on the floor, hands over his head.
Hands over his head?
The Eraser had time for a short moment of panic as he looked at the small object in his hand before it detonated.
There was a long moment of intolerable pain! His face burned, one arm burned— he couldn't feel the other one! His legs burned! His chest burned!
Then the world tilted and he was suddenly staring at the white ceiling of the hallway. The room faded and then everything went black.