A/N Well I managed to pull of another chapter without waiting a year to do it. This is more Connor back story. I'm figuring one more chapter of back story perhaps two before returning to the main story. Please comment in the reviews what you guys want; would you like a little more back story or get back to Alice with periodic flash backs of back story?
Seven Months Later
"I am sure you have been worried about your friends." Dr. Issacs addressed the group, "As you know you are all apart of an important scientific study. Your fellow candidates that are no longer with us have either progressed to the next stage of the study or have been returned to their home facility. Rest assured they are all fine and safe."
Only half of the original group sat listening to Issacs speak. Slowly the group had thinned out and the unknown was causing quite a bit of tension amongst the facility. It finally came to head when Connor confronted one of the orderlies when Karl came up missing. The other kids were quick to rally behind him to find out where their friends were. Issacs was soon addressing them in the cafeteria to put them at ease.
"He's lying." Maria whispered in Connor's ear.
"How can you tell?"
Maria looked at him with seriousness in her eyes, "He fidgets his hands when he's not telling the whole truth. He's also not looking at us when he's starts talking about everyone missing. He's looking behind us."
Connor started to analyze Dr. Issac's mannerisms. Sure, enough his hand was twitching, and he was looking just past them.
"So what? That doesn't mean he's lying"
"I'm telling you something is up that we're not being told."
Connor tried to put the thoughts behind him. Whenever he had tests with Dr. Issacs he was always kind and endearing. He couldn't believe the good doctor wasn't being honest with them.
Connor slipped his hand into Maria's, "Don't worry. If he isnot telling us something, he must have good reason."
A couple nights later Connor awoke to a load siren and flashing yellow lights. He shot up in his bed and covered his ears against the offensive noise. He heard a voice come over the PA.
"Alpha level security breech. Repeat alpha level security breech. Security secure the lab. All study candidates remain in your quarters."
Connor sat patiently with his fingers plugged in his hears. He was given a start when his door suddenly opened, and someone entered. With the flashing alarm lights, he couldn't quite make her out until she crossed the room and climbed on his bed with him.
Maria flung her arm around him and pulled him into a tight embrace. Connor ignored the blaring alarm and returned the gesture. She shook like a leaf in a heavy breeze. If Connor could tell he'd say he was too.
It seemed like hours they just stayed that way. Eventually the sirens were quieted, and the lights winked off. Yet still the pair remained unmoving. Connor could feel Maria shutter from crying and tears staining his night shirt
"If I go missing… come find me." She managed to stutter past her sobs.
"Maria, you don't."
"Promise me."
Her plea came off almost like a curse. Her voice dripped with fear. Connor couldn't make out more than one word in reply
"Okay."
Like that Maria pressed her lips to his. Their youth was evident in the clumsiness of trying to kiss deeply and affectionately. They then held each other in a tight embrace in the quiet darkness. Before sleeps encroached on them Connor whispered a final phrase.
"I promise."
"Happy birthday!" Maria cried with glee
She passed Connor a paper origami box with a big red 10 written on it. Connor was glad she remembered. The close knit of friends had shared their birthdays with each other months ago when it came to pass that Liam had missed his while traveling to the facility. They had resolved not to let each other miss another as long as they were together.
As Connor accepted the gift Maria pecked a kiss on his check. As the sure blush set in on his cheeks, he was grateful it was just the two of them at their table. Liam had rolled an ankle during a run that morning and was in the clinic to have it looked at.
He tore into the paper and box with excitement. The present inside tugged at Connor's heart strings. It was a black and white photograph of him and all his friends from the facility together. It was obviously from a surveillance camera in the cafeteria, but the picture was perfect. You could make out everyone's face Maria, Liam, Karl, and himself and each held a smile. Connor ran his fingers over the picture and a frame made from brown paper and origamied around the picture.
"Where did you get this?" Connor asked.
"I found it. A nurse left my file while I was waiting for a blood draw. So, I went through it and found that picture. Liam made the frame."
"Thank you for this!"
The two embraced in a warm hug. Connor then sat and looked at his picture. The feelings he found were near overwhelming. He thought back to when he first arrived. How alone and lost he felt. It was his friends that lead him out of that and let him find joy in an otherwise bleak setting. Connor looked at Maria deep in the eyes.
"I'm gonna go stash this in my room. Would you cover me if I don't make it to class on time?"
"You got it."
"Great" Connor said and kissed Maria on the cheek.
As he stormed out of the cafeteria he turned to look back and saw Maria's fingers brush the spot where he kissed her. He couldn't help but smile.
He came to a screeching halt as he came to his room. Without any second thought he pulled out his bed tore off a corner of the fitted sheet. He had hollowed out a part of his mattress; he found it helpful in hiding things deemed contraband such as extra snacks lifted from the cafeteria. Now it would be the home of his most valuable possession. He was quick to remake his bed and push it back against the wall. As he was walking out of his room two orderlies and a guard blocked his way
"Bravo 001? Please follow us." One of the orderlies said.
"Whaa…" Connor's voice cracked, "what's up? Did I do something wrong?"
"Please just follow the orderlies." The guard barked with irritation.
The two orderlies started down the hall and Connor followed. The guard walked close behind. Connor was expecting them to escort him to class, but they didn't make the expected turn down the right hallway.
"Where are we going?"
No one replied as he was guided toward the main elevator. Kids were forbidden from leaving this floor. When the doors opened, he was pushed inside. He felt the steel box descend beneath them; there was no floor indicator, but minutes passed as they descended. When the doors opened once more, they were open to a large brightly lit lab.
Men and women move about in lab coats or working on computers. A big stainless-steel operating table stood in the center of the room. Connor looked around and finally found a familiar face. Dr. Issacs was the first to greet him.
"Connor, welcome to your graduation."
"My graduation?"
"Yes," Issacs said with great enthusiasm, "You have been selected to rise to the next level of our study. You are going to receive the vaccine to the virus that has forced us underground."
Another doctor came up to Issacs. He was a middle-aged black man with a bald head and goatee. He wasn't as tall as Issacs but was broader in the shoulders and chest. Connor had seen him around but never met him.
"Dr. Issacs, the dosage is set, and we are ready to proceed."
"Dr. Epps this is the candidate I have told you about."
"Ah yes, Connor. I hear you are a promising candidate for our program. I truly hope you will be one of our successes."
Dr. Epps then left the doctor and young Connor alone. Connor watched him walk away. He stopped to talk with someone Connor had not noticed before. A young brunette girl about his age, barefoot and wearing a white dress.
"Who is that?" Connor asked Issacs.
"She… She's unique." Issacs replied leaving no indication he would explain anymore, "Come let's get you ready."
Issacs escorted Connor over to the operating table where he was instructed to take off the top half of his coveralls and remove his undershirt. The youth did so without question. He had been through enough medical tests by now that this was not out of the ordinary. The table then mechanical rotated down and he was instructed to stand flush against it
"Now Connor, we are going to restrain you to the table." Dr. Issacs explained, "Do not be afraid. When candidates are first injected with the vaccine, they have uncontrollable fits of thrashing and flailing. The restraints will keep you from hurting yourself."
Connor nodded in understanding. The nurses were gentle as they wrapped his limbs and waist in the soft leather straps. When they had finished the table rotated again so that he was on his back toward the ceiling. Another nurse placed an IV in his arm and hung a bag of saline. Connor started to feel nervous when Dr. Issacs came into his view again.
"This will be over before you know it." The doctor said.
Connor looked around and noticed Dr. Epps wheeling a strange contraption with four metallic arms and synergies at the ends. The contraption was placed at the head of the table with two arms on either side of him. Connor could now feel his heart beating faster.
Dr. Issacs gave a reassuring pat on the chest, "Don't worry everything is going to be alright."
At that Issacs left Connor's side to go stand behind a computer bank. Dr. Epps now filled his vision as nurses started to apply sensors to his chest and forehead.
"This will monitor your heart and brain as the vaccine begins to do it's job." Dr. Epps told him.
The arms of the contraption were now adjusted so that two align with his arms and two on either side of his neck. Connor heard something else roll up, so he turned his head to see what it was. It was some sort of machine with four glass containers sticking out of the top. Each filled with a deep red liquid. Technicians quickly connected the machine to each arm of the contraption and to the main computer bank.
Dr. Epps looked at him again, "Now you're going to feel a slight pinch perhaps a little pain."
The needles of the contraption were then placed into the main vain of each arm and the arteries in his neck. After the first month in the facility Connor had grown accustomed to the poking and prodding of needles. When the syringes were in place Epps nodded to the techs and nurses and they all stepped away. Epps' last action was to secure Connor's head with a final restraint. He then reached into the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out a black rubber mouth guard. He held it out in front of Connor's mouth.
"Bite on this," Dr. Epps offered, "This part… is going to hurt a lot."
After a moment of hesitation Connor opened his mouth and Epps gingerly placed the guard over Connor's teeth. The boy bit down on the rubber and awaited the next step. Connor's nervous breathing came quick and loud through his nose. Epps gave one last reassuring pat on Connor's shoulder and turned toward Dr. Issacs. Epps gave a small nod and stepped away from the table.
Dr. Issacs addressed the room, "Let us begin."
Someone at the computers mashed a few keys. Pneumatic plungers press the liquids from their cannisters. The liquid slowly coursed through the lines to the syringes. The chemicals entered Connor's blood stream and started to take effect.
"Vitals?" Dr. Issacs ask a nurse.
"Blood pressure and heart rate within normal ranges. Brain activity normal."
The last of the chemicals entered Connor's body. The room stood silent for minutes. Then all hell broke loose. Connor thrashed and screamed past the mouth guard. Searing pain shot through his entire body. His muscles spasmed in violent seizures. The alarms on the machines started to go off.
A nurse called out his vitals, "Blood pressure 200 over 130 and rising. Heart rate 230 BPM!"
"Gamma and beta waves are spiking!" Another called.
As the seizures continued veins started to bulge from Connor's arms and neck. He snapped his eyes shut and bit hard into the mouth guard. His muscles were so strained he could not even cry against the intense pain. Had he been at all coherent he would have noticed that in his thrashing he had broken both wrists and separated a shoulder. When the pain became too much his eyes rolled back in his head and his mind shut down. His body then slumped against the table and was still. The EKG machine registered his heart had stopped and the EEG registered 'brain dead'.
Dr. Issacs slumped against the computer bank. Yet another failure in the long list of candidates. He had hoped that if he were to have a success it would have been from the boy. He had every characteristic they wanted for this trial and now it was for nothing. Issacs stood up straight and adjusted his tie.
"You all know what to do. Take samples for study and dispose of the body. Begin selection of the next candidate."
"Doctor," Dr. Epps called, "I believe I am reading something on the EEG."
Issacs crossed the lab to stand at Dr. Epps' station. He looked over his colleague's shoulder to read the EEG readout.
"There's brief fluctuations on the alpha and theta waves."
Issacs analyzed the readout. Sure, enough in regular intervals of a few seconds the alpha and theta indicators would twitch. Gradually the twitches would become stronger and more frequent.
"Sir I think I have a pulse."
Issacs listened for the EKG report. The lab was stone silent. The tell-tale sound of the EKG beepedthe sound of a heartbeat. It was a single ping at first but more soon followed. Issacs returned the brain scan. As suspected, the boy's brain was beginning to function as normal. Issacs looked at the boy in awe. All the efforts and sacrifices had finally paid off
"Vitals returning to normal." A nurse reported.
"BP 110 over 80! Heart rate 74 BPM!"
"Subject Bravo 001: Successful bonding with X-Virus" Dr. Epps commented "Congratulations Dr. Isaacs"