Chapter 34

"I must say, I do find it strange" Doctor Ellis said idly as he took out his lighter and lit another cigarette. "how easy I find it to speak openly with you, Max"

As if to respond, Max, sitting slumped on his bed inside the room the doctors had left him in since his operation, let a single droplet of drool fall gracelessly onto his drooping arm.

Ellis, ignoring this lack of response, continued on. "I usually find it awkward dealing with people, whether it be my colleagues or superiors, but especially children." He said in his monotone voice, taking a quick tug of his cigarette. "I never know what to say, and find it so hard to read their expressions. Everyone who works with me knows this but, do you know why I act the way I do Max?"

Again, there was no visible response to be shown on Max's face, still slack and only seeming to show something close to weariness. However Ellis knew better, his eyes not on Max but on the screen he held on his lap, showing a direct feed of the activity in Max's brain wave activity as he tried to engage with him.

This was the third session since their last talk earlier in the week in his office and Ellis was beginning to gather Max's current mental levels as he continued his one sided conversation.

"You see I have been working with gifted individuals for many years now. It was my main field of study when deciding upon my thesis. It fascinated me, how some random members of our species could exhibit such amazing abilities. At the time, I was quite enamoured with the subject." Again Ellis taking his time with his words, speaking slowly as to give Max the best chance on comprehending every part of what he said.

Taking another tug at his cigarette Ellis went on. "The military were also interested in the subject so after working with a couple open minded generals, I got a division and budget to take in known gifted Lagomorphs, as volunteers and work with them to understand what their limits were and what they could do for the war effort."

"There were many who came in, most not having the gift and those few that did were hardly able to bend a table spoon or pickup on the most explicit thoughts projected by our staff. But there was one who shone above all the rest. One we later categorised as a Zero level psychic."

Ellis turned to the screen, noting some flare of activity upon hearing the word "zero". "Yes. I bet you didn't know the cadets we have upstairs are given levels on their abilities, from 10-1, with 1 being the highest. Highest except for the rare gem we would find, like yourself. Level Zero cadets whose powers were on a whole other scale entirely… anyway, I am side tracking. Back to my original project"

"This first zero level volunteer put all our theories in the fire. He exhibited abilities that outperformed what a hundred of the other volunteers could do. Whilst the others were struggling to lift empty chairs, he would be in the middle of the hall with multiple army vehicles orbiting around him. He was truly amazing… and as it turned out" Ellis added, as if mentioning a small, unimportant point hardly worth mentioning, "…mentally unstable"

Nothing akin to pain or regret passed over Ellis' face, despite the statement suggesting there should be. He just kept on speaking with no apparent care on the topic. "At least that is what people believed, after the disaster. Despite what everyone believed, it was not him or his powers who turned out to be the cause said disaster, but another volunteer. Someone we gathered, from the personality reports we had on each volunteer, was jealous of this others powers. From readings we recovered it seems as though this lower level person, whose name escapes me, thought he could take over the mind of the zero cadet… well, whatever happened inside their minds left volunteer zero somewhat broken. In what seemed like a fit of rage he unleashed wave of pure psionic power… a wave which caught five people. Himself, the person we believe who instigated the fight, two other doctors… and myself."

Ellis let out a sigh as he finished off his cigarette, which was quickly replaced. "I was the only survivor. The other four were, for lack of a better word, fried in the psychic explosion. I was only caught by the edge of the wave. But that contact did affect me greatly, if not physically. Since that day, all form of emotion were gone. I could no longer empathize with my friends or family. Got no joy in my previous hobbies or vices. Even my need to smoke is not one I do for enjoyment but a simple biological craving. Since then, I have been left in a state akin to a low level computer systems AI, unable to even simulate emotions."

Tapping on his tablet, Max temporarily forgotten to Ellis, he continued "It is a disability. One that has heavily affected how I live my life… but like any disability, it is one I have attempted to overcome. In my case, I have tried to compensate my lack of empathy with my logic and reasoning skills. So, weeks after the incident, the program shut down and myself stuck in a hospital bed, I decided on what I needed to achieve with myself. My end goal as it were. I needed a task which even in my emotionless state, could consider to be for the best of as many people as possible. So I decided. To take what I knew on Lagomorph Psychic potential and what I could find out through future study and work out a way to best serve the war effort."

"I knew those gifted could help, if trained, but there was also the danger they could cause for our own people, if such an incident that happened to me happened in the field… I took all this into account. And then, upon discovering the biological reason for the powers to manifest, and some experimentation, I worked out, for lack of a better word, an algorithm. A algorithm which would take into account what fully trained Lagomorphs could hypothetically do… what fully trained zero level Lagomorphs could offer. The risks, the potential rewards… and I worked out simply that though the Lagomorphs whose abilities ranged between 10-1 could be used for best effect in the field covertly, the powers of those with zero level were a different matter."

Ellis for once turned directly to Max, hoping to gain some visible single from the young Lagomorph. "You see Max, take ten random cadets such as yourself. Assume after a number of years training in both psionic and military discipline you have 10 able bodied but probably average capable soldiers. You cannot expect the best qualities we all hope to see in our fighting men and women to appear in any noticeable degree in these 10 random warriors, no matter the quality in training… and these warriors would have the main role, considering their abilities, to act as heavy fire power…"

As if pausing for emphasis, Ellis continued "… but this was fine. They would, all things taken into account, be a heavy and valuable asset to the war effort. But then, after running through some simulations, I would that there might be another way? A way to weaponize what these cadets have into a weapon. A handheld firearm, one which can be renewed and handed out to the VERY best soldiers we have at our disposal. Those at the very top ranks who operate out in the field, such as the Thirteen… those able to make the very best use out of such easy to operate armaments…"

Ellis looked unapologetically to Max, still waiting for some flinch or twitch to indicate understanding. "this discovery is what lead me to create the algorithm. To way the benefits on creating Zero Cadet soldiers to simply harvesting their abilities… The numbers showed it clearly, the benefits outweighed the negatives, even for what I could consider moral negatives. So with my formula I went to one of the more radical generals I had been in contact with for my experiments, explained my plans in detail… and here we are" He said, indicating the facility.

"The general in question I already knew by reputation to be quite ruthless with his approach to strategy and planning. A number of bloody but successful campaigns had been attributed to him. And after explaining my theory and showing him the estimated firepower for one of the weapons compared to what a fully trained Zero Cadet could hypothetically manage… it was almost too easy. He gave me an unlimited budget, a number of sergeants who could be trusted with such a project and since then we have been shipping out either soldiers with varying degrees of psychic abilities or weapons capable of mass destruction…"

A pause descended between the two, Ellis busy reading through his results on Max's scans and Max… well, just staring vacantly as he had been since before Ellis arrived.

It was a solid two minutes before Ellis nodded to himself and closed his tablet and sat up. "I believe the signs on you even partially recovering are good Max… I believe also I said earlier that I found it easier to speak to you as you now are. I don't believe I gave you a proper reason for that, did I."

Taking a few steps as if to leave Ellis paused at the room's door. "Speaking to people with my disability is most arduous. I find it nearly impossible to either understand how the person I am speaking to is feeling or make them in any way feel at ease around me. I try to smile when I say something I think might be funny or endearing but even from their body language I find it hard to see if such actions prove successful... though I have been told flatly that they usually don't, especially with children… but you Max. Talking to you I feel completely comfortable to just speak freely. I feel no need to guess what you are feeling or how I appear you… it is most relaxing"

And with that Doctor Ellis walked through the automatic door and left, leaving the room in near darkness.

…It was only then, with the doctor gone, that Max finally stirred.

This was what was wrong with Doctor Ellis' synopsis on Max's condition. He assumed with the data being received from Max and all the other patients that they all, after the procedure to remove their glands, were left for all intents and purposes, catatonic. Though they obviously took in information from their senses, as shown from scans, they didn't seem to be any apparent will or attention of any kind.

And this was, for the most part was correct. All the sights and sounds that Max took in through his eyes and ears were recorded but, from the perspective of Max, mostly ignored…

…mostly.

For if you were to give a description of Max's mental state as it was then, after his weeks' time to recover, it would not be thoughtless, but instead closer to animalistic. For in for what now passed as Max's mental awareness, his mind had degenerated from the deluge of thoughts and needs he usually had buzzing around his head to being focused on into a small set of objectives. Objectives that happened to be burned into him from the last desperate thoughts he had before the procedure left him in the state he now was. All that was left was the faint echo of a need to escape… and a need to get back Jacob's bead.

The reason and emotions behind these urges were gone, wiped clean and irrelevant to Max as he now was. He could not comprehend the urges he had, and even acting upon them was a slow and arduous activity. But through the sludge that were Max's thoughts, a set of tasks had finally taken shape, formed over long days sitting idly.

The thoughts were near childlike in their simplicity.

The first was, simply, to leave the room he was in.

Problem.

The door.

After moving around slowly when first taken to the room, he found the door wouldn't move. Admittedly Max was still operating at an extremely basic mental level. His mind couldn't take into account the basic concepts such as the door being locked. It was only after watching the doctor open and close over and over he was finally able to take on piece of information that he could absorb.

The person he was just with and the other people who came to visit him seemed to take a small flat thing like thing from their neck, place it on a spot to the left of the door, and then it would open.

This was the logic solving ability Max first had after three days left in his room, only able to understand something through repetition.

So, still forming ideas and concepts at a horrendously and simple and slow pace, Max was finally able to amend his plan of:

Open door…. Find bead… leave…

To adding another step to start with. He needed to take out one of the people who came into his room. And at the moment that seemed to be the person, whose named seemed irrelevant to Max, who just left. However, things had changed for Max, even if Ellis didn't know how. He had finally started to shift from learning through repetition, actual conceptual thinking. The ability to understand a situation, break it down into its key underlying points and create solutions for each one.

So now, standing inanely in his room, still staring off into space, Max tried, with the information he had, to create a solution. Tried to imagine some way of taking down someone who, as Max could see, was older and bigger then himself. He took this problem and broke it down, coming to the first part of the problem

What could he use to attack with.

In a slow careful stride, Max walked back to his bed and instead of sitting down again, went down on his knees and took something from beneath the mattress.

Max was just able to conjure up the memories of when he took the object. He couldn't remember a reason why he had done it, so possibly only impulse had been the root cause. Max thought about the time as he sat down on his bed, holding the small hexagonal weight.

After looking at the object for over a minute as thoughts formed and then melted away in his mind, Max came to what could be considered a decision and with abrupt violence, slammed the weight as hard as he could onto his other arm. Trying to make sure he hit with one of the edges, Max smashed the item down with all the force he could manage. And then he did it again. And again. Three times in total he took the weight and hit himself over and over in the same spot.

Then, discarding the weight Max looked down at the spot and waited, as if expecting something to happen. After a solid minutes waiting Max, in his own animalist logic, concluded he hadn't done any real damage to himself. He did not know that he had bruised himself badly, hitting an area which would leave an obvious mark later, but it would be irrelevant. Even in Max's logic he could see he had not done any real damage. Not enough to stop anyone he attacked with it.

So sitting back, ignoring the pain coming from the struck area, Max went back to thinking. He thought through what else he could do to someone larger then himself, if he attacked quickly. So, after another five minutes silence and stillness, he took his other, uninjured arm and placed part of it into his mouth, getting as good a grip as he could with his teeth. Once he had what he believed as much of the limb in his jaws, he bit down with as much pressure as he could.

Feeling his teeth dig into his own flesh, he could tell, in a far off way, that though his front two incisors, being longer and sharper than his others, was able to piece the skin. But the rest, all flat and edgeless, only left marks.

Taking his arm out of his jaws he wordlessly looked at the results. Again, not enough to cause any real harm, but more his previous attempt.

Marking down the result against the other self-made attack on his over arm, Max moved on…

It was an hour later after several quick but surprisingly viscous self-made attacks that Max was able to work out that between his arms, he legs, the object, and anything else in the room, the only thing able to do any real damage were his teeth. It was a detached form of self-abuse, going through his near barren mind a set of experiments tested with trial and error.

And with that discovery made, Max moved on. He had his weapon, but as it stood it wasn't ready for the other person. If he lunged and got his teeth around anything, chances were the person would be able to overpower him before he could do any real damage.

It was then, through the slow, simple series of thoughts and experiments, that an idea… a unique and original idea formed. Feeling his own teeth, noting the dullness of each of his limited weapons, Max needed to make an adjustment. And taking account of his resources and needs… the innovation on how to change dawned on him.

Idea still shining brightly in the void that was Max's mind, he carefully took the discarded weight, now an invaluable tool for his new task and positioned it carefully in his hand. Making sure he had a good solid grip on it, he took the metal block, opened his mouth and placed it carefully against one of his front incisors. Then, taking his hand back in a slow arm, he made his decision… and swung.

(CRACK)