Chapter Thirty-Six
Waking up with a small groan, I look around to see I'm in a cage still, but this time I'm in a room that reminds me of the one back in Flint; it's just a plain, empty room.
The door slams open suddenly, hitting the wall next to it with a lot of force, and I jump up, completely awake now. I can see the smug smirk on the scientist's face at my reaction, but he doesn't know that the only reason I reacted like that is because my senses are always dull just moments after I wake up.
"Well, well, well," the scientist drawls. "What do we have here? I do believe you're an avian-hybrid. Am I correct?" Without waiting for any response he continues. "We haven't had one of you here in dear Wutunugurra before. It shall be interesting getting to test you."
I just stare at the scientist who has an evil glint in his eye and a very smug, yet also possessive and pleased, look on his face. This man reminds me of my father. They're both people who love to torture experiments, and they somehow find a sort of glee in doing it.
"I'm Dr. Eric Frezer, and I'll be in charge of you while you're here, girl," the man, Dr. Frezer, snarls. "Be prepared for a few weeks of some hardcore testing. I don't care where you've been, where you've just come from, what you've survived, or how hard you've been pushed before. None of that matters to me because I own you now, and I get to test you how I please, so get ready for your nightmare."
Dr. Frezer is smiling again, but I'm just refraining from rolling my eyes. Tough talk, even if he does actually follow through on the testing, just doesn't scare me. My life has been full of tough talk, sarcasm, and just idiotic words. This guy has nothing on it.
Suddenly, the door opens and a group enters. I sniff the air and my eyes widen slightly as I realize at least one of these guys has wings, possibly all of them, with the scent that strong. One of the boys is in front while another, much younger, one stands to his right. The one in front is blond with blue eyes that have no emotion whatsoever; in fact, none of the boys has emotion in their eyes.
The one to the leader's right, which is the position for second-in-command, has blue eyes as well, but he has brown hair. One of the others has black hair and dark brown eyes that reminds me of Kyle, but at least Kyle has emotion in his eyes and features. Another has very dark brown hair, darker than the second-in-command's, but hazel eyes. The last also has blond hair, but his eyes are a pale green.
"I'll leave you boys to introduce yourselves," Dr. Frezer states as he smiles smugly at the group of five in front of him. "Bring her to Lab 3 when you're ready."
"Yes, sir!" all five boys shout with a salute at the same time.
Dr. Frezer leaves the room, and the five experiments relax a bit. Heck, I can actually see something in their eyes that say they aren't all bad; they've just been created to follow orders without question.
"Omega II," the leader states as his gaze falls on me. "A better version of Omega, and leader of Generation Replica, or Generation R."
"Ari II," the second-in-command says softly. "My original died, so they created a new me. I'm second-in-command."
"I'm not stupid, you know," I say sharply but quietly. "It's obvious that Omega is leader and you're next in command by how you're standing. That's the typical Alpha-Beta position."
"You know this how?" the black-haired boy asks.
"Check my file sometime and you'll figure it out," I reply with a raised eyebrow. "And your name is…?"
"Hades," the boy replies shortly, obviously annoyed that I'm not answering his question directly.
"Your shape-shifting, right?" the other blond questions as he looks at me. "You know because you become animals from packs like wolves, so you've learned through instinct."
"Looks like someone did their homework, eh Hades?" I say to let my sarcasm out while I raise an eyebrow between the two boys.
"Slayer's the name," the blond informs me with a twitch of the lips.
So… it looks like these are experiments only made to follow orders and seem like they're soulless beings in front of the scientists, not other experiments. Interesting…
"And killing is your game?" I retort with a smirk.
"Nah, electronics are my game," Slayer replies with a smile and a glint in his eyes that says he's enjoying this.
"And you are?" I ask, turning to the final brunette.
"Wolf," he replies shortly, obviously not in the mood to talk. I just raise an eyebrow and don't comment, not bothering to mention that I enjoy being a wolf.
"So, how many of you have wings?" I finally decide to ask, truly curious about it.
"All of us," Omega replies with a slightly surprised look in his eyes.
"Good senses," I explain. "The smell of bird is obvious when you know what to look for."
"Yes, well, you know us now, so let's get going," Wolf says shortly.
"What's up with you?" Hades asks as he whirls to face Wolf. "She's the first experiment we've gotten to talk to in forever who's actually willing to talk, and you're trying to get rid of her!"
"She smells of wolf!" Wolf snarls. "She's an alpha wolf, and the smell is all over her!"
"I'm a shape-shifter, so of course I smell like wolf," I say to speak for myself. "As for being an alpha; yes, I am. Deal with it."
"I am Alpha here!" he snarls, still obviously upset. Sniffing quickly, I realize he has wolf DNA in him while the others don't, which is why he's the only one reacting like this.
"You're an Alpha Male; I'm an Alpha Female," I retort angrily now that I realize he's making a big deal out of nothing. "You don't have to worry about me taking over; I've got my own pack to take care of. Just keep an eye on your pack, which is obviously led by Omega while you're the Alpha wolf, and you won't have to deal with me."
"She's making no sense," Hades whispers to Slayer.
"Actually, she is," Omega cuts in with a normal tone. "Wolf is the only one of us with lupine DNA, so he looks at himself as Alpha of our group, even though I lead it. Mostly it means he wants to protect us and keep an eye on all of us.
"On the other hand, Erika here is probably the Alpha of her group, if what I've read is correct. Wolf is seeing her as a problem because he can't get past the fact that she's an Alpha; he can't even seem to realize she's a female because he's never had to deal with another Alpha, male or female.
"Erika's basically telling him to calm down and keep an eye on his pack; she'll leave us alone, won't attack us, and will just worry about her own pack," Omega finishes as he looks me in the eyes for confirmation, which I give.
"I thought she doesn't have any lupine DNA in her," Slayer says in confusion.
"I don't, but because I can shape-shift, it's just as good as having the DNA in me," I inform him. "The fact that the wolf is my main form when I'm an animal helps the fact that I'm more wolf than any other animal I can change into."
"Now that that's out of the way," Ari begins with a look at Wolf to make sure he's calmed down, which he is, "Wolf was right to suggest that we take her to the Lab, though he was saying it for the wrong reasons. The scientists will be expecting us now."
Hades moves forward and pulls out a lock pick, quickly picking the lock on my cage to let me out.
"No key," he informs me with a shrug as I give him an odd look.
Once I'm out, the five go back into soulless experiments mode. The five of them surround me, with Hades the closest to me for some odd reason.
Hades grabs my arm and pulls me close. I'm about to pull away when he puts his face near my ear as we walk.
"After this, you can't think of us as friends," he breathes in the same light whisper that Erik and I used to use. "We're the enemy, so we're going to treat you like it. Remember us like this sometime, but think of us as the enemy until you're gone from this Branch."
With his message said, Hades lets go of my arm and straightens up, pushing on my back a bit to force me to keep up with the group while they lead me to the Lab. As he directs me, I let my mind figure out what's going on.
Why treat me like a friend and then tell me that they're the enemy and I have to think of them as such? Is it a cruel joke or is it something more? What's the truth in this? Are they the enemy or are they friends?
Sighing internally, I try my best to look at this from their point of view. They're supposed to be soulless, order-following experiments. Because of that, it can't be easy to make friends or talk to other experiments besides their group. Talking with me and being themselves somewhat must have been a break for them. The thing is, they can't make it seem like they're anything but what the scientists expect, which means I can't pretend they're anything different.
Once I figure that out, it all falls into place. They want to be my friends, but they can't be. If I treat them as anything but the enemy, they'll get in trouble, not me. Once I'm gone from here, I can think of them as friends if I really want to, though I'm not sure that I can. I think, once I leave, I'll remember them as innocent experiments forced to be the terrible enemies.
I give Hades a slight nod to show that I understand it all now, and he slightly inclines his head to show that he got the message. Other than that, there's no indication from any of them that they're anything but soulless minions leading an experiment to testing.
After that's all done, I just follow along until we get to where we're going and the door opens. Inside are four people, only one of whom I recognize as Dr. Frezer; the other three are unknown to me. The moment the door closes behind us, Generation R salutes one of the women; she has dirty-blond hair and brown eyes. She nods at the group and they all relax ever so slightly, as if they're soldiers being told to be "at ease."
"You five may leave unless you wish to watch," the woman states.
"We'll stay," Omega replies without even looking at the others, though it looks like they agree with him.
"Very well," the man who isn't Dr. Frezer says.
"Now, Erika," the last woman says, "you're probably wondering who the three of us are." She pauses, as if waiting for some sort of response, but I just stare at her, waiting. "I'm Anne Walker, this man is Jeb Batchelder, and this fine woman is the Director of Itexicon."
My eyes widen as I realize that I've got the person who is the cause of my entire suffering, my entire past, right in front of me. I can't even seem to make a thought come to mind as I realize it; it's too much to take in.
"You're going to be tested in the maze," Jeb states. "I believe your file says you've done this before."
I look out the window behind the group and I fly back thirteen years into the past when Alexa and I had been taken into a room just like this one and pushed into a maze with Erasers and burning hot coils under our feet as we run to try and find the finish.
"I've done them before," I agree as my mind comes back to the present and I watch Erasers being led into the maze for me to fight.
"Very well," Dr. Frezer states with an evil look in his eyes. "You may use any power you have except for flying above the maze; otherwise, everything goes."
I nod in understanding, and Jeb leads me to the entrance, clapping my shoulder lightly before going back to the observation room.
"Begin," the Director states in a very bored voice, as if she doesn't want to be here. I'll give her something to watch.
Running into the maze, I feel the heat under my feet already, telling me that they've put it to full heat right off the back. Hopefully it means I won't be here for more than a couple of rounds.
Still running, I teleport further down the path and don't stop. It's taken me a while to perfect that, but it's like teleporting while in the air and fly; you just can't stop moving.
I reach the first corner and slip around it, teleporting close to the end of the path so that I can quickly turn. When I turn, I'm at my first fork in the maze, and I use my enhanced hearing to tell me that a couple of Erasers are to my left, which means I need to go that way. The scientists are obvious in how they place Erasers because they want me to fight them to get out, so that's the way I need to go.
The moment I see the Erasers, I shift into my own wolf form. Charging towards them, I claw the one on the right before I jump onto the other and bite it in the arm, pulling out a chunk of flesh, which I throw away from me the first moment I can.
Kicking off of the Eraser so that I can jump above them both, I end up on the other side and I shift back to human. Giving the Erasers, both of whom are trying to stop the bleeding from my deep gashes I've given them, a smug smile, I turn and continue running on my way.
The next fork in the maze sends me to the right this time, so I quickly shift into a rat and slip beneath the Erasers waiting for me in the middle of the path, three of them, and then jump up as a bear behind them. I claw all three of them, one in the throat while the other two are in the chest, and then turn into a wolf and just run out of there, deciding that it's easier to not have to shape-shift than it is to switch back and forth so that I can teleport.
I face three more sets of Erasers, each in groups of four, before I reach the end, never getting caught in a dead-end.
The moment I charge out of the exit, I sink down to the ground and put my nose into my paws, breathing heavily. Once I have my breath back, I begin licking the blood off of my claws, paws, and muzzle.
Looking up at the sound of footsteps, I see all four scientists walking towards me, the five from Generation R following further behind. All of them have some form of shock showing; the experiments show it in their eyes, the Director in how she's walking, Dr. Frezer in how he's scowling but also looking at me differently, and Jeb and Anne by their widened eyes and slightly open mouths.
I cock my head to the right and stick my tongue out of my mouth, panting lightly. I actually see smirks cross the faces of the five in the back for just a moment before they disappear.
"They said you were good, but I didn't think you were that good," Jeb says with awe in his voice as he shakes his head slowly.
"Well, well, well, it seems the rumors are true about you," the Director states with a smirk on her face that makes me want to hurt her. "I see your father was right; moving you away from all of those others that were holding you back has made you shine."
I growl deeply in my throat and lunge at the Director, consequences be damned. I just want to claw out her throat and kill her for what she just said.
Much to my surprise, another wolf suddenly launches itself in front of me and growls lightly in warning. I halt in place as I realize the light growl means that he – the wolf has to be a he as he's an Alpha Male – doesn't want to hurt me, but he will if I push him.
Growling in frustration, I back off, my mind slowly fighting my instincts until I realize the wolf in front of me is Wolf. I guess he's a different form of Eraser; much better made, if you ask me.
The Director is looking at me with a mix of hate and fear, as if she doesn't know which to feel more. I know that the shock will wear off soon enough, and then I'll have to deal with her hatred. Truthfully, I don't think I'll ever care; she's the one who took me away from Flint, she took my family away from me, she's friends with my father!
I'm not sure which of us hates the other more deeply, looking into her eyes. If I have to make a guess, I'd say me because my anger and hatred goes deeper than anything she can feel for me. Besides, I'm one of the more precious experiments they've managed to create.
Slowly, I move further away from her, realizing that I'm going to attack her again if I'm not careful. A deep growl is emanating from my without my choice, and I can't stop it.
Looking into Wolf's hazel eyes, I can see him willing me to calm down, but he doesn't understand how deeply that one sentence has cut into me. She's just proved that all of the pain and sorrow and loneliness in my life is her doing.
I understand, Wolf says as he barks. I sometimes forget that because I'm a wolf, I can understand other wolves.
You can't, I reply, a growl coming out with my bark.
I can. She's said something that hurts you deeply. I get it. You can't let her words control you. Let go of the wolf instincts and take control again. What you did in the maze shows you have amazing control of your animal sides, but you're losing that control in your anger. Please, calm down.
Hearing all of that from Wolf, I whimper slightly, my wolf side not wanting to give in to my human side now that I've let some of it free. This hasn't happened before, so I don't know how to fix it.
I can't, I whimper to Wolf. For some reason, I just see him as someone who understands what I'm going through. Plus, he needs to calm me down or I'll hurt his boss, so he'll try anything.
Imagine the wolf side as a river with a dam of rocks, and one of the larger rocks has become dislodged. You have to move the rock back into place so that the river is only a small trickle; that's the only way you'll gain control. Wolf's hazel eyes are telling me that I can do this, so I try.
The imagine comes easily to my mind as I've always had a pretty good imagination – or, as my friends say, a freaking amazing imagination – and I can actually see the rock in the middle of the river of water flowing through.
I slowly push the rock back into place. It takes a lot of work and force, but it's moving piece by piece, bit by bit. Finally, after a lot of pushing, it's back in place and I feel in control of myself again.
Panting heavily, I look up at the group in front of me and see that Wolf is back with the others, human and with a smile on his face when he sees me looking.
"Take her away! Get her away from me!" the Director screams as she glares at me with extreme hatred.
"Yes, ma'am," Generation R replies before Wolf turns into a wolf again and leads me out of the room, the others following.
You're not my Alpha, I inform Wolf, and he laughs slightly
Oh, I know, but if you don't listen, bad things will happen, he reminds me, as if I've forgotten.
I'm not that stupid. That's why I'm following you. Just making sure that you know that.
Both of us laugh quietly before we fall silent and they lead me back to my room. Once we get there, Wolf turns human again and gestures for me to do the same. I whine and shake my head, preferring to be a wolf right now to an avian-hybrid.
"Fine by us," Omega states as he locks me into my cage, this time using the key.
All five of them give me a final look before they turn and leave.
Sighing, I put my muzzle on my front paws and fall into a restless sleep, liking Australia less and less every moment.
*Shrugs* Now those of you who have read Old and New Attack know how Erika knows the Director, Jeb, Anne, Dr. Fezer, and Generation R. Otherwise, this was mainly to show you her Wolf side. Mainly, these few chapters before the really long ones are the bridge between the important stuff. Fillers without being fillers; the stuff is part of the story, but it isn't all that important. Nothing else to say but to ask for your opinions in reviews.
Posted: 7/29/10