(*)
Sparkly dog9: I'm glad you think so. Hope you continue reading.
Loner Queen 18: hope it's worth the wait.
Doomseas1: Thanks I'm glad you'll like the mad siencetist
Guest: the friendships will really kick off next chapter, meanwhile enjoy this one
Notosgia sucker96: yep, the hard stuff starts next chapter, this one deals with the main villain.
In the night guest: Thank you for saying my writing is beautiful! Such a compilment!
Kalianne: Thanks for the vote of confidence!
Alaster Bonemen: hope you like it.
Alex Skywalker: good to hear.
(*)
Before a newly arrived Subject can be considered ready for research, it is neassary for the Subject to undergo processing. The main reason for this is to eliminate all potential for disease to spread among the holding bay, and also to immunization them to some of the basic chemicals used by the laboratories. I've found the process to be must simpler when the Subjects are sedated through the stages and following medical exam. It is also imperative that pain reliver be applied when the Linguistics translator and tracker are inserted into them.
Also to be taken into consideration for any Scientist is this: this will be the first contact the Subject will have with it's Researcher, so I would urge the formation of an mutually constructive bond. If the Subject comes to see it Researcher as a source of familiarity and comfort, they will typically show less resistance. And of course, it is good for the Scientist to become fond of the Subject as well. After all, where would we be will out their contributions? Though this bond would always be with in the stipulations of the Code. You've always been bright Aika. And there's no one I would have at my side~
~ excerpt of an conversation between Head Scientist Eich-Mn Sugi-Harah to initiate Amayah Aika-Sani.
Chapter II
Even woozy and half-unconscious, that didn't stop the Bat's Brat from taking as full a stock of the situation as he could -or, well, trying to - filtering the feed back into his memory to try and understand at least a little of what-the-heck was goin' on.
Airy space, though the sound of machines echoed of nearby walls ...potentially large but closed off room. Blinding lights above him...meant to discombobulate him...okay. He could identify two shadowy figures standing near by to his right, tipped of by the soft, almost flowery vocal sounds they were making. Foreign sounds.
No. Not foreign. Bruce had made him study countless speak and language patterns during his time as the Boy Wonder. And before that, Dick Grayson had traveled to no least than four out of the seven continents. He knew words. Linguistics. And these weren't human. They were -
Alien.
He swallowed, the sheer unfamiliarly of it sending a cold shiver down his spine. Which wasn't helped any when he tried to move and found that he couldn't. Okay then. This was defiantly not an asterous way to wake up after a nap.
L-last thing he remember...he and his team had just broken into Cadmus. Tried to rescue the Superboy from the creeps that were using him as a lab rat. Which had gone down hill pretty dang fast, even by hero standards. But that was strictly an earth grounded assignment -well not assigned, per say - but yeah. Where the heck did aliens fit into this picture? What had he missed?
A lot apparently, a snide little voice taunted in his head. Some superhero are you.
Shut up, he told it. Sooo not helping-
Something cold and sharp then clamped down on the vein in his neck, exhaling with hiss of pressure as his eyes flew open with cry of strangled shock. Half remembered muscle memory tried to propel Robin to his feet, only to find himself restrained to a flat surface by his wrists. And ankles. And neck -that one loose enough so he could turn his head, but not much more. Worse, whatever was holding him down wasn't metal, that his gloves could pick...it was sticky, gaffing to his skin with suction.
Warm and pulsing too...like it was somehow alive. His stomach shriveled like it had when the Superboy was the Heimlich maneuver on his gut via a one ton foot. O-kay then. There wasn't anything he could do about that now, so he was gonna pointedly ignore it for his sanity's shake...and also so that the breakfast Alfred had made him didn't come up.
Instead, his thoughts turned to something else, but just as clueless and chilling. Where were his friends?
H-he tried to think...but he couldn't think, couldn't concentrate, cause whatever they had given him working up to full force by this time, tilting the world on it's side in toilet swirl at the water park. Which was kinda how he felt right about now.
He must've made some noise of distress, causing the cylinder heads on skinny necks to turned and peer at him with the grace of a giraffe, and the interest of vultures. And he couldn't even stiffen as the smaller blurred figure approached him with a cutting tool, all his muscles as useless as numb Jell-O.
"Wha...what..." he tried to speak, tried to understand. "What are you doing? What are you?"
He didn't get a answer. Not in words at least. Instead, the smaller -and something in the features and placement of the indigo scales made him think her female- figure went to work with that tool. He couldn't see what she was doing...until there was a tug, and the pants of the uniform was in her gloved claw.
Sucking in air, the mere sight of the image launched a blast of adrenaline through him, pushing the swirling hazy aside as he managed a twitch of protest. Real heroic stuff right there.
"What are you doing!?" he shouted to them -well, maybe he did. His tongue was thick, heavy, stuck in his mouth. It barely echoed outside his mind. Though his next cry was louder when his vest received the same treatment, followed by the removal of his boots and gloves. But the fear only really began to kick in when a claw began to tap against his mask.
"D-D-Don't!"
That got him there attention, and red lizard eyes peered down at him with curiosity, like kids in science class over a particularly panicked frog. Robin stared at them, pearly teeth gashed. "D-didn't your mothers teach you to keep your hands to yourself?"
The words might've been braver if he didn't had river of sweat staring to roll down his face, making his head swim. The place was sweltering, to the point that when he breathed, Robin almost felt like he was under water.
The large figure out stretched a hand, and briefly closed it over Robin's shoulder, and the boy flinched at the unusually feel of scales against skin (no offence to Kaldur or Aquaman). It pulled back soon enough...only to reach up and pull some kind of purple...something... down from the ceiling that he could easily touch. It looked almost like a starfish. A very sinister starfish.
Robin felt his throat go dry as he swallowed. Oh...this could not be good.
It wasn't. The male figure placed it square on his chest, followed by two more. Which was gross in and of itself...but then the things started to wiggle and move.
"Urgh!"
Robin had never considered himself squeamish. How could he be, living in Gotham...never mind the age of the internet. But this...this triggered a primal, primeval repulsion as the things crawled over him with the feeling of being pinched and scrubbed and injected mercilessly. Everywhere.
When one of the things focused on his middle, the other two went North and South respectively. The one South of his Mason-Dixie line, he refused to think about. But the one at his head wasn't much better. Particularly when -somehow- the starfish moved to cover his mouth, puffing out a cloud of mist Robin had no choice but to inhale. Pretty soon, the swirling world had dimmed into darkness.
(*)
"That fight came out of no where, honorable sir."
"Indeed it did. I am surprise I admit."
"Has anyone else managed to speak around the sedative?"
"Apparently his red haired friend could not shut up. They are all strong willed."
"Will this be a problem honorable sir?"
"Hardly. Strong wills bring wonderful results. Director Kit'ano will well pleased."
"...Honorable sir?"
"Yes Aika?"
"Are you well? I mean...with everything..."
"That is my concern Aika, not yours. I don't want it to be yours."
"...Honorable sir?"
"Yes?"
"Has it been decided where we shall house the New Subjects?"
"...The choice was left to me...I believe the Tamaraneans will match them well."
"Very good, honorable sir."
(*)
"Rob...Rob! Come on dude, yougottagetup -"
That voice...he knew that voice. Pleading, worried, more than a little spazing...the voice of a friend.
"K-Kid?" he muttered, his voice sounding like it was full of tar. Robin swallow and tried again. "That...you?"
"Yeah man...its me...for better or worse...most likely for worse to be honest," Wally answered, his tone starting up beat before falling down a pinball ladder of depression. "But how you holding up?"
"...I think that depends," Robin answered grimly, turning his head this way and that get the intel on their new surroundings. First thing to noticed...it was still drowned in humidity. Like seriously, did these guys not invested in air conditioning? Not important right now bird boy...
Beside that, a lot of the room reminded him of the one before...blinding lights, strapped down to a table, but without his head spinning with alien Mary Jane, he could see the oval bend of the place, almost like a turtle shell the geometric design's even matching it a little on the ceiling in shades of green and blue, pulsing with energy.
"Uh, Rob? You know where Aqualad and Superboy are, by any chance?"
Funny how such twelve words could the mood sink like the Titanic.
"No, no idea...you?"
"Zip, zap, zero, none," Wally related flecking his bare fingers and toes against the metal of his table. It had to be painful for a speedster to be tied down like this. "Hey Rob?"
"Yeah?"
"You wouldn't have any idea where we are...right?"
"No he would, Im afraid," answered a voice from the blind spot behind them. "But I do. And I shall answer any and all questions."
(*)
"Who,what,when,where?!" Wally exclaimed franticly, head swirling in his strap...though...not at the speed Robin was use to seeing him move. There was something off about that. But he couldn't focus on that right now, with the speaking sweeping in front of their tables with elegant steps, hands folded behind his back. It was the same dude from before. The one that put Robin under...by means of evil starfish. Ewww. Okay, so not gonna remember that that. Nope. Never.
With him was the female too, using some kind of remote control to push forward three other tables...two of whom carried their friends (well one friend, and one loose cannon but details details), still groggy themselves, eyes rolling in their sockets.
The third table had four folded pairs of ponchos on them, stark white...and why became apparent as it suddenly dawned on Robin in a flash of red that all four of them were in their birthday suits. Reminding himself that it was only his friends and with the heat in this place, least clothes might be a bonus didn't help much.
But there were bigger things to thing of now.
"Who are you?" Wally demanded, tying not to squirm like a child under the alien's gaze. "What are you? Where are we?"
Robin had a more practical question in store.
"How do you speak our language?" he asked, eyes narrowed behind his mask as if he could ferret out the answer just by glaring.
Unfortunately, he never been as good as Bruce at the Batglare...being strapped to a table didn't help much in that department. The Boss Alien didn't seem offended and just nodded serenely.
"I am Eich-Mn Sugi-Harah," he introduced him, swinging that majestic head in brisk acknowledgment. "I am a Psion, one of a high breed of researchers and innovators and Head Scientist of Ilerici." Here he waved a hand around the general settings around them. "As for how I speak your languge...I am not. While you were sedated my assistant implanted Bio-tech into your cerebrum that translated our words back to each other-"
Okay...moral hazards aside, that was kinda neat -
"It is still in its experimental state so I'm rather curious to see how it will react to live hosts -"
Robin felt his stomach knot up, and Wally chocked. Nevermind.
"-Such advancement is our goal upon the Ilerici, which is why you have all been given to my charge, to further our advancement in the field of bio-genetic-enhancement. By being experimental Subjects."
...Way Nevermind.
Sorry it took so long to get out, I hope you enjoyed.