You're part of a machine; you are not a human being.
Welcome back! Please enjoy :)
Sharkisha the 3rd – Thank you for being patient ^^ I'm glad you're into the story and I'm glad it was worth the wait!
Celestial Glowhead – Thank you :) I watched Civil War a good two or three times while trying to plot this story out. I just need to rewatch Winter Soldier…Looks like you'll just have to wait and see what becomes of John ;) I've actually been learning Russian for the past few months. I'm nowhere near fluent, but I did try my best on those words. And they're original – they aren't the same as Bucky's trigger words. So if you translate them they have meaning ;) As for Spider-Man, you'll meet him soon. Thank you once again!
John had quickly lost his concept of time. How long had it been? Weeks? Likely. He just didn't know how long. How long. How long had he been here?
Or…had he ever been anywhere else? Was there anything else? It seemed that all he knew was this makeshift lab. It was all he knew. All he knew.
Everything was fuzzy. The more he thought, the more he hurt. So he didn't. Was there something wrong? Yes, yes there was. He knew there was something wrong, he knew something wasn't right, but…but he didn't know what. The more he tried to think of what was off, the worse he felt. He couldn't think of it anyway. Why cause himself pain when he would never get answers?
That woman was there again. She was always there. Walton, yes. Agent Walton. There was a man with her again. Vinik. He'd heard her mention him a few times.
Walton clicked off the recording and John ceased his convulsing. Walton turned to Agent Vinik. "Well, agent, I do think we've been making some progress." She walked over to the desk with a computer and took a seat. Vinik followed.
"Ma'am, it's been a month and we haven't seen very solid results," he said hesitantly. "I know we're making progress, I can tell, but it isn't as quick as any of us had hoped."
Walton looked up threateningly. "But we are making progress, are we not?"
"Yes ma'am, of course. I'm simply suggesting we try some different methods. Of a sort," he added quickly. Walton looked at the other agent as if to say go on. Vinik nodded. "Perhaps we could up the dosage? Maybe we could test him? I'm not suggesting we let him anywhere near weapons, I'm just thinking that maybe going through the motions while being exposed could speed up the process."
Walton nodded along slowly. "That does make sense. But I don't think he should be let out quite yet. For now let's increase the dosage. How much is your call, agent." Vinik nodded. The sound of a doorbell caused both SIP agents to look up. "I'll handle this," said Walton. She got to her feet and started towards the stairs. "Try it again with a higher dosage."
The agent left the basement and looked towards the door. Working in the basement of a house in the suburbs of London wasn't as great as the SIP facilities they used to have, but it was what they had to work with for the time being. The most frustrating thing was probably that people could easily come up and knock on the door. It hadn't happened that often, but it had happened. Nothing they couldn't deal with though.
Agent Walton put on her best everything is normal here, I swear face and answered the door. On the threshold was a middle-aged woman with a plate of biscuits in her hands. The woman grinned. "Hi! I'm your neighbor!"
Walton grinned. "Oh! Are you the one who's been knocking these past few days?"
The woman gave a dismissive wave of the hand. "Oh, I'm sorry about that – I didn't mean to be a bother."
"Oh, not a problem, not a problem at all!" Walton assured.
"Sorry it's taken so long for us to meet; I've just been so busy. And I know that it takes a few weeks to settle in so I didn't want to be a bother."
Walton smiled, urging the woman to go away in the back of her mind. "I understand; that's totally fine."
"My name's Jenna Baw. I'm right next door," she said pointing. "309." She held out the plate. "Oh! And I made these for you."
"Thank you!" said Walton in fake gratefulness as she accepted the plate. "That's very kind."
Then both women heard screaming coming from the basement. Jenna's face fell and she looked both concerned and afraid.
"Oh, sorry about that!" said Walton. "I was watching a movie and forgot to pause it."
Jenna nodded, less concerned but still uneasy. "Oh! Horror movie?"
Walton nodded, willing the woman to leave. "Yup. Yes, I'm really into the horror genre."
"So is my son," said Jenna. "He just moved out a few months ago."
"Oh, well I'd love to chat but I can't right now," Walton said quickly. "I have to go."
"Got a movie you're itching to get back to?" Jenna joked.
"Yes."
Walton closed the door without another word and Jenna was left standing alone on the porch. Her eyes narrowed and she began walking back to her house. That screaming was definitely not coming from any television. She didn't like the feeling she was getting. Jenna pulled out her phone, dialing the police.
Back inside the house, Walton stormed down the stairs into the basement, placing the plate of biscuits on the table. The trigger words recording was still playing. "Turn that off would you?" Walton ordered. Vinik ended the loop and the yelling stopped.
"Who was it?" Vinik asked.
"Pesky neighbors," Walton muttered. "Help yourself to the homemade biscuits." As Vinik began removing the saran wrap Walton walked over to John's side. She looked down at the mutant who was breathing heavily and whose eyes were unfocussed. "Agent," she began. "Agent, can you hear me?"
Slowly, John looked towards Walton. "Good. Do you know what day it is?"
John's brow furrowed. Did he? No. He should. He should know what day it was, he always knew what day it was.
"Do you know what month it is?"
The month? John tried to think. It was fall. No. Was it? Why would he know what month it was? He hadn't been outside; there was no way he could know.
"Do you know what year it is?"
Of course he knew what year it was, everyone knew what year it was. And yet when he tried to pull up the answer it hurt. It hurt. He closed his eyes, fighting back the pain. Don't think, don't think, it hurts to think, so don't think, don't think.
"Answer me."
"No," John said quickly and painfully.
"Do you know where you are?"
Dark, it was usually dark. Well that didn't indicate anything. A building. Where? What for? For him.
"No."
Walton stood up straight, holding her hands behind her back. "Very well." She unhooked the needle in his arm. Vinik watched on cautiously. She looked back down at the man. "Война," she said with a perfect accent. John twitched. "Рассвет. Восточный. Оставил. Поле битвы." John flinched. "Здоровье. Январь. Коллега. Жилье. Корона."
The SIP agent stared down at the man in front of her. "Now, agent. What are you prepared to do?"
There was a long pause before the answer came. "Comply."