Blackrose
Hidden within the Black Hills of South Dakota there was a fluke. A girl who wasn't supposed to live. Not only was she not supposed to live, she wasn't even supposed to be born. But mistakes always happen, no matter what the precautions. Though, this time, everyone will regret this mistake. This one mistake that happened in Blackrose.
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Her nostrils flared at the sanitary smell of the white linoleum walls, floor, and even ceiling. The sharp clicking of her heels were the only sound that echoed around the halls. The black, no non-sense business suit that she wore only accented the feeling of importance that radiated off of her. Sharp, intelligent brown eyes darted around noticing every detail and everyone. Workers hugged the walls to let her pass and give her room. With a slight grunt of disgust she turned sharply on her heel and turned to an unmarked door on the right side of the hallway. Opening the door she walked in with three soldiers following her inside. The last soldier closed the door and stood at attention guarding the door, his rifle held in his hands at a ready position.
There was one other man in the room waiting for the woman. When the woman and the soldiers walked in he stood and nervously held his hands in front of him. His gray suit matched his gray complexion and made him look all together rather sickly. Behind thick lenses gray eyes peaked out under heavily lidded eyes. A thinning crop of brown hair anointed his head.
"Madam," he began as the woman sat down.
"Oh shut up Mr. Johnson. I have heard enough out of you and your entire department," the woman snapped. "Now sit down and you will listen very hard to what I am going to say to you and you will obey every word I tell you. Understood?"
Mr. Johnson nodded quickly as he sat down at the table across from the woman.
"Good. Now about I have just come from the classrooms that the X5b's where in. I have also just learned about your little pet in that group." She looked down her nose at Mr. Johnson and raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him. "I would like to know why you let that one live? Weren't you and your colleagues told that any of the chimeras with an IQ above 195 be killed? Don't even bother answering," she interrupted Mr. Johnson as he opened his mouth. "Not only does she have an IQ above 195 as I have read from her chart, but it is above 300. But I am now interested in this one. You will not kill her but let her continue with the other X5b's in their training. You will report back to me about her and who ever she communicates with every month."
She stood up and walked to the door as the soldier moved to the side to let her open the door. Opening the door she turned and looked over her shoulder at Mr. Johnson. "Oh, and Mr. Johnson, I will personally come and visit every six months." She then took as step out of the room. "Oh and it was nice to see you again Morty. I am glad you are working here at Blackrose," she called over her shoulder and was gone.
Morty Johnson sank down in his chair after the last soldier closed the door behind them. Sighing he pulled out a walkie-talkie and took a deep breath. "Hey Josh?"
"Yeah Mort?" a voice over the radio asked.
"She just left and we are to watch ten zero at all times. Got it?"
"Yeah. So we still up for dinner?"
Morty laughed, "Yeah, I think I need to relax for a few after meeting with her. Talk to ya in about twenty minutes."
"Okay, see ya."
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Soft laughter sparkled in a pair of blue eyes as they looked everyone in the room with her. Everyone was sitting up with their backs straight and heads forward as they listened to their teacher. Slowly she turned her blue eyes to the girl who was sitting right next to her. Rapidly she blinked using code to her friend.
'Whom should we get next?' she asked.
'We haven't done anything to Donaldson yet. Maybe him,' her friend replied back also in code.
'Okay, at oh four hundred we will give him a small surprise.'
Silently the two laughed listened to their teacher tell them about quantum mechanics and stuff like that. Suddenly a bell rang and the teacher looked relieved.
"All right. You all are to go to your barracks and rest. You have field training all tomorrow and you will only get to eat what you find out there. Dismissed!"
Silently all the students who all looked no older than ten or twelve stood and filed out of the room. All hair their hair shaved in a military cut and wore pale green hospital gowns. Most were tall though some where more medially built. The only striking thing about all these kids was their beauty. Even at a young age their beauty was astounding and would only grow more as they got older.
The two girls who talked in code during the class walked back to the barracks together. When they finally got there they escaped into peals of laughter. The girl with the blue eyes sat down on her hard bed and bounced a little. "I'm bored Selene! Can't we do something now?"
Selene's green eyes laughed as she sat down next to her friend. "Callisto, you know that if we do we will get into trouble. I hear that in Manticore one wrong move and you're dead!"
Suddenly all the kids crowed around the two girls. They all looked at Callisto and Selene. All of them knew that those two were special but they were all still friends.
"Tell us about Manticore, Cally!" one girl demanded as she sat down next to Selene on the bed.
"Okay, Joan. Well, at Manticore they treat you like dogs! I have heard them say that they make them cut off their own fingers if they do something wrong! And also they aren't allowed to talk at all! Only when they are given permission."
"You mean they don't talk like we do? When we aren't in class or in the field?" Another person asked.
Selene nodded, "Just that. No talking at all! I also hear that the guy who runs Manticore is really mean. He even killed some of them there! I'm glad we are here."
Some of the kids grunted a reply while others looked just plain lost. Cally shook her head. "Both stink, but at least here we have a bit more freedom. We aren't just numbers. They have names at Manticore but they mostly go by their numbers. I would hate to be called there. I would get lost after the first five zeros!"
Everyone began to laugh at this old joke. For some reason Callisto's bar-code number came out very different from anyone else's. It was all zeros. Ten to be exact. So to make is easier on people she was often referred to as ten zero.
Suddenly a small black girl came running into the room. Her face was dirty but she had a large grin on her face. Clutched in her hand was a manila folder with the word Blackrose printed on it. She came to a skidding stop in front of everyone and took a deep breath. With a quick salute she turned to Callisto and Selene.
"Mission complete. I was able to infiltrate the room and take the information needed," she smiled again. "And I was able to sneak a peek at what is going on in the world and I heard some about Manticore."
Everyone smiled and clapped softly for fear of alerting any guards. The girl sat down next to Callisto and handed her the folder. With a grin Callisto opened it.
"Okay, here it is. The story behind project Blackrose…
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Project Blackrose:
Project Blackrose is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota. All rules of Manticore apply here with a few exceptions. Everyone who enters Blackrose can not leave unless they are specified. Currently only Madam X can enter or leave the Blackrose facility unescorted.
Blackrose is guarded tightly and if any word does leak out about it, the project cover up is that it is a training ground for soldiers. This is highly unlikely because all who have come across Blackrose now work in Blackrose or have been dealt with.
Currently the Blackrose group X5b are in the same level of the Manticore X5. Only it has been shown that the Blackrose group has better adapted and work better together and with their superiors. The Manticore group has shown many times that they lack control and can often have mental problems.
Another problem found in the Manticore group is their susceptibility to seizures. Their brains seem to not make enough tryptophan to support them with stabile results. It is not yet known why only the Manticore children have this defect and not the Blackrose children.
The cat DNA that both groups of children have has created one small problem. Once the children reach puberty they will go into periods of so called 'heat' every three to four months. It makes both sexes have this incredible urge to breed. Currently none of the X5's or X5b's have gone into heat yet. This is only known because of the X4 group that has only minor differences with the X5 group.
Right now Blackrose is running tests on how well the group can work together…
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Callisto flipped the page and shook her head, "Nothing worth reading to you all anymore. The rest we all know." Callisto turned to the black girl who brought in the papers, "Thanks so much Tina. At least we know where in this world we are."
Everyone nodded gravely before they heard soft steps walking towards them. "Lights out! NOW!" a soldier yelled to them from out side the door.
They all slowly stood up and lay down in their own beds. Soon they were all asleep except for Selene and Callisto. The two looked over at each other and shared the same thought; they needed to find away out of Blackrose.
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Three Years Later
Callisto's eyes popped open suddenly. Quickly she adjusted her vision for the blackness of the barracks. Scanning the room she saw a man entering the dark room and come to stand in the doorway. He lifted a hand up, a recorder in his hands, and began to speak.
"The subject still shows accelerated knowledge and growth in her abilities. The other who she is associated with the most also shows some of this accelerated knowledge, though not as strong. The six month report is coming up in two weeks and it has been requested that X5b ten zero come and meet with Madam. But if she does I have a feeling she will not come back to her unit. Good luck to her." The man turned off the recorder and set it down on a table by the door. Quickly he walked out shutting the door quietly.
Callisto stood up silently and walked quickly over to the table to pick up the recorder. On the back a message was taped. Seeing her identification code on the note she read it quickly.
'X5b ten zero-
Listen to the tape and leave here. Others like you have escaped before. You don't need to be one of their guinea pigs. Be careful.'
Frowning she tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and walked over to friend's bunk.
Her friend's back was to her and her eyes closed in sleep. "What is it Cally?" she asked.
"An escape plan. Wanna come Selene?"
Selene's eyes opened and she turned around. Grinning she stood up and hugged her friend. "About time. How are we going to get the others out?"
Callisto shook her head sadly. "They are happy here. Only the two of us are the ones who are having the problems with everyone. We need to leave tonight."
Nodding her head Selene agreed. "Okay, but how do we get out?"
"I think our little friend here will help us," Callisto stated holding up the recorder.
Slowly the two of them opened a window and jumped out. The security inside of Blackrose was rather lax. It was only the perimeter security that was extremely tight. Quietly they ran to the outside defenses and stood by a gate to let them out. Callisto pressed the call button on the gate and held up the recorder.
"Hello? Who is there?" asked the man running the gate that evening.
"Who the hell do you think this is? Open this gate right now!" the recorder played in Madam's voice. Obviously to Callisto and Selene it was a recording of what must happen every time comes to the gate.
"Oh, I'm sorry Madam. I'll open the gate for you!" the man said quickly.
"About time!" the recorder said as the gate swung open.
Running Selene and Callisto ran out and into the woods around the Blackrose compound. They kept running until it was the afternoon of the next day.
"Did that seem rather easy to you?" Selene asked.
"Yeah, I think someone must be looking out for us," Callisto said as she sat down panting. "Wanna go find some food?"
"Oh yes, I'm starving!"
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Author's Note: Hey yals! Try to keep the flames down to a minimum! This just came to me one night and I have been liking it. Tell me what you think and drop me a line. Reviews are always loved, suggestions that are intelligent are loved even more! Love yas!
~Callisto