The next morning Max was still stretched out on thecot in his cell. He
didn't know how long it had been since the guards had brought him back,
nearly unconscious, to the dark room.
He had remained there, trying with limited success to
withdraw his mind from the pain that his body felt. Until he could do that,
Max knew that he would be unable to concentrate on devising a plan for
escape. The ache in his head was dreadful, and his eyes did not seem to
want to work together. Nevertheless, Max began to try and figure out how he
was going to get out of this one. He didn't see many options. Slowly, he
leaned his aching head forward to rest it on his bent knees. It looked like
he was just going to have
to wait and see what KAOS had in store for him.
...................................
Back at CONTROL, 99 entered the chief's office to find him on the phone. His face was red and irritated --- no doubt from all of the strain he was putting on it. She could see the anger building in him.
"I want all available men to search that area, and I want that informer found!" the Chief said sternly, as he slammed down the phone. "We have access to finding anyone in the world and yet in our own city we can't locate that informer."
The Chief was obviously frustrated as he looked up to see 99 standing next to his desk; she looked tired and worried. "Still no word, Chief?" The Chief only shook his head. He knew 99 was apprehensive about Max, and not hearing from him for the last two days since his meeting with the informer, caused him to think that Max ran into foul play.
"I should have sent a backup with Max. I should have never let him go alone to check out that tip we got about the KAOS drug lab."
99 sat next to the chief and placed her hand on top of his.
"We have to believe he's ok and just held up someplace, and that he can't call."
The Chief wanted to believe 99. In her mind, she wouldn't accept the fact that Max could be dead.
"I have every available man on this case, 99," the chief consoled, as he patted her hand. "We'll find him."
The Chief got up and walked over to a map of the city.
"We got the call from the informer that KAOS had a drug lab set up in this part of the city," the chief said as he pointed to the area of the map. "It's heavily populated with industry, so it could take weeks for us to check every building. The last call from Max was traced to this area here, but before we could pin point exactly where, we lost the connection. This lab, wherever it is, is well- hidden, possibly underground. Our only hope is to locate that informer again; the word is out on the street. Now the toughest thing to do is wait." 99's thoughts were far away, wondering what was happening to Max. She couldn't bear to think of him being tortured and in pain. She closed her eyes to try and erase those thoughts from her mind.
.........................................
Max found himself jolted awake when harsh hands seized his arms. The two KAOS agents holding Max dragged him to his feet.
Max felt the fear begin to crawl back into his body. He clenched his fists inadvertently and drew in an unsteady breath. He was brought into the same room as yesterday, but this time a pair of wrist shackles suspended from the ceiling -- not a chair -- was going to be used to secure him.
Raising Max's arms, the two KAOS agents transferred his wrists into the set of suspended shackles. Muller walked in and stood in front of Max. He grasp Max's chin and forced his head up.
"If it were up to me, you would have been dead long ago, Agent 86. But the doc needs a guinea pig for this drug, and that's you."
With a powerful blow, Muller's fist connected with the side of Max's face. A thin trickle of blood ran down his chin and neck from where his lip had split. Max's vision clouded, and he groaned involuntarily. The only things holding him up were the chains. The doctors stepped in just in time to stop Muller from hitting Max again.
"Out! All of you!" the one doctor yelled. "I'm warning you, Muller. If you interfere once more, I will be forced to contact the head of KAOS. I don't think they'd be pleased to hear that the drug's release has been pushed back due to technical difficulties caused by you."
Muller let go of Max's chin and stepped back.
"Alright, alright, I get the message. Just having some fun, that's all," Muller nodded to his guards and they left the room.
Max groggily tried to get his barring. He saw the doctor with another needle, getting ready to inject him again with the foul brown-tinted drug. Max twisted his body away from the doctor, "Please, no... don't... the pain...," Max moaned.
"But Mr. Smart, this will take away the pain," the doctor said, as he began to inject the needle into Max's vein.
This time the dosage was increased and within a minute the drug took effect. Max's blood pressure, pulse rate and respiration suddenly dropped. Max's body jerked involuntarily with repeated convulsions. The doctor quickly reacted by lowering the shackles, causing Max to drop to the floor. The two doctors held Max down as he thrashed about incoherently. Within another two minutes, he finally stopped, and Max lay on the floor with a blank stare, and rapid and involuntary eye movements. When he tried to speak, his speech was sparse and garbled. The doctors noted that the amount they had administered to Max was too much.
Two hours had passed since Max's initial injection, and his senses of touch and pain were now dulled, and his body movements slowed. The doctor now felt that Max was stable enough, so he continued on with the experiment. Again, the shackles raised Max up. His back exposed, the doctor took a bamboo cane from the table and whipped it across his back. Max ceased to yell out in pain, as a red welt raised quickly over the spot of contact. Once more the cane slashed across his back, and still no response. After a few more smacks with the cane, the doctors were satisfied that Max was impervious to pain on that dosage. Feeling in a dreamlike state, Max was extremely dissociated. His visual perspective was *fast*. As he watched the doctors move across the room, they seemed to be moving faster than the speed of light. Any stress was temporarily dismantled. As far as Max was concerned, they could kill him now --- he didn't care. Max was enveloped in a world of warmth, of security, and of freedom. It was the most intense nothingness Max had ever experienced.
To be continued
...................................
Back at CONTROL, 99 entered the chief's office to find him on the phone. His face was red and irritated --- no doubt from all of the strain he was putting on it. She could see the anger building in him.
"I want all available men to search that area, and I want that informer found!" the Chief said sternly, as he slammed down the phone. "We have access to finding anyone in the world and yet in our own city we can't locate that informer."
The Chief was obviously frustrated as he looked up to see 99 standing next to his desk; she looked tired and worried. "Still no word, Chief?" The Chief only shook his head. He knew 99 was apprehensive about Max, and not hearing from him for the last two days since his meeting with the informer, caused him to think that Max ran into foul play.
"I should have sent a backup with Max. I should have never let him go alone to check out that tip we got about the KAOS drug lab."
99 sat next to the chief and placed her hand on top of his.
"We have to believe he's ok and just held up someplace, and that he can't call."
The Chief wanted to believe 99. In her mind, she wouldn't accept the fact that Max could be dead.
"I have every available man on this case, 99," the chief consoled, as he patted her hand. "We'll find him."
The Chief got up and walked over to a map of the city.
"We got the call from the informer that KAOS had a drug lab set up in this part of the city," the chief said as he pointed to the area of the map. "It's heavily populated with industry, so it could take weeks for us to check every building. The last call from Max was traced to this area here, but before we could pin point exactly where, we lost the connection. This lab, wherever it is, is well- hidden, possibly underground. Our only hope is to locate that informer again; the word is out on the street. Now the toughest thing to do is wait." 99's thoughts were far away, wondering what was happening to Max. She couldn't bear to think of him being tortured and in pain. She closed her eyes to try and erase those thoughts from her mind.
.........................................
Max found himself jolted awake when harsh hands seized his arms. The two KAOS agents holding Max dragged him to his feet.
Max felt the fear begin to crawl back into his body. He clenched his fists inadvertently and drew in an unsteady breath. He was brought into the same room as yesterday, but this time a pair of wrist shackles suspended from the ceiling -- not a chair -- was going to be used to secure him.
Raising Max's arms, the two KAOS agents transferred his wrists into the set of suspended shackles. Muller walked in and stood in front of Max. He grasp Max's chin and forced his head up.
"If it were up to me, you would have been dead long ago, Agent 86. But the doc needs a guinea pig for this drug, and that's you."
With a powerful blow, Muller's fist connected with the side of Max's face. A thin trickle of blood ran down his chin and neck from where his lip had split. Max's vision clouded, and he groaned involuntarily. The only things holding him up were the chains. The doctors stepped in just in time to stop Muller from hitting Max again.
"Out! All of you!" the one doctor yelled. "I'm warning you, Muller. If you interfere once more, I will be forced to contact the head of KAOS. I don't think they'd be pleased to hear that the drug's release has been pushed back due to technical difficulties caused by you."
Muller let go of Max's chin and stepped back.
"Alright, alright, I get the message. Just having some fun, that's all," Muller nodded to his guards and they left the room.
Max groggily tried to get his barring. He saw the doctor with another needle, getting ready to inject him again with the foul brown-tinted drug. Max twisted his body away from the doctor, "Please, no... don't... the pain...," Max moaned.
"But Mr. Smart, this will take away the pain," the doctor said, as he began to inject the needle into Max's vein.
This time the dosage was increased and within a minute the drug took effect. Max's blood pressure, pulse rate and respiration suddenly dropped. Max's body jerked involuntarily with repeated convulsions. The doctor quickly reacted by lowering the shackles, causing Max to drop to the floor. The two doctors held Max down as he thrashed about incoherently. Within another two minutes, he finally stopped, and Max lay on the floor with a blank stare, and rapid and involuntary eye movements. When he tried to speak, his speech was sparse and garbled. The doctors noted that the amount they had administered to Max was too much.
Two hours had passed since Max's initial injection, and his senses of touch and pain were now dulled, and his body movements slowed. The doctor now felt that Max was stable enough, so he continued on with the experiment. Again, the shackles raised Max up. His back exposed, the doctor took a bamboo cane from the table and whipped it across his back. Max ceased to yell out in pain, as a red welt raised quickly over the spot of contact. Once more the cane slashed across his back, and still no response. After a few more smacks with the cane, the doctors were satisfied that Max was impervious to pain on that dosage. Feeling in a dreamlike state, Max was extremely dissociated. His visual perspective was *fast*. As he watched the doctors move across the room, they seemed to be moving faster than the speed of light. Any stress was temporarily dismantled. As far as Max was concerned, they could kill him now --- he didn't care. Max was enveloped in a world of warmth, of security, and of freedom. It was the most intense nothingness Max had ever experienced.
To be continued