(*note: Quite a few things, even some subtle things - may not be understood
in this story, if you have not already read the prequel to this fic: "A
Shadow of Fate.")
~Chapter 18~
Max and Victoria fought the men. Even without the use of their powers, they managed to not let them do whatever they wanted with them. But they were still trapped: in glass cages. Bryce wanted samples of their genetic material. Of course they refused, which reaped them some negative physical rewards for their non-cooperation.
All in all, it really didn't matter if they fought, because Bryce only brought in reinforcements. Black-clad men in military garb, came into their respective cells and forced them from it. Injections were stabbed into them, as that was the only way to subdue them. When they were unconscious, they were both taken to a room.
A bare room, completely bare. White walls and white tile. Halfway up, on the front side, the walls were replaced with special glass - of the kind that could not break and also of the kind- that was used for observation. Behind that glass, the room could be observed without the observers being observed themselves. An extremely tiny room all in white was nestled into the right corner of the room. It merely contained a toilet and a shower.
Max was awake and when Victoria awoke shortly thereafter, she had a brief uplift in spirits when she realized Max was next to her. But they were still trapped like rats. Lab rats. She was no stranger to labs. No stranger to people in white lab coats with cases.
"What do they want with us, exactly?" Max asked, wondering more aloud to himself than actually questioning her.
"We're their toys, Max. They want to play and experiment." -Victoria.
Max looked at her, worried. "But I feel there's more."
"He already seems to know a lot about us, as he made plain with his 'crown' remark." -Victoria.
"Nicholas and Lonnie, I just know it." Max said. "I wouldn't be surprised if they were working together."
"Yes, but why would they not use them instead?" Victoria wondered aloud.
They shouldn't have been surprised to hear her voice when Lonnie came into the room. A white door sliding shut behind her back into the white wall. "I'm actually glad for once that you two are the cream of the crop. You get the honor of being the material for Bryce's major science project."
Max looked at her in loathing, "You and Nicholas are working with him."
"Well, only me now. He had no further use for 'ole Nick. Lucky for me, I still had some words of worth for him." She looked at their quarters and then back to them. "I remember a lot of our past life, ya know. And well, it feels good to see ya two down there and in this place." She gestured to the four walls. "Nicholas wasn't royal. And he didn't know all I knew. And neither do you two, apparently."
"Don't look at me like that." She snapped at them. "You hardly have room to be sanctimonious. Especially you," She directed her look to Victoria. "I'm hardly more to blame for the end than you are. In fact, I see it as---" She stopped herself from saying more, remembering the important thing at the present. "You should really cooperate with Bryce, you know."
"And what do you get if we do?" Max said, bitterly.
"It's more a matter of what you two get if you don't." -Lonnie.
"I'm so touched that you care about our well being," -Victoria.
Lonnie laughed. "Hardly. But I made a deal with Bryce. When he gets what he wants from ya two, I get what I want from ya two."
"Neither of you will get anything from us. Ever." Max stated vehemently.
"Did you hear that Bryce?" Lonnie turned around and looked at the glass.
In a second, Bryce strode in. "Go." He said to her, dismissively, taking no further notice of her.
"I think you will be in more of a docile mood with a few rounds of testing." -Bryce.
They both tensed as the black-clad men came into the room, but the men only went for Victoria.
"No!" Max yelled as they took her out. But he was far outnumbered and he could do nothing but watch as she left.
--- --
Victoria lay strapped to a medical table. Bryce stood over her, fingering her hair. "How lovely you are." He smirked. "Fitting for the queen of an entire alien world, I suppose." Then he tossed her hair, disinterested.
"Lonnie was right. You are the more cooperative of the two. At least you are no stranger to 'testing." -Bryce.
Victoria looked up at him in surprise. No one had known of all those years and different times that she was subjected to Adam Winthrop's 'testings' but him, herself, and whatever of the few doctors he had used. He had said it was to make her well, or that it was a necessity so she would stay well.
Reading her expression, Bryce said, "Don't be surprised. Winthrop was a colleague. He, like myself, knew of that secret project conducted all those years ago in which you were created. It was here you know. Right in this facility. Something akin to cloning. And all that subsequent experimenting was to insure that you would have enough alien DNA, and retain as much of your real self as possible. After a time, you didn't need it anymore. After you became fully grown - which probably wasn't that long ago. I admire his ultimate goal, Victoria. You see, I am carrying it on. It was rather clever of him."
"What goal?" Victoria asked, although afraid to hear the answer.
She shouldn't have been, because he didn't give it to her. He only smiled with a complete lack of warmth. "Don't worry your pretty head. You, even more than Max Evans, will give me what I want. Just remember - I don't care about you or this alien galaxy I've learned of. The politics don't matter. All I care about is my research. If you or the 'king' dies, so be it. But not before I have what I want."
--- --
Victoria had been gone for what could only be many hours, Max thought. And each one of them made him more nervous and worried.
At the sound of the door sliding open, he jumped up from where he had been sitting against the far wall.
Two men pushed Victoria inside and left immediately.
"Victoria!" Max came to her and walked her over to the far wall where they both sat down. She looked weak, but she seemed pretty much okay.
"I'm okay, Max." Victoria said when she saw and sensed how worried he was. "I've been through this before. Well, something similar anyway."
"What are you talking about?" -Max.
Victoria told him about all those years and all those different times when Adam had subjected her to experiments.
Max was surprised .. and angry, wishing he could revive him just to destroy him all over again,
"I went through something similar to this once, myself." Max admitted. And then he told her about the time he'd been abducted by Pierce.
Victoria could take it. She always had. But she hated to think of someone she cared about, going through the same thing. Max interpreted her look and he shrugged. "It's over and done with. We just need to worry about the present."
"I agree, Max. But I think this time it is going to be so much worse than we have experienced before." She told him what Bryce had said to her, which had left them both confused.
"He doesn't care if we die. He only wants whatever it is he wants." -Victoria.
"Which is what, exactly?" Max wondered aloud. "He hasn't asked us questions."
"He has Lonnie for that." -Victoria muttered.
"Surely by now, the others know we are gone." -Max.
"Yes, but I doubt there are any clues to our whereabouts. Plus, I don't know about you - but who will really care if I'm gone?" Victoria said, meaning Michael in particular.
Kick you in the side
Two hundred times a day
Bitter and impudent
Your rage reigns supreme
Wanting to find the light
Ladder to heaven
The door closed to you
Tonight
Break down the walls
Tear apart the velvet halls
Kills everything that's a lie
You see
Crossed purposes
Waning apparitions
Storms of deceit
And your world is chaos
And your world is night
And tonight you're pulled into the nightmare
By: Ophelia S. Drowning --------------------------------
~Chapter 18~
Max and Victoria fought the men. Even without the use of their powers, they managed to not let them do whatever they wanted with them. But they were still trapped: in glass cages. Bryce wanted samples of their genetic material. Of course they refused, which reaped them some negative physical rewards for their non-cooperation.
All in all, it really didn't matter if they fought, because Bryce only brought in reinforcements. Black-clad men in military garb, came into their respective cells and forced them from it. Injections were stabbed into them, as that was the only way to subdue them. When they were unconscious, they were both taken to a room.
A bare room, completely bare. White walls and white tile. Halfway up, on the front side, the walls were replaced with special glass - of the kind that could not break and also of the kind- that was used for observation. Behind that glass, the room could be observed without the observers being observed themselves. An extremely tiny room all in white was nestled into the right corner of the room. It merely contained a toilet and a shower.
Max was awake and when Victoria awoke shortly thereafter, she had a brief uplift in spirits when she realized Max was next to her. But they were still trapped like rats. Lab rats. She was no stranger to labs. No stranger to people in white lab coats with cases.
"What do they want with us, exactly?" Max asked, wondering more aloud to himself than actually questioning her.
"We're their toys, Max. They want to play and experiment." -Victoria.
Max looked at her, worried. "But I feel there's more."
"He already seems to know a lot about us, as he made plain with his 'crown' remark." -Victoria.
"Nicholas and Lonnie, I just know it." Max said. "I wouldn't be surprised if they were working together."
"Yes, but why would they not use them instead?" Victoria wondered aloud.
They shouldn't have been surprised to hear her voice when Lonnie came into the room. A white door sliding shut behind her back into the white wall. "I'm actually glad for once that you two are the cream of the crop. You get the honor of being the material for Bryce's major science project."
Max looked at her in loathing, "You and Nicholas are working with him."
"Well, only me now. He had no further use for 'ole Nick. Lucky for me, I still had some words of worth for him." She looked at their quarters and then back to them. "I remember a lot of our past life, ya know. And well, it feels good to see ya two down there and in this place." She gestured to the four walls. "Nicholas wasn't royal. And he didn't know all I knew. And neither do you two, apparently."
"Don't look at me like that." She snapped at them. "You hardly have room to be sanctimonious. Especially you," She directed her look to Victoria. "I'm hardly more to blame for the end than you are. In fact, I see it as---" She stopped herself from saying more, remembering the important thing at the present. "You should really cooperate with Bryce, you know."
"And what do you get if we do?" Max said, bitterly.
"It's more a matter of what you two get if you don't." -Lonnie.
"I'm so touched that you care about our well being," -Victoria.
Lonnie laughed. "Hardly. But I made a deal with Bryce. When he gets what he wants from ya two, I get what I want from ya two."
"Neither of you will get anything from us. Ever." Max stated vehemently.
"Did you hear that Bryce?" Lonnie turned around and looked at the glass.
In a second, Bryce strode in. "Go." He said to her, dismissively, taking no further notice of her.
"I think you will be in more of a docile mood with a few rounds of testing." -Bryce.
They both tensed as the black-clad men came into the room, but the men only went for Victoria.
"No!" Max yelled as they took her out. But he was far outnumbered and he could do nothing but watch as she left.
--- --
Victoria lay strapped to a medical table. Bryce stood over her, fingering her hair. "How lovely you are." He smirked. "Fitting for the queen of an entire alien world, I suppose." Then he tossed her hair, disinterested.
"Lonnie was right. You are the more cooperative of the two. At least you are no stranger to 'testing." -Bryce.
Victoria looked up at him in surprise. No one had known of all those years and different times that she was subjected to Adam Winthrop's 'testings' but him, herself, and whatever of the few doctors he had used. He had said it was to make her well, or that it was a necessity so she would stay well.
Reading her expression, Bryce said, "Don't be surprised. Winthrop was a colleague. He, like myself, knew of that secret project conducted all those years ago in which you were created. It was here you know. Right in this facility. Something akin to cloning. And all that subsequent experimenting was to insure that you would have enough alien DNA, and retain as much of your real self as possible. After a time, you didn't need it anymore. After you became fully grown - which probably wasn't that long ago. I admire his ultimate goal, Victoria. You see, I am carrying it on. It was rather clever of him."
"What goal?" Victoria asked, although afraid to hear the answer.
She shouldn't have been, because he didn't give it to her. He only smiled with a complete lack of warmth. "Don't worry your pretty head. You, even more than Max Evans, will give me what I want. Just remember - I don't care about you or this alien galaxy I've learned of. The politics don't matter. All I care about is my research. If you or the 'king' dies, so be it. But not before I have what I want."
--- --
Victoria had been gone for what could only be many hours, Max thought. And each one of them made him more nervous and worried.
At the sound of the door sliding open, he jumped up from where he had been sitting against the far wall.
Two men pushed Victoria inside and left immediately.
"Victoria!" Max came to her and walked her over to the far wall where they both sat down. She looked weak, but she seemed pretty much okay.
"I'm okay, Max." Victoria said when she saw and sensed how worried he was. "I've been through this before. Well, something similar anyway."
"What are you talking about?" -Max.
Victoria told him about all those years and all those different times when Adam had subjected her to experiments.
Max was surprised .. and angry, wishing he could revive him just to destroy him all over again,
"I went through something similar to this once, myself." Max admitted. And then he told her about the time he'd been abducted by Pierce.
Victoria could take it. She always had. But she hated to think of someone she cared about, going through the same thing. Max interpreted her look and he shrugged. "It's over and done with. We just need to worry about the present."
"I agree, Max. But I think this time it is going to be so much worse than we have experienced before." She told him what Bryce had said to her, which had left them both confused.
"He doesn't care if we die. He only wants whatever it is he wants." -Victoria.
"Which is what, exactly?" Max wondered aloud. "He hasn't asked us questions."
"He has Lonnie for that." -Victoria muttered.
"Surely by now, the others know we are gone." -Max.
"Yes, but I doubt there are any clues to our whereabouts. Plus, I don't know about you - but who will really care if I'm gone?" Victoria said, meaning Michael in particular.
Kick you in the side
Two hundred times a day
Bitter and impudent
Your rage reigns supreme
Wanting to find the light
Ladder to heaven
The door closed to you
Tonight
Break down the walls
Tear apart the velvet halls
Kills everything that's a lie
You see
Crossed purposes
Waning apparitions
Storms of deceit
And your world is chaos
And your world is night
And tonight you're pulled into the nightmare
By: Ophelia S. Drowning --------------------------------