Reborn
Splice open his eyes for the first time, the world in front of him was twisting and churning sickeningly, then he sat up and the water fell away from his eyes. The world became sane and he felt the air on his skin for the first time. There where strange sensors attached to him, he pulled them off and stepped from the strange devise he had awoken from. The room he found him self in was empty, metallic walls, metallic floors, metallic ceiling. Then he saw something, a small red blur in the corner of the room, John stumbled over to the heat source he had detected with his eyes. A small camera looked down at him, a small green light shone like an eye. Splice studied this strange devise for a few moments until he sensed another heat source, it was coming from beyond the only door leading out of the room.
The door was automatic so it slid open as he approached. A long hallway with walls, floor and ceiling similarly metallic as the room he had come from. No light came from any of the doors lining the hall, so he passed by them without a second glance. The cold hallway glowed white through his black eyes, no energy radiated from those lifeless walls but just beyond a door down the hall a small bit of heat glowed. Splice walked briskly forward to investigate the next room. The door was non-electronic so John pushed it open with his the palm of his hand. The projector hummed softly, heat rising from its motor shone like a pale red through his eyes. As Splice walked into the room he saw a strange photo on the wall, it was of a young girl, she had long blond hair and blue eyes, strange metallic plates covered the upper and lower section of her body, she was pretty. John stopped and starred at the picture, almost immediately a sharp pain seemed to drive its self directly into John's brain. The agony was the equivalent of someone hammering a wedge into your cranium and prying the skull apart. When Splice screamed it sounded inhuman, his deformed lower jaw bone and teeth caused any noise he made to be changed and distorted. Thousands of images flashed into his mind, images of the Titans, images of Torrent, Ann, and of Terra, then one of Hunter. Not memories but knowledge flowed with the images, knowledge of the world around him. First the basic truths, the same information a high schooled boy might receive. Next came the fighting skills, knowledge of tactical along with combat training, hundreds of forms and movements went careening through his mind. The awareness of his powers came then, his eyes, his strength. Then the image of Hunter returned, Splice then knew that he served Hunter and that he must do his maters bidding, when John's screamed of agony climaxed and blood flowed from his nose the knowledge stopped flowing. John's ears rang and the blood dripped down to the cold gray floor. The brain washing was complete, the chip berried deep into John's skull had done its work.
Splice stood and shook his head. He looked up at the photo at Terra again with a new understanding, and a new hatred. There was an open door at the other side of the projector. Next to the door was a small coat rack. A vest with a large collar hung from its barbs, below that lay a pair of jean shorts and some sneakers. John stepped past the projector and slipped the clothing on. He felt something in his pocket. Reaching in with his hand and withdrew a small tracking detector, a small blinking dot flashed on its surface. John put the tracker back into his vest and stepped through the final door. The sun was bright, but Splice saw more then just the sun light when he passed through that door, he saw a staggering display of thousands of colors that we can't even imagine dancing before him. All we would see would be the barren salt desert of Nevada, but to John it was so much more. Then he detected a sound coming from his left, when he looked he saw a small dirt bike that had been left running just for him. The engine hummed softly as he approached on the seat of the bike was a helmet and a manila folder. Inside of the folder was three photos of, Terra again, and then one of Torrent and Ann, a short explanation followed each image. Splice placed this package in a pocket hidden within the inside of his vest. He slipped the helmet on over his head and stepped onto the bike, the fuel gage was full and the keys where in the ignition. John revved the motor and surged forward across the desolate wasteland.
Hunter watched him go on the large screen, the scientist began to cheer and slap each other on the back, Hunter silently waited for them to stop rejoicing before he turned and addressed them,
"Very good job, my friends, you have truly meet and surpassed my expectations, but I'm not through with you yet." This comment caused the smiles of the scientists to fade and the cheers to halt abruptly. Hunter smiled broadly, the scars on his face forgotten "I have another project for you." Another manila folder was removed from Hunter's jacket, he handed it to Dr. Spencer.
He studied the contents within and the expression on his face changed from disappointment to intrigue. The other scientist gathered around the folder with mounting interest, he flipped through the photos and sheets of information quicker and with more and more enthusiasm. He licked his lips and glanced quickly up at Hunter,
"Where on Gods earth did you find this specimen! He's perfect, if we had had him earlier we would not had even bothered with project 'thousand blades'."
"He will be delivered here in a matter of hour, I suggest you start you work immediately, I'm not sure how long I can keep him sedated." Hunter Turned away from the scientist and pressed the button to raise the wall, "I want no fowl ups! We've got one shot at this and I want it perfect. Type B has volunteered to supervise the project, she will be arriving with the specimen." Just before Hunter could walk away a scientist called after him,
"Um, sir? What should we name the project?" Hunter smiled,
"Project Reborn." He removed the cigar and dropped it to the ground, then walked from the room.