Viola! Chapter 3 has finally arrived! Yes, the story is starting out a bit slow, but trust me, it'll pick up the next few chapter.
As a reply to Jazz: Thank you for reviewing my story! And I'm glad you picked up on the Atlas titan thing I was going for and yes there will be more subjects. This is where the OC part of the story comes into place and I'm quite proud of my creativity when making them!
Hope y'all enjoy! And hopefully I'll have the next chapter out soon!
Chapter 3: The Facility
Sometime along the journey towards the inner wall, Eren had let his sleep deprived brain take over, but sadly even the blissfulness of sleep was taken away from.
"Wake up, boy," Violet said, shaking his shoulder. When Eren jolted awake, she sat back and smirked at him.
"I want to give you a little run down of this project and your expectations for it," she continued.
Eren groaned but sat up a bit straighter and nodded. He'd be lying if he said, he wasn't curious about where he was going and what these damn people wanted with him.
"Now, this might be a bit of a long explanation, since the project can be quite complicated, but I'll shorten it for you," Violet said, with her sickly sweet smile. "The reason this organization is kept such a secret is because our experiments are not…public friendly. You see, we experiment on titans and titan DNA. You know what DNA is right?"
"Er, sort of?" Eren said, clueless.
"DNA is the genetic make-up of every living thing. Everything that lives in this world is made of DNA; titans, humans, animals, you get the idea," Violet explained. "But you see, the important thing about DNA, is it can be manipulated under the right circumstances."
"And what would happen when you 'manipulate' DNA?" asked Eren, paying extra close attention. He didn't want to come off as stupid to this woman, nor did he want to miss anything about the project he was being thrown into.
Violet nonchalantly smoothed her dress and sat up a bit straighter. "Depending on how a subjects DNA is manipulated would decide the results. The effects could be drastic, life-altering even, or they could be so miniscule that you might never notice."
"This is what we plan to do with our biggest project, which we've dubbed Project Titan. Vague and simple, perfect for keeping secrets, don't you think?" Violet said, haughtily.
"I suppose so?" Eren muttered, slightly disturbed. "So, this is the project you want me for right?"
"Exactly, Eren. You, along with eleven other subjects, will be tested and observed over the duration of this project, which we estimate to be at most two years—."
"Two years! I'll be stuck here for two years?! Will I get to visit my friends, at least?" Eren exclaimed, horrified.
Violet sighed, putting on a show of regret and sympathy. "I'm afraid not, sweetie. You have to stay in the facility, for public safety as well as your own. This experiment is very fragile and unpredictable so we have to take as many precautions as we can."
Eren swallowed and looked down at his lap. "So, I'll be alone for two years?"
"Alone? No, no, you won't be alone. You'll have the other subjects to keep you company and you're all around the same age so you should get along well with them!" Violet disagreed happily. "But anyway, after I've given a bit of an introduction, I should preface my next words with a warning. This project may seem like a terrible thing at first, but I want you to listen and let me completely explain before you interrupt or protest, okay?"
Eren nodded, thinking getting ripped away from his friends was the worse he'd have to endure.
"Right then. Now, with Project Titan, our goal is to create powerful but controllable titans. How we plan to do that is by tinkering with the DNA of twelve subjects in order to give them the ability to manifest titan bodies and control them."
"You're going to turn me into a titan?!" Eren yelped, jumping in his seat and staring at Violet in utter horror. And here he thought this situation couldn't get any worse.
"Did I not just ask you to listen and not interrupt until I was done explaining?" Violet said, stiffly. Eren froze under her piercing gaze and shivered.
"S-sorry, I'll keep quiet now," Eren insisted, burying himself back in his seat as if he hoped to sink through it.
Violet nodded sharply and continued, "You will not completely be turned into a titan. You won't feel the need to eat anyone and most of the time you'll still be in your human body. This experiment will simply allow you to summon a titan body, which you would control from the inside, still in your human form."
Seeing the blank stare on Eren's face Violet quickly replied with a small laugh, "I'm sorry, it seems I've made that sound much more complicated than necessary! Truthfully, it will be easier to understand once you've gone through the process and transform for the first time."
"A-and all of this is…safe?" Eren asked, dubiously.
"Well, as safe as any early stage experiment can be, but don't worry, we've already successfully transformed the other eleven subjects. You're the last one we're accepting into the project. Lucky you!"
The boy had to admit, it was a somewhat calming thought knowing he wasn't the first to go through this.
"So, why is this project so important it has to be kept a secret?"
"Ah! Yes, my favorite part! You see, Eren, with a small army of these special titans we can learn so much more about the titans and we would be able to combat them! Who knows? It could even lead to taking back Wall Maria." Violet ended her little announce with a slight, secret smile. Eren, however, wasn't paying any attention to her. At the moment he was trying hard to fight back the swell of hope and excited in his chest when she said those words. Did this mean he had a chance at going home? Would he actually be able to use the strange key his father gave him? It sounded much too good to be true.
When Eren pulled himself out of his stupor, Violet was watching him closely. No, she was staring at his chest.
"What is that around your neck?" she asked innocently.
"Hm? Oh, it's my key…well, it's my dad's key," he replied, holding the key up where it glinted in the sunlight streaming through the window. "He gave it to me after Wall Maria fell."
"Interesting…" Violet mumbled to herself.
Growing uncomfortable under Violet intense stare, Eren tucked the key away under his shirt. Violet refocused on Eren's face and gave him a reassuringly smile.
"So, are you excited to meet your fellow subjects!" Violet asked, rekindling her earlier excitement.
"Um, I guess…?" Eren said, startled by the sudden attempted at conversation.
"You're all around the same age, as well, so you shouldn't have to worry about getting along with everyone. I will warn you though, some of them can be quite, er…expressive," Violet added hesitantly.
"Can't wait…" Eren begrudgingly said, turning back to the window when the conversation seemed to die.
The brunette didn't know what to make of this strange and sometimes scary woman to be honest. At times she seemed like an easy enough person to talk to and then like the flick of switch she's hostile and cold. This unpredictability in her personality made her a very unpleasant person to Eren and through the entire talk, he remained on edge. When they were both remaining quiet, Eren still kept on his toes, watching her out of the corner of his eye and keeping his hands balled into fists on his lap. Even if he had never heard of this woman before he would still never feel relaxed around her or trust her in anyway. There was simply something sinister about her aura.
Violet looked out the window of the carriage and spoke again.
"Ah, we're almost there," she said, in a more subdued voice. Eren was really getting tired of this woman's bipolar changes in mood.
"But there's nothing but forest out here," the boy replied, staring dumbfounded at the thick lining of trees along the bumpy, overgrown road.
"Yes, the facility is located in the middle of this forest to keep it hidden from any wondering eyes," Violet explained.
She seemed to time this sentence perfectly, because she finished speaking the forest thinned slightly and finally parted into a large clearing. In the center of this area was a huge, stone structure that appeared to be a clunky box shape. The gray outer walls were covered in creeping ivy and dead plants; the stone itself chipped, weather-beaten, and even hosting several long, spindly cracks. The place looked like it had abandoned for decades but there were a few giveaways to what it actually was, like the shiny steel door bolted to the entrance and the windows neatly boarded up with strips of metal and wood.
"Erm, nice camouflage?" Eren pointed out as the carriage pulled to a stop in front of the metal door.
"Ha! I'm surprised you caught onto that so quickly!" replied Violet delightedly. "Yes, we picked this building and let the plant life grow over so it would seem like just another rundown ruin and hopefully it won't attract any attention."
Eren nodded and then followed the dark-haired woman out of the carriage with his duffle bag draped over his shoulder and an apprehensive look.
"I'll take you to your room so you can get settled in and afterward you're more than welcome to meet the other subjects in the common room," she continued as the two henchmen opened the steel door and allowed Eren and Violet through and into small, bare room with two more iron doors on each side.
First impressions of the facility were cold, dim, and musty. Once the warmth seeping through the front door vanished with a loud thud, it was like walking into an underground cavern. The walls were made of the same ugly stone as the outside but this time devoid of plant life. Honestly, it probably would have made it less creepy. The only lights were small gas lamps hung on the walls because the ventilation wasn't good enough for torches, or so Violet said. The air was humidly chilly and made it hard to breathe in normally. Everything about this place screamed wrong but before Eren could freak out too much, Violet placed her hand on his shoulder and steered him through the right hand door.
Eren let himself be led down an empty corridor and at the end stood another door, but this one had a series of steel locks. Violet pulled out a set of keys and efficiently opened the door. On the other side of the door stood a spiral staircase that wound down into the unknown abyss.
"Watch your step now, it's a bit difficult to see," Violet advised. Eren thought she should take her own advice considering the height of her heels.
The walk down was quiet expect for the soft stepping of their shoes on the stone. The lamps were spaced evenly along the walls and as they descended the air grew to frigid temperatures. Their breaths huffed out in smoky mist.
At the bottom of the staircase sat another door with many locks and bolts. Violet stepped forward and unlocked this door as well. Eren was trying to figure out how her hands didn't shake from the cold, because his definitely were.
With a flourish of her hand, Violet swung open the door and strolled inside. Eren trailed cautiously after her before being shoved by the guards following them. He'd almost forgotten they were there.
"Welcome to Atlas Corporate: you're new home," Violet said, with a reptilian smile.
Eren stared around the room, taking it all in. The room itself was large and circular, with fourteen steel doors, including the door they just walked through and a high ceiling with odd little holes spaced around the edge. Half of the room was devoted to what looked like a small living area with a lumpy red couch, a couple squishy chairs, a coffee table covered in cracks and stains, and an old, beat-up chest. The other half of the room held a huge, circular table that would have looked extravagant in its early days, but was now battered and chipped. Around the table, sat twelve equally aged chairs, one of which looked like the back had been chewed on. All in all, it didn't give off a very welcoming feeling.
"This is the common room, where you'll be meeting the rest of the subjects and spending a good amount of your time, in between testing and training, of course. That door over there is a communal shower and bathroom." She nodded to the door on the exact opposite side of the room.
Sudden movement caught Eren's eye and he turned to look at one of the bedroom doors, which was barely cracked open. The inside was dark, but there was enough to see the singular brown eye staring out at him. It watched him intently, without even blinking, before the door slammed shut. The brunette shuttered, could this place get any creepier?
Violet didn't seem to notice the odd encounter. She walked to one of the doors and opened it, revealing a small bedroom. "This will be your room. The other doors are obviously for the other subjects. Now, we do have a few rules…"
Violet stopped to look Eren in the eye, all trace of fake warmth gone and replaced with sternness.
"You are not allowed in anyone else's room without their permission. There will be no fighting, what so ever. You cannot use your abilities outside the testing chambers and arena. And lastly, you cannot leave this this area of the facility without an escort, understood?"
"Yes, ma'am, " Eren mumbled. He stepped inside his new room and tossed his duffle bag on the worn cot. The room wasn't spectacular but it definitely beat sharing with twenty other cadets. The mattress on the bed was thin and well used. There was a small desk and chair across from the bed and a tattered old chest at the foot of this bed, where he would keep his belongings.
"Well, I suppose I'll leave you to get situated and meet the others. Most of them should be back soon from testing and dinner will be brought down in about an hour and you'll start the procedure tomorrow morning, so I suggest you get a good amount of sleep." With that Violet left with her two henchmen, seeming all too pleased to get away.
Eren sighed and sat on his cot. All the built up anxiety, sadness, and fear that had been lost in all the excitement came flooding back in. His old life was over and by tomorrow he would become a monster. He would be transformed into the very thing he loathed: a titan. The situation truly was hopeless wasn't it? He wouldn't finish his training. He wouldn't join the Survey Corp. He wouldn't get the revenge he so desperately wanted. Hell, he didn't even know if he would ever see his friends again…
Just the thought of never seeing Mikasa and Armin again twisted his gut and brought tears to his eyes, but he stubbornly pushed them back. He wasn't going to cry now. He'd cried over too many things already.