Chapter 7- Testing

A sharp beeping woke me the next morning. I found that the source was a small digital alarm clock on the bedside table I had put my mug on. Either I had been too tired to notice it the previous night, or someone had brought it in. I smacked the off button sleepily. It was eight o'clock in the morning. Somebody had brought in some clean clothing, which was laid out on a chair. My mug was still on the bedside table, but cleaner looking. They must have washed it… How dare they without my permission!

I dressed in the clothes- all black shirt and pants, with a rather baggy black coat- and went to brush my teeth. The goggles Hatchenson had given me were hanging on a hook in the bathroom. I was not sure what the testing entailed, so I donned them just in case.

There was a note under the clothing. It read,

Z,

Meet me in room 3046XB. That's the supercomputer room. We'll be doing your testing there. Try to hurry! I'll have breakfast waiting.

-Dr. G

I stuffed the note in my pocket and took my mug. I left the apartment and made my way back to the elevator. I put my hand against the pad like I saw Dr. Gromov do the day before. The doors opened and I walked in. I was surprised to see that I wasn't alone in the elevator. A woman in a directorate uniform was standing in the elevator, her hands in her pockets. She looked up and smiled.

"You must be Seven!" She said brightly. I noticed that her eyes were tinted slightly with violet. Strange… "Welcome to the GOOD. Where're ya heading?"

"I'm going down to zee supercomputer room for, er, some kind of testing." I said awkwardly. I looked in the reflective wall of the elevator. The goggles I was wearing made me look a bit like an oversized beetle of some sort.

"Oh. Well- I guess I don't need to say good luck… But, um, don't die?" She said, a bizarre smile on her face. There was something very strange about that woman…

The elevator stopped. The door opened to what must have been level three. Office cubicles were everywhere. Some fish-tank-like testing rooms lined the enormous room, some with people inside. I had no idea where to find room 3046XB. I walked up to one of the cubicles to ask.

"Excuse me?" I said. The man at the cubicle turned around. Damn it, I thought. It was that Snippy guy again.

"You again?" He said irritably. Then he stepped back, a look of fear briefly flashing on his face. "Oh, sorry, it's the goggles…" He said. I noticed he had dark circles under his eye, like he hadn't slept well in a long time. "You know, I somehow think I'm the luckiest man in the world, not you. BAD LUCK is luck too…" He trailed off his sentence. He snapped into focus again. "What do you want?"

"Where iz room 3046XB?" I asked. Charles groaned.

"Ugh, Gromov again," He muttered angrily.

"What iz your problem with Gromov?" I asked.

"He is the cause of my nightma- Wait, why am I telling YOU?" Snippy exclaimed. "Well, the room's that way, to the right," He said, gesturing in the said direction. "You'll see a big gray door."

"Thank you." I said, turning to leave

"You'd better watch out, you know," Snippy cautioned. "I've heard that you'll have to do some pretty dangerous stuff. I suggest you escape while you can!"

"No."

"Well, don't blame me if you die." What was with the death threats today? It couldn't be that bad.

I went through the heavy doors. I found myself in a room filled with machinery. It extended through the greater part of Level Three. According to a map that was tacked to the wall by the entrance, it also extended down to the basement. Wow, neural networks must need a whole lot of power. In the center of it all stood a large computer monitor, a wide desk, and a chair. Some sort of contraption hung from the ceiling.

I cautiously approached the desk. The contraption-robot-thing swiveled in my direction, blue lights blinking on.

:Who are you?: A digital voice emanating from the thing said to me. I jumped.

"Who-WHAT ARE YOU?" I yelped. "And where's Dr. Gromov?"

:I am ANNET. Alex calls me Annie. You may not, Mr. *ANALYZING* Z.: The robot replied.

"I'm –oof!-here." Gromov's voice came from under the desk. He emerged with a box of gadgets. Among the mess of machines- most of which I didn't recognize- I spotted a gun. I gulped. Maybe the threats weren't so invalid after all.

Gromov threw me bag that had been in the box. It contained the breakfast I had been promised. "Dig in!" He said cheerily, and set about to setting up the gadgets.

As soon as I had finished, Gromov took a DNA sample from me and had me hooked up to several machines at once. I had taken my goggles off and was sitting in the chair, wondering what it all meant. The huge screen was lit up with all sorts of figures. Gromov was in his element. He had said one of the things was an EEG (not that that information helped) and didn't specify the rest. He continued bustling about excitedly, the definition of mad scientist.

After an indefinite amount of time, he shut the screen off and unhooked me from the mess of machinery.

"This is great! All tests positive, mutated DNA, a real super-human!" He said, grinning.

:Calm down, Alex! You're scaring the test subject.: ANNET said. She had been making useless commentary the whole time, and it was getting annoying. Gromov seemed to like it, though.

My attention was diverted from ANNET when I saw Gromov picking up the gun. I had a sudden urge to find a window to jump out of.

"What iz zat going to be for?" I asked nervously, not taking my eyes off of the gun.

:Alex, you are an idiot.: ANNET remarked. :Russian roulette? Honestly?: Gromov shot her an angry glance.

"I wasn't planning for this unless you got perfect results on the other tests. I thought you wouldn't, but you did. I'm fully confident that you'll be safe." Gromov said, holding out the firearm. Charles had been right, he was a complete madman! "You really don't have to. In fact I shouldn't have even suggested it. Nevermind." He turned to put the weapon back in the box of gadgets.

I suddenly had an urge to prove myself. "I vill do it." I said. I can jump from buildings, so why can't I win at this? I AM Seven, after all! Now Dr. Gromov was looking uncomfortable. "It was your idea in the first place, Gromov!" I said sharply.

"That's DOCTOR Gromov to you, Seven." He cautioned, but handed over the weapon.

"Who am I going against?"

"A bot I have here. It can operate even if it has been damaged." Gromov fished it out of the box and placed it on the desk next to me.

:I'm recording.: ANNET announced.

Let's do this.

Gromov stopped me after half an hour. He had been sitting in shock as the bot was shot more times than I could remember. I sat here, alive against all odds

"What- How?" Gromov said, still looking stunned. "Well well! We really do have a winner on our hands!" His face broke into a grin. "We'll have you fitted for an ANNET transmitter tomorrow. I'll see to it that you have the rank of Captain in the Directorate. Gives you absolute clearance."

:So fast, Alex? Are we sure we trust him?: ANNET said warily.

"Yes, Annie-girl. What harm could he do?" Gromov replied. "You'll also be Captain of a squad, after all of your training's done." This was so much information! I'm practically a celebrity here! I can lead an army, piece of cake!

:Don't go giving him a big head just yet.: ANNET chimed in.

"Do you have to comment on EVERYTHING?" Gromov snapped

:Yes.:

"Oh, I'll deal with you later," Gromov huffed. "Have a good day, Captain! And don't forget your goggles," He added, tossing them to me. I exited the supercomputer room and headed back to my apartment. Everybody I encountered on my way to the elevator congratulated me on the rank of Captain. Word spread fast here in the GOOD directorate.

I recalled what Chris had said to me when he met me. Something about me being the messiah. I had thought he was crazy then. But now Gromov has made me out to be the savior of the GOOD Directorate. And I'm starting to think he's right.

A/N: The chapters just keep getting longer. And yes, I am including the beware-the-mug lady.