CE 63
Sarik yelled as another, more powerful jolt of electricity cut through his head, all while the computer monitor in front of him continued to flash images of death and destruction.
"Coordinators are the ones who killed our parents," droned the children around him. "Coordinators are the devils of space. All Coordinators must be killed in the interest of peace. For justice, and for a blue, pure world. We must kill all Coordinators."
Over and over, they chanted it, all but Sarik. Every child in the room had a device connected to his or her head that shocked them with varying degrees of high-voltage electricity. In theory, it would help them "accept" what they were saying more easily. And the more Sarik was forced into these brainwashing sessions, the harder he found it to resist. His young mind just couldn't handle the torture, enhanced or not.
This time, William was personally overseeing this session, and intentionally walked by Sarik's station. The boy knew he was here to taunt him, and for that reason alone.
"Coordinators are the ones who killed our parents," William chanted with the children. "Coordinators are the devils of space. All Coordinators must be killed in the interest of peace. For justice, and for a blue, pure world. We must kill all Coordinators."
William waited a moment for Sarik to repeat what he had just said, but the eight-year-old remained silent, staring desperately at the computer screen.
"Say it!" William ordered Sarik.
"My name...is Sarik...Ostheim," Sarik forced out in defiance as he looked up at William. "My parents....are Derick and...Laura Ostheim. Coordinators are just...like...us."
William backhanded Sarik, the boy intentionally moving himself into the blow's full force. He'd recently discovered that the resulting pain brought him some sort of strength, which helped him with his concentration.
William scowled, then glanced off in a direction that Sarik couldn't see and gestured. One of the facility's doctors quickly strolled over, readying an oddly shaped syringe. He stabbed the needle into Sarik's arm none too gently and injected the unknown substance within. Sarik instantly growled from the combined stresses of the electroshock, the pain in his face, the large needle being jabbed into his arm, and the burning in his veins resulting from the drug injected into his body, causing tears to begin streaming down from his closed eyes.
"Coordinators are the ones who killed our parents," William repeated calmly a few minutes later. "Coordinators are the devils of space. All Coordinators must be killed in the interest of peace. For justice, and for a blue, pure world. We must kill all Coordinators."
William's words echoed through Sarik's mind, sounding more and more true with each repetition. Sarik's vision blurred, and his mind grew groggy. It would have been so easy to just give in. But still, he resisted.
"My name is Sarik Ostheim!" Sarik yelled. "My parents' names are Derick and Laura Ostheim!"
"Your parents are dead!" William growled. "The Coordinators KILLED them!"
"My name is Sarik Ostheim!" Sarik repeated desperately. "My parents' names are Derick and Laura Ostheim! My name is Sarik Ostheim! My parents' names are Derick and Laura Ostheim!"
"Coordinators killed your parents!" William yelled at Sarik.
They are not dead! Sarik told himself. It's a lie!
"My name is Sarik Ostheim," Sarik repeated calmly, even though his pains were great. "My LIVING parents' names are Derick and Laura Ostheim."
William shook his head and sighed at his brother's defiance.
"Guards," William called in a bored, annoyed tone.
Two large men walked over to Sarik's station and detached the device from his head. Sarik let out a sigh of true relief as the pain ended, even though a powerful headache soon followed. After releasing him from the chair's restraints, the two men pulled Sarik to his feat and had to drag him out of the room, the child's physical strength gone. They carried him to a part of the facility he had come to dread.
The cells.
The guards carelessly tossed Sarik into the chamber, slamming the metal door shut immediately behind him.
Sarik lay where he was, too exhausted and in too much pain to move. He simply started crying, eventually falling into a much needed sleep.
* * *
Sarah strolled along the sidewalk that bordered the beach, watching for any followers. It didn't take much to stand out, as it was nearly nine o'clock at night. Almost no one came out here at night.
Sarah eventually stumbled upon a small cluster of buildings, all of which were bustling with customers. After ensuring there was no one tailing her, the woman entered into one of the small restaurants, the one where she had been ordered by her contact to be at when the "sea is black". It didn't take much thought to figure that one out.
She waited only for a moment before she was greeted by a hostess.
"I need a table for two," Sarah informed the young woman, following her instructions. "Preferably with an ocean view."
"I think we have one right this way," the hostess told her.
Sarah followed the girl to a table in the back corner of the restaurant, located near the large window dominating the restaurants back wall. The portal gave its diners a perfect of view of the ocean, which was pitch black at this time of day.
Sarah sat down and waited for her contact arrive, who she assumed was late, since he apparently wasn't here. After waiting nearly an hour, she ordered a glass of cheap wine to take the edge off of what she was about to do.
Sarah watched as couple after couple entered into the restaurant, none seeming to be her contact.
* * *
Lee kept glancing over his shoulder as he walked along the beach. He hadn't noticed anyone suspicious following him, but he continued to get this odd feeling that he was being watched.
Maybe I'm just getting paranoid, he thought.
He continued down the sidewalk, still extremely wary of this meeting. It could very well be a trap, though for what reason, he could not fathom. However, his only contact with this unnamed organization had been through Blue Cosmos members, circumstances that made it impossible for him to not be suspicious.
He arrived at the small beach-side restaurant minutes later, but still had a horrible, almost gut-wrenching feeling about entering. Lee surveyed the immediate area and noticed a single black car parked across the street. It wouldn't have stood out if not for the fact that there were absolutely no other vehicless around. Almost everyone walked down to the beach on this small island.
Lee inconspicuously walked across the street, then strolled brisklyup the sidewalk, towards the vehicle. He bolted forward when he heard the car's engine start, yanking the back door open and jumping in just as the car began pulling out.
"Keep driving," he ordered the driver.
"What the..." the man started.
"Don't screw with me," Lee told him as he pulled a silenced semi-automatic pistol from his suit and poked it into the man's neck.
"I seriously don't understand," the man told him, peering nervously into the rear-view mirror but never making eye contact with Lee. The man was obviously one for poor habit-making, since the driver wasn't supposed to be able to see the vehicles occupants in it.
"Who are you working for?" Lee inquired calmly.
"I work for a local importer," the man told him.
Lee drilled the gun to the man's neck, hoping he wasn't a subborn pro.
"You're lying," he accused his stalker.
"All right man, chill," the driver suggested in a frightened tone. "I...I'm just a local PI. I was hired by some creep to get pictures of you and your contact together."
"Thank you," Lee courtesied sarcastically. "Now find somewhere to park."
The man complied, soon finding an empty parking meant for those visiting the beach.
Before the man could do anything, Lee whipped him in the back of the head with his pistol. The man slumped forward into the steering wheel, out cold.
Lee quickly exited the vehicle, replaced his pistol in its holster, and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his fingerprints from the door latches. As soon as he was done, he quickly proceeded back down the beach towards the restaurant.
Thirty minutes later, he arrived. Lee walked in professionally and glanced around the back of the establishment.
Most of the tables were occupied by two or more people, but there was one occupied by only a single woman with shoulder-length black hair wearing a relatively modest red dress.
Smart woman, Lee remarked. He himself was dressed in a business suit. It would probably look more like they were on a date rather than some sort of meeting or exchange.
He walked over to the table and quickly sat down without inviting himself.
"What took you so long, dear?" the woman acted.
"I had to finish up some business," he told her, playing along.
"What sort of business?" she asked.
Lee smiled and leaned over the table.
"Like the sort that was following me," he replied quietly in a threatening tone as he un-holstered his hidden pistol. "I have a gun under the table. If anything funny happens, you're the first to go."
"I assure you that I had nothing to do with it," she replied calmly, looking Lee straight in the eye as she said it.
He was amused. If she was lying, she was very good at it.
"Lee Brackford," he told her, introducing himself.
"Sarah Raahl," the woman replied.
"So, what is this supposed information that you have on my employer's sons?" Lee asked.
* * *
Sarik sat in the corner of his cell, repeating the same phrase over and over in his head.
My name is Sarik Ostheim. My parents are Derick Ostheim and Laura Ostheim. My friends are Stella, Grey, and Alex.
He began crying as he continied to memorize. He was crying for his parents. Recently, these people had done something to him, and he had forgotten almost everything. It was only when he was reunited with the rest of Blue Team that his memories had come flooding back. But even then, they weren't all there, his parents' faces now nothing but blurs. He only knew who they were, and that they were alive. He feared he might completely forget about them the next time.
But even when thinking on that, he had his doubts. Were they alive? It had been so long since he last saw them.
Do they even exist?
But he forced those thoughts out of his head and went back to reciting. He knew who he was, and no one was going to change that. He would hold on, even if it killed him.
* * *
"So you expect me to believe that William Ostheim, son of the owner of an international corporation, has been a full-fledged member of Blue Cosmos for over a decade, all in complete secrecy from his parents?" Lee remarked sarcastically. "Where's your proof?"
Sarah pulled a small disk from her purse and held it under the table.
"You'll find records of his initiation, surveillance recordings of him within the Blue Cosmos facility, and examples of his programs there," Sarah informed him.
Lee snatched the object from Sarah's hands and inconspicuously pocketed it.
"What about Sarik?" Lee questioned.
"You'll find everything you should need to convince your employers to take action," Sarah assured.
"I assume this doesn't come for free," he deduced.
"No," Sarah told him.
"What will you require?" Lee asked.
"I need protection for myself and the network that helped me procure this information from Blue Cosmos," Sarah told him.
"That's a hefty price," Lee replied, testing her. "I might be able to help you, but no one else."
"Look, we're all resources you can use," Sarah told him. "I know that facility better than anyone you could get your hands on. Others know access codes, research, conditioning methods. Every bit of information you need on that facility and Blue Cosmos can be found among the people that helped me. I will personally lead the infiltration effort if that's what you need to make this go through."
"You're pretty gungho about this," Lee remarked. "Why?"
Sarah glanced down at her feet.
"My family had been with Blue Cosmos for two generations," Sarah told him. "Naturally, I followed suit. But after I saw what was happening in there, I found my conscience wouldn't allow me to support that organization any longer. I owe it to Sarik and everyone other child stuck in there to get them out alive."
Lee nodded his head in silent agreement, then froze as his gut feeling suddenly went bad.
"We need to leave," he told Sarah.
She looked around the restaurant and noticed a suspicious man and woman entering together. They looked normal enough except for one thing.
They were guards from the facility.
"Those two that just entered are from the training facility," Sarah informd Lee.
"This way," Lee ordered as he rose, never looking back to confirm her observation as he grabbed her hand and pulled her along towards the kitchen.
The two guards followed closely behind, no longer bothering to hide their intent.
Lee threw Sarah out of the back exit as he pulled his pistol from its temporary hiding place and flicked off the safety. He fired three shots at the guards, who threw themselves to the ground to avoid the 9mm bullets.
"Come on!" he yelled at Sarah as he ran out of the door and slammed it shut, re-holstering his pistol and pulling the woman to her feet.
The two ran down the beach, back in the direction from which Lee had come. It was not long before Sarah heard the screeching of tires and a car came speeding down the road. She saw Lee pull his weapon from its holster once more.
"Get across the street and hide!" he told Sarah as he pushed her away.
Sarah was wary about doing this, but did so without question. As she ran, she spotted a car speeding towards them. However, it didn't veer towards her, as Lee opened fire on it, causing its drivers to bring the vehicle to a stop, its passengers disembarking immediately. Four of them, all brandishing pistols of various models and makes.
The sight left Sarah's vision as she ran into a thicket of decorative bushes and trees near the sidewalk, trying to find somewhere to hide. She froze when she heard a branch crack behind her. Rather than moving along, she crouched down, trying to hide herself as best as she could. Sarah percieved someone large moving towards her, much larger than Lee. She knew it was one of the guards who was chasing her.
Rather than sitting helplessly, Sarah charged her opponent, who apparently hadn't spotted her, yet. As he tried to aim his pistol at her, Sarah slapped it away, forcing him to fire in another direction, the percussion nearly deafening her. Whatever type of pistol this was, it was excessively powerful.
The guard took advantage of the distraction and whipped Sarah with the grip of his weapon, hitting her in the shoulder and knocking off of her feet. Sarah was wracked with pain as she felt something crack.
As the woman fell to the ground, the guard aimed his pistol at her, preparing to dispatch her. But before he could pull the trigger, Sarah swept a leg under him, knocking him off of his feet.
As he fell to the ground, the guard lost his grip on the pistol. As a result, it went flying over a meter away from him.
Sarah was already on her feet as the handgun came to a rest. She leaped towards the weapon and grabbed it, skidding to a stop on her stomach. Not wasting time, she rolled over onto her back.
The guard was close, about to stomp his foot onto her mid-section. She pointed the pistol in his general direction and fired, nearly loosing her grip on the weapon from its ridiculously powerful recoil. Sarah was sprayed in blood as the bullet penetrated the guard's abdomen, the force of the bullet alone lifting him a few centimeters into the air and dropping him onto his back.
Sarah was instantly her feet, shock setting in. However, she pointed her weapon at her attacker and, despite the fact that he was unmoving, put another round into his chest.
Sarah nearly threw down the pistol in disgust, but knew better, and kept it in case she had to use it later.
She almost did as she heard another person running towards her. If he didn't start calling for her at the last second, Sarah would have accidentally shot Lee, who was now a meter from her.
"My hotel is this way," the man informed her as he casually snatched the firearm pointed at him from her.
* * *
Sarik woke up as he heard the cell door open. He simply lay there, sprawled out on the floor and unable to move.
"Get up!" someone yelled at him.
Sarik tried to rise, but collapsed from exhaustion. He hadn't had anything to eat for two days, and a few hours of sleep did little to rejuvenate him.
"Get up!" that same person yelled as he kicked Sarik in the side.
"I can't," he whimpered.
Sarik heard him sigh, then felt the person pick him up and throw him over his shoulder.
"You shouldn't fight them so much," the man told Sarik as he carried him down the corridors.
"I...have to," Sarik replied.
"Why?" the man asked.
"Because," Sarik replied vaguely.
Sarik heard children ahead, but didn't bother trying to move, since he couldn't.
Sarik felt his caretaker set him down softly onto a bench. Sarik looked up and saw that same guard who took him to that first operation.
"Stay here," the guard ordered Sarik with a slightly concerned tone.
Sarik did so, unable to do anything to begin with.
A few minutes later, the guard returned with a tray stacked with food.
"Eat," he told Sarik as he set the tray in front of him.
Sarik reached forward and grabbed a roll off the tray, scarfing it down in seconds.
"Slow down," Sarik's guard told him as he sat. "You're going to make yourself sick."
Sarik ignored the man and, throwing aside any sort of etiquette, began shoveling every bit of food into his mouth that he could.
He regretted it a moment later when his stomach began aching and he vomited every ounce of his meal onto the floor.
"Dammit, kid!" the guard yelled as he jumped up to avoid the foul mixture.
He looked down on Sarik, who was hunched over on his seat, holding his stomach. The guard sighed and walked off towards the front of the cafeteria, most likely to get someone to come clean it up.
Sarik took the moment to observe the large chamber. It seemed that he wasn't the only one in here who was resisting. There were dozens of other children who were even worse off than him.
Sarik began to wonder if he could turn them against their masters. If he could get those kinds of numbers on his side, then he and everyone else might have a chance to escape.
But then, he remembered the girl that William had shot to simply get his point across. Sarik had no doubt that he would hurt Stella, then Alex and Grey if he tried something like that.
Sarik's attention drifted to the cafeteria doors when they opened next. Two more guards came through carrying two children. One was Stella, the other was Alex. Both appeared to be in similar shape to him.
The guards set the children down across the table from where Sarik sat, then proceeded to obtain food for their charges. They weren't in any condition to run, so the guards obviously weren't taking their jobs too seriously.
"Where's Grey?" Sarik asked in a whisper.
"He...gave...up..." Alex huffed in between his deep, pained breaths.
Sarik looked straight down at the floor, thinking, calculating, hoping. He had always looked up to Grey, and he thought Grey had always been stronger than him. If he was broken so easily, what hope did the rest of them have?
But Sarik purged those pessimistic thoughts from his mind and returned to thinking. They couldn't try to escape, because William would hurt his friends. But if they stayed, they would continue to be hurt. Truly, the only option he seemed to have WAS to give up.
Then, he came up with the idea. Every time they took him down to the underground levels, he grew more powerful. He was able to think faster, his reflexes were better, and he had physically become stronger. But at the same time, every time that they performed an operation, it become harder and harder to resist the sessions. The headaches that constantly accompanied him were the milder side-effects of his resistance.
However, if he gave up, or seemed to, maybe he could get enough power to fight, to protect his friends. Maybe even they would get power. Each already had been through two surgeries. All they had to do was remember who they were, remember each other, and remember their goal. The other things in his mind, faded beyond recognition, no longer mattered. He, THEY, had but to survive. Then they could escape.
While they waited for their food, Sarik explained his idea to Stella and Alex.
"But what...about everything...else?" Alex asked.
"Can you remember what your mom looks like? Or your home? Your room?" Sarik questioned, keeping his gaze on Alex.
Alex closed his eyes and flexed his face, trying to concentrate.
"I...can't," he remarked in astonishment.
"If we remember each other, we can make it out of here together," Sarik told them slowly. "But we have to get enough power. If we're not strong enough, we'll be killed."
They all remained silent in thought as their caretakers returned with trays full of food. Sarik ate much more slowly this time, not wishing to repeat the painful experience he had just minutes before.
When they were finished, the guards took away the children's trays. They were once more alone.
"Alex?" Sarik said.
"You're right," he told Sarik. He extended a hand across the table towards Sarik.
"Stella?" Sarik said.
She glared at him intently, her violet eys almost seeming to pierce into his very mind. But she nodded in agreement a few seconds later, and extended a hand towards him.
"Remember each other," Sarik reminded them.
The three sat for a few seconds, their hands interlocked. Then, Sarik broke the circle. Things were going to be hell from now on. They all knew it.