CE 63
Sarik woke up in his bed, sweating. As he came to his senses, he realized that he was without any memory for what consisted of at least past few days.
Once again, the boy thought. This was almost becoming routine for him. They would take him down into the laboratories, do whatever it was that they did to him, and he would wake up a day or so later in his bed with a migraine and no recollection of what had happened to him.
After allowing his blood pressure to climb to an acceptable level, Sarik leaped out of his bed. He seemed to do so with an almost instinctive grace, so much that he figured this time they made him more dexterous. This also wasn't uncommon after the surgeries. So far, they had made him stronger, think faster, more enduring, and now, it seemed, more graceful.
Sarik was careful as he climbed up the bunk to the bed above him, as every part of him seemed to be enhanced with each surgery, no matter what they concentrated on. When he had recovered from his first operation, he had nearly killed Stella. He wasn't going to allow a repeat of that incident. He didn't want to hurt her, or any of his friends, ever again.
"You awake yet?" Sarik whispered to Stella as he poked his head over the top of the mattress.
She had her blanket over her head, as if she were hiding.
"Go away," she ordered Sarik, the pain obvious in her voice.
Sarik knew what she was going through, and light only made the pain worse. He was feeling that same pain right now, but one of the more recent modifications he had received in the past month helped him to manage pain more easily. It didn't make the ordeal any less painful, per se, but he could manage it better. It seemed that everyone else was at least two or three operations behind him, so they had yet to gain this advantage.
"I know it hurts, but it won't get any better unless you get used to it," Sarik told Stella.
He heard a light sigh, followed by a pair of hands appearing from under the blanket and pulling it down. Stella sat straight up, revealing what had been done to her. Sarik winced as he saw the bandages that had been wrapped around part of her head. They had done that after his fifth surgery, after they made him think faster.
"What do you want?" she asked in a frustrated tone.
"They're going to get us in a few minutes," Sarik informed her, motioning his hand towards the clock above the door. They always came to get them about noon for their post-operation check-up. It was a quarter till.
Stella sighed as she fell back onto the bed, pulling the covers with her.
"Get me then," she told him.
Sarik shrugged, then allowed himself to fall down to the floor, landing in complete silence.
I could get used to this, he thought to himself.
"Alex, Grey," he called quietly towards the other set of bunks across the room.
"What?" Grey asked from the bottom bed.
"They'll be here in a few minutes," Sarik informed him.
Grey simply smirked and balanced himself as he kicked the bottom of Alex's mattress.
Alex, who was apparently already awake, grabbed the side of the bunk and slung himself downward, swinging in to kick Grey in the stomach. But by the time Alex hit, Grey had already rolled onto the floor. He jumped up to his feet and moved into a battle stance as Alex pursued him.
"Very funny," Alex remarked, readying himself with his own unique stance.
Grey smirked before he threw a punch, which Alex ducked under before tackling Grey. He knocked the larger boy to the ground, then elbowed him in the face. Grey kneed Alex in the gut, then threw him aside.
"Can't you guys be quiet?" Stella asked in an irritated voice. She leaped from her bunk, landing in a fashion that made even Sarik look bad. It seemed that nature had given her grace enough.
"You care to join?" Alex asked obnoxiously, as they were only playing.
Stella instantly moved into her own stance with the most annoyed look on her face that any one of them had ever seen.
Grey and Alex both tensed up, knowing what was to come. Stella, despite her age and size, had proven herself to be best fighter on the team, next to Sarik. Even taking his abilities into consideration, she was far more fluid and graceful, and on occasion, proved to be Sarik's match. Not that that was an issue. He always had her back if it ever came to a fight, whether in words or physical combat.
Grey and Alex both relaxed, waiting for Stella to do the same. Sarik put his hand on her shoulder, his personal way of telling her that everything was safe. Stella straightened up, making her demeanor less threatening.
"So, what do we do now?" Grey asked, almost instantly bored. Now that he, Alex, and Stella had received the improvements to their thought processes, that was bound to happen often. Time seemed at a standstill for Sarik whenever he wasn't doing anything.
"They're almost here," Sarik told him, taking note of the footsteps in the corridor outside.
"Wanna make a run for it?" Alex mouthed, just as he had after every surgery since his first.
Sarik shook his head just so slightly. Alex shrugged and let it go.
The four children lined up side by side and waited about ten seconds before the door opened. In walked four guards armed with submachine guns, and Sarik knew there were four more armed with guns at least as powerful assault rifles waiting outside of the door.
"C'mon," one guard ordered, motioning out the door with his gun.
Sarik was the first out of the door, walking with an air of defiance about him. It was in his face, his stance, his presence. He was soon followed by Stella, then Alex, then Grey, all but Grey repeating his mannerisms.
Sarik thought about what they all had to do to get back here. He, Stella, and Alex had devised a plan to make it seem like they were giving in to the brainwashing, but weren't. Too much, anyway. In order to do this, each and every one of them had to make a sacrifice. During the sessions, they would cooperate, repeating the words chanted, watching the horrible images on the screens, giving in to the pain of the devices.
During those sessions, however, they would be thinking of only two things: their own names, and their friends. This meant giving up everything else. Sarik hated having to do this, because by now, he had almost forgotten his parents completely. He couldn't even remember how big his father was, or the kindness of his mother, or any of the good times that he knew he had with them. He barely remembered their names, and he knew those memories would go, too, along with those of any of his other family, his friends outside of this place, and even his belongings. He could already see it in Grey, who gave up weeks ago. Sarik and the others knew it would be unsafe to let him know what they were doing, because he might go and tattle on them once everything was more ingrained.
Sarik knew the way, and soon came to the door to the facility's main infirmary. He waited for the door to slide open, then walked inside.
* * *
Sarah followed Lee into the office building, keeping close behind him. She didn't feel right about personally meeting with Sarik's parents, who probably thought little good about her right now.
She had managed to convince Lee of what was going on, but from what he had told her, the Ostheims would not be swayed so easily. They were especially upset about having to fly back to Earth before their project in space was complete. It had taken Lee a week to get them to even consider returning.
"Are you sure this is appropriate?" Sarah asked Lee, speaking of the dress she wore, which was a bit extravagant.
"If you don't make a good first impression on my employers, there's a good chance they won't bother listening to ANYTHING that leaves your mouth," he told her.
"They have the same evidence as you, don't they?" she asked.
"Yes, but William is their son, and they left nearly a third of the corporation in his hands. Those photos could have easily been forged, and you're simply a disgruntled associate trying to soil his reputation."
"You don't believe that," Sarah stated.
"I've never trusted that man," Lee told her. "Too secretive to be trustworthy, in my opinion. And his arrogance never helped my opinion of him, either."
Sarah smirked at Lee's remark. He described the man perfectly.
"Well, we're here," Lee informed Sarah. In front of them was a large, wooden double door flanked by two security guards.
Lee took a deep breath and motioned to the guards, who then opened both doors.
* * *
"If you go through with this successfully, you and your team will be permitted leave," William told the boy in front of him. "You will never see or hear from us again."
The ten year old child looked off into empty space, deep in thought. Since his team failed that first test, they had been submitted to things that no other child in the facility had been, not even Blue Team. They had to get away from it before it killed them.
He looked back at William and nodded, no hint of hesitation in his body language.
William smiled and handed the boy a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
"I knew you'd make the right choice," he remarked as he nodded to the three guards in the room, who equipped the other three children with long combat knives. William remained silent as the guards escorted the children from the room to the location of their mission.
"Is this really necessary?" Doctor Spence asked William. "Shouldn't we try something in a more...controlled environment? Where there would be less collateral damage?"
"No, because in a controlled environment, my brother would still refuse to kill," William stated. "If we put the girl in immediate danger, he won't have a choice."
Spence snorted.
"What's funny about this, Doctor?" William asked in all seriousness.
"Saying that those children are a DANGER to any one on Blue Team is an overstatement," Spence remarked. "Blue One has had eight enhancement surgeries as opposed to the six every other child in the facility has received, and Blue TEAM is one of the best teams here. This will be a slaughter."
"Which is why I gave Cyan Team weapons," William informed Spence.
"Blue Team will still take them down quickly," Spence said.
"This isn't a contest of skill," William reminded Spence. "This is a test of substance, to see if Sarik will use his full potential. He's the only one I care about, right now."
"With the most recent modifications we did to his programming, he won't hesitate," Spence told William.
"If I'm not mistaken, you also performed a memory wipe, and Magner planted a suggestion that Blue Two was the enemy, yet he didn't even so much as flinch when they were reunited," William ridiculed. "He has a strong will, and a spirit of defiance about him."
"That won't last long," Spence assured him. "A child, a human being, can only endure so much before breaking."
"And we must do everything we can to speed up that process," William reminded him.
Spence sighed and remained silent in thought for a few minutes.
"Why are we all of the sudden rushing?" he asked William. "Blue One's first two surgeries were at least a week apart, but now he and the rest of his team are only allowed days to recover between operations."
"We have been compromised," William informed Spence in a matter-of-fact tone.
Spence remained silent for a moment.
"For how long?" he asked calmly.
"A few weeks, now," William told him. "There was an incident a month ago in one of our surveillance rooms. The assigned security officer was knocked unconscious, and there was little trace of the attacker. Later investigations showed an unauthorized download that someone had attempted to cover up. I had an idea of whom it was and sent agents to take care of her. I haven't heard back from them in over two weeks."
"Who did the mole go to?" Spence questioned.
"Silver Shield Incorporated," William said in disgust.
"Aren't they just a medical research organization?" Spence asked, confused.
William snorted.
"Hardly. They have their hand in every industry on the face of this planet. They simply try to keep a low profile, and generally do a good job at it, but their influence is nothing to sneeze at."
"How long do you think we have before they locate us?" Spence inquired calmly.
"Another week before they get surveillance crews out here, at least another before they try to raid the place," William assured Spence.
"So we have that long to get some more modifications in and evacuate the facility?" he asked.
"Yes," William told him. "The new facility at Lodonia will be untraceable. We have several smaller facilities that the children will be relocated to for the next year or two while we smuggle them there."
"And where will I go?" Spence inquired.
"You will remain with Blue Team," William informed him. "Or, I should say, what's left of Blue Team."
Spence's eyes widened.
"You're going to begin the eliminations now?" Spence asked in a slightly hysterical tone.
"There's no way we can move nearly four thousand children out of here without leaving some sort of footprint," William informed Spence. "We have to reduce them to no more than one thousand. We will be left with the strongest and most potent trainees."
Spence moved his hands back over his hair, a struggle obviously going on within his mind.
"So we're just going to waste all of these lives?" he asked William. "I knew something like this was going to happen sooner or later, but on this scale?! It's slaughter! Can't we just leave them behind?"
"I can have someone take your place if you don't feel comfortable with these arrangements," William told him softly. "No one would hold it against you. Not even I."
"I will remain with my life's work," Spence declared to William. "But how can you do this? And to CHILDREN, no less?"
William sighed.
"It was not I who made the decision," he replied darkly. "I could never bring myself to kill, not on this large and pointless a scale. It was decided by the entirety of the organization."
Spence and William remained silent for the next few minutes.
"You said what remained of Blue Team," Spence said, breaking the silence. "If you intend to reduce the numbers down to one thousand, that means that roughly, only one quarter of the children are to succeed. Who in Blue Team do you believe will survive?"
"It will be either Sarik or the girl," William told Spence. "The other two are good, but I will arrange for all four of them to meet in combat at one point or the other. Eventually, it will be Sarik and the girl pitted against each other. They will decide."
"When do we start eliminations?" Spence asked.
"One week from now," William informed him. "Blue Team will be among the first groups to be tested and evacuated."
"Let me have the children everyday until then, no recovery time," Spence told William.
William saw a spark of compassion in the doctor's eyes. He understood his intentions.
"I was going to suggest such a plan of action," he told Spence. "But on the last day, they will go to Magner. Make sure they're healed enough to tough HER procedures out. And don't try anything stupid."
"There won't be any problems," Spence told William as he looked him in the eye. "They'll be better than new when I'm done with them."
"I'll hold you up to that," William challenged.
* * *
Sarik felt a little better after the checkup. For some reason, sleeping in that special bed always did. He just didn't like the fact that he was sealed in by a glass dome.
Today, the doctors had removed everyone else's bandages, and the incisions on their heads were fully healed. Not even scars were left. It amazed him how quickly the doctors were able to heal people here.
Now, he stood in the cafeteria's line, the length of it trailing into the facility's hallway. It seemed like new trainees were brought in every month, and their numbers had grown to ridiculous proportions. Luckily, Blue Team was one of the first groups in line, so he didn't have to wait long.
Sarik was searching for a table with relatively few people occupying it when he got a gut-wrenching feeling.
At a moment's notice, everything seemed amplified. Adrenaline did not slow time for Sarik as much as it increased how much he could perceive at once. He heard the clatter of silverware, noticed the individual specks of dust that swirled in the air as children rushed about, and a sound that horrified him: the sliding of a pistol's action and a round entering the chamber. Fractions of a second later, Sarik also heard the distinctive sound of knives being unsheathed from leather or vinyl.
Within a single second, Sarik had sprung into action. He tossed his tray with all of his might in the direction he heard the gun from. Children in its path threw themselves aside and were yelling, all except one. He merely stepped out of the path of destruction and revealed a short, metal object.
He pointed the pistol in Sarik's direction, but not straight at him. Sarik used his peripheral vision to calculate the path of the bullet. It would hit Stella, whose attention was turned to another boy a few meters away, his knife now revealed.
The gunman hesitated for a moment. Sarik used the distraction to lunge towards Stella, pushing her down and away from the bullet's path. He caught her by the back of her shirt, keeping her on her feet while he did what appeared to be a one-handed push-up.
Sarik's sudden movement caused the boy to shoot reflexively, but the space he was aiming at was now empty, and the 9mm bullet traveled forward, hitting a seven-year-old girl in the side.
Sarik was now in his battle mindset, no longer caring about anyone or anything excepting those he now sought to protect. He released Stella, then leaped from his crouch and sprinted forward, running in a wide curve towards the gunman.
The boy opened fire on him, but Sarik was traveling so fast that by the time his attacker fired, he was no longer occupying that space, and someone else received his fate. Some of the powerful rounds hit the other children in relatively harmless places, such as an arm or a leg. One boy was unfortunate enough to receive a round to the jaw as Sarik ran by. He was still alive, but his mouth hung open at a bloody and unnatural angle.
Sarik passed another child, a girl of about nine years of age. A shot meant for him hit her in the left side of the chest, knocking her onto her side. She hit the floor gasping for breath, but Sarik didn't notice. In his mind, right now, she was simply another statistic. She meant nothing to him.
Sarik ran up to the boy and stopped in front of him, almost tauntingly. Daring him to shoot. The boy pulled the pistol's trigger, but there was only a faint clicking sound. Fifteen spent brass casings littered the floor around him.
After giving the boy a moment to look in despair at the empty shells, Sarik hit him in the chest with a flat handed blow, forcing him up off the floor and sending him flying a couple meters through the air into the crowd of chaotic children. Sarik strolled forward into the mess to finish what he started.
The boy jumped to his feet and charged Sarik, this time prepared for anything. The boy threw a punch at him, which was blocked effortlessly. Sarik was careful with this one, because the boy was ten years old and at least fifteen kilograms heavier. Even with only a fraction of the modification procedures that Sarik had received, he had the potential to beat him in a contest of brute strength.
But Sarik did not falter, blocking blow after blow, some of them getting through, all of which were returned twofold.
Sarik was slowly being forced backwards by the assault, towards the rest of Blue Team, who were engaging Cyan team, all of whom were armed with combat knives. Sarik lost his focus for a second as he watched Stella take a blow to the face from one of the kinfe's hilts, and the other boy took advantage of it. He was knocked aside as the boy shoved past him, barreling towards Stella.
Sarik turned to run after him, but one of the knife-wielders disengaged Alex and charged Sarik.
But his objective was in danger. Stella was in danger. For some reason, this made Sarik angry. He was so frustrated because of this sudden moment of helplessness. In that moment, he snapped back into his trance, and did not stop his advance.
He charged head on with the boy who was coming at him with the knife. The boy sliced out at Sarik, but he bent back just slightly enough to avoid the weapon's bite. Sarik snapped forward like a rubber band and grabbed the boy's knife hand, then redirected the knife back towards his opponent's chest.
The boy looked in horror down at his chest, from which a knife held in his own grip now protruded. He didn't even have enough time to yell as Sarik twisted it and pushed his victim to the ground.
Sarik charged forward into the fray, where his teammates were attempting to fight off the remaining three assailants. The boy Sarik had fought earlier was all over Stella, and she was having a difficult time fending him off. As Sarik neared within a few meters, the boy swept Stella's feet from under her, then brought up his foot to smash down on her chest.
Sarik let out a yell as he barreled into the larger boy, knocking him to the ground. He attempted to restrain the boy from behind, but the older child was significantly larger than him, and easily threw Sarik aside as he attempted to right himself. The two began punching and kicking each other, wrestling for control.
Sarik almost panicked when the other fighter grabbed him around his body, pinning his arms at his sides. Sarik had never been trained for these sort of situations, only to avoid them. So he started to flail, and in his actions, hit the boy between his legs with one of his own.
Sarik straddled the boy as soon as he was released. The boy was moaning in agony, but Sarik knew it wouldn't be long before he was back in the fight. He was in his battle trance, and his training completely took over.
Sarik grabbed the boy around his throat and pinned his head to the floor. The boy gasped and brought his arm up to fend him off, but Sarik was adamant, no matter how hard the older child hit and pulled. This was a threat, and it had to be eliminated. The boy struggled, slowly becoming weaker. He attempted to force a breath one last time, then fell unconscious.
But Sarik held on. He kept his hands around the boy's throat. He held on for what felt like an eternity until the boy's body went limp. He relaxed his grip, and when he was sure the boy wasn't breathing, let go completely.
Sarik looked over towards the rest of the fight and watched Stella sneak up behind one of the boys who was fighting Grey and Alex. She grabbed the boy's head, and with one sharp movement, snapped it in the opposite direction. The boy went limp and collapsed to the floor. That's when something hit Sarik.
He looked down at his hands, which were covered with blood. He hadn't noticed that before. He looked down at the body beneath him and yelled in horror as he noticed it wasn't moving. He couldn't even see the boy's chest rise and fall as the child breathed.
Then, he remembered the fight. As he redirected the gunman away from Stella. As he stabbed the knife-wielder who attempted to distract him. As he strangled this boy to death.
As he truly realized what had just happened, Sarik began to cry and fell to the ground, sad and afraid once more.
* * *
Stella managed to get a grip on one of the attackers and, with one deft movement, twisted his head at an unnatural angle. He crumpled to the floor, unmoving.
A short distance from her, Alex was fighting another young boy about the same age as her, but after being freed up by Stella's actions, was quickly able to overpower with help from Grey. Grey struck the boy one last time in the back of the head and knocked him unconscious.
Stella grew concerned when she looked over in Sarik's direction. He was curled up in a ball and crying. She had never seen him like this. He always stronger than this.
She ran over to him, fearing that he had been hurt. When she saw the blood on his hands, she was even more concerned. She was soon joined by Grey and Alex.
"Sarik, what's wrong?" Grey asked him in a concerned tone.
Sarik ignored him and kept on wailing.
Grey walked over to Sarik and nudged him in the back with his foot, but Sarik either didn't feel it, or he was completely ignoring everything.
Grey backed off, figuring he could do little good at this point. It was Stella who tried to bring him to his senses. She simply knelt next to Sarik and put her small hand on his shoulder. It had worked with her before, so she hoped it would work with him.
Sarik shuddered when she touched him, then, in the same amount of time it took to blink, was on his feet. He seemed to have regained his composure almost instantly, and, except for the remains of tears underneath his eyes, looked as if nothing had transpired.
Within a minute of the fight's end, several guards ran in and swept the four children out of the cafeteria, who did not resist.
* * *
"Emotional breakdown?" Spence asked Magner.
"Perhaps, but I don't think so," the older women replied. "I believe that, despite his conditioning, Blue One has regrets over the fact that he has killed. He was unhurt, and all of his teammates remained uninjured through the entire ordeal. If he were to break emotionally, he would have done so much earlier. He has a personality far stronger than that."
Spence remained silent as he watched the video footage following the fight. The young girl bent down and simply touched him on the shoulder, and Sarik instantly regained his composure. Yet, the eldest of the group had attempted a similar feat and been unsuccessful. He wondered what the connection was.
"Did Blue One and Blue Two have any sort of association to each other prior to coming here?" Spence asked Magner.
"I don't see how," she answered. "Sarik has been at boarding school on the island of Britannia for the past three years, and Stella was in various orphanages located throughout Central Eurasia for the past two. The likelihood is extremely small."
"Yet they act with such familiarity," Spence thought aloud. "I would say almost like lovers, from what I've observed since their arrival, but that's impossible at their age. However, saying they act akin to siblings is an understatement."
"He is very protective of Stella," Magner stated. "And she has the maturity of someone several years her senior. It's no longer a mystery to me why the Director chose her as the target."
"I'm still disgusted," Spence told Magner.
"Then you should find a new line of work," Magner retorted.
Spence stood up and left the room without another comment. Perhaps he would. Perhaps he would...
* * *
Sarik was curled up in the corner of his cell, staring straight forward. He was incapable of sleeping, knowing he had done what he had.
After what seemed like hours, he heard the steel door that held him prisoner open. In stepped a middle-aged man, who closed the door behind him. Sarik found these circumstances odd, so he gave the man the courtesy of his attention. In his eyes, he detected some level of mildness.
The man leaned into the corner nearest to him and simply stared back for few moments, his expression saddening.
"Are you Sarik Ostheim?" he asked.
"Yes," Sarik replied emotionlessly.
"My name is Doctor Spence," he told Sarik.
Sarik simply stared.
"Do you know what's going on?" Spence asked Sarik. "Why we've been doing to you what we have?"
"You want soldiers who can fight Coordinators," Sarik replied.
"Yes," Spence said. "And no."
Spence let this set in for a moment.
"The people I work for want enforcers of their will," he admitted to Sarik. "If there were no Coordinators, they would simply find someone else to fight. They do not distinguish between Naturals or Coordinators, or ethnic origin, or gender, or religion. They simply want fighting."
"So why do they need me?" Sarik asked coldly.
"Because you have the potential to become the best," Spence told Sarik. "That's why I was sent here. To make that potential a reality."
Spence walked in front of Sarik and sat down cross-legged.
"I have come to understand that what I do is wrong," Spence confessed quietly. "And now, the people I work for want to take everything from you. Family, friends, freedom, everything."
"Haven't they already?" Sarik asked rhetorically.
"No, they haven't," Spence told Sarik. "They have yet to take your will, or your spirit. If they have their way, they will own both. You will not be able to question them."
"Then why bother telling?" Sarik asked. "It doesn't matter now."
Spence cringed internally at the truth of the remark.
"I came here to give you a choice," he informed Sarik. "I think you still have a small flame flickering within you, and if you give me a chance, I hope to turn it back into the fire that you had when you first came here."
Sarik uncurled and sat with his legs crossed, giving Spence his full attention.
"Your parents have found out about this place. Within the next two weeks, they will be coming here. Your brother wants me to take you and your team and put you through every procedure possible until then. Afterward, he will give you to that woman, and she will make everything you ever cared about disappear. She will make you forget, and take away your ability to choose."
"But I want to forget!" Sarik yelled him as he smashed his hand into the wall. "I killed! Two people!"
"Do you TRULY want that?" Spence asked. "What about your friends, what about your family, your parents?"
"I already have," Sarik told Spence. "I can't even hear my mother's voice, or see my father's face."
"Do you want to forget Stella?" he asked.
Sarik suddenly calmed and fell completely silent. He even seemed to have stopped breathing.
Spence smirked.
"So you do care about her," Spence stated.
"Yes," Sarik replied emotionlessly, breaking eye contact.
"Even more than the others?" Spence asked Sarik, already knowing the answer.
Sarik looked away in shame.
"Yes," he replied, an angry edge to his voice.
"Why?" Spence questioned. "How is she different from the others?"
"I just..." Sarik stuttered. "I just have to help her."
"Then, I can help you," Spence told Sarik.
Sarik returned to looking Spence in the eyes.
"I can place a safeguard around your memories and Stella's, at least of each other," Spence told Sarik. "And I can arrange for you two to get out of here. But you will have to be strong enough to remember, and strong enough to kill again. You may end up killing one hundred times more than you did today."
Sarik's expression didn't change.
"Will I have to kill again afterwards?" Sarik asked softly, emotion starting to fill his voice.
"I can make you no promises about that, but you will be free of your brother," Spence told Sarik. "After that, you and the girl will be allowed to choose for yourselves on how to proceed."
Sarik thought for a moment.
"Fine," he answered with a determined attitude.
Spence smiled weakly.
"All right, then here's what you have to do..."