Hello, everyone and anyone! This is Jett again, along with the second chapter to CotW. In this chapter, we take a temporary step-back in the storyline. Why? Well, everyone has to wake up at some point...
...right?
Chapter Two – Birth
The first thing I saw was light. The first thing I did was cry out.
Having only just woken up, I became terrified of the bright light that illuminated the whole room, and before I knew it, two men dressed in unnaturally white coats grabbed me on both sides and held me down. With the sudden rush of pain and feeling going to my head, I continued to scream, only to have another man, the third in the room, hold my head as he tried to calm me down, speaking to me in a tone one would use to talk to a injured dog.
"Oh-Nine-Thirteen. Settle down. You are safe. We are not going to hurt you." He said to me over and over again in an attempt to halt my sudden panic, the two men restraining me grunting at the increased effort. I was not paying any attention to any of them. All I wanted to do was to get away from the light, to hide from it. As I screamed at the top of my lungs, my eyes subconsciously closed, filling my mind with darkness.
It was only then that I became as passive as I was before I had awaken.
Seeing that I had finally calmed down, the men near me relaxed, the two holding me down to the table releasing from their grasps, an action appreciated greatly mostly by myself.
As everything got silent, I marveled at the world behind my eyelids, the world with no light, and thus began to realize what was happening to me.
'I am an Isotope. I was created to fight for an organization named Helli0n International. My enemies are those Helli0n declares as enemies. My serial number is Oh-Nine-Thirteen. Everything I know has been programmed into me…"
Thinking that to myself, I soon felt overly bizarre inside, for I knew what words were, their meanings, and how to say them without even remembering how I came to learn them.
"Oh-Nine-Thirteen, can you speak? How do you feel?" was what I heard the scientist from before say to me, his voice seemingly coming from above my head. I did not answer him, however, since I was so preoccupied in growing more and more confused with the sudden knowledge I had acquired upon awakening. So preoccupied, in fact, that I barely caught the sound of a door opening.
"Dr. Anderson, Dr. Stupenski, and Dr. Razmuhin. You have been called to attend another Isotope in the next room. You are expected there by Major General Gibson ASAP. Do you need me to repeat what I have just said?" a command came from a woman's voice off to my right side, which was met by several 'Yes ma'ams.' And then followed by the rapid succession of footsteps that faded as the three scientists hurried to where they were needed, leaving me alone to further my confusion. Though I had begun to come to terms with my circumstances, I was brought out from my thoughts when I heard the door shut suddenly, the sound of footsteps nearing me as the seconds passed. Hearing this, I felt for the first time curiosity, and I knew what curiosity was, so to satisfy it I dared to open my left eye, but only a little bit, for I still felt a certain animosity towards the bright light bearing down on me. When I did so, I quickly turned my head to avoid the brightness above me, and by consequence found myself looking at the person still in the room.
It was a girl in her late teens, with curly amber hair that caressed her cheeks every time she walked. Unlike the men from before, she had on only casual wear, a white short-sleeve shirt with long tan cargo shorts, marking her as either a civilian or a fellow Isotope.
'Isotope. That's what I am…' I told myself again in thought as I observed the girl approaching, my eyes having adjusted to the light, which lessened my fears significantly.
"Hello, Oh-Nine-Thirteen. My name is Alice-0834. I was asked to supervise you until the scientists get back." the girl whose name was Alice told me with a smile, closing the blue pools that were her eyes as she did. When she smiled, I became interested in the facial expression, and tried to mimic her face, which only resulted in her bursting suddenly from laughter.
"Ahahaha! Your face! It's hilarious!" Alice said to me in between breaths while she held her sides, backing away a few steps as she fought to control herself. Immediately, I stopped making the expression, a sudden heat in my face causing me to think twice about what to do next. But oddly, I was not intimidated by the laughing girl. Though I had considered her bizarre right then and there, I preferred her company in contrast to the three men in white coats.
"Hehehe… Okay, okay. I'm fine. I feel better now thanks to you. It's been too long that I have found something to laugh at." Alice said as she stepped closer to the table on which I laid, placing her hands on the edge once she reached its side.
"So can you sit up, or do I have to talk to you like this all the time?"
With that question, I immediately began to wonder if I even could lift myself off the table, since it would be the first time I would do so. Not wanting to disappoint the strange amber-haired girl, I tried to raise my upper body up, but only succeeded in falling back onto the table again. Next to me, Alice stiffened another laugh with her hand, looking away so that I would not see her face and thus not see her emotion. Frustrated, I tried again, but found similar results to the first time.
'I must sit up!' I told myself in my mind as I attempted once more to lift my upper body up, only to feel my whole being begin to fall back onto the surface of the table. As I fell this time, one of my hands shot right behind me, stopping me from continuing the fall. Feeling the weight on that arm, I realized a trick to the action and place my other hand behind me too, and slowly began to lift myself up as I pushed off the table. Alice, seeing my success, stopped her giggling and looked back at me with the smile still on her face.
"Good job, kid. Now can you tell me your name?" Alice asked me while she looked over my features as I did when she had entered. I, however, did not answer her, for the knowledge of a name was not evident in my mind yet. Instead I lowered my head in shame, a gesture she took as her response.
"So they didn't name you yet? Well, that's unfair! Helli0n demands the immediate naming of all new Isotopes the minute they are created!" the amber-haired girl shouted out loud before beginning to pace back and forth in next to me, her two fingers on her chin while she walked. Watching the girl from my new sitting position, I caught something drawn on Alice's left arm, and when her left side was facing me, I began to study the picture more. It was a skeleton some sort of tool in its hands, one with a long handle and a giant curved blade at one end. Searching through my mind for a definition on what the tool was, I would nothing, which told me that they had not bothered to put that information in me. As I stared at the picture, it did not occur to me that Alice had stopped pacing. I only realized this when she suddenly exclaimed next to me, which made me jump in surprise.
"I got it! I have a name for you! I will call you Aiden!" Alice announced, pointing her finger at me to further indicate that she was indeed talking to me. I only sat there quietly, without muttering a single word, as I tested the sound of my new name in my mind, and after a second, I realized that I did not mind being called Aiden.
"Awww… You are smiling right now! You like it!" the amber-haired girl cheered while I looked away, not realizing that I had mimicked her earlier expression perfectly. Strangely, the sudden heat once again came to my face when she had pointed out that I had smiled. When I turned away, I was given the chance to observe the room I was in more thoroughly, and found that it was rather empty. The room itself was plain white, the walls were padded, the only furniture was the table I was sitting on, and the only object on the walls was a wide mirror that allowed me to actually see myself for the first time.
My black hair hung down towards my face, covering most of my forehead as a result, and I wore a simple white gown. My eyes seemed out of place, being a light grey, and I seemed a little bit pale. Touching my cheek to make sure the image I was seeing was me, I heard Alice begin to say something, but was cut off by the sudden opening of the door behind her.
"Banshee! We told you not to speak with Oh-Nine-Thirteen! Leave now!"
The shouts came from a middle-aged man who had red hair and a beard to match, a white coat on his person also. Alice, responding to the name Banshee, turned away from me and shouted back at the man, which I did not catch, because my attention was directed to the thing under the amber-haired girl's feet.
Her shadow.
For some reason, I could not take my eyes off it. I was like I yearned for it, as if I knew that if I touched it, that I would be safe from anything. Oddly enough, as I stared at it, the shadow began to morph, which at first made me think that I was doing something, but then I realized that Alice had turned back around.
"I guess I have to go, Aiden…" Alice began to say before the man interrupted her.
"You gave him a name?"
Ignoring him, Alice continued.
"I hope I get to see you again. You are a fun little guy, even though you don't talk much. Take care, and don't worry. These people will not hurt you. Laters."
Those were the last words I heard Alice say that day, and when she left, I jumped off the table and towards the door, following after her. However, the red-bearded man grabbed me before I could leave and pulled me back, closing the door with his free hand as he did.
"No no. You can't leave yet, Oh-Nine-Thirteen. We still have to run the tests…" the man said to me as he directed me back to the table. While I was being lead, I began to miss Alice's company, and found that I had begun to miss something else, too.
Her shadow.