Setting a Trap
McChord Air Force Base
Tacoma, WA
June 18, 1986
Doctor Martin Brenner sat at his desk staring in contemplation at the folders sitting in front of him. For months now, he had been dutifully trying to put back on paper every detail he could recall across the duration of his grand program. It had been a tremendous blow to progress when they had been forced to flee the lab in Hawkins. Despite his mangled condition when they arrived in Washington, he had been ready to leap from his hospital bed and strangle his chief of operations. While he was eternally grateful that the man had managed to get Twelve safely out of the building and onto the plane with them, he had left behind every file and journal Brenner had been meticulously filling out for years. Even the subjects who had ultimately failed to produce the results he had hoped to find had provided insights into how to better identify future candidates.
Across the twenty-three subjects that he had identified and brought to the lab, only five had produced the outcomes he had envisioned. Still, given the tremendous results he was looking for, a twenty-percent success rate was remarkable nonetheless. Of course, there had been issues even with those five. Two had died from unrelated medical complications. Two more had betrayed him and escaped. That left him just one subject, and she was showing a serious limit in her abilities.
He flipped through the stack of folders and pulled out two of them, laying them side by side, apart from the others. Eleven. Twelve. The girls had been a once-in-a-lifetime find for the project; identical twins, born of a mother who showed extreme potential of her own. He had carefully inserted himself into her chain of medical care all through the pregnancy, to keep the truth of the dual pregnancy a secret even from her. He had nearly lost control of the situation when Terry Ives had gone into premature labor, but a few well-placed bribes to the nursing staff had secured him his ultimate prize. One of the nurses later had a change of heart over her involvement, and that had regrettably required a more permanent silencing, but it had all been worth it to gain possession of these two girls he knew would be destined for greatness.
Together, they had taught him a great deal about identifying abilities, and the variety of forms those abilities could take. He had never dreamed the quiet, gentle girl would turn out to have the stronger set of gifts. To this day, he chastised himself for not recognizing her varied gifts sooner; to think he had come so close to terminating her out of the program. There were times over the years when he had momentarily felt guilty about the conditions necessary for Eleven's proper development, but in the end, the results would have been worth it. The plan had begun with selective isolation. Her only human contact would be with himself, and her daily sessions in the play room with subject Eight. After getting Eleven used to having a friend, Eight was pulled away as well, leaving only himself as her connection to the outside world. The idea was that her mind would crave contact so desperately, she would push it further and further to seek it out. The original idea had been for Eight to be the first target of her searches, but of course the brat had decided to run away before that could happen. He had been forced to improvise, but still Eleven's powers grew to tremendous strength in the lab. Outside the lab, after her own escape, it seemed they had grown even further.
He had several assistants still loyal to him working in the lab when everything fell apart in the fall of '84. Only one of them managed to escape with his life, but the story he brought back was simply incredible. Tearing open the portal in a moment of blind fear had been one thing, but returning to the lab and pulling it closed, after some force on the other side had torn it open even wider, was truly astonishing. He longed desperately to gain her back into his own possession, to pick up work where they had left off, but so far the girl had managed to evade his detection. Admittedly, he didn't have the reach he once did, and was left with minimal resources to track her. Still, he had a few selectively placed phone taps being monitored, including the Wheelers; that boy held a strong connection with her but had so far shown no sign of making contact with her, wherever she was. Fortunately, a new avenue had opened up which he hoped could be used to draw her into the open once more.
He dug into the pile again and pulled a third folder from the stack. Eight. She had proved to be a remarkable girl in her own right, despite beginning her training so late. It was unfortunate she had never come to view him as Papa the way Eleven and Twelve had been raised; that fact had made it much easier for her to run when the opportunity presented itself. She had been a thorn in his side ever since, hunting down those formerly associated with the lab who didn't have the foresight to cover their tracks. He had thought there was chance that she would someday come for him directly. Still, it had come as a bit of a shock when she showed up on his front porch yesterday afternoon. It seems her powers had developed considerably out in the wild as well, as she had no trouble masking her progress over the gates and across the base, evading detection all the way. Twelve hadn't suspected a thing when she answered the front door and the girl was standing there, asking to speak with him; she had assumed it was one of the assistants who regularly stopped by to drop off or pick up files. Eight had drawn the gun silently as he came around the corner and could have easily gotten off several shots, but she had frozen at the sight of her Papa in the flesh after so many years. In that moment of hesitation, Twelve had done her job flawlessly, disarming the girl and knocking her unconscious; the whole situation was defused before he had even realized what was happening.
So now he had bait to dangle in the wind, waiting to lure Eleven in. She was properly restrained in his new lab across the base and precautions had been taken against the use of her manipulative techniques. It had come as a bit of a shock to her that the whole time she had been developing her powers in the lab, his men had been diligently working on devices that could nullify their effects, in the event she ever tried to turn against them. It was only out of sloppiness that the guards hadn't employed those measures the night she escaped, or she never would have made it off the grounds of the lab.
He had allowed Twelve the opportunity to try and figure out just what Eight knew of Eleven's whereabouts. Eight had put up a good fight, hardened by a life on the streets after escaping the lab, but Twelve knew how to be persistent. The girl had a special love for her knives and knew how to inflict all manner of pain to get someone to spill their deepest guarded secrets. It wasn't just a task to her, she enjoyed every moment of it. It occasionally concerned Brenner how much pleasure she took in torturing information out of people. His only consolation was the fact that she was loyal and loved her Papa, and would never turn her skills on him.
After Twelve had worked her over for a while, Eight had spilled all the information she knew. Yes, Eleven was still alive. Yes, they had been in contact with one another on several occasions, including in person. Yes, she was still in Hawkins. Most surprising, of course, had been the discovery that she was currently residing with the police chief. Of all the people he had suspected, the chief had not been one of them. He had been so quick to give up her location in exchange for access to the portal to rescue the Byers boy, it had never occurred to him that Hopper might turn around and offer her shelter.
In either case, he knew where she was and who she was with. The only trouble was, he had so little manpower left, he had no hope of reclaiming her in Hawkins. No, she would have to come to him, on his own turf. But he had Eight, and he was certain the compassionate Eleven would show up, intending to rescue the girl. She would be harder to contain once she arrived, since her skill set seemed to cross so many realms of ability, but he had no doubt she would be under his control again very soon.
Hawkins, IN
June 19, 1986
Knock Knock Knock.
Mike wasn't sure, at first, what had woken him. He also hadn't been aware he had even gone to sleep in the first place, but as his eyes slid open, he realized his head was resting on his arm. Both his hands were gently clasping one of Eleven's as her slumber stretched onward. He forced his eyes to focus on the watch strapped to his wrist and saw it was a little after two in the morning.
Knock Knock Knock
Knock Knock Knock
The noise came again, and Mike realized that must have been what woke him. Not moving his head, Mike scanned his eyes across the bed to see what Hopper was doing. He had her other hand held tenderly in his own, as he repeated the series of knocks again on the wooden arm of his chair.
"Please come back," he gently whispered to his sleeping girl. "It's time to come back."
Knocking again, Mike suddenly understood what was going on, as the haze of sleep began to clear from his mind. Eleven had explained Hopper's signal when it was time to draw herself back home from the In-Between; it wasn't the unlock signal from the cabin, but was just as important to them. She had practiced diligently to hear the two sets of three knocks wherever she was and whatever else she was focused on. In that moment, Mike's heart broke for the man, desperate for his little girl to come home to him.
Closing his eyes again, in case Hopper happened to look his way, Mike lay there listening to Hopper's desperate pleas for her to come back, repeating their special knocking signal for what felt like hours.