The air was electrified today, when Six lay in his bed and listening to the silence around him he knew that something was coming. Something big, and important. It felt as if his entire life had been building up to this moment, this day, what was about to unfold. Minion was hanging by the door, keeping guard, and silent despite the fact nobody else alive could hear him. Six lay in his bed a moment longer before he finally got up, and rubbed his eyes sleepily, freeing them of sand. It was an important day for him, and he wanted to look his best.
He walked across the darkness of his white room, the lights killed for eight hours to allow him to sleep properly, and found the bathroom corner of his room. This was where he washed, and used the facilities. Going through the morning routine was easy, brushing his teeth, flossing, washing his face and then using the toilet. Once that was all done he moved back to his bed and waited for the lights to come on. Already his head was aching, a dull, throbbing ache which seemed to echo all throughout his being. His stomach felt like it was full of knots, his lungs hot and his hearts were beating quickly out of sync as always. This was normally how he felt when he knew the doctors were going to come but this time it felt ten times as painful, as nervous.
"Sir they're coming." Minion reported, flying back to his boss and hovered in front of him.
Six took a deep breath. "Two of them." he said to himself, just how he knew this truth was from a long line of doctor visits. One always carried the needle with the drugs, the other to grab and pin him down against the bed if he was to put up a fight. There was never more than two, unless it was a critical emergency... like when he was biting somebody, or scratching at their eyes with his nails.
He raised his head and he watched as the door to his room opened. The aliens bright green eyes lingered on the two men, both of who looked at him with some apprehension.
"You must be new." Six spoke softly, since he didn't recognize their faces at all. "What do you want?"
"You need to undergo an integral operation." reported the one with the needle, "Our reports tell us you have a habit of making these things difficult."
Minion growled at the two men, golden brown eyes narrowed dangerously. The two of them felt a kind of chill, as if a warning, but it was easily ignored. The air conditioning in these places were always acting up now and then, just like the power. "This time, could we do things easier?"
"But of course." Six replied and lifted his arm.
In the monitoring room, a single man sat there. His name was Scars, simply because that dang fish had left a very gnarly looking scar running along his nose, cheek, and over his right eye. It wasn't a name he particularly liked but when you were given one, you just grinned and put up with it no matter how insulting it was. He watched as one of the doctors approached Six, and just as he reached to grab his wrist all of the monitors suddenly powered off. It wasn't instantaneous, they wobbled and flickered, sending sharp contrasting shadows over his scarred face as the image on them distorted. Was that Six, grabbing the doctor's arm? But next thing he knew the screens were dead, smoke billowing out of the backs and raising upwards. They triggered the fire alarm, which send a shrill scream all throughout the underground facility.
Scars swore and was just moving from the room when he heard the audio feed, still operating.
"No wait no-!" then a horrible scream.
The door to Six's room was shut from the outside, and one could hear a thump of a body hitting a bed inside. This was normal, Six always tended to faint onto his bed when drugged. But when the door slowly opened as all the sprinklers in the facility turned on and showered the halls with water, Six was the one to step outside and casually adjusted his white shirt.
"We have to go, Sir!" Minion cried as he flew out past his master quickly as he could as the door behind him shut.
"Take me to your body first." Six said aloud, looking from left to right. It was just like Minion had said, empty halls with portraits and things hanging off the walls.
"What?" the little fish blinked in confusion.
"YOUR BODY, MINION." the alien screamed, voice tense and on edge. "Take me NOW!"
The alarms were still screaming as Six ran down the hallway towards where Minion's body was held. As he rounded a corner he saw two men just coming out of a room. They wore black pants, shiny black shoes, with white coats. One man wore a red tie which was crooked, his hair was deep brown. The other man had a black tie, and hair the color of hay. Both of their eyes widened in equal alarm at seeing Six out of his room, and unassisted.
"It's them sir!" Minion gaped, "They're the ones, them, there!"
"You." Six whispered, hand grabbing at one of the frames hanging on the wall. With alarming speed he pulled it down and threw it to the ground, ignoring the shattering of glass and pine as it splintered on the ground.
"Oh shit, shit, get your-" Red Tie started but was cut off when a large shard of glass cut him short. It impaled itself in his chest and he fell like a bag of bricks, blood spurting out of the wound and stained the white walls and his own jacket. Black Tie, frozen in place, could only watch as Six approached him and grabbed his throat. It was just as the reports read, Six truly was stronger than they should give him credit for. While the aliens whole frame was relatively thin and scrawny looking, there was true strength there.
"You killed Minion." Six whispered quietly, oddly calm. "He didn't die. Not naturally like that man told me. You lied to me. Lied. To me." he slammed Black Tie against the wall, and the man saw stars through the blurry vision of blue which took up all of his vision. "Give me your keycard." Six ordered through his gritted teeth. "Give it to me."
Black Tie groaned, his eyes slipping shut but they jarred open again when the blue alien slammed him into the wall again. "I c-can't..." he groaned.
Blue stared at him, before tugging at the white lab coat and found the card hanging on a clip attached to his belt. He had seen many of these in his years, they were always calling to him. Keycards. To unlock any and all doors in this place, operate the lifts... to get outside. He grabbed the card and yanked it away before throwing Black Tie to the ground, "Save yourself some trouble and just stay down. I won't be too long." Six hissed before hurrying into the room they had been leaving, ignoring how he was trailing blood in his foot steps.
He easily found the specimen room and he had to pause a second at just how disturbing the place was. Six stared at the jars and test tubes that held dead animals. There was a jar that held an entire eel, somehow, it being wrapped around and around itself.
"In here Sir, in here." Minion flew into another doorway. Six followed, and pushed the doors open and froze in horror. All around him, through the falling water, was large glass containers. Within these containers, some taller than he was, were the remains of aliens. Above each chamber was a plaque reading their name, date of arrival, and date of death. Every single creature being held in the fluid had obvious scars across their chests, or anything big enough to perform autopsies. The stitching done to seal them was horrible and black, standing out against the decaying flesh.
"One..." the creature looked like a small child with an oversized head, similar to his own. Only its eyes were completely black, the skin pale green and is fingers were long and spindly. His eyes looked at the plaque, and it showed it as dead on the same day it arrived. "Died on arrival." he whispered.
"Two..." this one looked more like a spider, a large chest area and a thorax. The legs, four of them, were longer than he was tall. Its head was small, pincers as large as a football each with multiple dead eyes. This one was more or less in one piece, but its skin was burned in some places. Once again, dead on arrival.
"Three..." another one that looked like the first, though more or less in a whole piece.
"Four..." it looked more like an eel, three eyes large and wide yet staring for eternity at nothing. Its mouth was open in a savage looking snarl, its last emotion forever locked on its face.
"Five-Minion, it's you!" Six declared as he rushed forward to the small orb that like the others, had the date of arrival and date of death but something caught his attention.
Six stopped in place when he saw the next chamber. It was completely empty, but already full of the clear liquid that helped suspend the others in their containers. There was a plaque, the date reading it as sixteen years ago, Christmas Day. The name emblazed upon it was unmistakable and thrust a shard of fear through his entire being.
"Six." he whispered.
But what equally terrified him was the second date... something told him it was incredibly close. Very, very close. As he slowly reached out to touch his own future casket his head suddenly felt like it was going to explode. He staggered back, and clutched at his head in agony as the pain rippled throughout his entire being.
"SIR!" Minion gasped, eyes wide in alarm. "What is it Sir, Sir, what is it?"
"My... my head..." Six strained, his eyes tightly shut as tears began to stream down his face. This had never happened before, sure he had experienced headaches but never something to his level or scale. He tried opening his eyes but found it impossible, and soon the black and bright stars bouncing around in his vision was replaced with something else. It was like he was suddenly in a vehicle hurtling towards a blue planet beneath him. Alarms were sounding in a language he couldn't understand, and when his hands tried to gain control of his vehicle his hands were no longer blue. They were green, his fingers long and spindly, and the very last thing he saw was the earth getting closer and closer before being blacked out by a gigantic explosion.
There was a flash and another memory, another vision that felt like it could be his own memory. This time the alien had survived the crash, but was in agony. He could feel it coursing through his body so badly he collapsed on the floor. A language filled his head, ancient and old, and the last thing he saw before blacking out was the large trucks that had knocked down the prison walls lumbering up.
The pain vanished, and Six lay there, panting rapidly. It felt like he was going to be sick. But he pushed his hands to the ground and forced himself to sit up, but found he wasn't in the room full of the alien remains anymore. He was somewhere... not. It was very dark, and very cold.
"Minion...?" he asked quietly.
"Six."
The voice made him jump and he spun around on the spot.
"Be not afraid Six. We are the Fallen. We have waited for you to come to us."
"W-waited...?" Six asked quietly.
"We sent your Minion to teach you of what you are about to receive. Long have we awaited for one of your kind to come to this planet, prayed to the all blessed stars of our fathers that you will come. Fate has finally delivered you to us. What you are about to receive, use however way you wish but remember us, Six. Remember."
"What am I about to receive, what are you talking about?" the blue child cried, his hearts racing.
"Something from all of us. The ability to move objects with your mind. Another to read your preys mind and to delve into their deepest, darkest secrets. And the art of killing. Use them well, young one. Live. For we have died."
Six didn't know what to say, but the light suddenly returned so brightly he swore he would go blind. The pain in his head felt like his very skull was about to crack open and his brains would explode all over the floors. Shutting his eyes, he screamed, long and loud as the pain continued to roar like a fire out of control.
It all stopped as suddenly as it start, and when those green eyes opened again, he was in the room again. Minion was hovering over him, eyes wide with concern but also a look of pride. So he had been sent, on purpose, by One through Four to teach him...? All those years, when Minion would play games with him by turning off the lights and cameras, giving him the names of the people in the facility... that had been him all along? It had all been for a specific plan...?
"Sir, please. We're running out of time...!" Minion whispered, "We have to go!"
Pulled out of his trance of horror and shock Six got to his feet and quickly glanced at One through Four and gave them a grim nod, before he reached forward and grabbed the small orb and held it under his arm as he rushed back through past the room full of specimens. His mind was on fire. The people taking care of him were going to kill him? Not only cut him open but leave him open, allow his hearts to stop, and then put him up on display with the other aliens that had died on this miserable rock. He refused to join them, this wasn't his destiny, this wasn't what his parents had sent him to do at all.
He jumped over the two Tie men, hearts racing as he continued down the hallway. The lift was finally within reach, skidded, and smacked into the doors before falling backwards onto his rear. Minion gasped in surprise, "Sir, are you all right?"
"Ow, my giant blue head..." Six whimpered as he sat up. The water falling from the ceilings suddenly stopped, along with the wailing siren. Their cover gone, Six got to his feet and hit the button on the lift. In the distance he could hear thundering footsteps. The men in white must have found his room, the two dead doctors, and no doubt they'd soon be tripping over the dead and dying men with ties. Would they have weaponry? He didn't know how he would withstand against them and he had no plan on finding out.
"Come on, come on..." he chanted at the lift. "Damnit come ON!"Six pleaded, and he heard the foot steps just around the corner at the end of the corridor when the doors opened and it was the single most gratifying moment of his life. He dashed inside and slammed the top-most button on the lift and it slid shut just as he heard the men down the other end of the corridor shouting orders. Inside the lift was reflective mirrors, and when Six glanced at one he actually shouted in surprise and flung himself back against one of the walls. While he had seen his reflection before it was never a full body one, never before had he seen just how skinny he was. Never before had he such a view of just how many scars and holes covered the back of his skull before. Tilting his head he saw the bandage covering the hole that was used to extract CTS from.
Shivering he turned his face away, and breathed a shaky breath.
"Sir..." Minion whispered as he hovered by the boy's head. "We're not through yet... we're very deep underground. We need to catch another lift."
Six could have cried. He knew that by now there would be alarm bells all throughout the facility of his escape, and he could all but see men grabbing guns with tranquilizers to knock him out or worse... he had killed men. But they deserved it, for all their lies, all of them. The blinking lights on the lift continued to blink, counting down to the upper level that they were travelling through to. Six took a few shaky breaths before he looked above him at the ceiling.
"All right remember, don't aim for the head. We want the brain intact." ordered the security officer in charge, his dark green outfit a contrast with the white hall ways. With him were three men, all wearing black, and carrying guns that were long and sleek. The elevator before them finally announced its arrival with a cheerful 'ding!' and the doors slid open. Trigger fingers activated, all three opened a round into the elevator, shattering one of the mirrors and no doubt giving them all seven years bad luck.
The alien was not there.
"What?" the officer barked.
"Maybe he didn't go in it at all?" asked one of his men, "It could have been a ruse."
One of the men cautiously began to approach the elevator as the rest of his men decided to radio in for further information pertaining if those above had been 100% certain as to weather the alien went into the lift or not.
The security man looked around, but saw nothing, and only heard the sound of crunching glass under foot. If he had bothered to look down at his feet though, the shattered remains of the destroyed mirror might have given away just what was happening. Six had pushed a tile on the roof of the elevator away and had crawled through to the top the machine. He stared down at the man who looked around the elevator.
It was time to use what he had been taught.
The men outside were still talking when they heard the sudden scream of the man inside the elevator. Turning back to it they saw him falling back down to the ground onto the glass, head twisted in a grotesque fashion. The gun he was holding was gone.
This sent the remaining three going and just as they entered the lift the doors slammed shut behind them and the elevator plummeted like a stone down the long, dark shaft. Six had grabbed the upper wires of the machine just after severing them with a truly harsh look, and leapt through the still open doors onto the floor.
"I must say Sir that was amazing!" Minion gushed happily, fins wriggling.
"Thank you. I know." Six replied as he continued to run down the hall way. The fear and apprehension he had felt on the other floor was now gone, replaced with a strength and courage he didn't know possible. In his hand was the gun, it would serve more purpose to him then its dead previous owner. So they had planned on killing him one way or another. This sent his blood into a boiling rage as he continued running down the hall way.
But something suddenly gave him pause; he stopped in his tracks, and suddenly went into a door which had been locked. But one swipe with Black Tie's card it was opening before him.
"Um, Sir? Your big escape? What are you..."
"They have something else of mine." Six whispered as he entered the room.
This one was done up in a similar way to the specimen room, but instead of decaying alien bodies this room held their machines. Large ships that had broken on impact were put on display like old relics in a museum. They, like the dead aliens, had dates on them as to when they arrived. These machines had practically been taken apart and put back together in a vain attempt of stealing their secrets, and Six wondered just how much mankind had learned from them. Stealth bombing? Sonar? He didn't know, nor was it his right to know. All that mattered was that mankind now had his hands on these things...
Then he saw it. At the very end of the room was a small, round, familiar looking sphere. It was the one his parents had made for him, and besides it was the small pacifier his father had given him. Reaching out boldly Six snatched the binkey and held it up. Sitting on the pedestal it had been mounted on it had been grey and dead, yet the second his fingers touched it he felt the thrill of electricity and life buzz through his fingers. The small device suddenly burst to life, brightly glowing a blue color of pure energy. Pocketing the binkey Six was just about to turn and leave when a bullet just missed his head. Shouting, Six dove behind Three's large ship, eyes wide.
"Come on out Six!" shouted a voice he didn't know. "We've got you surrounded!"
"We hate to shoot you, Six!" said another voice.
Six said nothing, hearts racing as his mind raced just as if not quicker in his head, trying to work out what to do. What could he do? Turning his head he saw a grate leading through to the air ducts. If he could just get in there... as if on command the cover fell away, and landed deafly on the ground despite being made of metal. Six grinned to himself and Minion flew over and into the ducts straight away.
"Come on Sir!" the fish called.
The alien took a deep breath and got to his feet and spun as he came out behind the ship. He said nothing as he unloaded bullets into the men who were naturally at odds of shooting a young alien. Too bad the young alien had no qualms, for just as four of them began to four and the rest began firing, Six was already in the duct and out of reach.
"GOD DAMN THESE BULLET PROOF WALLS!" shouted one of the officers as other men ran forward to the duct entrance, but knew it was a lost cause. Six himself just barely fit, and they as adult men would have no chance.
"Aliens in the air ducts. Why am I not surprised?"
The space was very cramp, and Six was crawling on his hands and knees through the duct. The gun was fitted down the back of his shirt, chaffing his skin, but it was nothing he couldn't handle and this was the only way for him to crawl through. Minion's original orb, and his body, was pushed ahead of him.
"Sir do we know where we're going?" the little fish asked.
"The ducts lead through to the elevator shaft." the alien reported, "I saw them on my way out of here. If we can make it to that shaft we can power down the elevator enabling them from following us. Then, we simply... fly out."
"Fly, Sir?" Minion blinked.
"If I can move things with my mind, ergo, that should mean I can move myself." Six replied, "Only one way to find out."
"But Sir! If you're wrong you could fall to your death!"
"Better die by my own choice then these people kill me." Six grumbled, to which Minion had no answer.
They crawled for over an hour until Six finally saw the grayness that was the interior of the elevator shaft ahead of them. Suspecting an ambush though, Six slowed down and came to a stop not too far from the exit point. Pulling out his gun he aimed it at a slight angle, and let go a shot.
It echoed inside the shaft and he heard return fire coming from above them. So, they had laid in ambush. No doubt they had opened the doors to the elevators so they could see down in the shaft. Six frowned then wriggled a little further and just managed to see in the reflector interior of the air duct. There were a group of them, most lying flat and guns pointing downwards.
Six narrowed his eyes, and concentrated. The next thing what happened was no doubt disturbing, and disgusting. The doors to the elevator suddenly slammed shut, pinning, and crushing, the men who had been foolish enough to lay in it. Bloodied limbs stuck out, and guns fell past Six down into the darkness below. Quickly Six crawled out and peered down the long, deep shaft.
"Are you sure... Sir?" Minion asked.
"No." Six replied before smiling at the fish and gripped the orb to his chest. "If this is the end, Minion... then thank you. For everything. You're my best friend and I wouldn't have done any of this without you."
"Thank you Sir. I promised I'd take care of you, and I'll stick with you no matter what." the fish replied.
The two smiled at each other, before Six crawled out of the duct, and leapt out into the darkness.
To be continued