We ran in, swords drawn but we met no resistance. People in the lobby just looked at us funny. I slowed down into a walk and sheathed my sword. The others did the same and we stopped at the front desk. A perky brunette lady was sitting behind the desk and cheerfully announced, "Mr. Dyson will see you now! Here's a key card" she handed me the card, "and just swipe it on the laser in the elevator and descend to level 19. And remember! You cannot go to the levels in between unless you wish to die a painful death."

She smiled and waved at me and pointed to the elevator. We all crowded into the elevator and swiped the card. A new set of buttons appeared above the regular ones in mist going from one to fifteen. Addie reached for number one. "Wait" I said, "Didn't she say we need to go to the nineteenth level?"

Addie rolled her eyes. "Well obviously if this Dyson guy didn't want us in the other levels, there should be something pretty important."

She pushed through the mist and we descended a floor and the doors opened, showing us a room with a couple tables. It was a huge room, probably big enough to hold about fifty people while having their personal bubbles. The tables were numbered in order. Number ten closest to the door. We walked along all the tables were there was dry blood everywhere with pieces of rotting skin and bronze machinery. Alex groaned and puked behind me.

Number one was the only intact machine. It looked like me, maybe a few years older. It was a little embarrassing considering that he was completely nude. Basically everyone was getting a look at my noodle. Sammy chuckled, "Dude is it really that small?"

I punched him in the stomach and he coughed, still laughing. I rolled my eyes and inspected the body more carefully. The right forearm had no form of tissue on it. It was just pure bronze circuits and other machinery stuff. Addie inspected it as well, "It's an automaton. One worthy of Daedalus. I've never seen one with real blood and skin."

As soon as she said that I thought of the Terminator. Alex had shown it to me before. I touched its face. It was warm like real human flesh. I felt a jolt of electricity as I touched it and I suddenly got nervous. "Let's go guys. I don't think we should be here."

They were happy to follow me back. I did the math in my head. If I was 173 then my… birthplace should have been somewhere in level seventeen. Alex seemed to know what I was about to do before I even reached for the button. "No. Don't." She looked up at me with her multicolored eyes, "I don't think it's healthy. Especially for you."

I ignored her and my finger went down on the 17 button. We descended into another room a spacious as number one and entered the horrible place. The sign above us told us we were in the "special experimentation room". Instead of tables there were pods, probably the time when they found Percy and took his DNA. We walked to pod 173, the only pod that was with shattered glass around it. I touched the pod and a flow of memories passed through me.

It was the first time I would be able to leave my rubber room. I was excited. There was a doctor with the same white coat and nametag but the doctor wasn't the one I killed. It was a woman, maybe 27. She had long flowing black hair and brown eyes, her eyes shining with motherly love. She took my hand and showed me around the building. At the end of the tour I asked her a question, "Ms. Bell? Where was I born?"

She looked at me uneasily and crouched down so that our eyes were leveled. "I don't think you should see where you were born. It might be too scary."

My back straightened a bit, "I'm not scared of anything!" I declared.

She chuckled and held my hand again and walked to the elevator. She swiped her card and the mist buttons appeared and she pressed one. We descended into the same morbid room and she walked me to my pod, the shattered glass there. I studied it and finally said, "Ms. Bell? Why don't I have a name?"

She gave me a smile. Not like the one most people gave me in the building. Not the "oh I can't wait to dissect you" smile. It was the "I love you" kind of smile. "How about I think of a name and tomorrow I tell you?"

I smiled and hugged her. She carried me all the way back up and into my rubber room. She looked back once before she closed the door. She gave me another pure smile and left.

Sammy's hand went on my shoulder. I felt tears streaming from my eyes. I had no idea who the woman was. I couldn't remember my own memories. I made another promise as I wiped the tears from my face. That I'd find her wherever she was and find out what happened to me. I stood up and looked at Sammy. He wasn't teasing. He looked genuinely concerned. I pretended like nothing ever happened at walked to the elevator.

They walked in with me and I knew they were staring at me. I pressed number 18. The doors opened to reveal another pod room, this time with people inside them. I stared in horror as I saw multiple Percy look-alikes. They were all younger than me, maybe ten or eleven. Tubes were connected to the tube, transparent fluids flowing into the pods. Next to them were one of those heartbeat monitors that were used in hospitals. Sammy stuttered behind me. "W-what is this?"

I unsheathed my sword and walked to the nearest pod. 180. I sliced the tubes and the monitor went into a straight line. I turned back to my friends, this time not bothering to wipe the tears. "They don't deserve this. A life of pure fear and pain."

Addie had a tear in her eye but she nodded and pulled out her sword and sliced 181. Together we cut down their lifelines until all of them were dead, except for the last one which was broken like mine. I didn't care. That just meant one less life to extinguish. While we walked back to the elevator Luna stopped me. Everyone else left for the elevator and didn't look at us. She kissed me in the lips and whispered, "That was brave." And left to the elevator.

I stood there, slightly dumbfounded but returned to the lift. I pressed the last button and we finally descended to the bottom floor. No one was present. The place was filled with monitors of different sizes, all of them blank. We shuffled through the room looking around. One by one the screens popped up and a man in a business suit, sitting behind a desk waved at me. "Hello."

The man was Caucasian with combed over brown, graying hair. Even though he had graying hair he only looked about thirty, maybe a bit older. He was holding a Cuban cigar in the background I could here music. I think it was Pachelbel Canon in D major. Odd for an evil man like this guy. "So I'm guessing your Mr. Dyson. Isn't that a vacuum cleaner?"

He rolled his eyes and let out a puff from his mouth. "You wouldn't believe how many times I've heard that one. Of course I killed all that have ever said that but still, you wouldn't believe it." He looked over everyone and smiled, "Ah now I can see all your faces. Luna Avila Ramirez-Arellano that was a very touching moment you had with 173 here. But remember. He's just a worthless pile of flesh."

Luna pulled out her Swiss Army knife and unfolded the cork screw and it turned into a loaded crossbow. She shot the biggest screen of Mr. Dyson in the face. The screen shattered, shooting out sparks. Mr. Dyson laughed and turned his attention to the others, "Addie Jackson! How ironic! I was chatting with your father earlier. He told me how he wanted to see you. Too bad he'll never will."

The floor cracked around Addie as her face grew red. "TELL ME WHERE HE IS!" she screamed.

Dyson smiled and puffed his cigar again, "I'm afraid you're not in any position to command me in such manner."

Sammy looked confused, unsure of what to do but Dyson already turned to Alex, "Alexandra Grace. A very beautiful name if I do say so myself. I had a wife named Alexandra. I hated her. Don't worry too much about Luna's relationship with 173. He won't live long enough to be with any of you."

Alex vibrated with electricity and let out the occasional tiny bolt from her skin. Dyson finally looked over to me. He smiled like I was his greatest prize, "Project 173. One of the strongest projects I ever commissioned. Amazing how you took out Cerberus so easily. In the field he always destroyed his opponent but I suppose he underestimated you. But don't worry Ladon and number one that you activated will not underestimate you. If you live come to the docks of Anchorage, Alaska. My men will find you. Too-da-loo!"

The screens turned blank again and the elevator doors behind us opened. Out stepped the nude number one automaton, and a Percy look-alike that had grotesque claws where his nails should be and green acidic fluids pouring out of his mouth. He smiled at me and waved with his gross hands, "Hello… Brother."

A/N: So that concludes another chapter. Have fun wondering what Ladon is like. And as a final statement I would like to ask you if you could check my new story Nightmares Return. I posted it before but deleted it and I'm in the process of rewriting it but the fact that it's a sequel makes it worse because that would require you to actually read the first story! So I've decided in posting another chapter in The Lost Soldier that will summarize that story, so if you wish to please check out the last chapter of The Lost Soldier then read my semi-new story. It's cool if you're not interested, in that case I'll just stop the semi new story. Thanks and remember to favorite, follow and review!