Chapter 9

The results of John's various scans were sent to the Ultra labs on 5th floor for analysis. Lab technicians were to work overnight to analyse the data and explain it in a detailed presentation the following morning. The data was important to the founder and Ultra workers were to make every possible effort to draw assumptions from it before the deadline.

A team of executive Ultra workers, including the founder and Jedikiah, arrived in the board room for the presentation early the next morning.

"It is clear that, for the moment, the subject can access his power during high stress. His heart rate had accelerated past 190 bpm, when he first accessed the power, and his blood pressure reached 160 over 80. By the time the subject had stopped using his abilities, his blood pressure had peaked at 180 over 90. All these readings demonstrated alarmingly high stress rate in the subject during the incident. If he is continuously pushed to this level of stress, the subject may be at risk of a heart attack, stroke or even mental decline during one of the sessions."

"However my team think they can fix this." He flicked to a slide showing a detailed image of the brain, which highlighted the hypothalamus and Limbic System. "Just a small adjustment to the hypothalamus, could help to regulate his heart rate, blood pressure; in fact almost all of the functions controlled by his autonomic nervous system. While the adjustment is relatively minor, the subject would need to be awake for the surgery to ensure we don't harm any other functions."

"There is no such thing as minor brain surgery." Jedikiah interrupted.

"Minor compared to the surgery the subject had to undergo for the Annex project." The doctor replied. "If the surgery was successful, and there is a good chance it would be, the subject would develop the ability to stay calm and rationale in very intense situations. Fear and stress would be almost entirely eradicated, the perfect soldier." The doctor continued through the slides, highlighting the EEG scans.

"When comparing the EEG scans with scans taken under similar conditions after the Annex project, we can see that area V6 in the occipital lobe is active, this area is known to respond to visual stimuli during self-motion. Furthermore, there is much activity in the somatosensory cortex, an area largely associated with touch and movement."

"Overall, more tests should be done to narrow down the exact areas involved. I would like to complete an fMRI scan during the next session, and also to take blood samples from the subject at various points during the session in order to monitor the subject's hormone secretion. Furthermore, I would like to request permission to alter the subject's hypothalamus."

"The board will consider your proposal and get back to you within the hour." The founder spoke drawing the meeting to a close.

-TTP-

Jedikiah entered John's cell, at lunch time the next day to debrief him about his session with the founder. A guard followed him in, a precaution in case John was hostile. His gaze rested on the boy in front of him, who was currently refusing to acknowledge his presence.

John had been consumed by anger since he had left the experiment room. He was struggling to control it, he knew it would be better if he could just let it go and forget about it, but he couldn't. Even after his work out with Alex that morning, the exercise had fuelled his anger rather than reducing it as it usually would. When Jedikiah entered his cell, he could feel the rage start to simmer, soon to bubble over and overwhelm him.

"John" he greeted. No response.

"The founder was pleased with your performance yesterday." John gritted his teeth at the mention of the founder.

"You said if I cooperated she wouldn't get hurt." John's voice was taut, his eyes never left the floor.

"If she didn't get hurt, you would have gotten hurt and that's a situation I want to avoid." Jedikiah's sounded impartial, like the decision didn't matter to him, like it was easy to make it. This enraged John.

"It should have been me. You hurt my girlfriend, she had nothing to do with this." He jumped up, catching the Jedikiah by surprise, hitting him in the face with enough force to knock the man to the floor. The guards were on him in a flash, one holding a gun to his neck, while the other punched him repeatedly. John remained clam, reserving his anger for Jedikiah. As Jedikiah stood up, the guards restrained him.

Jedikiah took a second to compose himself, wiping the blood from his teeth with a serviette, making John wait.

"I will not stand for such insubordinance." Jedikiah said, as he spoke more blood spattered from his mouth. He roughly grabbed John's chin, ensuring eye contact. "You will be punished for this."

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