In which there are answers, if not all of them
AN: Sorry for the delay on this one, guys! I had a manic weekend of handling some very fizzy horses at the stables and then some archery and throwing knives and by the time I got back, I was a bit too shattered to get this posted. So here it is now :) (after I've had to fix all my awesome formatting because the site doesn't like it). Hope you enjoy!
Guest replies and notes at the end as usual :) And I think we've just got two chapters after this, folks!
This isn't right.
There are alarms whirring on the walls, spinning with orange light and making dull whooping noises. Glass panels everywhere are shattered, fragments littering the floor and sparkling under the fluorescent blue lighting. There's still smoke gathered near the ceiling.
Bodies are scattered everywhere.
Most of them wear white lab coats. There's men and women; ones as young as their mid twenties and ones bordering on their late fifties.
They all died of gunshot wounds.
Most of them lay randomly beyond what's left of the glass doors at the end, but a couple sit in the hallway. One propped on the left; blood smeared across the wall to mark where he fell.
Two bodies lay, covered, on tables behind a broken window.
Blood stains the white sheets; a dark skinned arm hangs limply in view on the left table, and a pair of pale, cut up feet show on the right.
I can't identify them, but somehow there's a sickening feeling of familiarity in the scene. Maybe I knew them once. Gladers.
Closer to the window, Newt gently ushers Minho onwards.
I clench my eyes closed, feel my balance waver.
Even after all of this, seeing so much death still makes me feel nauseous.
A part of me hopes I'll get used to it. A part of me hopes I never will.
A hand brushes against my back, and I don't have to open my eyes to know its Newt. I don't have to hear him speak, either, to know he's concerned.
I just nod, forcing my eyes open again.
I'm fine. I have to be.
His eyes are dark and sombre as he nods back at me then retreats. He doesn't coddle me – none of the boys ever really have – and I'm glad that hasn't changed.
He heads towards Thomas and Minho, who stand over another body.
This one has no coat; he's dressed in dark gear. Fingerless gloves, a pocketed sweater with a scarf-like hood, a small canvas pack and combat boots.
A handgun still rests in his cold, slack fingers. Shiny bullets litter the floor around him between the shattered pieces of glass.
Something inside me jolts.
Minho slides the gun away under his boot.
The shards crunch underfoot as Thomas leads us through the doors into a wide room.
There's a long table down the middle; glowing panels around the edges and some kind of walkway down the centre lined with glass-like screens. Chairs mounted on wheels are left at strange angles and the sheets of transparent technology – monitors – flicker with glowing blue images and words. More computers line the walls; yet more screens flickering through images. Smoke still collects above us, slowly being siphoned through the vents and a shower of golden sparks issue from a pipe on the ceiling that's come apart, revealing a lot of fried cabling. The main lights appear to have blown and the room is lit from strobe lights in the walls and various computer panels.
Back up generator.
It strikes me that this happens a lot; some voice in my head that sounds like me, telling me things that sound right without my having any memory or recollection of why.
Things I used to know, I think. I was right; they can't really erase everything that makes a person who they are.
But I can't focus on that now, so I throw the thought aside.
Bodies lie across the black floor; slumped in corners, against the tables or sprawled as though the people had tried to run. Their coats display the red blood stains like badges; some of bravery, others of cowardice.
Were you shot in the front as you faced the gun or the back as you ran away?
We slowly spread out.
I leave Eric and Dan and slowly make my way over to the far side, eyes roving over monitors. I'm glad that I can walk normally again, even if I feel drained and off kilter.
At the back of the room, I falter when I spot another body – another in the dark clothing that so clearly doesn't belong here.
I veer around it, my eyes instead caught by the soft glow of one of the monitors. I wheel around one of the abandoned chairs and drop into it at the desk.
"Eva?" Eric's voice trembles behind me. "What are you doing?"
I'm not sure.
But it's time for some answers.
There's a whole load of touch pads and scrolling bars, but it doesn't feel daunting. I don't recognise these screens, the images on them, or anything about this place, but something about the computers themselves rings the echo of a bell in my head.
I feel like I know this. Technology.
The screen shows brain scans.
The name in the top corner says: HENRY.
My eyes sting and I hear Eric inhale sharply over my shoulder.
My fingers fly to a curling arrow in the lower corner and I press it several times.
The screen flicks through a handful of displays – a long document of text, what looks like a form, something that looks more like shorthand notes, Henry's face, and then I'm left with a black screen and just one window in the centre titled:
GROUP – A
Tabs down the side read: NAME, AGE, SUBJECT, BLOOD TYPE and IMMUNE but in the window itself is a list of names.
Alby, Ben, Billy, Chuck, Clint, Dan, Dave, Dimitri...
All of us.
I find my own name and press on it with my fingers.
For the first time, I can see a picture of myself, not distorted by dents in a pan or the curve of a spoon.
Fair skin that's since tinted under the Glade sun; slightly elfin, simple features and large eyes – light grey, as Newt said - surrounded with brown lashes that match a tumble of milk chocolate coloured waves of hair. It looked far better in this headshot than I'm sure it does now, in its tangled braid. In the photograph – grainy as it is – I'm wearing what looks like a loose white t-shirt and my eyes – scared and wary but angry in a way I feel disconnected from – reflect something broken on the inside.
"Shuck…" Eric breathes next to me.
I press my fingers to the tab at the top of the box. I don't need to look at this version of myself anymore to know we're no longer the same person.
I land on the same form I thought I saw on Henry's file.
EVA
18
CAUCASIAN
GREY
BRUNETTE
5' 2"
O- [UNIVERSAL DONOR]
IMMUNE
There's more – the data fields go on, outlining my weight, body type, dominant hand, average blood pressure, typical temperature and several other things I don't recognise but I think have to do with parts of the brain.
I have to move faster, so I press on the next tab.
The wall of text is too much to fully absorb, but I get pieces of it.
…father was an engineer, mother a doctor…lived in the country…stable home life…Grandfather was a licensed hunter…mother had THE FLARE…father sectioned, daughter inducted to W.C.K.D programme…knife skills shown early on…very angry at being taken…considered dangerous…sedation required during early days…scalpel incident required solitary…
I stop reading, my mind whirling as it processes.
It seems to be an overview of my early life – my parents and where I grew up, and how I came to W.C.K.D – then a summary of my life after being taken, but before the Maze.
But my father was an engineer? Though it does explain a few things; the water pipe repairs being just one of them. And I needed sedating? And what is a scalpel incident?
Something makes a fuzzy crackling sound behind us, and we both look up.
A huge screen on the far side of the room has come to life, and an aging blonde woman in the picture begins to speak. Slowly, the others move to gather before it.
Eric hesitates at my shoulder, and then slowly follows them. I turn back to the computer.
Next tab. Quickly.
The page of notes appears.
EVA - (Subject: B36)
Joined the test programme at the age of 14. In retrospect, acquiring her at a younger age would have yielded better results and ensured greater compliance, as with other subjects.
Subject shows promise with quick thinking and resourcefulness in early tests.
INCIDENT – Subject attacked lab worker [ID-CLASSIFIED] during a routine health inspection. Used a scalpel near to hand, caused significant blood loss and was able to injure a second responder [ID-20556] before being restrained. Report filed.
Subject shows a preference for evasion, where possible, in threatening situations. Can be pushed to violence with motivators such as protectiveness or when angered or upset sufficiently.
Subject becoming more volatile. Unable to accurately predict reactions to stimuli. Still very angry with her situation and WCKD.
INCIDENT – Subject attacked a lab worker [ID-20579] during pre-inspection sedation. Was able to disarm worker through misdirection and injected him with sedative. Was restrained immediately after by second responders. Report filed. Subject labelled Dangerous.
INCIDENT – Subject rewired a keypad and unlocked her unit door. A search revealed no hidden equipment to have assisted with the task. Deduced that Subject did the rewiring manually. Must in future be placed in cell units with external keypad access only.
My mind spins wildly.
Was I this person?
I remember thinking so long ago that no one should have to forget who they are…but now, like in moments before…I'm not sure I want to remember.
I can't imagine wanting to attack anyone. This doesn't feel like me, this person so full of anger… and yet…
I don't want to think of what I could still be driven to.
I scroll through the notes. There are more pieces from the years I apparently spent in the compound, being put to different fear and stress tests. They tested my reactions to being chased, to being ambushed, to being shouted at, hit, left in a burning room, left in a freezing room, electrically shocked, dropped from heights, drowned…
The memory surges up, fierce and unwanted; the way I felt like I'd been drowning just moments before waking up in the Box that carried me to the Glade.
All tests of my fear.
Why?
And then there are notes from my time inside the Maze.
Subject appears to be fearful of all current Subjects [DUB: Gladers]. Has already armed herself and used evasion/distraction tactics. Childhood imprints remain – tree climbing within minutes of The SWIPE.
Subject forming friendships with Gladers. ZART, SIGGY [DUB: Frypan], NEWT.
Initial responses – No apparent threat to Subject. Accepted into group. No early signs of excessive mistrust or attraction.
I scroll further. It's the weirdest sensation to be reading about tiny fragments of my time in the Glade, knowing I was being monitored the entire time.
DATA LEAK – Ruled INSUFFICIENT. Subject A17 [JUSTIN] STUNG. JUSTIN relayed information to subject pertaining to THE – EDEN – SWITCH before being eliminated.
Potential relationship evolving between subject and NEWT. CAM1.
I'm appalled when I read it, but I press over where it says CAM1 anyway, driven by some morbid curiosity.
The video clip in the box that pops up was recorded through branches. Justin lies on the grass, bleeding and wild as a bunch of boys restrain him, and not far off, Newt stands in front of me. I'm pale and my eyes are blown wide as they look up at him. As I watch, his hands move away from my face and gently circle my wrists, turning them over until the scratches come into view.
I close the box. My breathing catches in my throat.
If they have that, then they have…
And I don't have to scroll long to find it.
Confirmed relationship between Subject and NEWT. CAM2.
This pop up box barely has a chance to show me the interior of the Medi Tent, the day Newt got his head injury, and the way he grasps my wrist to pull me back before I shut it.
I don't want that memory through anyone's eyes but my own.
But the notes are still there.
Confirmed relationship between Subject and NEWT. CAM2. Slow evolution of relationship and development of attraction on both sides; seen to be exclusive and consensual.
And below it:
Subject shows willingness to put herself in harms way to protect others, specifically NEWT. CAM3.
That'll be the day the beam swung loose, then.
I give up on the notes. It's basically just a rehashing of my life through the eyes of a stranger. The woman in the video across the room is still talking, but I feel like I'm running out of time.
I scroll back up to words that seem important. "Adam and Eve were the first two people in the Garden of Eden," Newt said months ago. I press on the words, opening another box.
THE – EDEN – SWITCH
Pertains to Subjects A36 – ADAM and B36 – EVA
Introduction of TERESA and ARIS to groups A and B respectively are an unknown variable. One or both VALUABLE subjects could be at risk in gender-opposite environments.
RISK ASSESSMENT
EDEN SWITCH AUTHORISATION
Subjects ADAM and EVA will be swapped over as a test run, to judge acceptance of opposite genders within the environment.
A36 and B36 both Classified DANGEROUS. Used within the SWITCH programme to monitor under extreme variables.
All reactions and threats to be monitored and documented.
Crap.
Well, at least I know what Justin was screaming about after he got stung.
I was a test within a test – not for me – for the boys. Teresa was a valuable player within the Maze; how I'm not certain, but she was considered valuable. The creators couldn't risk just sending her up. It was an unknown variable. What if the boys freaked out? Attacked her? Banished her?
So they sent me instead.
Someone who's life could be forfeit to provide assurances. And by me being - apparently - very much a loose cannon, if I wasn't attacked or banished, Teresa would be more than fine.
And Adam – whoever he is, or was – was sent somewhere else.
To another Maze.
No time for that thought right now. There's one more thing I need to look for. I go back through my file to find the words and then press on them, opening the new box and skim read.
THE – FLARE.
A virus that attacks the brain… insanity, fits of violence, cannibalism… no cure. Man-made…released after the Scorch…wiping out the human population…
I suppose that could explain all the brain scans.
Only a small, tiny percentage of the human race is naturally immune to it – children of the new genera- Whoa. Hold on.
Immune.
Fingers flying now and heart pounding, I backtrack to my profile form on the monitor.
There, beneath my blood type – universal donor – IMMUNE.
Something isn't right, though.
I move quickly, I can still hear the woman in the video talking; drawing out her words. I go back to the list of names under GROUP – A. I press the tab on the side that says IMMUNE and hold my breath.
The names flicker, and when they reappear, some have been reordered. Next to each is now a new word.
ALBY – IMMUNE
BEN – IMMUNE
BILLY - IMMUNE
CHUCK – IMMUNE
The list goes on, but I scroll past all the immunes, something getting heavier in my chest when I pass NICK and haven't seen Newt's name.
And then there it is.
Right between ZART – IMMUNE and DAVE – CONTROL.
NEWT - COMPROMISED.
What?
I click on Newt's file and hurry to his form before his picture has a chance to load up.
NEWT
19
CAUCASIAN
BROWN
BLONDE
5' 10"
A-
COMPROMISED
How is that right?
The woman in the video has stopped talking. I barely registered the bang of a gunshot through the feed.
So I find his page of notes and scroll past the years of observations – his struggle with being a Runner, the attempted suicide, the visible respect the other Gladers develop for him and how they tracked his apparent growing affection for me – because weird.
And I stop on a note marked COMPROMISED SUBJECT.
Sounds right.
Subject may have been cross contaminated during an accidental explosion. Current status as a CONTROL subject UNKNOWN. CAM19.
I press my fingers to it.
And it's the day the kitchen blew up.
How they got a camera feed through the branches and straw in the roof of the hut I couldn't tell, but the grainy video is only slightly blurred by the thick smoke. I can easily see myself leaning forward, knelt in the glass and soot next to Newt and pressing my sweater to the side of his head with my own bleeding hand.
And it clicks.
"Idiots," I mutter, unable to hold it back.
Antibodies travel in the blood.
They were studying the wrong thing. They should have been testing our blood; not our brains. Or at least both.
Of course, just a slight mixing of blood like there was back in the wrecked Kitchen wouldn't be enough to pass on antibodies, but in terms of science, it's enough to damage a control test.
Which is what Newt is. Was.
He's not immune.
He was included in the Maze alongside Immune teenagers as a control variable.
INFO
So much I want to expand on here. Here we go...
1. The bodies under the sheet were actually said (I believe its in the movie commentary) to be Alby and Ben's bodies. There's no way Eva could know that for sure, but when I heard it, I just loved the kind of gravity that knowledge brought to that moment when they walked past the screens.
2. Answers, whoohoo! Anyway, this whole part of the movie went past too quick for me to really dig into this. I've tried to get across all the relevant information, as well as that bit extra without making it drag on so much. The idea is that Eva discovered all this while the video was playing, so - like the battle scene - there was a lot of work and rewatching going on as I tried to pace out what Eva could read in the time she had. I have a couple of 'extended' versions of this scene, half formed that I had to ditch because she just couldn't have gone through that all before Ava shoots herself. And that's all I'll say on pacing.
3. The Eden Switch. So, hopefully it's clear, but this was the name (like a code name) of one of their tests within the test. Eva was originally intended as a Group B subject, but as the groups formed closely knitted familial ties over the years they were monitored, The WCKD scientists worried a little about how Teresa and Aris might be received - people are often afraid of what's new. So Eva and Adam were chosen, mainly because of their pre-Swipe personalities (Adam's not being canon) to test the situation they'd be going into. The change would have been arranged at least a couple of years in - only when WCKD thought there may be issues putting a female in a male environment and vice versa, but it had to happen long enough before they planned for Thomas/Rachel to arrive that they could properly document the longer-term reactions. The main thing here is that Teresa would be a valuable piece later on. Eva's life doesn't much matter to them in the long run.
4. Which leads us onto Eva's past. May be some spoilers for the potential sequel here. Covering them now, because there's no guarantee this will come out properly later. You are welcome to skip. She was chosen specifically because the version of her WCKD had been dealing with for 4 years was a very angry and violent person. By throwing in someone who was dangerous and capable, WCKD had the best assurance possible that Teresa would be safe if Eva was. Only...they made a bit of a mistake. They took away her memories. She was so angry because she'd been torn away from her family, scared because she'd endured all the tests. Without those memories, she had no reason to be fueled by that anymore. So the Eva in the Glade was able to return to the person she would have been growing up and not the girl that WCKD kept locked up. It probably confused them and wrecked their test, which is a theory I quite like. With a doctor for a mother, an engineer for a father and a grandparent who taught her to use knives, guns and all manner of weapons...hopefully you can see where those remnants of her past life have cropped up. She has no recollection of them, but muscles remember where a mind doesn't. Spoilers over.
4. And this is where it intersects with an overarching theme for the story. What makes a person who they are? If you take away someone's memories, do you take who they are - do you change it? I'm hoping that you've picked up in at least a couple of places that Eva is a bit afraid of the person she used to be. She knows how to make a bow, to hold knives and use a gun and realising that these are things she must have known before have scared her. And now she's found her file on the computer, and she's read about this version of her who was a far more deadly person - attacking people to kill, where she's been unable to harm a rabbit. Did losing her memories really change her? But then, consider, if someone killed Newt, or Fry, or if someone took her away from them...what do you think she'd be capable of?
This is a question I love, and that I've had in mind from very early on but couldn't bring up until now (because it sort of requires this insight into the person she used to be). And there's two ways you could answer it. So I'll just leave it here as a question. If you have some thoughts on it, I would honestly love to hear them.
5. The Kitchen Explosion. I told you I'd keep bringing this chapter up when it was relevant. So, remember back to then - Eva cutting her hand and then using that hand to try to stop Newt's bleeding. Newt getting cut up, not just getting a concussion. All these were very carefully planned, very necessary events. As Eva states, just having blood run together like that won't pass on antibodies (though it can pass other stuff and its really not advisable). But as she also says, thanks to the grainy camera footage, it would have been hard to tell exactly the extent of the 'contamination' and it therefore makes Newt useless as a control subject. It doesn't make him immune. He's still very much at risk. But the fact that he's been compromised is enough for Eva to start looking for answers. More on that in the next chapters.
6. How Viruses work. Okay, I need to touch on this because its the one thing that does annoy me (maybe because I do love science and biology myself). And maybe the books bullshit this in a way that makes some form of sense, but its going to have to be some incredible BS to make me believe it. Viruses do not 'live' in the brain, the eyeball, the liver or whatever the hell else. Viruses act on various parts of a body. It is antibodies in the BLOOD that work against them. Brain scans of Immune kids are not going to tell you anything about how to create a cure because these kids already have blood carrying antibodies that mean they're already capable of fighting the virus. The only way brain scans might help is to monitor the differences between an immune kid and a control kid, which would also only be useful if you deliberately gave both kids the Flare in the first place - not kept them in a safe Maze isolated from it. If you have controls and immunes and no one actually has the Flare...exactly what are you trying to study? Yeah, I know they're looking at Killzones and spikes in brain activity because apparently the more you think, the faster the Flare spreads - but they have no Flare in any of the Gladers, so this is an entirely moot experiment.
So, Blood. Immunes don't have magic brains, they have antibodies - naturally occuring ones - in their blood. Its these that fight off viruses. But its understandable why Dashner couldn't easily take this route (or he simply didn't look into viral science); because we create vaccines against viruses all the time and it would make the Flare a whole lot less of an issue. But I'll shut up here because there's more on this to come. (and as I said, maybe the books do have a better explanation for their magic virus, but the one in the movie makes very little sense when you actually use logic, so I went with that).
Aaaand, I think I'm done. Any questions about this, please ask away - I did have to condense a fair bit, so I appreciate that some may not make as much sense as I'd hoped. But if you did get it, I'd love to hear that, too!
Guest Replies
Ashlyn: Thank you! And while I appreciate where you're coming from, I have said all along that I very deliberately wrote this story to follow the movie's universe. That means that although I may use things from the books to flesh out or back up elements, the main story, version of events, characters as you see them and so on are very purposely lifted from the film and not the books. They are two quite different things. So if I write a sequel, it would continue from the movie's timeline, through the movie of TST, not the book version (not only do I love the movie as it stands, regardless of the book, but crossing from one version to another could really screw up story arcs). Because of this, reading the books won't really make my writing easier, because it's essentially a different interpretation. Not only that, but I've already written the entire story – this was finished back in March.
Concerning the Death Cure, don't worry about spoilers. I've spoiled myself ahead of time. I know about Newt's fate, and Teresa's. I know the general story. What I meant before was that I'm just not so familiar with the exact timeline of events (how long it happens over, the main locations, their journey through the story – this is all stuff I know back to front in TMR). And don't worry; I own all three books, and I certainly intend to read them, but since books are almost always better than films, I want to watch the movies first. That's just the choice I made.
Sorry, that went on a bit, but be assured that everything I'm writing is well planned out and I want to be sure any sequel is equally thought through or it just won't be enjoyable :) I'm really glad you're still enjoying this, though!
Guest (3 reviews): Thank you! Glad you're loving it. And yes, while I'm sure the books are great, I love the film so much and watching that inspired the story, so I wanted to write something in that world instead. There's no definite confirmation on a sequel yet, though. I need to watch the film and make some decisions about what will fit and what won't before knowing if it will go ahead. And even then, I need the time and inspiration to actually write it, so nothing is for sure at this point :)
Emma: Thank you so much! I'm really glad you like it so far and it's great you'll be sticking around a bit longer :)