By: Spooks
~ ~ ~ ~
The next morning we woke gradually. The artificial light streamed in around the edges of the curtains on our window, and it was peeking in and saturating our large shrouded bunk with a soft glow. Perfectly relaxed and content, I let my eyes slide shut. For a while I drifted in that blissful state between being awake and being asleep, floating in a dreamless waking state that is only possible on a Saturday morning.
Eventually I hauled my lazy ass out of bed, but I made sure that I was the last one up. Sleeping is a luxury that I am particularly proud of indulging. Today was laundry day, so it didn't really matter if I got dressed in normal issued clothes or not. On our way to grab some breakfast, we dropped our clothes off at the washing area, putting everything in our room's allotted slot. I didn't even bother to check the nametags and patient number sewn into the inner tags of my ratty cotton pants and shirts. My clothes are so old and worn in that it would be no big crime if they disappeared and I had to get something new. Besides, those itchy nametags never come off. It's as though they're sewed on with Gundanium thread. Anyway, that evening we'd get our clothes back, all washed and dried and bundled up in little balls because the staff hates doing laundry and refuses to fold anything at all. Then tomorrow we'd turn in our sleeping clothes for washing.
I hate laundry day. I hate wearing my threadbare sleeping clothes around all day. I don't care if everyone else is dressed equally shabbily. Laundry day is drafty, uncomfortable, and vaguely revealing. I don't like it at all. Ack, enough of my complaining.
All day we kept moving, first trying to stay hard to find, but then just trying to get away from anyone at all. I, for one, kept finding myself staring at people, reading the new influxes of energy and sparks that I could pick up from their auras. It's never a good idea to stare too long at crazy people, they tend to get annoyed and attack you. In other words, by the third time I almost had someone tear my eyes out, the other guys decided that maybe we needed to get out for a while, or at least until I could learn how not to ogle auras.
At any rate, all day we kept up our wandering, and a nagging feeling of foreboding followed us at every turn. I swear, I expected to see the Thugs coming around the corner of the hallway, or poking their heads in our room door, or even knocking on the outside of the hollow tree. Ever moment that passed went slowly, thick with fear and impending doom. Now that we had all been subjected to the hell beyond the disguised door, we were expecting them to come for us again at anytime. Hell, we expected them to come in with straightjackets and haul us away to poke and prod us. We waited the entire weekend for something terrible and unpleasant to happen.
But it didn't.
All weekend we waited, we dodged, we adjusted, and we tried to get ready. For nothing. How anticlimactic. Every time we'd pass one of the Thugs in the hallway, and every time we heard a knock on the door, we'd all jump and look at each other like panicked animals. Then it would turn out to be Howard or someone just wondering where we had been or what we had been up to. Of course, it was great that people were wondering about us, but it almost gave us a collective coronary with every well-meant knock.
Basically, other than worrying, we spent large portions of time trying to get used to our new abilities that were so graciously forced upon us.
Quatre probably had the easiest time adjusting. Besides his odd energy transfer thing, he didn't really have anything too profoundly new to deal with. It didn't affect his everyday life at every single moment (not like some of us). Sometimes his normal empathic abilities would kick in a bit stronger than usual, though, which would sometimes knock him for a loop if he wasn't being careful. If he wasn't consciously keeping up a bit of a shield, then the sensations and stray emotions would cause him to get swept up in someone else's feelings. That could be extremely painful or extremely embarrassing, depending on the stray emotion.
Of all of us, I think Wufei had the worst time. Not only could he see spirits, but he could hear them most of the time, just like he was able to talk to Meiran. Sometimes a ghost would come up to him and start bothering him, poking at him and chattering incessantly. Other times a spirit would just follow him around, not saying anything at all. Wu said this was just really creepy. He'd round a corner or look up from what he was doing and suddenly there'd be a headless ghost waving cheerfully at him with a bloody stump of a hand. A couple of times he'd stop whatever he was doing or saying and start trembling. When we asked him what was wrong he'd just shake his head, refusing to tell us. I guess some things are just too terrible to say out loud.
Wufei's spectrum of vision was more in touch with souls of people that had passed on, and because of his natural sort of goodness, he sometimes would try and talk to the ghost and help them out. It was frustrating for him, I think, because he said that he could only get responses from the spirits that felt like talking to him. Some, he said, were either too proud or too unbalanced to respond. He said that we'd be surprised to know just how many souls were just too stubborn to ask for help. It was frustrating to him.
All I can say is thank God for Trowa. Even though he now he only heard a wider range of demons and nymphs and such, he was more able to pick up the occasional voices of the dead. If it wasn't for Trowa adjusting so quickly and then working with Wufei to calm down the frustration the Chinese boy kept feeling, then I don't know what would have happened. There were still times that Trowa would just curl up into a little ball and cover his ears, but those instances were happening less and less often with the passing of each hour. By Sunday he was almost completely used to filtering out a lot of the peripherals.
As for the overhearing of thoughts, I think that Trowa adjusted to that almost immediately. Sometimes he'd sit there and just watch people around us, and ever so often he'd snicker quietly to himself. And then there were those times that he'd start blushing. It was odd watching the normally quiet boy react to other people's thoughts. A few times, though, he'd get the most haunted look, and it was these times that I knew he was picking up something terrible. It seemed that we all were paying the price for our new wider range of abilities.
Thankfully, Quatre would sometimes be picking up on the same person's emotions, and the pair could help support each other with that kind of thing. If it was to be a stray spirit that happened to be screaming, then Wufei would obviously pick up on it. If it was a demon, then I'd be able to catch it. It was as though our newer and stronger abilities' drawbacks all had checks and balances when viewing us as a group.
Oh, and lets not forget my lovely new expanded vision. I have to say that I loved it. Seeing the bog beasties in the cafeteria was fun, and everywhere I turned I was picking up on new little friendly demons. Wow, that sounds strange. I have to admit, though, that the large majority of the demons I've always seen really weren't that bad. Worry demons are annoying, shadow demons can be freaky, and rage demons suck, but they are all just doing their allotted job. The only ones I really hated outright were those damn dream demons, because they wouldn't just leave me the hell alone.
The drawback from this new spectrum of vision was that I also started to see those horribly scary things that I had only gotten hints of before. Such as that thing in the corner…God, I still can't describe it. I'm sorry…But just understand that there are things so gruesome out there that just thinking about them can cause a person to want to curl up in a ball and scream.
Terror and evil personified could be standing right behind you. But you'd never know, would you? Every time you get one of those feelings that you're not alone, and the skin on your back begins to crawl, evil itself could be sitting beside you, its head hovering over your shoulder, cold breath causing you to shiver as it caresses your back with clawed fingers. You'd turn around, and nothing would be there. At least, nothing that you could see…and it would be right there, lurking behind you.
And it might reading this over your shoulder right now.
This is what I had to deal with along with my new vision. Things became more vivid, and auras sparked brighter than ever. I gave up trying to filter it all out, and just concentrated on not getting completely distracted by all the new things. It's not easy to read a book or do homework when a dust sprite is making a nest in the corner of your room though. Damn dirty dust sprites.
Heero just watched us all with a now ever-present smirk on his face as we tried to adjust. The entire weekend he just followed us around and rolled his eyes at us occasionally, amused by the stretching of our new mental muscles.
After waiting all weekend for something to happen, Sunday night we were rather frustrated in a twisted sort of way. I mean, damn. We had been doing our best to adjust and to get ready to deal with having someone taken back and fucked with again. Now that we had decided to try and fight as best we could, we were eager for some sort of confrontation, even though we were simultaneously dreading it.
We found ourselves out in the big hollow tree during rec time that night, discussing what we were going to do and how we were doing with our new abilities.
"I swear, they don't always have to scream at me," Wufei grumbled. Meiran patted him on the head lightly. "And why do they have to just appear in the creepiest of places? I was taking a shower this morning and a little boy ghost just popped into existence perched on the showerhead. I could have fallen and killed myself."
"At least you don't have to worry about everything else in creation yelling at you, or worry about picking up perverted thoughts," Trowa shuddered. "I will never look at Mr. Rashid the same way ever again."
"Please don't elaborate," Quatre groaned. "I would really rather not know. But hey, at least you don't have to deal with people knocking you down accidentally with hostile emotions."
"Yeah, I just have to deal with their extremely detailed fantasies," Trowa responded flatly.
"Too much information!" Wufei broke in, holding his hands over his ears.
Trowa rolled his eyes.
I laughed and decided to add my two cents. "Well at least you don't have to worry about staring at people because they've suddenly sprouted wings in their aura or are carrying strange spirit clothes around them. It's tremendously distracting."
Quatre stuck his tongue out at me. "But you're adjusting, aren't you? And don't we catch you laughing your butt off half the time at these new things you started to see?"
"Well, some of them are funny," I protested, a dark note entering my voice as I continued. "But some are so bad that I don't even want to try to describe them."
"Then for crying out loud, don't," Wufei told me.
"What was it like for you, Heero? Can you manage to tell us?" Quatre asked, turning to Heero, curiosity shining in his eyes.
Heero winced like he did whenever he was lifting something that should be too heavy for as he wrote his answer and handed it to me.
--In the beginning, I only got flashes. Then the flashes got worse. Then there was more.--
"So we can look forward to more of this?" I asked.
Heero nodded.
"Goody," Wufei muttered sarcastically.
"You know, we might be able to turn some of this to our advantage. Perhaps we can use these new abilities to get some more information on what they're doing to us," Quatre said. "Or maybe we can get out."
"I don't know if I want to get out just yet," I replied thoughtfully. You should have seen the looks the other guys were giving me. It was as if I had grown another nose or something. Well, except for Heero. He nodded in agreement with me.
"What? Why?" Quatre asked in return, truly puzzled.
"If they do this to us, they'll do it to more people. They've already gotten Milliardo, and look at what they've done to Heero already. We're just the latest in a list that probably will go on for years if someone doesn't stop this now," I said, squeezing my eyes shut. "How can we live with ourselves if we escape and someone comes and does this to other people?"
"You're right, we do need to try and do something," Trowa agreed quietly.
"It means we'll probably have to go through a lot more pain, and we might end up permanently damaged, but no other course of action would be honorable," Wufei said, nodding.
"I hadn't thought about that," Quatre muttered, biting his lip. "You're completely right."
"It still sucks," I sighed, earning a few halfhearted chuckles.
For a few minutes we sat there in the fading artificial light, contemplating our own thoughts. Then I was struck with inspiration.
"Hey, why can't Meiran go and look in the wing for us and tell us what's going on?" I was so proud of myself, I felt like I had found the ultimate solution to our problems.
"Well, because she can't go all the way in there, that's why," Wufei responded quickly, glancing back over his shoulder at his late wife in concern. She looked a bit upset at my suggestion. Wufei listened to her for a moment and then continued, "She wishes she could, but it actually hurt her to try and follow us into the wing when we were taken back. She says that she could stay out in the hallway area but couldn't go into the rooms." Meiran frowned, obviously upset that she was unable to help us.
"Oh," I responded, feeling stupid. I should have realized that.
"What about some of the other wandering souls?" Quatre asked.
"I don't know if they can even go in there. Hold on," Wufei said and turned back to Meiran to listen.
"Meiran says that she didn't see anyone else hanging around in the lab area. She thinks that it's because it hurts them the same as it hurts her," Wufei relayed back to us.
"Maybe there are a few minor demons that can sneak in," I mused, "If only I could hear them. Damnit."
It seemed that we had hit the proverbial brick wall. The irony was that they had enhanced our abilities, but not enough to be able to find anything out just yet. We'd have to wait and see if we gained any more, then we could act. It was beautifully ironic.
~ ~ ~ ~
Well, the weekend had to end, and bright and early Monday morning found me blinking blearily at the underside of my old bunk. I think I've mentioned this before. I really hate Mondays.
Unfortunately, the weekdays did not go as peacefully as the weekend. I was called out of my session with Sally early because Heero had one of those sessions. To my infinite surprise, he wasn't as bad off as he normally was, and he hadn't been drugged. It seemed that they were slacking off on his torture for a while.
Tuesday Quatre was pulled out of our group session and taken to a special "one-on-one." He met us back at our room completely fine, but drugged. He gained no new abilities and had no noticeable holes in his memory, other than the short term gap about being back in the lab.
I guess you can figure out where I'm going with this. Wednesday during lunch the Thugs came and escorted Trowa away, Thursday I got another turn, and Friday Wufei was pulled out off our free period.
Other than not knowing what had happened back in the lab room, we suffered no adverse effects or noticed any new abilities. There wasn't any new pain, and as far as we could tell, nothing in our behavior was modified.
To say the least, we were puzzled. Hell, forget puzzled, we were seriously wondering what the fuck was going on! I mean, damn, we dread this for weeks, get nearly brainwashed last week, and now we feel just peachy. It was as though they were trying to screw with our heads.
Upon my later, more enlightened perspective, I can tell you exactly what was going on. You see, the training went in plateaus. There is only so much stretching a brain can do at one time, otherwise the mental health of the patient might be compromised. Yeah, that's right, mental health.
Weeks passed like this, with no big changes. A few times went I was taken back, I caught glimpses of other patients, so I know that we weren't the only ones being subjected to this. I'm positive that we were the only group of people targeted, though. The kids I saw back in the aesthetic hell behind the disguised door were people that I hadn't seen in the school for a while, at least outside of classes. Once I got a glimpse of a redheaded girl that was a year or two older than I was. I recognized her instantly because she had been one of the more promising students, one of the few that were allowed to help out the teachers. She had been Ms. Une's art aid, and I remembered how talented she was with her sculpting. I never knew her name, but she was pretty nice, if not a little loopy. But hey, we're all a little loopy.
The more time that passed without anything more mind shattering happening to us, the safer I started to feel. It was stupid, a false sense of security that might have been programmed into me. We started to lull in our efforts to find out more information, and we just started to go with the flow. Again, I feel so stupid for writing that, but it was the absolute truth. We were adapting to our new situation, our new station, and because Heero's experiments had also slacked in intensity, we had gotten used to life as it now was.
Of course, this was just building up to bigger and better things. After all, Milliardo eventually disappeared, only to emerge as Zechs years later. I know for a fact that he never saw dead people before, and since he had nodded acknowledgement to Meiran that first time back, it implied that he had gone through quite a lot and learned a great deal. This should have clued us in, but it didn't. I don't know how, but Heero even lost a bit of his intensity with the passage of harmless time and testing. It was as though we were living in a fog, a dreamlike state that let us blindly be led deeper and deeper into the hands of our oppressors. We just stopped caring, thinking that this was all there was, a fallacy perpetuated by the lack of action and pain.
Things were not to remain so docile. After about five few weeks of being taken back on our appointed days at our appointed times, we reached another step in our plateau of evolution.
It was time to get serious.
~ ~ ~ ~
I guess I'm probably skipping over a bit of stuff here, but I don't really care. Time is short, and that stuff is a bit boring anyway. Nothing really important happened during the next few weeks, save for us all getting used to the new stuff. Suffice to say that weeks passed, and things happened, but I've already told you about the important things. So, let's move on and get to the aforementioned serious shit.
After a few weeks of classes and experimentation, we were complacent and rather apathetic to our new status as glorified guinea pigs. Ever so often I'd get little flashes of memory from the experimentation, usually a vision of the gray ceiling above me, littered sporadically with the ethereal traces of suffering flowing along it. There was usually a thrumming sound behind me in these glimpses, a noise that was so low that it almost rattled my ribcage in a strangely pleasant way. After a while we stopped getting those injections, and sometimes I'd even get a picture of a figure standing over me.
Along with these memory flashes, I'd get these strange feelings of heightened senses, a feeling that was just plain odd. I don't really know how to describe it, other than there were times that I felt like I was seeing deeper, as though I were floating in a bog of awareness with no connection to my surroundings, like in a dream. I mentioned that there were no new leaps in our abilities, but that's not exactly accurate. There were times when I was having one of those detached feelings when I felt particularly disconnected with my surroundings. During these times, strange things would happen, like I'd hear whispers in the back of my mind, or see things move on there own.
And like I said before, we were all getting used to this sort of thing. Serenity was the key word here. Induced apathy towards our wellbeing, if you will. It makes me sick to think about it now, because it was so obviously unnatural. We were basically being brainwashed, and none of us noticed. Well, I guess that's not true. Heero knew. He tried the best he could to nudge us into caring, but he didn't want to hurt us by jogging our awareness too much.
Finally though he couldn't take it anymore. After the sixth week, when I in particular was in one of those ungodly apathetic states, he decided that enough was enough.
One particular Friday afternoon, we were sitting around in our room in various states of casual sprawl. At one point I remember talking to Heero quietly about nothing in particular. I'm sure that I had a blank look on my face, and I think I might have said something about not even caring about anything at all.
That's when reality, in the form of Heero Yuy, decided to slap me up the side of my head.
Literally.
In the aftermath of the stinging slap to my cheek, I just blinked stupidly at the Japanese boy seated beside me. Why had he done that? Then I just shrugged, and looked away. I honestly didn't care. Obviously, reality, aka Heero, decided that I had not gotten the message. So he kissed me hard, trapping my face in his hands and pressing his index fingers against my temples as he assaulted my mouth.
Suitably distracted for the moment, not only by the roughness of the kiss, but by the fact that the other guys were just sitting there and not doing a damn thing, my brain relaxed a little. And yes, I realize how strange that probably sounds. My mental blocks came down, in other words. Suddenly, a rush of intense emotions, things that I hadn't felt in weeks came flooding vividly back to the forefront of my mind. I cared again. I was afraid. I was angry. I was me again.
Sensing that I had returned to a normal state of mind, Heero immediately let go of me and ducked his head in apology. He was wincing slightly, and I knew that he had probably had to sacrifice some pain in order to help break down those blocks that I hadn't even realized were there. This information came to me in a fog, though, because I realized that my awareness had been kicked up another notch with out me noticing. I felt dizzy as I dealt with the emotional burst and new feeling in my head. It was strange, I felt as though I was flexing new muscles, but they were in my mind instead of my body.
In my confusion, I blinked at the other guys, who were just staring stupidly at me. I dimly saw my hand wave up in front of my face, and a visible wave of energy from my aura surrounded them, jogging their minds into awareness. In a hazy spell I looked back towards Heero, but as I turned my head the world spun. I felt something move behind me, and in my distraction I caught a glimpse of my long braid floating up from behind my back in mid air. Shock rippled faintly through me, and as my world went into sensory overload, I felt the bed rise up beneath me, as if it were floating.
And then it was dark. My mind shut down, and I adjusted to my new condition of awareness. I was undisturbed in my slumber.
I no longer needed Heero to guard me from the dream demons.
I spent about two weeks unconscious.
~ ~ ~ ~
When I woke I found myself staring straight up at the darker gray of the ceiling in the hidden labs. Blinking the sleep out of my eyes, I looked around, hoping to God that I wasn't where I thought I was. I was disappointed when I confirmed my surroundings.
I felt normal, well as normal as I've ever felt. The fog of apathy was gone, and I had full control over myself again. I remembered everything that had even happened in sessions, at least, what had happened while I was conscious. It wasn't much, but it was more than I had ever hoped to remember.
All this came to me in a series of microseconds. I sat up, noticing the IV drip in my arm and the small monitor electrodes attached to both sides of my head and the few trailing under my shirt. I moved slowly, glancing around me because of the unnatural soreness in my joints and muscles from what had obviously been a long slumber. I noted the plainness of the room, and I yawned, stretching my arms carefully out so as not to snag my IV lines. From slightly behind me I heard the sound of a person discreetly clearing his throat.
Turning my head, I saw Zechs sitting, leaning his chair up on the two back legs against the wall at the head of my bed. He was fiddling with the ends of his lab coat and he raised a single pale eyebrow at me. I just blinked over at him, wondering how long I had been out and why he was sitting by my bed.
As if he read my mind, Zechs smiled. "Two weeks and two days, and because I knew you'd be waking up in the next hour or so. I figured someone needed to explain some things to you when you woke up."
Gaping like a fish I saw on the vid screen once, I blinked at him. "Okay. How did you know I'd be up at this particular time, and just what the hell are you talking about?"
"It's part of what I can do," Zechs replied. "One thing at a time, okay?"
I sighed and leaned back on the bed again on my elbow, turning sideways to peer suspiciously at the blond man. "Fine. As if I'm in a position to argue."
He chuckled darkly. "How true. Now, at one point I was just like you, with a few minor differences. I only heard whispering voices, and I was slightly paranoid. Then the scientists chose me. I was so privileged to have caught their eyes. If it wasn't for them, then I would probably have gone truly mad long ago."
"But as special as I was, you will be ten times greater than I could ever be. It has taken me years to get as far as I have, and your potential, and the potential of your friends, together…" his voice trailed off wistfully before he turned back to me, bringing his chair down with a screech onto all four legs. "You amaze me."
"What can you do, and what about Heero? Hasn't he been experimented with as long as you have?" I asked, forming the words with a half-numb voice.
"I can do almost anything you can imagine. But you, you will be able to do so much more than I will ever do. As for Heero, he's benefited from the long-term program, but he's also going to benefit from the group format of our new St. Dymphna Project," Zechs responded. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but it will be painful to adjust to your new station in life. As a pioneer towards a new society, you will come to believe in the rightness of our goals."
I felt a surge of anger at that. He sounded so perfectly reasonable. So damn sure of himself. And deep down I knew that it wasn't his choice. I felt sick as tried to search out response to his words. "So, uh, I don't have a choice in the matter, do I?"
"No, you don't. Don't worry, though, you'll come to love the benefits of being affiliated with the Project," he smiled down at me, standing up and checking my IV drip. "I'm going to take this out now that you're conscious, okay?"
I nodded. "Okay, fine."
I winced as he pulled the drip from the skin of my arm. I hate needles, and IV's just plain suck. "What is the St. Dymphna Project about? I think you owe me that much."
"Evolution of the species, forced evolution. We're finding ways to wake up your brains," he said as he reached over and lightly thumped the side of my head.
"What?" I was truly puzzled. That actually sounded like a vaguely good idea.
"Well, it's like this," he started. "Normal humans only use a small percentage of their brains, and through the research done here we're learning to wake up the rest of that unused gray matter and see what it does. So far the results have been great, the hardest part is trying to make sure the test subjects don't go crazy and revolt. That's why we're working with you five as a group, not only is it more powerful, it is much more difficult to focus. More morality, if you will."
"He speaks of morality," I muttered dryly.
He didn't hear me and continued on. "But anyway, it's for the good of the world. With sufficient evolution, there will be an end to most diseases, and without ignorance and secrets, many wars will be stopped before they can even begin. It's a wonderful idea."
"Oh, by the way," Zechs turned back to me and smiled. "You and your roommates have been moved to a room back here for easier access. Not only will we be able to get you more easily for your sessions, but you'll also be able to stretch your mental muscles without endangering other patients. You'll like it."
He helped me sit up and ease my legs over the side of the bed. I felt rather caught up in the moment, so caught up that I almost missed the IV drip rolling out of the way on its own. Hell, I hadn't expected him to come right out and say so much. The answer was so simple, but it held so many hidden dangers and scary things.
As Zechs led me down the hallway in the direction of our new room, the simple act of walking felt surreal.
~ ~ ~ ~
As we walked down the featureless gray corridor, I noticed that it inclined slightly downhill. At some point I'm sure that we were officially on the basement level, but I'm not sure exactly where that point was. After a short walk we came to a wall adorned only with a large polished steel door. None of the ethereal black ooze was making it through the portal, but was being filtered up through the ceiling at this point. I didn't have a clue as to where it went from there.
Zechs turned to a touch pad at the side of the steel door and pressed his palm to it, fingers splayed out. A bright green light flashed, and a moment later the door opened, sliding into the adjacent wall with a soft whoosh. I'm guessing that the door had a cavity in the thick wall that it went into, because the door itself took up most of the dividing wall. Considering that the width of the door was a bit bigger than my arm span, that meant the walls had to be pretty damn thick.
It's funny how the subtle things will get you.
As soon as we were through the doorway, I heard the quiet sigh of the door sliding shut behind us. Either it was motion sensitive or maybe there were weight plates in the floor. But then how could several people go through at once without being squashed like a pea under a dull knife? Ah well, something to think about. I kept myself busy wondering about that as I tried to look casual about taking in my new living area. It was pretty hard.
This new area was lushly colored with vibrant blues and subtle reds. White and gold coloring accented the walls tastefully, and the thick carpet felt absolutely delightful under my slippered feet. It's been years since I've walked on carpet. I dug my toes down and made little tracks in the thick fibers as I glanced in the occasional open doorways into the patients' rooms.
Inside the private rooms, there was either a single bed or two beds, and each room looked like it had a television vid-set. Each was different from the last, either in layout or in specific furnishings, but every one that I could peek into as we walked was absolutely luxurious.
A couple of times we saw a patient, either walking down the hallway or sitting in their room. Get this (oh my God, I was so excited) the patients here were wearing normal clothing! None of those issued rags that I had been wearing for years, all of these kids were wearing normal shirts and normal pants, ranging from jeans to khakis to skirts (the girls) to shorts. It was exciting to see normal clothes in real life, right in front of my face. It had been such a long time. It's amazing what will strike you when you've been away from the world so long, what you might forget. I had forgotten about fashion.
When I wasn't busy gawking at the clothes of a random patient we saw, I noticed that a few of them smiled or waved at Zechs, who was still walking beside me. He'd nod back in acknowledgement and continue on. Obviously a lot of people knew him, and from a quick reading on a their auras, they liked him. Had all these people been brainwashed, or were their feelings genuine. It was hard to fake an emotional response so well, usually there would be some source of residual loathing spiking subtly, but with these kids there was none of that. I felt a small twinge of doubt start gnawing at the back of my mind. Were they right, or were we? Both couldn't be possible, could it?
One thing that struck me about our little walk to my new room was the lack of communal areas. Not once did we pass a large restroom or washroom that was on par with the rest of the asylum. Private restrooms and bathing facilities were reserved for rooms that several people had to share, like our group of five's room. When I had been in a private room I had to go down that hallway to go to the bathroom or to take a shower. So that meant that every room in this area had a private restroom attached. Neat.
Not only that, but there were no large areas for entertainment or just sitting around. Since we were probably under the surface crust of the colony, then the fact that there were no windows made sense, but there was usually a lounge area in patient quarters. That also struck me as odd. Did they not want us to talk to each other?
Well, reading over this last passage, I realize that I've probably made this patient living area seem huge from the amount of describing I've done. It wasn't huge. There were four rooms on each side of the hallway, and considering the length of the hallway the rooms were not even very large. It was just, well, can you blame me for describing it? I was absolutely amazed. Seriously, I was overcome with awe. Here there were such things as color, carpet, and clothing. Three things that had been severely lacking in the past four years of my life, and here they were at my disposal.
Looking up at the ceiling, I wasn't surprised to see the energy that thrummed above us. It wasn't malevolent like the energy in the lab area, but it was mixed with the normal emotions that were common in the rest of the asylum, except that it was filtered up and away, not given a chance to thrive.
We reached the room in a matter of a few moments, and Zechs knocked the door. A few seconds later the door slid into the wall and we were looking right into the face of a very shocked Quatre.
All I could catch from him was, "OhmyGodDuoyou'reokay! Waaaaa!" (Or something like that.) I immediately found myself being fiercely hugged by a strong blond gathering of limbs. Laughing weakly I hugged back as best I could, but I still felt a bit woozy from just waking up from a two week near-coma.
Zechs looked a bit uncomfortable and cleared his throat. "Duo, your friends will show you around and explain a few things to you, and you may tell them anything that I've told you that you might want to share. Enjoy your new room."
With that said, he was gone, and I found myself being hauled into our new room and plopped down on a convenient armchair. Looking around at our new room, I noticed that there was just one huge bed, with a canopy. Evidently we had been observed in our old room, which really didn't surprise me. We also had a couch and a few reclining armchairs, all arranged in a sort of casual circle. Our vid-set was in the corner, and above it was a large speaker.
Just as I had thought, there was a bathroom attached to the room. From what I could see through the open door it was very large and Very Nice. Tastefully placed in the four corners of the room were cameras, their little red lights indicating that they were on and functioning. Everything from the carpet to the bed sheets and canopy, right down to the chair I was sitting on, was in the blue, red, white, and gold color scheme.
Finally finished surveying our new room, I brought my attention to focus on my friends. Just as the other patients I had glimpsed outside the room, they were dressed in normal clothes. It was a bit odd seeing them in colors other than the drab grayish non-color of the issued clothes.
Wufei was wearing a pair of loose white linen pants with a loose dark blue tank top. His longish hair was tucked behind his ears neatly, and he had a different pair of glasses that suited his face a bit better than his other pair. When I asked later, he said that these were his old glasses he had worn before he had been a patient in the greater asylum and been given the other near indestructible frames when he had been admitted. He was sitting cross-legged in one of the other armchairs, his blue shirt almost the same navy color as the upholstery. As always, Meiran was right behind him, lounging across the back of the armchair like a ghostly kitten.
On the couch Trowa and Quatre sat beside each other. Trowa was wearing a pair of jeans and a dark blue turtleneck. Both articles of clothing were tight, but they suited him well. Beside him Quatre wore a pair of comfortable looking khakis and a pink button down shirt, the top two buttons undone. Pink. For some reason it looked all right, even though it probably should have made me do a double take.
Last of all I took in Heero's appearance. Sitting with his legs thrown over the armrest of the chair beside me, he was sitting sideways in his armchair and facing me. He was wearing a green tank top and a regular pair of jeans. Looking at the scrawny appearance of his exposed arms, I wondered how he could be so inhumanly strong and not be very big or muscular. Don't get me wrong, he was cut, but damn was he skinny. I guess the word is wiry.
Also of note was that everyone was barefoot. They must have liked the lush carpet as much as I did.
After finishing the perusal of my friends' clothing, I realized that they were looking at me expectantly. Ah, they were waiting for me to speak and enlighten them with my lack of knowledge.
"So, uh, hi?" I finally said, grinning at them innocently.
"Hello, Duo," Wufei replied, rolling his eyes. "You have any questions about our wonderful new accommodations?"
"Um, yeah, actually," I said sheepishly. Then something occurred to me. "Hey! Do we still have to go to classes?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Trowa responded sourly. "And I quote, 'We still want you to have an education, even if you won't necessarily need it.' In case we're dead is more like it."
I was momentarily taken aback by the sarcastic and slightly jaded tone to Trowa's voice. "You sound bitter."
"He is," Quatre broke in, patting Trowa's shoulder. "He asked that same question last week when we moved."
"So, uh, how the hell do we get to class? The only door I saw to get out of here shut automatically behind us when we got in this part of the wing," I muttered, half in question and half to myself.
Wufei unfolded his legs from underneath himself and dug his bare toes into the dark carpet. "There's a door in the hallway that leads out into Mr. Khushrenada's classroom."
I'm sure my jaw dropped. The math teacher wasn't exactly into sneaky covert type things. He preferred to settle things one on one with us students, so I'd expect him to be a defender of our rights, not involved in this mess. Finally I found my voice again. "Mr. Khushrenada? Is he in on this, too?"
"He must be," Trowa replied somberly. "It is unclear whether or not he wants to be involved or not, however."
"By the way, have you noticed how customized the room is?" Wufei suddenly said as he pointed up at one of the surveillance cameras. "It's been made very obvious that we've been overheard in our old room and the hallways."
Raising one thin eyebrow at me, he shot me a significant look. For a moment I just looked at him skeptically, then I thought about what exactly he had said. The room and the hallway did not count the tree. Therefore some of our secrets still might be safe. For how long, it was unclear, who knew how deeply they were going to be digging into our minds?
I nodded back and then continued the conversation on for the benefit of any observers. "So, uh, had any good sessions lately?"
That earned a few nervous chuckles. Heero caught my eye and started writing. He finally "spoke" and handed me the note he had now finished.
--No new sessions were to happen until you woke up. They wouldn't let us in to see you. They said you would fill us in on what to expect next. Are you okay? I was worried. --
It was the most Heero had written all at once. I smiled at that last part, choosing not to read it out loud. "Answers, in order," I replied. "The St. Dymphna project has been explained to me, well, the bare bones motivation and hopeful goal, anyway. Somehow they expect to evolve us, wake up our brains or some junk. That's all I really know, except that it looks like we're going to be growing, if you catch my drift, a lot more than we already have. And I'm fine, just a bit woozy."
At this point our television vid-set came on, startling all of us just a tiny bit. (We jumped at least a foot.) The face of Dr. J graced our screen, and his voice chuckled eerily out of the speaker on the wall. "Hello boys."
Insipid.
"Are you enjoying your new room, Mr. Maxwell?" The man asked, his optics flashing little lens flares as the device focused on him.
"Fine," I grumbled, crossing my arms stiffly.
"Very good, very good," he replied, not really interested in my response. "Do you boys have any specific questions? Now is the time to ask, as a personal favor to Mr. Marquise I've promised to be as truthful as possible without compromising any confidential information."
"In other words, you'll answer what you feel like, and we have way of knowing whether or not you're telling us the truth," Wufei replied in a clipped tone.
"Now, now, Mr. Chang, don't be so snippy. I'm being congenial and cooperative. It would be in your best interests to take advantage of this opportunity," J responded in a cheerfully menacing voice.
"Why us?" Quatre asked after a few moments of silence.
"Haven't we already addressed this? Do you still fail to see the poetic justice of the situation? You, the inferiors of society will be the leaders and most powerful soldiers of the new era to come. An era which you will command! Well, under our guidance, of course," the doctor smiled joylessly.
"Of course," Trowa said flatly.
"What else would you expect?" J replied, looking a bit puzzled.
"Good point," Quatre muttered cynically, surprising me a bit. He was usually so optimistic, but I guess everyone has a point where that's just not possible.
J chuckled again in response, then continued. "As for why you've been chosen as a group, that should be obvious. Look at how your natural abilities match up. Together you can be very powerful. You've been prepared for this for longer than you will ever know."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked carefully, leaning forward towards the vid-set. "Does that have anything to do with the death of my parents?"
It felt as though the air in the room had stilled into a cold heavy mass as I waited for the answer. Unfortunately, J just smiled and shook his head. "You know better than to ask that. You're not ready for the answer."
Well, that helped. I wasn't ready? Did that translate into a "yes," "no," or "sorta"?
"Well, what about the rest of us?" Wufei asked in a low voice. "When did you find out about me? Before or after the accident?" I shifted my gaze over to take in my Chinese friend. He looked deadly serious. If it wasn't for Meiran's light hand on his shoulder, I think he would have popped a vein in his forehead. Hell, I can't blame him. If they had killed Meiran to get to Wufei…well, let's just say that you expect your parents to die before you, but you don't expect someone your age to die, especially at such a young age. Especially your love.
"After," J responded solemnly. "Anything else?"
"When can we expect our next session, who's next, and what exactly do we need to prepare for?" Quatre asked this, and the absolute defeat in his voice almost made me cringe.
"Oh, tomorrow after classes, all of you, and not much you can do to prepare. Is that all?" J finished quickly.
I looked around at the other guys, then looked up at one of the cameras. "Yeah. Guess so."
Without any more conversation there was a soft crackle from the speaker before it went silent, and J's picture blinked off of the screen.
"Oh, hey," I said, turning to look over at Heero. "Something just occurred to me, and it's vitally important." I made sure to inject a sense of urgency into my voice and I cranked out some nervous vibes for good measure. I'm not sure when I picked up that little talent, but it's really useful.
"What is it?" Wufei asked, leaning forward slightly.
"Yeah, are you okay?" Quatre now sounded worried, and he was looking rather concerned.
"I need to know something," I went on solemnly.
"Just ask," Trowa cut in abruptly.
I resisted the urge to flip him off or stick my tongue out at him. "Well…"
"What!" Wufei asked again. By this point I even had Heero looking visibly nervous.
"What day of the week is it?" I asked, blinking innocently.
Needless to say a few of the nice new plush couch cushions we had acquired went flying straight towards my head. Remember kids, even soft, seemingly innocent stuffed objects can sting if thrown at a high enough velocity.
In case you were wondering, it was Monday.
Why'd I have to pick the worst day of the week to wake up?
~ ~ ~ ~
Well, that night I slept in honest to God pajamas for the first time in years. I have to say, sleeping on a real, thick mattress was a big change from having to worry about shifting combined bunk beds. I had been allowed to pick some real clothes from a catalog, and they had been ordered for me. In case you're wondering, I choose a pair of black jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt. They were to arrive in some time Wednesday evening, and just like the other guys, I could only wear the clothes inside the confines of our new living quarters.
Waking up the next morning, we dressed in our ordinary issued clothes and the other guys attempted to fill me in on what had happened in classes while I was unconscious. As a policy, the teachers couldn't hold my absence against me, nor could they ask questions about it. They have to just basically work around us crazy kids and our crazy ways. It sets some people off if you remind them of being gone, so the teachers have to just accept the fact and move on. It's a policy that makes a lot of sense, but now made me start to wonder. It sure was convenient.
But anyway, moving right along, classes went by quickly and easily with the exception of Calculus. I'd have to go back and figure out what I had missed, that's just not a class you can sleep through and expect to keep up. Lunch was, as always, divine. Art was great. Heero and I had gotten an extension on our joint project because of my absence, so while everyone else had to work on carving out of Styrofoam (lame) we got to sit at a table by ourselves in the very back and work. It was nice.
That afternoon the five of us met in Mr. Khushrenada's classroom. We had decided to enter together and leave together, just as a form of comfort. Heero and I arrived first, and while we waited a redheaded girl in issued clothes left the "storage room" that was the way into and out of the patients' quarters. She nodded politely to us and went up to Mr. Khushrenada, who was sitting at his desk. Evidently he was in on the conspiracy, as we had feared, because he didn't even bat an eye at the girl emerging from his broom closet.
I watched as the two spoke quietly for a few moments, and then I looked away out of respect. Besides, the other guys had arrived. We filed into the so-called closet and out through the back of it, using the thumb print identifier disguised as an innocent knothole on the unfinished wooden (steel reinforced) back wall. Passing through quickly, we reached our room.
Now, you may be wondering why we were being so cooperative with the scientists. Well, the answer is a bit complicated. We knew we had a session, and we knew it was for all of us. And, well, it sounds odd, but I guess we thought that since we were going to be together it wouldn't be that bad. Besides, I don't know about the other guys, but I was starting to get really curious about just how wide they could open up our minds.
The power potential was tempting, to say the least. If Heero could peek into time, what's to say he couldn't move through it? What if we learned how to move things without touching them? What if, what if, what if… Always an interesting question.
At any rate, we were all a little curious, but we were still eagerly dreading the session. And eager dread is a strange feeling, let me tell you. You can't wait, but time can't pass slow enough. I don't know exactly how to describe the feeling, except that you feel the freedom of weightlessness with the terror of free fall.
Too soon, too slowly, they called us, using the speaker above the vid-set. A nondescript voice spoke. "Gentlemen, please report to the lab entrance in the next five minutes."
"What happens if we don't?" I piped up, sheer curiosity and a bit of mischief coloring my voice.
"If you don't come, then someone will be sent to escort you using any means necessary," the voice replied calmly.
"Oh," I squeaked back.
So without further ado, we filed out of our room, glancing at each other with worry, fear, and excitement. As I said, we were in deep. They already had us. They could do what they wanted, and even if we still wanted to fight back, we could do nothing at the present time. What other choice did we have, but to try and profit as much as possible? So we went.
As we walked down the short corridor, I noticed that any doors that had been open were being shut. It was as though the other inhabitants had known what was going to happen and hadn't wanted to see us go by. Maybe they'd be disgusted by our cooperation, or maybe it was our hidden rebellious motivations. Maybe they just didn't like us. Who knows? They shut their doors, so we couldn't see them.
When we reached the door to the lab, it opened smoothly in front of us. We entered, and from the whooshing that I felt behind us, closed automatically again. Glancing back, I saw Meiran stick her head through the door and smile sadly at us. Turning back, we kept going.
The two-toned gray décor was a sharp contrast to the rich colors of the living quarters. For the first time I wondered where the doctors and scientists that worked back here lived. They had to live on the grounds somewhere, because I think I would have noticed their comings and goings. Of course, I might not have. I don't suppose it mattered too much, it just happened to occur to me.
We walked up the featureless corridor, and this time I was positive that it slanted upward. Suddenly Zechs stepped out of a shiny gray door to our right.
"In here, please," he toned flatly, allowing us inside. As soon as all five of us were in, he stepped out and closed the door behind him before anything more could be said.
Looking around the room, the only equipment present was a dark gray metallic box on a raised metal cart. It sat in the center of the room, and from a single hole in the top it sprouted several light gray cords that ended in electrodes or sharp puncturing devices that looked to be about three inches long. They did not look pleasant. The appendages were laid out so that two electrodes and one needle tipped cord was extended towards the five molded reclining chairs.
The chairs were covered in plastic and looked rather comfortable, but it was clear that the bottoms of them were rubber coated and grounded. The tips of the electrodes and puncturing devices rested on the floor at the foot of these chairs. Before we could really ask what the featureless gray box was, or what we were supposed to do, the door opened and a very tall bald man walked in.
"Please sit," the man said solemnly. He waited for us to get comfortable, and then picked up the set of electrodes in front of Heero. "Please observe what I will do. There will be mild discomfort for a moment."
That said, he attached the sticky electrodes to Heero's temples, then took the sharp puncturing device in hand. I held my breath as he slid it into the top of Heero's head, making the shining metal disappear completely. Eyes wide, I looked anxiously at Heero's expression, and was surprised that he didn't register any pain at all. Had they programmed the pain out of him, or was he used to this already? It made me sick and nervous at the same time.
One by one the tall bald man did the same to each one of us. You'll never guess who was last. Oh yeah, you know it. Me. By the time the guy had gotten around to me, I was scared to death. None of the other guys seemed to mind the electrodes, but that needle thing? Holy hell. It was weird, because everyone reacted differently, but always without any pain. Discomfort, sure, but no agony that one would expect to accompany having a three-inch needle jammed through one's skull and into one's brain. Of course, maybe that wouldn't hurt too badly. Thinking rationally, nerve cells can't feel pain, right? Therefore, the brain can't hurt. But still…a long sharp needle in the skull was not something to look forward to.
Well, I must say, I was surprised. When that nice spike sunk into the top of my head it didn't hurt at all. I could feel the sharp end pierce a spot in to the top of my head, but instead of encountering bone it slid right down into the soft folds of my brain. It felt really strange, but halfway natural at the same time. Familiar almost, which scared me almost as much as severe pain would have. I was about to reach up to feel where the cool metal entered my cranium when arm restraints suddenly popped up from the chair and pinned my wrists down. Ankle restraints came up simultaneously, as did a strap that tightened around my forehead. Finally, one thick strap seemed to sprout from the chair itself and snake around my waist.
So here we all were, strapped down with spikes in our heads and feeling utterly helpless. It's the worst feeling in the world, worse than anything I can really think of. Glancing around, I tried to control my frantic breathing as the tall man left the room. Now what? We were at their mercy. It completely and totally sucked.
Then the dark gray box thummed deeply, and I felt a subtle vibration in my head. I didn't move at all, but suddenly it felt like layers were slowly being unraveled from in front of my eyes. I felt another presence, and then another, and finally two more. Without warning I was assaulted.
Images of wailing ghosts hit me. Flashes through time accompanied the singing and laughing of a myriad of demons. I felt my heart constrict in my chest as I shared in the pain and the joy of four other people at once. It was a mind-blowing experience, and as I was conquered by the overwhelming amount of new experiences, I only dimly noticed that the gray box had burst into flames and was floating in the center of the room.
As a fevered pitch of screaming and colors and feelings washed over me I felt euphoric. Reaching out with my mind, I could feel the thoughts and emotions, the secrets of those that I called brothers and friends. It was beautiful and liberating, and I didn't want it to ever stop.
But it did. There was an explosion, and an acrid smell invaded my nostrils and brought me back to reality. The gray box had exploded, and the room was filled with lab technicians in white coats. They were unhooking us from the burnt out machine and babbling excitedly amongst themselves.
It seems that we had broken their box, and they were very happy about this.
We were led back to our rooms by people we'd never see again. For about an hour all we could really do was sit there and adjust to our new states, our new contact. The connection we had all made during the session was not destroyed with the explosion of the box. It had only become more manageable.
The machine had served its purpose, uniting us. It just did too good of a job. We were still connected, and we had definitely moved up on the evolutionary ladder.
"Well, I don't need these anymore," Wufei said softly, breaking the silence. He took his glasses off and folded them neatly. He had just fixed his eyesight.
~ ~ ~ ~
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