Chapter 29

Pov White

It’s been four days already but the subject hasn’t shown any changes after the initial scanning. But that was the first time used the device so it was probably a matter of calibrations. We have pushed the subject to its limits already so I’m not sure what more can we do. Because of that, I’m forced to try a different approach.

This strategy was used before in her pain resistance training but I'm hoping that the physical growth of the subject would have an influence on the results.

We are going to try directly to stimulate the nanotech that has infused itself into her central nervous system. But to do that and to minimalize the risk, we have to get the subject to better condition. We gave it food and water yesterday evening and again today morning so we should be able to start this tomorrow.

“Are you sure this is smart? That girl in there is freaky. No matter how much I beat her down she takes it quietly, and heals soon after.” Frederik complains. He is the one in charge of her treatment.

“Don’t think of it as a girl. It may have been a girl once, but even before her birth her humanity was stripped.” I inform my dumb little minion.

“What do you mean by that?”

I turn to the surveillance screens that show the subject eating on her cell floor in an uncomfortable position because of the chains we loosened just enough that she could eat, and ponder how to answer.

“Well you see, in one part of the enhancements they receive, their ability to feel empathy is reduced and replaced with the conscious want to hurt. Their sense of self is diminished and their overall nervous system is heightened along with their muscles.” I explain him, quite proudly.

“That’s just twisted.”

“Hah! That’s just the start of it. That ‘girl’ there.” I point towards the screen. “Was implanted with nanomachinery. When we get it operational, you have no idea what we could achieve.”

He just shakes his head and turns to look at the monitors. His face pales as he sees the image.

“What?” I ask and turn to look.

“Is it supposed to be able to stand?” Frederik asks.

“No… The gas should make that impossible.”

But yet, there it is, standing.

It is looking around the room but doesn’t seem to notice the camera. And how could it? It’s just the other end of a fiber optic cable that is in the room. The actual camera is here in the command room.

We watch as she tugs the chains, first lightly, and then with force. At the second attempt, the chain broke off from the ceiling. Now she is studying the shackles. She twists her arms as much as she can and uses her knee as a fulcrum when she places her weight on the shackles.

She stands back up and we can see the severed chain that was binding her arms together.

Her left arm is bent the wrong way but that doesn’t seem to affect her. With her right hand, she sets the bones with one quick movement.

She studies the heavily reinforced door for a moment before sitting in the middle of the room in a lotus position. She straightens her left arm and makes a fist before relaxing it and giving a faint smile. She turns her attention back to the door.

*gulp*

2 Days Earlier

Pov Linda

It has been two days since Calla went missing and we aren’t any closer to finding her. Anthony is working with the local police, but all they managed to do, was to track the van to a private airfield. We have no idea where they went from there.

I managed to get a hold of Brian who said that he was chasing a lead, but he didn’t tell me anything more. I’m in my hotel room, just waiting for the phone to ring. There isn’t anything else I can do at this point.

Thinking again how they found Calla, there are only a few options. First, the library wasn’t so hidden as we thought but knowing Mox and his reputation I think it is highly unlikely. If it wasn’t Mox or that the library wasn’t hidden in the first place, that just leaves me and Anthony.

And Brian. I told him about the library. Anthony is very unlikely to be the one who sold Calla out since he’s originally just a cop from DC. He shouldn’t have the connection. Brian, on the other hand, would have the connections, but I refuse to believe it!

But it’s the only way. The way he has been hard to reach for these last few weeks… But he just answered my phone call. He isn’t stupid, I’m sure he realized that I must be suspecting him and he still took the call. If he disappears he is the one responsible, and if he doesn’t he still could be the one responsible...

*ring*ring*

I end my train of thought and answer my phone.

“Major Shelia.” I say. I can see it’s the general from the caller ID so he probably made a decision on how to proceed. I have explained to him what’s going on and have been waiting for his answer.

“Major, There isn’t much we can do, seeing we have so little information. But I talked to the rest of the brass and we came to a decision. We will inform the Americans about our investigation of the Caturix, and tell them about Gregory Wilson. They can more easily gain information since he is on US-soil.” He informs me

I don’t really agree, but that’s still one way to go.

“Let’s just hope that they decide to do something about it, sir.” I say to the general.

“They will. One of their own's involvement with an organization that has been actively promoting war and terror from the shadows, it would embarrass their government so they’ll try to get to the bottom of it as fast as possible.” General Raven says. Maybe he is right, I can only wait and see.

A few hours later

Pentagon

Pov Military police

I kick the office door in once one of my men yells” Military police!”.

The office is big and luxurious, a bookshelf on the left and paintings on the right wall. At the end of the office is a big dark wooden desk with a window behind it. Between the window and a desk, a man stands, startled by our sudden entrance.

“Gregory Wilson, We have an arrest warrant for you. You will be taken into custody immediately, please don’t resist.” I inform him as two of my men walks up to him.

“What is the meaning of this! You have no right!” He continues but my men don’t care. They take his hands and starts putting the cuffs on.

“Get me my lawyer!” He barks at me.

“I’m afraid that due to your alleged activity, we are forced to see you as an enemy combatant. Thank God for Patriot act.” I answer with a smile on my face. “Take him away. Start going through the office.” I give additional commands to my men.

It takes few hours to search the office from top to bottom and coming up with nothing. That is until we run a MEMEX search on the geo-data for the burner phone we found that we get something. With the commander of the 110th platoon, we watch the satellite image from Puerto Rico. The geo-tags puts the location of Wilson in this facility a few days ago.

It’s only a house made of concrete but the infrared images reveal the underground complex that spans hundreds of meters of area.

Present

Pov White

“The hell we are supposed to do now?” Frederik ponders. We are still staring the subject who is waiting for the door to open.

“I…” Just as I’m about to answer something else steal my attention. It’s the perimeter alarm from the surface. I turn to look at the screens that show the surface and freeze.

There is a soldier squad ready to breach. Americans by the looks of it.

Fucking shit. They can’t ruin everything when I’m so close to achieving it. Before I can think of a plan, an explosion shocks the facility. They blew the door and breached.

The next ten minutes pass by quickly as I watch the battles that take place in the narrow corridors of the facility between our guards and the spec ops unit.

“We need to get the fuck out of here!” Frederik yells in panic and for once I agree. We start heading out towards one of the emergency exits but I’m not confident we make it. This place wasn’t built for fight and retreat. It was never meant to be found.

We quickly walk along the corridors, listening to the sounds of battle that echoes in the complex. Turn after turn we proceed, always fearing getting caught when we round a corner.

And then finally we got surrounded. They didn’t shoot us as we are unarmed but they did make it clear they are ready to shoot. The battles are dying down now by the sounds of it.

“What now?” Frederik whispers to me.

Idiot. Doesn’t realize it’s all over. For him at least. I’m a smart guy and an expert in my field. There is a chance that I can continue my research under their government.

A squad of six escorts us through the corridors and towards the surface. If I counted right, they sent three squads of nine to take the facility. And even though they were outnumbered to us, Special Forces is just that much more effective than the hired guns we use for security.

As we are escorted through the corridors Frederik spots something that makes him freeze. He just stops and stares somewhere and cold sweat starts forming on his head.

I look behind him and see what he was looking at. The soldiers are checking every room and collecting documents. Not that they will find anything of note. As per procedure, I shredded all my research from the database. I didn't have time to erase all of the data, but the important parts of my research only exist in my head now. The soldiers are now using a breaching charge to open the only locked door they found. The room of the subject.

“Don’t open that!” I try to scream, but it's too late. The leader of the squad turns to look at me, and then at the door just as the lock mechanism is exploded.

“NOO!” Frederik also yells but too late.

Pov Calla

I hear battles, gunshots, and explosions. Somebody is attacking the base. I’m as ready to escape as I’ll ever be. My body is in good condition, my broken arm is still healing but I'll make do.

I patiently wait for my chance. I cannot open the door by force, but someone will do it for me. I hear how they have now put a small breaching charge on the door so I ready myself. I’m like a sprinter waiting for the start of a race.

“Don’t open that!”

*BAM*

“NOO!”

I run as fast as I can. Before the broken door even hits the floor, I have jumped through the doorway. The world moves slowly around me and the signals once again come to my attention.

Now is not the time for that though.

The soldier waiting behind the door are too slow to react as I weave past them using my smaller size and greater agility to my advantage.

Twenty meters ahead of me, on a corridor that runs perpendicular to this one, stands White and zombie next to each other.

Their hands are shackled, and they are escorted by six soldiers.

I sprint towards them and enjoy the terrified faces of my targets. The soldier surrounding them takes notice of me, and aim their guns. Because they have friendlies behind me, they cannot shoot freely. And the few shots they managed to take was easy to anticipate and dodge. Way easier than before.

Three meters to go.

White is my primary target. Because something he said. If I kill him, the research dies with him. And I’m guessing by his character that nobody else can anticipate what I’m capable of. I doubt he shared about the possibilities of what I could do in detail with the others.

Zombie stands in front of him, and there are three soldiers to their left and right.

I jump forward, flying past the zombie. When I’m passing White, I grab his head with my right hand and use my momentum to add to his. With all my strength I smash his head against the wall behind him. I feel something crack, and his body going limp. Not giving myself time to drop to the floor, I jump from the wall back towards the Zombie.

The soldiers tried shooting after I killed White, but they were too slow, only hitting the wall and Whites body that is falling down.

It all happened so fast that Zombie just turned around to look at White’s direction when I was already approaching him midair.

With my high jump, I take his head between my thighs and use his body as a fulcrum, to swing behind him, turning his head 180 degrees in the process before gracefully landing on the ground.

The crack of his neck was just as satisfying as I imagined it to be.

During my landing, I thought about my next actions. I’m not entirely sure which military this is, but it isn’t the J.A.T.F. so that in mind I decided to escape.

Getting affiliated with J.A.T.F. in a similar situation once before I'm not eager to repeat that with another military.

Pov Special Forces Sergeant

As the bloodied girl lands on the floor, none of us know what to do. She just killed two of our captives in front of us in a span of a second! I mean what the hell!?

“Don’t move!” One of my men yells at her, but she pays him no mind. The girl wearing only underwear and covered with scars and blood starts sprinting away.

Few shots are fired to her direction, but she always sidesteps just as the shot is fired.

I yell orders at the radio for the rest of the men to stop her. I just hope that they make it. The girl's speed is something inhuman, and it seems she knows the facility like the back of her hands.

After minutes of silence, no further reports come about the girl.

“There is no way she could just have disappeared into thin air! She has to be here somewhere!” I yell at my men.

The girl was obviously a captive here. She looked to be tortured, and the broken shackles on her wrists support that.

I understand why she wanted to kill her captors, but why did she run away from her saviors? And how did she do it so effectively?

Pov Calla

Running in the corridors I get more understanding of my abilities. By concentrating I connected to the facility’s network and got the blueprints of the place. It’s like the map is overlaid with my vision without hampering it.

And that’s not all. The surveillance feed from the cameras is also available to me. It’s hard to concentrate on a singular feed, as that hampers my true vision. But if I study the feeds as a whole, I get the idea where there are soldiers and those locations I can consciously overlay with the blueprints.

It is easy and doesn’t take long to avoid the soldiers and for me to get to a room I was aiming. From here, there is an emergency hatch to the surface. I can see that the soldiers are guarding the main entrance along with the smaller entrance, but not this one.

Climbing the stairs I emerge in a jungle. I’m battered, I need new clothes and a shower but at least I’m clear.

As I’m wondering where I am, I use the internet connection of the facilities to connect with a satellite.

“Woah” I cannot help but to exclaim.

This is so cool.

I know now that I’m in a jungle in Puerto Rico and I know the way to the nearest city. As I study the inaccurate feed, I notice something else. Signals are coming and going between the sky and the soldiers. I know enough about warfare to guess what it is about.

I concentrate on the signals and it rewards me with a new bird's eye view. It’s a UAV belonging to the special forces that attacked the facility. From it, I can devise a safe way out, hiding in the cover of the trees. Something else I realize that the UAV belongs to the USA so it’s safe to say it was the US military that attacked.

Starting to make my way out, I cannot help but smile. I look probably half dead, and surely look very ‘indecent’, as Linda would say, but still, I'm happy. I just gained a new weapon for my arsenal, one that I'll carry with me at all times.