Ash groggily opened his eyes after the effects of the anesthetics wore off. He was lying in a hospital bed in a white room. Few hours ago Dr Hansen had approached him to start the more serious experiments. Before that he had wanted to show Ash something so that the boy knew why they were going to do the following experiments. He had taken him to a room with monitors and scanners that had several X-ray scans of his body hanging. All of his students were also present there including Oliver who shot him a slightly worried look.

Once he was seated Dr. Hansen softly took his hands and said he had some interesting news. They seemed to have found something strange in his body that could be the source of his powers. He pointed to the X-ray of his upper torso and then at a nail sized spherical spot in it. Ash not having medical knowledge didn't know if it meant something by looking at the image. But he knew that it was located at a weird place. It wasn't dead center but more to the bottom left corner to the ribs. Almost as if it wasn't part of the chest but of the stomach. His guess seemed to be right when Dr. Hansen confirmed it to be on the lining of his stomach.

Dr. Hansen wanted to take a closer look at it. It took a moment for Ash to understand what he actually meant. When he realized that The doctor wanted to cut into his body and view his internal structure, Ash panicked. He immediately refused and they had a short argument. Ash remembered that he stated that he would agree to it once they found Emma for him and he remembered how Dr. Hansen's face distorted with impatience and dissatisfaction. He also remembered going back to his room in annoyance. The rest is a blank. Then he woke up in this room.

Ash warily realized that he was tied to the bed naked, and couldn't move. One of those surgical cloths lay over him but he still felt exposed. He understood the situation he was in. It looked like the doctor was too impatient and wanted to quench his curiosity immediately.

Ash looked around him. The Doctor and his pupils stood in a corner apparently arguing about something in small voices. He couldn't make out what it was but Oliver had a fierce look as he said a bit louder, "nothing better happen to him." Ash oddly felt touched and his eyes stung. As he thought about trying to struggle free, the movement caught everyone's attention and all of them looked over in surprise.

Dr. Hansen rushed over with deep worry and shock on his face. He hadn't expected Ash to shake of the anesthetic so quickly. It was a hindsight from his side. He was worried that the boy had heard their previous conversation. If he did... he would be in trouble.

"Looks like your power is more impressive than I thought." Dr. Hansen stated as he filled another siring with the fluid to knock the boy out. Ash just glared at him with hateful eyes but didn't try anything. He was already used to years of this kind of treatment that he knew there wasn't much he could do. Now he wasn't safe either here nor outside so his choices were even more limited.

Seeing the eyes dripping with hate, Dr. Hansen sighed and stated, "I am sorry about this. But I promise. I have already gathered intel on your sister's whereabouts. As soon as we finish with this I will take you there myself to retrieve her." His words seemed to work, as Ash's eyes widened in disbelief. He didn't say anything but closed his eyes in resignation and allowed the Doctor to inject him with the fluid. Soon his consciousness became blurry and he was greeted with darkness once again.

———————

Dr. Hansen looked at the body of the boy laying on the bed attached to all kinds of wires and monitors. An oxygen mask was attached to his mouth to keep him breathing in case of a mishap. A long vertical incision was seen from the sternum to the tip of the bellybutton. Everyone was against the idea of making such a long, unpractical incision. No one wanted the boy to die. At least not yet when they haven't figured out the origin of his power nor how to extract/duplicate it. But when they saw that the wound was hardly bleeding and that the cut was being sewn together almost immediately, they let go of their worries and made the initial cut longer. Retractors were used in several places to keep the cut open wide to see the internal structure of the body. Dr. Hansen looked up at Dr. Davis who had insisted on joining the procedure. He was more interested in the Subject than anyone else here. So hell would have to freeze over before he decides to sit this out. The young scientist had already warned him to get the most out of it with minimal damage. Dr. Davis's presence was making Dr. Hansen nervous. He ignored the small shivers that ran down his spine as he saw the excited look in the man's eyes.

Dr. Hansen was no surgeon. He was going through the procedure after re-watching several of the old videos on similar surgeries that his students had dug up for him. He was just not willing to bring the camp doctor in on what they were doing. The man was very high on morality and would certainly disapprove on their actions. The monitors attached to the boy were now giving a stable feedback which reassured him. He softly reached in with his gloved hand and separated the organs around the location that they saw on the scans. The excitement and anticipation was visible in his face. His eyes darted back and forth several times and became disappointed. There was nothing there!

George looked up at Dr. Davis and shook his head. The younger scientist frowned in dissatisfaction. He thoughts for a moment before saying. "Check again. Be thorough. We are already here so might as well look everywhere and record down the findings." Dr. Hansen gulped nervously. This really was not his field of expertise and now he had to do more than what was initially asked of. He didn't dare argue and just nodded in agreement. 'You are the one who threatened me to make sure that the boy doesn't die and now you are asking me to dig deeper.' George grumbled in dissatisfaction. He slowly pushed aside the organs and scanned the spot again. Yet he didn't see anything remarkable. As he raised his eyes again to the Scientist opposite to him, he heard something horrifying, "Cut it out!" Cold sweat immediately drenched his back and a heartfelt shudder run across his spine.

A short feeling of pity filled his heart as the doctor glanced at the unconscious boy. 'Looks like you won't survive after today after all.' He sighed heavily and took out his scalpel and started cutting away all the connective tissues that held the stomach in place. As he slowly lifted the organ blood immediately started gushing out like a waterfall. Dr. Hansen panicked and in his impulse stuffed what he help in hand back to its original position. To the wonder of all the people standing around, the tissues of the boy seemed to move the organ around to properly align before reconnecting it as it was before.

A delighted glint flittered across Dr. Davis's face. "It seems like when the body is heavily stressed, the power will do its utmost to bring it back to the original state. From my calculations he can survive much longer than normal people once their organs are removed." His eyes landed back on Dr. Hansen. "Don't stand there like a fool. Continue! Just remember to place back each one before taking out the next." He licked his lips in excitement as he looked ahead with anticipation. Dr. Hansen could only sigh before complying.

They kept at it for hours. Every time Ash woke up from his comma, they would knock him out again to avoid any complications. Every organ was at least once cut out and examined under heavy scrutiny. All the observations were written down and several sample tissues were taken for further observation. There were some times when the boy's body could no longer keep up with their madness and started to go into shock. The monitors were beeping heavily and Ash's heart beat fell to a dangerous low. The boy had lost so much blood that his face and lips turned as pale as paper. By the time they got to the heart, his body had already stopped healing itself. seeing the dangerous signs, Dr. Davis finally ordered to stop the procedure. They would try again another time.

Although they hadn't found what they had hopped for, they were still able to gather a lot of data. What surprised Dr. Hansen the most was that most of Ash's organs seemed to be slowly weakening. They were not in the state like what they would find in a normal boy in his 20s. "My theory is Sir, that the boy is sapping his own vitality each time he uses his power. From the state of his internal structure, I would say the boy will reach his limit soon if he keeps going at this rate."

Dr. Davis frowned at the words. "That means that we have to hurry up with finding a cure. If the boy won't survive long then we have no choice but to speed things up. We urgently need to find the source of his power, and a way to replicate it in case the boy passes." The man thought for a while and then added as if an afterthought "A dead Subject would be useless to us so George make sure the boy's wounds are taken care of."

Seeing Dr. Hansen nod in agreement, Dr. Davis left with the pile of data and samples that they just now collected. George turned to look at the boy on the operating table. If the monitors weren't giving the barely visible feedback of his heartbeat then, he would have assumed that the boy was dead already. He assigned his students to sewing up his wounds and wrapping them up in bandages. After making sure they understood how important the task was, Dr. Hansen slipped out of his makeshift operating gown which was now ruined due to the large number of blood blotches and threw it into the trash for incinerator. Then made his way out of the building. He needed to take care of some unfinished business.

Dr. Hansen first went to the general office to see if he had gotten any reply from Iris. To his relief, there indeed was a letter waiting for him. It only had a single sentence on it 'Accepted but reward needs to be doubled.' He was overjoyed at the thought of getting rid of that blackmailing bitch. Even though he had to give up more food, he really had to let Stephanie know what a big mistake it was to threaten him.

As such, in a good mood he took out another blank piece of paper and started to write out the details of the location where he had transferred the little girl, Emma. She has never seen his face only that of the two men who are tasked with looking after her and George had made sure to not let even them know of his identity. After the stunt he pulled with the boy, it was even more important that he got this task right. He needed to make sure that Ash didn't have an option two aside from the lab. After writing the location and some additional info, he folded the paper and had someone deliver it to the man who was known for his authentic gossiping.

George had made use of the man before to create positive public opinion in their favor when they first declared this place as a refugee camp. He knew that the man was very efficient. They never had direct contact before, George only let his presence known through the rewards that he send the man after a job well done. This time as well, George was positive that he would get the expected result. After that George wrote another letter, this time addressed to the two babysitters in charge of Emma. Soon both letters were on its way through an errant boy to their respective destinations.

Having accomplished all that, George felt immensely satisfied. Today has been a wonderful day. He felt like everything was falling into place. After enjoying the feeling for a while, he finally stood up and made his way to his last destination. This was going to be the hardest part of this trip. He just hoped that this would also go according to plan.

Soon he arrived at the vicinity of Kyle's group of survivors. The atmosphere has been a bit desolate since Kyle's accident. Everyone was on edge and they were exhausted from taking turns guarding Kyle at the hospital. Really no one was gonna get past them. George couldn't help but admire the loyalty they held. Although it was an annoyance to him, it still made him respect them. He sneakily walked passed the lot and came before a tent set up some distance away from them. He first listened carefully to see if anyone was inside. When he heard the soft movements of footsteps, he tapped on door in a pattern that they agreed on. There was a long silence before a voice called out to come in. Dr. Hansen smiled sarcastically and checked to make sure no one noticed him before stepping into the small tent. A fierce glare met him as soon as he straightened himself. He ignored it and chuckled instead. "So, have you made up your mind. I believe I have given you more than enough time to decide."

The eyes staring at him hardened further. But there was no response. This made Dr. Hansen impatient. "It is your own loss if you do not help me out!" He nearly shouted out in his annoyance. He has already been trying to get the other party on his side for a month now but until now he had been unsuccessful.

"There is no guarantee that your words are true. Nor that you will leave us be after we take care of Kyle for you." The other person finally responded. Although it was the exact same response from all the other times, at least this time they knew it was the last chance they had so their words held more worry and distrust than usual.

"Well it's all about trust isn't it?" Dr. Hansen gave a mocking smile and then turned away to leave after a few seconds. "Seems like we don't have an agreement. So the deal is off. I hope you don't regret this decision."

There was again no response. Yet He could feel the anger radiating off of that person in waves. As he was about to step out in resignation and anger, he finally heard a "Wait!" George couldn't help the smile that uncontrollably stretched across his face. He knew that this meant that they had agreed to his demands. It's for the best. Otherwise he would have had to find someone to get rid of this person so that they wouldn't blab. 'Today was a good day indeed.' He craftily turned around and walked back in to discuss the details with a happy heart.

——————

Rhys was visiting his unconscious brother again. His breathing was still stable and the doctors couldn't find any problem with his body. Yet the man refused to wake up. He was exhausted from keeping away the pests who demanded that they take Kyle off of life support. Medicine could not be wasted. If it was anyone other than Kyle lying on that bed right now, they would have been long dead. After a while of sitting with the man and talking about every random thing that came to mind, Rhys finally left the hospital ward and headed to their tents to talk with Josh who had apparently some information that he had been searching for.

Josh was already waiting at the entrance when he arrived. Rhys beckoned him in before taking a seat opposite the guy. "So?" He asked simply. Recently he didn't have much mood to converse with anyone. So people would often find him gloomily sitting somewhere lost in thought. Rhys knew that his behavior was affecting group moral. Yet there were just times when he needed to be 'human' as well.

Josh was already accustomed to Rhys's straight forward behavior. "The man did find some info on the little girl. This is the location that he mentioned. I wrote it down." Josh handed a small piece of paper to Rhys and waited for him to quickly scan it. "I don't know how accurate the info is but apparently he is well known for giving out reliable information.

Rhys folded the piece of paper and put it into his pocket before standing up to leave. "Thank you. I will take it from here." Several thoughts filled his head as Rhys walked off to scout out the place. He was still feeling angry about the whole incident that placed his brother in such a dangerous situation. He was annoyed that he had to let Ash free, when his brother was still comatose, without giving him the punishment he deserved. He was furious about the fact that Ash joined the lab and that Rhys was not allowed entrance to confront him. But then in the back of his head he was worrying when he hadn't seen the boy exit even after several weeks.

Several different scenarios of what might have happened kept flashing across his mind. Although he wanted the boy gone, Rhys still realized that Ash kept occupying his head regardless of his presence or not. Along with his conflicting feeling was a huge pile of guilt that kept pressing at his conscience. The promised he had broken kept ringing in his mind all day long. Rhys had already been looking for information regarding Emma for a while now. Yet nothing had shown up. The tips he usually got were unreliable and often lead to dead ends. This time Josh said the source was reliable. He hoped it was. He really wanted to find the girl, deliver her back to the boy and finally get this pressing feeling off his chest.

Rhys soon arrived at a very crowded area of the camp. From what he knew the large group which went by the name of 'Kontra? Montra? or Cobras or something was said to be located around here. 'Aren't they being ridiculous naming themselves like that?' To be honest he had already made a sweep of this area before and hadn't found anything back then. So, if the girl was really around here now then it could only mean that the people who kidnapped her had been constantly changing locations to throw off the trail. Rhys couldn't understand the purpose back then. But now it seemed like someone else must have know of the boy's powers before it became public and wanted to used the girl as leverage. Rhys didn't like where his thoughts were taking him so he quickened his steps.

He soon arrived at a garbage collection dump. It was some distance from the 'Kontra's?' main tent yet it was supposed to be still part of their 'territory.' Most of the waste produced in the camp were collected and thrown here. Those who were being punished or had nothing better to do would be assigned there to sort through the Trash and sort them for disposal. It was an unpleasant job and everyone hated it. As such they kept away from the area both because of disgust and the horrible stench. Rhys covered his nose with his sleeve as he took another step towards the building that was supposed to keep the smell contained. He couldn't imagine how bad the smell would be if all the garbage was left out in the open. After all the apocalypse hasn't made anyone anymore cleaner and sustainable than they were before.

Just as he imagined, the stench was almost unbearable when he got inside. Garbage was piled high everywhere. He almost felt like gagging. Yet he knew that vomiting out the little food he had eaten today would only be a loss to him. As such he firmly pressed his nose together and focused on breathing through his mouth. As he moved deeper into the building, he suddenly heard muffled arguments from a distance. Instantly Rhys bolted to find the source. One of those voices sounded familiar and his body had already shot forward at the thought of laying his eyes on the person again after such a long time. As he drew closer the sounds became clearer and Rhys was certain that Ash was in the building. Unconscious to him, his heart was already beating faster than usual.

When he finally turned the corner and laid eyes on the scene, Rhys frowned deeply. Although he did notice the pair of twos facing against each other, except for the boy, the rest faded into the background. His brows furrowed further as he drew closer. His first impression was right, Ash looked too pale for comfort. His lips were bloodless and deep dark circles surrounded his eyes. 'Did he lose weight again?' Rhys wondered in worry. 'His whole posture seems to have lost its energy. What sort of experience did he go through in that horrible building.' Rhys cursed under his breath and his eyes turned red.

Rhys noticed that Ash was actually held up by the person next to him as if he didn't have the strength to stand on his own. He wanted to pull the boy away from the elder man and towards himself to keep him hidden behind his back, safe. The sudden thought made him stunned. Suddenly he heard someone call out his name. But he was too distracted that he didn't hear what they said to him. He only noticed the pair of blue eyes flickering to him in first astonishment at his presence and then anger. Only when those blazing eyes landed on him did Rhys wake up from his stupor. He heard another "Boss Rhys." And wondered what was going on. Then his eyes landed on the two men standing opposite to Ash. They were very unkept and dirty. Rhys was certain he had never seen these men before. Yet they called him boss as they held onto the little girl who was unconscious. Emma was finally found. And from the conversation, it looked like without his own knowledge, Rhys had become the mastermind behind it all.

"They were really acting under your direction?" Ash finally opened his mouth and asked his face still distorted with anger. He had just woken up from his post operation this morning. Ash had noticed that his whole body was weak and hurting. He didn't even have the energy to stand on his own. Yet as soon as his legs touched the floor, he demanded to be taken away to find Emma. He couldn't wait and no he just wouldn't wait. Thankfully he didn't have to throw much of a tantrum and Dr. Hansen helped him lean on him as he supported him out of the door and into the camp he hadn't set foot in for weeks. His body shuttered at the thought of this man's hand supporting him. He could still recall the memories of when he woke up midway through the operation. How the man had cut such a long incision on him. How he had held his organs in his hand which were soaked in Ash's blood with glittering eyes. Yet all those memories were blurred as well making him wonder if all that really did happen. Only the incision on his body proved that it did. Ash felt violated. And unfortunately he couldn't wash it away like in normal situations. His heart still squeezed in horror as the scientist stood next to him. His mind made up horrible scenarios where the doctor clawed his chest and pulled out his heart like a demon all the while laughing in delight. Ash was really forcing himself not to throw him off right then and there as he desperately needed his help even to take a single step.

When they arrived at this desolate, dirty place, Ash was already fuming with rage at the thought of Emma being kept in such a location. Once they got in and he saw the kidnappers, he just wanted to rush over and kick them. Emma had seen him as well. She was so thin from the last time he saw her that Ash's heart filled with worry. 'Maybe she thought he had really died out there. Or that he had really abandoned her.' Emma wanted to run over towards him as soon as she saw him. Ash knew that the girl was scared and in pain. It was so visible on her small face. But the two men obviously wouldn't let that happen. They struck the back of her head and made her fall unconscious.

Ash clenched his fists in anger as he took a warning step forward wobbly. "Hand the girl over to me!" Ash shouted at them and hoped it was intimidating enough even if the men were stronger than him and held onto weapons. But as expected, only loud snickers came in response. Seeing the boy take another heavy step forward while loudly gasping in pain, Dr Hansen decided to play the good guy and started arguing with those two men in his stead. He still had to keep up appearances. This lasted for a few minutes. As Ash was ready to rush forward to tear the girl out of their dirty hands when another unexpected person arrived.

All his denials and the excuses he made up for Rhys in his head before died. Ash's eyes hardened with anger and hate. It seemed like his decision was right. If he had stayed in Rhys's team, the man would have manipulated him with Emma. Rhys's presence here was already proof and now those men even called him 'boss.'

Rhys looked completely confused for a second as he met those mesmerizing orbs dead on. 'Wait he didn't really believe that did he?' Rhys wondered and then scoffed at his thoughts. 'Of course Ash did.' Rhys hadn't given him any reasons to trust him. 'It looks like the misunderstanding has already set deep and won't be resolved easily.'

"Leave the girl and get lost before I take care of you myself." Rhys stated in annoyance. 'Someone was going through a lot of effort to make me look bad.' He didn't like the feeling of being manipulated. His eyes flickered to the doctor who was standing beside Ash and saw the slight smirk that adorned his lips. Looks like he found the culprit. He was now certain that he had been tricked from the very moment he got the information about this location. Rhys quickly looked at the boy's pale face who had pushed away his support and had started walking towards him with slow steps while breathing heavily. 'What exactly is wrong with him?'

Rhys couldn't continue his train of thoughts when the two kidnappers spoke again, "What about our damn reward that was promised! We been looking after the girl for months now!" Hearing them still refer to him as the one behind all of his, Rhys started shaking with anger. He was so furious at the misunderstanding that they were causing. He gritted his teeth and glared at them. The two men felt like they would lose their lives if they continued to keep this up and thus decided to back off for the time being. Just as they left, Rhys felt a whoosh of air next to his face. His reflexes to danger were really high as such it was not too hard to catch the punch that was thrown at him. Especially since the punch had no strength behind it. Yet the attacker was very furious.

As soon as Ash realised that his punch didn't land, he raised his leg to kick the man in his crotch while gasping with pain as the action pulled against his stitches. Yet Rhys was still faster than him and he dodged the kick all the while trying to explain himself. Yet Ash's head was only filled with feelings of betrayal and thus he ignored his own discomfort and kept attacking the man. It didn't take long for Ash to be pushed down against the ground with his hands twisted to his back, completely suppressed.

"Have you calmed down enough to listen?" Rhys shouted as he held the boy down. There was no response. Rhys frowned slightly and turned the boy around when there was no longer any movement underneath him. What met his eyes shocked him stiff. Ash had lost consciousness. His face had further paled to an unnatural, sickly white. But what worried him the most was that the light blue loose shirt that he was wearing was dyed in blood. The stains stretched in a long line all over the surface and it was still spreading at a rapid pace.

Rhys was stunned at first and then panic consumed him. With rapid movements, he pulled up the shirt to see what was wrong with the boy. Bandages were everywhere. They were wrapped around the whole torso. The cloth was already soaked through before the blood dyed the shirt. "You! What is going on here!" Rhys roared at the Doctor who came over supporting the little girl on his back. The man flinched at the Ash's state and started panicking as well.

"Don't just stand there gawking. Quick carry him back so I can treat him." The worry in the Doctor's voice was obvious. Although Rhys wanted to punch the man in his face, he knew how to prioritize and quickly swooped the unconscious Ash into his arms and started running off towards the make shift hospital. Dr. Hansen wanted to protest about the destination that Rhys had chosen. He would have preferred if Ash was taken back to the lab. Yet he knew he had to keep his mouth shut if he wanted to survive. As such he followed after the man with the little girl in tow.