Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56((Playlist: Radioactive by Imagine Dragons))
“Please give us another chance, sir.” Dr. Gable Raciti, Clinical Research Scientist,—as his virtual name card read—broke the silence. “I have a plan in my mind. I am certain it will produce a result. If it doesn’t, I will take full responsibility for that.”
The rest of the group that comprised mostly scientists and a few surgeons, glanced at one another.
“Go on,” commanded the director.
The other man stood up from his seat before giving a bow to the smaller man.
“Subject 0025 is over the age limit and he is showing no result,” he paused and then open slideshows in the place where Dr. Lance had stood. The series of pictures that depict a variety of animals such as monkeys, guinea pigs, and cows and brief notes caused a few people to raise their eyebrows.
“It would be a waste if we let him die in there. Instead, I suggest we give subject 25 a few days of rest and do Tafoya Experiment on him.”
A surgeon started, “But it was prohibited to even test on animals. It is so…” The director glared at her and she apologized quickly, “I’m sorry. My mistake. It was unprofessional of me.”
Dr. Raciti looked at her. “Infinity is not just for profit. We have taken the responsibility of saving humankind. When it’s necessary, we have to make sacrifices. It takes bravery, doctor.”
The director ordered her to exit the room. The surgeon headed to the door, shaking her wavy hair slightly. Dr. Aber finally sat down in his seat. “You have a point,” he said. “We have never executed a tafoya on a human. You lead the team and keep your promise.”
When the director left, Dr. Raciti loosened his tie around his meaty neck. He shut the slides by his side; nearly all of which had similarities, such as some animals were mutilated and others had extra legs or claws.
A while later, in casual clothes, the man headed towards an exit. He looked behind him a few times throughout the last corridor as if he was expecting someone to be there. He must have lost that thought as he stopped glancing back and entered the vestibule before the exit. As he stood comfortably, a stream of light enveloped him. He held his head high and looked somewhat pleased with himself.
“Your clearance is not enough, Dr. Raciti,” Tess declared.
His expression changed. “I have been promoted. I request a human supervisor,” he said gloomily. “I have enough clearance for the request.”
“Request granted,” the system answered. After a few minutes’ pause, it announced, “Your clarification level has been increased. You may exit the building at any chosen time along with other benefits such as...”
“I don’t have time to listen to that list.”
“Sure.”
Black doors before him slid open to a space where various hovercars were parked. He smiled.
From the dust and bricks, a hovercar rose into the open air before heading outside of the caged city. A few kilometers away outside the building of Infinity, a bulky vehicle flipped on its side was sticking out among the ruins, as it was still newer than the others and in one piece. It looked like a giant bowl with dents and scratches all over the body.
The abandoned city was silent, with no sign of life.
***
The door opened with a click. They let him out, covered in his own filth. As they dragged twenty-five out of the tight space, cold water splashed him. It was freezing cold and forced him down to the floor with the pressure.
They threw him back inside his glass room. Bewildered, he looked up at the date and time on one wall. Four days. It had only been four days, but it lasted like a month to him. At least he could finally stretch his limbs.
Since his punishment, he found his meals were better. It was larger and more varied than before. He sneaked a glance at the surrounding rooms; his neighbor’s meals were not like his. Yet, everything was the same as before, except that. They woke up, they exercised, had their meals, and did everything exactly as their instructions.
Until a week later when someone unexpected visited his room. The visit itself was shocking. After that, everything changed.
In the surveillance room, a man suddenly sat up straight from leaning back in his seat. “Who is that?!” he asked with a frown. A few other people glanced at what he was looking at, with bored looks.
Hundreds of screens were displaying every single corner of the building and the views of the nearby area. The tiny views filled the walls, the ceiling, and the floors. At least hundreds of them showed the glass rooms with the kids.
The speaker enlarged one specific view. There was one extra person in room 0025. The view showed the back of the man who was in a white coat. He was standing face to face with the occupant of the room. “What was he doing in there?” the security officer asked again after identifying the man with a different angle and a scan. A colleague next to him glanced at the screen.
“Does he have the clearance to be in there?” she inquired.
“I’m checking now,” he tapped on the virtual keyboard.
“What was he saying? Raise the volume,” said another one sitting next to him.
But the man was whispering to twenty-five’s ears. It was inaudible. He was also hugging him.
“Yes. He can enter there. Stupid Tess!” he cursed.
The woman shushed him. “Do you want to hear her condescending voice?!” she whisper-shouted.
“I’m not stupid. I am one of the smartest computers in the world, dear,” uttered the voice. It continued about its reasons for allowing the scientist into the room. “Dr. Aber has not directly ordered me,” it said.
“Alright. Alright,” the man raised his voice. With a lower tone directed at his colleague, he asked, “What the hell is he doing?” He sounded perplexed.
“Maybe this is his experiment. Probably they are close?”
“I have never heard of such a thing as a scientist being close with a guinea pig.”
Laughter filled the room.
MOTION DETECTED! a booming voice announced, interrupting them, and yet, it only attracted a few people’s attention. The marked area was outside the building, one corner in the endless junkyard.
When they checked it, the area was vacant and lacked of any movement, and the alert stopped as well. “We need to replace the motion detectors. I am telling you. It is not working correctly. It has been more than a week. Whenever I make a request for more budget, it takes like months.”
***
Twenty-five recognized this man as he had seen him in the treatment room. He was taller than him, while twenty-five was tall at his age despite being painfully skinny. The doctor had dark hair and blue eyes. He must have a name, unlike twenty-five and other kids, but he did not remember anyone referring to him with any name, while he had a recollection of most things in detail.
What he did was unexpected. He stepped closer and suddenly hugged him. When he spoke, he said quietly but clearly.
“Listen carefully. And don’t talk. You are an intelligent kid. I have looked through all your data. They are going to kill you. This time for sure, son.
“This time, you will suffer. I know what you are thinking. Yes, you have suffered before. This will be more than that. I couldn’t imagine the amount of pain they’ll put you through before they kill you.
All he wondered was why he was telling him these things. The doctor continued.
“I am not one of them. Not anymore. Before I left, I wanted to do one good thing that was to free you from this. Yes, son. You can be free. There is a whole other world outside this. I am helping you to get there.
“If you let them this time, your death won’t be as easy as your friends. No one deserves this. Not even an animal. And you are a person. Despite what they told you, you are. You deserve much more than this horrible fate.
Uselessly, he tried to swallow the hope.
“I know your birthday was months ago. Here, take this. Don’t open it. This is my gift for you.”
He gripped twenty-five’s hand, putting something inside his fist. It was slim, small, and had a sharp edge that bit into his palm. He told him that this was the gift that would help him escape here. He also instructed him where to hide.
“They all are monsters. I used to be one, but I am not anymore. They deserve that. Don’t be afraid. I will be just around the corner. I will come for you right after you’ve done what I am asking you to do. I will get you out of this place, kid.”
Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
Subject 0025 Chapter 6: The Birthday Gift
((Playlist: Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana)) When he left, twenty-five repeated the word ‘gift’ silently. It was an unfamiliar word. Strange. The gift stung his skin. He might have found his palm bleeding if he looked at his palm. He did not open his palm until lunch, just as the doctor had instructed.
Subject 0025 Chapter 7: Complete Garbage
((Burn It by Fever 333)) At exactly 13:56:03 hour on November 30th 3026, an impatient voice echoed within a small office in Paradox District City. “Mr. Kasowski! Mr. Kasowski!” it said. It was one of the countless news agencies that had been popping up on a daily basis within the federal district of CNA. The owner of the voice was a mature-looking man in his second millennium. He was the editor-in-chief of the agency. At his voice, the translucent torso in front of his desk startled and looked up at the man. It was the form of a nerdy-looking man in his early twenties. “Sorry, sir. The cat is asking for food. I fed her two hours ago. I can’t believe she is hungry again,” said the form, aka, Mr. Kasowski. “Right. So kind of you,” remarked the editor sarcastically. “You can’t report this kind of stuff as according to an anonymous source. They will go after the agency like sharks that smell blood. Who is your source?” On the desk, pages of a newspaper dated December 1st, 3026, fill
Subject 0025 Chapter 8: Blood-stained Furniture
((Monsters by Shinedown)) What he felt was pure hatred. At that second while he was looking at him, he could not believe how much he loathed that face. Look how that man was looking at him. Like he did not exist. He did not register as a human in his eyes. Twenty-five gritted his teeth. Despite his uncertainties and confusion, burning hate took over him to do that again. That was when he realized that to end somebody’s life, you must want to do it. Dr. Raciti opened his mouth to say something, but he was the one who had the first word. “Dr. Lance sent his regards to you.” It was a roar. Ugly raw emotions shaped his voice, making it rough as if it was someone else’s voice—that of a grown-up man. He did not know why he said it. The blade sank into the meaty body, causing the red drops to splatter his bony face, his loathsome white pajamas, and the annoying plain white floor. The shock and pain distorted the doctor’s face. He tried to say something again. Unlike the last time, no wo
Subject 0025 Chapter 9: In Plain Sight
((The Beginning by One OK Rock))At first, fear overtook him. This time, it was not about pain. Or even death. It was the fear of losing hope. Being trapped here forever after killing someone. After facing his own death.There they were; he saw them. It was impossible to escape the narrow path blocked in every direction. Even with his ability, what was he going to do? He would only be back in his tiny glass room. Along with other boys and girls. The ones behind these black walls. Only pain and horrifying death awaited them. Then there was this strange thought he had never had before. That none of them should be locked up in here. Not just him. They all should be free.As they were closing the distance, he stood there holding hostage to one of the people who had been responsible for his and other children&rsquo
Subject 0025 Chapter 10: The DRAs
((Bulletproof by Godsmack)) Concerning the unexpected hostage situation–though true that hostage situations are not generally expected, this one was more so than the others–, the most affected were none of the parties that were present on the basement level 3 corridor but the DRAs. That was, of course, if you would ignore the party whose head had just gotten blown off. The DRAs were people at the Department of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Following the Managing Director, they were the second most hated in the entire building that conspired with 60 stories. Being a scientist and medical doctor himself, Dr. Hadarit Aber had no clue how AIs were programmed or designed aside from how to order them around. Thus, apart from their major responsibilities, the DRA handled everything that involved AIs, including who should have authority over the robots and who should not, unless the Director gave them a specific order. Shelves, tables, and cabinet filled the level and a mess of wi
Subject 0025 Chapter 11: Hurt A Bit
((Made of Stone by Evanescence)) He chose one of the other six elevators–not the middle one, where they had usually forced him inside. There must be a reason why the machines had always selected that one. Usually, two illuminated circles would appear when someone would show their palm before the panel but it did not work now. The smooth, plain white surface remained the same. The footsteps behind him were getting louder and louder. So close. He must get inside right now; otherwise, every single pain he had gone through would be useless. He pressed his palm around the panel; nothing appeared. With all his strength in his tired, thin body, he tried to push the white barrier aside. ‘Open! Open! Open!!’ he screamed internally. All his force was on his hands; there was nothing to grip on, not even a hairline crack. ‘Clunk. Clunk. Clunk’ the noises came from right behind him. Before he could turn around, a heavy strike landed on the back of his head. He lost his balance, feeling dizzy.
Subject 0025 Chapter 12: Shoot Him
((Eden by BATTLE BEAST)) With a gloomy realization, he swore. Right. Swearing was among other things he had picked up on this torturous path. This again! The alarms, the warning, the long pause, the footsteps, the shot, and then the headless body. The blood splashed all over him again, which gave him a new idea. He regarded the body, especially its certain part. One thing led to another, and he peeked at the babbling person and his group at the other end of the corridor. He smiled, liking his own thought. With the background of mechanical parts shifting and switching, twenty-five considered the blade in his hand. It was too small to do the job. It would take at least several minutes. There was no way he would have that much time. He even doubted if it would be possible to cut bones. If only he had a weapon bigger than this. When he ran, he had a plan in mind. These people had more than one gun on their bodies. A few people dropped the ones in their hands when the machine hands went
Subject 0025 Chapter 13: A Matter Of Minutes
((Throne by Bring Me The Horizon)) Up it was, but he realized after wasting a few seconds that would not have mattered. The door opened immediately. Twenty-five was ready to give a bullet to whoever awaited on the other side, but thankfully, it was vacant. Inside, he had to display the hand again to see the floor numbers. There were 60 circles in total, unlike in the middle elevator, including the ones combined with alphabets, such as the current floor B3. He could easily figure out how the ‘Bs’ on ten floors represented basements because of one button G. He had heard a few times some people mentioning ‘ground floor’ casually, and G could only mean that. If that was the case, B could also be something related to ‘ground’; for that, Underground would make sense, and similarly, it also meant ‘basement’. In choosing a floor, he had to gamble, since he did not know where he should go. Although they had dragged him along multiple levels while they were humiliating him, the numbers of fl
Latest Chapter
- Subject 0025
Chapter 62: One and a Half Years Later
***AD 3028, September 28th***Noah glanced at Ivan, his hand pausing on the brake, sighting a hustling bustling rooftop. He zoomed in on the view on the widescreen. They were at the top layer of the troposphere, and this ordinary sunny rooftop less than a hundred meters away from them rather looked like…“It looks like a picnic spot. Doesn’t look like a headquarters of anything, unless it is a headquarters of ‘the Aero-volleyball Association’,” he voiced his concern.“You’ve become quite witty… and charming during the last two years, my guy,” Ivan pushed his shoulder, nearly shoving him against the curvature of the window glass beside him. He cleared his throat, straightening up and shoving him back. He’d trained like hell for two years, and he’d be upset if this scum of the earth could still take him out in a melee.“Don’t be stupid, Ivan. You know these guys. Usually, one or two of them would patrol on the roof, while the rest of their nest spent their days and nights doing their p
- Subject 0025
Chapter 61: A Mole [Volume II Ends]
The silhouette was as still as a piece of lifeless furniture as he approached. As though it didn’t belong to a human or an intelligent being. It moved, separating away from everything around, revealing the masked man who fired right at him.He had quick reflexes: by then, he had already moved out of the path of trajectory. He fired back, at the same time as his shot. Along with the explosion in the living room, the masked man slammed sideways to the shelves; in his attempt to balance himself, ornaments and devices scattered.He tipped a toy bird away. It flew up to the nearest human in its front who was aiming for another shot despite his injury in the ribcage; caught off guard, he yelped and slumped to the floor, losing his grip on his weapon. “You’re dead! You shouldn’t have snooped around,” growled he.“A message… from who? You?” “From them, motherfucker! You’d be dead soon.”He appeared to be pumped up with adrenaline. “Do you know me?” Blaise watched him clambering around bef
- Subject 0025
Chapter 60: Adopt You
He found two issues in keeping their lives intact: Macio and whoever contacted him. He had taken the photograph of the message screen while he was at it, which cloned the screen itself, including the embedded links. As he held the avatar, a tiny man in a suit smiled at him. Like a soft, flimsy object, its movements rubbed his palm. Leaving it afloat, he touched the linked name. Heads appeared out of the garage; when they sighted him near the ceiling light, their steps faltered. He waved his hand at them to mind their own businesses. He sent the first message under a false name. #B: How’s your evening, Mr. Stone? This might be your last. This was one effective way of getting a response from ‘Xavier’ if they had any connection. The page stayed blank under his message bubble. He made the hologram only visible from his viewpoint before repeating the same message until the notification would be so glaring. #X: Who is this??? Who is Mr. Stone? This confirmed he knew Mr. Stone. Peop
- Subject 0025
Chapter 59: Green
A flicker of disappointment flashed on Peter’s face, at those words. His hand went to a screen, a casual gesture, as though he was planning nothing serious. “Don’t insist on your lie. Tell me where he is.”“I can make you die faster than what you are attempting to do,” Blaise warned. The gaunt man snorted, seeing now he had a gun at his face instead of at Natalie. He halted his hand. Instead, he opened his mouth, to make a voice command instead. Wheez! Argh! He slumped to the floor, gripping his leg. Blaise made a dash and got his hand on the program controlling the weapons in the hall, in a blink. Under his eyes were simple panels of load, reload, discharge, and disable for each and all machine guns albeit without the images. Simple things had a tendency of being secretive. “NO! Don’t!” Hands grabbed his leg.[Discharge and Disable] he pressed because that was the only possible choice. Despite choosing the right button, the weapons were not shut down. Because someone else was re
- Subject 0025
Chapter 58: Crucial
They were not following her yet, he muttered to the headset, ending one communication. Although Natalie had the potential to be a crucial lead, hell might be breaking loose as Ivan informed him. That involved a few people dying, including Antonio and probably the caller since he made the call.“O-kay. We’re driving back to the den.”“Do you want to take the task?” “What do you… following her? Sure. I should get off then. I can try searching her around.” In the wristband he was holding, he selected the tracking map. [Sent] and [arrived] Noah’s hovercar was right behind his. “Her location? How convenient. I didn’t notice you put a tracker on her, Jayson.” Because he used his ability to obtain that information about her. He didn’t say it out loud. And, one of these days, he needed to stop everyone calling him by that name. The vehicle in the rear views successfully switched to a further air-lane. Later, a group of children in nursery-logo shirts crossed the air. Blaise waited to av
- Subject 0025
Chapter 57: Girlfriend
He took in the entire cafe that maintained its calm but noisy demeanor just like when a quarter hour ago. A seemingly safe spot with no sudden bursting in, nobody screeching for killers. Seeing Noah stuttered, looking in his direction, he added. “Leave. Stay in the act.”As his own advice, he was also still a lone teenager, visiting here for random browsing over a cup of coffee. In-between the rush hours, he didn’t have to look out for too much to not get hit by some vehicle whilst crossing. He spotted a white shirt in the distance. Even if they walked side by side, they would hardly look dangerous. But, he wanted a bird’s-eye view. This Hector person had something to do with Isaac, someone close to him. His/her absence was the proof itself. A girlfriend? Boyfriend? Or a close friend?He spread the map in the vision of the headset, and instructed. “Turn right. We’re going to the Fountain Plaza.”“Got it. What is there though?” the response came into his ears.“Cobblers mostly.” He di
- Subject 0025
Chapter 56: I'm Fake
The news was so insignificant that he might as well be stalking people around on his own and met an accidental death. There was no mention of an undergoing investigation. Was he on duty or not? Not included. “You were right! They don’t even care!” Noah said, as they crossed paths in the den. ‘They didn’t care?’ That was doubtful. Blaise resorted to getting into casual conversations with his former colleagues at a crime scene, a high-end restaurant at the top of the troposphere. Certain types of questions demanded casualness.Half of the staff, especially the servers, were AIs; with a borrowed suit, he made himself as immaculate as possible to pretend to be one of them. And be polite.Nobody seemed suspicious of him, not to mention they didn’t recognize him. A wealthy couple was murdered, possibly poisoned, and he answered their questions by modifying the AI’s answers.“Last week, we had fewer reservations compared to this week, officer. The majority were regulars except for Detective
- Subject 0025
Chapter 55: He's Gone
Oh, shit! Shit! Shit! Noah swore inwardly in shock. He was dead! He was not thinking straight when he made that shot. The damage was so obvious even before he broke into a run, under the dimmer lights at the ground level. He had been following him since he spotted him across the sky-lanes. Only when they got to a street market, he realized that the one behind Jayson had not been going his own way as he had first thought. He had tried to warn him, but he had nothing. That had been quite a fall. At first, he considered taking a road-elevator. That looked like a suicide but he would lose sight of him while he had an enemy so close behind him. When he got to his side, he showed no surprise at seeing him or him shooting someone to death. “You killed him.” Jayson sat down by the body. “I guess. I thought….” he blabbered. “Are you having regrets?” “No. Not really.” Jayson removed the remaining headset, a chunk of it at the back was gone. A revolting sight that was, and he did that. T
- Subject 0025
Chapter 54: Encounter
A new noise he hadn’t heard during the first visit prevented him from immediately going out of the vehicle: a usual beeping sound that didn’t belong to his wristband. Noah should have nothing on his body that gave off that sound, except…Crap! He rushed to the door; though the noise stopped, it had already alerted the surrounding. Upon his exit, he pressed his back against the vehicle and looked over to where Noah stood, who started to explain. “I didn’t—”“Get here!” he whisper-yelled. “I’ll go check,” said a cop from a distance. Noah moved, but it was too late.“Who’s there? Kevin?”The voice and the footfalls came from the other side of the vehicle line, already in proximity. He must have seen a suspicious figure. “Freeze! Hands in the air! Announce yourself?”Blaise straightened up, to intervene if necessary. “I’m a reporter.”He might not be necessary. A ray of light fell; he silently moved his leg away. “Show me your ID! You’re trespassing!”“WHO IS THAT, LIEUTENANT?!”“SAI
