Subject Zero: CONFIDENTIAL (Short Stories)

The Doctor (2)

Part Two: When the Wind Dies Down

November 21, 1984
Forgotten Woods, Mirror World

Third Person's POV
The day after meeting the Doctor, he suggested that he, Tui, and La should become acquainted before training begun. The two girls didn't learn much about him, but he learned some things about them: they believe Joplin created them, meaning they don't remember their memories from when they were humans; they don't know they are replacements; and they've been to the laboratory in Norwood, but are unaware of the Shades' involvement with it.

The girls didn't know the Doctor's real name, didn't know why he looked so humane rather than strange or monstrous, nor did they know what his real intentions were. Even they couldn't read him, but he finds them hard to understand, as well.

The three of them were walking in the heighest area of the forest, as the Doctor was followed by Tui and La. They were very far from the Manor, it would take hours to get back.

Then the Doctor stopped walking, and turned to look at them. "Now find your way back to the Royal Manor. This time, I have the patience to wait until daybreak. But no later."

Tui and La were already exhausted from walking for so long, but were now confused when they watched him walk over to a door in the middle of the forest. He just opened it and on the other side of it was the living room area of the Manor, then he stepped through the door and closed it behind him. When Tui rushes up to the door and opens it, all she sees is the trees she's surrounded by.

La just says, "That's the test...? Does he think we'll get lost because of the fog?"

Tui then comments, "And all we have to do is get back by daybreak. I wasn't expecting him to go easy on us."

     "Right! We'll probably get back hours before daybreak."

They both felt pretty confident. Together, the two began running down the hill, but then Tui trips on a tripwire. She instantly got up and the two looked around to see if anything was suspicious. La notice a log tied to a rope was swinging towards them, so she grabbed Tui's arm and pulled her aside so she wouldn't get hit. But as they stepped back, they stepped on a pile of leaves, which they instantly fell through and landed in a large, dug up tiger pit.

Rubbing her head as she sat up, La says, "...A tiger pit?"

Tui slowly stood up, trying to wear off the pain. "...Of course. There are traps all over the mountain. I knew that guy wouldn't go easy on us on the first day."

La felt so perplexed. "When the hell did he even set all this up? We've been with him for two days straight." When she crawled out of the tiger pit to stand up, she accidentally put her hand on a string she hadn't seen on the ground. She instantly let go of it, but fell right back to the ground when another log tied to a string hit her in the back of the head.

Tui flinched since it was so sudden, and quickly rushed to help her up, seeing her rub the back of her head. "Crap, crap, crap...!"

La looked at her, then at their surroundings. "If we keep walking into these traps like this, we'll never make it back to the Manor by morning!"

Tui was finding it hard to breathe. "Not to mention, the air here is thin... It's no wonder I feel so dizzy."

Moments later, the two of them were running down the hill.

Trying to gasp for air so thin, La says, "I might pass out...!"

The two stop running, and Tui pants in exhaustion. "I might, too... But we have to get our breathing under control..." She took a deep breath, "And sense all of those traps before they can hurt us."

La took deep breaths, as well, and closed her eyes, concentrating. When focusing on locating any traps, they both began to sense their surroundings, as if nothing could get past them.

When feeling as if they could sense out the area, the two continued running. When Tui even brushed the bottom of her foot over a string, she dodged the log swinging straight toward her head.

Together, the two of them managed to dodge and avoid anything that swung at them, was made to drop or fall onto them, anything they would fall into or trip over, anything that was shot at them.

They swiftly avoided arrows being shot at them. They dodged any log that was swung at them. They jumped over or ran around any trap they could fall into. But they did still somehow manage to fall for some traps. La stepped on a large branch that was stuck to the ground, but as soon as she stepped on it, it snapped and stood straight up, bringing her with it and throwing her over, and she very roughly hit the ground. Tui stopped when she heard the loud thump.

La weakly stood up, and more branches instantly swung at her, but Tui pulled her out of the way before La could even process it.

"...Guess we shouldn't expect to sense everything. Some things like that are just unpredictable, and there isn't always a way to get around it."

Tui sighs, agreeing. "Yeah, but... No matter what, we have to make it. We need to make Joplin proud of us, okay? We need to show him we're strong, and not failed creations. We have to get back."

As the two began going back down the hill, Tui had her hand on La's back, and was healing her and trying to restore her energy. These were the only abilities she knew — she had practiced it a lot after she watched the Doctor heal La.

But they were still so far away. It was still so dark, it was going to take them hours to get back to the Manor. La had her doubts about making it back on time, but with Tui's confidence that they'd be back before the sun rise, La was beginning to feel hopeful.

For Joplin.

6:28a.m.
Royal Manor

The Doctor was only reading a book as he patiently waited by the door. After a moment, he looked at the watch on his wrist, checking the time. The sun is about to rise, he thought. When he glanced out of the window, he didn't see the two girls. ...I suppose this was too difficult of a task for them. They won't make it before the next minute.

Not even five seconds later, he heard a door creak open. Calmly, he walked over to the back of the Manor where he heard the creak, seeing Tui and La weakly standing by the door. Blood was dripping down their faces and they had dirt and bruises all over their bodies. La's clothes were ripped up and covered with dirt, and Tui had blood stains on her clothes.

The Doctor looked fondly at them. He gazed over at the time on the clock, seeing the minute hand move forward. 6:29a.m.

La says in a quiet voice, "...We... made it... back..."

In agonizing pain, Tui fell to her hands and knees, holding herself up with her trembling arms. La leaned against the doorframe in absolute exhaustion. When the man saw that La was about to fall over, he grabbed her by her shoulders, holding her up. As she just leaned on him, he let go of one of her shoulders to help up Tui. Slowly, seeing as the two girls were terribly debilitated, he walked them over to the nearest sofa where they could catch their breath and rest.

The Doctor softly smiled as he gazed at them. Although Joplin was not in the Manor to see what the two have just accomplished for him, the man in front of them was very proud.

{ End of Part II }

"One cannot exist without the other."