The 27th Element: Project 863

Abandoned

D and Wes were furious. What they hated most was that Nelson had been right. If I had been injected every ten hours or so, the symptoms weren't as bad. The problem was that the injections hurt. The device Scott and Wesley had been working on was finally done. He rushed into my room one day.

"Ben!" Wesley shouted.

I jumped at the sound. "W- What?"

He held up a mask. It looked like a modified painter's mask. Vials of serum connected to tubes that connected to the centre which had the Syntec snakes painted on. The main module took the serum and turned it into a breathable vapor. Wesley secured it around my head. I took a deep breath in.  I could feel the difference almost immediately. It wasn't as much of a struggle to breathe, and it hurt slightly less. He showed me how, when I would be able to move, to unclip it and how to refill the cartridges. I thanked him and he left. 

I savored the ability to breathe, if only a bit better than before. I took my chance and fell asleep.

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I was woken up by a horrific nightmare, they had become quite common. 

I was getting better by the day and I could finally move. In a month, or around that, I was finally allowed to leave and go back to work. I should've died then. I never should have gotten better. Because that's when the voices started.

I worked in location one, alone, mostly because I scared everyone. I was working when I heard someone talking. I assumed it was an employee coming to ask me something, as sometimes they did. But I never heard the door open. I looked around the entire unit, nothing, no-one. 

I went back to work, surely my mind was just messing with me. I believed it until it became louder and more frequent. I couldn't hear myself think. I asked multiple people, the ones who all but run away from me, if they could hear it, they could not. I couldn't work and I could tell Nelson was getting irritated with my slowed progress. People looked at me like I was crazy. I am not crazy. But despite my efforts, I let their doubts settle. I had been running a high fever, perhaps I had severe brain damage.

What bothered me the most was D was avoiding me. I had heard rumors of an antidote. That would get rid of the pain I was living with, day and night. I tried to talk to her, but she was never in her office, or she had to go somewhere. She couldn't even look at me. 

The serum had turned my eyes a repulsive red. Two long tracks of scarred skin stretched from my eyes down to the bottom of my jaw. 

I figured the only way I was going to talk to her was to use the chat logs.

b27- D, we need to talk.

My hands shook. 

D- You're not supposed to be on this thread anymore. You should be resting.

I gave a half-hearted scoff.

b27- It's touching to see some concern from you.

D- You are currently filled with the most amount of that serum than Syntec has ever recorded, you're a walking time bomb at this point.

I'm not sure why, but that comment hurt.

b27- We both know what would fix that.

D- I know. And it's what I'm working on day and night. But an antidote will only work if you stop letting him inject you.

She didn't understand. She didn't take the time to ask. I couldn't just 'stop letting him inject me.' It was the only thing keeping me breathing.

b27- I know the two of you don't get along, but I figured you would at least work together on something like this.