Unknown Experiments

Chapter 6

I'm going to start adding some authors notes in the form of bold text at the beginning and end of these chapters. I also apologize for any confusion for character jumps or flashbacks that don't have any sort of page break on them, I don't know how to implement those here. Anyway, this chapter's got a lot going on, so I would highly suggest taking it all in and trying to keep track of each detail. You never know what might be important. And I love this chapter's ending since it really ties everything together and includes some more stuff you may want to remember

Lucia stood on the lift that went down to the lowest level of the facility. She was surrounded by four other experiments who would be joining her, but she wasn't entirely sure about what would be happening. "I have some ideas, but they're most likely wrong. I haven't had any combat testing in a long while, so I may be a bit rusty. And if I'm rusty, then it'll cost us the whole test."

Lucia sighed, but she felt one of the other experiments lightly touch her arm. She quickly looked over at them, a little surprised they weren't trying to get away from her like the other experiments on the lift. She gave what she had meant to be a soft smile, but it looked more nervous than anything. Before the other experiment had time to react, she turned back to face the entrance of the lift.

Within a few seconds, they broke out of the dull gray metal of the facility and into a bright, flourishing jungle. Whether it was artificial or not was hard to tell from nearly four thousand feet up. And off in the distance was the other end of the facility, nearly two miles away. What made up for the massive length and the mile wide width was the beauty the jungle held.

Lucia just stared at the jungle below her. As she did, the other experiments stepped away from the sides of the lift to gaze down at the mass of large trees, vines, and plants as well. But however much she wanted to reach out and touch the plants, the giant glass tube that kept them from falling off prevented her from doing so.

Within less than a minute, they had descended down nearly the entirety of the lift. In the last couple hundred feet left, the glass cut off, being replaced with the entrance to a metallic structure. The other experiments fell back when the bright jungle was cut from view, but Lucia didn't react whatsoever. The only thing she did was take a deep breath.

The lift came to a stop within the next ten seconds, revealing five clones and rows upon rows of weapons. They ranged from small handguns to rifles and carbines to snipers, all the way to blunt weapons and small blades. There was almost no limit to what was at the experiments' disposal.

The guardrail on the lift opened up, and Lucia stepped forwards. The other experiments followed in quick succession behind her until they formed a V shape with Lucia at the head. The clones walked up, holding a set of clothes for each of the experiments. However, when Lucia was given hers, she tossed the shirt and boots to the side, only using the military grade pants that were handed over. The other experiments had already put theirs on by the time the clones came back with bulletproof vests and padding, but again, Lucia didn't put them on. "I need to start doing this without any of those. I've relied on what's been given to me for this before, but that's not how it's been anywhere else. The less I rely on them, the better."

The closest clone looked at Lucia and said, "The vest is mandatory. The Head has required it to be worn at all times when entering any combat test."

Lucia rolled her eyes at the mention of Belos and grabbed the vest from the floor before she put it on. The camouflage patterns on it looked horrendous to her eyes, but she would have to deal with it as it was. Once she was done, she saw a sixth clone she hadn't noticed walk up to her. The clone pulled her up in front of everyone before unlocking the collars and started to speak.