No Pain: Book 1

Chapter 17: Star

               The needles they slide into me are one of the most violating things they do to me. Taking more of me away to store in their freezers, their labs. Looking at me as a science experiment instead of a human. I try to ignore them, focus on escape but the doctor keeps pulling me back in.

"To what extent do you not feel pain?" The doctor asks.

"I don't feel it." I roll my eyes. "That's the whole point, isn't it?"

"Maybe, we've had so few of you and each one has had different variations. One can't feel anything cold, one can't feel any pain, as long as the pain doesn't penetrate his skin. Another can't feel internal pain, and still another can't distinguish between hot and cold."

"and so, what do you want from me?" I ask, "you've already seen so many others, what could I possibly add?"

"We're trying to decide if the gene builds over time or if the genetics are a chance mutation."

"I'm leaning toward chance mutation." I say.

The doctor laughs "and why is that."

"Because chance mutation means you're wasting your time on me and you already have everything you need in your test tubes and underground labs." I give him a pointed look.

"You must be tired." He sighs "you get snippy when you're tired." He pushes his chair away.

"Food wouldn't hurt either." I almost want to bite my own tongue off as the words fall from my lips. Kader would have said something like that by accident and the laughed about it because he's just so funny he can't take it. I roll my eyes at the imaginary Kader I've formed in my brain since they left me.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt." The doctor smiles picking up on the accidental joke. He leaves the room and I breathe a sigh of relief. A small reprieve from the poking and the prodding and the eyes, the eyes were the worst.

"How's Thai sound?" The doctor strolls back in one hour and forty-two minutes later. My stomach growls at the smell of food.

"Sounds good, what's the catch?" I ask

"I find my subjects are more cooperative when they're not treated like experiments." He hits a button at the top of the table I'm on and the restraints open.

"What are you doing?" I ask confused.

"Come, eat with me." He sets the food on a small table in the corner and offers a chair to me.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" I ask.

He shakes his head "no, come eat."

I accept his offer because my stomach is just going to get louder and because what else can he do to me?

"Pad Thai." He says, offering me a fork and a to-go container.

"Thanks." I dig in without question. It's definitely the best thing I've eaten in a while. I finish the whole container and sit back.

"That was so good." I sigh and use my arm to wipe my mouth.

"Do you always eat that much?" The doctor inquires as he takes another bite of his noodles.

I nod "Yep." When I remember to eat.

"You must have a fast metabolism." The doctor says.

I shake my head "I work out a lot." I tell him. He'd never guess how much.

"We noticed you had a much higher than average muscle mass." The doctor looked me up and down, but not like he's looking at me, like he's examining me, breaking down my genetic code right there and piecing it into a weapon.