Son of Lazarus

Chapter 16: Bring Them In

December 22nd, 2040
5:34 a.m.

   "Sir! Sir!" The sound of racing footsteps interrupted his thoughts, bringing his head up to stare across his office at his door. His hands rested lightly upon the curved, blacktop desk that sat in front of him and his eyes never left the door as it spiraled outward, allowing a young soldier to come bursting into the room.
   "What is it this time, Rubin," the man asked, his voice housing a commanding tone. He folded his hands together until his fingers interlocked with one another. "I thought I made it clear that I was not to be disturbed."
   Rubin brought his head up to stare at the man sitting behind the desk. He towered above it and wore the typical business suit of any CEO. His hair was bright blond and cropped close to his scalp and his eyes were like shards of ice.

   Three rings sat upon his hand. On his ring finger sat a golden band to signify his married status. His thumb housed a black ring edged in silver, part of its design forming a diamond near his knuckle. And a third ring sat upon the index finger of his right hand.
   It was an unknown ring with a circular base that came to a point at the top and bottom. Strange designs were etched along its surface and in the center sat a crystal blue gem, its surface mimicking a cloudy sky.

   "A thousand pardons, sir," said Rubin once his breath had returned to his lungs. "But they found something that they wanted you to see."
   The man's head came up, along with his hands. They cupped together at the bottom of his chin, their index fingers resting lightly on his skin.
   "Do tell, Rubin," he said, his voice dropping to a pur. "What did they find?"
   "They wouldn't say," came the answer. Rubin took a step to the side, revealing the open door behind him. "But they made it clear that you were to see it for yourself."
   The man rolled his eyes with a hint of annoyance before he rose from his chair, standing to his full height of six feet.
   "Fine," he said, his tone begrudging as he left his desk. "But this had better be worth my time, for their sake."
   "They anticipated that as your reaction, sir," Rubin said, following after the older man as he began to walk out of the room and down the corridor.
   "So they told me to reassure you that it would be well worth your time."
   "Like I said," the man answered, a dark grin crossing his face. He paused in his walk and fixed Rubin with a hard, icy stare. "It had better be. For their sake."

   Octavius raised his hands to adjust the black tie that hung around his neck before slicking his fingers across his cropped hair before he continued down the corridor. Together with Rubin, Octavius entered through the door that led into the scientist's wing.
   An array of doors lined the corridor they had stepped into and every room had a handful of scientists milling around inside. All of them worked for him, most trying to isolate the gene that gave the Variants their abilities.
   Others worked on Serums that would better enhance the natural-born abilities of the Soldiers. And yet others were working on developing certain Serums that would allow Mundies the very power that a Variant would have, but only one proved fruitful.
   Octavius looked around the rooms as he passed them. These minds were the ones behind SM-115, the very enhancement that all potential soldiers from the Asylums under his control received. It wasn't a favorable color but it made it easier to identify from the others.
   Octavius and Rubin stopped outside of a single door with the words TOP SECRET strewn across the top wall. Octavius squared his shoulders back. Behind this door were the scientists tasked to work on the most sensitive of subjects.

   Soldiers like Rubin were very rarely allowed access. Everyone who entered—including the scientists—was sworn under secrecy.
   "This is where I leave you, sir," said the young soldier, earning his boss's attention. "I must return to my patrol."
   "See that you do," Octavius watched the boy turn around and make his way back up the corridor before he turned toward the door. He rolled up his sleeve and placed his wrist underneath a small rise in the wall.
   A red light illuminated his skin moments before the feeling of many small needles dug itself into his skin. He watched as blood traveled through the coded tube and into the scanner. A necessary upgrade, he reasoned with himself.
   It was a new development he and the other scientists had recently come up with. The scanner could read a unique, personalized code hidden within everyone's DNA by extracting a small amount of blood.
   When the needles retracted from his wrist, Octavius pulled his arm away, pressing his free hand against the area to prevent it from bleeding any further. The scanner below beeped and its red light turned green, allowing him access.

   The door slid open, revealing the contents behind it. Taking a breath, Octavius stepped inside, rolling his sleeve down as he did. The room here was large and spacious, with varying degrees of scientific equipment scattered around.
   Behind him, the door slid shut with a hard clunking sound, and ahead of him, Octavius could see a single scientist beginning to approach him.
   "Ah, sir!" Octavius turned toward the man that had approached. To his surprise, it was one of the younger ones. He was surprisingly tall with a handsomely shaped oval face, complimented by chocolate brown hair and mysterious green eyes that fit perfectly against gently tanned skin.
   "Good of you to come," he continued once he had made it to Octavius' side. "We found something in the security footage of Site Seventeen that we think you should see."
   "Show me, then," Octavius said, motioning for the boy to take the lead.
   "Right this way," Octavius moved after the youth, carefully sidestepping the other scientists as they worked. The boy led him to a row of desks upon which sat holographic blue computer screens, each one showing a variety of different things.

   The computer that the young scientist had led him to was different than the others. Instead of having many scientists milling around it, this one only had one. There was a video playing on screen, zooming in and getting enhanced by a series of codes typed into the interface.
   "Emma," the young boy called out to her, gaining her attention for a moment. "Care to show Mr. Jones what you found?"
   Emma's gray eyes flitted over to Octavius for a moment before she nodded and turned back to the computer, her brown hair tied into a bun at the back of her head. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, the video on the screen rewinding.
   "What we found is...well, disturbing," she warned. Octavius stepped closer to her, a grimace of disbelief crossing his face. What could be more disturbing than walking Soldier Two tear a man limb from limb, he wondered.
   "Here it is," Emma said, raising a finger to tap the on-screen play button. Octavius folded his arms across his broad chest and, shifting his weight onto his left leg, began to watch the footage. It detailed Doctor Thresher approaching one of the patients with a syringe full of blue liquid; their narcotic.
   Nothing out of the ordinary, he thought. Sometimes the use of the narcotic was necessary to reign in unruly patients. Then a frown creased Octavius' face the longer he watched. A look of horror had crossed Thresher's face like he was seeing something terrifying.

   The patient had sat straight on the bed, his legs still tucked under him. Then, all of a sudden, Thresher was hoisted into the air by an unknown force, unseen by their eyes.
   "What is that?" Octavius asked, leaning down to plant his hands on the surface of the desk to get a better view. From what he could see, nothing was holding Thresher aloft. And yet, he was kicking wildly, his hands grabbing onto something above his head.
   "We don't know, sir," said Emma, fear edging her voice as she spoke. Octavius was far too fascinated by the footage to even notice that she was afraid of his answer. "That's why we wanted to show this to you."
   Octavius took control of the computer, gently leaning in front of Emma. He played and replayed the footage again and again before straightening up, his arms falling to his sides in an instant.
   "Very promising," he said with a nod, his face remaining emotionless. "Put Subject Seven and Six both on our list of Soldiers. We're going to reclaim what's rightfully ours."
   With those words, Octavius left the scientists to their business. He swiftly left the room and went back up the corridor. He took his first left and wound his way through the corridors until he reached the cell block.

   He barely noticed as he passed by Soldier One's room and stopped at the next door down, SOLDIER TWO scrawled on the side of the wall. Octavius planted his hand on the holographic scanner, watching the door as it slid open to reveal the dark interior.
   In what little light pooled into the room, Octavius saw the man at the back of the room stir, his mint-green eyes glowing in the light.
   "I have something for you to do, my pet," he said, his hands slipping into his coat pocket. He stepped into the room and withdrew two pictures from his pocket. One of them had a girl on its surface with the label SUBJECT SIX scrawled across the bottom of it.
   The other picture was of a boy with the label SUBJECT SEVEN scrawled across the bottom like the first. Octavius stretched his arms out to the man in front of him, watching as Soldier Two took and studied the photos.
   "Find these two," he began, his voice harsh enough to gain Matthew's attention. "And bring them in. Alive."

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