Vessels || Dustin Bates

Unbecoming

Screaming. That was all that surrounded the girl. She wasn't sure where it was coming from, whether herself or some other source. What else it could be, she had no idea. In the past weeks, she had seen nobody other than her father, his scientists, and a few carnivores that threw her back and forth as the people tested their newest theories on her body.

After so long of holding everything inside, Shaylee's emotions were torn open. She felt like she was bleeding out everything she had never felt. It was sorrow in the truest form. Torture. She had tear stains streaking her face constantly. The pain of the injections, drawing of blood, electrical shocks all correlated to the point where her brain could not handle it, producing the only thing that it could: tears.

That only made it worse. When the tears started, they would add electricity to her body, sending everything in her sizzling and screaming for it to stop. They constantly refused. Nothing could stop the pain. By the end, no tourniquet could stop the blood flow. There was too much damage. It was irreversible.

"Commander Diaz, about the girl..." The scientist stood in front of the door where Shaylee was to be. The commander came regularly to check the progress of his most prized possession.

"What about her?" The commander sounded very short with the slow progress of his project.

"Commander, Shaylee has died." The graying man stood fuming at the news.

"Did you attempt resuscitation?! She's strong enough to handle it! I engineered her!" He screamed at the man. The scientist coward against the door that hid the dead body of the Carnivore.

"N-no, sir." The man shoved the scientist out of the way.

"Want something done right? Do it your own damn self," he grumbled, opening the door and shutting it behind him. He moved the sheet that laid over the body of his blood daughter. Her eyes were closed, her straight hair splayed out around her head like a halo of darkness. Diaz growled, baring his teeth at the disappointment his daughter had become.

He moved over to where the output of the electricity they had been charging her with was. He grabbed the metal rod and held it over her chest, starting to charge it with the current. He plunged it down into her chest, stopping it just above her heart. The charge shot through Shaylee's body, jump-starting everything. The girl's eyes opened suddenly, the blue truly electric as the current transferred through her entire body.

The commander pulled the rod out, blood pooling around the opening of the wound. Shaylee was hurt, but alive. He could continue. Her body did not stop crackling after the electricity was taken. Diaz smirked.

"Shaylee," he called to her. She looked to him, her eyes unblinking. "What are you, Shaylee?" Without hesitation, she responded to him.

"A Carnivore. The first Carnivore."

"What were you created to do?" The man felt pride well up in his chest. He had broken her, put her back under the original programming. All she needed was just a little jump start.

"I was created to destroy The Messengers."

"Every last one of them?"

"All of them."

"Even Doctor Bates?" The wheels inside the man's head were turning. If he had Shaylee back under his control, he could take down The Messengers without a doubt. He wouldn't even require the help of his informant, Doctor Aston Wise.

"Even Doctor Bates."

"Perfect. Then you have your first order. Execute Doctor Dustin Bates."

In a moment of hesitation at the name, Diaz was concerned that the name had the ability to shake the programming out of Shaylee once more. However, he knew he had victory when she answered him.

"Yes, sir."

I opened my eyes, looking at Ben.

"Did you find her?" He walked over, placing his hand on my shaking shoulder. I nodded, my eyes welling with tears as I stared down the FEC Carnivore we had captured from the base on Alexi.

"I found her." I blinked, sending the tears down my cheeks. "Kill it." I glared at the disgusting creature in front of me. It was simply a pawn. It sat back and watched Shay die. It deserved to be killed.

Ben nodded, looking to Ron who led me out of the room, not allowing me to see the death of the Carnivore.