Project Orpheus: A Tale of Blood and Feathers

Chapter 12: The Containment

Derek was not at all happy about any of this. The child who had come in was now screaming and crying, which was distressing enough, but any attempt to calm her only seemed to make her worse.

"What is going on?!" Myrtle asked. "Who is this child!?" She stammered at Chester.

Chester immediately through his hands up in the air. "I don't know! This is Noh's doing, not mine. I didn't even know this child existed!"

"Who is she?!" Michael asked. "I wasn't aware of her either."

Bittie spoke up, standing at the door and scanning the halls.

"She's a part of Project Hercules. It's a study in reviving people from vegativie and even brain dead states using nanotechnology. That's all I'm at liberty to say."

The child suddenly went dead silent, and crawled herself into a corner, curling up into a ball. Derek finally realized he had, in fact, seen these cuts before.

"What happened? She obviously needs medical attention!" Derek said.

"Obviously," Bittie said. "We've got doctors specializing in her care on the way."

Anise knelt down and held out her hand to the child. The child's eyes swiveled toward her, and her head tilted. Even from here, Derek could feel the intensity of her stare all the way from where h was on the other side of the room

The two store at each other for what felt like hours, until the child reached out and touched Anise's extended hand.

"You're very loud..." the child said.

Derek shook his head, the weirdness getting to a bit too much. The child's eyes then swiveled to Derek, and that piercing gaze ran straight through him. He was right - it was like the child was looking straight through to his soul.

It was then that an individual, a young looking man in a lab coat, came in. The girl immediately started screaming again. Derek almost felt like something was clawing away at the inside of his head, a surprising headache that he didn't usually get from sound. The man ignored her and injected her with a syringe. The girl stopped screaming and over the course of the minute went from a screaming, scared child to a sleeping and surprisingly serene one.

"Was that necessary?" Myrtle asked.

"Yes." Said the man and Bittie simultaneously.

"Medical treatment for Hercules is a difficult process. It's easier if she's unconscious." The new doctor added.

"Is that really her name?" Ashton asked. "Hercules?"

The blond man picked up Hercules, cradling her in his arms. "Yes. Project Hercules created her, so that's her name."

"Hold up, what the hell do you mean, 'created?'" Derek asked.

"She was born specifically for Project Hercules. I can't really be more specific than that."

"Your secrecy is concerning." Myrtle said.

The man just shrugged and carried her out. A little ring came from a nearby wall, catching everyone's attention. They all turned to look, and a formerly invisible panel in the wall slid apart to reveal a large screen. Dr. Noh was visible on it.

"Ah, good. You're all still there."

"Yeah, hey, Noh. Who was that child?" Anise said. "What the hell are you doing to her?"

"Nevermind her, she's a bit of a wild card. She seems to have let the Utahraptors out. FC-02 and BB-32 already took care of two of them."

"How many more are there?" Derek asked, making sure to make his frustration clear.