Lab One [Fate]

[ĸara вelova★]

Everything was groggy. Kara was extremely disoriented when she woke up. She moved to push some hair out of her face, but her hand wouldn't move. Slowly she realized she was strapped down, and the claustrophobia set in. Kara wasn't one to scream. Kara never screamed. It said a lot about her that even now, when she was reliving nightmares of waking up on a morgue slab, she wouldn't scream. Her heart rate increased dramatically, and her breathing escalated to the point where she was light-headed and forced herself to calm down so she wouldn't pass out.

Eyes flicking from left to right, having long ago discovered her head was strapped in place too, her pupils shrank as they took in the fluorescent light. Her stomach was cold... bare. She looked down, struggling against her head restraints, and saw her bra. That faint red thing in her peripheral vision must be her winter coat. Wiggling her legs, she was thankful that her jeans were still on, but the strap holding her waist down rubbed against the raw bruises on her hips, receiving a cringe from the captive.

Mouth opening, then closing abruptly after, Kara closed her eyes and used her gift to figure out how many people where in the room...

"They're looking for me," Kara barked, her voice harsh as she tried to turn her head in her captors' direction.

[Admin]

The room was empty of people, for the most part.

After all, most of the workers had gone home for the evening. Even crazed, illegal researchers need to rest and recuperate. The director and Dr. Reed had been about to leave themselves when Kara arrived. Now of course they had something to attend to.

The director had been readying various serums for testing on Kara. They'd already taken a sample of her blood and were currently running it through the system now. In fact, the readout was quite intriguing. It looked as though there was something unique encoded on Kara's DNA, and that in itself intrigued the director. From the look of things, the girl had something inhuman and unnatural about her. Which would help explain the sudden emotional changes they kept feeling.

Now the director knew exactly which chemical he wanted to try. He quickly prepared a syringe of liquid, setting it near Kara on the table. Once the girl awoke, he'd begin.

And it looked like that time was now.

"Good morning, Kara," he teased. He walked over to stand near her, smiling down. "You know, we could have worked well together, if you had been cooperative. It's a shame that we're in this position. Just remember, this is all because you chose to come in here."

He reached for the syringe, testing it. He also pulled out a rubber thong, quickly tying it around Kara's arm.

"And I really wouldn't suggest trying your little trick again. I might panic and get confused on what serum to use next. The wrong mix could be quite bad for you," he smiled at her, then tapped her arm, searching for a vein. He apparently was satisfied, and quickly thrust the needle into her arm.

"This is a potent truth serum we've concocted. The plan is to use it to pry information from our competitors, and we're hoping to sell the formula to various countries. Of course, we need to test it first," he pressed down on the plunger, injecting Kara with the serum, "let's hope there's no side effects, hmm?"

[ĸara вelova★]

Kara screwed up her face at his words.

"I also chose to leave, ass hole," she spat at him, straining against her bonds. But then she began to freak out when the long rubber tube was tied. Something just out of her visual range was glinting at her, and it wasn't a good glinting. Kara liked shiny objects, sure. But... Kara Belova just didn't do needles. But she did as he suggested and kept her fear to herself. She really didn't want that thing jabbing into her arm and then ripping the skin.

The inevitable jab made Kara squirm instinctively away from it, and she was biting down on her lower lip so hard that she could taste the salty and metallic taste of her own blood. What was he saying now? It was hard to concentrate on his words when there was something unpleasant invading her body.

'Pry information' did not sound good to her. What did she possess that she wouldn't willingly give for her own life?

"You didn't need that," she hissed. When the liquid hit her bloodstream Kara's mouth was open, and a small noise of pain leaked out of her before she clamped her eyes closed and lips shut.

Side effects? Let's hope there's no side effects??? He was testing an untested substance on her. Was she some sort of animal to him?! Her fury left an even more unpleasant taste on her tongue than the blood. Thankfully the manipulative, cold bitch she was reputed to be had already come up with a plan the moment those words left his lips. Her heartrate slowed and the muscles in her neck went limp, no longer fighting against the strap over her head.

A smirk pulled on her lips, and eyes closed, she spoke.

"Romeo and Juliet are lying dead on the floor. They are surrounded by broken glass and water, and the window is open. How were they murdered?"

Would the doctor know if his curiosity was genuine, or his own? Was her plan to distract him, confuse him? Hardly.

Kara was just really fucked up.

[Admin]

The director observed Kara with a calculating gaze. Again, he was touched with admiration for the girl. Perhaps they could convince her to work for them. Or even brainwash her into it. There were certainly chemicals prepared to do just that sort of thing. And an electric helmet somewhere, if memory served.

He simply ignored her comment. Clearly she was trying to dodge any future questions by proposing strange logic puzzles or quoting odd facts. It was an interesting strategy, and he wondered how long it would last. After all, she couldn't avoid forever. If need be, he'd simply find another chemical to test on her. Though he truly didn't want to at this point, she was too valuable to waste.

"Do you know that we took a sample of your blood?" he asked. He turned to look at the computer screen, smiling. "It's shown us something quite interesting. Did you realize that you have a genetic abnormality of sorts? Your blood is slightly different from humans. We're still looking at the cellular structure but it's truly quite fascinating."

He looked down at her, still smiling, "We'll certainly have to take some more samples before we're done. See if we can duplicate the effects. Now."

He leaned down and locked eyes with her, "Are there others like you, Kara? Perhaps this 'Eiji' of yours?"

[ĸara вelova★]

Kara swallowed away her discomfort when he mentioned drawing blood. They'd already done that? Wonderful, they'd be spared a fainting episode, although Kara wasn't sure how much of a blessing it was to be conscious right now.

He was talking about blood again. Her blood. What was in it. She wasn't human? That was news to her.

"A man is lying dead in a field. There is an unopened package lying next to him. How did he die?"

This is what she said instead of answering his questions. She skillfully refused to react when he brought up Eiji's name - she had known it was only a matter of time before they used their extensive resources to find Lucifer. She had figured out that they'd probably found the nickname in her phone. Cursed device. It was good for nothing and getting her and her friends into a lot of trouble. Trouble none of them needed.

"I'm not different," Kara insisted at last, opening her eyes to be assaulted by the flourescence, "I'm human."

[Admin]

"Oh, you most certainly are different," argued the director. He situated himself so he stood near Kara's hip, arms crossed and looking down at her. "The blood as much as proves that, Kara. There's a code embedded in there that gives you something special. We already know that. Having you admit to it really isn't going to change anything."

he chuckled, shaking his had. Then he reached into his pocket, withdrawing Kara's cell phone. He flipped it open, staring at the screen.

"By the way, you forgot to answer my question. Are there others like you? With your unusual blood? Siblings perhaps? We could just run you through our system, it's remarkable how many records there are. Just insert 'Belova' into some records databases and watch the pings. Or you know what? We already have another name: Eiji Almasy. Should be simple enough to figure out something on him. Names have a way of having information attached, Kara."

He leaned over her now, arching his brows. "Do you want to cooperate? Or should we call Eiji and ask him?"

[ĸara вelova★]

Codes, DNA, blood. None of this interested Kara. Sure, she could probably tell the man what she knew of basic biology; she'd read enough text books on Gifted. She was still human. There was nothing anatomically incorrect about her. He should be able to see that, seeing as how they'd removed her coat to easier stick her with needles. All she was wearing was her bra and jeans, and she was very conscious that the crescent-shaped scar over her solar plexus was visible.

He was asking her about others. Did he honestly think she was noble enough to withold that? He needed no truth serum.

"Define 'like me'," Kara requested. Then he brought up Eiji. They didn't know anything about him, yet. They didn't need to know how she felt about him. For all they knew he was some old man somewhere who would come to rescue her if she texted him.

"Don't try to intimidate me," She spat, closing her eyes again. Briefly she wondered if the silver ring on her left hand was sharp enough to cut the bonds, but she didn't entertain the idea for long. She wasn't going to get out of here unless they let her go.

"You don't need that," She said more calmly, taking breaths.

Kara made an extreme calm blanket the entire room. She almost felt sleepy with the slowing of her heartbeat. She could count each beat in her ears.

"There are others," She promised, voice quiet and relaxed. The man would be feeling quite comfortable now. This wasn't some elaborate plan to lull him into feeling secure, this was a calming exercise she was using to collect her thoughts.

Kara had no obligation to withold information. She was just a teenage girl, not some hardened, aged agent with legal responsibilities. Her sixteenth birthday was just around the corner! No one would blame her for giving information to these lunatics. Plus, they had tried a truth serum on her. Even she couldn't tell if it was working. This was because she hadn't been planning on lying in the first place. Okay, with Kara it was always impossible to tell if she was telling the truth or not, because she was a pathological liar, and very good at it. But really, she had no reason to go against this guy's wishes.

All she wanted was to leave.

[Admin]

The director could have said several things. Several things came to mind. However, she'd given him what he most wanted: "there are others." Now he had what he needed to start searching. If Kara had been in St. Louis, it meant that "the others" must be somewhere nearby, hiding somewhere. Assuming there was a group of them. It could just be a handful. But the director was fond of positive thinking, and he already pictured a veritable army of special people.

"Roughly how many others would you say there are?" he asked. His voice was smooth and cloying, poisonous honey. "And could you give me a location? Somewhere to look for them? I'd be quite interested to talk with them. To learn more about them, of course, and what they can add to our research here."

He spread his arms wide, indicating the lab.

"Who knows, maybe we can use your special talent for good? Help mankind. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

[ĸara вelova★]

Kara choked.

"How many others?" She repeated, "I don't know..." How many hairs did he have on his head? Could he answer that question? It wasn't as though Kara made it routine to take a head-count of all the students.

"And I could give you a location. Though I don't think many of them would appreciate being tied down like this," she muttered, eyes still closed. They wouldn't be as helpless as me either, she added mentally. When he began preaching about using her 'special talent' for good, Kara scoffed.

Why the fuck would I ever want to do that?

"Sorry, not interested."

The calm persisted.

[Admin]

"Well," the director shrugged, turning to walk away, "if you can't give me the answers I need, I suppose I'll just have to look elsewhere. As I said, we have several names to work with now. Belova's a good start. And I'm sure we'll get something from Almasy, your reactions have given that much away. He must be as special as you. If not, well, he'll certainly be surprised when we find him, now won't he?"

The director looked over his shoulder now. "You could always give me a place to start looking for other people. Maybe I could even let you go, leave your family and your little boyfriend alone. But I simply cannot now, not in good conscious. After all, I can't let an opportunity like this simply lay fallow. that would be criminal."

He chuckled at the irony.

[ĸara вelova★]

Kara groaned inwardly. She wasn't deliberately dodging the questions. This was painful.

If they ran her name through the system, they'd find a death certificate dated November 21st 2007. She did not want them to find that. Because that was pretty much a free ticket to test all they wanted on her until she was dead, and no one would know. She was desperate.

"There's an Academy full of students that are like me. It has no address and only people who have been there before can find it. So if you want to see it, I'll have to take you."

Kara said this blandly, as though trying to scrape an unpleasant flavour from her tongue. She'd just offered him a goldmine of whatever it was he valued in that fucked up brain of his. And she'd given herself a possible escape. She could lead the asshole into the forest. Or try and contact a telepath and get them to bring someone with super strength. Kara could make the man crumple to the floor in his worst emotional agony and make a run for it the moment he let her out of her bonds.

How's that for good conscious?

[Admin]

Finally, the director got exactly what he wanted! And it was even better than he'd hoped! Not only were there actually others, but there was an entire school of them hiding somewhere. A veritable genetic goldmine, simply awaiting prospecting. It was all the director could do not to start dancing for glee.

"There, was that really so hard to do?" asked the director. He turned and smiled to Kara. In fact, he started moving down, releasing the restraints around her wrists. "You wouldn't be thinking of trapping us, now would you?"

He arched his eyebrows, looking her in the eye. "You know, I think it would be best if we had insurance against any ill attempts of yours. A hostage should do nicely, don't you think? Someone to hold. Perhaps this Eiji fellow, yes, that would do nicely."

He walked over to the computer, quickly entering more data. His eyes flicked to the screen, and again he smiled.

It wasn't a good smile.

"Don't worry though, we won't harm him. Well, beyond a few needle pricks, that is. Oh," he turned to her, "and I certainly am not going with you to this Academy. No, I'll be sending some lower members of our organization with you. Stephens would probably find things most interesting."

[ĸara вelova★]

He was planning on kidnapping Eiji? She tried not to giggle inwardly. That was impossible. If Eiji didn't want to be captured, he couldn't be. Even if they could say, track his cell phone, they'd realize pretty soon that he couldn't be caught.

And even better news! Kara massaged the life back into her hands after being released, and bent down to unlatch her ankle restraints. The doctor wouldn't even be there when she went back to the Academy. Perfect; he seemed like the smartest. She could easily outwit 'Stephens'.

She couldn't care less about this man evading destruction. It wasn't her who decided whether he lived or died or discovered a completely different race. That was up to fate, which Kara was a firm believer of.

Without a word she slid off the table and grabbed her coat, pulling it on. She instantly felt warmer, and the temperature change caused her to shiver then grow still.

She kept silent. There was nothing else she could say, it would appear the man made up his mind.

[Admin]

Hmm, the director made a note not to unfasten the wrist restraints first next time. He'd been planning on releasing her soon, yes. But he hadn't wanted that to happen until after he'd pumped her with another potent drug cocktail. Something to make her slightly more pliant to their will and wishes.

No use crying over spilled milk though.

"We're not leaving anytime soon," the director commented. He waved a hand dismissively, smiling ruefully. "I'm afraid you're going to have to stay the night here. We could drug you if you'd like, so you can sleep, of course. If not, well."

The director shrugged. "I suppose you'll just have to find a way to sleep on a table. Personally I'd opt for the drugs. But then again, I haven't woken up strapped to a table before."

Now his smile was condescending and doubtless would prove irritating.

"Tell me what you'd like to do, and we'll get you situated."

[ĸara вelova★]

"I sleep fine without drugs," Kara said quietly, and the tone of her voice suggested that she wasn't going to sleep at all. She didn't trust these scientists with their needles and drugs to sleep while they didn't. She'd sleep when they did, and Kara wasn't powerful enough to knock out the entire building. She could make this guy feel drowsy and lower his eyelids with sleep, but to what point? She'd tire herself out, he still had a bunch of big, bad bodyguards that would stop her before she could find the exit, and even if she managed to dodge each and every one, the way out would be blocked with some sort of high-tech security code of sorts.

When the man gave her 'control' of her choice, Kara shot him a dangerous sideways glare.

If you have an arcade you can situate me in there, she thought sarcastically.

"Any books?" Kara asked in the most bittersweet silky voice. She'd be able to stay up, no matter how boring a tome he threw at her, if he was kind enough to do that. The slim brunette rubbed her hands over the arms of her winter jacket. It really was cold in here. Like a refrigerator. All the sterile colours were freaking her out too. It was like a morgue. A mortician's lair. And once again she was a body about to be exhumed.

Mind racing a mile a minute, Kara began observing everything about the room. The equipment, the syringes she didn't want anywhere near her, the cupboards. If she'd ever visited a doctor, she might have been able to make the comparison. But since Kara was lacking in that experience, she could only contrast this room to the one she'd woken up in a year ago.

Life is just one sick game. This guy doesn't even play it well. I'll bet he thinks he's God, Kara mused to herself, running her hand absently over the counter. He'd experimented on her, as though she were some kind of creature. He was no different than her, anatomically speaking. He was probably just as fucked up in the head as she was, he just had more resources and less answers.