Chapter Four: Caution

“She’s dangerous!”

“She had a normal reaction. We expected the subject to surge in such a way.”

“She demolished the lab. She could have killed all of us!”

“Actually, the lab isn’t really that badly damaged. Just have a lot of broken glass.”

“She floored two officers. If I didn’t show up, things could have gotten way out of hand! But maybe you’re too incompetent to realize that.”

“Lieutenant, I understand your aggravation given your experiences, but no one in the lab was in any real danger. The overload of energy would have caused the subject to shut down immediately. I am certain of this.”

“You don’t know a damn thing about what she is! You don’t even know what she’s capable of!”

“We will be running tests to determine her neurological capacity soon.”

I heard the voices arguing back and forth with each other before I was able to open my eyes. I recognized one voice as belonging to the lab lady from earlier. I was surprised to be alive after what happened. It was like I had no control, and whatever was in me acted completely on its own. My eyes were blinded at first, but they quickly adjusted to seeing a simple overhead light mounted into the ceiling. I was lying on something hard and uncomfortable for my back. My fingers gently explored the surface in small, careful movements. It was smooth and metallic. I thought it was another table and that I was still in the lab. I turned my head to the side to follow the voices, but I found that the figures arguing with each other were beyond a thick, glass wall that kept us separate. I could still hear them even though it should have been impossible. 

I could see the lab lady in clear view trying to discuss her point with another woman dressed in tactical gear like the men had been. She looked like she may have had some branch of authority judging by the cap she wore on her head and the stance she had taken against the lab lady. There was a younger boy at her side, fitted with the same gear, and he looked confused in regards to what they were arguing about. The lab lady had some of her personnel with her as well. Their words buzzed around in my head. I must have caused a panic in the lab. It wasn’t my fault, and I hoped I would be given the opportunity to explain that. Judging by how things were going, I wasn’t. 

I slowly sat up on the metal slab and brought my legs over the edge. I was in a small room, and I could only assume it was a cell. A cage. Something to protect themselves from me for reasons I didn’t understand. It wasn’t like anyone was explaining anything to me. The cell was completely empty with the exception of the overhead light, a toilet with a sink attached, and the metal cot. I thought about tapping on the glass wall to get someone’s attention, but one of the lab assistants was already directing everyone’s eye balls at me. They approached the cell in a group, the lab lady waving her hand over a section of the glass. A holographic panel appeared, and she touched a square that activated the intercom. 

“Subject 42, how are you feeling?” Her voice was surprisingly softer than before. I noticed the lab assistants disappearing off to the side.

“I’m okay, I guess. My head hurts.” 

“I can assure you that is normal. Are you feeling anything else? Any emotions we need to be made aware of?” 

I thought about her odd question for a minute before I asked, “Any emotions?”

“Yes, you were very upset the last we spoke, and you created a scene in the lab that was dealt with by the lieutenant here.” She crossed her arms. “Before we proceed with anything, I need to know if you’re going to have any kind of outburst like that again.”

Now was my opportunity to explain my side. “I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on here, and I’m just very confused. I don’t know who you are or who I am. Where are we? I haven’t done anything to anyone, and I’m being treated like an animal. I just want answers.”

The lab lady stood silently for a moment, the lieutenant next to her seemingly irritated. They glanced at one another before she gave me an answer. 

“I wanted to withhold some information from you at first because we didn’t know what kind of trauma it would have caused you. To begin simply, I am Dr. Abigail Roberts. I am the head of the research team aboard this ship, the Babylon.” She adjusted her glasses. “In a few moments, some of my crew will be implanting a monitoring chip in your neck for security purposes. After that, I will answer your other questions.”

Without missing a beat, a hidden door slid open with two men in lab coats entering into my cell. I stood up from the metal cot, and one of them hesitated in taking another step forward. They both appeared nervous, one looking to Abigail for reassurance. With a nod from their leader, they came to my side and asked me to face away from them. I complied, something I figured I didn’t have much choice in. I didn’t try to see what they were doing, hearing the mechanical shuffles going on behind me. I felt them place something against the back of my neck, and a sudden sting followed. It made me jump, and I became afraid of something else happening. Apparently, they were as well since they both darted away from me. 

“P*****s.” I heard the lieutenant say. 

Abigail waited for the assistants to leave the cell before she finally spoke to me again. “The chip implanted in your neck is a GPS to track you down in case you escape the ship. It also serves as a monitoring device to keep your powers in check. If your energy reading rises above a certain point, one of our soldiers, who will be with you at all times, will terminate you on the spot. Understand?”

I rubbed the back of my neck, a feeling of anxiousness starting to seep into my nerves once again. “But why? Why are you doing this to me? Who am I?”

“Technically, you’re no one. You are a lab subject created seven years ago. Your functions were activated recently when the lieutenant and her troops retrieved you from a facility owned by Eden Corp. Eden Corp is a group of individuals with a goal of creating a new world by wiping out the remains of this one. They created you, and we have yet to learn the full purpose of this other than it has something to do with a device called the Genesis.”

This seemed too weird to be true. I had a feeling I was only going to be more confused after this discussion. 

“If you want to know what you are, I’m afraid the answer isn’t easy.” The doctor warned me.

“I just want to know.” I pressed her. 

“Subject 42�"you are the only known successful clone of Desley Morgan, a very powerful being who existed seven years ago. Because you are a clone, we don’t know how much of her power actually exists in you. So, we can’t take any chances. However, we will soon be�"“

“Performing tests on me to find out. In the lab.” I finished her sentence, already aware of what she was going to say. She seemed shocked but intrigued at the same time. 

“So, you can do the basics of Desley’s abilities.” Abigail had a pleased look on her face.

“I don’t know how. I feel like I can do things, but I don’t know how I’m doing them.”

“Well, we will find out how far this goes soon enough. Before we take you to the lab again, I will need to ask you a few questions to make sure you are functioning properly.”

I nodded my head to this. My eyes were drawn to the lieutenant, who never spoke more than one word the entire time. She didn’t seem much taller than me. Her hair was dark and came down to her shoulders. The woman had a look of disgust on her face. The boy next to her was slightly shorter, messy hair to his cheeks as dark as the lieutenant’s, and freckles on his face. He looked about as intrigued as the doctor. As Abigail was setting up the hologram device for the questions she was about to ask me, the lieutenant turned around and stormed off down the hallway. The boy looked back and forth between me and his superior, not sure what he was suppose to do. He looked as if he wanted to stay but knew he would get hounded if he did. So, without a word, he walked hastily to catch up to his lieutenant, who already disappeared around the corner. 

“Quite interesting, isn’t it?” Jeremy remarked as soon as he caught up to her. “I never thought I’d see a fully functioning clone!”

“If it really is a clone.” The lieutenant’s voice was sharp. 

Jeremy was blatantly confused by her response. “What do you mean?”

“They have no idea what they’re dealing with. They can take all of the security measurements that they want, but we’re screwed if she even retains a fourth of her abilities.” Her pace hastened. “By the looks of it, they’re coming back fast.”

“But she’s just a clone, ma’am.” Jeremy stumbled over his boots. “I wouldn’t think a clone would be capable of anything remotely similar to Desley Morgan.” 

“Again, if she’s really a clone.”

“If you’re so concerned then why break her out of that facility?”

“Because clone or not, I don’t know what Eden Corp is up to. Plus, it wasn’t my idea to take her out of stasis. If I had known they had plans to do that, I would have already gone ahead and destroyed the damn thing.” 

“What makes you think she isn’t a clone?”

The lieutenant stopped suddenly. “What color are her eyes?”

“Her eyes?” Jeremy repeated to make sure he heard her right.

The lieutenant turned around to look at him, her tone becoming slightly aggressive. “Yes, her eyes. What color are her eyes?”

Jeremy lost his thoughts for a moment after seeing the disgust smeared across her face, making him hesitate before answering, “Blue. They’re blue.”

“D****t…”

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I was led down the hallways and corridors of the ship in cuffs, surrounded by guards armed with rifles. Abigail kept her discussions between the other assistants discrete, talking softly enough so that I wouldn’t hear. I figured whatever I was doing before to listen in on conversations came in waves. I didn’t have control over it. Some of the other crew members would peep around the corners of hallways we passed to get a good look at me. The younger ones kept their distance while the older crew looked at me with a mixture of glares and threatening gestures. It was an uncomfortable march, to say the least. Some even shouted obscenities but immediately had taken a step back the moment I looked at them. No doubt I was the copy of someone they hated. Someone I only dreamed about. Who was Desley Morgan? 

We headed through twin doors that led us back into the familiar lab. I eyed the table that brought about my revival and conscious birth into this world. There were still some obvious damages other than the cabinets that were missing glass windows. I was taken to the back of the lab away from the other workers. It was isolated with another thick, glass door to seal it off. The glass parted to allow us inside, the guards staying at the entrance as Abigail waved her hand at me to follow her. She had me sit in a chair that appeared to be something you’d see in a dentist’s office, only it had straps for my arms and legs with a device that would rest over my head. This is exactly what happened. The cuffs were removed, and I was placed in the chair without causing a fuss. My arms were strapped down along with my legs, and Abigail assured me none of this was going to be harmful for me but rather for their own protection. The cranial device was lowered over my head, secured snuggly to my forehead. It was thin like a metal band. Abigail walked over to a control panel off to the side, and I could hear her typing away on a keyboard. A display monitor appeared before her eyes. 

“Okay, 42, what I am about to do is get a quick scan of your cerebral capacity to determine the amount of control you have over your neurons. This will help us decide what kind of threat you pose to us as well as give us an idea of what we can expect from you.” Abigail spoke as she typed.

“Mind if I ask for a real name?” I looked for ways to keep myself calm. 

“Well, if you want us to call you Desley. No one else is really going to accept any other name other than your pod number. It’s not like you’re a dog. We can’t just give you one.” 

“Better than being called a number.”

Abigail stopped typing for a moment. “Might I ask why you’re so concerned with your identity?” 

“I guess because everyone else around me has a name, a job, and a purpose. I’m just kind of here. No memories. No life prior to this. Nothing.”

“And a name will fix that?”

I turned my head to look at Abigail. “It’s a start.” 

Abigail stared at me, lost in thought at the words I spoke. A blip on the display caught her attention, and she waved her assistants over. The display showed a mess of information and seemingly infinite lines of numbers that all boiled down to one.

“Zero. Dr. Roberts, that can’t be correct. What we witnessed. The lab.” One of the assistants was floored. 

“I’m aware of this, Connely.” Abigail adjusted her glasses. “We might have a system damage from earlier.”

“What could this mean for us?” The other assistant asked her.

Abigail began closing out of the program and turning off the control panel. “It just means we’ll need to scout out repairs and try again later. Unstrap Desley and put the cuffs back on.”

The two assistants were hesitant at first, having already stuck me with a chip earlier. Connely was the first to approach the chair, a man with dusty hair and scruff on his face. He looked like he was picky with his food as lived in his mother’s basement. I don’t know where these thoughts came from. He undid the straps one by one before stepping back to let me up. I didn’t fight with them. I merely held my hands out for Connely to slap the restraints back on. The other assistant wasn’t nearly as brave, having very little to do with the situation. Before I knew it, I was being led by the guards again out of the lab. I knew I was going back to my cell. Abigail was on a walkie ahead of everyone discussing the results to whoever was on the other end. She sounded excited but also agitated for not having an answer. What this could mean for me she wasn’t going to say. Then she stopped walking in the middle of intersecting hallways, one leading upward to a higher level of the ship. 

“If you gentleman don’t mind, I would like to take Desley to the surface. Two of you can stay.” She pointed to a couple of them. “You two can follow. The rest of you can leave back to your posts.” 

The guards began to disband, several of them knocking their shoulders into my back as they walked by. I felt the rudeness was getting unnecessary. Abigail looked at me as the remaining men trained their rifles on me, nervous now without the extra help. 

“Let me show you something, Desley. Follow me.” 

Abigail started her way up the ramp, and one of the guards lightly pushed me to get me moving. We rounded more hallways, going further and further up the ship’s levels until we eventually came to an open area where dozens of crew members were working to repair winged machines that I did not recognize. I had knowledge of existing fighter jets, but these looked far more advanced. The sight made me question just how big this ship was and what it was really used for. The men were too focused on their work to pay any attention to us as Abigail led the way up a couple flights of stairs to a platform above. She stopped at a heavy door directly in front, nodding to two other guards to slide away the latches. 

Abigail looked back at me. “Do you want to know why we take the precautions we have with you?” 

The door swung open, and a putrid stench struck my nose. The smell appeared to not phase Abigail one bit, stepping over the threshold to the outside. The guards pushed me forward to follow her, tripping me over the exit and letting me crash to the steel lining of the surface deck. I grumbled to myself as I climbed to my feet again, wondering how many times I’m going to be shoved around. I wish I had stayed down to spare me of the sight I saw. The rotting, death smell was all around me. The ship was sailing through a sea of dark sludge. The skies were gray with no signs of sunlight, like a storm that was rolling through. There was a blood red hue off in the horizon. The remains of tall buildings broke the surface of the water, rotted and broken down from the years of ruin. What was even more horrifying to see were the building remains that somehow hung in the sky just overhead. It seemed impossible. All of this was impossible. My mind was flooded with images of blue skies and even bluer seas, the smell of freshness that had no memory to pin it to. What this was could not have been a home. 

“What�"what s this!?” I covered my mouth with my hand, fearing the smell was toxic.

“This is what is left of Earth. The large bodies of water are overran with decomposition of the billions dead. Most of the air on the planet, depending where you are, is toxic. The fabric between dimensions is torn. Gravity fluctuates off and on. And everything just gets worse where you see that red spot in the distance.” Abigail paused for a moment. “We are cautious because all of this was the result of one person, the person you were created to be. Desley Morgan.” 

“How can one person do all of this? That’s just impossible. You can’t be serious about this.” I looked at Abigail, hoping she would say it was one big joke, and we were actually on a different planet.

“It truly is both amazing and terrifying how much power the human brain is able to generate.” The doctor could only muster that response.

The scene was overwhelming. I didn’t exist before this, but I knew of the life that had been here. I could feel them. I could feel the horror that had taken place. The souls that were trapped in the fabric were still screaming, and I could feel it. My stomach twisted, and I was overcome with nausea. Abigail’s voice had faded out as she was trying to focus my attention on her, grabbing my shoulders to balance me. I caught a brief glimpse of her eyes, both alert and suddenly anxious. I wanted to tell her what I was feeling, but all that came out was vomit. It projected onto her lab coat and the shirt she was wearing beneath it, making her lunge back out of reflex. I saw her shouting to the other guards. 

“I’m sorry.” I said before I crashed to the ground.

I think they called this fainting.