Part 3:
The metal is cold against my back. My eyes fly open and I see that they have moved me. Oh, they tried very hard to convince me I am in the same room, but I can see the edges of the illusion. They must not know that we were train to see through these parlor tricks. They cleaned me up and gave me new clothes. I was either out for longer than I thought or they did in fact heal me a little because the pain went from a 9 to a 7. Big mistake. They reduced my pain enough to no longer incapacitate me and in fact narrow my focus. I need to escape. I hope that my initial weakness seems like a ploy to them, no need for them to know that I had gone soft. They boosted the gravity in this room so I can only move a little and very slowly. Perfect. I let myself smirk and hope that they are watching. Then, I wait.
Being alone with my thoughts is not a new experience for me. Part of our training was being locked up in a cell much like this one for months at a time to learn how to control our emotions and not go insane like most people would. I don’t have to wait long. I hear the door open and the man with the too pretty eyes walk in. He must be a Sigma because the gravity doesn’t seem to affect him at all. He stares at me. I roll my eyes.
“Just tell me what you want, or at least stream some TV or something in here.”
No response, definitely Sigma.
“I’m assuming you know who I am, so why don’t you tell me about you. Who do you work for?”
Nothing.
“Why did you bring me here? What do you want with me?”
Perfect.
He moves a little closer to me and stares into my eyes. Now that I know he’s a Sigma I can see him monitoring my brainwave activity and trying to read me.
“That’s not going to work. Even earlier in my weakened state it didn’t work. That reading was beat out of me a long time ago.”
I slowly sit up so that I’m almost eye level with him. Its slow going because of the increased gravity, but it will be worth it. I keep talking.
“You have lovely eyes, I don’t think I mentioned. Did you get them custom made? I’ve never seen another with them.”
Finally I’m face to face with him.
“Do you know why I ended up here?”
I look him straight in the eyes and focus.
“I’m dangerous.”
I see the shift in his gaze. I get the rush of feeling when I realize, I’ve still got it. I slowly bring my arm up above his head. And I let it drop. The increased gravity adds force to my arm and I hear a soft pop when it hits his head. Sigma’s are intricate, wonderfully complex machines that have many small movable parts, and a hit in the right place can incapacitate them just like a human being. I close my eyes again and feel the familiar rush of power that comes from the laser like focus of pain. I can feel the sensors in the room monitoring life signs. They never learn. I slowly get up from the table and feel the sensors try and report the change to the command module. Instead, I send a message of normalcy. The module will not realize I am gone until I am well outside their reach. I casually walk towards the door that I know the Sigma used. I open the door without opening my eyes and step through. There I pause, walking on my injured legs and feet has increased my pain and I can feel the focus slipping. I need to regain control if I want to get out of here. I take some deep breathes and focus again. I close the door behind me and send a signal to the module that the Sigma has left and will report in shortly. I open my eyes.
I am standing in a stark corridor that has doors along both sides. Typical AIG prison. They change the layout of each one to prevent escapes, but now that I am outside the room I can tell that I have been in this one before. The route has been saved in my mind ever since then. I turn left and walk briskly down the hall. The pain is increasing and I can feel my focus slip. I walk faster. Left, right, straight, right, right. I reach the grate that will set me free. It is secured more firmly that last time.
Crap on a stick.
I lean against the wall and breathe.
Focus.
It’s been awhile since I’ve had to use my upgrade and I already feel drained, but I know I have this one last thing in me. I feel the bond between the grate and the wall. It’s a simple molecular bond and a little zap of electricity releases it. I catch the grate before it hits the floor and triggers the alarms and everything goes a little sideways. I lean against the wall for support and wait for my vision to clear.
When this is over, I’m going to start working gout again. For real this time.
When I feel steady enough to move I crawl into the air shaft and make my way upward to the surface. I know exactly where this shaft leads, and it’s not going to be pretty…
daily-dally 