Project Sigma

Chapter 2

     The Doctor threw the switch on the wall next to them. "Get ready, Derek!" Doctor Freeland began excitedly, "It should come out of dormancy any moment now!" Withholding their breath, The Doctor and Derek waited motionless for a few moments as the deafening screams of rusted gears spinning up again from below them filled the entire laboratory.

     Then they waited a few moments more...

     And more...

     Nothing.

     The mechanical whirring that filled the room mere seconds ago had all but silenced. The glow of happiness faded from The Doctor's eyes. "So I guess that's it, then," Doctor Freeland began with a shaking voice that held the familiar rage of his recent failures. A moment of silence thickened the air between the two until it was broken by The Doctor's screams of anger and the recognizable sound of his fist hitting the viewing window. "Wake up!" he shouted at the lifeless project, "I'm dying here, and you can't wake up? Damn it!"

     Quickly, The Doctor's rage faded into tears as he lowered his fist and dropped to his knees. As he does when The Doctor breaks down like this, Derek placed a friendly hand on the man's shoulder, and went for the door, leaving Doctor Freeland to grieve his newest failure.

     As if on queue, Derek's hand touched the steel handle of the door, and The Doctor leaped upwards. Shocked, Derek whipped around and asked, "What, Doc? What's going on?

     "Did you hear that, Derek?"

     "What do you mean? I didn't hear anything."

     And with that, The Doctor's eyes widened, and screamed in fear, "Get down, Derek!" Unsure of why, and too scared to ask, Derek followed Doctor Freeland's example, and dove for the far corner of the safe zone.

     They were unable to see the explosion that sent shards of glass from the containment pod flying in all directions. When they felt it was safe, Doctor Freeland and Derek looked through the viewing window together, seeing the aftermath of what had just happened. The pod had been obliterated, and the cables going to it were shredded to pieces.

     As color drained from both of their faces, the couldn't pull their eyes from the damaged room. "Doc?" Derek managed to say, "When exactly did you add a self-destruct function to your experiments?"

     With fear deeply set in his heart, The Doctor responded with a shaking voice, "I didn't."

     In an instant, the titanium door crumpled as it flew against the wall across from it, as if it had been kicked in. Standing in front of them was an unknown figure. It was unfamiliar, but still somewhat recognizable as humanoid. When the smoke cleared, Doctor Freeland and Derek knew exactly what they had just done.

     "Surprised to see me moving, eh, Doctor?"

     Overwhelmed with emotion, The Doctor simply asked this tall, muscular figure, "Is that you, Sigma?"