Titanic II: Revival (REVISING!)

002

It's unbelievable anyone ever doubted Dr. Johnson and his impeccable research. The media especially did not do the man and his work justice in their articles, questioning his acceptance of his Nobel Prize. I'm not going to lie, I thought that the experiment wouldn't be as successful as it turned out to be. I mean... the cryo-victim had been frozen at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean for almost a hundred years. It was a long shot. But it worked.

We decided to name the unidentified man "Subject Zero" until we managed to pinpoint a specific identity. We ran various tests on him, and it seemed as if he was totally healthy and in good condition despite the heavy case of hypothermia. The victim count officially dropped from 1,503 to 1,502.

I was in charge of monitoring Subject Zero for a couple of hours. I sat in his secluded room which consisted of nothing but a cot, a nightstand, and a chair for me to sit on, taking notes about his breathing, heart rate, vitals, etcetera. It was a boring job. Sometimes I forgot he was much older than I was, and had to remind myself of his real age whenever I became suddenly infatuated with his looks. He was undeniably handsome, as inappropriate as that sounds.

His long blonde hair cascaded over his eyebrows, shaping his thin face, and I longed to see the color of his eyes. I mentally scolded myself for such thoughts, but what else would I think when forced into such a boring environment with nothing but a sleeping subject who happens to not be as ugly as I imagined?

I sighed, clicking my pen over and over. I began to chew the end of it as if anxiously waiting for something to happen. I desperately wanted him to wake up.

"This is bullshit." I groaned to myself under my breath, beginning to loathe Dr. Johnson for putting his most loyal employee in a boring room to do nothing but watch a man sleep.

Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of the subject's hand twitch.

My eyebrows furrowed together in disbelief as I slowly stood up from my chair, and walked over to his bed. My eyes scanned his needle infested arms and his pale face, his chest rising and falling with ease before it happened again. The hand twitch. His eye-lids then flinched, another sign of possible consciousness.

"Hello?" I said nervously, voice quiet as I towered over the resting man.

The heart monitors steady beep, slowly began to increase in speed. I watched cautiously as his eyes moved under his lids, biting my lip in anxiousness as I waited for his eyes to finally reveal themselves.

Finally, as if God had answered my prayers, Subject Zero came to full consciousness. His eyelids lifted, green hues meeting my own. As they focussed on my face, I quickly pressed the button next to his cot that alerted the others that something significant had occurred.

"Don't be scared. You're fine. You're alive. We are going to help you." I assured the man. He lifted his head slightly, eyes narrowing as if to get a better look. They then widened out of disbelief, before some doctors rushed in, followed by Dr. Johnson himself.

"You are dismissed, Dr. Calvert." Dr. Johnson said as he gave me a slight wave. I should've known. Finally, something interesting is happening and I have to leave...

Nonetheless, I nodded in compliance, giving the man on the bed one last glance before turning to leave. Suddenly, something cold wrapped around my wrist. I turned my head to see Subject Zero's hand gripping onto my arm desperately.

He tried to speak, his voice barely audible.

"What?" I muttered, before leaning closer.

"Dr. Calvert! I don't have time for your social encounters with my subjects." Dr. Johnson said strictly. But I ignored him.

"R...R..." Subject Zero muttered into my ear, his voice cracking.

"Rose!" Dr. Johnson shouted, never using my first name unless he was angry or annoyed.

Subject Zero's face suddenly lit up. "Rose..." he muttered, repeating Dr. Johnson. I nodded, smiling slightly.

"Yes, that's my name. I have to go now, but I promise I'll be back." I told him, before one of Dr. Johnson's other assistants grabbed my arm and dragged me away from Subject Zero. I felt his cold fingertips lose their grip on my arm. I looked back at him and noticed how he kept his eyes on me until I was put into the hallway, out of his sight.

For some reason, I felt a strange connection to him.

• • •

I sat in the cafeteria of the building, munching on a tuna sandwich from the sandwich vending machine. All I was able to think about was Subject Zero, and who he could possibly be. When he first woke from the ice, he had been wearing brown pants, a baggy shirt, and suspenders. Hw was clearly a third-class passenger.

This made sense, since the first-class passengers were the ones who were first saved from the ship, and the third class was neglected. But I still didn't have a lead as to what his identity really was.

"Hey!" A male voice said from behind me. I turned my head to see Dr. Johnson's son holding a tray of pasta, beans, and some salad.

"Hey Junior." I greeted, calling him by the nickname I gave him since "Dr. Johnson Jr." is such a tongue twister. I watched as the young man sat across from me. "Shouldn't you be with your dad, studying Subject Zero?"

"You know how he is with successful experiments. He wants all the fun to himself." Johnson Jr. said, rolling his eyes before spinning some pasta around his fork and eating it. "How about you?" he questioned through a mouthful.

"Same tragic story. I was watching Subject Zero sleep, and taking notes. I'm the one who alerted Dr. Johnson that he had woken. But even that wasn't enough to get me to stay in the room." I sighed and shook my head in disappointment.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Subject Zero is strangely asking for you. I don't know why, but he won't stop saying your name." Junior explained, looking up at me from his meal. "They tried asking him questions about his identity, and they even tried telling him today's date, but he just shakes his head and whispers 'Rose'."

My eyebrows furrowed together as I chewed the last bite of my sandwich. I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by a female voice from behind.

"Dr. Calvert?" She called out in question. I turned my head to see a short nurse with a clipboard at her side. "Dr. Johnson is waiting for you. He wants you to speak to Subject Zero."

My heart sank deep within my chest before I looked over at Junior beside me. He smiled slightly.

"Go have fun." He insisted with a slight laugh.

I smiled back, before standing from the chair I had been sitting on, and following the nurse to the room Subject Zero was being held in.

Finally, I had gotten a big part in this experiment.