[OLD] The Scorpion Mission (#2)

Seventeen

"Where are we going?" Ash asked as he followed John into the elevator. After he and the others returned from their run-in with the Supers, John had approached him and claimed he needed help with something.

John pressed the button for the third floor. The recruitment center. All new recruits passed through here to be tested, examined, and told what was going on.

"This won't take long," John said. He'd returned temporarily from the labs to show something to Claudia, and apparently to... well, to do whatever they were going to do. Ash folded his arms and tapped his foot impatiently against the floor as they moved down. What could John possibly need his help with?

The elevator doors opened and John hurried into the hallway. Ash started to follow him, but froze when he saw Claudia at the end of the hallway. She was staring at him, gun in hand.

She's not real, Ash told himself.

"Ash?"

"I'm coming," Ash said to John. He walked down the hall, ignoring young Claudia's gaze. He blinked, and then she was gone.

John led Ash into a small white room. He gestured to a chair and told Ash to sit down. As Ash obeyed, a chill ran down his spine. He'd been here before, in this seat. He was certain. He just couldn't remember when, or why.

Ash jumped when John grabbed his shoulder. "This will only take a moment," John said. He was holding a syringe. "It'll stop the hallucinations.

"How'd you—?"

"You told me," John said as he held the needle up to Ash's neck. "Last time this happened. You were a bit more trusting back then, it seems."

"Last time?" There was a pinch and Ash winced. The edges of his vision blurred. Something inside him panicked, screamed for him to do something, but he was frozen. Another scientist appeared next to John.

"Re-treat him," John said. "And make sure it you do it right. Claudia's already... well, you know how she gets."

The scientist said something, but Ash couldn't understand her. What was happening? The room was tilting. The scientist reached out to grab Ash's arm.

Memories flooded Ash's mind. He remembered what was happening. They'd done this to him before. They'd done it to most of the Altered.

Ash tried to speak, but nothing came out. Something cold touched his neck, and everything went black.

Ash couldn't shake the feeling he was forgetting something. He shook his head as the door to the training room swung open and Claudia walked in. While she approached, Ash lifted the puddle of water off the floor and transferred it to his water bottle.

"Ash," she said. "You remember when I sent you to find the Altered outside of Houston?"

"Yes." Ash had found them, too, but he lied. He wasn't sure why, but whatever the reason, he couldn't tell Claudia now. She'd be furious.

"We found them. One of our techs located satellite footage that shows them following the San Jacinto River, almost twenty miles from Houston."

A few other Altered had stopped training to listen to Claudia. She glanced over at them. "Hestia, Seth, Terrence, go with Ash. Take some soldiers and bring back the Altered."

Ash scowled as the others approached. He wasn't sure how he felt about Terrence yet. The kid barely spoke. He was a pretty good fighter, but he'd spent years with Newman, and Ash wasn't sure how they could be expected to trust him so easily.

The others followed Ash to the Barracks to pick up some soldiers, talking amongst themselves. When Ash had been captured by the Altered—or Neutrals, as Ivy had called them—there'd been about thirty of them. He doubted they'd be able to catch all of them, but forty soldiers should be enough to round up most of them.