A Touch Of Lightning (COMPLETED!)

Chapter 73 The Seventh Island 2

The air in the underground lab always smelled the same to Callin. His sensitive nose knew it was fresh air, brought from the surface far above, riddled with hints of vegetation, cold, and life. But down here, with the powerful machines exchanging the air, purifying it with high energy UV light rays, filtering it through tens of ultra-dense filters, it no longer smelled right. To Callin, it was the scent of torture, of nightmares, of hatred pooled and focused.

Lately, his nose had seemed to be getting even more sensitive. And at times, his healing power just quit working, sometimes for hours at a time. He had never had that happen before and didn't know what was happening, why his body seemed to be acting strangely. Even his hearing seemed to be unstable, occasionally dropping away till it sounded like he was hearing the world with his head buried under water, or rising in sensitivity until he could hear the heartbeats of every single creature up and down the hall he was in, and even from adjoining halls.

The surges in sensitivity had brought terror and pain, but it had also brought information to him. Just weeks ago, he had overheard two scientists discussing him. He didn't know where they were at in relation to his cell, but he could tell they were far away, on another level. Yet he could pick out their voices amidst the chaotic thunder of background heartbeats, rustling bodies, and the countless machines whirring and beeping. He had listened as they discussed him in their cold, disconnected way, as if he were nothing more than a living chunk of meat.

"Subject 13B charts are indicative of adolescent progression. Are we tracking psychic anomalies?" A small scientist, judging by the higher pitch to his voice, to the relatively small volume of air within his lungs.

"Yes, we had our first Stage 1 meeting for 13B this morning. Two teams have been assigned to review the psychic aura logs for the last month of testing. We will chart them out and verify he is entering the next Phase."

Callin heard a frustrated sigh from the smaller one. "You don't need to chart it to verify it. He turned 13 years of age three weeks ago. How many of the subjects have not entered their first Phase by this point? And all other tracked metrics already verify he is in Phase 1."

"Yes, except this is 13B we're talking about. We're already seeing contradicting data. Just like always with him."

"Then how do you think reviewing and charting anomalies in his aura is going to help you verify where he is at? We should just Bond him and be done with it."

There was a pause in the voices and Callin began to wonder if they had moved on, or were done talking about him. He didn't understand much of anything they were saying, but he was filing it all away, desperate to learn more about himself and the lab.

He apparently just had a birthday. He was now 13 years old! His mind scrabbled around, seeking significance to a birthday, teasing him with blurry, lightning-fast flashes of his past. A cake on a rough wooden table, glowing with flames on candles. The scent of frosting and fresh baked goodies. The scents and sensation of love and happiness. Of peace and security. It made tears burn in his eyes, made him grit his teeth and violently shove those memories away. That was a different life. One he could never go back to.

"I'm not sure the risks of trying to Bond him too early outweigh the benefits."

"But you're sure the risks of him fully entering Phase 1 without his Bonded are worth taking the time to chart his aura? The aura that already has contradictions, anomalies?"

Callin clearly heard the frustrated sigh of the other scientist, could actually hear him pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose and rubbing tiredly. He could almost sense the tension, the fear, coiling about the room they were in. He focused deeper, trying to block out all other nearby sounds, not wanting to risk missing a word of this critical conversation. What did it mean to be Bonded? What was Phase 1? What were the risks? He had so many questions!