Chapter 9: Clandestine Activities

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The boy strapped to the chair screamed, his voice echoing around the stone walls. The people standing around the scientist in the white coat winced, although the scientist herself watched the scene unfold before her without a flinch.

The electrodes around the boy's head flashed different colours. The metal strap around his skull crackled with electricity. Pulses of light danced along the plastic tubes attached to the electrodes from the large whirring machine in the middle. Numbers and jargon jumped all over the screen in sequences that only the scientist seemed to understand.

The teens standing around her shuffled, not knowing what to do. They jumped when the subject screamed again, thrashing against his restraints.

"The sound too much for you to bear?" said the scientist, unsympathetic, not giving them a single look.

She ran her tongue over her teeth, tapping a finger against her forearm. The light pulses increased in frequency. The charts on the machine's screen jumped higher and higher; adjacent to it, an energy bar filled over seconds. Adjusting a few dials, she hummed to herself when the boy screamed again.

"I don't like the cacophony much, either, but if I sedate them I can't get the full potential. That'll be a waste."

After a few minutes, the noise stopped. The boy appeared to have lost all of his will to protest. Instead, he convulsed on the operating table, straining against his ties. When the energy bar filled to full, he slumped, his eyes rolling in his head. His arms and legs jerked. Saliva dribbled out of his mouth.

"Put him away," she said in a snappy voice. The door slid open. A sharp smell of singed body hair wafted over. Three of the teens jumped to it, shoving gloves and thick coats on before hurrying into the experiment room. Between them, they dragged the unconscious, semi-naked boy into the next room.

The scientist slid into her pod chair and it took her to the large computer. Multiple screens took up most of the wall. An elongated touch keyboard stretched before her, with numbers and dials at either end. On one screen, a three-dimensional computer-generated model of the boy was conjured, spinning slowly on his feet. Statistics and measurements popped up around him, describing his physical build and relevance to his ability. A long list of words scrolled down the next screen.

She appeared to know exactly what the computer was reporting. Muttering to herself, she typed with fervour. The other teens fidgeted, looking at each other and darting nervous looks at her. They seemed to have a burning question, but none of them had the courage to speak up.

Sounds of struggle and yells emanated from next door. A few minutes later, the three boys from earlier stumbled back through the experiment room into the computer chamber. Two of them sported superficial gashes across their faces and one had lost a glove. Something large rammed against the closed door beyond the experiment room, claws scrabbling against the metal and growling with fury.

A few of the spectators threw frightened glances at the door. Others gazed with expectation at the scientist, who hummed to herself again as she scrutinised the computer report.

"Ah."

All of them looked at her with renewed interest.

"Yes, this boy yielded a lot more than the last one. I need more like him."

"He's ranked fifteen in the city, leader," said one of the boys. "It was really difficult acquiring him. I'm not sure we have many more of his calibre – not easily."

"Why the hell do you think I implant these things into you lot for?" she snapped. "I'm granting you great power, and you're complaining still you're too weak?"

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