Lab Rats (Remake)

•Chapter Three•

|Onika|

The woman had her stand in the middle of another room. This one looked exactly like the one she had just left, with the exception of shiny metal prongs sticking out of the gloomy coloured walls.

A surround sound speaker fizzled. "Remove any and all articles of clothing," said a man's voice.

Onika was shaking now. Something was just not right. Her heart on overdrive, she slowly peeled off her jumpsuit and underclothes until she stood naked. The atmosphere was fairly cold, making her shiver. She covered her intimate parts and shouted to no one in particular in a shaky voice, "What's going on?"

There was an electric pop that made Onika jump about a foot in the air. The metal prongs on all of the walls began to light, bright purple arches of electricity seemingly trying to reach out to her. She was surrounded. There was no escape.

Then three words from the speakers shot through her ears and made her heart freeze.

"Begin the procedure."

Multiple things happened at once.

There was very loud boom, like an up close sound of a thunderclap, and the electricity shot outward like greedy arms, touching Onika's bare body and diving into her skin to grab hold of her heart.

Meanwhile, Onika was screaming bloody murder, but it was drowned out by the noises of sparking and popping electricity. Her throat was beginning to feel raw.

That wasn't even the bad part. The pain was unexplainable. She felt as if she were dying, the heat burning her blood and shocking her heart. Her bones felt overheated. Her hair was sticking out in every direction, fizzing with static and turning colours. It went from its usual onyx to a luminescent purple.

And after ten seconds, it stopped.

Onika fell to the ground, panting and sobbing. She couldn't feel. She couldn't see. She couldn't hear. Yet, she could smell. The stench of burning flesh would forever stain her memory.

She panicked. It was as if she were dead. She was lost in total darkness, the silence of her own deaf ears entirely too loud. She couldn't feel anything, either. Not the ground beneath her, not the air going in and out of her mouth rapidly, not the pain that nearly killed her a minute ago. Her brain didn't seem to respond, although she might be just flailing around in the floor. She would never know because she was lifeless.

Anything was better than this.

|Aubrey|

"Keep him tied up. . . check. . .heart rate. . .inject more sedatives. . ."

His hearing was fading in and out. Voices floated through his ears every once in a while, but he didn't have the strength to open his eyes to see what was going on. All he knew was that he was bound at the wrists and ankles. His arms and legs were spread apart, like someone had tied him up in cartwheel position.

"Keep him here a few days. . ."

A few days? That was it.

He creaked his eyes open and immediately closed them. Bad idea.

The room was blinding white, and with being in an unconscious pool of darkness for he didn't know how long, it gave him an instant headache. He felt dizzy. Nausea gripped him tightly. Oh, God. He was going to throw up.

"It's awake!" He could hear clearly now.

Wait. "It"?

Aubrey's eyes snapped open, and he saw the man, Troy, flinch and back away. Troy, who put him in so much pain. Troy, who made his arms look like glow sticks. Troy, who needed to fucking die.

"I'm not an 'it'," Aubrey tried to shout, but it came out in a feeble whisper.

The room his was in looking very much like a hospital room, without the bed and television, of course. The last thing he could remember was being knocked out.

Another man came into view with a confident look on his chiseled face, a frown twisting up his forehead. "Well, you're certainly no longer human, Aubrey."

Aubrey clenched his fists and let out a low growl, feeling his anger rise. The man seemed unaffected.

"Why the hell am I here?"

"Not need for the profanity, Mr. Graham," smirked the man, whose name was Whit. He ran a hand through his military-styled blonde hair.

Doing the complete opposite of what Whit said, a string of obscenities streamed from Aubrey's mouth, making Troy pale and Whit raise his eyebrows.

"Seems like we've got a potty-mouth," Whit said amusedly when Aubrey finished. "I like this one."

Troy said nothing. Aubrey inhaled deeply and asked again, "Why am I here?"

"Ah. A question all newbies tend to ask me." Whit put a finger to his chin and looked towards the ceiling with mock thought. "You'll learn, soon. Just not now. It's too early to tell you."

Aubrey narrowed his eyes.

"It's also a bad idea, with your temper so short. I bet you'd never get this angry, would you? Over some simple words."

Aubrey wanted to argue, but it was true. He was never one to blow up so easily, but--

"It was whatever shit you injected into me, wasn't it?" Aubrey stared at Whit with such an intensity that his defiant look faltered for a second.

"Correct."

"Well, take it out. I don't want it. This has to be against the law, right? Are you sure you guys aren't some kind of cult? This can't be legal."

"Actually, it is." Whit made a "look around" gesture with his arm. "This? All of this? This is a laboratory. A science facility. Something that took millions and millions of dollars to build for this very moment in history."

"What. . .?"

"You've already said too much," hissed Troy in Whit's ear, but loud enough for Aubrey to hear. "Let's go."

"Hey! Don't just leave, man, you gotta tell me why the fuck I'm here!" The fury returned, making Aubrey's blood boil.

"Calm down," Whit said sternly, reaching into his lab coat pocket and pulling out a little black remote.

"NO! I WON'T FUCKING CALM DOWN!" He was shouting now, straining his tired voice. "I WAS BROUGHT HERE UNWILLINGLY! I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS SHIT! I WANT TO KNOW WHY--"

Aubrey made a choked sound. The metal collar around his neck seized, cutting off his airways and his rant.

"Tisk, tisk, Aubrey. Why don't you listen? I asked nicely for you to calm down, but you disobeyed my orders." Whit chuckled, never taking his thumb off of the button in the remote. "Disobedience results in punishment in this place." Whit watched Aubrey like he was a funny cartoon, his eyes full of amusement, yet at the same time, his eyes were cold and lifeless, like a predator toying with its prey.

Aubrey nodded frantically. He needed air and he needed it now.

"Good."

He released the remote. Aubrey gasped and began panting, feeling the relief and air fill his body.

"Will you start listening now?"

Aubrey nodded again, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

Whit gave one last chuckle, and he and Troy exited through a door across the room.

Aubrey, still catching his breath, muttered, "Bitches."

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