The adroit shapeshifter stands erect, head sagging in utter disappointment. He takes a glimpse of the unconscious duo seated on the couch, letting out a frustrated sigh. Why did I try to multitask?
While he went in to help his niece and brother get out, Tom attempted to seek something he shouldn't have. The shapeshifter examines his palms, the consequential indigo blisters scattered everywhere. "What did Macy and Fred converse?" he mutters, eyes now on an ashen Eliza, neon blue swirls joining their green counterparts on her clammy forehead. I know she'll find a way out.
The shapeshifter flinches, almost stumbling onto Jason's bed, when his brother jerks awake. Tom rushes to the table, grabbing an ice pack and small briefcase. "What is wrong with you?" He says, marching to the physician. "Did Fred make you lose all your marbles?" Anthony laughs, squinting at his unconscious daughter, "Maybe."
He turns to the shapeshifter who opens the briefcase, "She knows about Christina." Tom knits his brows, eyes on the ultramarine vial he retracts, "Who told you to lie?"
"Then what," the physician snaps. "Should I tell her that her scumbag of an uncle, abandoned her in her darkest time?" Tom drops the syringe he holds, clenching his teeth. He lifts his head, "Take that back."
"Why should I?" Anthony protests, crossing his arms. "You chose to-"
"We need to find something," Eliza gasps as she wakes up. She springs up from her seat, oblivious of the two startled men beside her. She peers at the two patients, a wide smile across her face. "I called your mother," she sneers, rubbing her throbbing forehead. She shifts her gaze to her uncle, leaning forward, "Mom, what are you doing here?" Anthony rubs his forehead, "She's hallucinating."
"Then get the antidote!" Tom says, getting up to catch his staggering niece. "Liz," he calls, holding her shoulders. "Hmm," she says, frowning when she sees her dad. "You," she pushes her uncle away, pointing a shaky green-blue finger to the physician. "Why did you hide everything from me?" Anthony sighs, resuming to the task of drawing the vial into a new syringe.
The hallucinaut exhales sharply, "Even I don't want to talk to you." She turns to her uncle who tries to bring her back to the couch. She points to his left hand, "It's not just a tattoo right?" Eliza giggles, covering her mouth. "It's the Xenos Gang trademark," she says.
Anthony freezes, the syringe in his hand trembling. His astounded brother scans the distorted triquetra on his left wrist. She knows about the Xenos gang? They both muse.
An unstable Eliza reels to the center of the hybrid room, sobbing. She squints at her stupefied dad, "Where did you find me?"
"Just give her THE ANTIDOTE!" A voice roars from the doorway.
The flabbergasted Banks brothers jump upon hearing the shrill voice. "DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME?" They turn to see an infuriated Amelia barge into the hybrid room, her scrunched face matching the color of her sloppy bun. "How long will you do this to her?" Nathan, Mark and a queasy Alexa enter the immaculate room, all goggle-eyed at the staggering owner.
"Nobody answers me," Eliza moans, shaking her head to keep her world from spinning. The recumbent Smith siblings sleep peacefully, oblivious of the current events that occur before them.
"Anthony!" Alexa cries to the stupefied physician. "Snap out of your daze and give her the antidote."
"You." Everyone - from a perplexed Anthony to a clueless Nathan - turns around to see the novice shapeshifter plodding toward the vanisher's bed. "Why did you come here?" She croaks, pointing her quivering finger over Jason's serene face. Her uncle rushes to her when she stumbles upon the monitors.
"We were living happily here, you know?" The clueless owner turns to the residents, her uncle holding her upright. "I'm being selfish," she sobs, clasping her grey, long-sleeved shirt. "I know better than this." She glances at Anthony, her ebony eyes wavering, "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I would have helped you catch the Xenos gang."
The residents concurrently arch their brows. What!?
The red-cheeked owner leers, tapping her earpiece, "Je-ss-ee." She straightens her stance for a moment, clearing her throat. "Tell the President that I'll be visiting her at the Emuroll Hose." Tom sighs, struggling to lift his tottering niece, "Tony!" A bewildered Anthony rushes to his daughter, the loaded syringe clasped in his bleaky hand.
"Who's the boy?" She asks as the other residents steady her in her upright stance. Her uncle lifts his head, "Who?"
"The locket," she says, clasping the gilded accessory around her neck. Heads turn to her. "My photo's on the left, while the boy's on the right." She frowns, eyes on her dad who administers the healing serum, "Why am I angry in that photo?"
The residents catch the owner who collapses. "Bring her here," Mark says, sprinting to an empty bed in the ward. Tom and Alexa carry the novice shapeshifter over their shoulders, who in turn get support from the other residents as they move across the room. Except for squeaky footsteps and hushed grunting, silence prevails in Hybrid Room 1.
I thought Fred erased every memory related to the gang. Anthony muses, glancing at his daughter who now lies in bed. So how does she know...
I remember deleting everything from the database. Alexa muses, rubbing her sore shoulder. Fred, what did you do....
She knows about the Xenos gang? Nathan muses as he steps away. Do the other kids know about this....
She's a shapeshifter. Mark muses, glancing at the stability device around the new patient's neck as he connects her to the monitors. That means Fred started the procedure months ago...
Fred's with the Xenos gang! Amelia muses, stepping away from the bed. We all were living with a Xenoxian...I mean, how could he do this to Adam and Jenny...
The legend... Tom muses, raising his brows as he glances at his niece. Fred wasn't blabbering. He lifts his head to see the surveillance camera above the door-frame. But the legend... He shifts his gaze to the unconscious diver. It can't be...
"Frederick Thornwood has been arrested on charges of treason and five others," Jessie chimes, through the speaker in the overpopulated hybrid room. Everyone snaps out of their daze, not by this announcement, but by the awakening owner of Pearl Manor.
"Fred's been arrested?" She mutters, rubbing her forehead as she sits up. She belches when she sees six pale, blurry faces before her. "Eliza, are you okay?" Amelia asks. She nods, squinting her eyes to see the sprinter. "My headache's gone-" She trails off when she views her mentor, "Alexa, what happened to you?"
The herculean casts a weary grin, "While I was checking the main systems, Fred appeared out of nowhere." She pauses, rubbing her green forehead, "And the next moment, I was in Hybrid Room 2."
She might have heard the call. Tom muses, placing his blistered hands in his black trouser pockets.
The owner exhales sharply, clenching her fists, "Fred." She darts her gaze to her dad and uncle, both with green swirls on their forehead. "He did it to you too." She widens her eyes when she realizes something. "Jenny and Adam," she whispers. Amelia stops her from getting off the bed, "They don't know."
"What?" Eliza says, shifting her gaze to the speaker. "Won't they be awake after hearing their grandfather's arrest?"
Mark shakes his head, "Jenny put herself under a sleeping charm, while Adam's resting in Hybrid Room 3." The friend nods, rubbing her weary face. She needs it for her insomnia. Eliza lifts her head, when realization strikes, "Adam's back?" The junior physician nods in response. Then what I heard about him is true. She muses, recollecting the uncanny telepathic conversation.
"Eliza," Anthony calls, trying to modulate his wobbly voice. "How do you know about the Xenos gang?" The shapeshifter glances at the residents, and then at Tom, "The mastermind of the January attacks. It's them, right?" She flits her gaze to her dad, "It was you who told me about the gang." Startled heads turn to the chief physician. "What?" He gawks, pointing to himself. "When?"
"Everyone here has told me," Eliza says, gazing at the other four residents. She sighs, crossing her arms. "Well, you guys didn't exactly tell me about the Xenos gang." She air quotes the last two words. "But by using your experiences of the Grey attacks, I dug deep into the archives." She tightly knots her arms. "I found traces of them last December."
Alexa shakes her head, "But I cleared everything--." She pauses, casting a small smile. "You saved the previous version of the manor's database, didn't you?" Her shrewd protegee nods, "The infamous gang that plunged our society into eternal darkness."
Tom sighs, looking at his brother, "Tony, you should have told her about everything." His niece nods in concurrence. She glances at his left wrist, "Now I recognize that symbol." Her grin falters, "That's the gang's brand." She lifts her head, "How do you have that?"
Her dad shakes his head, "He isn't part of the gang." Heads turns to him again, this time portraying dissonance. "What I mean, is that he was a double agent." Eliza relaxes her furrowed brows, "Oh." She sighs with relief, "I'd forgotten about the ICJ's special recruiting programs."
Anthony crinkles his forehead, "How much do you know?" The surprised residents nod, eyes on the owner. Eliza exhales sharply as she rests her back on the headboard. "I know that we were hiding because of the Xenos gang."
Mark places a hand over Anthony who was about to defend. She turns to her uncle, recollecting their first conservation as she arranges her findings. "They did attack us, but the world didn't come to an end." Tom nods, stepping forward.
"They are savage people who want to stay at the top." She glances at Amelia, "They would eliminate their opponents in a blink of an eye." A doleful Nathan wraps his arm around his wife who sheds a tear.
Eliza turns to Alexa, "But they haven't targeted the major population, who unlike them and us, don't have powers. So those who did learn about them, tried to live amongst the general public, suppressing their powers." Her mentor clears her throat, recollecting her past.
"And for those whose family members were Xenoxians," Eliza turns to Mark. "They couldn't stop them as their own survival was at risk." The junior physician blinks back his tears.
She glances at her predecessor, "That's why this manor was created. Not to safeguard us from the effects of the apocalypse, but from our sworn enemies." Anthony sags his head.
Eliza turns to her uncle, "The once predominant ICJ, couldn't protect its people. Hence they decided to terminate the gang.' She pauses, taking a soft gulp to rid her tremulous tone. "They recruited the best of us, to fight a losing battle."
She sighs when her placid uncle tears up. "I don't know what exactly happened before and during the Grey attacks, but I do know the real cause of Pearl Manor's existence." She darts her gaze to her dad, "So you should have told me that a world flourishes outside Pearl Manor."
Everyone turns their head to see the two outsiders. Eliza creases her forehead, shifting her gaze to Tom, "So that's why you hid as my caretaker?" She pauses, her creases deepening. "But why would-"
"Eliza," Nathan cuts in, unable to suppress his lingering question. "Do others know of this?" Amelia lifts her head, keen on the owner's response. "No," she answers, shaking her head. "I've made sure that nobody else knew of this." She glances at her dad, "Coz I know you all have reasons of not telling us."
"But you should've told one of us, when you discovered,"Alexa says, interlacing her hands. "Would you have answered all my questions honestly?" The owner asks, gaze riveted on her dad. "Without turning me down?"
Everyone flits their gaze to the monitors that beep alarmingly. It's Jason. The owner muses as she carefully gets off her bed. The rest, except the chief physician and the double agent, race to the patient. "He's stuck in his dream," Mark says, studying the small device attached to the monitors. "Fred altered his memories?" Alexa croaks, noticing the vanisher's gleaming fingernails.
"Yes," Anthony answers, glancing at his daughter who gets up. "I would have told you everything." Eliza straightens her grey shirt as she dons her red sneakers. "I'll ask every question of mine, after we resolve this issue." She peers at Jason's bed. "So don't hide after we're done treating him." Anthony nods, flashing a smile. He marches to the young man's bed.
"Liz." She turns to face her uncle. "About the conversation you overhead-"
"Oh," Eliza says, noticing his blemished hands. She sprints to the briefcase on the table, retrieving an amber vial. She turns to Tom, "Please sit."
Her estranged uncle plops on the bed, studying his now magenta hands. It's been fourteen years. He lifts his head when his niece appears before him, a loaded syringe in her hand. "Even Fred would get this, whenever he made a mistake," she says, administrating the antidote. "So we always have these stocked up." She glances at her uncle, his brown eyes gleaming, "What happened?"
"Tom," Anthony calls. "We need you here."
"One minute," his daughter intercedes. She glances at her uncle who wipes his tears. "Are you okay?" He nods, grinning when he looks at her, "I'm just happy to be back." Eliza smiles, watching the blemishes on his hand fade away. "I'll tell about the telepathic conversation later,' she says, after a moment. Tom nods, glancing at the residents who try to treat a shaky Jason. "Thank you," he says, showing his clear hands to his niece.
"Since his memories have been altered, we can't get him out immediately," Anthony apprises, glancing at his brother and daughter who reach the bed. "We need to get him out safely..."
...
Jason jolts awake, petrified by the last incident. What is the Cyan Project? He scans his dark surroundings. "What is this place?" He finds himself lying on a dark, ellipsoidal rug. "I was in Pearl Manor," he realizes, getting up. He scans the desolate room, "Where did her phone go?" The diver halts his search when he sees a steel door on the far end of the room, light peering from below it.
"There's no other door," Jason says, glancing at the three other grimy walls. His gaze falls on his changed apparel - a black cotton hoodie and jeans. "What?" He says, scanning his black sneakers. Is this a dream? He wonders as he heads toward the door.
A befuddled Jason places his hand on the chilly door knob, eyes on the emerging pink tile. He looks around when he fails to unlock the door. "Dr. Banks?" He turns to the door, the knob shaking in place. "Elizabeth?" He steps away from the now trembling door.
His gaze falls on the pink tile, that remains under his feet. "What?" Jason flinches when a disembodied chime plays. His wavering green eyes track the source of the sound. "What is happ-" The tile opens inward, causing the occupant in its place to fall.
"HELP!"