Someone dragged her roughly from her bed. Amalia groggily rubbed her eyes and grabbed her amulet out of instinct. Her guard? What were they doing here? Suddenly, they grabbed her waist and shoved her into the hallway.
"Wh-what is happening?"
"Keep quiet."
Amalia did what the guard bid her to do. After the mist was done with cleansing and sterilising both of their bodies, the guard grabbed her arm and dragged her along, her feet barely managing to keep pace with the guard's nimble steps. Had they been that agile before? She couldn't remember. All of the floodlights are off, and unlike the past excursions there were no guards stalking the asphalt grid. In the span of five minutes, both the guard and Amalia were near the large structure that she saw through the leaves of P. quinquefolia. The wall was fractured, various vines and tendrils flourishing amidst the cracks and fragments of the void like barrier. The guard pointed at the ground and at Amalia's head. She assumed that the guard wanted to keep her head down.
"Wait here." The guard entered the large plastic building with a keycard.
Amalia stayed where she was. Sitting on the pavement brought more questions into her mind. It was unlikely that there were only guards to keep them captive here. Like her holding cell, there were most likely cameras that guarded them as well. She spotted one camera above her, choked by P. quinquefolia. All of the other cameras she had spotted were entangled or blinking blue. Had they seen her transform during her experiments? If they did, wouldn't they have removed her and experimented on her? Actually, why was she here? Those questions swirled around her head until a click and the whoosh of an automatic door brought her attention to her guard.
"It's safe." The guard beckoned to her. "Follow me."
She was going to, but she stopped in her tracks. The guard had been acting suspicious, and not like themselves. Common sense dictated fleeing, but the situation left her with no safe refuge. In a split second, she darted into the guards' structure, away from the guard's reach.
What she expected was all of the guards to be immediately alerted to her presence. What she found was most of the guards present slumped over on a long rectangular table, some of them crumpled up on their chairs, and four splayed in an undignified position on the floor. On another table was a row of computer screens, all glowing an electric blue. A coffee machine was situated in the corner and she smelled the aroma of freshly brewed coffee in the room.
"It's not what you think. Listen, we need to leave quickly—"
Amalia grabbed her amulet, whispered the transformation phrase quietly, and summoned the carbon shield. The guard remained motionless.
"Oh shit—" The guard muttered.
She couldn't comprehend what happened next. She thought the guard was readying their gun to use on her. In any case, that wouldn't matter. Amalia hit them on the side of their head with the edge of her shield, knocking the goggles off of them. Her hyperventilation kicked in. Had she just hit a person in the head?! Why would she have done that?! Had she been reduced to violent measures? She was a scientist, one equipped with a rational mind, not a person who hit people in the head with a technologically advanced shield.
"It's fine...my head is still ringing...should have explained myself better...or said my name."
Amalia faced the guard clutching their head. Bright yellow eyes blinked at her.
"Nice to finally meet you in person."
Clytemnestra?
"Yes, I'm her. It turns out that the reason we couldn't read the guards' minds are in these little helmets." Clytemnestra knocked on her helmet. "I couldn't find an exit, but there's a backup plan."
"I'm so sorry..." Amalia apologised.
"It's fine, I've had worse."
"How did-"
"Did you know that an innocent little girl looking for medicine to treat a scrape works extremely well? These guards may be cold to you, but they certainly weren't to a child. I managed to persuade a sympathetic guard to allow me inside, and then I borrowed his clothes."
What did that mean?
"Don't worry, they're alive. I think I left them in a storage closet."
Did she know why everyone was here?
"Unfortunately no. There are no paper archives, and their computers just got wiped. I drugged the coffee, so don't drink it. Thankfully, at least most of the guards liked espresso. The rest I sent a message saying that there was an urgent message at Site Alpha, but after that all of the electronics shut off." She waved at the computers. "I don't know what happened there to be honest, but I did find out why I couldn't read Elias' mind."
Clytemnestra grabbed a hold of some pink coloured curtains and shoved it out of the way. Elias was hooked onto a ventilator and was completely still, the machines around him slowly beeping as his vitals remained stable.
"The notes here say that he has been in a coma for a week. Apparently he did try to escape, and got four bullets in the back for his trouble."
Amalia dropped her shield, letting it clatter on the floor. She wasn't close to Elias, but she knew that Laura was fond of him. Elias didn't move. Why had they all been taken prisoner, and why would they...why would they—
"Here, put these headphones on. They're industrial grade, and I found them in a drawer. Are you able to put any shields around the rest of your colleagues?"
Amalia shrugged, until she remembered the plants. If her dream was real and she could see through plants, then she could use them to protect everyone. She closed her eyes, imagining a shield around herself and Elias. Once she opened them, she was high above the facility like her dream.
We are not a dream. We are real, like you and Castor and Pollux.
How did you know those names?
We sense our siblings on the other side, and they tell us everything. Now imagine the shields that will protect your colleagues.
Amalia pictured it. Soon, she found eleven light brown coloured domes surrounding some of the structures, and far below, Clytemnestra was walking in front of the wall, and opened her mouth.
We will not be long for this world. Thank you for giving life to us, and we know what we were here for.
What do you mean—
Amalia's mind was shoved out of the gestalt consciousness. Before she could react, the entire building was shaking. Only her and Elias remained motionless. Everything was vibrating and she heard something collide with the ceiling, until it stopped. Peeking outside the door and taking off her headphones, she found Clytemnestra sighing.
"Whoo, that was...a lot...of screaming. At least...it's broken now."
Sunlight shone upon Amalia's face and outside there was grass and the dancing of birch trees in the wind. The wall was broken, shattered into a million chunks that surrounded Clytemnestra. Amalia sensed her colleagues were awake inside the shields. Outside, there was a teenager running towards them with yellow twintails dangling in the breeze.
"Castor!" The girl on the horizon shouted. She sprinted into Clytemnestra and hugged her.
Amalia looked back and forth between the two of them. They were twins...most likely fraternal. Those were the majority of twin births. Amalia blinked. The girl looked like a teenager...but they spoke like adults in her head. Sensing that her colleagues needed to exit, she let down the shields. She picked up her own shield, as all of her colleagues rushed towards her.
«C'est quoi ce bordel?» Jacques exclaimed, looking at the wall.
"Frau Wald, are you alright?" Ada asked. "What are you wearing?"
Amalia looked down at her uniform, which was unlike the light grey uniforms that her colleagues were wearing, especially considering the veined lace-like decorations between her chest and arms. The twins stopped embracing each other as the one in massive twintails pointed out a large flash of light.
"I'm...I'm wearing something from..." There was no logical or rational explanation that could properly quantify how Amalia acquired this uniform. Could she say that she possessed an amulet that had the capabilities to draw from an alternate power source? What if it converted this energy into solid tangible clothing?
Gunfire erupted on the far side. Everyone ducked while Amalia flicked her shield up. Instantly, a transparent dome formed around them and defended them against the bullets.
Can you make the shields mobile and only cover your colleagues? Because the bullets are ricocheting all over the place.
Amalia noticed Helen ducking and dodging various bullets, some of which were ricocheting off of the massive dome that Amalia erected.
"So...ummm...I have a device that can erect shields." That was suitable for now. "Can you...can you run past the trees? The shield is impenetrable, but Elias needs help. He's...he's..." Amalia pointed at the building. "He's in a coma."
Laura gasped in shock and broke off into a run towards the building, a small protective shield rotating around her. The others decided it would be best to sprint away together with any samples that they were holding, and Matteo expressed interest in studying Amalia's device for research purposes. As they did so, Amalia flicked up several shields to protect against incoming bullets of her own. Clytemnestra's hair changed to be the same lemon yellow as her sister and she started whacking the guards with her gun. Eventually, they ended up together, cornered by several guards.
"Do you know how to use a gun?" she asked Clytemnestra.
"No, but today's a good day to learn new things!" Clytemnestra placed her finger on the trigger. "The weight is interesting."
"Yes, but be careful of the—" BANG! "Recoil." Newton's third law of motion at its finest.
The recoil knocked Clytemnestra backwards into a nearby wall.
One of the soldiers was clutching their right arm in pain. Amalia shrugged as she threw up another shield to block yet another barrage of bullets. Clytemnestra recovered and had two black wires impale the ground in front of them, and sneezed. The ground cracked beneath their feet as everyone made way for the cracks.
Out of the corner of her eye, Amalia spotted Laura pushing Elias on his hospital bed out of the guards' quarters. Unfortunately, some of the guards noticed as well and gave chase.
Clytemnestra alternated between shooting them, recovering from shooting, or screaming at them, at one point using her wires to trip several guards in pursuit. Amalia placed a few shields around the two of them. However, she noted that when she was not concentrating on them, they tended to fall.
Having finally outrun their pursuers, Amalia and Clytemnestra sequestered themselves near the now demolished wall. Laura met up with them, with Elias' prone body laid out on his bed, his vital monitors beeping wildly. Another wave of gunfire erupted, Amalia shielding all of them with a force field.
Now that she saw Clytemnestra's face closely, the twins did look identical. Amalia chalked it up to a trick of the light.
No, that was shapeshifting. Otherwise I would have never fit into that uniform. Helen taught me while I was moaning in pain in the back of the van. She seems to have ditched the van though.
Amalia warily peeked out from her shield. Helen was backed into a corner, holding a small white pen. Instead of the van, there was a bus outside near the trees.
Amalia glanced back at the panicking Laura. Between the guards, the distance between them and the bus, and Elias, it was highly unlikely that they could escape without incurring injury.
"Should we—" Amalia pointed at Helen's back against the wall.
"Helen's fine, don't worry," was Clytemnestra's response.
Helen held out her pen, and pointed it at the crowd. None of them seemed to be intimidated by the pen and rushed her. She sighed and pressed a button. In the span of a second, the little white pen in her hand expanded in size and segments until its tip was speared into a guard's chest. Helen retracted it and started to use it as one would use a spear.
Both pen and twintails whirled in the air as Helen fought back the guards surrounding her. At one point, Amalia witnessed her throwing the pen into the wall with a guard hanging on. She tapped a yellow jewel on her forearm, summoning her pen back into her hand. That must be another form of advanced technology, Amalia thought, where a simple pen can be a disguise for a larger weapon.
I think that would be our cue to start sprinting. How good are you at running?
Amalia was terrible at running.
Time to refresh those skills!
Clytemnestra took off, occasionally shooting into the crowd. Amalia flicked up a few shields to protect Laura and Elias, and helped roll Elias' bed onto the grass. Behind her she spotted Helen giving chase. Finally they arrived at the bus where Amalia helped Laura carry Elias' bed onto the back of the bus. She wanted to say something to Laura, but a sudden lurch caused her to be thrown against the back of the bus.
"Go faster Helen!"
"I'm trying here! Do you want to take the wheel?"
"I can't drive well!"
Amalia wanted Helen to slow down, as her body collided with the walls, the floor, and the back of the bus yet again. Clytemnestra signalled to Amalia to shield everyone. A few seconds later, the road behind them was left a pile of rubble.
Surprisingly Elias was still alive. Laura and Amalia worked by keeping the bed mostly stable and not jostling around the seatless bus.
Matteo wanted to use Clytemnestra's gun to shoot the guards, only for Amalia to remind him that he wouldn't aim well inside a swerving vehicle. The twins were arguing and spinning the wheel too quickly, often veering off of the road and onto the grass.
They left the guards behind and Amalia looked backwards once the bus stopped lurching. The building that she was in loomed tall over the disappearing horizon, a perfect semicircle all in pitch black. She sensed the energy of her T. aestivum samples and told them to head into the wild.
Once they slowed down to a safe and comfortable pace, Amalia started asking her colleagues questions, and them of Amalia. Based on the collected information, none of their guards spoke to them. Some of them, like Fabienne and Laura, had some of their cereal crop treatment groups from the experiment placed in their holding cells. Fabienne recalled waking up to her guard snapping off stalks from the Z. mays Calamity resistant treatment group. Jacques recounted how he had numerous issues with the guard's treatment and once berated his guard to their face one night. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Amalia detected Clytemnestra giving Jacques a mental smirk. Matteo remembered that he once briefly heard a commotion and then the sound of gunfire. Other individual testimonies pointed towards that being the incident that sent Elias into a coma. Among everyone, there had been no mentions of why they were held captive, or in the case of Fabienne, why they were taking some of the samples.
"Frau Wald, what do you mean the cameras in your room and the facility blinked blue?" Ada asked incredulously.
"Madame Vogel, it is not just her. All of our cameras had a blue blinking light," Jacques answered.
"That's impossible. My brother worked at a security company, and he once brought a broken version of that exact type of security camera home. Once we fixed it, it blinked red, not blue."
Amalia saw Helen peeking behind and focusing on the wheel once she noticed Amalia noticing her. Clytemnestra was balancing a laptop on her knees, both jumping every time Helen hit a road bump which was often. A sudden ding arose from the laptop.
"Hey Helen! I got the buyers' list from that auction!" she shouted.
"How?" Helen shouted back.
"I don't know! Something popped up and sent me the entire list! I can read it out to you! There's Italy, Ireland, Morocco, Costa Rica, South Korea, Poland, China, Germany, Canada, Greece, the Czech Republic, Malta, Norway, South Africa, Egypt, Brazil, England, Australia...the list is long. There's no names listed, so I think it was anonymous."
"Good enough. We're going to Italy!"
"Ummm, we need to drop everyone here at the hospital, especially Elias. His condition will worsen if we keep him with us." Amalia hoped the twins listened to reason.
"Why can't we find a doctor in a nice back alley? They would have experience but they're out of the way." Clytemnestra suggested.
Laura looked like she would punch Clytemnestra in the face. Ada gave a disappointed look to her. Jacques furrowed his eyebrows at her in his perpetually annoyed way.
"An actual hospital, please." Amalia would never have a shady doctor be in control of Elias' life.
Clytemnestra and Helen shared a look and shrugged. "That might be a good idea."
The bus, which she learnt was "borrowed", travelled swiftly into Geneva. Although Amalia wanted to stay with her colleagues, her gut told her to travel with the twins.
A few hours later, she was with them as they argued over whether to go to Italy or to Ireland or any of the places on the buyers' list. The loud and frequently ear piercing arguments unsettled her, so she found those industrial grade headphones and put them on. The peace and quiet was much better, especially since she escaped from captivity. Still, she clutched her amulet. There's more to this situation than her and her colleagues' kidnapping, she thought.
"How much footage was lost?"
"At least a week and a half's worth of footage."
"So no one fixed the problem?"
"None of us are great with technology, so no one detected it until it was too late."
"Did the intruder steal anything?"
"Only a few minor files, but the self-destruct protocol kicked in quickly."
"Good, what about the scientists?"
"They are recuperating at the Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève."
"Keep a close eye on them, and don't kidnap them again. Which one of them is the Servant?"
"We aren't sure. The loss of footage coincided with their length in captivity."
"Have you secured all of their samples and test subjects?"
"Some of the scientists took them in their escape, but we have recovered a decent portion."
"Good. Send them to Site Alpha and send the wrecking crew too. Leave no trace. We don't want another Costa Rica."