He makes his way to the door.
"Right on schedule." He thinks, as the sound of the daily paper hits his front door with a thud.
He proceeds to open the door and steps outside, in his house shoes and pjs. He bends over, picking up the paper, and takes it back inside, shutting the door behind him.
He's your typical Average Jo.
Sort of.
He prefers tea instead of coffee in the mornings. Taking the kettle off of the burner, he walks over to the kitchen table and begins to pour the boiling water over the tea bag, that rests inside his ivory mug. His choice; Earl Grey.
Like the perfectionist he is, he places the paper down neatly on the kitchen table. Not really caring for the daily news, he opens it to the crossword section. Quizzing himself is a great way to get his brain going. He sets a timer for 10 minutes and begins with number 1 on the puzzle.
"Shoe mark." He reads to himself and fills in the 5 empty boxes with the word, "Scuff."
He's quite fast. His brain working exceptionally sharp this morning. He skillfully, works through all of the puzzle. Soon enough, the timer dings, signaling the end of the 10 minutes.
"Perfect." He thinks to himself as he finishes his last word and places the pencil down, neatly on the paper.
With his brain now on point, ready for the day ahead of him. He begins to get ready for work. Although, he takes notice that his only plant, is in need of a trim. He holds the pruning shears in his right hand and carefully, trims the small tree to perfection.
Afterwards, he shaves his face, keeping it clean and free of facial hair.
Sliding his closet doors open, he picks out his typical grey suit. To him, all of them are different. He takes the one from the middle and begins to get dressed. His pants, crisp white shirt, and vest are on as he tightens the knot of his tie, with the help of his full length mirror. Today, he picked one that is striped, with colors of blue, beige, and white. He puts his blazer on and takes a long look at himself in the mirror.
"Today, is going to be a good day." He speaks out loud, giving himself a pep-talk.
After he puts on his sleek, black shoes, he grabs his suitcase and heads to the door. Not before taking a quick glance at the happy, family portrait that once was.
"I miss them."
It has been 8 years since the sudden passing of his beloved daughter, Josephine.
Today, marks the 10th year since his wife "Left."
**
Martin opens the door to the Rainbow Room, walking inside. He looks around the room full of children, eyes scanning for a specific one.
He spots him, sitting alone, playing with a Magic 8 Ball.
"That's your favorite, isn't it?" He asks 010, as he takes a seat next to him.
Ten takes his attention off of the Magic 8 Ball and onto Martin. "How are you feeling today?" He asks Ten.
"Okay."
"Are you up for some more lessons?" Martin smiles, hoping that Ten will say yes.
Ten does say yes, but not verbally. He shakes the Magic 8 Ball, signaling the floating triangle inside will give the answer. However, Ten uses his powers to control the triangle inside.
"Signs point to yes." Martin reads off of the floating triangle.
Martin and Ten hold hands as they leave the Rainbow Room and walk down the hallway.
"Afternoon, Dr. Brenner." Dr. Ellis. Says to him as she and another woman pass by.
"Dr. Ellis." Martin acknowledges.
Martin and Ten continue to walk down the hallway, turning left at the end, and make their way into Ten's room.
After Martin puts the EEG attachment on 010's head, he instructs him to close his eyes. Martin takes a seat across the table, crossing his legs, one over the other. He picks up his clipboard, that has a blank sheet of paper on it, followed by a yellow crayon, that he placed there previously. He draws a sun on the paper.
"Okay." He says to Ten, whose eyes are still closed. "What do you see?"
"Don't force it." Martin says after glancing at the peak on the scanner. "Let it come to you. Just like we practiced."
"It's..." Ten begins to say. "...a yellow circle. The sun."
Martin smiles a tight lipped smile at Ten. "Very good." He says as he takes notes. "Very good."
"All right." Martin says picking a brown crayon out of the box. "Let's see." He says as he begins to draw a poor excuse of a dog. "Okay." He says, once finished and places the crayon back down on the table. "Now what do you see?"
Ten takes a moment before answering. "A... cow?" He asks, confused.
Martin furrows his eyebrows, also confused, and looks down at his paper. Surely his drawing wasn't that bad. "It's supposed to be a dog." He says looking back up at Ten.
"It looks like a cow." Ten chuckles.
Martin chuckles with Ten. "It does, doesn't it?" He says glancing down at the poorly drawn picture. "I never was much of an artist." Martin says shaking his head as he places the clipboard down on the table.
"All right. Let's try something a little bit more challenging." Martin tells Ten as he makes note of the time. "Is that alright with you?"
Ten nods his head, yes.
"I want you to find Dr. Ellis." As he takes notes of the brainwaves on the EEG machine. "Can you do that?"
Ten nods his head again.
The sound of the EEG machine scribbling down Ten's brainwaves fills the room as he begins to find Dr. Ellis.
"Have you found her?" Martin asks him, noticing Ten's eyes stop moving behind his eyelids.
"Yes."
"What's she doing?"
"Lessons with Six in his room."
"What kind of lessons?" Martin asks as he takes notes.
"Six is trying to move a block. A red block." Ten establishes.
Martin takes note of Ten's brainwaves, as the scanner scribbles them down faster. "Can you hear what they're saying?"
Ten begins to show signs of distress by breathing heavily. The EEG machine can barely keep up with the signals it's receiving from Ten as it prints out peaked waves.
"Something's wrong." Ten mutters.
"If you've lost the visual, just let it go. Try to reorient." Martin says, trying to calm him down. He takes a glance down at the scanner, Ten's brainwaves are now peaked high and close together, signaling heightened awareness.
"They're screaming." Ten whimpers.
"Why are they screaming?" Martin asks, very concerned.
Ten's nose begins to bleed, making Martin even more nervous. "Ten?"
Immediately, the alarm begins to wail. Martin stands up, out of his chair, and walks over to the intercom on the wall. "Peter, Alec, what's going on out there?" He speaks into it.
"Sir, we've got a situation." Alec's voice says through the speaker.
"Six and Dr. Ellis..." Martin hears Ten say from behind, causing him to turn away from the intercom.
"Dead. They're both dead." Ten begins to cry.
A loud bang on the door catches Martin's attention, causing his head to snap in the direction of it. Screaming is heard loudly, from the other side.
He steps closer to the door and the screaming continues.
Martin stops halfway, the banging and screaming getting louder. Indicating that whatever is causing those noises, is getting closer. One last scream is heard right before the door blasts open. It breaks off of the hinges and crashes right into Martin, making him fall unconscious.
**
Martin wakes up with a shock. He grunts from the pain his head is experiencing. Feeling a little disoriented, he reaches up to his forehead, wincing from the pain. Martin staggers as he tries to sit up. Holding himself up by his forearms, he looks out into the hallway and notices the flickering lights and destruction.
Martin worriedly looks over his right shoulder, at Ten. Gasping with worry, he moves over to Ten, hovering over him.
He's dead.
Martin lifts Ten by his neck and back, cradling him to his neck and chest. Whimpering, Martin caresses the back of Ten's head before his attention is caught by another child's scream. He looks towards the hallway, terrified, and gently places Ten back down before scurrying to his feet.
Martin stumbles out of the room and into the hallway, horrified by everything that he sees.
Blood from the security officers and other techs are splattered on the walls.
They too, are dead.
He makes his way down the hallway, glancing in Twelve's room, the door is busted open. Twelve lays on their bed that is drenched in their own blood.
Twelve is also dead.
Brenner lets out a shocked gasp at the sight and scurries away from the room. Forcing his gaze away from the gore, he continues down the hallway. His eyes are wide with fear, shock, and confusion as he can't wrap his head around the death surrounding him.
"What is happening?" He panics to himself.
Screaming at the end of the hallway catches his attention. His head whips in the direction of the Rainbow Room. Martin uses the help from the wall to keep him upright as he tries his best to hurry to the room.
Finally, he makes it and slams the double-doors open.
It's like a scene from a horror film.
The room is completely destroyed. Children, his children, lay dead on the floor, with their blood splattered on the floors and walls around them.
All but one.
"What have you done?" Martin asks the child that stands with their back facing him, in front of the two-way-mirror, that is now shattered.
The child turns around, sharply. Blood covers the front of their hospital gown.
Martin is horrified by what he's seeing.
Blood drips from all corners of their eyes, as they stand before him angrily.
"Eleven. What have you done?"
Today was not a good day.