Enhance: Chapter 1

“How is subject 247 testing?”

A scientist in a white coat, holding a clipboard glanced back at the new comer and welcomed him to his side. The room was small and cramped. There were numerous consoles spread about it, whirring and beeping as data was submitted into them. It smelled of carpet cleaner.

There were two other scientists, in the room. One was sitting at a console against the wall while the other was standing and watching the readings that came in, jotting down any changes made. The new man came from a door opposite a glass window pane.

He was an average height with greying brown hair. He was wearing a designer suit, black and decorated slightly but only at the lapels. His slacks and shoes were just as black. His eyes were a cold green and face lined from age and scowling.

The scientist glanced at his clipboard and then glanced back at the man. “The subject is exceeding our expectations . The average woman of her size is able to lift about 136 to 150 pounds. She is able to lift almost three times that. However, the strength isn’t restricted to just lifting of weights.”

The grey-haired man did not react nor seemed impressed. The scientist, flustered, continued. “When testing her strength, she’s been able to break through wood with ease. Not surprising as with the right concentration, a normal human could do. She has been seen breaking several layers of concrete without much effort. We’ve even, on occasion seen her dent steel. It’s truly astounding.”

“Is that all you have been able to glean from it?” The man asked curtly.

The scientist however, a graduate from Yale with top marks, was insulted. “No. She has shown increased stamina able to run over three dozen miles and barely break a sweat. Though speed is not her strong point, she just barely passes the fastest sprinter across the world. She has been able to maintain that speed for hours on end. She’s been able to hang, supporting her own weight for what may be indefinite amounts of time and under varying conditions from wind, to rain, to snow.”

Turning pages of the clipboard he continued. “Her skills do not stop at just the physical. Her mental capacity is astounding. Though we’ve kept her teaching to only nonfiction as to discourage too much independent thought we’ve tested her consistently on extensive knowledge. She has managed to retain almost everything that she’s learned over the course of these three years.

“She’s been shown to be able to complete complex task from small puzzles to large scale thought projects. There are some abnormalities but those are to be expected. Lack of needing to eat often, strange sleeping patterns, spurts of odd creativity.” He said waving his hand through the air. “It doesn’t matter too much. What matters is the she is a very fine specimen.”

The man had been listening to him intently, his hands behind his back. Once the scientists stopped speaking he walked forward and stared at the specimen. “How many others are like this one?”

“Within her grouping? Only one other. Number 365. The others have fallen below these two. We have had the pair of them compete against one another and so far the record is averaging toward even. “

The man nodded his head slowly at the words and turned around promptly. “Send it back to the cell. I will contact the next branch. You will be hearing from me shortly.”

The door closed behind him and the scientist stared at the door. He wasn’t sure as to what he had expected from this meeting but he certainly had hoped to gain more from it than this. He slammed the clipboard down and pointed through the glass pane.

“Take her back to the cell!” He barked into a microphone attached to the console. “Keep her there until further notice. Feed her on schedule like normal!” He scowled and wanted to throw something across the room.

The hallway she was being forced to walk down was white. Bright and pristine. In fact, the guards walking her along, and she herself, were the only splashes of color. Every scientist looked cloned. All pasty faced, with the same white lab coats and boring office clothes. The guards at least had different hair colors, styles, faces, and body sizes. There were even a few women sprinkled throughout. Diversity.

The guards were wearing standard short sleeved white shirts, and ties. They had badges to show that they belonged. Around their waist were their guns, tasers, batons and tear gas. They were armed to deal with the occupants of the lab. If any of them acted out of turn they were tazed and marked. If they acted out again they were put down on the spot.

Between them was Specimen 247. She was a thin girl, about 5’8. She had long brown hair that was behind her shoulders and almost to the small of her back. Currently it was tied in a messy ponytail. Her frame was skinny but toned through constant exercise. She wore black sweat pants and a white t-shirt shirt. Her skin had a brown tone the same as her narrowed eyes. 

They slowed to a stop when they reached a door. It was the same as any others. Gray, made of steel, with a modified mail slot for food and a small barred window at the top. There was a thick plastic slider on this side to prevent her from spitting into the eyes of a guard. Or maybe stabbing them. She heard one of the others succeeded in doing that. They were ‘let go’ shortly after that.

“Alright, in ya go freak.” She felt the butt of a baton at her back and stumbled forward. She caught herself quickly and whirled around. Glaring at the guards, she flipped them off but the door slammed shut in her face. The scientist tried to keep her education formal but she learned things from the guards.

The room was pale white with a bed in the corner and a toiled opposite that. She stood for a moment and frowned as she walked around the small cubicle. She didn’t have much to work with. She was a number. Her existence was to be an experiment and to perform well for the men with the clipboards.

She glanced at her hands and they were red from the steel test they had done today. Once again she had almost broken the steel but almost broke her hand in the process. In fact she could feel her bones protesting against the trauma she was putting them in.

She made maybe a dozen full rotations around the cell before going to the center and sitting down. Crossing her legs, she folded her arms and closed her eyes. She didn’t think meditating was a real thing. She did know that sitting down and breathing helped her heal. Probably because of the relxation. Unfolding her arms, she rested her hurt hand into her palm. She knew her knuckles were red and a few fingers might’ve been broken.

Her chest was rising and falling slowly as she worked her breathing under her control. It had taken two broken arms to find the right pace. Staring at her hand she felt feeling return to it like recovering from a charley horse. She’d done the same to cuts. Scrapes, and bruises.

The ground rumbled underneath her and she suddenly slipped to the side falling on her back. It hadn’t done that before.  She tried dragging herself to sitting position again but failed. She couldn’t really see straight and continued to wobble back and forth. The ground rumbled again and this time and she wondered if she was really out of it or if the ground was actually shaking. Were earthquakes common here? Wherever here was.

Taking one more steadying breath she got upright and stared at her hand. Flexing the fingers slowly she made sure they were intact. She was glad for that much. Reaching out she pressed a hand to the wall and stood up. There was another even heavier rumble that almost made her fall over.

“Alright… what is going on.” She said softly and turned around with narrowed eyes.

She could hear the sound of boots running down in the hallway. She raised an eyebrow because there was shouting going on. She walked closer to the door and stood a little higher on her ties, trying to look through the tiny window of her cell.

She saw easily half a dozen of the guards running past her. However these had vest and fully automatic weapons at their disposal. “Which one of us makes them start packing heat?” She whispered as she held onto the bars. It didn’t make sense.

And then it happened. A wave of air slammed into them and sent them flying against the walls and the ground. With wide eyes she watched the ripple travel over to her own door and suddenly she was thrown backwards.

She slammed against the far wall and then fell straight back to the ground. She raised her head for a moment before it fell back down and everything went black.

She wasn’t out for long. She heard muffled shouting and raised her head slowly. Her room was dark, illuminated by an orange emergency light. A siren was going in the distance. She pushed herself upward and stared at the now gaping hole where her door once was. It was across the room a corner on the same side as her.

Two guards were in her room along with three more outside. They were all armed and they all had their guns trained on her.  “We’ve got Specimen 247 contained. What are our orders, sir?”

Despite being as groggy as she was she could hear the other side of what she assumed was the headset. “Terminate her. Terminate them all. This project has been deemed a failure.”

“Understood.”

Her eyes went wide at the words. Their guns raised but she was already moving. She was in an enclosed space but she was still far stronger and faster than them. Dashing to the side she reached down and lifted the door up. Turning and jumping backwards she put her back to the corner and the door in front of her. Making herself as small a target as possible she ducked low as the bullets rained.

The door shook under the onslaught but it was taking the brunt of the damage and that’s what she wanted. From the sound of the bullets she could guess where each of the guards were. With a grunt, she heaved and kicked the door forward. It flipped end over end before slamming into one of the guards. Using the wall as a platform she jumped toward the other.

At her angle she slammed her elbow into his throat and then made him hit the wall. She heard the crack of bone and knew that was a fatal sound. Good.

Kicking her foot out she got his gun, cocked it back and opened fire onto the ones in the hallway. She was only able to kill one before they took cover. That corporate training was paying dividends.

One of the guards pushed his gun through the open slot and fired off some potshots. They were all wide but they almost hit their mark, which startled her. She backed off and ran behind the door again. Taking out the magazine she saw that the gun was almost spent which was not on the list of pros.

“How could this get worse?” She muttered to herself.

The sound of metal bouncing against the ground echoed in the cell. Her eyes widened slightly before she shut them tight and covered her ears. There was a flash followed by a loud bang that was amplified in the tiny area. She was dazed by the double whammy and her grip on the gun loosened.

The guards waited five seconds, giving signals to one another before going in. The first guard filed in gun pointing around trying to get a bead on her. He stepped forward slowly, checking each of the corners. “The door. She’s cornered.”

“Be careful. Don’t get caught like last time.”

“I won’t.” He said and reached toward his belt. He pulled out another grenade and rolled it toward her. “Flashbang going out!”

She was just getting her bearings together when the second grenade hit her and she was stunned. The closer proximity made it worse and she shut her eyes tightly. The ringing from before was now just deafness.

The guard came forward and grabbed the edge of the door. With a heave he yanked the door to the side. The other came forward instantly and pointed the gun at her. Before the trigger was pulled he fell forward and into the wall.

The second guard turned around but reacted too late. He was picked up and thrown into another wall. The shape jumped forward and then stomped down onto his chest breaking as many bones as they could.

Turning around the new comer walked toward her. She could see the shape and reached out for the gun. If she was going to die she wasn’t going to die without taking a chunk of her killer.

“Put that thing down. We’re on the same side.”

She barely heard the voice and tilted her head to the side. Letting the gun slip from her hand she closed her eyes and let her breathing slow down. The air smelled of smoke and it was clogging but she got the air in her lungs. She felt her hearing coming back as well. An alarm must have been triggered sometime between the guards attacking and now because everything was loud.

Opening her eyes, they focused in on her savior and frowned. Another girl was there, about her height. She had had short cut hair that was swept to the side so that it wouldn’t cover her eyes. Her eyes were dark brown, almost black and her skin was pale brown. Not a lot of sun hit them in here. She had a slim build like her own but there was a hint at more obvious toning in some places. She was wearing the typical specimen getup of white shirt and black sweatpants.

“You’re 365.” She said, her voice coming back slowly.

The new comer’s mouth quirked into a grin. “And you’re 247.”

365 reached out, extending her hand toward her. 247 took it reluctantly and was pulled to her feet. The pair of them had been put against one another numerous times. From combat, to knowledge, to stamina. Any sort of competition that the scientist could come up with they’d done against one another. And there was never a clear winner. Just always winning by a point or a second longer. 365 liked to taunt 247 during their contest and that made 247 have little love for her.

“Any idea of what the fuck is going on here?” 365 asked as she glanced around. They had five dead guards, the door to 247’s cell blown open, and not to mention the attack from earlier.

“I know that we’re up for termination. All of us are.” She pointed to a guard. “Heard it from the horse’s mouth.”

“Joy.” Bending down, 365 picked up a gun and started gathering ammunition. “To be clear you wouldn’t be my first choice.”

“Feelings mutual.”

365 was silent in thought. 247 busied herself with taking two pistols from the guards. The automatic rifle in her hand felt bulky and awkward. As she weighed them in her hands, she held her hands up and looked down the barrels. These she could make do with. She shoved one into her pants and kept the other in hand.

“Let’s escape.” 365’s sudden declaration threw her off.

“Escape?”

“You heard me.”

“Okay? And go where? We’re lab experiments. We don’t have a home or a place to go.” She shook her head at the ridiculousness of that notion. Without a plan they were going to just wander until they were caught.

“Then we make one.” 365 put the gun over her shoulder and shrugged. “What would you rather stay here and get terminated?”

She had a point. She didn’t like to admit it but it was true. She glanced at 365 and gave a short nod.

“Hurry! The Specimen was seen in this sector last!”

The pair exchanged glances and 247 spoke. “More guards. Let’s get some place else. Sitting still will get us killed.”

“Agreed.”

Both of them rushed to either side of the door. They remained still and listened as the repetition of boots on the ground got closer and closer. Like the rotation of the siren they came close, at their loudest, before getting quieter and quieter as they passed. With them going one direction the pair stepped out and ran the opposite.

They didn’t really know where they were going but they had an idea. Going off memory alone, they were backtracking their way to the testing room. It was the opposite direction of most of the commotion. 247 heard the sound of more bad news first.

“Guards.”

“Where?”

“In front of us but… they’re going forward.”

“So they’re going in the same direction that we are?”

“Yeah.”

“Wonder why.”

“We’re about to find out.”

Coming to another corner, instead of whipping past it they hugged the wall. 365 stood while 247 crouched, her gun against her chest. Glancing at one another, they exchanged a quick set of looks, hand motions, and headshakes. 247 rolled forward as 365 aimed. They didn’t pull the triggers because of what they saw.

A guy was fighting the guards off. About three of them were standing while seven lay on the ground. Two of them opened fire with the automatics while the third was firing a pistol. He surged forward and when bullets collided with him his body fizzled, like a bad TV reception, and he kept going slamming into the guards.

He sent one of the automatic rifle users flying into the ceiling. Turning on a dime he dragged his hand through the ground. Once again he fizzled but when his hand left the ground a plate of the floor was in his palm. He hurled it right at the guard’s head knocking off his helmet and sending him sprawling backwards.

Turning quickly he jumped forward and leaped onto the last guard. Landing onto him he brought his arm back and it fizzled again. Thrusting his hand through the man’s head they heard a scream and then nothing.

The agony of the man on the ground fueled his struggle until he couldn’t anymore. Neither 247 or 365 looked away. For a second, they both caught a wide grin on the man’s face. 365 turned back to check behind and her eyes widened. She didn’t see a shape, just a blob of light

“Get back!”

247 didn’t ask why, she just flattened herself against the wall. She felt the wave as it blew over her and she was almost torn away from the wall. She gripped onto it as tight as she could and squinted her eyes. 365 did the same but her back was against the wall and she watched the air ripple around them. The guy looked up at her shout and his eyes widened. Jumping away instantly, he threw himself onto the other side of the room.

Light suddenly surged past and blinded them and she could have sworn that she saw a person in it but the light was too bright to stare at directly. It flew into the wall and an explosion rocked the complex. The light barreled through the hole and then everything was silent save for the alarm.

365 looked toward the hole and then back at 247. Reaching out she pulled her forward. The pair of them walked together and figured that there weren’t going to be any other people around. They got to the edge of the room and stared at the hole.

“It’s open. We can escape through that.”

“What about him?”

365 looked toward the other experiment and frowned. He was one of them. He was dressed in the same way as the rest. As he got to his feet, she guessed he was easily six foot. He had curly black hair, amber eyes, a flat nose and dark skin. He looked at them both with suspicion. He was tensed and ready to fight at the drop of a hat. After what he’d done to the guards neither of them wanted to be on the receiving end of that.

“You got a name?” 365 shouted as she looked at him.

He looked at her. “I have a number. 52.”

“52.” 247 repeated. “You’re one of them.”

“Yeah. And I’ve heard about you two. Scientists like you both..” He said and stood but kept his arms down.

“Living proof.” 365 lowered the gun and then dropped it. “We’re leaving this place. You should come.”

“Leaving? And going where?”

“No idea, we haven’t had time to figure it out.” 247 said glanced at 365 then tossed away her own guns. “You should come with us. It would be better to stick together.”

52 frowned as he looked at the two of them but nodded slowly. They were out in the middle of nowhere. There were a few trees here and there and dry grass but for the most part it was barren ground. The sunlight was glaring above heat encroached on the room.  “I guess I don’t have a lot of great options.”

“Awesome.” 365 said and stood in front of the hole. It was about two or three stories down. Nothing major for them. “Anyone know where the closest city or town is?”

“I think it’s north of here.” 52 turned looking in the direction.

“Great, now which way is north?” 365 asked. This was getting harder the more thought she actually put into it.

247 came forward, walking between the two of them, and held up a headset and cellphone. “We use this.”

247 crouched down and hit the home button. She guessed around and managed to get it before the phone locked her out. There was a picture of a man with a young boy and they were both smiling. Must have been his family. She didn’t dwell on the fact that they made a son an orphan.

Going through the apps she found maps and turned on location services. There were a few minutes of delay before it showed them in the northern part of Illinois.

“There’s a small town about west of us.” She told them. “From there it seems that Chicago is the nearest city.”

“Why go to Chicago?” 52 asked.

“Why not?” 365 responded. “It’s a big city. We’ll blend in.”

“Regardless. Short term goals are better considering the situation that we’re in.” 247 said and stood.

“So let’s get going.” 365 said and pumped her fist.

The trio nodded and returned to the hole before jumping out. The moment they stepped outside the cool air-conditioned facility gave way to the baking heat of the outside. It was like a blanket had been draped on top of them.

The ground felt solid in a very different way compared to the facility. The sky was cloudless, a blue they’d really only seen in their books.

“So do we start running?” 365 asked placing a hand over her eyes.

“We could, or we could use those.” 52 pointed back toward the building. There was an open garage with trucks parked inside.

“That works.” 365 sprinted over and skidded to a stop outside of it. Breaking the window with a good punch she unlocked the door. As she got inside there was a quick chirping sound and the side door opened.

“Keys were in the garage,” 247 said as she slid into the passenger side. 52 got in the back seat but leaned forward as he glanced at the two women.

“Whatever. My way was faster.”

52 snorted. 365 glanced at him, “Got something to say?”

“Let me see the phone.”

247 handed it back to him and he held it up toward the sky . He was silent for a moment before turning the screen around to face them. “We should go here.”

“The Willis Tower?” 365 asked as she glanced at him.

“Yeah.” 52 said.

“I’ve seen the building in my books. It was called the Sears tower.” 247 said as she took the phone back.

“I like that better. I mean Willis? Eck.” 365 shook her head.

With an eye roll 247 glanced out the front window and at the nearly full garage. That suggested facility was far bigger than they thought. On top of that there were probably more guards than the three of them could handle on their own. “We should get going before figure out where we are.”

365 took the keys from 247 and put them in the ignition. It took two hard turns and hitting the dashboard before the thing roared to life. She grinned as it rumbled under her.

“Now this is what I’m talking about!” Gripping the wheel she shifted into reverse and hit the gas. The truck jerked backwards suddenly throwing all three of them into their seats. She spun the wheel around rapidly to put their back to the facility. She switched it into drive, hit the gas and jerked them forward.

With a bit of whiplash 247 gripped the edge of the door and shook her head. “Maybe one of us should drive?” Her voice was almost overshadowed entirely by the wind that was rushing in through the broken window.

“I got this!”

“I really doubt that,” 52 suggested.

“Gotta go fast!” 365 said and stepped harder on the gas. The speedometer was doing a steady increase and that was starting to worry the pair of them. Reaching across her shoulder 247 took the seatbelt and clicked it into place. 52 likewise did the same with one over his waist.

“Anyone know what that thing was?!” 365 asked over the wind.

“You mean the thing that caused everything to go to hell?” 52 asked and 365 nodded. “No idea.”

“Well whatever it was we owe it.” 365 said and put a second hand on the wheel and then narrowed her eyes. “Can that thing tell us how long it’ll take to get to the town?”

“It’ll take about 6 to 7 hours to get there from here.” She said. “So I guess we better get comfortable.”

“We can take turns driving.” 52 suggested.

“What time is it now?”

247 glanced down at the phone. “It’s about 3:45.” She informed them both. Every two hours we switch drivers. Just to divide it up evenly.”

“Sounds like a plan.” 52 folded his arms and leaned back against the seats. 247 did something similar. She turned and stared out at the passing landscape behind them. It was a blur of brown and green. There was nothing worth looking at so she closed her eyes, and did her best to get comfortable. She fell asleep without realizing it.