Only as good as your predecessors
Everything was a blur and even the blur was blinded by the great light outside of the tank. The man started to come to, his eyes glazed over like a glarier. He felt sore, hurt, and above all confused. The man tried to think why he felt this way, but came up empty. All he knew was he was being restrained and dried off by a few people in white coats. Still his body was too sore to move and showed no signs of struggling. He still couldn’t breathe and looked for a reason why.Not a second later a large tube was pulled from his throat. Air filled his lungs as he hacked and coughed feeling like it had been the first time he had used his lungs. ‘What’s going on?’ he thought as his head kicked forward and he fell to his knees and vomited.
“Dammit John, you let him go to soon. He’s still trying to get his body systems in check,” One scientist said in front of him his facial features impossible to make out from the blur.
“Sorry Dan but I’d want to throw up too if all I’ve been eating for five years was from a tube,” Another scientist said to his immediate left. ‘Five years?’ he thought to himself. ‘How old am I? Where have I been for the last five years?’ he asked himself trying to remember. He let out a groan of frustration and tried to speak but couldn’t remember how to pronounce anything he was thinking in his head.
“Alright he is ready to move. Take him to room A102 and when they are done take him to room B105. The poor bastard can’t remember anything and we need to help him out,” The apparent scientist Dan said. John who had been holding him back before now helped him up to his feet and slowly began to walk with him down the hall. His muscles still hurt so much so that without John’s help he would have likely fallen over.
“Don’t worry pal we’ll get rid of all those pains in a few more minutes,” John said pushing open a door that led into a much darker room so that it didn’t blind his eyes. He was motioned into the center of the room and ordered to stand there and then to sit in a metal chair that had been provided for him. A large spotlight overhead seemed to be the only source of light. His eyes had just been starting to get better before he had walked into the poorly lit room.
A single scientist stepped forward now in a light blue uniform and walked up to him with a needle in his left hand. He didn’t resist, he couldn’t see why these people would hurt him after they rescued him from that tank and his obvious five year stay in it. He watched the long need go into his right forearm and a glowing blue liquid went in. It was cold, soothing but didn’t last long as his body began to spasm as over exertion of heat filled his body and his muscles almost at once began to awaken. He suddenly felt cold again; his body stopped convulsing and his muscles started to feel, better.
“Alright, he is ready for the B floor,” The scientist in blue said as he walked back into the darkness with his needle. John once again helped him to his feet although his body felt much better as he walked on his own. John kept an arm on his shoulder and guided him to an elevator that carried him down a level. Right in front of them was a single door that automatically opened revealing an extremely large screen of some kind and a chair in front of it. He already figured on his own that the chair was going to be where he was supposed to go. After a relatively short walk to the metal chair another scientist came over in red.
“Alright were just going to help restore your memory and fix your eyesight. Now if you’ll please look forward,” The scientist ordered and he obeyed. The scientist took out a small hand held object no bigger than a pen and projected a blue light out of it and scanned it over his face. He closed his eyes as they began to water and opened them with much effort. His eyes were now back to normal as he wiped the remaining water from his eyes that trickled down in a light red.
“Now if you’ll please look at the screen,” The red scientist said placing something over his temples on his head. The screen began to play going incredibly fast that his eyes couldn’t keep up but his mind somehow took in every bit of it. Soon it became clear to him everything he had wanted to know. He had been a volunteer subject for science test in the hope of limiting soldier deaths in a time of war, his name was Michael Shadows, and he was twenty eight years old. He stood up from his chair and walked to the center of the room.
“Wh….what exactly was done to me to try and limit soldier deaths?” Michael asked looking at John and the scientist in red. The two scientists looked at each other as the door they had walked through opened up and a man came running in seemingly excited to the point where he was clapping ran up to him as if to inspect him.
“What are you doing?” Michael asked the silly man who was looking at him and checking off boxes on a piece of paper on his clipboard. The man’s tag read Alexander Chase and he were dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and khaki pants. His eyes must have been bad because he was wearing a pair of glasses and was getting old because his hair was a slight gray.
“You’re the first person to live that process,” Alexander said shining a flashlight into Michael’s eyes.
“You see that process typically kills people to the massive amount of overload on the brain. You were the first to not have a seizure and die. It’s remarkable that also means you’ll be the first one to undergo the specific training that the experiment was based on. I can’t wait to see if this really worked! “Alexander said still as excited as ever and practically dancing around Michael.
“Exactly what test was this for? How many people died before me?” Michael said still with a slight whisper of a voice. Alexander looked up and motioned the door to be opened behind him.
“One hundred and twenty five but more importantly you need to follow me,” Alexander stated as he began to walk to the door motioning with his hand for Michael to follow him. Michael did just that and began to walk to the door astounded at how many people died before him. Still he was curious himself to see what they had done to him that had killed the lives of so many people before him. They entered the elevator again and a hum came from the walls as it went down yet another floor that was labeled ‘C’ on the wall once the door opened.
It wasn’t the typical room that he had had seen before and was actually much larger and could see there were several rooms. The first door he came to was really large and had a sign above it ‘Training Maze Entrance’. Alexander ushered him through the door and it closed behind him. The room was bland and made of concrete with only a few lights in the room and no exit. As he observed the room more he noticed a yellow arrow pointing to a section of the wall where it was outlined in yellow paint. He looked at the wall curiously and walked up to it running his hands on the wall wondering exactly what it was they wanted. He looked startled into the corner as a voice came across a loud speaker resembling Alexander’s voice.
“Welcome to the training session Michael. The room you are in has an obvious exit as you’ve no doubt already figured. The obvious problem you are contemplating is how you get through a concrete wall. With that said try placing both hands on the wall and thinking that you ‘are’ the concrete. Focus your mind on that wall and what it is made out of and you will discover your exit,” The voice said through the speaker. Michael looked at the wall confused but did as he was told and placed both hands on the wall and closed his eyes. He began to imagine his body was made of concrete and was allowing his body to flow through it.
Alexander watched as Michael attempted this feat from a security camera. He was biting on the tip of the pencil in his hand as it quickly dropped and his mouth hung over. ‘He’s doing it.’ He thought to himself as he watched Michaels hands sink into the pavement as if it was water.
Michael opened his eyes seeing his hands and his body flow into the concrete. It was cold; he felt empty and heavy. He gasped as he appeared from the other side of the wall into another room where it was the same empty room except the walls were steel.
Alexander stood up nearly in tears as he held his hands over his mouth. His life work had become a reality and finally he would be recognized for such an achievement. Alexander pumped his fist in the air speechless as he began to cry and leaned his back against the wall and sat down running his hands through his hair. The door to his right opened in a hurry completely taking away his moment.
A scientist stood in front of him his eyes wide and out of breath.
“There here! They decided to shut down the program. They have armed personnel infiltrating the building. They are killing not arresting,” He managed to say quickly as he shut the door behind him and slid the lock into the door.
“Why now? It finally worked and they decide to terminate the program now. The president must not have seen the effort put into this. Billions spent on a single idea that must have seemed too farfetched to work and the moment they see results they are afraid of what it could mean,” Alexander said standing up and running to the monitor in front of him.
“We have to get him out of here. Billions of dollars and my life’s work; my legacy will have to go on even if I do die here,” Alexander said leaving out a different door away from the already locked one.
Subject: Hunting Shadows (New Story.) 
