Subject 116

4

I was getting worse. So much worse. I felt like my entire body was going numb whenever I entered the tank, that wasn't the usual case. I was craving something, I just didn't know what I wanted yet. I thought it might be a memory trying to pry it's way back into my mind, but I still couldn't remember anything. I was losing my mind, but couldn't comprehend that at the time. It had been a full three days and nothing had changed from the regular treatment. Questions, submersion, more questions, and then sleep it all off. I was tired during therapy, I was tired in the pod, I was tired while I was sleeping, I didn't even know that was possible. Something had to change, for my own sake. Doctor Brahms looked pleased at my change in behavior, which didn't make any sense. I was starting to suffer, but all she cared about was how my results came out, and that the treatment was having an effect on me. It almost could have been seen as a type of torture. I wanted out, now. Just anywhere other than this pod, drowning in thoughts I didn't have. I wanted it all to be over, but couldn't express it properly, like I had forgotten how. I just wanted to get out of this place and move on to a different part of the building at least, there was more to see and do that I was missing out on. And nobody was doing anything about it.

It was late in the afternoon, and I had time to myself. My submersion was going to start in about an hour or so, so I was just waiting for that to happen since nothing else was happening today. I was frail, not just on the outside, but it was starting to feel that way in my brain, too. Something was getting ready to break, and even if that meant these doctors weren't getting what they wanted, that was okay. Their goal was to keep me calm for every second of my treatment. It was working, but in the wrong way. Time seemed to be slowing down, the seconds felt like minutes, and I never knew what time of day it was despite the clock hanging above the door in my room. It didn't matter to me, looking at that thing would only make it all worse. I thought about what would happen if I left my room, probably nothing good, but I was tempted anyway. I shouldn't be having thoughts like that, that's what Doctor Brahms told me. I tried to shove them away, like everything else I had forgotten, but there was nothing else to think about. What was outside of that gleaming white hallway, and why was I being restricted from it when everybody else wasn't? It was so quiet in my room, I could almost hear people talking sometimes. You could hear anything in there, even if there was a thick wall blocking almost everything from outside.

I wondered what the other kid's abilities were like. They were probably really subtle, otherwise they would be like me, trapped in deafening silence day after day. After all, a nuclear explosion couldn't do much to a person aside from killing them, right? So many people had died from such a reckless accident, it enthralled me how I was still alive, since I was in really rough condition, a blast that powerful should have wiped me out within seconds. But I also had no idea how it worked. I had to stop thinking so much, I knew absolutely nothing about anything, and from the looks of it, that wasn't going to change.

Doctor Brahms' footsteps started coming down the hall, I didn't even bother to look up at her. She opened the door, and stepped in, slightly baffled at how I was ignoring her.

"Finn? Are you alright?" she questioned. I didn't move, only my eyes, and saw that she didn't look worried, only her voice was. I shut my eyes and sighed under my breath so she wouldn't hear me.

"I'm fine." was all I said. That was my usual answer, but my dismissive tone threw her off. She wasn't expecting this. I almost liked it.

"You're different today. Anything I should know about?" Of course there was, she would do anything to get answers out of me. I was giving her a taste of her own medicine, and she didn't know how to handle it since I was usually so obedient.

"I'm bored. I've said this many times. There's been no changes in the past few days. There are more people out there, they're not doing what I am, right?" I looked away from her again, I didn't need to know how she felt about this, I just wanted honesty.