Codex

Chapter 3

I was still antsy about the note the next day. Luckily, today was just nutrition day. They would test different food products on me and see how I would react. If nothing happened, I would get to have that new food added to my diet. If something did happen, I’d never eat it again.

I loved nutrition day. Even with the chance of me having an allergic reaction to the food, I loved to eat almost as much as I loved to run. I felt like I could never have enough. Eating gave me energy. What to do with that energy, I’d never know.

I didn’t eat the previous night, saving room for whatever food they would present to me today. My stomach growled. I clenched it, not used to the pain. My guardians sure were taking longer than usual today.

Finally, my cell door opened to see only four guardians. I found that odd. Where were the other two that usually were there with their e-clipboards? I tried not showing any emotion or concern. I knew what would happen if I did.

One of them stepped forward, grabbed me by the arm, and lead me out of the room, the other guardians following behind. This group was highly unusual compared to the group I’d normally have. They circled me, but watched every other direction besides the path we took. They were also different heights. I still didn't question them, figuring they probably just changed my guardians.

I looked ahead, trying not to show I was suspicious of them. I closed my eye, focusing on the pathway via the colors. As we headed down the hall, I knew what would happen next. We would turn to the left and head towards an elevator. Once we were all inside, we would go down to Floor N, where the nutrition lab was. 

I was so used to this schedule that it shocked me when we went the other way. Was today not nutrition day? Had I skipped my food portion for the night for nothing? These guardians seemed lost, I noticed a couple looking around and talking to each other in hushed tones. I concentrated my hearing.

“This looked harder than Jay said.” The one on the left said.

The one on the right nodded. “I know, but then again, we got good disguises. I’m surprised Click remembered all this.”

Disguises? What did that mean? It didn’t sound good. Who were Jay and Click? I didn’t know that guardians had names. The one in front of me turned its head and gestured to the two talking. The two stopped talking and continued in silence. When I opened my eye, the guardian turned its head around.

We stopped in front of an elevator I hadn’t seen before. I squinted my eye to see the numbers, but once again they were blocked from my vision. The guardian in front punched a series of numbers and swiped some kind of card. The elevator opened, and the guardians in the back ushered me inside. One of them stayed back for a few seconds. It looked like they were seeing if anyone was following behind. I found that peculiar, they were taking me to whatever activity I was needed.

Weren’t they?

Once we were all inside the elevator, the one that was leading us pushed a button pointing upwards. I never knew what was up, only the lower levels. What was going on today? 

The four guardians semi-circled in front of me. The other three looked at the leader, or at least, whom I thought was the leader. The leader looked at me through the thick gas mask, glanced at the others, and nodded.

The shortest one stepped forward, grabbing something from inside their suit. “This won’t hurt a bit.” I raised my brow. The voice was female, I think. She placed a can in front of my face and sprayed something in my face. I coughed, the fumes were so strong. At first, the others stared at me with the feeling of uncertainty. Odd thing I could sense with their gas masks on.

“Again.” The leader said. My vision was blurring.

The female in front of me turned her head to the leader. “Are you sure? It might-”

“We don’t have time for this.” The leader crossed their arms.

I could hear sympathy from the female as she said. “I’m sorry.”

The fumes were sprayed on me once again, longer this time. I coughed and gasped, collapsing to my knees. My vision was blackened, the last thing I saw was the leader taking off their mask.

☣

“So it’s true then...”

“...Project: ALX...”

“Non-gen, eh?”

“But how...?”

A cacophony of voices mixed around in my head. The colors I’d normally see were a splattered mixture of dark hues as the voices talked. I groaned. This had only happened once, a long time ago during a surgery to heighten my vision. I couldn’t see for days, having to rely on the colors to move anywhere. That was one heck of a challenge, believe me.

An unfamiliar scent burned in my nostrils. The sound of sirens echoed in the distance. I could feel my body being carried off, quite ruggedly. I wanted to panic, but my mind couldn’t find a reason to. My heartbeat steadied, allowing me to breathe easily. I wanted to see what was happening, but my eye wouldn’t open.

“Hurry! The van’s over there!”

“Can you even drive?”

“Do you think we walked here?”

“It’s not my fault, you know!”

Those same four voices continued to talk, but I was over trying to hear what they were saying. I was in the middle of attempting to solve the mystery of why I couldn’t do anything with my body. Nothing I tried worked. While I was struggling, I remembered. The female guardian sprayed me with some sort of chemical spray. Could that have been a sedative? 

I heard a click and slam of some kind of door. Now that one mystery was solved, there was another. Where was I?

Someone shuffled in a seat. “Wait, what if this one has a chip on them?” A female asked. Her voice was different from the female I had heard the first time. Guess there was another one.

“That’s probably the case, why do you think the alarms went off?” This voice sounded like the leader.

I stopped struggling and thought about what I’d just heard. Chip? What did they mean by that? Where exactly was I? Where was I going now?

So many questions. So, so many questions...