The Key to it All (Newt)

The Glade

Artemis couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't keep consciously choosing to hurt everyone she cared about; The guilt was starting to consume her. One more day of it and Artemis was sure she'd lose her mind. She helped design the practically inescapable maze that sat below the compound she was currently sprinting through. Artemis still recalled the day that she gave Chancellor Anderson the idea. It was a recurring nightmare for her. 

"You're special. Do you know that, Artemis?" Chancellor Anderson asked Artemis. The pair sat in the Chancellor's office on the pristine white couch. Chancellor Anderson was wearing his typical suit with the tie pulled so tightly Artemis often wondered if it cut off circulation to his brain. He often acted like that. 

"Yes, Chancellor. You've mentioned."  She said. 

Chancellor Anderson laughed at her snarkiness. "You were the first. The first immune to ever be handed over to WICKED to help find a cure. You're the blueprint." His fingers grazed the side of Artemis' face, causing her shoulders to tense even though her face remained neutral. She was around him often enough to show no reaction. "I feel like we need more, though. The classes we're doing right now--it's not enough. We have more and more children every day, yet we aren't reaching their potential. We need a true test, a test of perseverance, intelligence, and strength. One that can test them all at once-compare them. That way we can truly see how immune brains act. Immune brains like yours. Tell me, Artemis, what's the greatest challenge you can think of?" 

Artemis thought about all of her classes. She was always doing riddles or difficult problems under timed conditions to test her. Her favorite ones had always been the mazes. They could be easy or hard, deceptive or simple, but they were always fun. "I like the mazes the most. Although they frustrate me when I choose the wrong path. They're deceptively easy-you should really look at the entire thing before finding the right way to go if you want it done in one shot. But if you want the hardest, I think it's the pattern recognization ones. Sometimes I stare at it for hours and see nothing." 

Chancellor Anderson smiled at Artemis. "Thank you for your input. I'll keep that in mind." 

Artemis shuddered as she took the last turn. Right in front of her stood the double doors to the lab where, for the past six months, a special serum had been in development. This serum would wipe the minds of anyone it was injected into. That was exactly what Artemis wanted. She knew she could never escape the compound without suffering a fate worse than death-Chancellor Anderson would surely oversee that. Forgetting was the easy way out, but Artemis was tired of challenges. 

Thomas called her weak when she explained her plan. She had begged him, Teresa, Aris, and Rachel to help her with her escape. They were in charge of the security cameras and getting the elevator working. The other immunes were in charge of the distraction-there should be two large food fights happening in their respective cafeterias right about now. They had all agreed to help her, but Thomas had tried to change her mind. He told her that he was feeding information to a rebel organization-she could too. But Artemis knew that even if she were to do that, she would still be assisting in the potential murder and trauma of hundreds of children. 

It didn't matter anyways. Someone snitched, and now Artemis was running for her life towards the mazes. At the will of the Chancellor, but much more likely to be shown mercy than if she was caught inside the compound. Almost nothing could convince the Chancellor to jeopardize the experiment. With the mazes so close to completion, no one was meant to enter them, which could include any sort of Artemis recovery team. 

Artemis smashed the case that held the serum and grabbed a syringe. The next step was to get into an elevator that led to the maze. Of course, the whole thing was one big illusion, but it was the easiest way to get into the maze. Unfortunately, Artemis forgot which one led to the group A's maze and which led to group B's. It doesn't sound like much, but there were some large differences between the two. Group A consists of all boys, and their maze was much further along than group B's. This maze would be safer and more habitable than Group B's. Group B's maze suffered some setbacks during construction, so it wasn't as ready for occupants as group A's. The initial B group wasn't set to arrive in their maze until a month after the initial A group. However, group B consisted of only girls-very preferable in Artemis' eyes. 

Artemis had to make a choice. Right or left. She could hear the boots of the armed guards running down the hallway at this point. Going with her gut, she chose the one on the right. Maybe if she chose group A's, Chancellor Anderson would switch it to the girl's maze. Once in the elevator, Artemis used the few boxes in there to block the door in case the guards got through before her friends could send her into the Maze. 

As she heard banging on the door, Artemis started pleading for someone to help her. In her hurry, she had forgotten that this elevator is not normal; there are no buttons inside for her to press. She was cornered. In her hands, the serum was gaining weight as she contemplated whether it was more ethical to undergo torture for her crimes or to forget and become part of the experiment. 

The easy way out. Her whole life had been filled with challenges that tested her knowledge and critical thinking ability, and she didn't want to do that anymore. So without thinking, Artemis injected herself with the serum, hoping that she did it correctly and when she awoke there would be no more guilt. The serum made her head spin, and Artemis found herself falling into the wall. To ease her head, she sat on the ground and leaned her head back. It didn't help as spots started dancing in her vision, her head slowly falling to the side. Soon, everything went black as Artemis felt a jerking motion.