My Year Abroad

Chapter 53

"Should we let them out?" Cameron asked.

"Some of them could be converted to the Syndicate by now, and I can't tell in my current state," Nissa cautioned.

"How are we talking now?" Cameron investigated.

"I don't know. I've never felt someone like you before." Nissa replied.

As they passed the hall where Cameron was locked up Nissa turned.

"It's a dead-end that way," Cameron stated.

"I need to visit the lab first," Nissa replied.

They entered the broken lab where Garrett laid unconscious. She rummaged through the tools nearby and grabbed an object similar to a drill. At the end where the bit should be was a plastic tube with a platinum dot in the center.

"Can you turn around?" Nissa requested.

"I'll secure the hallway." Cameron disappeared.

As Nissa removed her hood and began the extraction Cameron examined the cells. There was a faint sobbing noise leaking from a nearby cell. He approached it and found a woman with pink hair resting her head against the table.

'She doesn't seem dangerous.' Cameron placed his hand upon the door.

Hearing the crackling of tungsten freezing she lifted her head. Gaining nutrients from the UV bulb, and sprinklers there was no need to open her cell. Recalling the treatment from their last visit she began cowering in the corner.

The young woman before Cameron is Daisy, and she has lived in the vault her entire life. During a merger, a heavy wind blew the spores of a nearby mating ritual through. The spore was unlucky enough to land in a monitored sector.

The readings indicated it was a foreign plant, and to ensure, it wasn't invasive they removed it. During their analysis, they noticed it grew rapidly and generated strong energy readings. This discovery was nothing in comparison to what happened next.

One morning a researcher discovered a young child waiting in the lab. Dealing with a breacher wasn't anything new, but it was the first time they encountered a child. One of the researchers volunteered to care for it claiming it was solely for academic purposes.

As Daisy grew older they realized how similar to human she truly was. In time the researcher stopped seeing Daisy as an experiment, and more like a daughter. When she had nothing left to contribute to their cause Daisy was scheduled to be locked away.

The first few days weren't so bad since Daisy was certain her mother would come to the rescue. Unfortunately, that day never came, and she never saw the outside of the cell again.

Cameron walked into the room and saw Daisy cowering. Sawing how Nissa reacted, and now this he was irritated. It was a struggle to keep it under control, but for Daisy's sake, he took a deep breath. He carefully lifted his hand and attempted to put on a welcoming look.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." Cameron smiled.

Hearing the gentle voice Daisy looked up from the cover of her arms. All her life Daisy has only seen three types of uniforms. None of them resembled Cameron's clothes, and she has never seen him before.

"W-who are you?" Daisy asked.

'That's gonna save a lot of time.'

"Just someone trying to help. Let's get you out of here." Cameron declared.

Having only trusted one person in her life Daisy was hesitant to take his hand. If her mother could abandon her what hope was there in trusting a stranger? Motivated by a change of scenery she took Cameron's hand.

"Stay close," Cameron warned Daisy.

Cameron examined some of the other cells, but most were beast. He considered returning to Nissa's side when he saw a human. It was an unusual sight given the other residents.

'Why would they put a woman in here?'

Placing his hand upon the door Cameron worked on freeing another prisoner. Watching the door freeze the woman backed up as if she was concerned. The second it crumbled and Cameron entered she ran up with watery eyes.

"It's okay we're gonna get you out of here," Cameron reassured her.

The woman rapidly slammed Cameron into the wall raising her hand. Her flesh shifted into a pink slime before resembling a sharpened blade in the blink of an eye. It quickly pierced Cameron's chest as the woman smirked.

"Is that how you return a favor?" Cameron asked as her arm began to freeze.

The assailant immediately broke off the arm and reformed a hand of slime while retreating. Gradually the transparent arm returned to human skin. She noticed Cameron's eyes earlier but was worried he was one of Kurt's experiments.

'He could've killed me, but suddenly stopped.'

Venera belonged to a rare species in the universe that was declared extinct. The last appearance was over a millennia ago, and that was before their planet's destruction. As the debris drifted into space it had an unexpected hitchhiker.

Infused into the meteor was a damaged Vitamite core, but she was unable to reform in the vacuum of space. She drifted through the universe and came upon a carbon-based planet in the Milky Way galaxy. It started to break apart in Earth's atmosphere, but enough survived.

This landing occurred in the seventies, and Venera spent the next twenty years hiding as a human. As the Syndicate's technology advanced from the occasional breacher they managed to track her down. Once they secured her in the vault they worked at turning her into an operative.

'If he's not a threat I can't waste this opportunity.' Venera dashed past Cameron.

Venera was frantically looking into the cells until she saw agents. If not for the ice surrounding them she would cut them down. She continued her search, but couldn't find her target. After checking the final cell Venera dropped to her knees.

'They actually did it.' Venera's eyes began to water.

"More agents will be here any minute," Cameron cautioned.

'He will pay for this.' Venera hid the tears and followed Cameron.

"Where are we going?" Daisy asked.

"Outside," Cameron smiled.

"Where are we exactly?" Venera investigated.

"Outside of Vegas," Cameron replied.

"Do you have implants?" Nissa asked.

Cameron turned around and saw a human woman with brunette hair trailing to her shoulders. The appearance and attire were new, but the voice was Nissa. She began pointing to the cells of those who could be trusted.

They stood by the lab as the others had implants removed. Guarding the hallway with Cameron was Venera. Approaching their flank was a fit woman with tiny dark spikes on her brows resembling a piercing. Noticing the shadow Cameron turned around as the woman stretched.

She has red skin, violet eyes, and spikey black hair. On her shins, and forearms are dark patterns of dense skin. It had smooth groves that started two inches under her palm and trailed all the way down her elbows. Right behind her came a male of the same species with a close resemblance.

"Thanks for the assist, but how do you plan on getting off this rock?"