The Inventor

Chapter Forty Four; "Radio silence"

In under an hour the gathering was called and you had successfully annoyed Thomas into eating carrots. Then you antagonized him further until he stood in front of the keepers, you sitting beside Newt with Minho not far away.

You hadn't said two words to Minho since the morning Thomas got stung. He didn't either but he glanced at you several times. In response you would give him a horrifying facial expression to startle him and make him look away.

"No beating around the bush this time greenie, tell us what you know," Alby said. Alby had gotten much better, being stable enough to take back the role as leader with Newt happily back as second in command. You were grateful for it, Newt was going out of his mind with stress.

"He's not a greenie," You corrected, "Not anymore."

Thomas took a few moments of silence for himself before speaking, you could almost feel the pressure he must have laid on him.

"I don't have time to go through it all but when I went through the changing there were flashes of images and memories. It was similar to a slideshow, I guess. A lot is fading or has faded but I know enough to say that the creators are testing us. The maze is unsolvable and it was never meant to be solved. Everything is a trial and with the survivors they want to do something important with," He went quiet, rubbing his eyes.

"What?" Newt said, flabbergasted.

You got the satisfaction of shushing him back, making him scrunch his nose at you but obey.

"Explain it as best you can Thomas," You told him, hoping to ease some of the pressure.

He took a breath and continued slowly, "From a young age we were all taken, I don't know much about that. I know something really bad happened in the world, I saw glimpses and it all looked, well-"

"Hopeless?" You heard Alby whisper.

"-Yeah, I guess," Thomas scratched the back of his head nervously, "The creators took us and they felt it was right. They chose us because they somehow knew we were intelligent above the average. I don't know it all, I know it sounds really sketchy and the backstory doesn't really matter. I just thought to say it before I forgot."

"It was, explained some klunk," Minho grunted.

"I don't remember anything about what happened to anyone's families. But we were basically raised by wicked, put in special schools and living normally until the maze was built," He sighed, "And our names- they're all just dumb nicknames, they aren't our real names. Alby, for Albert Einstein or Newt, for Isaac Newton. Thomas Edison for me."

That shocked everyone the most and you looked at Newt with astonishment.

"Isaac Newton, woah, that's weird. Isaac is your first name," You repeated the name a few times, "No, no it doesn't sit right, denied. That's so awkward. Isaac Newton."

"Stop saying it," He groaned.

"Mr, Newton," You tried the name out on your tongue and snorted, "You sound like a creepy math teacher."

"Why would you tell them that Tommy, I'm going to get bloody tormented now," Newt grumbled.

"We're getting off track," Alby said, voice hollow, "Our names aren't real, what else?"

     "Were orphans?" Frypan gaped, "Raised by freaking scientists?"

     Thomas's expression looked hopeless and tired when he answered, "Yes, we're supposed we're really smart and they've been studying us to see who would give up and who wouldn't. That's why there's so many beetle blades, to spy on us. And some people have things altered in their heads, done by the creators."