Unstoppable: Revitalized

-34-

The creature reappeared, almost materialising out of thin air next to me, my mind so muddled I barely reacted to it.

'Our neurons now co-exist. Thank you Adam.' It said, seeming to float as it circled around me, seeming docile.

"How- how do you- you know what happened? I told no one." I stuttered, feeling the tears trying to escape from my non-existent eyelids. 

'I can show you the rest, if you wish. Your situation may become clearer.' It crouched in front of me as I walked back, raising my hands, afraid.

"Not if it involves whatever you did last time, no." 

The creature made a noise I could swear resembled a sigh, before carrying on. 'I can hear your thoughts, Adam. I know what you are thinking. You want the answers, but not the pain. It is unavoidable. Remain still.'

I got to raise a hand in my defence before it snuck up behind me, pulling my head back and inserting it's razor claws into my face, my vision and cries dissolving into the darkness.

I was back in the room, except it was entirely cleared of what it had before. It was a pure white box, every visible inch seemingly scrubbed clean. I was still in the centre, fixed up to the IV, with an EEG monitoring my blood, heart rate, everything. I had an eagle-eye view, top down if you will, as the door opened, two people filling the room. One carried another syringe, and even from up here, I could see the liquid crashing and thrashing against the glass, begging to be freed.

That, is me.

I didn't even bother looking around: I could feel it's presence next to me, it's breathing sounding like a knife on fish scales, every breath excruciating to take. I watched as both men's faced came into view, and my blood ran cold. The Boss and some scientist, the main man himself holding the syringe.

"You are one hundred percent sure everything lines up?" I heard him say to the scientist, who was nervously fidgeting behind him as he swallowed, clearly terrified.

"We ran the numbers, looked at both genomes, and calculated everything. Yes. We're as sure as we can be."

"Fine." Was all he replied with as he slid the syringe into my chest, watching the volatile liquid squirm it's way into my body. Silence followed as the assistant headed to the EEG, pressing something. Instantly, my body rose slightly before falling again, the vitals' showing immediately failing as it beeped hard. Each second that ticked by, I watched The Boss get angrier, and his second man panic more. A few minutes passed before he cracked, hitting the button and seemingly reviving me. The Boss, visibly furious, spun to face him, arm still clamped to the machine.

"You ran EVERY test?"

He didn't even respond, he just mumbled as he shook vigorously, taking a few steps back, The Boss mirroring them, steam pouring from him.

"Calculated EVERYTHING?"

He was whimpering as he suddenly fell, cowering in a ball, practically unable to talk.

"And you STILL FAILED?!" 

He didn't even get a chance to respond as he raised his foot, slamming it down into the assistant's head, the floor kissing him as he immediately relaxed, body becoming limp. The Boss crushed his head a few more times until blood dribbled from his ears and nose, before taking a deep breath and stumbling back, adrenaline affecting him just the same as me. 

What? How? How-

He wrapped his fist around my neck, before crushing it, holding it in place until the beep was consistent, before letting go and watching. Spinning around, he pulled out what looked like a walkie-talkie, before adjusting it.

"Subject is incapacitated. No visible change. Get someone in here to clean... This up."

For God's sake, I'm going fucking blue.

As he went to leave, the monotone drone suddenly slowed down. He stopped, frozen in time, before waiting, simply listening as it became louder and louder.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

My heartrate, slowly but surely, began to climb again as he rushed to the bed, putting two fingers to the middle of my neck, before beginning to smile. Still clutching the walkie-talkie with a free hand, he raised it to his mouth, confidence visible again.

"Keep plans, subject is alive. Commence operation Moresby. Let the headmaster know he'll have a new student to keep an eye on..."

The memory once again faded, leaving a few questions answered, but many more unknown.

'I see that not everything is visible to you.' My new friend announced, standing with me. 'Let me alleviate your worries: I was crafted by humans, from remnants of ancient, forgotten, powerful technology. 'Artefacts,' I believed you human's call them. The dissected an ointment said to allow the bearer to live indefinitely, curated me, and combined us. Our genome structure seemed to be the most accurate. Therefore, I laid dormant. Only recently, after finding that another form of my construct was able to attempt to steal my genome was I activated, causing me to, as you human's call it, 'wake up.' And now, we share a body. I cannot break out of it, and you now cannot break me out.'

"Why?"

'Our genomes became entangled the moment you died, Adam. It's why you struggled to recover. This will still happen, but to a much lesser degree. Instead of days, it may take hours. I am unsure until it's tested. However, with the nature of the situation, I'm sure that will be very soon. Now, onto other matters: Consumption.'

"Excuse me?"

'Eating? Is that what human's refer to it as? Consumption. For ease, I can siphon certain molecules from your body, but the most efficient way for my body to rejuvenate itself is through flesh. It can be any form of meat-based mammal. If we are to continue to survive, I must consume meat.'

"Did they programme this into you?"

'Yes, Adam. They did. If we do not consume enough together to keep us healthy, the time it will take for our body to rebuild will take more and more time. And time is essential currently. You must awake, and you must escape. Enough of you has been rebuilt for you to function. Go now, we have much to do.'

I still had thousands of questions, but my new partner decided against them. Instead, they opened their arms, and the same blinding light I'd become use to seeing struck my eyes, my body suddenly feeling heavy as my eyes opened once again.