Newt's Story: Beyond the Flare

Prologue

PROLOGUE

"He'll never do it."

Within seconds the small, pristine room was in an uproar.

"Use the girl!" someone shouted.

"No, Janson's right. He'll never agree to it. He doesn't trust anyone anymore, not even the girl." Another pointed out.

"'The girl' has a name." Ava pinched her lips in a scowl. "Teresa. And he'll do it. You'll see."

Janson groaned, placing his words in a slow and careful manner. "He won't do it, and you know it. He. Doesn't. Trust. WICKED. We need to use the girl."

"Teresa has already been eliminated from our options. She's too compliant."

Janson slammed his palms on the dark mahogany table. "That's why she'll do it! She'll do anything to make it up to Thomas." He threw a glare of hatred toward Ava before composing himself and sitting down.

Ava laughed, clearly annoyed. "We've been over this! She would be a wonderful candidate, if it weren't for Thomas. He has-and is-everything we need."

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, he ran off with his little squad of friends." Janson spit.

A small voice suddenly echoed from the back of the bleak room. "I know."

All eyes in the room settled on the small, lanky woman in the back.

Her eyes widened, almost in fear. "The boy, with the Flare-"

"You idiot!" Janson threw his fists down on the table once again. "He doesn't have the darn Flare. He's a Munie, like all the others. Did you even read the reports? At all?!"

"Calm down, Janson." Ava frowned. "Let her speak."

"I know." The woman brushed her fingers around the edge of the table. "I know. I did read the report." She finally met eyes with Janson, despite the angry glare he was giving her. She paused, a sarcastic monotone lacing her now louder voice. "'We are missing a vital and large amount of information from the subjects. In turn, the board has decided to take immediate action, and reply with another variable.'" She quoted. "'The Flare. The emotion of a deadly disease eating one's brain will cause a new and important emotion from the otherwise expendable Subjects, along with their fellow cohorts.' I indeed read your report. I believe it is now time to use those variables to our advantage."

The room erupted in complete silence.

"Think about it," she continued. "What was the one thing Subject A2 would risk his life for? Think back to Phase One. What did he do when Subjects A7 and A12 were in danger?"

Janson sank into the back of the chair. "He ran into the maze like a complete idiot."

"Exactly."

Janson suddenly leaned forward, realization of what she was implying coming upon his face. "He was willing to die for a friend."

"His life revolves around not just himself, but also others. He feels indebted to them for what he believes was wrong. So we use the one thing that keeps his little clan sane."

"The Glue," someone whispered.

"Continue the Flare illusion," The woman stepped toward Ava. "Does A5 still have the chips in his brain?"

"He escaped before we could remove them," Ava replied.

"Perfect. Control his body-"

"We don't know where he's at," Ava pointed out.

"But we don't need to know where he's at." She turned towards a tall man sitting beside her. "A while back Hampton created a different strain of the Griever Serum program, which if you recall, was based off of the Flare itself. It causes Flare-like symptoms, from the brain to the rest of the body. It was originally created in order to study the Flare virus, but was dropped by the lab due to the lack of information being gathered from it."

"Continue," Ava said, an almost indecipherable smile lighting her dark features.

A dark smile crept up the woman's face. "I believe it's time we put it to good use."