Ascension

Chapter 10

Section C-4 consisted of a fairly large room created by standing partitions with a sliding glass door that activated on pressing the button next to the jamb. Mick entered, holding the clipboard and papers tightly to his chest and trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Thankfully, the gas mask covered his face and the polycarbonate visor was dark enough to hide whatever features could otherwise be seen. He didn’t know what sort of atmosphere was hanging inside the lab, but was in no hurry to find out. All he knew was that he was in deep shit and had no idea what the lab had to do with Rachel and Dana.

“Rockwell!”

Mick looked up and saw a man in a yellow set of coveralls beckoning to him. When he approached, he extended a hand.

“Rockwell, correct? You’re the new guy.” Mick bobbed his head and shook the man’s hand automatically. “I’m Dr. Novak. I work in the cleanup crew post-Ascension, but I guess you probably already know that.”

Mick’s blood turned to ice at the word ‘cleanup crew’. “Yes sir!” he piped up when he realized that Dr. Novak was waiting for an answer. “Yes, I knew that, sir.”

“Good. Now, this is your first time working here, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“In that case, first of all, I’ll tell you that I generally don’t get much work to do. I’m a call-on-demand kind of guy and we cleanup folk get our work mostly when an Ascension goes wrong, which it almost never does. Subjects get taken up by the Powers and voila! Job done!”

“Then, how do we get work otherwise, sir?” asked Mick. “Ascensions aren’t that frequent.”

“That’s a good question. First off,” he said, leading Mick to the back of the room, “the big guns who make the names at City Hall are idiots. They wanted a bit of specificity, so they named this place the ‘Ascension Lab’. In truth, we also work on the periodical formats and reformats.” Mick blinked stupidly. “You were present at orientation, weren’t you?”

“N-no, sir, I wasn’t,” he stammered. “I couldn’t be there. Family emergency.”

Dr. Novak tilted his head, eyeing him suspiciously through the visor. “Nobody is allowed to miss orientation.”

“It was a sudden call,” he replied weakly.

“Hm. Anyway, I’ll give you a card with the orientation details. You can watch it at home if you want, after which it will self-destruct. Just remember that this is all classified information and if you try to tell anyone about any of this, you know the chip in your brain, the one you got when you applied for the job? It’ll wipe all the info; clean slate on this department. Capisce?”

Mick’s head was in a whirl, but he managed a small ‘Capisce’ in reply.

“So anyway, we’ve wasted enough time. As Dodson outside may have told you, you and I are going to be working on the special case today. It’s a quick job - routine cleanup and take out - but there are a few small things to be catalogued for posterity. Are you with me so far?”

“Yes, sir,” he replied, “but what exactly is the ‘special case’?”

Dr. Novak gave him a mildly disgusted look. “Where in the world have you been, boy? Do you pay attention to the news or your classes at all? How did you get recommended for this?”

“I-I don’t know, sir.”

“If you’re going to be working with me, you’ll have to be a lot quicker and sharper than this. Do you understand me, Rockwell?”

“Yes, sir. I understand, Dr. Novak. I’ll be better.”

“Hmph. Good. As for the special case, he’s the emergency format from two weeks ago. We should have worked on it immediately, but we were backed up with formats over the past week and there was an unexpected time shift. The important stuff has all been backed up and we’re left with the perishable materials, but it’s all been cryogenically preserved.This one just finishied thawing.” He beckoned to Mick, gesturing to a steel table partially visible from behind a standing curtain. “Oh, and before that, here.” He stopped by a table, pulled out a small chrome rectangle, and held it out. Mick took it from him, smoothing his thumb over the small depression on its face.