The Pale Cage

Chapter 11

The trip back to Cardiff went without incident-- that is if you asked Roangy or Roanby. Raeburn however became very bored, very quickly. He had mapped out everything, escape routes, prison cells, etc., but it did little to stop the boredom. Just an hour after they left Aberfoyle, Raeburn made Roanby pull over so he could drive.

“Talk” Raeburn commanded, startling Roangy.

“About what?”

“I don't know—Anything, got to keep my brain working.”

“Um, I'm part Chinese...bet you didn't know that!”

Raeburn's harsh expression lightened, “I thought I could sense a hint of Asian, whose side do you get it from?”

“Ookay, um my great grandfather was Chinese. He was kidnapped from his home in China by one of Melissa's Labs, but Cassandra Roane saved him, they fell in love and got married.”

Raeburn spoke his thoughts out loud, “And for your Grandfather to go back to the Facility after what his father went through, something must have happened.”

“He never told us. But I still love him. He raised us after Amewen Jaganshi-...um well, y'know... he raised us and cared for us...” Roangy looked away.

“Lets talk about something different.” Raeburn suggested.

“Okay. Um....uh.”

“What about the other scientists, how did they come into this line of business...?”

“Hm, Rachel Evyns transferred here because she's worked and studied the early Flesh.”

“I don't know her.” Raeburn admitted.

“That's okay, after you stabilized she went back to St. John's Monastery... She had blonde hair, she's actually the one who built your cubicle. Let's see, Martin used to work at an old people's home, but we offered him a better job. He got dumped there because of some incident in Med school. Whatever bad things you want to think about the Facility, just remember this, we're a lot like you.”

“How?” He nearly spat.

“We give people second chances, like Martin. Claude has a PhD in Biology, but ended up in jail for life, we worked it out for him to work with us. Though he can't leave the Facility, else he'll go back. But even he agrees that its a thousand times better than his living condition in prison. Oh and Franklin, his story is my favorite; his daughter was dying, but the Facility healed her in exchange for Franklin to work with us...I know you want to blow up the Facility, but I won't be able to sleep at night if these people die.”

“What about the victims, how can you sleep at night knowing they're being tortured...?”

“Well, if it weren't for the fact that we had Kathrin Gauntly, Franklin's daughter would have died. She had Progeria, but due to the medicine we devised from Kathrin, we were not only able to save her, but completely reverse the affects of the disease. You can't even tell she had it. If you want me to be sorry for that, then you are wrong.”

“No, you are the one that is wrong.”

“But if we didn't, his daughter would have died. What we took from Kathrin didn't kill her and Kathrin will save many more lives before she leaves.”

“But its against her will. You take away freewill. To do that is the ultimate crime. Did you even bother to ask Kathrin for help...or did you just take it from her?”

“She made a mistake, made it easy for us to find her, catch her and contain her.” Roangy told him quietly. She knew in her heart that he was right...and he knew that she knew. “But she has all of that power, and she doesn't even use it to save the lives of children! Surely her crime is worse than ours.”