Half Life

Humane Testing

Foggy shapes. Voices drifted in and out of memory and dreams. A comforting greenish glow. Childish tears calmed by soft words. A tangle of white hair. Laughter? Screams?

"Sir, his brain waves are surging. This may be unsafe if we keep it up much longer."

"His brain isn't important to me Doctor. How he survived the annihilation of Halpha is your priority. Keep going."

"Yes sir. Increasing power to 70%"

A warm muggy day. A glowing forest surrounded him. Small purple flowers cupped in a child's hand. His hand. A woman's laugh rang through the humid air. A laugh so integral, so familiar. It could only be...

"Mom?"

Danny opened his eyes blearily. For a moment he could only see blurred greenish light. Indistinct faces floated on the edge of his vision. He felt... oddly weightless.

A stream of bubbles hissed out of his mouth.

He blinked, confused and disoriented. Slowly his surroundings faded into focus. A group of white coated people surrounded him, yet none were close enough to touch him. He shifted slightly, realizing as he did so that he was indeed weightless, floating in a tank of greenish fluid.

He began to pant heavily, more bubbles streaming from the mask clamped over his face. His head began to ache with every heartbeat. Distorted beeping began to sound throughout the room. The group of observers began to move and chatter excitedly. He couldn't understand any of them.

He tried to twist in the tank. But unseen wires and tubes restricted his movement. In alarm, Danny looked down at himself. He was in a black single piece body suit. Glowing wires pierced into his arms, legs, and chest. Uncomfortable prickles across his scalp told him that sensors had been placed on his head and neck as well. As his vision cleared, he saw an IV siphoning samples of his glowing green blood out of the tank.

Danny managed to move to the glass around the tank and press his hands against it.

"What's going on?" he panted, voice garbled by the mask over his mouth. "Who are you?"

The chattering observers didn't answer, though many of them looked at him in excitement, eyes cold and bright as scalpel knives.

He drew back from the edge, curling his limbs inward as far as his restraints would allow. What was happening? How did everything go so wrong so fast? Tears bled out of his eyes, unnoticed in the liquid surrounding him.

"He's awake. Further probing is impossible until he's back under."

"Then drug him up again! Do I have to tell you how to do everything?"

"Apologies sir, but we could destroy his mind, and any information it possesses if we don't slow down."

"Could? What do you know of Halpha physiology?"

"This isn't just for Halphas sir. He's under incredible stress and fear. Increasing the trauma isn't going to help anybody."

"I'm giving the orders Doctor. Increase the dosage. Now."

Danny heard a hiss inside the tank. The wires inside his veins seemed to come alive again, pumping liquid into his blood.

The tank wavered out of focus. Darkness descended on his vision once again.

He was running, almost flying over the soft ground. The forest around him was nothing but a vibrant blur of color .

"D'any'a!"

That familiar voice called out, laughing and playful behind him. But he would win the race. He always won the races!

He tumbled across the iridescent grass, scraping his small hands on the ground. Tears welled up in his eyes. It hurt!

Soft arms scooped him up. Words, now uninteligible to him, soothed the sting of the scrapes. It didn't hurt anymore. Nothing hurt anymore.

Alone and tangled in the tank, a small smile touched Danny's mouth.