Paragon

Chapter 22:

"I need some bandages over here."

She heard the voices around her, along with movement.

Her eyes opened, staring up at the light above her. Pain, in every muscle. In every bone. She inhaled, a vague memory of suffocating stirring in her skull. A man wearing a surgical mask leaned over her.

"Shh." He said. "It's alright, Katana."

"Who are you?" She asked.

"Who am I?" He laughed. "Wow, you must really be out of it. I'm Xavier Cane."

The girl flexed her muscles, breaking the straps which held her to the table. There was a pain in her head more immediate than the ache in the rest of her body. Around her the nurses and doctors stepped back.

"What did you do to me?" She asked, getting to her feet. She stood on the operating table, absently tearing the light which dangled above her off of its cord. Sparks fell around her, but she ignored them.

"Get some Capricorns in here." Cane ordered.

"I thought you said you could control her now." A woman beside him said. The surgical mask she wore didn't completely hide the scars which covered most of her head.

"I haven't had a chance to get that chip online, Jinx."

The girl reached up and tore the bandage away from her head. She could feel stitches going up the side of her skull.

"What did you do to me?" She repeated more insistently. Claws burst from her knuckles as the people around her backed to a corner of the room. Two guards burst through the door, holding guns.

"Don't move." One shouted as they pointed the guns at her.

She leapt off the table and tackled the first one, stabbing her claws into his eyes. The second one fired and the bullet ripped through her shoulder. It only served to make her angrier. She knocked him down and stabbed him repeatedly.

The doctors stared at her in shock, and even Cane looked horrified. She stared back.

"What am I?" She asked.

None of them replied.

She couldn't stand it anymore. She threw back her head and screamed, the sound more animal than human. Blood dripped from her knuckles and onto the floor as she turned to the ten or so humans. More guards rushed in before she could attack, holding her down to snap handcuffs onto her wrists. She managed to kick one in the ribs, breaking several. Finally they got her down onto the floor.

"Let me die." She begged. "Just let me die already."

"You're not going to die, Katana." Cane said. "You're going to help us. Both of you are."

"Are we human, Jinx?" The girl asked the scientist strapping her to the operating table.

"Depends on your definition." The woman replied. "You look it. Mostly. Except for your eyes of course. You're not going to win any beauty contests with those."

"What is beauty?"

She frowned, momentarily stopping work. "What? It means...very nice to look at. How can you be almost 19 and not know what beauty is?"

Cane entered the room. "Asking questions again, Katana?"

"I'm not Katana." The girl snapped. "I don't know who Katana is."

"Don't lie. It won't help. Skyfall won't save you here."

"What's Skyfall?"

He stared at her. "The organization you founded."