the newest prisoners

13

no one moved.

Ellie looked around at everyone. finally Dr Norris cleared his throat.

"I'll start. " he said, rising to his feet. "i don't have every many secrets in my life. however i do have a lot of regrets. when i was a boy, i had a little sister, we both lived in the upper sectors of the empire, and it seemed like we had a bright future ahead of us. but she fell ill, and passed away before her 12th birthday. i was almost 18 at the time. and i felt like i could have done something. i had wanted to become a politician, like my father, but after he was unable to save her i decided to begin learning sciences and medicine. i was determined to find a way to make it so that no one else would have to feel the pain of losing a child or sibling to disease. soon after i graduated i was offered a place in a lab, i was told i was working on vaccines, to be able to prevent disease. then, one of the vaccines i created ended up killing a small boy. it had turned out that my vaccine was faulty, and attacked not only the virus causing the sickness, but also the boys tissues. it ate a hole right in his heart... i killed him."

the room went even quieter than it had been before. Dr Norris began to tear up, his voice began to waiver and warble with the tears he was holding in.

"i killed that little boy because of a small mistake. and i had realized that i was doing the exact thing that i had wanted to avoid. i had hurt someone so small. that boy was younger than my sister had been, and maybe he wouldn't have died from that disease. but he had died from my vaccine. i quit from the lab that day. and i went home, broken. when i had arrived there however, there were two government agents waiting at my door. i had thought that they were there to take me to jail where i belonged. but instead they offered me an opportunity to work for them, and to help more children. so i went with them."

Caison scoffed slightly, and Dr Norris looked down in shame.

"at first they kept me away from this part of the complex. i worked on the top floor, the ground floor, and i was making prosthetic for children and teenagers who were injured and needed them. then one of my colleagues mentioned to me an idea he said he was working on, adding animal DNA to that of a sick and injured child, to help boost their strength and recovery times. i thought that was brilliant, and i set forward to do it. that was how i entered into this project. until i joined them, none of the participants survived. but i was able to use my skills to ensure their survival through the process. i told myself that i was helping these children, that they would be stronger and be able to live better lives. then after the animal DNA had worked, we began to experiment with the DNA, finding compounds and mixtures that would give the children more powers outside of the realm of nature.

we only did the procedure on children and teenagers who had been arrested for crimes and were going to be sentenced to life in prison, or children who were homeless and alone. children who didn't have a future. the older ones were given the choice most of them took it. then we began to expand, i realized that what i was doing wasn't what my sister would have wanted. however, now I'm just as much a prisoner as you are. i can never leave here. can never quit. if i tried, they would lock me up immediately, or kill me outright. all i hope now, is that all of you will be able to live a slightly better life than we did before."

he sat down. looking down at his hands, he looked scared for our reactions. Ellie reached out and gently placed her hand on his.

i looked at him with new eyes. this man who i had assumed was a mad scientist, a man obsessed with power, was really just a man trying to help others who was trapped by the cruel government.

everyone was quiet for a few minutes, and then Yui stood up. we all looked at her expectantly, and she took as steadying breath before she began.

"i was born hearing, like all of you were. it wasn't until an accident when i was 10 made me deaf. me and my twin, Roy, spent every moment together. one day after school we were walking home, when we got caught up in a rebel attack."