Home ||~~Elax/Elmax~~||

Let's pick up where we left off

"I see an empty room" El said, "why do you want to know that?" she asked, looking around the room and at the equipment attached to her in confusion.

Max leapt to her feet and started banging on the glass and screaming El's name, trying to make herself heard, trying to make herself visible once again to El. She only managed a few hits before the guard grabbed her from behind, locking her arms, and dragging her kicking and screaming from the room.

"What was that?" asked El after hearing the slight noise and now more confused than ever. She felt as if she were viewing everything through a strange fog, her recent memories clouded, anything of the last few years of her life eluding her completely.

"It's ok, Eleven, this is completely normal" a scientist she didn't recognise said from the console to her right.

She eyed him suspiciously, almost fearfully. "Papa?" she said with a trembling voice, wanting him there to explain what was happening.

"I'm here, Eleven" Papa's familiar voice said as the door opened. He watched as she breathed a sigh of relief at his arrival and smiled knowing that his plan was proceeding perfectly. "Doctor Carr, please take care of Eleven and take her back to her room" he said, talking to the white-coated scientist in the room. Seeing panic cross Eleven's face, he turned to her and explained "I just need to take care of something for two minutes and then I'll join you, I'll explain everything, ok?"

She nodded slightly and watched as he left the room again, then jumped slightly as Dr Carr started carefully removing the wires and probes attached to her.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

"What do you think, Holtz?" Brenner asked the petite blonde stood next to him who'd been watching through a monitor.

"I think things are progressing according to plan, we're on schedule" she replied clinically, "but I hope I've made it clear, you cannot push too hard too soon, we need her to believe it, if we can get her to that point then I foresee no real issues."

Brenner nodded approvingly, "I understand. With you here I think we can finally continue our research."

"Hmm" she hummed in agreement, looking at the monitor and deep in thought.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, intrigued due to his knowledge of her expertise.

"Are you sure everything has been taken care of in town? We can't afford one slip-up, if anything happens to alert her to even the possibility that this is a lie then it will set us back ten-fold."

"You don't have to worry, Holtz, the other 'experts' recommended with you have taken care of things and will continue to do so" he reassured her.

She nodded her understanding, "I know, I just wanted to make sure, sorry" she said.

"No need to apologise. Even if there is a set-back we have another method at our disposal to help control matters."

She finally turned away from the monitors to face him, "you know that should be considered a last resort" she said, "the risks to her mind are potentially catastrophic, we cannot predict exactly what the result will be. You must view that as a last resort, and if you do utilize it you must start slowly."

Brenner nodded 'yes', "I understand. We've used it successfully in the past, but I'm aware of the risks and the need to start low." Holtz nodded and turned back to the monitors, watching as Eleven was escorted back to her room. "Well, time to lay the foundation" Brenner said, smiling, "I'll see you tomorrow morning, 08.00 hours." And with that, he left her watching Eleven on screen, clearly fascinated by the now very confused young lady.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Brenner paused as he reached her door, taking a deep breath and going over the words he'd prepared in his head. Nervous wouldn't quite be the right word to describe his feelings, it was more like concern. Concern that she wouldn't believe him and they would have to take the more difficult path which was littered with risk.

He opened the door without knocking just as he always had, him seeing no need for privacy. She was still just a subject to him, a scientific marvel to be exploited, not a young woman who had built a life for herself away from the lab.

Eleven was sitting on the bed waiting for him, absent-mindedly playing with the ear of the stuffed toy on her bed and staring at the wall, her face marred by a confused frown. "Hello Eleven, how are you feeling?" he asked, announcing his presence with the question.

She looked up at him and shrugged like she used to do, never having been a big talker as she'd never really had need to be.

"Use your words, Eleven, I don't know what your shrug means" he said calmly.

"I..." she started, searching for the right words, "...I...can't remember." She paused, her face showing that she was desperately trying to remember, "it's like a...a big hole" she said, pointing at her head, "like a hole in my mind, and my memories are missing...I can't remember anything that's happened recently..." she trailed off, shaking her head in confusion as she talked.

Brenner nodded as she talked as if to make her understand that he understood what she was saying and that it was to be expected. "It's ok, Eleven" he reassured her, putting his hand on her shoulder and patting gently, "you've been very sick, for a long time, and you've only just emerged from your sickness. We almost lost you" he explained, his final words being the only truth in his statement.

She looked up at him, "I can't remember."

"I know, you were very sick and had a fever for a long time" he furthered, "you hallucinated, saw many things that weren't real, it took a long time and a lot of work and effort to bring you back to us."

He watched her closely as she processed his explanation. "So, I'm cured now?"

"We think so, yes, but we must be prepared for any relapse, you must tell me if you start to hallucinate, see anything out of the ordinary, any strange things, do you understand?"

"Yes, Papa, I understand" she replied, nodding.

He smiled, his plan was working perfectly. "Get some rest, Eleven, tomorrow we get back to work." He watched as she nodded almost sadly. It worried him for a brief second, but then he realised she had never shown much emotion, certainly not laughter or happiness, during her time in the lab, so it wasn't really surprising. "Good, we will pick up where we left off, before you got sick," and with that he left the room, the guard locking it behind him.

Eleven flinched when she heard the door shut and closed her eyes tight upon hearing the unmistakable click of the lock. A single tear fell as she lay down, she felt a great deal of sadness and loss and couldn't reconcile her feelings with what Papa said. She closed her eyes and fell into an uneasy sleep, one full of confusing images, dominated at all times by one in particular, a mysterious girl with red hair.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

A/N no idea if anyone is really interested anymore in reading this, but I can't stand leaving something unfinished. Hope it doesn't disappoint.

PS I'd already written this chapter ages ago...the irony of it's title isn't lost on me :P