Losing Eight Lives

23 | The Subjects

- Area 9L Headquarters -

Catherine glanced at Linda. She stared at the screens in silence and seemed quite irritated.

Linda watched as the two subjects emerged from the helicopter that was now destroyed. The one who arrived here a few days ago--Phoebe, as she called herself--cradled her right arm.

She studied the arm. It was so coated in blood you could barely see skin. The shoulder presented a cut that obviously needed stitches. Phoebe must have been in a lot of pain.

She heard Linda let out a frustrated sigh, and placed her elbow on the table, then let her head fall into her hand.

Cole walked up behind her. "Linda?" he asked cautiously.

She turned around sharp in her chair and looked at him. "Why the hell did Marty let the subject go on the trip?" she asked fiercely.

Cole gave her an innocent look. "He thought she could be useful-"

"Yeah? Well look where that got him." She leaned back in her chair and massaged her forehead while Cole examined the screens.

Catherine studied them behind him. Marty laid on the metal floor of the crashed helicopter unmoving. Her heart suddenly ached for him. She liked Marty, more that most of her co-workers.

"Well, at least we know where they are. We could send in another team to get them, patch 'em up, and problem solved." he suggested.

She shook her head. "It's not even that. We can't let it think that it can get away with anything it wants. Because the last thing we need is for that thing to think it's more powerful than we are."

Slight anger arose in Catherine every time she heard Linda call Phoebe an "it." Subjects were people too.

"And do you have any idea how much money those things are worth? Those mutants are worth millions and millions of dollars. But they're only worth that much if they aren't injured. Look at it's arm." She could tell Linda wanted to go on, but stopped herself.

"You're right Linda," said a smirking Blake. He sat cooly on a table next to her. "It's already got that feeling. Even before we told it what it was, it tried to fight back in the fire." He chuckled, "I mean, it didn't succeed. But confidence could very well lead to success some day."

Linda raised her head. She gave Blake a thoughtful look. "What do you propose we do then?"

Blake's smirk turned into an almost evil grin. "We show the subjects who's in charge."

A worried look involuntarily surfaced on Catherine's face. She stood in the back of the room an played with her loose hair. Cole looked back at her, and gave her a reassuring smile.

She smiled back slightly, and watched the two evil leaders once more. Linda turned around in her chair and faced the screens again.

The two subjects were gone.