Messier-17

Chapter 5

I stand quietly in the shadows of an old warehouse, waiting for Vanessa Black to show up. My senses are heightened, making me hyper aware of every movement, sound, and smell in the building. There are rats scurrying about and nothing seems to have been touched for years. It smells like something died in here and it makes me wonder why anyone would work here because I'm pretty sure something did indeed die in this building. I can hear the rhythmic dripping of water echoing throughout the large space, and I can only assume it's from a broken pipe because it's not raining outside. The air is stale, unmoving, until one of the large double doors from the only entrance is cracked open and a pale woman with black hair and dark, unprofessional clothing walks in before quickly shutting the door behind her. She takes a quick look around as if to see if anyone else is in the nearly empty warehouse and walks hastily to the empty bookshelf in the corner. I watch as she places her hand on the back of said bookshelf and a small, green light shines on her face for a few seconds before disappearing. The short woman I know to be Vanessa Black watches as the bookshelf splits in half and opens like a pair of sliding doors and then walks through the now open space. Ah, so this warehouse is merely a cover for her actual lab.

I silently run through the new entrance before it closes and immediately hide behind a wall so Vanessa can't see me when she turns around. There are two short hallways that lead to an elevator and a staircase. She takes the one straight ahead to the elevator and I take the hallway to the left where the staircase resides. I race down to the bottom of the steps and cautiously open the door to see another short hallway. There is no door at the end of it so I walk to the end and peek around the right corner. I see Vanessa walking away from the elevator and towards a machine in her large, white lab. I watch quietly as she sighs and walks forward, where a young man in his late twenties sits, bleeding and near death. He slowly looks up from the chair he is strapped to and looks at Vanessa before squeezing his eyes shut and groaning, "Please, no more." She looks at him with pity. "I'm sorry, but you volunteered for this. My experiment is almost complete; this will all be over soon." Vanessa states vaguely. "I get that I volunteered to be experimented on, but I thought that just meant getting poked and prodded, I didn't expect to be shot and stabbed too." The man complains. "I understand. However, it was necessary to test the strength of the serum you were injected with a couple days ago. Now, let's discuss your progress. While you haven't been bothered by the cold, you are still affected greatly by heat." Vanessa starts.

The man nods his head. "Continue." He states simply. She starts again, "So you can most likely stand in snow in only a pair of shorts and not get cold, but you would have a heat stroke if you stood in the sun too long, just like any other human being." The man is silent for a moment. "Okay. I have another question for you, if you don't mind." He waits until she gives a nod before continuing, "Why am I still in these damn restraints? I'm not an animal, for God's sake. My wrists are killing me!" The man complains again. The pale scientist rolls her eyes at him. "Because the last time you had the freedom to stand, you almost gave me frostbite when you grabbed my wrist." My eyes widen at this. How could he possibly be able to do that just by grabbing her wrist? "Seriously?" He questions, disbelief apparent in his voice. "You wouldn't remember it, of coarse, you passed out as soon as I got you to let go of me." Vanessa says, slightly disappointed that her serum isn't finished yet. I decide that I need to get this woman and go before I get punished for taking too long to finish my mission. I step out from behind the wall and walk slowly towards the scientist with an emotionless face. Vanessa's head snaps in my direction when she hears the quiet mechanical whir of my legs' metal plates shifting to move like regular pair of legs is supposed to.

"Who are you?" She questions me, slightly panicked. I stop moving once I'm a few feet away from her, but don't answer her question. "How did you find me?" Her voice wavering slightly as she asks me another question, but again, I don't answer. I see her start to reach behind her back — presumably for a gun — but I'm faster than her. I whip out my own pistol and aim it at her stomach before she has a chance to do anything. She freezes before slowly dropping her hand back down to her side. "Come with me." I command curtly. "But-" She starts, but I interrupt her. "Now." I demand, my voice calm and void of any emotion. Vanessa clenches her jaw in aggravation, but complies, nonetheless. Her long, straight hair flowing behind her as she walks swiftly past me and up the stairs. She's taking this remarkably well. It makes me wonder if she's been through this before. I follow closely behind her, my gun at my side. We retrace my steps all the way into the seemingly abandoned warehouse, where she begins questioning me again. "Who do you work for?" I just stare at her. "How old are you?" This question shocked me. Why does she care? No, she doesn't care. She's just trying to get answers. I look down to my left and furrow my eyebrows, trying to find the answer to her question.

But it feels like I'm sprinting straight into a wall, a barrier that feels like it won't ever come down.

My head starts to hurt, so I stop before it gets any worse. My eyes snap back to hers a second later, this time with trapped emotions trying vigorously to break out. I shake them away before they can get to difficult to control. "No questions. Follow me." I state simply before walking past her and towards the door while listening behind me to make sure she follows. "Fine, I'll come with you, but on one condition." I stop and turn around, prompting her to continue. "You have to answer one question." I narrow my eyes at her, but stay silent. "Are you going to kill me?" Vanessa asks me warily. "No." I reply curtly. She relaxes at little bit, but is still on edge as she follows me out of the warehouse and into a car I borrowed from her husband. I don't think it's his, because Vanessa doesn't make a comment about recognizing it, but I'm still unsure. I start the car and drive to the train station. Vanessa was silent the whole drive. After twenty-five minutes of listening to the car engine running, we make it to the train station. Fortunately, we get there just in time to board a train to New York. Its late — nearly midnight — before we make it to my motorcycle and drive off to a place I refuse to call home. I may live there, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I hate it there. I'm so distracted with my thoughts of 'home,' I don't realize that we've already arrived.

I didn't even get to enjoy the late summer air because of my stupid thoughts of this horrid place. It's 1:00am by the time I park my motorcycle in the garage, and I sigh as I take off my helmet and am immediately met with guards and soldiers with instructions to take Vanessa and I upstairs to Volkov's office, where he will most likely be waiting for us. When we get there, however, Vanessa groans as she sees the name Volkov in large letters on the door of the man's office. "You have got to be kidding me." She complains. I look at her, confused, but stay silent. "This is who you work for?" She asks me. I look at the commanding officer for permission to answer, who gives me a nod. I hesitantly give her a curt nod to confirm her suspicions. "Oh God, just kill me now." Vanessa groans before entering the room. I look back at the officer — who happens to be one of my main handlers —with a confused expression. He just shakes his head, not wanting to explain the situation to me. I turn back around and enter the room only seconds after Vanessa. I stand off to the side, silently hoping I don't have to sit down. Vanessa looks almost annoyed as she stands in front of the Director. "Thank you, M-17, you may stand." Director Volkov says. I nod to show my appreciation. He stands up and walks around his desk to greet the woman in front of him with a smile on his face. "Vanessa, it's nice to see you again." He says happily.

It's kinda creeping me out, seeing him smile. Vanessa grimaces, "Father," She replies. This shocks me, I don't know what I expected, but this is not it. I didn't know that Volkov has family, let alone a daughter, but then again, I don't know anything about the man. "What am I doing here?" She questions him. "What, a man can't just say 'hi' to his daughter?" Volkov asks. "Not when you have to send an assassin to basically kidnap me to do it." Vanessa retorts. The director sighs, "Alright, fine. I need you to do something for me." Vanessa rolls her eyes. "That's what I thought. Now, what exactly do you need me to do?" She demands and crosses her arms over her chest. Her father stays quiet for a moment before glancing at me and then back at her. "I need more serum; I need to create a backup asset."