Subject 15

Chapter 1

"15 appears stable so far, I'm surprised she hasn't gone under like the others," a voice said in a hushed tone. I struggle to open my eyes, then remember that I'm in the tank.

"We can't continue this with the amount of children who's system is failing. Too many eyebrows are raised already, we cannot afford to end it but we might have to," someone responded. They sounded urgent, most likely not a conversation I should be hearing.

I start to move my arms, signaling that I'm awake. The first had started to speak again, but stopped. She probably saw me.

"She's up. Alright, empty it. I have to check her progress."

"With all due respect, Tucker, she is one of our slowest. For all we know, she could even be the weakest of them all-"

"I will not stand here and let you criticize my work. For all we know, Bannon, she is the most powerful of them all. Not only this but you believe you have the right to interrupt me. You can be replaced if I see fit."

I waited, but the second never continued. My ears strained, and I heard her release the liquid in my tank. She didn't say a word as she walked away. The clicking grew louder as the liquid went down, and I was finally able to hear properly.

I opened my eyes, wiping away the gel from them as I stared up at her. She nodded at me, and watched the last drops drain before she opened my tank.

"Good morning 15, how do you feel?"

I looked down at my arms, and felt the place where my heart is.  It feels different. It all does.

"Strange," I say quietly. I run a hand over my head, the short strands causing me to feel even weirder. "What happened to my hair?"

She sighed, almost sounding disappointed.

"Let's get you into a dry gown, then I'll explain."

She motioned for me to step out, and I followed in silence. I've learned not to press until she is ready to talk. In the past, I've discovered she is impatient when annoyed. Since I am a child, that can happen easily.

Her black suit is as neat as I remember, and I notice the thinnest strand of grey on her head. She continued to walk, while I wonder how long I had been soaking. When I first went in the tank, she explained to me that they were a new test.

One to enhance our abilities as humans.

She never glanced at me once as we entered my room. The familiar white walls greeted me, and my eyes landed on a mirror. The only thing of color in this place, besides us. I can't recall if it had been there before or not.

"Okay 15, put this on."

I reluctantly peeled my eyes away from the object, and grabbed the dry gown. She turned around so I could change, and I threw the old one in my hamper.

I felt a towel rub against my scalp, and I stood still while my hair was dried.

"Are you aware of how long you were in the tank?" I glanced up at her, and shook my head. She sighed, tossing the towel down. "You've been soaking for about three months. Much longer than your siblings. You showed no sign of improvement, so we had to take you out and attempt some old tests."

I nodded, brows furrowed as I processed this.

"And... my hair?"

"That was the tests, I apologize."

I stared at myself, running a hand along the short strands. It kind of makes me look like a boy, but it isn't so bad. I like it.

Then my eyes fell to my face, and I lost my smile.

"What happened?" I whispered hoarsely. My gaze a strange blue, and features sharper than I remember.

"15, I'd like to run some procedures to see if you've changed," she said in a calm voice. She reached for the clipboard by my door, and started writing down what time it was.

"See if I've changed? Look at me!"

She didn't remove here attention from the paper, pencil moving fast across it. "Increase in will."

"Are you serious right now? What the hell happened to me?"

Murmuring, her brows started to furrow together at my tone. "We haven't started yet, please stop."

I feel insane. Like I'm the only one that sees me. Knows of my existence. Do I exist?

"Mother stop ignoring me!" I yelled, hand whipping out to smack the clipboard. Her own raised, and I realized what was about to happen.

No, no not again!

I braced myself in fear as her palm came down. I closed my lids, ready for the pain.

But it never came to me.

I opened them to see her smiling, a genuine smile, something I haven't seen in a while. She then started jotting this down, never loosing the grin.

"Tests successful. Signs of control over physical state."