Subject 305-b

Chapter 4

Suddenly an alarm klaxon began reverberating within Nic's head, but he was surprised to discover that it was actually the most real thing he heard in a long time. As red lights flashed, everyone ran out of the room, leaving Nic alone, and he yanked out the tubes just in time to see something he was quite used to now - a confusing visual display of what looked like a combination of darkness and light, in the middle of the room. Three individuals stepped through: one was a 30-year-old dark-haired human man in a leather jacket with a facial scar that did NOT make him look any less handsome and the other two were what looked like his female bodyguards (one looked human but the other looked reptilian).

The man said in an Irish accent, "I'm D'ren. There's no time to go into detail, but I'm from Malevora, the realm currently at war with these demons posing as aliens. Come with me, Nic, if ye wish to live and everything will be explained to you along the way...as much as it can be anyway." Nic is wondering, I must be very popular, Jake kidnaps me, the Malevorans, the military. It must be my research... I gotta escape and try to find out what is really going on and who to "really" trust. Where is Cassandra?

Suddenly Nic heard the word "STOP!..." as he ran from the room. Nic did not know that once the transfusion was at least 30%, the process was irreversible and continued by itself. He makes it outside of the complex and the security arrives.

Nic's Failed Escape:
"Nic, stop!" said the voice, but he continued to run, while running, he stumbled, and fell down on the ground. The voice told him to stop, but Nic pushed himself to his feet and continued. When he looked behind him, he could see 2 men in white lab coats carrying what looked like tazers in their hands. Nic saw an opening of a gate on the far side of the complex, but it was too far, and, suddenly, he felt an awful sharp pain in the back of his thigh. He fell to his knees and blacked out.

When he woke up, a strange man was beside him and simply responded, "You are back at HQ," when Nic asked where he was. Nic shivered softly in his chair, eyes darting around the room as he fought back tears of joy at seeing all the familiar faces gathered in one place - where he belongs. A dozen voices then cheered at once, followed by a loud pop of champagne. With a feeble smile Nic accepted their praise - most appropriate for a hero of his calibre, of course. He tried to stand, but somehow his legs were so heavy, and he suddenly wondered why he couldn't remember their names? Nic winced as he tried to gather his thoughts and then heared a vaguely familiar voice. It is the Irish man saying, "Hit him with another," despite another voice saying Nic would not be able to handle it.
For the first time in God know's how long, it was quiet, but, like a sudden connection to the proper frequency, Nic suddenly sat up, totally lucid. "I think we just hit the sweet spot," Jake's voice echoed throughout the steel room, and Nic could see he was sitting across from him, his hands folded calmly in his lap.

Nic felt different, like a pot ready to boil over, and then felt a surge of power shoot through his veins, allowing him to wrench the binding metal apart and strike the nearest attendant with enough force to send him crashing into the wall. A gun went clattering to the ground and Nic swept it up and shot at his advancing comrade, but, as he fired the gun at Jake, a woman's scream echoed off the steel walls as a body hit the floor, and he opened his eyes to see Cassandra lying on the floor.

The bullet thankfully only grazed her side, but Nic noticed D'ren lay dead on the floor beside her so he searched the man's leather jacket and luckily found a hastily drawn map on the back of a handkerchief. Nic picked Cassandra up and carried her over the threshold and out into the endless labyrinthian tunnels. The handkerchief map was hastily drawn, but, after a moments perusal, Nic realized that it seemed to indicate that they were in some kind of subterranean facility built directly beneath his lab. How had this been here all along without him knowing it? There was a crackle of static, thankfully it was coming from speakers in the ceiling this time, and not from inside his head. "Nic, it's Jake, buddy. I know you are a little confused right now, but this happens every time we send you. Something about riding the signal seems to temporarily scramble your eggs, but we've got you in containment now, man, and you are gonna be O.K.

Would Jake really do something this terrible to Nic?

Nic continued carrying Cassandra through the labyrinth. The fact that they'd kept this facility secret to him didn't make sense. He wasn't just a scientist, but he was in the managment group of the corporation too. There was something else he didn't understand. How could an alien space craft be situated below a giant research facility?
Jake had been going through some old files about how the ship had to go underground to prevent intruders from getting in. He lost track of the years he and the rest of his kind had to stay in hibernation. That time almost made him forget why he came to Earth; the loss of his home planet that he could have prevented with help from others rather than go on a mission meant only to confirm findings and not anything revolutionary.

With nowhere to go, he and the rest of the survivors settled in the planet's surface and tried to find a way to restore the planet. But even with their advanced technology, the aliens could not get it done without help from a native inhabitant of Earth as their genetic makeup was more easily malleable compared to the risky molecular structure of the aliens. The newly named Jake finally found a person who could meet the requirements in Nic, and he was not about to let him get away.

Beyond the Labyrinth
Surprised by his new found strength because some of the properties of the transfusion had taken effect, Nic finds shelter in a closed off corridor in the labyrinth. Cassandra had been weakened by the bullet wound and the excitement of the escape, but Nic took one look at the wound and it heals immediately. As Nic noticed the healing of his wound, he noticed a single black dot appear running along his arm, a new one appeared each hour. Nic could not destinguish if the dots were just his mind, or if they were labeling him for the hours since his last injury, but it seemed Nic had started exhibiting traits of his alien abductors. Nic thought, I've been on the defense all day, but it's now time to reverse that. Over the communication system that reverberated throughout the corridors, Nic hears a signal.