FUTURITY

FORCE (Pt 2)

When Jason awoke, he lay strapped on a gurney. A light above burned his eyes, forcing him to squint. To his left, he saw Jude, Rachel, Samuel, and Leon strapped on similar gurneys, their eyes wide and their breathing ragged. An automaton whirred by and placed the bag of explosives on a shelf.

For a moment, Jason's foggy mind wouldn't process what had happened. Where was he? Why was he tied up?

Images of Daniels, Force, and the short-lived fight earlier, rocketed through his thoughts. He jerked, terror bubbling up again. He remembered now. 

He had to get out of here.

The door opened. Daniels walked in, backed by five automatons and—Force. Hope leaped in Jason's chest. Maybe Force would help.

Jason looked into Force's eyes and realized they were glazed, distant, uncaring. Tears stung Jason's eye, and he stifled a sob. No. They must have drugged him already.

"It's unfortunate—the whole business." Daniels shook his head. He beckoned. "Bring me the serum." An automaton stepped forward, its limbs whirring with each step, and handed Daniels a syringe full of yellow liquid. 

Force swallowed and walked out of the room.

Jason tensed. "No, no! Force, please, stop him. Stop this!"

"Ssh, ssh, Jason. It's alright," Daniels said kindly, softly, as if he were comforting a baby. "We only have to give you a limited dose so we can put you through our conditioning machine without you using your abilities. The effects of your last dose haven't worn off yet, it seems, but I'm going to make sure." Daniels patted Jason's shoulder. "Just relax."

Strange whispers erupted in Jason's mind. As if in a tunnel, he heard Ian speaking.

"While Daniels is taking care of the prisoners, you are coming with us to attack the UN building."

"The UN building?"  Force's voice asked.

"It's a sign of defiance to the Western nations and the world. Then we'll let the automatons strike," Ian said.

The voices faded and disappeared. Jason watched in horror as Daniels lifted the syringe. No! Jason looked past Daniels' face at the ceiling. Please help me!  He instinctively tried to push Daniels away with his mind. 

The man flew back and crashed against the wall.

Jason ripped off his restraints and sat up. He raised his hands, and two automatons' heads flew off. In two more seconds, all the mechanical men lay on the floor, beheaded. Panting, Jason snapped the straps off of his friends.

"I heard their plans in my head. They're—" "I know, kid," Leon said.

"I think we all heard the voices," Samuel agreed.

Jason frowned. "But how—"

"Maybe somehow you broadcasted it telepathically," Rachel said, stepping forward and rubbing her wrists.

"All right, let's get going," Samuel said as he grabbed their bag full of bombs off the shelf. "We're slowly getting our powers back, and we need to destroy this facility and stop them from attacking the UN building."

Samuel turned and looked at Jude. "Jude, can you teleport yet?" 

Jude frowned and seemed to concentrate. He winked out of sight and appeared on the other side of the room.

Samuel turned to Rachel. "We don't know when they'll attack, so you and I are going to New York via Jude." 

Rachel nodded.

Samuel turned to Jason and the others. "Jude, Leon, and Jason, when Jude gets back, you guys are going to work here, planting the bombs at each of the four corners of the building, on each floor. This facility and everything in it must go."

Jason felt his pulse rise. "What if we get caught?"

"You won't. You can't," Samuel said. "Leon will know how to plant the bombs. He's done it before." He turned to Jude. "Okay, let's go." Samuel placed his hand on Jude's shoulder, and Rachel grabbed the other.

Rachel smiled at Jason. It's going to be okay; her eyes seemed to say. And then they were gone.

In another moment, Jude reappeared. "Let's do this."