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Chapter 2 - VIVERE

   Viv watched as the new kid, 107, walked into the Ignition Hall with the other Novuses from the Institution. None of them looked to be in the best shape and most were quite young. Vi, Pax, Gladius, and Perri all watched from their large observing room on the other side of the one-sided glass wall that divided the Novuses from them.

   “First up is Number 266. He’s come here with his twin brother, 267. They’re both about 5’4 with curly brown hair and have already been Sweeped,” Pax told the others as they sat around the table in comfy chairs in the room. He stood up in front of them, tapping on the glass every now and them. It doubled as a sort of SmartBoard thing or like that thing from Iron Man. The…hologram board tool…thing. Vi could barely remember.

   Perri chuckled. “I keep telling you that the memory-wipe thing should not be called Sweeping. By the way, Sweeped isn’t a word. Swept is the past-tense of sweep,” she told him with her usual smirk on her face. “Lucky the wall is soundproof too.”

   Pax gave her a look. “Just – can you just – stop. Look, it’s my idea and it sounds cool,” he stuttered a bit before saying a bit hesitantly, shaking his head a bit. “It’s cool, okay?” He sighed and continued. “According to the records that Dae hacked for us, sounds like 266 had no feeling in his arms and his right leg. You’ll notice by the little bands on his shoulders and upper right thigh. The younger brother had schizophrenia but is a bit twitchy still because the process on him wasn’t entirely completed so there are still some effects left. We’ll help him. We’ll be sending Auxilium after them as usual to get them a room, some clothing, and a weapon as well as a name. Lium can certainly handle 226’s introductions. Gladius, you have the other twin.”

   Perri nodded. “Gladius and I will handle the weapons again for this group. But you’re sure that this wasn’t another set-up? They aren’t spies, right?”

   “Dae already checked up on these guys. There’s no way. I’m just doing a quick review of them again. Move them along and have Lium meet them on the other side, will you, Per?”

   Viv saw Perri nod and push a button before calling up Lium. The twins swayed a bit as the floor beneath them (structured like an assembly line almost) and they were moved down the hall, a girl taking their place. She was a scrawny little thing who was blinking fearfully at the light with bits of cloth hanging around her neck. “109, came in around the same time as 107, is legally blind. Her process was already completed at the Institution and her vision is now enhanced at the highest level we’ve seen from any Novus yet. Why, I haven’t seen a Cure as strong as the one given to her since Perri. But then again, Perri, you were a special case unlike-.”

   “Alright, alright. That’s enough. I’ll take this one. I’ll go with Gladius now to meet with this one and the other twin. Come on, Gladus,” she muttered before pulling Gladius away from the room and out the door roughly. He looked a little hesitant but then the door was slammed in his face.

   Vi frowned in concentration and waited as an Asian boy came next, looking alert and staring at all the walls. “123, hacker of some kind apparently.”

   “You’ll take him?”

   “Of course but why are you so interested about the 107?” Pax asked, turning around to face her and leaning a bit against the wall.

   Vi shook her head and gave a slight shrug. “I honestly don’t know. There’s just something different about this one.” Vi just kept smiling. “I suppose I’ll just have to find out. So what’s you guy’s deal?” she asked him curiously as she stood up and walked over the counter against the right wall. She pulled herself up and sat on the countertop, dangling her legs from over the edge.

   Pax grinned too, turning around to see the boy looking straight at them.

   “Sharp one, isn’t he?” Viv said brightly, looking pleased.

   Pax nodded, “Yeah, he was one of the kids taken with nothing wrong with him. Poor kid didn’t get squat out of it, can’t remember his family, and was tortured. He even ended up going further into Phase 2.”

   Viv’s eyes widened and she squinted more at the screen. “No way. Why would they do that?”

   Pax shook his again and gazed back at the screen before turning back around and gesturing up at the upper part of the screen. “His endurance level and tolerance for chaos and strain is off the charts. It’s actually quite remarkable really,” he told her. “He can help us more in the fields.”

   “Definitely. This is great. Okay, one more left,” Viv smiled as Pax had 123 moved down the hall.

   The golden eyes stared back at them from under the shaggy black bangs. He was thin and a little taller than most with longer fingernails and warm, intelligent eyes that immediately zeroed in on their exact location. Pax began pulling up 107’s information with several flicks and taps. “Jesus.”

   Viv frowned. “What is it?” she asked curiously.

   “This guy isn’t number 107. This is number 1. This guy should have died like a decade ago. He’s supposed to be like 18 or 19 and he had almost 20 things wrong with him. He had cancer, blindness, paralyzed from the waist down, asthma, deadly allergies, cyclic vomiting syndrome, memory loss, and like 10 other things. They just barely managed to Cure him but he’s been literally taken apart like twice.” Pax paused and turned to face Viv. “Viv, this is The Supreme we’ve been hearing about for years.”

   Viv’s jaw dropped almost immediately. “How on earth can this be?” she breathed as she slipped off the counter and stepped over to the glass. She put a hand to the glass softly and stared out at him sadly. “Poor guy.”

   “They erased his memories over 18 times in the past decade and a half…” Pax read just as the screen began to flicker. “Damn. Viv, pull the plug! Go! Now!”

   Viv dashed out the door on the left and jogged down a set of stairs to a room below with a bunch of panels and computers. She ran over to the blue cable and tugged hard. She heard a low growl and the lights went out. She looked up fearfully, breathing a bit loudly. “Oh no,” she muttered. “Oh no.” What had she done?