Chapter 35

"What!? " GMN-1 shouted pinning the back of GMN-3 with a murderous stare. GMN-3 passed her another note as GMN-2 pulled over.

'There's an audio recording device ' the note read

GMN-1 got out of the car and moved a little distance. She was aware they needed to keep moving but this couldn't wait. There was always some sort of monitoring device everywhere. Why? She turned to face GMN-3 immediately and noticed them behind her.

"Start talking! " GMN-1 said. The rest of them were surprised, they hadn't heard her use that tone of voice.

"This is all your fault. I told you not to tell her" GMN-6 accused

"She needed to know" GMN-3 replied, his eyes never leaving GMN-1. GMN-2 was confused, he didn't know what was going on or what they were talking about. He just stared and listened.

"That day you had a blackout. I was at the infirmary... " GMN-3 began and noticed GMN-1 'raised an eyebrow. "I compared your brain scan with a normal brain scan and there were differences aside from the differences that should be. I matched with um... Abnormal brain scans and there was a match to the differences that shouldn't be. It matched with that of people with amnesia, more like dissociative amnesia but there was a variation. It seemed like aside from the... you know, maybe unidentified trauma; someone made you purposely forget some things. It was the same with 5 and 7 and maybe the rest of us" GMN-3 said, gauging her reaction. She just stared at him.

GMN-1 stared at GMN-3 then looked away and ran her hands through her hair, licking her bottom lip rapidly. She closed her eyes to digest what she had heard so far but she came up blank. She would deal with it later. She turned to GMN-3. She had a feeling this narrative hasn't ended.

"What else? " She asked

GMN-3 looked at 6 then sighed and continued. He had wanted to end it there. Clearly, she wasn't stable, but he wasn't sure of any other opportunity to tell her.

"Yours was more pronounced than the rest and it seemed to be correcting itself. Let me put it this way, I may have gotten your previous brain scan and compared it with the last. I also got that of 6 and 7. Yours was a worse case compared to theirs, in rating, I would put it three times as bad. However, while yours seems to be correcting itself, theirs is stagnant." GMN-3 said

"So, you are saying that hers was induced amnesia? " GMN-2 asked

"That's my hypothesis but you don't have to accept it." GMN-3 said

"I do. It makes more sense. I'm not stupid. I've noticed a lot of weird things going on around there. Like how Doc sends us to kill people off her checklist or how Deccan envies her. We seem to grow older like regular humans. We also have vital organs like them. A lot of blank spaces and missing information. Yeah, I know, just thought I was the only one who noticed for a while" GMN-2 said. The rest stared at him before GMN-1 remembered that 3 wasn't done and they needed to get back on the road.

"You're not done" GMN-1 said

"It's just my speculation but it seems you somehow consciously or unconsciously refuse to remember some things and that is imparting your total recovery" GMN-3 said

"Okay we need to get back on the road" GMN-1 said heading back to the car. "And by the way, the guy we brought in claims we are humans and among the thirty children that went missing some time ago. He also believes that something was done to us that's why we can't remember" GMN-1 said

"You've got to be joking" GMN-3 replied

"I'm not. He's got pictures to prove it, sort of"GMN-1 answered

"You know you can't just drop something like that and walk away like you didn't " GMN-6 said

"I can but I'm not. Too drained to make sure I make any sense to you" GMN-1 said entering the car. She rested her head on the backrest again and closed her eyes.

"I think we should let her be. She seems too stressed today" GMN-2 said. He had noticed the subtle change in them when they came back today, and he was right they may have found out something that really shook them. He sighed and entered the driver's side, and every other person assumed their position.

GMN-2 started the car and drove off. From time to time, they would check on 1 who still had her eyes closed.

GMN-1 didn't want to go through the events of today, but it forced itself on her. They couldn't be humans, it would mean a lot of things, a lot of possibilities. The theory of someone tampering with their brains made a lot of sense if you pair it with what Williams said. Why did that name sound so familiar? She tried to push these things to the back of her mind, trying to force them down and out. She needed to focus. She tried to remember the day of their creation. Funny she seemed to remember that human's memories more clearly than the day she was created. Were they trying to tell her that the human girl she was seeing in her head was her and that the memories she was seeing were her own? She shuddered. No wonder she wanted to forget. She couldn't find an explanation for why they were different though and the more she tried to think about it the more anger and pain she felt. She remembered the hospital room memories and she shuddered again. Her head was buzzing. Too much, way too much, her brain seemed to be chanting. She could feel her system heating up, she needed to keep it down before she turned invisible. She opened her eyes. GMN-6 was staring at her.

"What? " GMN-1 asked and 6 looked down. GMN-1 followed her line of sight and found that her legs were half gone. Great! A few more seconds and she would have turned completely invisible. She sighed and hit her head on the headrest twice. She needs to control this or else she'll turn invisible when she needs to be visible. She sighed again and grabbed the file she saw sticking out from the side of the passenger's seat. It was the twin's file. She quirked her brow.

"Neurodevelopmental, Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders? " GMN-1 said. It was more like a rhetorical question.

"Yeah, we are dealing with psychos" GMN-3 replied

"Did you research to know what type of psychos we are dealing with? GMN-1 asked. There was no response. "Their previous stunts? Anything? "

"We are here" GMN-2 said. He didn't want to admit that he had wanted to, but they had insisted on going without.

All the GMNs looked forward. This wasn't a country house; this was a castle. Everywhere was dark except for some rooms in the castle. Looking at the place it was hard to credit GMN-6's report of their house being messy. Everything was kept neat, too neat. The GMNs stepped out of the car that was packed in front of the gate. GMN-1 looked around, everyone could tell she was back to her business, detached and deadly self. She took a look at the gate and headed to the back of the car. GMN-2 popped the trunk when she tapped it twice. She opened the hatch inside the trunk before putting her hands under and turning something and the secret compartment underneath opened. There were assorted weapons and more backpacks. GMN-6 stared with eyes wide open. GMN-1 didn't know if it was because she didn't know that it was there or because of the weapons themselves.

"Prepare for war guys, this might be tougher than you think." GMN-1 said

"Why are we going to retrieve a bronze box with probably no value to the rest of the world except Doc" GMN-6 said

"I don't think so. If Doc wants it this bad then it is of more value to the rest of the world and from her pacing in the video, it seems some others are out to get it" GMN-2 said, grabbing a backpack and stuffing it. The good thing about being a GMN was they could carry things more than 100 times their size.

"What's in the box? " GMN-6 asked

"I can't tell until I see the box. There have been a number of bronze boxes throughout history each of great value that people would sacrifice their lives and the lives of others for. Sometimes bronze is a decoy for what lies within '' GMN-1 said as a part of her wondered how she knew all these, maybe it was something she picked up subconsciously.

They looked at her as she stuffed her own bag. GMN-6 scoffed.

"What's the worst that can happen? " It was a rhetorical question, but GMN-1 answered her anyway.

"I don't know, you stop existing. Better safe than sorry" GMN-1 said, handing her a backpack.

This was insane. These people were humans, and they were GMNs. She was yet to see something that could take them down. She didn't know why they needed weapons, just go in there, snap their necks and get the box, easy peasy.

They finished collecting what they wanted and closed the trunk. They walked towards the front of the car and stared at the gate. There was a huge notice more like the one they saw in front of the other house, but they couldn't make out what it said...

'все те, кто входит, остерегаются. боль тем, кто нарушил. Смерть тем, кто ищет сундук.' (My apologies to Russian language speakers if this is wrong)

GMN-1 raised an eyebrow.

"What does it say? " GMN-3 asked her.

"vse te, kto vkhodit, osteregayutsya. bol' tem, kto narushil. Smert' tem, kto ishchet sunduk." GMN-1 replied. They turned to look at her. (Another apology)

"English please!? "GMN-6 said

"What language is that? " GMN-3 asked.

"All those who enter beware. Pain to those who trespass. Death to those who seek the chest. Russian. " GMN-1 replied.

"I guess you're right, we may not be the only ones after the box since it was included in their welcome note. " GMN-3 said.

They headed towards the gate. GMN-1 pulled on her thick leather gloves as she approached the gate. Their castle-like house was a long way from the gate, a really long way. They got to the gate and the gate opened for them on its own. GMN-1 looked around, she couldn't see anyone, but she could see something, a miniature camera. Someone was watching them. A sign pulled up from the side.

"What does it say? " GMN-2 asked.

"igra nachalas'. Game on" GMN-1 replied as something went up in her face.