CHAPTER 4: The Doctor

Alex stayed in his house the remaining two days to say his goodbyes and to pack only his most important items. He looked at his room for one last time, remembering all the experiences he had there. He gave his mother and brother a big, strong hug, holding onto it for as long as he could. He needed to cherish this moment, to engrave it into his memory. This might be the last time he would feel comfort in other's arms. He let go, and drove to the rendezvous point. He had a chance to escape, away from the association, away from death, but a strange sensation fell over him. He dreaded this situation, and yet, he kept driving to the route. It was as if his subconscious was telling him that all of this madness was genuine. He knew he should just run, and abandon everything, but he couldn't. He was such a pushover. However, he didn't know what The Association was willing to do to keep him in line. If their statements were true, then millions of lives were potentially at stake, so they could resort to drastic and immoral measures to secure his loyalty. This was probably the best option, Alex didn't even know what the association was capable of doing. They could probably dispose of his family and do a solid cover-up. Alex was breathing heavily, his hands shaking and slick with sweat. He felt flushed, lightheaded, and hopeless before he was aware of his own anxiousness. He tried taking deep breaths, and plastered a false smile on his face, attempting to calm himself. Try as he might, he could not ease his shocked, drowning mind. He told himself things would get better, that he and his family were not in danger. Reality felt tilted, it felt nonexistent. His choices no longer seemed to matter, as if a grand puppeteer was pulling on his strings, lying dormant and lifeless until commanded by his mighty hand. His hopelessness converted into rage. He was furious at everything, regardless if it had a hand in his fate. After driving for minutes in this state, a general sense of apathy grew over him, dialing down his anger and anxiety immensely. He didn't know how he was going to defeat a man as strong as an army, but he wasn't going down without a fight. He had been going through cycles of despair repeatedly and constantly, and couldn't help but laugh at how dumb it all was. He arrived at the designated area, and opened his car door, standing outside of a large facility. The walls were worn and faded, the entirety of its surface composed of old red bricks that gave an old, isolated feeling to the place. Alex texted the number that the association had given him. Within a few seconds, three men in casual attire walked up to him. The taller man to the left spoke first

"Alright, Alex, we will be taking you to work. The car's on the other side of the building, so let's head there now" The man said, a casual expression glued on his face.

"What about my car?" Alex asked.

"Don't worry about it. This man right here will drive it back to your home. We'll keep it maintained. As for your suitcase, grab it and let's be on our way." one of the men opened up his palm for the keys, grabbed it, and then walked to Alex's car, taking out the suitcase, and laying it down in front of Alex. He then drove off. Alex watched as his car turned the corner, and let out a disappointed sigh. Alex hoisted his suitcase up to his chest and followed the two men a small distance through the building and right up to the car. Alex set the suitcase(which albeit was heavier than one would expect, as it held more personal items than clothes) into the trunk, slammed it shut, and hopped into the seat as instructed. They drove for a couple of hours when they came upon an airport runway. The men escorted him to the only plane on the track before breaking off, their final words being simply "good luck, we're rooting for you." Alex sat down and attempted to make himself comfortable, and fell asleep quickly.

He was at his limit, walking thoughtlessly from room to room. The house was void of furniture, decoration, and anyone else. He searched tirelessly for another person he could talk to, or at least see. The rooms were slowly growing darker and the doors to some rooms kept disappearing. Fear flooded over Alex, a sickening feeling rising in his gut. The darkness approached him slowly, Driving Alex to the main living room. The darkness enveloped him, and he was floating in an eternal void. Small points of light poked through the infinite abyss, shining like stars. The environment now looked like space, Alex drifting slowly through the nothingness. More than anything, Alex wanted someone, anyone to come and take him to a place busy and full of life, unlike this empty, lonely place. The void was etching away at his sanity, he felt like screaming and crying, but that would do him no good. He suddenly felt a falling sensation and opened his eyes. A man was standing above him, shaking his shoulder. "We've landed, take your suitcase." Alex looked around with hazy eyes. He was still on the plane. He wiped the drool off of his face, rubbed his eyes, and stood up to stretch. He grabbed the smooth leathery suitcase handle and dragged it along, lifting it up whilst carrying it down the stairway of the plane. As soon as he scanned his surroundings, a familiar face caught his gaze. The man with the sun's smile was pacing towards him.

"Hi, Alex! How was it? How'd ya feel? I heard some good things about the discussion with your parents. Seems that you really went on the offensive there. That's good!" Peter spoke in a confident, happy voice that one couldn't help but be cheered up by. "I'll be heading with you to the facility. It's a different one from the facility you first visited, and it's bigger because it's completely underground. No need to hide it, ya know." Alex was relieved to see Peter, and needed a good conversation to bring him up in spirits.

"I honestly feel terrible" Alex added a little sass and a sprinkle of sarcasm to his voice "I am stressed as hell. You try being forced into a mysterious and suspicious job with no forewarning and see how you like it! I just wanna bang my head on a table and keep it there."

Peter scoffed. "Hey, our job's restrictions are almost as bad as yours. We can't have a family or almost any relationship with the outside world that would pose a threat to our exposure. We're kept under wraps, or The Foundation will find us and have our hides! I can't even be on any type of social media!" They both laughed, trying to vent stress from the past few days. As they entered the last car of the trip, Alex continued the conversation:

"So, what have you been up to lately? Aren't I technically employed by you guys now? You don't need to withhold anything now, right?"

"Well, I guess you're right." Peter said "the AX association does actively recruit its members, and never actually legally gives them a job. None of this is officially recognized, so you don't have to sign anything or do anything special. We still do expect you to treat this as a contract job, though. We ain't lettin' you go until the task at hand is completed. We're talking long term. Beyond Midnight." Peter paused for a second. "So...anyways… I've been preparing for your procedure. The viral injection. The crystal implantation will be done on a later date, after your body has successfully completed the modification process, which will take months. Then you'll finally get to see the crystal I've talked about. Sorry for telling you could see it soon. That was a bit inaccurate"

"Ok, I want to know about the viral injection first. How's that gonna work?" Alex wanted to know so he could mentally prepare for whatever the injection process was. It didn't sound like your usual injection.

"Well, there are multiple 'waves' of viruses that you will be injected with. We will inject you with the first series of shots, all containing a certain virus that changes you in small and subtle ways. After this virus is finished making changes, we start the second series of shots that will modify different traits. This goes on and on until the final modification is made. If we made a virus that changed a person all at once, they would die because the change is too drastic." Peter replied. As they continued to talk, the car was swaying on sharp turns as it approached a mountainous area. Alex looked out of the car to see the rounded tops of the aging mounts of lush green. Bluish gray Fog blanketed the valleys, giving the scene a very majestic, surreal view. Without warning, the car swerved off the road and drove down a slope opposite to the side Alex was looking at.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" shouted Alex. He hung on to the corners of the car and braced for any impact that might occur. However, the car was managing to stay upright and the driver was calm as could be. Now that Alex had time to view it, the slope itself wasn't rocky or jagged. It was like a natural path. As the car got to more level ground, the driver continued on the small path that was void of trees and rocks. Alex calmed down and released his grip from the handle on the ceiling of the car, as well as the other places he had posted his feet and arms on. The drive continued for ten or fifteen minutes until they arrived at a big fence gate labeled with "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY." in huge letters across a large rectangular warning sign, along with electric symbols warning of the electric fence. The fence itself extended into the foliage, out of sight.

"Alright!" Peter spoke in a loud, quirky voice before quieting down. "We're getting out now and going through the gate. Don't forget your stuff." Alex reached back into the trunk and pulled out his suitcase. Walking up to the gate lock, Peter entered the code onto the panel of the fence, and then proceeded to take out a key to get past the second layer of the gate's defenses. There was a satisfying click and Peter rolled the fence gate to the side. After the two were on the other side, he locked the gate back up and the car turned to drive away. Alex and Peter strolled through the wooded area leisurely. Alex looks through the forest, wondering if he could spot the structure from afar. They walked for a surprisingly long time before Peter suddenly halted. Alex was confused, as they were in the middle of nowhere. He knelt down and picked up what looked to be a rounded mound of moss and dirt, revealing a vault-like entrance underneath. He then held a unique gadget to the surface of the wheel-less vault, causing the door to flip open. Peter descended the ladder perched on the side of the tunnel walls, Alex waiting before following suit. The vertical tunnel opened up into a hallway which led to what looked like a clear elevator. Alex started getting excited, anticipating a glance at more new technology. The elevator apparatus opened up as they drew near to it. The box of the elevator itself was roundish and looked like it was made up of a clear, plasticky substance. It was not held by any wires, but was surrounded by another clear tube. The elevator suddenly descended, the room of the outside the area opening up into a large, multistory complex full of people working and conversing. The room had its walls curve in and out like some sort of odd vase. Each set of floors had variations in height, the largest and widest room in the facility being about one and a half times as high as your typical large warehouse or indoor recreational center. The entire place was majestic, with a solid smooth white color and black accents. Some doors and areas had the dull gray color of concrete and cinder block. The air smelled strongly sweet, and Alex could feel the faint blow of the air coming from vents scattered strategically throughout the place. The elevator stopped smoothly and gracefully, and one side of the glass opened into two doors and slid apart, making minimal sound. The engineering was superb. Peter began moving forward at a steady pace, and Alex snapped out of his amazement to catch up with Peter. If only he had more time to discover the wonders of this place, he thought. They turned into a hallway that had concrete making up its walls instead of the white material. After walking for a few seconds, he suddenly turned and faced one of the many doors of the facility. Each door that Alex had seen was marked with a different symbol, the one that Peter was opening bore a red, hollow circle. Alex wondered what they could mean. Peter finished unlocking the door, revealing a room the size of the average school classroom. A desk was stationed in the corner, along with various bulletin boards with quite a few papers pinned on them. The whole place was an organized mess. A sleep-deprived man was sitting at the desk, looking at Alex and Peter with a semi-braindead expression that implied they broke his focus on whatever he was working on.

"You guys are here already?..." the man looked at his computer, checking the time "Ok, I'll be ready in like five minutes, so sit tight" he pointed at extra chairs stacked in the adjacent corner of his room. Alex and Peter pulled two off and set them at the front of the desk. An awkward silence hung in the air, dragging out each second. Alex fidgeted, while Peter typed on his phone. Finally, the man leaned back in his chair and stretched, letting out an exasperated "DONE!". The man looked at Alex, extending his hand over the desk for a handshake. "So you're Alex, right? Name's Maxwell, Maxwell Eden, but feel free to use Doctor Eden. On second thought, please just call me Maxwell." He said, his expression changing from a blank, bored face to a meek smiling one. He seems kind of nerdy... Alex thought. As quite the nerdy introvert himself, he felt that if this were a normal situation, he and Maxwell could've become good friends. Perhaps sometime in the distant future they actually will be. However, Alex had his focus strictly set on the procedure. The feelings of tension had changed, but they were still lingering. Maxwell continued with his introduction, "I am the head of research regarding the NC, what we call the X enigma you will be paired with. You know, the crystal thing. My team and I have run some tests based on previous NC reactions, and your survival rate looks to be pretty high. But first things first, we're going to need to get some blood samples and have you fill out this medical form so we can get your viral injections ready" He pulled a form out from under his desk and laid it out in front of Alex. Maxwell then proceeded to get out of his chair and go to the door behind him. He opened it and told someone to get the materials ready for the blood drawing. Alex filled out the paperwork quickly and told Maxwell he was finished. Maxwell Grabbed the paper, examined it a little, and put it back under his desk. A minute later, a woman came out from the door and signaled for Alex to follow. Behind the door was a room divided into small cubicles. Some of the cubicles contained desks, others chairs with a variety of tools by their side. The woman stopped and gestured him into one of the chair rooms. Alex sat down in the chair and laid out his arm on the flat arm's rest. He tried to relax his arm, but it took longer than expected. Alex yet again became aware of the tension he was feeling. He started taking deeper, fuller breaths and tried to take his mind off of the upcoming events that were drawing near. He hated it. The continuous cycles of calm and chaos within his mind were breaking him, in more ways than one. No matter how hard he tried, the feeling of unease was always revived in every new step towards the procedure, and the thought of whatever lays ahead intrigued Alex, in a sickening, grim way. He needed to find a method of securely calming himself. Alex searched his mind for new ways, new ideas, but nothing came. He resorted to just going blank, closing his eyes, and abandoning all of his doubts. What could he do? Nothing... Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Alex opened his eyes. The blood was already drawn, and the woman disconnected the vial of blood from the tube attached to the large needle in his skin. The woman then slowly removed the needle and placed a pad to absorb excess blood. She then asked Alex to hold it. The two walked back to Maxwell's office before walking their separate ways. Maxwell and Peter were waiting.

"You're almost there. Find something to entertain you, meanwhile." Peter said. Maxwell glanced at Peter, then at Alex.

"It'll take one day for the computer to modify your genome and get your injection schedule ready, and another two days for us to actually make the first phase of the virus. I've got books for you to read and other stuff, if you want." Maxwell explained, covering for Peter's vagueness. Alex nodded. Maxwell put several chapters of a book series on his desk and then disappeared behind the back door. Peter stood up from his chair, straightened his back, and spoke.

"I'll show you to your dorm room, now. It would be best to get some sleep. This is probably stressing the hell out of you right now." Alex and Peter walked leisurely through the hallways, talking.

"So, did you know that Dr.Eden is actually moving into one of the new dorm rooms, soon? It took them long enough." Peter spoke in his usual relaxed tone.

"Oh really? There are new dorms?" Alex responded.

"Yup. before, they only had office rooms and the like. The employees would have to go out of the facility to sleep. They didn't have a cafeteria or anything. Now we can stay in the facility all we want, if we so desire. It's still good to go out, every once in awhile, though." Dorm rooms for employees? Alex thought. A question sparked in his mind.

"So, Peter, what do the other employees do at this facility?" Alex asked, somewhat unconfidently. He wondered how much information they were willing to give him.

"Quite simply, they are working on projects for creating other people in case you should fail or need backup in the future. Should you die, the crystal will most likely be brought into the hands of the enemy. The NC is one-of-a-kind, you see. So we need to find other X enigmas that will work." Peter said bluntly. Alex felt kind of betrayed by that statement, as if he was just a machine to be replaced should it break or an upgraded version come out. Thinking about this, another idea popped up in Alex's head.

"Wait, why not just mass-produce soldiers with just the gene-editing? Aren't they plenty strong?" Alex asked, his curiosity bursting at its seams.

"Oh, we've tried alright, and we're not the only ones. Though gene-editing is illegal, many underground businesses and gangs have some limited access to it. A good example of this is the TA." Peter explained.

"The group of mercenaries? No wonder they were able to hold their ground against the world." Alex scoffed, learning a rather juicy fact.

"Yeah, but to answer your question, we simply don't have enough people to use it on. We can't find that many trustable people who would not abuse their powers and stay loyal to us, and it's not like we can use our scientists as soldiers. To say the unfiltered truth, we would need expendable people. The minds here are invaluable. That's one reason. The second being that the difference in quality is monumental. Midnight would have a hard time fighting them, but in the end, we would need at least fifty Genetically Modified Humans, or GMH's, for short, to pose a threat to him. That costs too much. We only have two investors, a man named Mr.Green, who is the head of this association, and another guy, but I don't have any information on him, not even his name. It's easier to make one stronger unit, and then recruiting existing GMH's for the attack on Midnight. That's part of our plan, at least."

Silence. The only noises that Alex could hear are the ambient sounds around him. The AC, whatever that slight, constant thudding sound was, and the loud, clanky footsteps of not only himself, but Peter as well. At last, the door stood before them and Peter stopped to say his farewells.

"Don't forget I'm always here if you need me, or want someone to talk to. Your mental state is just as important as your physical state. I'll be staying in room 288 for the days up until we start you on the shots. After that, you'll be unconscious for the months during the modification process."

Alex let out a short, weak laugh. He expected this type of news to phase him, but he was already exhausted, he didn't care anymore. Just let it be done with, he thought. He sat in his dorm, reading the books that Maxwell gave him. He tried to focus, but fatigue gnawed at him. He placed his book page down on the small, clear table beside his bed. Like an embryo, he curled up and imagined himself floating through a warm, empty void. Was this peace? Who knows, all Alex wanted to do now was to rest. He started the injections three days later.