Chapter 04

Tom lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, deep in thought. "They obviously have cameras and sensors, so I'll have to find a way to disable them" Tom decided "I also need to find out how far the nearest town is, and also how to disable the cameras"

Tom had started planning his escape since the moment he had accepted the Doctor's offer because he knew he had no choice. Tom had been experimented on by a secret government project without any consent required, there was no way they were just going to let him go along on his merry way. Tom knew the Doctor had only extended the offer to gauge him and put up a front of civility.

Tom had no interest in becoming a government stooge, a government assassin, or worse being killed if his usefulness ended. The main problem was Tom had made no headway in crafting an escape plan.

"I need to figure out the camera's" Tom made a mental list "I need to figure out Katie's response time to any possible escape attempt, and I gotta figure out the nearest town that I can escape to" Tom listed out his objectives in his mind "And most importantly, how I will evade the US government for the rest of my life" Tom let out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding "Fuck!"

XXXXXXX

Tom took a sip of his coffee as he strolled into the computer room. "Good morning Isaiah" Tom greeted the dark-skinned man. Tom enjoyed Isaiah's company, Tom enjoyed his cheerful positive attitude and naivety.

"Hey Tom" Isaiah offered his fist which Tom bumped, the two boys gelled quite well together, Isaiah believed that Tom was a dedicated and integral member of their team and research, while Tom thought Isaiah was a golden hearted genius who didn't know what the government would do to Tom once he ran out his usefulness.

"What are you up to?" Tom sat down on a nearby chair, admiring the constantly changing figures on one of the computer screens. Tom was the complete opposite of tech savvy.

"I recently got a cool new idea that I'm trying to put into fruition, I'm developing emitters that will mask a person's presence for thermal scanning or camera's; mask the visual presence of a soldier from any camera; y'know save them from surveillance by the enemy"

"Really" Tom tried to mask his shock and happiness, if Isaiah developed this technology, Tom might just be able to steal it and put it in his own benefit. "That's awesome"

"I know right" Isaiah looked giddy "I'm so excited to see it work"

"How long do you think it'll take you to develop these emitters?" Tom asked, hoping he sounded casual.

"A couple of years I'd say; could be longer" Isaiah replied, not realising he had just poured cold water all over Tom's escape plan.

"...Dope!" Tom scowled, arms akimbo. Isaiah continued with his work while Tom pondered his dilemma.

"Hey Tom" Paloma's sudden call out made Tom jump.

"Jesus!" Tom huffed "You scared me"

"What are you a cat?" Paloma raised an eyebrow "Are you done with your breakfast? because we start in ten minutes"

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm ready" Tom nodded, Tom couldn't really figure out Paloma, whether she was a government stooge, or an innocent doctor being played for a fool.

"Well then let's get started" Paloma smiled brightly, turning around on her heels.

"Let's" Tom agreed mentally as he followed her to the lab.

XXXXXXX

Tom and Paloma arrived at the lab where Doctor and Katie were already waiting, Tom felt a shudder pass through him when he saw those two people.

Tom knew that the Doctor didn't have any good intentions towards him; the way the Doctor looked at Tom made Tom feel like he was a prize pony.

Katie on the other hand looked like she was always figuring out how to kill Tom, since she was the government liaison, it would be her order that would end Tom. "I should probably escape after the demonstration to her bosses on progress of the project" Tom decided that since he had seen a lot of television, he knew how the government worked.

"Good morning Tom" the Doctor gave a wide smile to the young man who reciprocated his greeting. "we are going to be testing your stamina today"

"Alright" Tom nodded. The first test they made Tom do were Chest Presses. Tom lay on the floor and pushed 200 pounds up and down while Paloma noted his time.

Then they had him run on a treadmill with an oxygen mask on his face.

This was followed by push ups. Tom was able to do a thousand push ups with a hundred pounds plate on his back.

And after all that they were able to take a break for lunch.

"How long will the tests continue?" Tom probed the Doctor, he wanted to get an understanding of how much time he had.

"Just a couple of weeks" the Doctor replied "Then you can be on your merry way.... After signing a confidentiality agreement of course" he added the last part after a pause, almost like an afterthought.

"A few weeks..." Tom mulled the Doctor's words "Alright, cool" Tom smiled brightly "Anything for the man that saved my life"

"Fantastic" Doc nodded, having finished his lunch of boiled vegetables, he stretched out his arms. "Let's take a short break before we continue"

"Alright/ Cool/ Yes" the other three agreed

XXXXXXX

Tom walked on the dark blue mat, observing his opponent with complete focus. "Is this really necessary?" Tom questioned.

"Scared?" Katie's bright eyes were locked onto Tom as well, but unlike the tense and alert Tom, she looked completely calm, like a tiger stalking its prey.

"No" Tom scoffed, but they both knew it was a blatant lie, Katie was a former soldier, with years of martial arts training, while Tom was a street brawler with no formal training whatsoever.

Tom was much stronger than a regular human, but strength didn't mean anything if he couldn't land a hit.

"This will be the perfect way to test your reflexes Mr. Cassidy" The Doctor explained from the side, choosing not to add "And Katie can gauge your abilities in case she ever needs to subdue you"

Tom chose to take the initiative, launching a couple of haymakers that Katie ducked under, she twisted and delivered a kick to Tom's knees. Normally a shot like that from her would send a grown man tumbling, but Tom barely reacted to the blows, instead Katie was the one feeling a dull throb on the sole of her foot.

"Fuck" Katie swore "His body is highly durable" a grin bloomed onto Tom's face as he went into complete offence, launching jabs and crosses at Katie, but the pixie haired woman was no pushover, not a single punch came even close to touching her.

Instead, Katie ducked under Tom's minimal defense and with her fingers pressed below her knuckles, drove them in between Tom's ribs, delivering a sharp blow to her opponent.

Since Tom's bones were hardened by science, Katie chose to aim for the soft places between the bones, and it resulted in Tom stumbling back, out of breath.

Invigorated, Katie twisted to deliver a mule kick to Tom's stomach, but Tom was able to shield his stomach with his forearms and block Katie; and suddenly it was her who felt the shockwaves of the collision travel up her leg.

Tom was blessed with an opening, when Katie momentarily paused due to the collision, since Katie was facing away from Tom, she was caught off guard when he tried wrapped his hands around her waist.

Yet years of fighting experience had trained Katie's body and she instinctively was able to block Tom from completely locking up her waist, yet it was completely futile in wake of Toms extraordinary strength.

Tom lifted Katie off her feet, and bent backwards to suplex her, but Katie rolled with the momentum and landed on her feet, while Tom fell flat on his back.

Katie immediately jumped lightly into the air and dug both her feet into Tom's chest, then walked away; she hadn't been manhandled like this since she had been a cadet.

Tom immediately jumped back to his feet, and started circling around, matching Katie's pace. "You're good"

"You're average" Katie replied truthfully "The only reason you've lasted this long is your enhancement the Doctor"

Katie's words stung, but Tom brushed them off, admitting that they were true, Tom then rushed her, hoping to overpower his opponent,

Unfortunately for him, Katie had had years of experience in the army fighting guys stronger than her, instead of ducking or dodging, Katie twisted at Tom got close, using his own momentum against him, she grabbed Tom's right arm, and threw him over her shoulders, and onto the ground.

"Ow, fuck" Tom groaned as he lay on the mat.

"I Believe the result is clear" Paloma declared, not even trying to hide the smile on her face.

"I Concur" the Doctor was all smiles.

Katie walked over to Tom and offered him a hand, which Tom accepted. "Wanna do it again tomorrow?" Katie asked, beaming internally as she had finally determined the level of threat Tom could pose.

"Sure" Tom agreed a frown on his face and his heart. "Either I can wait until I know enough martial arts to beat her, or I'll have to figure out how to subdue her before escaping"