E.P.A. Subject #427 (Part 3)

Transcript

Oh, what I would have given to have that moment linger, but an hour longer, feeling your warmth against my body as we lay there tangled in each other's arms. We were a speck of dust in the sea of stars, but that night, it felt like the universe revolved around us. If it had, maybe then it would have waited.

But I suppose we aren't the kind of people to sit around and wait, are we? The voices came to me first, before the sounds, before the lights, before the chaos. It was like the buzz of wings, belonging to a hundred different bugs.

I didn't think twice at first. You remember how many times I was plagued by voices in the past? Indistinguishable, murmuring and all talking in some unknown language.

It had been a while since the last time, sure, but maybe it had come again. That wasn't it at all, though. It took me a moment, when the voices started to make sense, for me to understand.

I was hearing their thoughts, just like I can hear yours when you let me in, but this time I wasn't trying to. And they clearly didn't know I was there. In their heads, at least.

Physically, they knew exactly where I was. Where we were. Didn't they? I panicked.

Longer than I should have, of course, but what else was there to do? They had us cornered, before we even knew they had arrived. There were dozens of them.

Hell, hundreds. What a fucking fortune that operation must have cost. What a fortune I must cost.

But they didn't get me, did they? The subject's V.I.S. signature has increased since their defect.

They will be difficult to subdue. They'd cut the power seconds before bursting down the door. I'm not sure how else the lights would have died like that.

So we stood there. Alone, but together. In the black emptiness.

Muscles tense. Hearts racing. Eyes locked on the door that muffled the echoes of their boots.

Waiting. There was a moment, a brief pause, where all was silent and I heard the most distant of voices. One that I had heard before, when they used to plague me routinely.

Perhaps it was the first voice that I had ever heard after the experiments. We always thought they were hallucinations. Twisted sounds speaking terrible gibberish.

A reflection of the horrors in my mind. I couldn't understand a word of it, of course, but it was almost comforting in a sick and twisted way. One last moment of normalcy, before everything changed.

The final calm before the storm. It almost sounded like a prayer. Then, the guards fired off an explosive charge.

The metal door to our room burst open, and the figures began to flood in. I think it was the first time I'd had a gun aimed at me. Certainly the first time I'd had over ten.

The men surrounded us. The red lasers of their black rifles covering every inch of both of our bodies. There was so much shouting, I'm not sure how they expected either of us to understand.

But I guess I didn't even try. I just sort of snapped. I knew who they were, and why they were there.

They had come for me, but I wasn't really thinking of myself. With the way you pushed yourself in front, it was obvious that you weren't either. And that was when the chaos came.

Unauthorized ship has entered the area. It was too much to fully understand, probably for anyone in that room. Turn them away.

Some of them shot at me. Ship is idle at the perimeter. More of them shot at you.

They're opening comms. And a few of them lost every inch of free will in their body. Good.

They don't need to know what's going on. Their muscles connected to my own, as if puppets on a string. And they unloaded into their own friends.

Explain the area is locked down by jurisdiction of EPA. More voices prodded their way into my head. Ship's bay is opened.

I caught words, here and there. Stand by. There was confusion inside the room, but also for those sitting comfortably away.

Ship's too small to hold another ship. Are they deploying drones? Something else was happening.

Prepare for hostile action. But I didn't care. Negative.

A figure seems to be. .. More guards flooded into the room.

Jumping from the bay. A million bullets must have flown at me, but each swerved away or stopped completely as if some invisible shield was covering my body. What the fuck is that thing? Is it inorganic? Would no suit that suicide.

I'm not even sure I noticed what was happening to me. My eyes were locked on one place the whole time. All I noticed was you.

You were on the ground, being dragged away. For each step I took forward, it seemed as if they retreated twenty more paces. I couldn't reach you.

Not with my own body, so I did the only thing I could. And gave you my words. Until my vision began to fail.

And I still mean them. Every word that left my lips. Every thought that passed from my mind to yours.

I meant every bit of it. Don't you forget that, because I know I won't. I will find you again.

Whatever it takes. I will come for you. You are mine.

And I won't lose you. You are mine. And I won't lose you.

Then my body fell to the ground. I'm not sure if it was the strain on my mind, or the bullets that had slipped past that shield. Maybe it was just that I could no longer see you.

It's headed straight for the target room. All vitals repeat.