《Neosis》


 Chapter 1

    "Initiating memory wipe."


    "Memory wipe complete."


    I woke up to the sterile hum of fluorescent lights, the kind that buzzed faintly like trapped insects in the corners of your mind. My head pounded, each throb syncing with the sharp, rhythmic beeping of a monitor nearby. The air was sharp and metallic, tinged with a chill that sank into my skin like needles. Blinking hard, I tried to clear the fog from my vision.


    Where was I?


    The room was a square, lifeless cage of white walls, each one unbroken save for a single reinforced window too high to reach, and two sets of speakers in the room. A metallic table and a few instruments on a cart stood off to one side, their sharp edges gleaming under the overhead lights. My pulse quickened. Was I in a hospital? No, it felt colder than that. Clinical. Impersonal.


    I pushed myself up, but the ache in my body made me falter. My arms trembled, my muscles protesting every movement. It was then that I noticed the strange stiffness in my left hand. Instinctively, I turned it over, expecting to see bruises or needle marks, some explanation for the sluggish burn in my veins.


    Instead, I saw it.


    A glowing blue symbol was etched into the skin of my palm, pulsating faintly like a heartbeat. It wasn''t ink¡ªit shimmered, alive, almost liquid in the way it shifted under the light. The sight of it sent a cold wave of panic through me. I rubbed at it, desperate to smear it away, but the glow only brightened as if mocking me. I quickly glanced to my left where a computer stood on a steel table, where I assumed nobody had ever touched it.


    Then something clicked inside of me.


    I was alone, or I believed that. I began to remember if I was with someone or somebody, but every time my brain got to work, it was as if my whole mind was blank. I pushed it aside and began to remember my life and who I was as a person, but my brain refused.


    There was nothing. I couldn''t even remember anything.


    I stood up and walked over to the computer that was at the table, I slowly hovered my finger towards the POWER button. But before I could even click on the button, a robotic female voice began to speak from the speakers.


    "Welcome Nero."


    "My name is Nero?" I muttered to myself, as I took a few steps forwards toward the computer, as the female voice replied to me again.


    "You currently have 215 completed and 42 failed experiments. A Neosis employee will come soon to you. Please be patient and don''t leave your Subject Room. Failure to do so will get into the nearest interrogation room in Site C-9. We hope you will comply."


    The female voice disappeared quickly as if it were a pre-recorded message. Before I could even question what was going on with that message, an automatic reinforced steel door opened up with a hiss as I turned around. A young man who I would guess was in his late 20s entered the room. He had slick brown hair and black glasses that shined bright due to the overhead lights. His clothes were clinical as if he were some sort of science researcher who wanted to be too professional and pristine. I glanced at him and saw a white badge, upon I read his name.


    J. Clark.


    He gave me a smile that was somehow wrong as if to say ''Everything will be alright'', but deep down I knew that there was something totally wrong with that guy. The young man walked over to the monitor that was still beeping and deactivated a switch that I couldn''t see where it was from. He then sat down on a bed that had a clean white sheet, while his fingers began to drum on the bed''s right leg.


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    "So Nero," he began as he glanced at me with his glasses. "your recent experiment results have been all good these past three days. No spiking of your neuro-vitals and your blood is below average, which is a good sign for a 25-year-old young man. I''ll be scheduling your next experiment visit for Friday."


    I leaned up against the white wall and didn''t say a word for the first two seconds, as I was unsure if I would trust the guy in the slightest. Even weirder was that heknewmy name - or at least did. I began to argue with myself that I didn''t want to reply to him, as in my instincts the guy was a stranger to me, and I couldn''t even remember him.


    "You''re J. Clark?" I slowly answered him.


    "I am. I have known you for years, but the higher-ups here didn''t like our relationship with each other," replied Clark as he looked at me.


    He had known me for years?


    "I don''t even know who you are," I replied back, as I saw Clark''s smile become neutral almost too clinical. It was as if he knew my reply.


    "I think I need to freshen your mind a little. I''m your instructor here at Sector 15. Think of me as your guide if you get lost here at the facility. I would be fired if you were going to do something stupid here Nero." Clark replied back at me, as he began to get up from the bed.


    "Can you at least say something about why I can''t remember a thing?" I replied back at him, curious to get some sort of an answer. When that reply got out of my mouth, Clark stopped mid-air in his tracks. He glanced back-and-fourth in an unnatural manner, as if he was nervous to let too much of his reply get to me.


    "I''m sorry Nero, but I can''t. I don''t have Clearance Six. Maybe you''re just a bit tired?" answered Clark in a nervous tone.


    I looked away from Clark, as I didn''t bother to answer him. My eyes landed on a calendar where the year stood in black text: 2095.


    2095? I''m in the future


    I glanced up at Clark again to answer more about why I was in the future, but before I could even reply back, a mechanical hiss opened up the door again, and in walked a man with a black suit. The man began to look at me as if I were a prey that couldn''t even defend themselves. I turned my head at Clark who now was nervous.


    "Jason, I told you to never engage with the Subject. You already know that it''s strictly prohibited in Site C-8 and that this isn''t an attachment experiment." the man said in a firm tone as Clark''s eyes darted back and forth. I began to guess that he had some sort of anxiety about not following what rules the place had.


    "I-I''m sorry Williams. I was just checking up on the subject as usual. You know that I''m always checking that everything will be running smoothly and with no breaches. We can''t afford what happened at Site E-5, remember?" replied Clark to the man.


    "I know where you''re coming at Jason, but the Director wants the Subject to be ready for today''s experiment. Comply or I''ll be sure that you''ll see burned payoffs in the next three months." the man replied to Clark in a harsh tone, as if he didn''t like him at all.


    "P-please Williams! Don''t burn my payoffs! I swear I''ll-"


    "Do it!" barked the man at Clark. I quickly turned my eyes to Clark where I could see that he was now visibly shaken.


    "Excuse me," I said slowly so as to not be shouted at by the man. "but who are you?"


    The man turned from the still-shaken Clark toward me as he began to speak. "I''m Senior Director Williams Reid of Sector C-9 of the Neosis Corporation."


    Senior Director?


    I didn''t reply back as I now got the man''s name. After a minute of awkward silence, Williams spoke up to me.


    "I''m sorry for my outburst at Clark, but anyway you need to come with me as your experiment today awaits you, Nero."


    With that, Williams headed for the mechanical door and Clark followed right beside him. I began to follow them but my legs were still weak from where I woke up. I didn''t have a choice but to refuse as I wanted to do that, but God knows what Williams would do to me if I did so. I stopped a few meters from the door as I saw that Williams noticed my sudden behavior.


    "Come with me," he said as I continued to walk because I didn''t have a choice.


    And I certainly didn''t have any freedom.

 Chapter 2

    I hesitated to even follow along with Williams with that ''experiment'' he was talking about, as I knew that I definitely couldn''t trust him or whatever he had in his mind. I took one step forward outside the door, as I could already see that Jason was already outside in what appeared as a futuristic hallway.


    "Move," replied Williams after I took the step outside. After a few seconds, I took my right leg outside the door. It was a strange feeling to really stand up after I woke up in that room, as for the first time ever I felt genuine pain in my legs. I returned to slowly walk along with Jason and Williams down the hallway, where I spotted various people with black tactical uniforms standing still in some places as if they were spying on us.


    "These are our Tactical Guards here in C-9," whispered Jackson to me as we walked past one. "think of them as our protectors. If let''s say, a psychopathic Subject wreaks havoc in the facility these guys will contain the Subject in a flash. You can always tell by their Energy Spear."


    "Energy Spears?" I asked Jackson with curiosity.


    Before I could focus on Jackson''s reply, I suddenly felt a strong headache that pierced through my mind. I fell down to my knees as the surroundings around me began to rapidly blur. I heard Jackson shout something at me, but I couldn''t even hear what he was shouting. My vision began to shift rapidly as if I was experiencing a flashback.


    Then I saw something.


    Two armored Tactical Guards stood across a table as a tall opposing man sat in a black chair away from the guards. His face was obscured by shadows and he began to speak.


    "How''s it going with my little Prototype?" the man asked the two guards in a sinister tone.


    "It is going well, Sir. Just like you had ordered us." replied the guard to the right.


    The man smirked as he continued. "And how will his body react after the 24-hour process?"


    "Stable, Sir." answered the guard on the right. "He will never remember what we did to him in Sector A-2."


    "I hope no one here at Neosis will screw the plan up, and not even our scientists. If so-"


    The man took down his left arm and slowly pulled out of what appeared to be a sleek futuristic pistol. He then aimed at the guard on the left, as his right hand was on the trigger.


    "- then they all will be... dead."


    A loud gunshot rang out in the entire room, as a bullet flew toward the guard, and landed in their chest while blood began to splatter on the nearby wall. The guard fell to his knees and onto the floor. He was already dead. The guard on the right was horrified after seeing his partner being killed in such a brutal manner.


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    After a minute of silence between the two, the other guard spoke up. "N-no Sir, we will ensure that the plan will run as perfectly as it will be."


    The man began to smirk in an unsettling manner. "Then get to your duty."


    The guard turned around, but before he could walk away, the man talked to him one last time.


    "By the way, before you leave, please take the dead man up. I hate to even look at a dead corpse."


    The guard nodded and turned toward where his partner lay dead on the floor. He could see that blood was flowing out of the chest, as he began to pick the corpse up and walked away.


    "Idiot." murmured the man, as it was the final word I could hear.


    My vision returned as Jason began to shake in my clothes, as he didn''t know what happened to me. I yanked back in shock, as Williams caught my body from falling down the floor, as he helped me get into a proper stance.


    "You''re alive Nero. Me and Williams thought that you were suddenly sick. Is everything alright?" asked Jason as he turned towards me.


    "Yes... It''s just nothing." I replied back, even though I was disturbed about what I saw.


    He just killed a man


    I returned to walk down the hallway alongside Jackson and Williams, where I looked out of a huge glass window, where a futuristic megacity was outside with towering glass skyscrapers, and a few hovercrafts flew past the window. My eyes darted toward various neon-colored advertisement billboards, but one intrigued my mind. On a building to the left was a billboard with a picture of a grey hovercraft, and down below stood some text.


    "Evoke Evolution. Kaini Industries."


    "Kaini Industries..." I said slowly as to grasp the name.


    "Kaini is the leading corporation of hovercrafts here at Xen where our facility is located," answered Jackson to me, as he also stood at the window. I was confused about what ''Xen'' even was, but I thought that it was this city I was in. But how did I even end up in the city? I couldn''t even remember anything at least what I saw between the mysterious man and the two guards.


    "I''m not in the United States?" I answered back.


    "The United States?" replied Jackson, as if he hadn''t even heard of the country.


    "The United States is a relic from the past. Now move." chimed Williams at both me and Jackson. I sighed as I continued to walk to whatever this place had in store for me. There was something strange with it all as if nobody dared to tell me the truth. But I needed to press on.


    At least I felt that way.

 Chapter 3

    After a few minutes of walking down the hallway, I began to wonder how long the entire facility was or if the way was that long. I turned backward just to see if I didn''t miss anything noteworthy, but instead, I saw that Jackson had somehow slipped a few yards past me, and Williams, as he began to talk to a few of the Tactical Guards who positioned themselves at various rooms. I tried to listen to what Jackson was even saying to them, but the mechanic hum of the hallway made it clear that I wouldn''t even dream of getting any information about that conversation.


    "Nero, is there something wrong with your right hand?" asked Williams, and I saw that his eyes glanced right at my hand. At that moment I didn''t have any idea what he was talking about.


    "Oh, it''s nothing. Just a scar... glowing scar..." I replied back to him in a dismissed tone, as I didn''t want him to see the glowing symbol on my hand. I looked up at him and saw that he didn''t buy my answer at all. I glanced back at where Jackson stood and talked with the Tactical Guards later, as I wanted to be sure he didn''t go anywhere else for that matter.


    "Jackson, are you coming or-"


    "He needs a break from all of this walking," replied Williams, as he heard my shout. "now it''s just you and me and your experiment. Now move."


    I nodded and began to walk down the hallway again. Something gnawed at my mind about what Williams said that the United States is a relic from the past that I was curious about. After a few minutes, me and Williams walked in silence until I spoke up.


    "What happened to the United States?"


    I glanced at Williams just to expect a response from him, but I saw that he began to make a grimace as if he didn''t want to give me the full picture.


    "The United States collapsed a very long time ago, and in its place rose the Neosis Corporation, as a safe haven for us all," Williams replied as if he was extremely careful about what to reveal.


    "So I''m in Neosis? What even is it?" I replied, now curious as I wanted to get much information out of Williams.


    "The Neosis Corporation is - and always has been - a mega-corporation. They are the government if you can call that. This facility, you and I are in is one of the thousands of other facilities that are created by the Corporation for the better of humankind." he answered in a more soulful and impactful tone towards me.


    "But Jackson is an employee of the Corporation?" I replied back.


    "Not in an ''employee'' sense within the Corporation, but as an employee at this facility," answered Williams to me. "I believe you got the bigger picture?"


    I nodded to him, as we continued down the hallway. After a few more minutes of tiresome walking, Williams stopped at another reinforced door and took his left hand up as he placed it on a blue biometric scanner. I stepped aside from him to see what was going on as a blue light ran up and down while it began to scan him. After a second, a male voice from the scanner began to speak.


    "Access identified. Welcome Williams Reid. Location: Experiment Room B3."


    "Get in," said Williams towards me as I slowly nodded and began to enter the reinforced door. I stepped inside and I could feel that my weak legs were now like jelly. I didn''t know why but I felt that my instincts burned up again, as if I were in a fight-or-flight situation. I looked inside the room that was pitch-black, until someone clicked a switch. Across me stood a medium-tall man with sharp white glasses who was in my opinion a bit small to him. He was maybe in his early 40s and his clothes were a white clinical scientist coat with a futuristic symbol and text down below which read Neosis Corporation Site C-8.


    "Welcome to Room B3 Nero. I''m Dr. Elias Hall." said the man to me as he took out his left hand to greet me in a friendly manner. I replied with a warm smile in return.


    "This is your 216th experiment if it also becomes a success - at least not what happened yesterday," said Elias to me as I saw him getting something from a metal table that I couldn''t see clearly because Williams obscured my vision. After he was done,  I looked around the room and I saw that the room was stark white and clinical just like in my room. In the middle of the room sat there a metal chair with straps that had seen better days in the use of whatever this ''experiment'' was.


    "Go on," said Williams to me as I moved towards the metal chair, as the furniture was not welcome for me at all. I sat down in the chair as the straps closed in on my arms with a soft click. It was like I was about to go on the world''s most dangerous rollercoaster, as I had no idea what would happen next.


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    "Enjoy the ride!" smirked Williams as I looked at Elias where I could see that he had activated something from a nearby console. I was not ready. Not at all. Suddenly, a blue holographic screen was on the wall that was across from me, as an unnerving male voice spoke up.


    "Nero. Subject ID: 928745. Initiating Phase I of Experiment 27. Look at the shapes."


    The male voice disappeared as the screen shifted to a video of various shapes in color dancing across the screen. I began to look at the shapes that transformed to be more and more psychedelic, as my eyes began to slowly hurt. The shapes began to twist into something, as I was now slowly losing touch with my own body, while I tried to snap back to reality. It was like the shapes were trying to manipulate my thoughts and feelings, as I surrendered to whatever this experiment was. But suddenly, something crept into my mind.


    It was another flashback.


    I saw myself lying on a flat clinical table, as various medical instruments were across my side. I could only look up, as I saw various people with doctor masks surround me, their eyes were lifeless and unemotional as if I were treated as a lab animal. I turned weakly toward the medical table and saw that various tubes were in my hand. Horrified, I looked down at my stomach and saw more tubes that were etched into my skin.


    I was terrified.


    Suddenly, one of the medical doctors spoke up, as another person observed something from a console nearby.


    "Subject appears to be conscious after the dosis. Activating the operation in thirty seconds."


    Another person began to answer in a flat tone, as they looked beside me. I saw that they took their hand down to my arm and slowly brushed against my skin. I could feel that the hair on my back began to stand upright in response.


    "Thirty seconds. Got it."


    I began to thrash on the table, but the people held me down as the door to the room opened up, and in came a person, whose face was obscured by the shadows. He walked towards the table and looked at me, before quickly grabbing my chin. He saw how terrified I was, and he just gave an unsettling smile as he then turned to the other people.


    "How''s my little Prototype doing?" he asked to the same man who was at the console.


    "He refuses to break, as everything was going fine until I talked to Dr. Corwin about the activation of the operation, Sir. I''m afraid we can''t hold him back any longer." replied the man in a nervous tone.


    It was the same person from my first flashback.


    "I want the operation to be absolutely perfect, and that his mind will be erased clean. You all know that I won''t tolerate failures if he even finds the truth of what happened to him or the breach in Site C-9. I won''t see more failed Subjects."


    I began to feel pure fear as I listened to what the man said. I continued to thrash around more violently, as my left hand began to fully glow blue. One of the people noticed my hand and began to grab around it like a vice but with no success.


    "Their power has been activated! Go away from the table!" one of them shouts, as everyone including the man takes a step back.


    "Increase the dose!" barks the man, as I see all of the people scramble for something, and my eyes dart back and forth. After a few seconds, another person finds a medical needle and begins to insert and inject fluid liquid into my arm. I begin to scream in terror, as the man just glances at me.


    "Wake up Nero,"


    A voice snaps me back to reality, as I look over my shoulder where the arm of Elias is softly placed. I look up at him and see in the reflection of his glasses that my face is pale white of fear. Williams goes over to the chair and releases the straps, as I step down to the ground. I begin to shake uncontrollably, as Elias takes my hand.


    "Woah there! Was the experiment terrifying for you?" he asked as I continued to shake. I couldn''t reply to him at all, as I felt that the flashback hit me mentally.


    "It was never intended for the experiment to scare you, Nero," Elias replied to me again. After a few minutes, I slowly replied to him.


    "Someone tried to... to break me..."


    I glanced at Williams as I saw that he didn''t even care about my fear, but he began to chime in.


    "You need some rest. And now return to Site C-8."

 Chapter 4

    Williams turned toward the door and gestured for me to follow with him. I nodded and followed him out of the door. I turned around and saw that Elias stood in the doorway and waved goodbye to me. I slowly closed the door behind, me as it clicked with a thud.


    "I have some errands I have to do. You will now go down to Sector C-8 and into your Subject Room," replied Williams, as he and I walked back down the hallway towards Sector C-8. I was still afraid of what happened to me as I tried to push it away from my brain, but I couldn''t see myself in the flashback. Was it even me? No, I didn''t believe so but at the same time who would it else be? The man talked to me and referred to me as a Prototype.


    A Prototype?


    "Okay, I got it, Williams." I quickly answered back, as I was still lost in my own thoughts. I continued to walk but I stopped as I heard Williams'' shout down the hall.


    "I''m sorry if I engaged with you earlier. I think you know by now that as a Senior Director, I can''t engage with you."


    I turned around and shouted back as loud as I could toward him.


    "It''s alright," I replied back as a few Tactical Guards who still stood guard in the hallway looked strangely at me as if they had never experienced shouted communication in a hallway. I turned away and began to slowly continue to walk down towards my room. After a few minutes, I returned back to my room, where I entered the door to the room. I stepped inside and noticed a few new things in the room. An old CRTV stood on the cart with the same instruments followed by a stack of old VHS tapes in a paper box down on the ground. I shrugged.


    "Finally, entertainment," I said to myself sarcastically, as I began to pick a random tape from the box, which read "2030, Fall of the United States - A History". I slowly plugged the tape into the machine and pressed PLAY. The screen was grainy and low-quality as a man began to speak with authority as if it was an old documentary.


    "For centuries, the United States has been a country of freedom, but nobody in the future would experience the country''s sudden collapse. In 2030, public violence began to get out of control. The government saw it as a total injustice against the country''s motto of ''being free''. As a result, to stop the corruption, the government began to cross all 50 States into specialized zones in an attempt to combat public corruption. By the end of the 2050s, it began to become worse as the public corruption became bigger as law enforcement stepped in, but that made it even worse. It could have been said that corruption would be blamed on the sudden criminality that began way back in the early 2020s, but nobody had a solid answer. By 2035, the United States was a different country than its former self, as the government collapsed due to the pressure of corruption. Many years went by and in 2060, the then-corporation Neosis began to slowly take over the country one by one as they had only one goal in mind: Build the United States as a safer country to the rest of the world."


    The documentary switched to what appeared to be some sort of press conference, as a man began to speak. I took my eyes towards the screen as to better see the man, as a chill ran down my spine. It was the same man that I saw in my two flashbacks. But why?


    "I always had a dream to get rid of crime in this country, and that we''ll be free as a nation, but I didn''t think that my dream, my wish, would be granted as I founded the Neosis Corporation in 2058. I am happy to introduce our ever-growing Research Facilities in all the Zones, where we research of how to stop other threats in the future. I, Daniel Cross, the CEO of Neosis Corporation will fight till the end to protect the United States."


    The man turned around and began to walk away, as two bodyguards followed suit while I heard applause from the public. After a few minutes of silence, I saw that the CRTV pushed the tape out of the machine and the documentary was over. I looked over at the box where the tape came from, and saw a yellow stick-it note that was plastered in one random tape.


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    "One of my colleagues wanted you to see the box if you are bored. Sincerly, Dr. Elias."


    I sighed and began to get ready for bed, but I had no idea if it was even nighttime. I began to sit down on the bed, and as I thought about that I also didn''t get outside at all. I had only seen small glimpses of the outside world, but nothing more. I slowly lay down to sleep, but I couldn''t. I began to turn left and right in my sleep, as I began to hear an ear-piercing scream from myself and the sudden taunts of Daniel Cross himself.


    "Nobody but me knows your full potential, Prototype."


    "You''re mine to see as I fit. We will shape more of Neosis. Together,"


    "You''re the only one that believes in me. And I appreciate that very much,"


    Sweat began to drip down my body, as I continued to violently turn back and forth in the bed, while the voice of Cross became louder. Suddenly, I opened my eyes and began to breathe in ragged gasps, as if I were underwater and had already drowned. It was only a nightmare. I stood up and yawned as the same robotic female voice from the speakers spoke up.


    "Good morning Nero. Please be patient and wait for a Neosis employee to give you your daily breakfast. We hope you''ll enjoy it until your next experiment begins."


    After a few seconds, I heard footsteps outside the hallway and the sound of a person entering my room. I turned my head towards the sound of the doorknob and listened before I spoke up.


    "Jason, is that you?"


    No reply.


    The door to the room opened, and in came Jackson with a bowl of something liquid in his right hand. He closed the door and handed over the bowl to me.


    "I didn''t expect you to get breakfast for me," I replied as I looked down at whatever it was in that bowl.


    "Well, I''m also that - aside from being your guide," answered Jason as he gave me a smirk.


    "By the way, do you know Daniel Cross?" I reply to him.


    At that moment I saw that Jason began to shake in his body and that he slowly turned up against the wall. It was clear that he was scared of something.


    "Don''t... Don''t say his name..." replied Jason in a nervous tone.


    I looked at him and saw clearly that his facade had begun to crack. No longer was the ''friendly guide'' that he wanted me to believe, but a person who was extremely afraid of something. I put the bowl down on the table and took his arm, as both of us sat on the bed. I looked straight into his eyes and saw that his pupils became smaller.


    "It''s... It''s... not what you think it is Nero," stammered Jason.


    "Then tell me what it is. Tell me about what''s going on." I answered him, as I continued to stare right into his eyes, while I didn''t get myself to flinch, as I knew that he hid something from me.


    "I... I... can''t... He''ll kill me. I... know he will," replied Jason as I saw that he stammered again.


    "Tell me what''s going... Please, Jason..." I answered back.


    I saw that Jason got up from the bed, and began speaking toward me.


    "Neosis is a nightmare... Daniel has lied to us all... It was never about the research into stopping crime, but-"


    Jason began to close his own mouth, as he rushed towards the door in a flash. I sprinted after him, but it was already too late as he closed the door shut. I just stood there in pure silence. It was like Jason knew that he sealed something I shouldn''t have known. At least I knew that there was something entirely wrong with the Corporation.


    I held out my hand as I saw that the blue symbol glowed yet again. As I held out my hand the box of tapes moved on its own. I blinked in shock. I moved my arm up, as the box moved in sync with my hand.


    I have telekinesis