The Sirius Chronicles (6 page)

The further I sank into this situation the more disturbing it was becoming… I heard the lab door open; the rest of the team had arrived. Cyrus instructed me to go sit down. He stood up and gave his usual enthusiastic speech; of course it was slightly different than what he had said to me. He had to know I knew he was a liar, that I couldn’t trust him, and that I wasn’t ok with all this. He just didn’t care, almost like he knew he had nothing to fear from my possible betrayal.

One by one he took each team into their assigned private lab. I could only assume each time he went in one of those rooms someone else was being sentenced to death. Whenever he was in with one of the teams, I would look at Sara and try to get her attention but she totally ignored me. This had to mean she was just that afraid. She had to know more than what she told me.

Eventually he had briefed every team and motioned for me to follow him into his lab. He started examining the man’s eyes and said “Within the next hour we should see the subjects breathing rate increase substantially. Basically, the injection will be eating away at its cells, and its genes. As I said, the only way I can determine how to modify the injection properly is to study the real time effects it has on the subject, especially the brain.

There will also be one more showing up soon, just for me. He’ll be a permanent healthy study for comparison and hopefully the first real subject.” As I listened to him, I realized he kept calling him “the subject” or “it” as if he didn’t see him as living being. He really was completely lacking in compassion.

He handed me a notebook and told me to sit down. I was to simply sit there, observe him, and write down everything he said. He began wheeling over all these machines and laying wires all over the man. Altes turned to me – “Well actually, I’m going to have to drill a few dozen holes through his skull, so you can leave if you want. I’ll let you know when I’m done…It should only be a few minutes.”

I didn’t know how I was I going to be able to do this. How could I just stand there and let this happen? I was already in shock and it had only been a few minutes. I truly believed I was going to lose control at any moment and get myself killed.

As I stood outside the door I could hear the drill. I tried 100 different things to block out the sound but I couldn’t; no matter how hard I tried. Eventually I just had to walk away. I went and sat down at one of the desks, and then a symphony of evil broke loose. I could hear the sounds of drills starting to come from all the rooms. I thought I was going to lose my mind. I clenched my fists so tightly that it hurt my fingers. It was literally taking every ounce of my strength not to try and rescue all of them. I just had to keep telling myself there was nothing I could do… Yet.

I tried to think about Aeris and how much things could have changed during the six years I was in stasis. How different would it be after 20 years once I made it back? If I did at all… The surrounding cities could have gathered their strength and defeated The Capital by now. The home and the people I knew may no longer exist... We may return to nothing but chaos and destruction… What was even harder to think about was the fact that Sara was in one of those rooms…

Eventually, one by one, the drills started to stop and the lab became completely silent. I knew the door to Cyrus’ office would open any moment and I’d have to go back in and see what he had done to the man on the table. I had to prepare myself for what I was about to see and keep reminding myself that I’ll never be able to help them if I act too quickly. I just sat there and stared at the door…

After a few minutes the touchpad lit up and it opened. Cyrus appeared and motioned for me to come back in. I hesitantly got up and slowly approached, the whole time wishing I was just having one of those stasis nightmares Cyrus had warned me about. When I made it through the door I knew that my mind couldn’t possibly make up what I saw… The nightmare was indeed real.

I counted 10 tubes connected to the man’s head; blood running from each one. To the left was a blood soaked rag Cyrus had been using to clean it away while he worked. Just as he said, I could see the man’s chest going up and down as if he’d been running for his life; it was starting to take effect.

I knew I shouldn’t have asked but I had to know… - “Can he feel anything?” Cyrus shot me a cold glance and said “Unfortunately, the subject is only partially sedated and artificially paralyzed. I can’t get the necessary data without normal brain functions and an induced coma could compromise the testing… Plus the stimulation of fear may actually speed up the process and help our cause.” He sat down and started looking at the data being acquired on his computer and said “Ok, go ahead and sit down and just write down everything I say. If you don’t know to spell a word, do your best and I’ll know what you’re trying to make out.”

Before he had a chance to start, I had to ask – “Why am I writing by hand? People don’t really do this anymore, its actually been a long time for me…” He laughed and said “You’ll be fine… I just don’t want my notes to be accessed by anyone but us. People can be nosey and once it’s on a computer it’s no longer private… Now let’s begin.”

I sat there for hours writing pages of things I didn’t even remotely understand. The terminology alone made it as if I were writing down another language. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was one of the reasons he chose someone like me. My ignorance made me invaluable to him, not to mention no one would question a missing member of the militia division that was swept away by the head of the science team.

Everyone else had left quite some time ago and I was starting to feel exhausted. I had purposely turned my back away from the table so I wouldn’t have to look at the man lying there with blood dripping down the sides of his head. I was so upset I could barely concentrate on what he was saying. On several occasions I had to ask him to repeat things… Luckily he didn’t seem to mind or suspect anything from my behavior.

Eventually he stood up and said “Ok Atlas, that’s enough for tonight. You did a great job, it’s exactly what I need… Now go on and get some rest and I’ll see you first thing in the morning. I’ve still got some work to do.”

As I headed back to my room I began to feel sick. If my stomach wasn’t completely empty I would have definitely thrown up. I was hungry too, but there was no way I could eat. I was too depressed, heartbroken, and angry, all at the same time. Even though I was exhausted I didn’t know how I’d be able to sleep. Especially knowing Cyrus was still in his lab torturing that defenseless man while I stood by and did nothing.

That night I passed the hours trying to think of a way to help them. I thought that maybe I could get some others who felt the same way I did to fight back against what’s happening. But it was too risky; if I said something to the wrong person it was all over.

I couldn’t help but wonder what Sara was doing right now… how she was feeling, what she was thinking. Was she going through what I was?... Was she able to sleep or was she trying to think of a way to do something? I didn’t know her well, but from what I did know, I had a feeling she felt exactly the same way. I hadn’t seen or heard from Kayin since we arrived. He’s probably down on X-451 right now. I wonder what’s going on in his head, or if he even knows what’s happening yet?.. I truly wished I’d wake up in the stasis capsule, only to realize this was all just a dream…

For an entire year I stood by and witnessed countless atrocities. Since the beginning of the experiments I have personally counted exactly 107 deaths. With every new “subject” brought in, Cyrus was so sure he would finally make a breakthrough. He had even forced my participation to become more frequent and had me assisting in surgeries and autopsies. He had slowly succeeded in making me numb to it all.

I felt just as trapped as all the people on his tables. Now it was nothing for me to watch him cut open one of their chests and start removing organs. I’ve even assisted in removing 23 brains. It had been a long time since I felt sick to my stomach… I didn’t even look away anymore.

I’ve also come to the realization that Cyrus had most definitely picked someone like me because I could be easily disposed of once this was all over. I didn’t come from a wealthy, powerful family; I was just some guy from the militia division. There was no way he’d let me live after what I’d witnessed…The anger is still there but my will has been diminished and I’ve lost all hope. Sara still refuses to speak to me, I gave up trying a long time ago. I spend my nights lying in bed trying to come up with a way to do something… anything to help these people. But I just can’t, no matter how hard I try.

By the end of the first year the mining division had only produced 337 tons of chrysos. After factoring in the months they spent setting up the locations they predicted around 400 for the next year. At that rate it would take almost 20 years to complete the mission. That just made the whole situation seem even more desperate.

Cyrus had me working 16 hours a day, handing him equipment, tools, and taking notes that I still didn’t really understand. All of the other teams would always stop long before we did. Every night when Cyrus dismissed me I could tell he would continue working through the night. He was like a monster that never sleeps, and never stops.

As I headed to the lab for another day of insanity, I was passed by a bunch of militia guys bringing more people in for Cyrus to experiment on. The current batch of “subjects” were all still alive, so I knew something had happened.

When I made it to the lab Cyrus saw me and immediately yelled out “Atlas get in here, I’ve got excellent news!” As I entered the lab I saw one of the natives sitting in my usual spot playing with some blocks meant for children. Cyrus was standing there with a huge grin on his face – “I’ve done it Atlas, all of our work has finally paid off… I’ve already acquired his base intelligence test score and by the end of the day he should be ready to be tested for improvement.”

He walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder – “I know this hasn’t been easy… As a scientist I may seem cold to what I’m doing, but believe me I’m not… at all. I’m happy to say no more of the natives will have to be sacrificed if this works… and I think it already has. I just have to test him to prove it.” It was nice to finally hear Cyrus refer to them as people instead of objects.

He continued to tell me that all the other members of the team are on break until he was ready to allow mass distribution of the injections he had developed. He believed it had worked because the native went from being totally confused by the blocks to starting to play with them just as a small child would. Cyrus was completely confident he could finally produce results.

I guess it was somewhat of a comfort but all this really meant is they would now go from “subjects” in a lab to being forced into hard labor against their will. I suppose it was better than death, as we would eventually leave and they would all be set free. At least that’s what I told myself.

For the rest of the day Cyrus observed his behavior and tested his blood every hour. He said he had him on “calming” medication to help prevent any violent outbursts. As soon as he said that I found myself wishing the man would turn violent and kill Cyrus right in front of me… With him gone there might not be anyone left to continue the experiments.

Cyrus walked over and handed me a chart – “Ok I’m going to perform a series of tests. For each test you will write in a score of 1 to 10… His initial score was 17, the average person generally scores around 90 to 100. Our goal is to get him up to around a 30 or 40. I think once that’s achieved they’ll be able to do manual labor and take commands without any issues.”

He performed various tests such as showing the native a formation of blocks that interested him, mixing them up and then seeing how long it took him to come close to putting them back. It would seem as though in just a few hours Cyrus was able to teach him quite a bit. It just made me even angrier because the more intelligent the native became the more he deserved to be free.

After a while Cyrus stated the testing was done and walked over to me – “Atlas, I don’t even really need to look at the chart, I already knows there’s been a major improvement.” After Cyrus studied the chart, he concluded the native had scored a 33. He turned to me and said “Do you realize that when we leave, we will have gifted them with a few hundred thousand years of evolution?.. They’d probably discover the wheel within a few generations!.. And I could keep going if I want to Atlas, I could bring him to at least a 60, but that would be too high.”

He was so thrilled, he ran over to the phone and reported his accomplishments, meanwhile ordering more subjects to be brought in for the treatment. After he explained what he had done I heard him request to have some of the larger storage rooms emptied out into the halls so he could do mass treatments… They were planning on making thousands of salves. Commander Neros must have panicked when the mining teams came back with the 20 year estimate.