I woke up to blinding white light and the sterile smell of antiseptic filling the air. My body felt weak and strangely foreign. When I opened my eyes, the light was too bright and I couldn't move.
Once my eyes adjusted, I saw myself lying on a cold, metallic table. I was held down by restraints. My eyes widen in pure terror. "What the hell is going on?" I said, but instead of my usual deep voice, I heard a small, fragile child-like voice.
I then heard a voice speak. It was cold, detached, and feminine. " Oh, subject 13, you're awake?"
The woman at the foot of the table was tall, wearing some weird black and white body suit that looked like it belonged to a science fiction show. She was an older woman. She looked beautiful despite her resting bitch face, and her eyes were a bright amber color that shined in the room light. But the face and vibe she gave was one of indifference. She had a light brown skin complexion that reflected off the room's light. She looked like she was in her mid-to-late 30s.
I blinked up at her. "Where am I?.... who are you?.... and why the hell am I strapped to this table?" I croaked out, voice barely a whisper.
The woman only stared at me with an analytical gaze. Then she slowly walked towards the head of the table. She bent over while staring deep into my eyes and spoke, not to me but to a listening device in her hand. "Subject 13 has shown signs of a developed consciousness. Subject 13, now four years old as of June 13, 2158, shows emotions as well. Emotions displayed so far have been. Anger. Fear. And 13 has even cursed. I will review the entry logs and discipline the other scientist who influenced him.
"Hey, lady, I am talking to you... What the hell is going on, and why am I strapped to this bed, and why is my body so small? What did you do to me?"
....Slap.
As the last sentence left my lips, a loud slap sound could be heard echoing throughout the white, sterile room. I instinctively tried to hold my face, but only to realize I was still restrained.
"Subject 13. You will watch your mouth while in my facility and in my presence. I don't know where you learned to talk like that, but I will correct your attitude." I didn't know what was going on. My body was tiny and felt weak. I was restrained on a table like some damn lab experiment, and did she say I was four as of 2158?
The last thing I remember it was November of 2025. I'm 133 years in the future, what the hell is going on?
"Why do you keep calling me subject 13? My name is Jasen, and I'm from Maryland. How did I end up here in this lab like this doctor?"
Then the woman grabbed my face and looked at me more intensely. Then she spoke back into some device in her hand. When I finally got a better look at it. It was some holographic orange device. I don't know why but it looked so familiar. Then she began holding her arm over me as an orange light scanned over my face.
"Subject 13 is speaking about other people and places as if he were someone else." She looked at the orange holographic device on her arm with a wide-eyed expression. "Scans show 13's prefrontal cortex show the same brain waves of a fully mature adult. I will consult with the other donors about this new discovery."
What is this lady talking about? I feel like I'm in the show Alternate Carbon or some messed-up sci-fi dream. "Excuse me. Can you answer my question, who are you and where am I?"
The woman's stoic expression didn't drop for a moment. She acted like I didn't really exist, and it was starting to irritate me. I don't know what this feeling was, but I felt like something was swelling up inside me. Like a force ready to explode.
Then the woman gazed at me for a moment before talking.
"I'm Dr. Veronica Kline. I am the head researcher of this facility. The name you don't need to know. I am also the leader of the project which you are a part of. The name again you do not need to know. Tell me, subject 13, can you comprehend what I am saying?"
I nodded. "Yes. I am basically some lab experiment and you are using me in what I am going to assume are illegal human testing."
"Interesting, you fully comprehend your situation, and you understand human testing, or maybe you heard the other scientist say it, and you're just copying it. Either way is still very fascinating. You also speak like a mature adult." Then Dr. Kline began to speak into the device on her arm.
I began to look around the room, and as I did I saw a reflective surface. I saw myself, or should I say the new me. I looked nothing like I did before. The light brown skin was the same as before, but I was small. My eyes weren't bright brown like before. They were a yellowish amber color, and my face looked nothing like what I normally see in the mirror.
Seriously what the hell is going on?
I could feel my heart begin to beat faster and faster as the anxiety and that strange feeling kept building up.
Beeping sounds could be heard from monitors across from the bed I was strapped to. The doctor then rushed to them. She checked multiple monitors as the beeping became quicker and louder.
"Subject 13, you need to calm down, if you don't ...." Before she could say another word, I blacked out and just felt a huge power surging through my body.
Dr Kline raced to secure the room as a purple glow enveloped 13's body. The small body began to lift up in the air as the small machine around him began to hit the surrounding walls with great force.
That's when Kline grabbed a vile and made her way to the small boy. He was levitating over his bed regardless of the restraints keeping him to the bed. But she could tell the secure bed itself was about to rip off its braces secured to the ground.
With a gesturing motion, a small blue glow enveloped her hand. She created a barrier to resist the force that 13 was creating. After struggling to reach 13 she then took the vile and injected 13 on the chest with it. Within a second, the purple glow suddenly dispersed and 13 had fallen to the metal bed.
The beeping had halted, showing that 13's vitals were normal. Dr Kline then spoke into the device on her arm. "Subject 13 has had his first biotic spike. A sedative was needed to calm down the subject, who is now sedated, and vitals are back to normal recorded levels. The current range level for his biotic abilities is still unknown. I will consult with the donors to begin immediate testing to proceed with phase two of project Ascendant.
As Kline then ended her recording, she gazed down at subject 13 as he slept. She placed her gloved hand on his face gently caressing it.
"Subject 13, you're our last hope for success, so don't die on me just yet."