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Chapter Four: "Oblivion" Tom awoke to find himself no longer bound by the straps on the gurney. He sat up quickly, having regained full control of his body, and walked immediately towards the monitor that connected him to Sloan's chamber. He saw her there in her cell....sitting atop the black slab, staring ahead...... blankly ahead. "Sloan..." he whispered as he traced the image of her face on the monitor in front of him. The door to his room opened suddenly and Tom found himself standing face to face with his former mentor. Almost instinctively Tom lunged towards Lewis and wrapped both his hands around Lewis' neck.... "I'll kill you!" Tom wailed as he tightened his grip around Lewis' throat. "I'll kill you!!!" But with amazing strength Lewis broke free of Tom and with one shove managed to propel him across the other side of the room. "Foolish, foolish, boy!" Lewis said as he straightened his collar that had wrinkled in Tom's grasp. "You're getting weaker, Tom....emotionally, mentally, and physically. Did you think that without your regular treatments and periodic cleansing on the black slabs that you would maintain your potency? In your present state, you're only slightly more powerful than the average human! Was this what you wanted out of life? Was the good doctor worth all of this?" "Yes," Tom responded as he stood to face his mentor. "What have you done to her?" The look in his eyes was feral, his demeanor cold, much like the countenance of the dominant standing before him. He was furious, filled with hate, but for Sloan's sake he had to maintain control....feign it, at least. He walked slowly towards Lewis and glared threateningly into his eyes. "What has happened to her?" Tom asked as he glanced back at the monitor. Sloan continued to sit motionlessly on top of the slab - dazed - seemingly confused - lost. "Well, as you've perhaps deduced by now," Lewis began, "periodic treatments on the slab together with our regular injections accomplished one thing in our chosen chameleons....." "Mind control," Tom interjected. "Oh, much more than that!" Lewis was sitting on the gurney, poised proudly and confidently as he spoke. "The slab anesthetizes, Tom! Take youself, for instance - faithfully struggling with vestiges of emotion - didn't I always instruct you to rest for 12 full hours on the slab whenever you experienced such 'emotional turmoil'? And didn't you always rise from the slab untroubled by such debilitating sentiments?" "You anesthetized me?" Tom asked. "You made me numb so that I could carry out my orders without guilt and empathy for those you had me kill!" "Well, in essence, I suppose, Yes," Lewis mocked. "But the injections helped. Without the injections I would've been less in control of your mind - not that it really would've mattered since obedience comes naturally when one feels nothing but loyalty to one's own species. But you always required more than those injections. Your emotional vein was stronger than most....." "You're doing the same thing with the new heirs, aren't you?" Tom said as he again glanced at the monitor at the corner of the room. Sloan had not moved. "The injections during training, like the ones given to me when I was first brought here, make our minds more vulnerable to your lies and instruction...." "Yes, yes," Lewis interrupted, "and at night while they sleep they're anesthetized and cleansed of trace emotions....just as you were...." He sounded impatient and annoyed with his formal star pupil. "But this generation of 'heirs' will not disappoint me as did you. We've learned a lot from you, Tom. Your betrayal sparked not only endless discussions, but experiments as well.... experiments that have led us to perfect our training methods, serums, and strategies. I suppose we should thank you for that." "Take me to Sloan," Tom demanded, more infuriated now than ever. "Take me to her!" "You've certainly developed quite an emotional temper, haven't you, Tom?" Lewis said as he walked towards the intercom next to the monitor. "Try to compose yourself...this display of emotion really is unbecoming. Bring Dr. Parker to us," Lewis instructed as he spoke into the intercom. Tom glared at his mentor, his hands clenched tightly into a fist, while his heart pounded from the adrenaline surging through his veins. He waited anxiously for the door of his chamber to open and for Sloan to walk in....for Sloan to be safe in his arms again. Only minutes later two dominants, both a foot taller than Tom, escorted Sloan into his cell. Tom ran to her and enfolded her immediately into his arms...but she stood dispassionately in his embrace. "Sloan, Sloan," he whispered as he cupped her face gently in his hands. "Sloan....it's Tom. Are you okay?" "Tom?" she replied looking questioningly into his eyes. Her usual bright green eyes had lost all vivacity...all passion. "Yes, it's Tom..." he repeated. "Do I know you?" she asked pushing him away. "Do I know you?" she repeated. "You look a little familiar... don't touch me! Don't touch me! I don't know you!" Shocked, Tom released her from his embrace. Her words so pierced his heart and filled him with such despair that he was left speechless and stunned. She didn't recognize him...didn't know him...and suddenly he himself felt lost. He realized how much he had grown to depend on Sloan to define his identity, his purpose, his worth. Without her, he was a nobody who belonged nowhere. Fear gripped his entire being. "Oh, Sloan," he whispered desperately as tears filled his eyes. He sensed nothing from her. She seemed to him only an empty shell...a skeleton of the person she once was. "I vaguely remember an Ed," Sloan continued, "and someone named Ann...." she was mumbling to herself. She walked towards the dominants who had brought her to Tom's chamber and said, "I think I want to go back to my room now." She continued to mutter nonsensically to herself, twirling a strand of her hair with one of her fingers. "Hmmm, Tom...no, no, I don't recall a Tom....no, no Tom....." Lewis motioned to the guards to return her to her cell then quickly turned his attention to Tom. He was sitting on the gurney, tears rolling down his face, his hands shaking. "Well...isn't this a pathetic scene...." Lewis commented as he gazed upon Tom. "Wh...what did you do to her?" Tom asked as he fought back tears. "Nothing, really. The resting slabs seem to have an exaggerated effect on humans," Lewis explained. "For our kind, the slabs merely anesthetized, freed us from troublesome vestigial emotions - but our thoughts and memories were unaffected." He sat next to Tom on the gurney. "But as you can see, in humans the slab seems to impact their minds as well...blurring their memories, confusing them....as well as numbing their emotions." Tom said nothing. "You see, Tom," Lewis continued, "Even if her memories and mind were unaffected, she would've felt nothing for you. Although knowing perfectly well who you were, she would've felt no friendship, no loyalty, no love.... but as things stand, both her mind are heart are dead. I suppose you can say that your beloved has entered a state of oblivion...." "Oblivion..." Tom repeated still trying to recover from the shock of seeing Sloan in such a state. "That's correct....oblivion.... amnesia... emptiness....nothingness.... and all because she loved you." Lewis' voice was cold, stern....tormenting. "Tell me, Tom....how does it feel to know that loving you cost Dr. Parker everything? How does it feel to know that your love sent her straight to oblivious hell?" "Get out," Tom replied glaring angrily at Lewis. "Welcome home, Tom," Lewis said as he walked out the door. "Your punishment has just begun....." Chapter Five: "Desperation" "Tom!!! Tom!!!" It was Sloan...she was screaming hysterically....and the piercing shrill of her cries startled Tom as he sat helplessly on his gurney - his face buried in his hands. Looking up at the monitor in his chamber he saw Sloan crouched on the floor of her room - curled in a fetal position - rocking herself back and forth...back and forth.... "Tom!!!" She screamed again. "Oh, God..Tom!!! Where are you? Tom!!!" Tears were streaming down her face. She was sobbing, gasping for breath...trembling..... "Sloan...oh, no...Sloan," he said as he ran towards the monitor. It had been hours since she had left his room. "Sloan, I'm right here...you remember...you remember..." For an instant he was relieved, but fear gripped him again as he watched Sloan sob hysterically on the floor....rocking herself back and forth...back and forth.... "Lewis!" Tom yelled at the door of his chamber. "Lewis! Take me to her! Take me to her! Mother! Let me out! I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you for this! Do you hear me?! I'll kill all of you!" He was frantic, desperate, feeling more useless than he had ever felt before in his life. He pounded on the door that imprisoned him, pounding desperately, fiercely, willing it to open at his command... but Sloan's screams brought him back to the monitor.... "Tom!! Help me!! Please help me!!" her cries were unbearable for him, and he could sense her panic, her fear, her desperation....although in separate cells he could sense her turmoil... and it became his turmoil as well....their turmoil..... "Lewis! Damn you! Lewis...let me out!" Tom shouted as rage filled his being. He resumed his pounding at the door. "Let me out! Somebody let me out!" He heard the sound of knuckles breaking as he continued to beat his fists against the door. Suddenly the monitor in his room went dead...severing his only connection to Sloan...silencing her cries. "No!" Tom yelled. "No! You can't do this!" He slumped to the floor trembling again, more tears streaming from his eyes. "Please," he said imploringly, "Please....I'll do anything... I'll do anything you want....please just take me to her...." But his pleas were met with silence. No Sloan. No Lewis. No mother. Only the sounds of his own shudders as he fought back tears echoed through his ears..... "Please," he repeated, "Please...I'm begging you..." And in the cell only five doors away, Sloan continued to scream hysterically for the man she loved...for the man whom she believed had deserted her... curled in a fetal position in a corner of her room...rocking herself back and forth...back and forth..... Chapter Six: "Phase Two" Although he could no longer see Sloan through the monitor he could still sense her fear... share her panic....feel her pain. The intensity of Sloan's agony, combined with his own feelings of helplessness, frustration, and futility, crippled Tom so completely that he could only sit motionlessly on the floor, his face buried in his hands ...... and weep. Never before had he shed a tear, and now he was weeping uncontrollably. His whole world was spinning out of control, and the only person who had ever given his life meaning and stability...the only one who made sense amidst all the confusion and lies....was beyond his reach. And she was suffering because of him...for him.... He didn't even dare think about escape. New Eden was heavily guarded, well hidden underground. Even 'heirs' as he was once called during his training were not granted the freedom to come and go. Entrances and exits to and from New Eden were known only by a select few - only by those who were members of the High Council. If he tried to escape, where would he go....how would he smuggle Sloan and himself back up to the surface...how would they return to Pasadena.....how could anyone find them.... And he was weak...much weaker than he had been when they first arrived. He hadn't eaten in a couple days, and the fervor of emotions surging through his heart and mind depleted his strength even more. He wasn't accustomed to all these feelings...and this weeping and sobbing....all so incredibly draining. But for Sloan's sake he had to regain control if they were ever to reclaim their lives and their future together. Tom looked up as he heard the door to his cell open. Lewis and his mother walked in. They appeared revolted at the sight of him. "How's Sloan?" Tom asked as he got back on his feet. He retrieved a tray of food that his mother had brought for him. He had to eat...he had to keep up his strength...for Sloan's sake.... "You're referring to subject SP1, I suppose," Lewis replied. "Well, there has been an interesting turn of events...one well noting in our lab notes...." "What has happened to her?" Tom demanded. He was angry again....hateful....vengeful.... "It seems that humans suffer extreme side-effects after prolonged treatments on resting slabs," his mother responded. "Yes," Lewis continued. "After several hours in a state of oblivion, they come out of it.....but too quickly. Their memories, thoughts, emotions all come flooding back....all at once." "That's why she was so hysterical," Tom interjected. "Everything came back to her so quickly that it was too much for her to bear...." He pushed the food tray away and walked towards his former mentor. "Take me to her." "I think you misunderstand, Tom," Lewis replied. "You have no choices here....you have no power. You're completely in our hands...and at our mercy...." "But we have none for traitors such as you," his mother said. "Your beloved Sloan has been frantically emotional, completely frazzled, and entirely helpless due to recent events. The experience of New Eden, loving you, worrying about you..... fear....so much fear and anxiety....I'm afraid she's just in hysterics because of it all. Too much for her to bear...." "Oh, you should see her Tom!" Lewis added. "The once brilliant and courageous scientist has been reduced to a blubbering incompetent who can only curl up in a corner and rock herself back and forth...." "And her screams," his mother said, "Subject SP1 can certainly scream your name! How do you think she feels, Tom, believing as she does that you've deserted her? How do you think she feels now that she thinks you've betrayed her?" "Sloan knows I'd never leave her," Tom replied coldly. "Oh?" Lewis' voice was condescending, chilling. "Take me to her!" Tom repeated. He was losing what little composure he had regained. "Oh, but you're already with her, Tom," his mother said as she pointed to the monitor. "Look for yourself." The monitor at the corner of his room switched on suddenly and Tom saw a mirror image of himself holding Sloan in his arms. "No," he whispered as he gazed at his clone caressing Sloan. She was clinging desperately to the imposter, believing whole-heartedly that he was the man she loved. Without thinking he ran towards the door and out into the hallway. "Sloan!" he yelled, "Sloan!" But instantly two dominants were upon him, siezing both his arms, injecting him with a serum that immediately made him drowsy. Before he realized what had happened he found himself lying on his gurney....his surroundings quickly fading...Lewis and his mother standing over him.... "Welcome to phase two of your punishment, Tom," he heard Lewis whisper into his ear. "SP1 Experiment, Phase Two..." |
To be continued in Chapter 7 - Mirage 
