Malcolm led the way to the science building, along shortcuts he'd discovered semesters ago, with Elisa, Gina, Heather, and a stumbling-drunk Chloe at his heels. Luckily for them, they slipped through campus undetected and unbothered. When they finally got to their destination, Chloe strained for a minute before confirming it: "Yep, the prisoners are right under there."
"It looks a lot less threatening from the outside," mused Elisa. "So what's the game plan?"
Heather surveyed their surroundings. "There's a lot of trees here...most of them older than the country. The root system should be deep enough for me to use it to tunnel into the basement...but I'd be flying blind. Does anyone have a computer?"
"Thought ahead," said Chloe, hefting the messenger bag she carried over one shoulder.
"Great. Do you know how to hack into a live feed of the campus cameras?"
"No…" Chloe's eyes went distant, moving back and forth as she sifted through the local body of knowledge. "The cute programming professor that works here does though!"
***
Flat on his back against the cold concrete, delirious from starvation and utterly alone, Ben was fading in and out. With Elisa gone, he had become Dr. Duplicate's new favorite punching bag, after his grand display of defiance. His face and ribs still ached from his last beating--imagine that! He was aware of his ribs now. He still had a substantial layer of padding around the waist--anyone who saw him on the street would still consider him fat--but for longer than he'd been able to keep track of in this place, he'd been hungry.
Chloe came to mind again. What did she have in her to offer him? Love? No, certainly it had to merely be lust; he'd be delusional to hope for anything more. She already had Malcolm and Heather under her spell, after all. There was admiration for sure...probe solidarity...genuine friendship, or at least, that was what he hoped.
In any case, she'd miss no opportunity to get him nice and fed.
Suddenly, out the corner of his eye, he detected movement. The thin, spindly tree root made its way towards his cell and sprung the lock with unbelievable dexterity. Down the hall, another prisoner startled in his cell. "The **** is THAT?" he gasped. "The **** IS that?"
"Shut up," Ben hissed. "Evergreen's here to save the day."
His breathing shallow, he staggered to shaky feet and pushed past the unlocked door. "Thanks, Heather," he muttered, making his way up the stairs back to the surface, other prisoners following his lead once they were freed.
The next few moments happened impossibly fast. The back door of the laboratory swung open and hit the wall with a violent SMACK! "What is the meaning of this comm--?" snapped one of the four incoming clones. Upon assessing the situation, three Dr. Duplicates began to strip off their labcoats, preparing to multiply, while the last one began slashing at the vines with a scalpel he pulled from his pocket.
Ben pushed past the door and collapsed onto the grass, unprepared for the sudden rush of fresh air and natural light. Chloe was there, manning a laptop keyboard while Heather worked her magic, both hands on the ground. She flinched as down in the basement, her roots got hacked to pieces. "I can't hold 'em off for long…"
That was when the clones burst forth through the door, at least forty of them, snarling and poised to attack, all of them stark naked as the day they were--well, 'born' wasn't exactly the right term, was it?
Chloe's friend, the one from her social media--Gina, was it?--was there, along with Elisa, who took out three clones at once with some sort of biomanipulative attack that caused them to fall to their knees, shaking, with a single glance, before they lost consciousness.
"WHY ARE THEY NAKED?" screeched Gina, punching out a clone.
Then, the world rushed around him. For a fraction of a second, everything spun before Malcolm threw him into the grass by the parking lot. "The f-****, bro?"
"Sorry," said Malcolm, grabbing Ben's hand to help him up and into the backseat of a car. "You know I don't have super strength."
Malcolm disappeared in a blur and Ben let himself fall against the door, cheek pressed to the cool glass of the window. Soon, Heather let herself into the driver's seat, and Chloe slid in beside Ben, smelling distinctly of bourbon. "Are...are you drunk?" asked Ben.
"It's like, a long story," said Chloe as Heather fired up the ignition. "Mal's working on getting the other prisoners to safety while Gina and Elisa hold off the rest of the evil scientists. Scientist? Is it still plural if they're all the same guy?" she rattled off. "Definitely the bizarrest thing I've ever seen, one consciousness spread over so many bodies. Anyway, the others are gonna rendezvous with us back at Bellvue--"
"And Felicity?" asked Ben.
"She wasn't there," said Chloe. "Trust me, I looked for her consciousness...why don't you trust me?"
He wanted to trust her. ****. He'd dreamt about her feeding him back up to health...and beyond. But he still remembered the rivalry between her and Felicity. Under the circumstances, how could he trust her?
"Once your powers come back you'll see...you'll see I'm not lying," said Chloe, resting a small hand on his upper arm.
He still wasn't sure.
"****...look what they did to you," she said quietly. "It's gonna be okay, though. Once the suppressants wear off...you'll see. And I'll have a double dose of happy thoughts ready to help you get your health back."
He wanted to believe her. But he was afraid of what he'd discover once his empathy turned back on.
"It looks a lot less threatening from the outside," mused Elisa. "So what's the game plan?"
Heather surveyed their surroundings. "There's a lot of trees here...most of them older than the country. The root system should be deep enough for me to use it to tunnel into the basement...but I'd be flying blind. Does anyone have a computer?"
"Thought ahead," said Chloe, hefting the messenger bag she carried over one shoulder.
"Great. Do you know how to hack into a live feed of the campus cameras?"
"No…" Chloe's eyes went distant, moving back and forth as she sifted through the local body of knowledge. "The cute programming professor that works here does though!"
***
Flat on his back against the cold concrete, delirious from starvation and utterly alone, Ben was fading in and out. With Elisa gone, he had become Dr. Duplicate's new favorite punching bag, after his grand display of defiance. His face and ribs still ached from his last beating--imagine that! He was aware of his ribs now. He still had a substantial layer of padding around the waist--anyone who saw him on the street would still consider him fat--but for longer than he'd been able to keep track of in this place, he'd been hungry.
Chloe came to mind again. What did she have in her to offer him? Love? No, certainly it had to merely be lust; he'd be delusional to hope for anything more. She already had Malcolm and Heather under her spell, after all. There was admiration for sure...probe solidarity...genuine friendship, or at least, that was what he hoped.
In any case, she'd miss no opportunity to get him nice and fed.
Suddenly, out the corner of his eye, he detected movement. The thin, spindly tree root made its way towards his cell and sprung the lock with unbelievable dexterity. Down the hall, another prisoner startled in his cell. "The **** is THAT?" he gasped. "The **** IS that?"
"Shut up," Ben hissed. "Evergreen's here to save the day."
His breathing shallow, he staggered to shaky feet and pushed past the unlocked door. "Thanks, Heather," he muttered, making his way up the stairs back to the surface, other prisoners following his lead once they were freed.
The next few moments happened impossibly fast. The back door of the laboratory swung open and hit the wall with a violent SMACK! "What is the meaning of this comm--?" snapped one of the four incoming clones. Upon assessing the situation, three Dr. Duplicates began to strip off their labcoats, preparing to multiply, while the last one began slashing at the vines with a scalpel he pulled from his pocket.
Ben pushed past the door and collapsed onto the grass, unprepared for the sudden rush of fresh air and natural light. Chloe was there, manning a laptop keyboard while Heather worked her magic, both hands on the ground. She flinched as down in the basement, her roots got hacked to pieces. "I can't hold 'em off for long…"
That was when the clones burst forth through the door, at least forty of them, snarling and poised to attack, all of them stark naked as the day they were--well, 'born' wasn't exactly the right term, was it?
Chloe's friend, the one from her social media--Gina, was it?--was there, along with Elisa, who took out three clones at once with some sort of biomanipulative attack that caused them to fall to their knees, shaking, with a single glance, before they lost consciousness.
"WHY ARE THEY NAKED?" screeched Gina, punching out a clone.
Then, the world rushed around him. For a fraction of a second, everything spun before Malcolm threw him into the grass by the parking lot. "The f-****, bro?"
"Sorry," said Malcolm, grabbing Ben's hand to help him up and into the backseat of a car. "You know I don't have super strength."
Malcolm disappeared in a blur and Ben let himself fall against the door, cheek pressed to the cool glass of the window. Soon, Heather let herself into the driver's seat, and Chloe slid in beside Ben, smelling distinctly of bourbon. "Are...are you drunk?" asked Ben.
"It's like, a long story," said Chloe as Heather fired up the ignition. "Mal's working on getting the other prisoners to safety while Gina and Elisa hold off the rest of the evil scientists. Scientist? Is it still plural if they're all the same guy?" she rattled off. "Definitely the bizarrest thing I've ever seen, one consciousness spread over so many bodies. Anyway, the others are gonna rendezvous with us back at Bellvue--"
"And Felicity?" asked Ben.
"She wasn't there," said Chloe. "Trust me, I looked for her consciousness...why don't you trust me?"
He wanted to trust her. ****. He'd dreamt about her feeding him back up to health...and beyond. But he still remembered the rivalry between her and Felicity. Under the circumstances, how could he trust her?
"Once your powers come back you'll see...you'll see I'm not lying," said Chloe, resting a small hand on his upper arm.
He still wasn't sure.
"****...look what they did to you," she said quietly. "It's gonna be okay, though. Once the suppressants wear off...you'll see. And I'll have a double dose of happy thoughts ready to help you get your health back."
He wanted to believe her. But he was afraid of what he'd discover once his empathy turned back on.