The room is dark and the concrete beneath my feet is ice cold. They told me it was nighttime, but I had never seen the sun, so I wouldn't know. The shackle on my ankle caused the skin to blister and sore. I was hungry, always hungry. "Can't have her getting too big" they'd say. "Client wants her small," so small I stayed, as small as I could make myself.
The door handle shakes, and I retreat into the corner like I'm supposed to, facing the wall. A man in a lab coat entered the room. He grabs my shoulder and stabs it with something sharp. It makes me really tired.
As I wake up I realize I'm in a separate, well lit, room. My arms and hands are tied down to the cold, metal table I'm on.
"She's survived long enough now to be considered stable, yes?"
"Correct, she reached the four year benchmark yesterday."
"So she'll revive her item number today along with her usual tests. Let's see… looks like she's subject #010."
The men open a drawer full of what looked like metal stamps and assemble #-0-1-0 from the stamps before affixing it to a metal bar. Then, they pull another bar from the drawer with the logo of syphon industries and place them both over a flame.
I'm still groggy from whatever they had given me, but my intoxicated brain still put two and two together. Those were going on my skin. I tug on the restraints, but I know that won't help.
The brands become white hot under the flame. One of the men lifts my gown, exposing my stomach. The others take the brands from the flame and line them up four fingers from my belly button before pressing down.
I scream as I feel metal melt through flesh. The intensity of the pain makes me hallucinate shapes and bright, beautiful colors across the sterile white room. My vision starts to go dark, and as they remove the brands my blacked skin goes with it. Mercifully, I passed out not long after.
…
"Move."
"Hey, chick, move."
"Can you hear me?"
Gemini snaps back to reality, after zoning out in the middle of the underground Syphon Lab. She looked up, a man dressed in a long lab coat was trying to carry a large box past her.
"Oh, my apologies."
She moves aside, letting him pass.
Gem walked with purpose like she knew exactly where she was going. She, of course, had absolutely no idea and was totally bluffing. She pretended to inspect some of the devices very officially. Scanning the type of tech they were using in the process. One thing of note is that the tools they were using down here were far more advanced than the ones used upstairs. Computers were up to date, and safety measures were properly installed. Cameras watch every inch of the facility, leaving no room for misdemeanor. It was clean, cold, and unnerving. Scratching the back of Gemini's head in the worst possible manner.
As she proceeds through what looks to be an open bay laboratory, she can see along the halls are neatly numbered rooms with large glass windows allowing a glance inside.
Upon closer inspection, they seemed to be... Containment areas, or even... Cells.
Deeper into the facility... Mechanical clanking in the background starts to get drowned out by pained screams, shouts of worry, and the grimacing noises of experimental equipment.
Along this wing of the laboratory, each containment cell housed a unique new... Test subject.
... Eventually, Gem finds herself peering into the all white cell of a small human child. They were chained to the wall, eating from a bowl similar to that of what mutts are fed out of.
He glances up at her limply, with dog-like ears folded over the sides of his head.
The cells looked exactly like the cell she was raised in. This must have been where the experiments continued after the lab that created Gemini was destroyed. She felt sick. Her pupils grew to take up nearly her whole iris. She stared at the boy with pity and fear. Her mind began to race as her feet froze in place in front of the observation window.
Suddenly, she's met with a shoulder shove. Another scientist, one that was rather wide in size moves beside her with a disgusted look on his face.
"Ergh... Out of the way."
He grumbles.
He approaches the door of the cell with a strange tool in hand. One that was covered in a dried crimson substance...
Presumably blood.
The boy on the inside of the room hurries to curl up in the closest corner.
She jolts as the shove snaps her back to the present.
"Oh, yes of course."
She plays along as well as she can, even though her whole body feels like it's going to betray her fear and disgust at any moment.
– HANNAH'S APARTMENT –
After getting tired of waiting, Brett opens the door on his own. He steps in with his loose fit hoodie covering his head, paired with a worn out ball cap. He puts keys back in his pocket, as he looks around in disappointment.
"..."
Hannah comes around the corner of the front room, soon after, Lexo follows.
"Uhm..?" Her eyes meet Brett's. Noticing that he was rather upset already. For a reason she could not yet understand.
"What's up?"
She glances back at Lex.
"Dude..."
Lexo takes a small step backwards, gripping tightly onto his childhood costume that he'd found in the basement.
His pupils grow wide with anxiety.
"... I just didn't know you had a friend over, that's all."
He said the last part of his sentence with silent scorn. He takes steps forward toward the two.
"And you call me the cheater, Hannah…? Was Inara not enough for you Lex?"
Lex glances at Hannah, and then back at Brett... Adding two and two together.
"Shit. You've got to be kidding me..."
He continues pacing backwards.
Hannah takes Syphon's words to heart. A look on her face shows the utmost disgust in reply to his comment.
"Cheater? You're one to talk!"
She grabs Lex's sleeve, preventing him from leaving.
"This boy came over to grab the shit his family left here. And you jump straight to 'cheater' conclusions? Your projecting is really pissing me off!"
Their son, Clayton peeks around the corner of the stairway, eavesdropping on the situation at hand.
Amidst all the chaos, Lex's phone vibrates on the kitchen counter. Remaining unnoticed as the scene escalates. Something was happening with Gemini, and Lexo couldn't be there to help her now…
"Move out of my fucking way, Hannah."
He approaches Lexo, shoving the woman aside with a powerful shoulder as he does so, grabbing Lexo's collar as he lifts him from the floor without effort.
"Well? Was Inara not enough for you?! You just had to come back here, huh?!"
The boy squirms around, trying to wiggle free of Brett's grasp, but to no avail. It was like watching a semi truck run full force into a sedan. Lexo was powerless against Dr. Syphon.
"Let me go!"
He palms the man's face, but nothing happens. It was like fighting against a brick wall... Brett has clearly gotten a lot stronger since they last got physical.
"Brett! Put him down!"
Hannah approaches the man, and slaps him on the back of his head. Though, there was virtually no effect. If anything, it felt like she hurt herself more than Brett.
Without minding her, he pushes Hannah aside.
"I told you, if I ever saw you back here I'd get rid of you for good!"
"You fucking homewrecker!"
He tosses Lexo across the room, through the living room table and into the wall behind them. As this happens, Hannah releases a terrified scream. Dr. Syphon anger was truly a force of nature, and his actions scare her when he's like this.
For a moment, Lexo struggles to regain his footing. As he shakes to his feet, his eyes glance around at his surroundings.
He immediately notices the door, and darts towards it, not looking back once.
Though, before he could get far, his arm is snatched by Brett, and he's slammed back into the wall. The foundations of the run down apartment shift, as dust rains from the ceiling.
"You aren't going anywhere, you piece of shit!"
He raises a fist to the boy's face. A silent hum permeates the air, as the room grows warmer. Transparent distorted energy surrounds Brett's hand, glowing slightly with a strange mixture of maroon and darkened energy. It was unknown what this esoteric ability was, but its lethality could not be questioned… Fear and anxiety drags Lex's heart to the bottom of his stomach, as Hannah tries her best to get Brett to step down.
"... Please."
Lex looks down, defeated before anything has even started... He holds on tight to his childhood memory, and hopes for the best. Again, he's gotten himself in more trouble than he expected.
He felt pitiful.
…
Dr. Syphon's phone begins to urgently vibrate.
Notification upon notification, something was going on.
"..."
The distortions disappear as he backs up as if nothing happened. He takes his phone out and looks at the notifications.
"You got to be fucking kidding me!"
Not saying another word, he storms out of the house, sparing Lexo in the process
Lex drops to the floor, his eyes are empty.
"Oh my God! Are you okay?"
She scrambles to help him up, but he's completely limp. He looked as though he'd already died.
"Leo! Are you alright!? What did he do to you...?"
She pulls him closer, embracing him in a tight hug as she falls to her knees with him.
Clayton rounds the corner of the living room... Confused, upset, but.. He remains quiet. Unable to process everything that's happening.
"Mommy..."
He whispers under his breath.