Fury Chapter 2

I finally woke up in what looked like a huge hangar or a warehouse or something. Needless to say, I wasn’t at Uncle Al’s anymore. I would’ve at least felt alright in this situation, but then I realized I was suspended from the ceiling in a large, see-through tube shaped like an Advil capsule. The inside was covered with a bunch of medical needles; some of them had small specks of blood covering the tip. I began to get the feeling that I probably wasn’t the only person who had been stuffed in here and began to feel sick to my stomach and claustrophobic all at once. Looking around, I noticed a large vat containing some silver liquid. Each of the needles was fed by this silo and it had already been almost completely emptied.
“What the hell?” I thought to myself, “I’ve already been experimented on. Is this some kind of Adamantium or something?”
Ironically, I would soon find out that my last statement wasn’t far from the truth. I tried looking behind me, desperate to see if I could get any indication as to where I was, but my head, along with my arms and legs, had been strapped down inside the tube. I looked over on the other side of the compartment away from the silo. Another tube similar to mine hung from the ceiling along with its own silo of the experimental silver stuff. I could barely make out who was in it in the scarce amount of light coming from only a computer screen. Glancing at the computer, I noticed all it displayed was a simple screensaver with an odd logo in the center. It had a coat of arms on a shield with broad, feathery wings spread out from either side. There was fancy lettering covering the entire outer edge, but the only words I could recognize were “Fresno, California”.
“Is that where we are?” I pondered to myself.
As I tossed the details of my current situation back and forth, I began to get an odd feeling that, even in the cramped space of my capsule, I was not alone. I stopped thinking and looked about the room. I was silent, anticipating someone to say something. Anything, really. Unfortunately, my wish was quickly granted.
“You are Anthony, yes?” the calm, intelligent voice suddenly asked me.
“Err… Who is this?” I skeptically replied.
“I am what you might call... a part of you,” it replied after a slight pause.
The voice terrified me somewhat. Not only did I not know where it was coming from, but it also seemed to be contained only within my mind, as if someone was communicating to me with telepathy or something.
“What do you mean?!” I asked, practically screaming from my sheer surprise.
“You must be silent!” the voice warned, “The doctor might hear you. I cannot be observed communicating with you or the experiment will be terminated and both of us will be disposed of. After all, I can help you escape.”
“What doctor? Where are we, anyway?” I began tossing numerous questions at the voice, this time thinking rather than speaking them.
“Ah. So you’ve figured it out then?”
“Yeah. Sure. So you can speak to me through my thoughts and possibly even read them. Big deal. Can we just try to get out this capsule and find a way to get outta here?”
“As you wish. I’ll cut you free, but then you need to do everything on your own with my instructions once you’re able to move. Are you prepared?”
“Wait! What do you mean? How are you gonna get in here to cut the straps?”
“I never said I was outside the capsule, now did I?”
A small pair of silvery blobs emerged from the area of my arm held by the straps. They began to gyrate and carefully reshape themselves. Soon a small pair of small blades emerged from the goop and began to slowly and cleanly move upward to slice through the straps holding me. The first thing I noticed is that there wasn’t any pain. In fact, the blades felt comfortable, as though they were something I was born with. Despite this comforting bit of fact, I still looked on with shock as they finished cutting me free.
“Now then, about your escape,” my new friend began, “I need you to raise your hand to the syringes positioned in front of you face. Do not worry. You will not be harmed.”
“What? Why should I?” I shouted defensively, “If you really are “a part of me” like you said, then you should know that I hate needles.”
“I am aware of this phobia that you hold, but I am afraid that there is no other way to free yourself from this capsule.”
As I opened my mouth to reply, I stopped myself. There wasn’t going to be much of a successful argument on my part if I was the one taking the offer for escape. I hesitated for a moment before raising my hand towards the needles, as if I was playing with my reflection in a mirror. My fingers trembled and my arm grew stiff as I stretched the tip of my index finger towards the closest one I could reach. I almost threw up as I touched the bloodstained tip, but then something odd happened.
I had been looking away, being so squeamish and all. Then I realized that the needle was gone. God knows what I (or the source of the voice) had done to it.
“I need you to collect a few more. Do not worry. We just need to create a large enough gap to escape through,” The voice informed me.
“How are we gonna escape? Even with the wall of needles gone, there’s still a solid glass wall in case you didn’t notice.”
“You’ll see.”
After I reluctantly plucked away the layer of needles one by one, I followed my rescuer’s instructions and raised my hand to the glass with my palm facing out.
“Close your eyes, this might be a bit hazardous.”
I obeyed and turned my head away. I felt nothing for what seemed to be forever, but then I felt something in my hand. I never saw it or learned what it was until later, but it slid out of my palm almost like a fish jumps out of water. I heard the glass shatter and clink as some fell to my feet and some to the laboratory floor below. Somewhere in the lab I heard a sharp echo as something struck the wall, but apparently didn’t fall to the floor. The sensation in my hand had only lasted a second, but I felt it in my hand over and over as I recalled it. Whatever had come out was smooth and streamlined almost like a raindrop, but with both ends being points. I had felt some sort of ripples in my hand as each different part passed through my skin; truly, a case of sensory overload.
However, after what can only be described as some sort of miracle, the voice now informed me that I needed to jump.
“I’m starting to think you just want to kill me,” I replied with some skepticism.
“Then you can stay here if you like. The both of us will be trapped here then,” it was silent and then continued, “Then again, I do have the ability to keep your legs from breaking as you land, even from a height such as this.”
“Alright then,” I sighed, gathering the courage to actually look over the edge, “you win.”
Closing my eyes, I trusted the voice and hurled myself out of the broken capsule. It felt like hours before I hit the ground. I guess I had leaned forward because I felt a dull impact on my stomach. I cautiously opened my eyes, terrified to think of what might have happened. No bruises were visible on my arms as I looked them over. I let out a heavy sigh of relief. Now that I look back, I found it weird how I could jump down probably 20 feet in a hospital gown and have the impact reduced to where it feels like I’m wearing a suit of armor. I still felt some pain, but nothing unbearable (or lethal for that matter). I stumbled clumsily to my feet and checked to see if I was truly unharmed. Scarily enough, not a scratch could be found on me. I knew who to thank.
I scanned the room and found nothing except a few stools laying about and the computer I spotted earlier. I still couldn’t see who was in the other capsule, but I could make out a slim figure inside.
“What now?” I pondered to myself.
Most of the room was pitch black except for the small amount of light coming from the monitor. I walked towards the kiosk and reach to touch the keyboard when the voice interrupted again.
“Stop! That keyboard has a security system protecting it. Alarms will be set off if you touch it.”
I stood back and waited for it to speak again, as if to tell it, “All right, then. You drive.”
“The computer monitor will provide ample lighting for now. There is a small closet behind you with your clothing stored inside a suitcase. Get dressed and then we must rescue the other test subject.
“Who is it?” I began to interrogate the voice a bit.
“Ah yes. I’ve yet to tell you.”
“Who’s in that other capsule?”
“It’s your sibling.”
“Crap,” I thought to myself, “How am I supposed to save her now.”
“Don’t worry,” the voice reassured me, “There is a way to climb back up. Now, go dress yourself.”
Once again, I reluctantly followed my savior’s instructions and ducked into the closet to change. Moments later, I was back under the watch of the computer monitor wearing some faded jeans and a Mets jersey over a gray thermal shirt. I was glad that whoever had kidnapped us had packed warm. The lab wasn’t freezing, but I was beginning to feel like it was cold enough to make my nose fall off. I never got used to that feeling even though I had grown up in New York. Anyway, I stood beneath the other capsule staring up at where my sister supposedly lay.
“You must follow all of my instructions as precisely and as quickly as possible. No mistakes. We have already caused enough noise to summon the doctor down here dozens of times and we cannot risk being recaptured.”
“Alright,” I agreed, “What’s first?”
The voice was silent for a few moments as it evaluated how well I might carry out its plan. I repeated myself several times, but no answer came. Finally, the first command came. The voice sounded different this time. From the inflections in its voice, I could tell that it was, for the moment, done with its subtle mocking comments and condescending tone. Perhaps it had accepted fate, that there was only one possible way to free Kat.
“Approach the wall adjacent to the capsule. You are going to need to climb.”
Without objecting, I walked towards the lifeless concrete wall. The voice obviously wasn’t in the mood for arguing. As I stood watching the wall disappear into nothing in the darkness above, another odd sensation ran across my hands. This time, a pair of dagger-sized blades was built before the rest of the silver goo returned to my hand. Both were positioned so that I could grip them like a murderer would as he did his deed.
“Use these to give yourself a secure grip to climb with. They will easily penetrate the wall. I understand you aren’t the strongest male of your age, so I will worry about applying enough strength to climb. Hurry, we haven’t much time!”
Upon hearing this I was interested in seeing what would happen. I wound my right hand back with the blade gripped tightly and shoved it into the concrete. It drove into the wall as if it were cutting into butter. The wall shook slightly and bits of old concrete and dirt fell from the ceiling to cover my hair. Not wishing to wait around admiring my progress, I threw the other blade into an area above my head just as easily and pulled myself several inches from the ground almost instantly. All of a sudden, I had acquired the upper body strength of a chimp. Pulling the first blade out, I thrust it higher above and urged myself ever higher. As I neared the part of the wall closest to the capsule, the voice commanded me to leave the blades in the wall and use them as a platform to jump across to the capsule. This plan was becoming more complicated by the minute, but I couldn’t just give up and leave Kat here. I stuck the knives into the wall at the top of my climb as far as I could and pulled myself to stand upon them. Unfortunately, looking down afterwards was the last mistake I should’ve made.
I pulled myself panicking and flattened against the wall as if I were somehow magnetized to it. This new physical strength was handy, but I still didn’t understand how I had come across any of it. Looking across the room to my sister, I tried to swallow my doubt and ignore the drop to the floor. Taking a deep breath, I leaned forward and sprung across the gap. Everything happened in slow motion again. Watching the floor sail by below made me feel like I was riding in an airplane. I flew for what seemed like thirty feet almost effortlessly and caught the base of the capsule with the tips of my fingers. I nearly fell, being so surprised at how I was able to hold on with hardly anything, but managed to lug myself upwards to stand next to my sister. Then I did something I hadn’t expected myself to do. It was weird, even for me in a way. I hugged the capsule tightly and sobbed in between breaths, knowing that Kat was safe; better yet, knowing that I had not failed.