I Am Phantom (Novella): Subject Number One (4 page)

“I fail to see what’s so funny,” Dr. Van said
coldly.

Lucius pounded the table in front of him and
rose to his feet. He tried to keep his hands from shaking, channeling the rage
he felt through them and away. “What’s so
funny
, Dr. Van,
is that you think you, or any of us, will move an inch forward on this project.
Not after this. The minute the board sees this video it’s all over.”

“They won’t if we don’t show them,” Carlyle
said.

“
I
will show
them,” Lucius said. “I will add what has been sorely lacking around here and do
something that makes moral sense.”

His voice faded away, replaced by Carlyle’s
fingers tap-tapping on the table. “Can I speak to Dr. Sykes? Alone?”

“But—he—” Dr. Van swiveled between
the two of them. Then he threw up his hands and stood. Lin seemed to move like
a ghost as she got up; a hollow waif who merely drifted out the door.

Dr. Van met her there, putting one hand on her
back and whispering something in her ear. Ryans didn’t notice as he followed
them out. Lucius’ knuckles were clenched beneath the table.

Carlyle stood and closed all the blinds to the
windows facing the hallway before taking a seat across from Lucius. He started
rapping his knuckles again. Lucius wished he could reach across the table and
smash them.

“I know you don’t like me,” he finally said.

“It’s not like or dislike, it’s about the
project,” Lucius said.

“The project was shut down weeks ago,” Carlyle
cut in. “No proposal necessary. No yea or nay from you or anyone else. The
heads sent an evaluator in. I made sure you were off when he arrived. The man
saw what we hadn’t accomplished, and shut us down.”

He paused to let that sink in. Lucius’ mouth
opened and closed. He had apparently lost the ability to use it. “But I didn’t
know—”

“Nobody did. Well, hardly anybody.”

“Then how is this—”

 
“I
was in contact with some generous benefactors,” Carlyle said. “They were more
than happy to take the reins. In a couple days they’ll be sending in new
workers to help us bring the project to the next level. To true success.”

Lucius slowly brought his fingers to his head.
The events of the night were catching up with him, as were the revelations of
what Carlyle had said. He’d been working for a new master for weeks and had no
idea. All his threats of proposals and shutting them down…Carlyle had probably
had a good laugh about that behind his back.

“Lucius, listen, this isn’t the end,” Carlyle
insisted. “I didn’t tell you because I was afraid you’d overreact. I wanted to
have some sort of success with the serum before I broke the news, but that’s
taking longer than I thought. Now that you know, I promise nothing will change
with how the project’s run. We can still make this work. We can continue.”

“No, we can’t. I’m done, Carlyle. This was my
dream as much as yours, but it’s over now. We needed a wake up call and that,”
he pointed to the video, “was it. I’ll find a way to get this shut down. I’ll
promise you that.”

“But what about the genetics side?” Carlyle said
before Sykes could walk out the door. “I told you we’re looking into that
angle. It seems promising.”

Lucius continued shaking his head.

“Look,” Carlyle said, on his feet now, “just
because this project doesn’t meet the precious standards of the
great
Dr. Lucius Sykes, doesn’t mean it should be shut down.
We as humans, as a species, don’t we have a right to make ourselves more able
to survive? Make us better?”

“It’s not worth the sacrifice!” Lucius said.
“And it’s not just the sacrifice to get there I’m worried about. The product is
unstable, and if it fell into the wrong hands…”

“We knew the dangers all along! I will not have
this stopped just because you grew a conscience! I will be remembered for this!
This is everything I dreamed of. My ticket out of obscurity.”

Lucius nearly relented. For a long time this had
been his hope as well. But he’d seen the darker side, and it could never be
undone. He heaved a heavy sigh. “No. I’m sorry.”

And before Carlyle could speak he pushed his way
out the door.

CHAPTER 6

Lucius’ mind was a tornado of thoughts. He
hadn’t been in his apartment two minutes before he began pacing, covering the
pathetic living space in a few short strides, turning, and covering it again.

If the people he’d thought were in charge
weren’t running the project, then who was? And more importantly, how many
others in the lab had known? How many others couldn’t he trust?

Ryans? Lin? He couldn’t believe she would keep
this from him. She would have told him if something that monumental had come
up. She wouldn’t have left him in the dark.

Would she?

The more Lucius came up with ideas, the more he
paced, and the more he paced the more his anger grew. How dare they hide this
from him! This project had been his brain child for years, since he was fifteen
and knew little about the complexities of man, but much about what he wanted to
help him accomplish: to make him a god. To break free of the natural
constraints put upon him at birth.

Only when Dr. Ragan had approached him with
funding after seeing his plans did the first glimmer of making it a reality
emerge.

And they gave that dream to someone else.

Lucius forced himself to stop and collapse in
one of the plush chairs near the window. He hadn’t turned on the lights. He
found the deep night outside fittingly reflective of his dark mood.

Great, and now he was becoming overly dramatic.

Lucius sighed again and let out a few more
breaths. He would fix this. He’d fixed many things. This would be no different.

And then he’d make sure Carlyle, Van, and any
others involved were held responsible.

But not Lin. Hopefully not Lin.

His phone on the kitchen table went off.

Lucius watched it buzz. Watched it eventually
stop. A missed call. Probably from his mother.

He ignored it.

The phone buzzed again. Once. A text.

She was persistent, wasn’t she? And when had his
mother learned to text?

Another buzz. And another.

Lucius heaved himself out of the chair. One
missed call. Seven texts. All from Lin.

Lucius’ fingers hesitated as he tapped them
open. She might still be at the lab. He hadn’t checked on her after leaving
Carlyle. What was so important that she needed to get a hold of him so
desperately?

The texts were all the same.

Something’s wrong. Come back.
They’re here.

For just a moment, Lucius did nothing. What
should he do? Call the police? No, their project was top secret. The police
couldn’t be let in.

He wouldn’t learn anything standing here. Lucius
swept up his keys and rushed out.

CHAPTER
7

Lucius sensed something was wrong the second he
stepped back into the darkened lab. None of the main lights worked. He could
only see thanks to the dim glow of the conference rooms on the other side of
the production floor. The entire place was a cold, dead thing. Vacant. Hollow.
Sick.

Lucius tried the lights again. Still nothing. He
had stayed late many nights to work and the lights had never just shut off.

Lucius took a step forward. Why did it feel like
stepping into a minefield? And where was Lin? She should have been waiting for
him.

Another step. Static rose on his arms. The sense
of an imminent threat. Lucius quelled it. This was the lab. His territory.
Nothing bad had ever happened here.

Well, until today.

He sucked in a deep breath and strode
confidently across the room. There. Nothing to it. He took another breath of
relief just as a fist emerged from the darkness and slammed into his stomach.

At first, Lucius was so shocked he merely gaped
silently.

Two more punches to his face brought him to his
knees. Throbbing. Burning. Choking. The man standing over him let out a deep
chuckle.

“These scientists, I tell you,” he said to
another man, grinning like a jackal, “if they just had half as much muscle as
they supposedly have brains then they wouldn’t be so easy to break.” The man
gently pressed one shoe against Lucius’ forehead and pushed him over onto his
back. Lucius coughed again, trying to get air.

“This one ain’t that smart, though.”
The other man nudged a chin at Lucius. “Let’s grab ‘n bag. Double time. Shift
just got started and we got a lot to do.”

Each man took an arm. Lucius didn’t even put up
a fight. Half of him was in shock, the other half, too much pain.

The men dragged him towards the conference room.
Lucius dreaded to see who was on the other side, though he already knew, even
before Carlyle’s ugly face came into view.

“Carlyle!” He gasped. “What is this? What do you
think you’re doing?”

If Carlyle was conflicted at all about what was
happening, he didn’t show it. His eyes were as flat and cold as an icy lake. He
merely stepped aside and let the men finish pulling Lucius inside. Ryans was in
the corner behind him. He looked as shocked as Lucius felt.

“Dr. Sykes?”
In one fluid motion, Carlyle removed a syringe from his pocket.

“Dr. Sykes has graciously offered himself as a
test for our latest serum. It just rolled off the assembly line tonight, with some
help from our new friends.” Carlyle nodded to the men holding Lucius. “There
are a lot of them, now. Men with real vision. Men who aren’t afraid to take big
risks to see results.”

 
“No!”
Lucius screamed, trying to break free and lunge for Carlyle’s throat. “You
can’t do this to me! I was your partner!”

“Don’t delude yourself, Lucius. We were never
partners. You were only in my way.”
Ryans rushed forward, but one of the men holding Lucius pulled a gun and
casually leveled it at his heart. He shook his head, grinning.

“I wouldn’t do that, pretty boy.”

In that moment’s hesitation, Carlyle plunged the
needle into Lucius’ neck.

“Don’t worry, Lucius. I’m sure we fixed whatever
issue was in the serum we gave that dirty chimp. At least I hope so.”

Lucius screamed as lava flowed into his veins.
The hot press like a branding iron behind his eyes. Everyone in the room
watched him. Expectant. Hungry. Fearful.

A minute passed. Lucius waited for the end to
come. Maybe it would be quick and merciful. Maybe he wouldn’t go out in agony
like the chimp had.

After another minute came and went with no
change, Carlyle grew frustrated.

“Go throw him in the cage. Lock this one,” he
thumbed to Ryans, “with the woman. Then get the rest of the men in here. We
have a lot to discuss. New orders to implement.”

“What—what did you do with Lin?” Lucius
wheezed. The air had suddenly grown heavy in his lungs. His tongue was a lead
weight.

“Nothing. Yet,” Carlyle said. “But that can
change if I don’t like the results I see with you. Make us proud, Dr. Sykes.
Serve your purpose.”

Lucius was growing weaker. He could only hang
limp as he was dragged out.

CHAPTER 8

They hadn’t even cleaned up the blood.

Lucius sat curled in a corner of Bobo’s cage.
The chimp’s rigid corpse lay right beside him, still frozen in death from when
Ryans had shot him.

Despair had ebbed and flowed over him like the
tide, but so far he had kept it at bay. He wasn’t dead. Yet. Lin was okay. For
now. And he was alive. Also for now.

There was no telling how long any of that would
last. Other than feeling tired, he hadn’t felt anything else. The initial sting
of the serum pulsing through his veins was gone. The iron press behind his eyes
had faded to a dull throb. He lay on his side, wincing as his cheek met the
dried blood on the cold floor.

He slept

*
                                                         
*
                                                         
*

Lucius woke up screaming.

He was on fire. Every inch of him burned like
hot pokers had been stabbed into his flesh and twisted over and over again.

He leapt up, beating at himself, trying to put
out the burning but it wouldn’t stop. It only made it worse.

One flailing arm slammed into the collection of
wood Bobo had used to recline on, fastened to the back of the cage. It was two
hundred pounds of branches cobbled together that Lin had insisted Bobo have for
calm and relaxation. It’d taken three men to move it into its current place.

It shattered like glass when Lucius hit it.

Lucius stood there in the dark, panting as the
last of the splinters fell to the floor. He didn’t hear footsteps in the hall
outside. Nobody was coming to check to see if he was okay. And for the first
time since he’d been in this nightmare, he was okay with that.

He turned his hand over. He wiggled his fingers
to see if any of them were broken. His pinky finger was bent at an odd angle where
it had run into the solid wood.

As he watched, it bent back into place on its
own and immediately stopped hurting. Lucius gawked. Ryans’ voice came from the
back of his mind.

My first bullet…it just healed
over it.

That would be the healing factor.

Shards of wood were scattered across the floor,
tinkling when Lucius shuffled them out of the way.

He was strong now. Extremely strong.
Almost…super human strong.

And then his stomach lurched and Lucius
collapsed as a convulsion ripped through it. Darkness took him in seconds.

*
                                                         
*
                                                         
*

This time Lucius woke up to the voices.

Soft and loud, male, female, smooth, rough,
playful, deadly. They screamed at him from the corners of the room, shouted
from the quiet center of his mind, begging, pleading, demanding, threatening.

“Stop!” Lucius screamed. The voices swelled in
him. “I said stop!” He slammed against the metal bars of the cage to
make them stop.
Again. Again. But still they laughed at him.
Chuckled. Crooned. Promised.

Lucius stopped banging his head. For a moment
there was only the steady
drip
,
drip
of the blood coming from the gash in his skull, before
it closed up. The voices had promised him something. Promised him what?

Power. Power and revenge. And all he had to do
was listen to them.

Still clutching his head, Lucius turned to look
at the wooden branches he’d busted. He remembered the strength he’d used to
bust it into splinters. More power than that. More power than any man. And all
of it for him.

Yes
, the voices
crooned.

His project. His body. His world. It had been
taken. Stolen.

Yes,
the voices
agreed.

They would help him stop it. Stop all of them.
Forever.

His hands began to shake. He stuffed them
beneath his armpits and clamped down, trying to make them stop.

Two men were at the doorway. Lucius hadn’t heard
them approach. That wasn’t surprising considering the voices had started
shouting at him again. Some of them were awfully insistent.

One of the men shined his flashlight on Lucius’
face.

“He going crazy?” one man asked.

“Looks like it,” the man with the light said.

“Geez…where’d all that wood come from?” the
other one said. “You think he—”

“That ape did it.”

“You sure? I could have sworn the cage was
clean—”

“Yeah, I’m sure. What, you think some wimp scientist
could do that?”

“Eh…I don’t know. Should we tell Carlyle? I
don’t want to be here if he gets those crazy powers like that monkey.”

“He won’t. And Carlyle’s gone, remember? Flew
out an hour ago.”

The flashlight beam dropped to the floor. “This
one’s a dead man. Those other two locked in the office’ll be soon too.”

“I’d like a chance with the pretty one, first.”

“Well, let’s make her useful before we make her
bleed. See if she’ll help our men with finding where everything is. Get the
scientists set up at their stations.”

“Right.” One of them hurried off.

The voices cried for Lucius to follow. They were
curious to kill. Curious to know how it would feel. Would the men twitch when
they died? Would they bleed a lot?

His hands had stopped shaking, but his fingers
itched to find out. He’d always had a curious mind. He was, above all, a
scientist.

The last man spat at Lucius’ feet and closed the
door. The darkness came again, and with it, more voices. They crawled from the
walls, dangled from the ceiling, buzzed like flies inside his brain.

And they brought the anger with them.

As a boy, Lucius had hurt Tamison Smith. Badly.

Since then he’d always kept his anger in check.
Like a caged lion it had prowled around at the edges of his mind, waiting to
break free. Now the voices had the key. Now they unlocked the cage. They let
the lion out.

Tamison Smith’s arm had never healed the same.

Lucius would make sure those who’d done this to
him never healed at all.