Voices.
Where were they coming from? Kevin forced his eyes to open. Everything was blurry, he could make out dark blobs against a white background. They were talking, but he couldn’t make out the words.
‘Stay awake!’ He willed himself. But another wave of drowsiness ran through him. He struggled to stay awake. Finally, he had to give up. Once again he faded into darkness.
Something felt uncomfortable. But Kevin couldn’t quite place what it was. His body felt numb all over. He slowly opened his eyes but it was pitch-black. Now he noticed that a blindfold was tied securely around his eyes. And the nausea was nearly overwhelming.
“How are you feeling.” A cold, emotionless voice said, right into his ear.
Kevin jumped, learning the hard way that restraints were holding him down. The hard metal bit into his wrists and ankles.
“Not good.” He said.
“In pain?” The voice remained icy.
“No, numb.” Kevin tried to shift to a more comfortable position, it was impossible to move. He was pinned down like an animal.
“Good,” A pen scratched against a piece of paper.
“What did they do to me?” Kevin was almost afraid to ask.
“Oh, don’t worry, you’re still intact.”
“Thanks, I feel so much better.” Kevin snapped.
“You are going to spend a day in this room so you can recover, I will come back for you then.” A chair rolled across the floor then a door hissed closed. Kevin knew he was alone.
’Recover from what?’ He wondered.
He laid unmoving as he thought. He strained every sense he had to get a feel of his surroundings. After a while he figured it must be a small, empty room, a bright light right above him was the only lighting in the room, and the room was soundproof. He was bored out of his mind, but worse than that was his thoughts, they kept circling his mind over and over. The blindfold got sticky and itchy from the sweat it caused. At least after a while the numbness and nausea wore off then he felt slightly better.
He still felt weird, it was like something was missing. Suddenly he realized his left arm was still numb.
‘The Anatronzer!’ He thought franticly. Of course! If they wanted anything it would be the Anatronzer! So was it gone? If so, how did they get it off? If it ended up in the wrong hands it could be disastrous. No, it was impossible to do, they would have had to figure out how to separate his and the machine’s molecules at the same time. It was almost surely still on.
He didn’t even realize that he fell asleep until the door hissed open.
“Come on, get him up, we have more to go yet.” An impatient voice said.
The restraints on his hands and feet released. Kevin sat up, he felt stiff everywhere. Someone pushed him off the table so he slid down the other side. He barely landed on his feet, almost bumping into somebody. Forcefully, his arms were jerked back and handcuffs clicked closed around his wrists. He was nudged from behind to move forward. He hesitated, unsure.
“Come on, move!” Someone growled and hit the back of his head. Kevin stumbled forward. Anger flared up inside him.
But before he could react, two different pairs of hands grasped his arms and pushed him ahead. He tried to stay steady on his feet, but his legs felt wobbly from not using them. There were at least five people surrounding him, and by the echoing of the footsteps he figured they were in a hallway. After a few minutes they stopped him and he heard a door opening, they pushed him inside and the door sealed shut. Right away, someone unlocked the handcuffs. Kevin rubbed his sore hands to get the feel back. Then, to his surprise, his blindfold was untied and yanked off.
He blinked at the bright light. Then he saw an alien sitting at a wide table, a delicious looking plate of food was set in the center.
“Please, sit.” His voice sounded kind, but emotionless.
Kevin obeyed, he sat down slowly not taking his eyes off the alien.
He glanced down, thankfully the Anatronzer was still on. They had obviously tried to get it off, there were some carefully placed stitches. Strangely, he found it didn’t hurt at all.
A massive form stepped up in the corner of his vision. He glanced up. To his surprise, he half-expected what he saw. It was Ugly, the alien who first caught him.
“Care for a bite to eat?” The other alien spoke up. Kevin studied it; slender and creepy, with a long hunched neck and huge unblinking eyes.
“Uh, no thanks,” He said. “I’m not hungry.” But his stomach said otherwise. As if on cue, it growled loudly.
He fought to keep his eyes on the alien and off the steaming food.
“Oh, I think you are.” The alien said, looking right into Kevin’s eye with its unblinking stare. Kevin looked away.
“Here, I assure you it is not poisoned.” The alien pushed the plate right under Kevin’s nose.
Kevin snorted. Yeah right, like he was going to take his word for it!
This was ridiculous! He tried to stand up. Ugly, who was standing behind him grabbed his shoulder and sat him back down forcefully into the chair.
“Now, listen to me, Starskye,” Any pleasantness in the alien’s voice had disappeared. It leaned forward.
“You are going to cooperate, or Gorge here will make you, get it?”
Kevin nodded reluctantly. So Gorge was Ugly’s real name, it suited him.
“Tell me how to get the Anatronzer off of you.”
It was the question Kevin knew would come.
“Do you really think I’d tell you?” He smirked.
“Oh, you’re going to tell me.” The alien said. He snapped his long fingers. In one smooth movement, Gorge picked up Kevin by the throat. He lifted him from the chair and held him up to the ceiling. Kevin tried to pry his hands apart but Gorge’s grip was solid steel. The alien snapped his fingers again and Gorge dropped Kevin back down in the chair, choking and gasping for breath.
“Now, tell me, what is the method to get the machine off?” The alien sounded more impatient.
Kevin rubbed his sore neck and straightened up. “I don’t know how to get it off.” He admitted.
The alien stood up and walked to the door. For a second, Kevin thought he had taken his answer. But he turned around. “For your incompatibility, you will be severely punished. Rest uneasy. I will be back tomorrow.” With that, he left, Gorge followed and the door hissed shut.
Kevin slumped forward on the table, he buried his face in his arms and laid there for a long time.
The alien took long strides down the hall. One the assistants (named Jotig) stopped the alien. “Dr. Feasiblion, Mancy is requesting that you talk to her.” Dr. Feasiblion looked impatient. “Tell her I do not have time, I’m busy.” He said and continued on. But Jotig stopped him.
“Sir, she says it’s really important that you see her right now.”
Feasiblion scowled. “Very well, show me to her.”
Jotig led him to a room not to far away. A masked human stood in the center of it. “Sir, I have bad news, project T1-RY has escaped.” Mancy hung her head.
Dr. Feasiblion’s face grew angry. “I needed both of them at the same time!” He stormed. “Send every guard in the second squad out after him. He won’t get far, the tracking device will tell you where he is. Now go!”
Mancy ran out to assemble the guards.
Feasiblion turned to Gorge, who was behind him. “I want a lockdown on the whole building. Question every prisoner. No food until someone comes forward!“ Gorge grunted and went to do his job. Feasiblion walked out and headed for his quarters.
Lenny tore through the underbrush, sticks and vines snagged and tore at his red prisoners uniform.
’Run! Escape! Keep going!’ He thought in rhythm with his strides. He was nine years old. He knew escape wasn’t complete until he got off the planet. A vine tripped him, and before he could stop he slid down a hill slicked with mud. He crashed into a plant at the bottom.
No time to stop! He skidded and started running again. He wiped mud off his face as he ducked under a branch. Suddenly he heard the sound of engines droning. They were after him! Where he was distracted, he didn’t notice the ledge until he came to it. With no time to stop, he fell down to the ground below. It was only a few feet but where he was exhausted, it knocked the breath out of him. He managed to crawl under the over hang just as the guards caught up.
They jumped out of the hover vehicle and began forming groups. Lenny watched breathless as one boot came within inches from his face. He dared not to breath. They were talking, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. Suddenly, he heard beeping. It was coming from him! But he wasn’t carrying anything that beeped, so that meant they had put a tracking device on him.
He desperately tried to duck further in but a gloved hand reached in and dragged him out by the foot. The guard picked him up and stood on him on his feet.
“I got him.” The guy that held him shouted to the others.
Other guard stepped up. “The boss said too use the holding chip on him.”
Lenny hated the holding chip, it was a device that caused it’s wearer to become unconscious until it was taken off. The lab used them all the time on their prisoners. Lenny had been at the lab for over a year, he had escaped dozens of times, all ending in failures. He knew if he ever was to get away he’d have to do it himself. Because he knew he had seen to much for them to let him go alive. He hadn’t yet told the others that they were hopelessly trapped on a dislocate jungle planet. As the chip drew closer to the back of his neck. Then he knew no more.
Kevin spent a long night in the locked room. The dread of what might happen kept him from sleeping.
True to his word, Dr Feasiblion came early the next morning. Kevin was sitting next to the back wall when the door opened.
“I see you have eaten the food. Perhaps you are ready to cooperate also?” Feasiblion said.
“I already told you, I don’t know how to get it off. Believe me I’ve tried.” Kevin replied.
If it was possible just to simple cut it off, there was no doubt Feasiblion would have done that.
But it wasn’t, if Feasiblion did that he would lose both Kevin and the Anatronzer. The Anatronzer was made of liquid metal, it was completely infused with Kevin’s arm. He had designed the technology it so it could create any genetic combination, in the wrong hands it would be disastrous.
Kevin stood up, Dr. Feasiblion strode across the room until he stood inches from the teen’s face.
“You must know something about how to get the machine off.” He said.
“No.” Kevin refused.
Feasiblion snapped his fingers, Gorge stomped into the room.
“Take him, you know what to do.” Feasiblion stepped aside, Gorge tied a blindfold around Kevin’s eyes, and a rope around his wrists. Kevin winched as he pulled the knot tight. He was terrified to see what was going to happen. But he’d rather get a couple scrapes and bruises than hand over the Anatronzer.
Once again, Kevin was pushed down the hall. It wasn’t long until Gorge led him into another room. Kevin was shoved backwards and he fell into what felt like a chair. Gorge ripped off his blindfold. But it wasn’t the giant screen that caught Kevin’s attention, it was what was on the screen. It was a little boy, armed guards surrounded him. Right away he knew what they were doing, he wished he didn‘t.
“Now,” Dr. Feasiblion said. He was standing behind him. “For your punishment you will watch another one of your kind suffer.” There was a hint of glee in the alien’s voice.
“No! No please I’ll tell you!” Kevin cried. He couldn’t let an innocent kid be punished for him.
Feasiblion only chuckled. “Begin.” He said to the monitor.
Kevin desperately tried to look away, but Gorge clamped a hand on either side of his head. He was forced to watch in horror as the guards fired. The little boy fell forward, lifeless.
Kevin heard his own voice crying out. He hadn’t even noticed he was speaking.
“I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you! Stop! I’ll tell you!”
Dr. Feasiblion turned off the screen and Gorge released his grip. Kevin’s head dropped. He fought to hold back tears, but they came anyway. He knew if he looked up he’d see Feasiblion smiling down on him in pleasure.
’I hate this place!’ He thought. His fists clenched and shook in anger.
“Now, I believe there is something you are going to tell me, yes?” There was not even the slightest sound of resentment in Feasiblion’s voice. Kevin realized he was ready to more if needed.
“OK,” He said quietly. “I’ll tell you.” He had no tricks left, no plans, nothing. If he did something they would just strike back harder. He was completely and utterly defeated.

It's ok when it's not done in excess. Watch out