Colorblind Ch.6: Genidox

I knew that sleeping was a stupid idea.

A chilly sensation flooded through my bones, alerting me that the sun had set.  I opened my eyes, staring at the ceiling above me.  I was back, alright.

Grim familiarity set in as my eyes swept the chamber.  Nothing had really changed in eleven years.  The room was filled with nothing more than the metal cot I was sitting on, a small toilet in the far corner, and myself.  Whoopie.

I dragged the undersized cot into the center of the room, away from the lead-lined walls.  Lead was my Achilles' heel, my kryptonite.  If not for the lead in the walls, I could have easily escaped my prison, despite my injuries.  In fact, the injury itself was minor; it was the lead bullet that had caused me to faint.

I patted my side, feeling layers of bandages under my jumpsuit.  Ah, the classic white jumpsuit.  The epitome of scientific fashion.  How very much I wanted to watch it burn.

The door opened.  A grunt walked in and set a tray on the ground, then left, taking care to shut the door behind him.  I dropped to the floor and scooted towards the tray, quickly recognizing the bottle atop the tray as my new fodder.  Taking small sips, I examined the symbol on the door, the very same as the one tattooed across my back.  It consisted of a double-helix looped around in a circle, with an impossible penrose triangle in the center.  Their company logo, I presumed.

Below the logo, in a plain, small-caps font, read, "GENIDOX."

Genidox, hm?  Strange…I had never noticed the name before.  Maybe it was because I didn't know how to read back then…

My memory wandered back to Julianna, and her impromptu lessons in the treehouse.  Funny how most of what I know today I learned from a seven-year-old in blonde pigtails.  SmiIing, I reached for the amulet around my neck, only for the smile to fade upon realizing it was missing.

I slammed the bottle down on the tray, searching the room for my pendant.  Maybe it had slipped off my neck in my sleep…

No.  The Genidoxians, or whatever they were called, must have taken it along with my clothes, and my charm bracelet, and my dagger, and my notebook, and…and…

"Yooo-hooo!  Anyone in there?"

I looked up to see Amy poke her head inside.  She gave a little wave.

"Amy?" I rushed forward, wincing as my increased proximity to the lead singed my skin.  "How did you...I mean...that's impossible...you..."

Amy grabbed my hand and pulled me outside the room, where several guards had been rendered unconscious.

"How did you do all of this?" I demanded, growing uneasy.  Something wasn't right...

She stared at me, blinking slowly with an innocent expression.

"You...you're not Amy, are you?"

I tried to pull my hand away, but her grip on my wrist tightened.  She shook her head from side to side, false grin growing wider.  With my opposite hand, I brushed my hand across her face, dispelling the illusion in a cloud of white smoke.

"Terios!"

"In the flesh."

"Why, you--"

"Do you want to save your girlfriend or not?"  Terios stooped down, plucking a walkie-talkie from the hands of an unconscious guard.

"Amy?  She's alive?"

"No, I'm helping you rescue her rotting corpse."  He bopped me on the forehead with his knuckles.  "Of course she's alive, Nightslayer."

My temper flared.  "Don't call me--"

"She's in the cellroom across from yours."  He thrust a keycard into my hand.  "All the codes in the building are the same: 0393230."

"You're...helping me escape?"

"No.  Not really.  Escaping would only be a perk for you."  Terios held the communicator to his ear.  "This is Terios.  Nightslayer has escaped from the cellroom.  Commence immediate lockdown."

Terios dropped the communicator, watching it clatter against the linoleum.  

"See ya."

He stepped backwards with a bow, disappearing in a puff of silver sparks.  

Overhead, the fire alarms went off.

Fantastic.

I jammed the card into the slot on my right, punching the code into the keypad.  The locked door clicked open...



"Amy?  You in there?"

Amy looked up to see Shad standing in the doorway.

"Shad!"  She rushed forward, tackling him with a hug.  "Are you okay?"

"Not...when you're hugging me there."  He raised his arms, pulling away.  "Gunshot wounds don't heal overnight."

"Oh!  Sorry, I--"

"Save it for later."  Shad covered his ears, nodding towards the blaring fire alarms.  "We need to get out of here."

"How?"

The fire alarms switched off, replaced by a stern female voice on the intercom.

"Attention.  All military units in the Umbra complex are hereby ordered to secure the building.  I repeat, all military units..."

"Umbra complex...?"  Shad mused.  Then he stiffened, green eyes growing dark.  "They've blocked off the exits.  We need to hide.  Fast."

Shad turned to the door beside them, which had no keypad or card slot.  He opened the unlocked door to find…a closet.

"Get in."  He crawled inside, gesturing for Amy to follow.

"What are you-"

"Do you want to escape or not?"

"But-"

He grabbed her by the waist and yanked her inside, shutting the door behind her.

"Shad!"  Amy screamed.  "You perv-"

Shh!  He clamped a hand over her mouth.  Listen.

A few minutes of silence passed, then a troop of footsteps stormed by outside the door.

You need to listen to me, Shad instructed, releasing her.  Don't-

"How are you doing that?"

Doing what?

"You're talking in my head!" she whispered fiercely.

Impossibilities, remember?  His eyes were a brilliant sapphire, eerily visible in the dim light.  I can talk like this as long as we're touching, but it only works one way…  And what in the world are you staring at, Amy?

"Your eyes," she whispered, pointing.  "They glow in the dark."

Yes, I know, he replied, shutting them.  Now shush.

"But why are we--"

We'll stay in here until the lead wears off.

"Lead…?"

You know, the heavy metal?  Shad craned his head back, blue eyes examining the ceiling.  That's the only way they know how to subdue me for extended periods of time.  Works just like a drug, only I don't even have to touch it to be affect--

Shad stopped himself midsentence and clamped his hand over Amy's mouth, pulling her backwards through the white lab coats hanging above them.  Then the door opened.

"Where's that darned mop?" the man asked himself, hand groping along the corners of the closet.  "Better not be lost again..."

Janitor, Shad imparted silently, his hand trembling against Amy's face.  Shouldn't be a threat...shouldn't be a threat...

The janitor flipped the lightswitch and bent down on his hands and knees, only to come face to face with Shad and Amy.

"N-N-N-Nightslayer's escaped?"  He slowly rose to his feet, backing away.  "But...but you couldn't have--"

Shad grabbed the man's shirt collar and jerked it upwards, easily towering over the frightened janitor.

"If you know who I am, then you already know what I can do," Shad enunciated.  "So are you gonna listen to me or not?"

The janitor nodded furiously.

"Good."  Shad plucked the communicator from the janitor's belt, holding it towards him.  "Tell your higher-ups that I've already escaped from the building."

"But--"

"Do it."

The janitor fumbled with the communicator, finally dialing in the correct number sequence.

"Th-This is Clive," he stammered.  "N-Nightslayer has escaped from the Umbra complex..."

Shad made a zipping motion over his lips.

"Uh...over and out."

Clive switched the communicator off, offering it to Shad.

"Thank you very much, kind sir."  Shad tucked it into his pocket, staring into the janitor's eyes with wide emerald eyes of his own.  "Night night."

Clive's eyelids fluttered, then closed.  Shad caught him before he fell, setting the unconscious man in the closet.

Amy moved out of the way.  "Shad, you...you just..."

"I can force people to fall asleep with eye contact," he explained, flipping the light off as he shut the door.  "You don't remember me doing it to you?"

"No..."

"Now all we have to do is stay hidden while they search outside," Shad mumbled, half to Amy, half to himself.  He leaned against the wall, concealing his face with one hand.  "As long as they don't see us, we have a chance..."

"Too late for that, Nightslayer."