The Omicron Facility

THE OMICRON FACILITY

By Mordecai J Banda



REED BURTON DIDN’T CARE ANYMORE for his usual routine of waking up, getting breakfast, showering and heading for work at the local FedEx where he worked. He still did breakfast, but the job didn’t matter anymore. And he wasn’t alarmed at the rate at which his small apartment’s supplies were dwindling. In light of his personally confirmed special abilities, all else seemed pointless. After a straight 5 years of practice, at the age of 19, Reed had perfected his Telepathy. He had already gotten over the wow of it, and the how, but what about the now? What was he supposed to do with his Power?

Reed smiled, a rare feat, and set his feet comfortably across a wooden stool. He had a scalding cup of coffee in his hand and was eating pizza. Coffee and Pizza, his own speciality. He had ordered the pizza by calling the local Debonair half a mile away using his mind power to convince an obviously momentarily baffled staff member there that he had forgotten to bring a pizza to Burton’s flat. Reed had collected the pizza with a flourish and left the man no time to question whether his act had been right or wrong. The Telepathy really confused the bleak minded.

What to do? Reed asked himself, his thought was disadvantageously due to his power, loud enough to be heard as a muffled whisper from the back of his head.

Reed finished his coffee and shoved the carton of pizza away untouched. He really had no appetite. Reed found it funny how he couldn’t find anything to do with his ability. His all too real ability. Not something he watched in the latest special effects blockbusters available this year. He had them. The dream of so many kids including him. I wish I wish I wish. Well now you have them, what to do? He asked yet again. The superheroes had a purpose. A load of them. Revenge, love, life of an innocent, survival, they always had a set goal. They knew what to do. The beauty of the blockbuster heroes was that they had a set purpose, and even though they claimed or posed the popular question, “What do I fight for?” the facts always came in the end, and though their ordeal left them scarred or these days, dead, they at least were sure of what to do. Reed was definitely not. He didn’t think he could do much against crime and wouldn’t know where to start. The idea of getting rich seemed pitiful. Being evil wasn’t such an entertaining idea either. Too bleak for such a huge achievement. Telepathy by a regular 19 year old… amazing!

Reed shifted positions on his lumpy sofa, and went into another bout of thinking. Not realising the minutes trickling by. Then he noticed the newspaper on the table, he picked it up, and started reading. There was nothing interesting. The usual world. Dead guy here, marriage there, an unbelievable cat who could talk… then the politics page. Reed loved politics. He loved the flag. He loved the president. Trumpets and crisp army suits made Reed want to burst with a bottled energy, then he read a quote of the president concerning a matter Reed didn’t bother to know about The quote was all that mattered. And then Reed Burton knew what to do.



REED WOKE UP AND HAD A SHOWER, the first one in a week, by now FedEx had fired him, but it didn’t matter. It was the end of the month and his rent was due, he was going to be kicked out, but it didn’t matter. He was the great Telepathic Burton. Super Burton. The Burton of his country who was today going to contact the government and tell them of his abilities. He was going to convince them that he was for real and he was going to be the helpful patriot of his country. He was going to serve his land in the background. And gladly be led by the government. This seemed to be the fitting job for Reed Burton. Super Burton.

A few searches through the yellow pages told Reed that no government listing was in the book. It figured, 2010 wasn’t exactly the Year of Trust and Individual Correspondence with The Government. Reed had no laptop to go online and e-mail them; he had used the café during his journey to gain his power. The internet had been so helpful. A quick inventory told Reed that he barely had enough change to reach the café, and none at all to do anything useful on the net. After calmly thinking it over, Reed sat on his couch, closed his eyes, and sent his mind. He really didn’t know what he was bargaining for by eventually contacting the people, but Reed Burton was in a major day-dream that would in time turn deadly.



REED BURTON TOOK A TOTAL OF 4 hours to contact anyone. He knew that he had called a phone with his mind and someone, a director of “Section 51” had answered. He had told the man his address, and told the man that he had hacked into his facility. It was a threat meant to provoke abduction. The abruptness of the termination of the call told Reed that it had worked.

The very same day 3 men came to bash in Reed’s door, but it had already been opened, and Reed was sitting on his lumpy sofa facing them. Smiling, with his hands high up in the air. The men pointed guns at him, and Reed told them the brief story,

“I’ve got something you might want to use” he sent with his mind. The fact that the message was only played in their heads convinced them for the moment. But they showed no surprise, and they took Reed away.



THE NEXT LONG HOURS WERE MADE UP of interrogation and medical checks, Reed’s EMG’s were off the charts and his synapses were more complex than was normal, he qualified. Reed never remembered if any of the doctors or staff talked much, in truth they did. He was a major topic in the temporary holding in a posh Nevada structure. But Reed had the eyes only on the ball, not on the contours or color of the ball. He only waited out the whole thing and only wanted to serve his country. That’s all folks. I’m the patriot. Things sped by in a blur.



FOUR DAYS LATER, ORDERS came in from somewhere, and Reed was taken from Nevada under sedation. He took it without protest and simply stretched when he woke up in a colder environment. The transport chopper landed on what appeared to be a dark marble floor stretching out all around a few hundred metres, encircled by high walls of ice-layered mountains. Reed hopped off with two soldiers and a guide. And in the buffeting wind of the chopper's propeller draft, Reed saw clouds of ice fly around, exposing and revealing an embedded intricate symbol on the relative centre of the circle that looked familiar, like a Greek-

“Welcome to Omicron.” The guide, a bald man in a white lab coat, said.

“I know, I picked it up from your soldiers.” Reed smiled. He never knew for sure whether he had mind-reading capabilities, but now it was a fact.

The guide for the first time showed surprise, but quickly recovered. The soldiers only blinked, though Reed couldn’t see it through their tinted helmets and black coveralls, he felt it. The power was suddenly intoxicating, and Reed liked the feeling. Reed looked up at the guide, and asked,

“So what’s Omicron, sir?”

“It’s a facility. 6 by 7 kilometres wide with-“

“-one thousand five-hundred staff and eighteen main-frame computers each with a thousands processors. It has labs-”

“Okay, I guess you know.” the guide smiled and cut off Reed the know-it-all.

“But I don’t know what it’s all about…” Reed wondered. He let the guide answer without reading his mind.

“We keep kids like you, and you help save the world.” he answered.

“Finally.” Reed let out a deep breath. When the guide looked at him with raised eyebrows, Reed shrugged and sighed again,

“Some purpose.” He clarified.



FROM THE LANDING PAD THEY went straight to a tunnel that had a tram. It carried them deep into the facility. And it was huge. Reed for once sparked up in interest he had never had since his childhood. The design of the place was so carefully planned to have an imposing effect and the maximum usage of the space. It was colourful with flowers and blue, white, yellow lighting with intricate artistic structure. It even had paintings and arcades. Reed couldn’t possibly memorize anything of the structure. The only guideline was the tram, which ran through a now transparent rectangular tube with stops represented by signs and glass sliding doors. The tram stopped at none of them for a while and went straight ahead. It barely turned. Reed noticed the many soldiers and scientists that walked the walkways and corridors with their stern purpose and energy. It excited Reed that he was going to be a part of this.

The tram stopped at a yellow labelled door. With a less population of staff.

“Where is this place anyway?” Reed asked as they stepped onto more marble. “It must have cost billions to build it.”

“Can’t tell you that” The guide said mysteriously, strangely Reed couldn’t pick up the location from the guide.

“You don’t know yourself?” Reed finally discovered. He didn’t have time to see the man’s reaction because suddenly he picked up horror, fear and pain. Feint but there. Reed shook his head, looked at the whole amazing place again with a quick sweep and decided it was nerves.

They were. Just not his.



THEY NEGOTIATED A CRAMPED, low ceiling corridor that seemed to be the outer shell of something. They entered a door towards the centre and Reed found himself in open space, looking up at the bleak sun. He looked lower and saw a blue-grey dome. It had some free, empty space around punctuated with some floor lights and symbols. It was cool with the small breeze of air conditioners. Reed felt uneasy, but he allowed to be led towards the dome, which had a door requiring a password. Reed wished later that he had guessed it all by then, he wished for many things later, but it happened. Reed walked in.

And Reed sealed his fate



THE SLIDING DOOR SHUT WITH a loud deep thud, and Reed whirled about to face the closed door. He turned around again, expecting something accommodating as implied throughout the facility, but he only saw army type bunks, and five teenagers around his age. Two girls and three boys.

“You don’t look too good buddy” One of the boys said. He was sitting at the bunk; he had pale skin, and a crew-cut haircut. He was blonde, and he looked dazed. The other two boys were more colourful. One was sleeping, or trying to, Only a shock of dark blue hair visible, and the other boy was sitting on a bed in conference with the other two girls. He had dark-blue hair too, and he had a black Rolling Stones bomber jacket with black jeans. Before Reed could finish taking in the details, one of the girls turned up from their conference, and looked at Reed with sad eyes. She had a pink jacket, pink pants and a white blouse underneath, her hair was pink too. She had a pretty face. The other girl was vague in comparison.

“Who are you?” she asked. Reed didn’t answer; he was still surveying the silent, desolate place. He noticed many backpacks next to the other thirty to twenty bunks but only saw five people… why?

“Yeah, we thought it’d be cooler too, what’s your power?” The pale boy asked. He stood up, and turned out to be taller and healthier than Reed thought. Maybe the glowing red light at the edge of his outline suddenly improved his image.

Reed was silent. The pseudo-sleeping boy woke up, and everyone was looking at Reed, who was frozen in place.

“Dude, its either you talk or you stay away.” The boy who had been sleeping asked. He turned out to be a twin of the Rolling Stones guy. The girl with sad eyes looked at Reed more intensely. As if that was possible…



REED WOKE UP.

And his head hurt. “Damn” he sat upright, “What happened?”

The group was still where it was before... what ever had happened. Occupying three bunks, looking at him. The headache went, and everyone was staring at Reed.

“What?”

“So you came here voluntarily? How flipping stupid can you be?” Pale Boy asked.

Reed was surprised, groggy, “How did you know that?” then it came to him, and he returned the stare of the girl, “You can read minds too?”

“No, she commanded you to tell her how you were here. We could chat and introduce ourselves but we can’t. This is hell, we need to escape, and if you’re going to help us you better come closer and get into the system. If not just sit there and wait for them to get to you.” Pale Boy said this with anger Reed thought was unnecessary.

“What’s happening here? Where is everyone? What is this place?”

The other girl, who turned out to be plump and dressed in an over colourful sweater and blue denims, answered that. Blurring in the progress like an out of focus image.

“It’s an experimental facility that cuts open us people and kills us.” She said with a resigned simplicity that chilled Reed's innards. Reed got another whiff of the feeling of horror, fear and pain.

“You’re lying.” Reed said weakly to the faces that looked at him.

“It’s up to you. The other twelve guys who were with us were taken every hour one by one for a medical "check-up" according to them. One of the girls here could hear from any specific place.” The girl said quietly. “Before she was taken. She said she could hear the screams of the others, and the sound of metal through skin. She heard them die, Reed, one by one, she was taken, and we’re next.”

Reed stepped back. Struggling not to hear…

Don’t please

Reed felt the pain in an unidentified girl's mind as something tore her stomach cavity open. She started screaming.

“NO! we must stop this. We must get help!” Reed was pained and scared. He guessed the super hearing girl had just been opened up.

Pale Boy spoke up, “We’re working on it. So far no good. We can fight our way out presumably, but we can’t contact anyone even if we leave.”

Reed kept quiet and omitted the fact that he could probably help with his Telepathy. But he had his doubts.

This facility, the country, was too… good. To do such things to teenagers. What Reed had felt earlier was just phantom ideas. He convinced himself. He had them all the time these days. This facility was safe. They were free in here, everything was in order. These other teens were just having a cruel joke at his expense. Reed convinced himself.

The door slid open, and three soldiers trooped in. They stood at the doorway and everyone jumped to their feet. Reed remained seated. The soldiers had their guns ready. And faced off with the agitated children. Finally one of the helmeted men announced,

“Victoria Petoskey”

The plump girl gasped and started sobbing.

The other teens made a circle around her.

“Stand away from her or we’ll be forced to shoot you.” The soldiers said. Their voices were spoken with a radio-like quality filtered through their helmets. Reed sat and watched without any feeling. He got trapped by his owns thoughts again, and he missed the understanding of the next few words the soldiers spoke. Until he heard one of the men's mind think of depressing a button- a trigger on his gun, then Reed looked up at the guy and screamed "NO" in the guy's mind. The man toppled over and fainted with the sheer strength of Reed's thought, and also the painful experience of mind shouting. The other two guys had a split-second to open fire, their ammo was just sedatives, Reed later discovered, but he did the same mind-shout technique to both of them. They toppled and fainted too. All In all it took two seconds for all of the soldiers to be on the ground, and Reed was already vomiting from the exertion of his brain before the other kids realised that Reed had done the work.

"Damn" was all the Pale Boy could say. He headed towards the downed soldiers while the others gathered round Reed.

"Lucia" The All Pink teen introduced herself and offered her helping hand in a way of greeting. Reed took it and came to his feet shakily.

"You've got to go with us, you'll help" One of the twins said. The one named Victoria was shivering in violent spasms and Reed heard her keep on saying in her head, "Mouse… cat… mouse… cat"

"We've got to leave soon, before the other five hundred and ninety-seven troops notice we're missing. And that’s just presuming the other nine-hundred scientists are unarmed."

Reed suddenly picked up some excited mind chatter from somewhere across the room, and a background resonance of someone being cut open painfully. Reed grabbed his throbbing head, the input too much for him to process, he only had the ability to say,

"They're coming." before crumpling into a nervous heap, staring at the ceiling. Time passed in a blur again, and Reed watched with wide-eyes shadows leap across the room. A shadow show just for Reed. Just for Reed.



HE GAINED AWARENESS WHEN the hand grabbed his shoulder. Reed was first aware of the smell of blood, then the wetness of tears on his cheeks and on the surface directly beneath his nostrils and down to his neck. He had bled out through his ears, nose and mouth, and then Reed realised that the moisture beneath his eyes wasn't tears.

"Reed."

The voice cut through easier this time. Reed was weak and wasn't picking up stray mind signals. Mind signals… powers… what was his world coming to?

"Reed. Look at me."

Reed did it, he looked and saw Lucia. The Girl in Pink. She looked worn and had a scar across her cheek. The dome room was in darkness only given light by the open doorway. Their two shadows along with the shadows of other downed soldiers were projected over the bunks and onto the opposite wall.

"Reed, you've got to come back." She said. She pleaded with her eyes. Reed couldn't understand why she was so concerned for him. Unless…

"Where… why did you stay? the others…"

"-Are not going to make it. They're going to die even if they live to see the outdoors. I remained here to at least free you of your problem. Then I too shall go out and die… unless you come with me."

Wow. Was all Reed could process. But for once his line of thought was clear. Strangely clear.

"Reed, you've got to come back… to reality. You've got to stop wishing you were a hero for your country, and you better start living your life."

Reed was silent. He suddenly had that mushy feeling you get when you see some figure in a story making a heroic speech. Or where the kid kisses his first love.

"I don't get it, Luce" Reed said. He got it alright. He knew what she was talking about. He just didn't know how she did.

"You think you spent three years of your life training and getting powerful and smarter with all your concentration lessons and dreaming, but your wrong Reed." She grabbed Reed by his collar, something that had amazingly passed his attention for the last month. She did this strongly yet gently, and the eyes still stared. They were so capacious Reed could see his whole body from head to waist in them.

"-You’re just weaker. You alienated your family, you killed the beauty of life, and if you thought being a villain was pitiful earlier, then you’re the most pitiful being in existence. One who willingly lived in a fantasy world where everything was already in order and all you had to do was BREATHE! Such idiocracy. Lazy to live your own life."

Reed was jolted with the strength of her words. During her speech his past life had been flashing around like a slideshow, phantom pictures of his family floated before his eyes, then his normal senses flooded back on the dot of ‘breathe’. It was obvious she was using her mind control to assist in presentation and that Reed could block it, but the words made sense, and Reed burst through of his nightmare. He finally realised how serious a situation he was in. Reed had until now always thought that he had no definite conflict and that he had nothing "-To fight for" he had thought himself too unique and special and wanted different circumstances to be problems to him. Control his own life and let other things flow. That’s why he ignored losing his family during his years of "training" as a problem, that’s why he didn't give second thoughts of the effects of having Power. That’s why he ignored the simple matters, his job, his self-image, his hygiene, his pet and all those small things that made life worth a living. And for a moment Reed remembered the cocky yet charming bastard that had once been the Real Deal Reed Burton. The original packaging. And now…

Now he was on his knees in a facility he was most likely going to die in. His own personal hell on earth. The whole situation was strangely good to Reed. It was a learning experience and a turning point. Just like how you learnt fire was dangerous or helmets save your life or AIDS existed. You had to get burnt, killed or infected to know these things, and to Reed this whole situation served as his burn. The death of his old self. The infection that would immunise him eventually.

When Reed emerged from his overwhelming revelation Lucia had tears in her eyes, and she stood up and headed for the door. Reed shoved the joy of self-release back in his mind, though it was still there, shielding him from trying to be the best, keeping him real.

Lucia walked into the light of the doorway and turned to look at Reed.

"Are you coming?" she asked. All business-like.

"You bet" Reed smiled. He took the first steps since release, and they felt good, he suddenly could notice his skin complexion, his hairdo, and his pants, and despite the blood on his face he felt cool. Reed knew that escaping the place wasn't going to be easy, most likely he was going to die the same way the other kids who were being killed. But the survival wasn't what was important to Reed anymore. Oh no.

Lucia went out of sight of the doorway, and Reed followed.



NOTE: Originally the story ends here, but if you wish to continue: {citem:1595570)