3 The Awakening

Horrible growls could be heard throughout the hallways filled with other experimental candidates held up in glass compartments. Some still have bandages here and there. Others seemed to be healthy and very attractive looking children. It would definitely be a surprise if their origins were to be known as each of them are originally were unique cripples of their own before the procedure.

There were only five other children besides the newest addition, Rachael. All of them were squatting down while covering their ears from the horrific screams originating from Rachael's glass room. Those sounds reminding them of similar pains which they had to go through. There were of course occasional moments of silence, however these moments were not welcomed as it either meant another failure or a passed-out candidate. Each of them secretly hoped for another kinsmen to survive the ordeal.

A team of dedicated caretakers were keeping watch of the little girls chambers. Never leaving it out of sight for even a moment. Three different shifts of caretakers were working in rotation to care for the girl around the clock. If the heartbeat stops, they resuscitate her. If her blood sugar level drops too low, they inject glucose into her blood streams. If her blood oxygen level drops, they would increase oxygen flow to her respiratory system. Bandages were changed on a daily basis to avoid possible infections.

As the days passed, the originally horrible squeaks started to become lovely sounding screams. Frequency of the shouts were diminished drastically as time passes. Rachael's previously rough and diseased skin were slowly peeling off, revealing a soft and smooth complexion. An eyeball was slowly regenerating inside that bare socket. Finally the screams stopped completely on the second week. The children quietly cheered for her survival.

' Another resounding success! ' Anna thought to herself while drafting her report to be sent to Sigmund.

Her only regret was that out of hundreds of children who participated only six survived. Their patrons will definitely be very unhappy with this low rate of return as compared to the billions of dollars secretly invested into their research. Rachael was the last candidate which their patron have agreed to fund prior to ceasing their generous donations. That was also the reason why Sigmund specifically mentioned to her not to regret her decision as she was the last candidate to be sanctioned.

At least the last candidate was a success before the entire programme was shut down. Such result couldn't be better for Anna to end things in an amicable manner. Further experimentation would not be recommended as the government have already caught wind of their secret project. Consequences of being caught would be disastrous.

Their next phase would be to determining division of spoils. The children, the research data, and various assets belonging to their temporary organization. Five years was a long time for anyone to be confined underground. She looked forward to the day where daylight shines upon her pale skin again.