11 The walking targets

Meena tensed. Did she say… family? As in, not just Meena's mother? Her father, too? Her sister?! Meena shook her head fiercely as her eyes stung with tears that threatened to spill out. But maybe not, right? Maybe Meena was taking it the wrong way.

Meena bit her lip hard to keep the tears in before she carefully asked, "My family…?"

Regina nodded solemnly, her eyebrows furrowed as if she was witnessing an injured puppy. "It is as you're thinking. Your father and sister were brought in as well."

Meena felt her shoulders sag in defeat. So many people had helped keep Meena and her sister away from Chronos. So many people made sacrifices for them. They ran and fought for so long. All to be caught like this. If it was just Meena, it wouldn't be so bad. But her sister? Meena imagined for a moment what might be happening to her twin right now and couldn't stop the tears from spilling this time.

The two girls were very special. Their parents knew from the moment their powers began to show that they would be in danger. They expected the girls to be strong, since both their mother and father were born with abilities, but they were not prepared for how strong. While Meena could collect powers and use them as her own, her twin sister, Rei, was mirrored in every way. When Rei touched someone, she brought out the dormant genes that held that person's powers. To someone previously without abilities, Rei was able to grant them their very own minor powers. But to someone born with abilities already, Rei was able to make them stronger. Hence, the twins became walking targets for every scientist in the world that was studying supernatural abilities. Not excluding the wealthy powerhouse that was Chronos Corp. To the scientists, the girls were probably the keys they needed to unlock the secrets of the superpowered genes.

"Are you okay?" Regina called Meena out of her tormented thoughts. Regina's hand was on her arm now and she wasn't able to pull that body part away from the woman's touch. Tears were streaming down Meena's face and she couldn't wipe them away either. She wanted out of this room, out of this nightmare they had the audacity to call a research facility.

Seeing Meena struggle, Regina pressed her lips together to hold in the pity that was overwhelming her. "I need to know what to tell them, honey. If I tell them you have no powers… they'll take you down below. And I've never seen anyone come out of there once they go in. I can't tell you what kind of torture goes on down there." Regina's eyes pleaded desperately with Meena's teary blue ones.

Meena slowly steadied her breathing. "I… I have powers…" she whispered to Regina.

Regina's perfect eyebrows shot up. "You do?! What kind? Wait, no-- don't tell me. It's better that they don't know. They'll have to keep you in here until they find out. This will bide your time, but that's all that I can do for you. Okay, sweetie?"

Meena stared at Regina with furrowed eyebrows for a while, then she nodded. She didn't know why the woman would want to help her, but she was thankful for it nonetheless.

After the meeting with Regina, Meena didn't know how much time had passed. She thought she would be visited by Regina again, but it never happened. When she wasn't being observed by the scientist, she spent every waking moment practicing how to use the computer. She quickly learned the man's password after watching him a few more times, but it took awhile to figure out how to mentally type with a keyboard. Then, she began trying to navigate the different systems to see what they did. Sometimes the words on the screen were too small for Meena to make out from the specimen table so she had to just go by the larger printed titles and guess where to go from there. It was a long and difficult process that she would have to begin again every day after the scientist visited. She eventually made it through a list of "specimens" though, and also got a good look at the layout of the facility. She knew that her mother was in the room right next to hers, her father was in the dreaded lower level, and her sister was down the next hall. Exactly where she heard the loud voices coming from when she first woke up here.

Weeks had passed, maybe even months before Meena finally came upon the system she was searching for. The system that controlled this room, including the specimen table. She quickly tested it out by turning things in the room off. She dimmed the lights, turned off the heart rate monitor, then finally unlocked the bracers around her body.

She gasped as she noticed her wrists and ankles. There were terrible indents with red marks around them, especially her ankles. She wondered if they would scar. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to muster up some resolve, she turned everything back on and closed the bracers around her limbs again. She really didn't want to, but it would be better to try to do this right after the scientist's next visit. She needed all the time she could get.

The next visit came as usual. Blood was drawn, vitals were taken, notes were made. Meena put on her pretend pathetic face, which made the sadistic scientist happy every day. After he left, she waited a couple minutes to make sure she didn't hear any footsteps in the hallway before she booted up the computer and unlocked the bracers again. Meena pulled off all of the monitor's cords and took out the IV, then rubbed her legs to prepare them before she slid off the table shakily. She hadn't moved in so long, her body felt like it didn't know how to anymore. She spent a minute stretching and steadying herself before she attempted to walk. Once she was able to maneuver around the room normally, she pressed her ear to the door and carefully concentrated on the noises in the hall. Close to her door, it was silent. She heard voices down the hall and she knew from the layout that they were probably coming from around the far corner of the next hall, where Rei was being held.

Meena took a few deep breaths, then slowly turned the door handle, checked the hall, and exited the room, cautiously shutting the door so that it didn't make a noise. She shuffled straight towards the next door in the stark white hallway and entered that room just as silently. Then, she released the door handle, let out her breath, and turned around. Her hand immediately went up to clasp her mouth shut from the loud gasp that tried to escape. She was not prepared for the sight she saw.