96 Rose

The first patient was a Reaper found walking around outside the base. They had subdued it using anesthesia darts and had been drawing blood from it to experiment on. The Reaper only had enhanced eyesight, so wasn't able to put up much of a fight.

Just as she was about to put the file down and move on, something at the bottom of the charts caught her eye. There was a section that showed the EEG (brain waves) of the Reaper that indicated some interesting spikes. Diving deeper into the data, she noticed that each spike in the EEG corresponded with an injection. The scientists were injecting Reapers with psychoactive drugs (hypnosis drugs). It seems the scientists in this lab were trying to hypnotize and control the Reapers. Aida made a mental note to ask Xiao Ai what she found on this topic as well. It would be a game changer if they were able to successfully control Reapers.

The following patients that she looked at all seemed to have the same general profile. They were all Reapers being kept for hypnosis. Walking further down the aisle, she finally reached the first Variant.

To her surprise, this Variant was a little girl around the age of 9. She wore the standard patient uniform and stared with blank eyes up at the ceiling, completely ignoring Aida's presence. If one didn't see her chest moving up and down while breathing, one could almost mistaken her for a doll. She was extremely beautiful despite the sickly pallid yet there was no emotion on her face whatsoever.

Filled with curiosity, Aida picked up the file and began reading through the information. Apparently, her father had willingly sold his daughter to the scientists in exchange for a sack of grain. The little girl had an ice ability, so they kept her sedated and nauseous to prevent her from using the skills.

According to the file, the scientists had initially attempted to hypnotize her but it was ineffective against her. As a result, she suffered a much worse fate. They were using her as an experiment to test the limits of a Variant's life force. They forcefully injected various strains of bacteria and viruses into her system to see what would kill her.

This was utterly inhumane! It was the worst form of torture. Each of the injections brought her endless rounds of pain and agony as it caused various organ failures. Each time, her strong Variant life force would keep her just barely alive and the scientists would forcefully inject adrenaline to bring her back.

She had been suffering this endless cycle of agony for a full month and they even refused to provide her anesthesia for fear of impacting the test results which meant the girl had to experience every symptom while fully conscious. Aida looked at the girl who seemed to have lost her soul and sighed, "I can let you live. Do you want to come with me?"

Aida wasn't a saint, nor would she ever be. But when she saw someone like this little girl who looked exactly like she had when she was being experimented on, it wasn't possible for her to just walk away. At that time, she was in utter despair. If she didn't have the presence of Xiao Ai keeping her sane, she would surely have been in the same state as this little girl. Therefore, she decided that if this girl reacted and still showed an ounce of will to live, she would do all she could to save this girl. If she didn't, she would help her end this miserable life of hers.

Staring at her intently for any kind of reaction, the little girl didn't react at all. She simply continued to stare up at the ceiling as though she didn't hear Aida speak.

After standing there for a few minutes, Aida sighed and moved onto the next patient in the room. Ultimately, she could only do so much for the unwilling. As she went down the line of people, she saw that half the Variants were undergoing hypnotization while the other half was being experimented on the same way the girl was. Most of the victims among the Variants were former convicts, so Aida felt less inclined to involve herself in helping them. All of them seem to have lost their will much like the little girl.

Soon, it was time to leave. The guards were sure to return soon to inspect the area and she had to leave before they noticed anything wrong. Walking to the little girl named Rose, she gave her one last chance. "Last chance, will you come with me?"

There was still no response from the little girl as she continued to stare blankly at the ceiling. Sighing, Aida shook her head and walked towards the door. Life had dealt the girl a bad hand, but ultimately, no one but herself could break her out of this cycle. She had to have the will to live in order for anyone else to help.

Just as Aida opened the door, she took one last look at the little girl. To her surprise, the girl had turned her head to stare at Aida, mouthing the words, "I want to go." The scientists had ripped out her vocal cords to keep her screaming from distracting them so she no longer had the ability to speak.

Aida nodded towards her. Walking in large strides towards her, she threw off the restraints and pulled her into a warm hug. "I don't expect you to trust me right now, but I promise I will never restrain your freedom."

The girl neither reacted to Aida's words nor to her hug, she just sat woodenly on the bed. Noticing this, Aida sighed again. It seems it will take some time to reach her. Only time could mend the scars in her heart and mind.

Picking her up princess style, Aida realized how light and frail the girl was. It seems even before she was taken to this lab for experimentation, she was already severely malnourished and mistreated. Holding her carefully, she took her out of the room and walked towards Xiao Ai who was still at the computer. Aside from downloading all the information, Xiao Ai was also in charge of wiping all the camera evidence of Aida's presence in the building.