Test Subject #266
By: Mara
Disclaimer: This
story and everything in it is MINE! Please ask
before borrowing.
****************************************************************************
"I do not know where I am. Tell me where I am."
A man, who had been reading the morning paper, looked up at the person who stood over him speaking. The man, older with gray hair and soft blue eyes, was cautious.
"You in Central Park, boy," the man replied. "Ain't you got 'nuff sense to know where you at, son?"
"I…do not know…"
Puzzled, the man watched as the stranger staggered away. The stranger was a young man, maybe a teenager, clad in what appeared to be a hospital gown. Everyone near him in the park was gawking at this young man who sported chin-length purplish-blue hair, emerald green eyes, and thin build of body. No shoes, no sense of direction, he wandered aimlessly around the park, seemingly confused by everything. The old man dug his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed.
"Hello, police? I wanna report this boy, walkin' 'round Central Park in a nightgown…"
****~~~~~~~~****~~~~~~~~****
Professor Neil Kay paced his lab restlessly. He could not figure out how test subject #266 escaped. His assistant, Steve, held an icepack to his head.
"How did this happen, Steve?! How could you let #266 escape the laboratory?!"
Steve cringed at the question. He figured the professor would not let him get off so easy.
"Well," Steve carefully started, "it gained consciousness sooner then expected and, seeing as I had just finished the routine morning tests on it, it was not strapped back down yet. I guess my lab attire frightened it and it slugged me upside the head before rolling off the table and stumbling out the doors."
Professor Kay sighed with irritation. Subject #266 had been showing an enormous amount of promise, but this was unbelievable!
" 'It' is a 'he'," sighed Professor Kay, "#266 is a 'he', a male."
Steve warily nodded and repositioned his icepack.
"So, how do we find it, er, him?"
A moment of contemplative silence passed before Professor Kay looked over again to his injured colleague.
"We watch the news," he simply stated.
Walking over to the small black and white television in the laboratory, the professor flicked it on.
"I'm thinking," he continued, "New York media will find him before we ever would have. A escaped science experiment is bound to attract some attention."
Steve sat back in despair, regretful he had let this happen.
****~~~~~~~~****~~~~~~~~****
Scared and angry, a young mother quickly pulled her baby's stroller away from #266.
"What do you think you're doing?! Get away from my baby," she screamed at him.
Several people in the park turned to stare at the women and #266, yet they maintained a safe distance from the crazy man in the hospital gown.
"I just want to know," #266 replied, his voice light, but at the same time very monotone.
"Know what," she cried out.
Ignoring the baby's mother, he leaned over the stroller again to look the infant in the face as the large crowd that had gathered around made little horrified noises.
"Why are you so small," he asked the child. "Why is it that you do not talk? Would you like to walk with me?"
He had picked up the baby and began to walk away when the enraged mother grabbed him by the arm.
"I don't know who you think you are, but that's my baby! You can't take my baby!"
#266's eyes went wide as he stared at the woman's hand on his arm. He had never been touched before, and this touch was physically hurting him. Crying out in alarm, he wretched his arm free and swung his fist blindly at her, making heavy contact with her shoulder and knocking her to the grass beneath their feet. He began to run, clumsy and crooked, through the only open spot in the crowd and then out into the streets. Cars all around him screeched to a sudden halt and many leaned out their windows to say a few choice words to him. Meanwhile, the mother struggled to her feet with the help of a couple park-goers. Once up, she dug through her purse for her cell phone and immediately called the police to report her baby as stolen by a madman in a nightgown.
****~~~~~~~~****~~~~~~~~****
"Alright, m'am, you said he was wearing a nightgown? …And he has purple hair, no shoes, and seems high on drugs? …Mmm-hmm…Okay, and he headed which way? …Okay, yeah, we'll send officers out right away. Goodbye, ma'am."
Officer Jaina Solo groaned and ascended from her desk chair. But before she could even exit her cramped little office, the chief appeared at her door.
"Another call about the crazy man in Central Park," Chief Bill Preston asked.
Officer Solo nodded. "This call makes number 7, except this woman says that he stole her baby and ran out and down the main streets."
"I'll send a couple more grunts out, I guess," Chief Preston replied, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I'm going out with them," Officer Solo resolved. "I need to see this guy for myself…"
****~~~~~~~~****~~~~~~~~****
"He's a live wire, alright," Officer Solo told the orderly at the desk, "needed a place to keep the poor boy until we can figure out what hospital he left and who he is. We finally caught him and the kid he had stolen on the roof of an apartment building downtown, a jumper I suppose. Crazy, eh? Don't know his name, all us back at the precinct been calling him John Doe, but he apparently thought he was going to send the both of them back to God or something. What a weird-o… Watch him close, okay? "
The orderly nodded and gathered up the pile of paperwork Officer Jaina Solo had been made to fill out upon #266's arrival. Still in his hospital gown, #266 roamed curiously about the mental hospital's waiting room, exploring the other people sitting around and various magazines on stubby little end tables. He made his way throughout the whole room, pausing at the front desk where Officer Solo and the orderly were still inaudibly chatting together, and finally stopped in front of a small radio where Urban-cowboy radio jockey Jimmy-Joe was broadcasting the afternoon traffic report from Chopper 4. It seemed familiar to him, somehow. He remembered that voice from his dreams, if nothing else good. He remembered other things, but most of the other memories of his dreams were not very happy. This voice was his God. All of the other voices were followed by pain and misery. Jostled rudely out of his thoughts by Officer Solo snapping her fingers in his face, his attention returned to the situation at hand and the realization that he needed to escape from this sterile smelling place, something that also triggered bad memories of dreams for him.
"Hey," she snapped at him, "hey! You paying attention, kid? Hey!"
"Yes. May we leave now? I need to know."
She gave him a strange look.
"No… You keep saying that you need to know, but what are you talking about? Need to know what?"
"I do not know. Everything. I need to know it all, I suppose. I do not know anything. Please tell me."
Officer Solo smirked and shot an amused look over her shoulder to the orderly, who just shook his head. As an orderly at an institution, he had seen just about everything.
"How about you begin by telling me your name," she countered, "and then I'll tell you anything you want to know."
A moment of silence ensued as #266 contemplated this offer. His facial expression contorted, thoughtful and alert, yet somewhat lackluster, as his eyes roamed the room once more, taking in the off-white walls and the sounds of the radio still droning on. His gaze reverted back to the officer.
"My name is Jimmy."
"Alright," hollered Solo, "Jimmy what?"
"I…I do not know…"
Visibly disappointed, Officer Solo dejectedly turned around and wished the orderly luck with the boy. He nodded yet again and Solo left the premises.
****~~~~~~~~****~~~~~~~~****
Steve turned down the radio and the nasally southern voice of the Urban-cowboy, radio personality Jimmy-Joe, describing the remains of the lunch-hour traffic jam.
"Professor," he called out, "it's time for the one o'clock news on T.V."
"Ah, excellent," said Professor Kay.
He carefully set down the beaker and test tube he had been working with and took a seat on a squat lab stool about three feet from the little television next to Steve.
"We begin today with a story that takes us from Central Park to the top of an apartment complex," the news lady Angie began. "The NYPD today received numerous reports of a crazed young man wandering around Central Park in a nightgown. Felicia, on scene in Central Park, reports."
The picture changed to a pretty young woman with black hair standing in the park with and old man by her.
"Good after noon, Angie. I have with me Reznor, the first man to report the young man wandering around the park. Tell us about him, Reznor."
"Well," he began, "he waltzed right on up to me and says to me that he didn't be knowin' where he be, so I had to be telling him. I thought he was an escaped crazy, ya know? Slinkin' 'round Central Park in nightgown. I knews I had to be callin' the authorities on this boy."
"Thank you, Reznor," Felicia replied. "And now we go to Ted, who is at the NYPD precinct headquarters. Ted…"
Professor Kay and Steve glanced over at each other nervously as the scene switched to the police station downtown with the next news reporter.
"Thank you, Felicia. After about six calls, the NYPD received a seventh call from Naomi, a woman who called to report he baby as stolen by a crazy man in the park. Naomi, tell us what happened to you and your baby."
The camera panned over to show a pale and scared woman shifting nervously in front of the screen.
"Well, Ted, he came up to me and my little boy, Nick, and started asking my baby all kinds of questions. I thought he was crazy, because my boy obviously isn't old enough to talk, let alone walk! So, when I tried to move him away, he grabbed my baby, knocked me down, and ran out into the streets with him! Of course, I immediately called the police…"
"Naturally," replied Ted, almost insultingly, as the camera panned back. "And now I also have with me Officer Jaina Solo, who tracked the young down and caught him."
The camera panned over to include Solo in full police attire with her hat tucked under her left arm while in the lab the professor and his assistant watched on in a silent stupor.
"When I found the perpetrator, he was in an apartment complex downtown and my partner and I split up to chase him around for nearly twenty minutes."
As Officer Solo was talking, the screen changed to a helicopter's view of her apprehending #266. Footage of #266 kept playing as Solo continued.
"I finally caught up with him on the rooftop, standing atop the very edge of it, poised to jump. It wasn't too hard getting him into custody. My partner took the child back to the station and I took the perpetrator over to the mental hospital for safe keeping, until we could find out his name and where he came from. He doesn't appear to be of good mental health."
Back to the live feed of Officer Solo, she seemed to look a little confused.
"He told me his name is Jimmy, but so far, we can't find any records of him ever existing. It may be he's lying or doesn't remember in his current state of mind."
Ted stepped back into the picture slightly in front of Solo.
"If anybody has any information on today's crimes or on Jimmy, please call the station or the NYPD. Caller need not give their name. I'm Ted, downtown at the police station, signing off. Back to
you, Angie."
Professor Kay quickly turned of the little television, but remained silent.
"We have to go get him, professor."
For nearly the hundredth time that day, Professor Kay heaved a heavy and frustrated sigh as he formulated a plan.
****~~~~~~~~****~~~~~~~~****
The starless night sky cloaked the two dark figures as they cautiously made their way to the main entrance of the New York City mental hospital, where even the burnt-out street light provided no light for them.
"Remember, Steve. Touch nothing on the card except the picture. Got it? There's no way we can get caught if you play it cool. When posed as maintenance earlier, you hacked the surveillance circuits here to loop a normal feed, right? If you did, we're safe as can be…"
Steve nodded in the darkness, unseen by the professor, who took the pervading silence as a yes. Locked and closed, the thick glass doors of the hospital stood formidable, and the professor pushed the button to the right of them. He cleared his throat and prepared to persuade the orderly on duty to open the doors, since no admittance was allowed after nine o'clock pm. It was a few moments before anyone answered back.
"No admittance after nine, gentlemen," rasped a man's voice, weary somewhat aggravated, "unless you have proper I.D."
"I am Dr. Killian with Officer Paton to transfer a patient. We both have sufficient identification on us, if you must check."
After another tense pause, "I'll be right there, gentlemen."
Steve let out the breath he had been holding and shifted his weight around uneasily.
"Relax," soothed the professor, "just keep your cool."
The orderly appeared at the door and unlocked it, motioning the two men inside. Upon entering, the orderly led them down a hallway and into a sterile smelling white waiting room also containing the main desk.
"I.D., please, Dr. Killian."
Pulling out a fake photo I.D. card from the breast pocket of his lab coat, he presented it to the orderly. Satisfied with the way the I.D. looked, Steve's badge on his shirt was then scrutinized carefully. The whole time, the orderly's balance seemed to be waning, and when he squinted his eyes and tried to lean in close to look at the badge, he toppled over into Steve, who barely caught him.
"I…suddenly feel so very sleepy…I…apologize for this Doctor, Officer…"
"Please," cooed Professor Kay gently, "why don't you have a seat? Don't worry one bit. We'll just go find our patient and be on our way if you just tell us where the transfer papers are."
"The office…" slurred the orderly, "in the file cabinet by the door…it's locked…"
Professor Kay smiled and unclipped the ring of keys from the orderly's belt, hurried to the office, and returned with the papers. With very little coaxing, they got the orderly to sign the transfer papers, though at this point he was getting quite tipsy and incoherent. The professor, on a second thought after the signing, went back into the office while Steve stood watch in the waiting room over the orderly, who had slumped over in his seat deeply asleep.
"That neurotoxin didn't work as fast as I thought it would," Steve called out to the professor.
"It worked like a charm, Steve, don't dwell on it."
He poked through a different file cabinet. The transfer papers were enough, but he wondered what the doctors thought of #266. Professor Kay found what he was looking for and returned to the drugged man and his assistant.
" 'Patient Jimmy,' " he began reading aloud to Steve from the file he had open in his hands. " 'Last name: unknown; first name: unconfirmed; origins: unknown; age: between 17 and 19 years old; description: unusual hair, colored purplish-blue, green eyes, average height, slightly underweight. In perfect physical health, save for the weight. No evidence of alcohol or narcotic intake. No scars, freckles, or any sort of birthmarks. 'Jimmy' appears to know nothing about himself or anything around him. Possible amnesia. Certain objects, sounds, or textures also seem to trigger something in him and he begins to act out violently towards anyone and anything around him, perhaps the result of either physical or emotional trauma earlier in life. Possibly psychotic or suffering from dementia…' and this just goes on and on!"
"Does it say where they're keeping him, professor?"
"…in cell four."
"Why is he in a cell?"
"It appears he attacked a couple orderlies earlier today. They put a jacket on him and confined him to a padded cell for his and the hospital's safety."
Steve's silence seemed to indicate that he was feeling the same way Professor Kay was feeling, so together, speechlessly and begrudgingly, they made their way to cell four.
****~~~~~~~~****~~~~~~~~****
Subject #266 leaned against one of the four padded walls in the room he was confined to. He just could not understand this place he was in, nor could he understand why the contraption he wore that confined his arms in a rather uncomfortable potion was necessary.
"I just want to know everything," he spoke out loud to himself, "but nobody will give me any useful answers! Why can't anyone tell me?"
Everyone seemed to be unkind to him, and he did not like it. Feeling sadness overcome him, a feeling he decided he was not fond of, he began to pace his room. He had to pace because he could not sleep, what with all his thoughts screaming inside his head and being so bored with nobody but himself to talk to. Just then, he heard the lock on his door click a little and it began to open. Frightened, #266 receded into a corner…until he heard a familiar voice, whereupon he ventured back towards to door. Professor Kay and Steve entered cell four with care, not wanting to scare #266. Their eyes immediately fell on the young man they had gone to so much trouble for. He was standing opposite them against the wall to their right, his features eerily lit by the subtle moonlight seeping in through the barred window high on the wall to their left.
"I know you. Your voice was in my dreams."
"Yes," the professor replied, "and you know why?"
#266 shook his head no, an action that was barley visible in the dim light of the night.
"Are you here to tell me everything?"
"Perhaps. But listen - I am Professor Kay, and this is my assistant Steve. I made you, 266, as part of a science experiment to-"
"My name is Jimmy now. Please call me Jimmy."
"Jimmy, do you understand what I am telling you? There is a reason you do not know anything! You are different then everyone else; you are special! I engineered you to be the perfect human being, but I have not finished you! You cannot properly function in society yet! You are capable of much more then any normal human! You brain capacity is so great that I believe you may have telekinetic abilities! You must come with us back to my lab to learn more! You must!"
"Is that why everyone hates me, Professor Kay" #266 asked forlornly, "because I'm different?"
Professor Kay nodded yes, while Steve remained quiet.
"What does it mean to have telekinetic abilities?"
"It means with a mere thought, you can make almost anything happen!"
#266 suspended the conversation to ponder momentarily what this new and strange man had just told him.
"…Anything, Professor?"
"Maybe," Professor Kay said, "I'm not sure yet…but if you come with me, we could find out."
And within the blink of an eye, #266 thought about and wished with all his heart that he and the two men in front of him would disappear forever…and they did.
~Fin~
Mara on May 30 in Illinois. She enjoys writing sci-fi, fantasy, and horror short-stories as well as horseback riding, drawing, reading, watching TV and movies, listening to music, spending many mind-numbing hours in front of her computer, and collecting comic books. She lives at her country home with her pets Yugi Moto (parakeet), Jerry and Remy Etienne LeBeau (rabbits), André (hamster), and Danny (beta fish). Outside her home she enjoys the company of Bye Bye Bolero (horse) and Morpheus (cat).