And so you peer into the mist [Gamma]

August 14th 2017
–

The clock ticked, the sound was almost maddening in a sense as he watched the hands circle around the white circle called a clock. The small grey orbs followed them with a minute amount of interest. The entire room was white, sterile to an extent and he loved every bit of it. He mouth was stretched into a sort of impish grin as he looked around, a dresser held all of his clothes and he was sitting on his bed, rather plain compared to the bedrooms of most fifteen year old's. It was almost time, they always came around this time and that much he knew. Those people in their white coats, all smiles and sweetness. He was hoping the one would come though, they always had some kind of sweets on them.

Almost as if on schedule, the door opened and a woman in a lab coat stepped through, salt and pepper hair held in a bun. As always she smiled a sweet smile that found itself greeted with one in turn, his legs kicking around on the side of his bed. He was dressed in a white jacket with pants that matched, as well as the shirt underneath it. One could say they had a thing for white and they would have not been wrong. ”Are you ready for today?” She would ask, not in a tone that could be taken for patronizing but something about it made him trust her intrinsically.

”Yeah!” He said with a small amount of unconstrained excitement, jumping to his feet. It was almost like that of a child's, bursting from him in a sense. This seemed to please her to an extent, as she chuckled and nodded. ”So what are we doing today? Do I get to read more of those books?” He would ask, Travis loved reading them, especially the really thick ones. Granted he loved learning, so that only came with it.

”Actually, its a special surprise.” She would say with a tone of mystery that begged for him to know, and so latching onto her hand tightly he would be led into the hallways. Bright light was there to greet him, causing the male to squint slightly as they walked along. Other people in their coats would turn to acknowledge the woman with a nod, some of them calling her Masters. His mother if he remembered correctly, though that could have been a lie. Not that he knew, nor did he care, there was a form of absolute trust with him here and now. They were walking somewhere but he did not know where this was, mostly because he had not had the chance to actually memorize the entire facility.

Stepping down a flight of metal stairs, they would take an elevator which lead them to a strange room. This room stretched out long-wise, lined with glowing green tubes that cats their illumination across the shadows almost supernaturally. A primal fear and curiosity gripped him as he hid behind the woman, who held up a protective hand as if that would do something. It did actually, he felt safer to a degree; shown by a soft smile slipping across his lips. ”Is this what you wanted to show me?” He asked, now more excited than anything else, as if the fear was just a passing sensation.

”The empty tanks are not it, but it is in here.” She said with a nod, leading him further in until they stood before two unique tanks. Unique in the fact that they had two people in them, resting within the green fluid with some things attached to them probably so they could breathe.

”Who are they?”

”You're little brothers.” With a few keys typed the fluid would begin to drain from the pods into an unknown system, yet they would remain suspended by some unknown force. ”I was hoping you could greet them into this world with me.” Glass split at an unknown seam and would open with a hiss, mist releasing from the casing. With that done they would sag as if the force holding them up had given up, drawing oxygen into their lungs. They both looked like him and yet they were different in many ways, his brothers. Moving around from the woman's leg, he would crouch down and look them over.

Likely the first things they would see.

What is life? We all think we have a petty decent idea of what it means to be a living thing, but the truth is our understanding of the subject is quite slim. You wouldn't call cutting a tree down murder as most don't see plants as exactly living as humans do. So is life conscious thought? Do you have to have a mind of your own to truly be alive? If you were to ask Oliver Masters, he would tell you no, you don't.

Most people don't remember before they were born or before they had there first real thoughts. Oliver does remember though, in great detail in fact. He knew nothing. He had never felt or saw or heard anything, yet there was something other then just the blackness people described. Before he came into this world Oliver existed, his 'self' floated about the universe as he puts it. No thoughts and no other existence, but he felt his 'soul' so to speak. It went on for eternity, yet time itself wasn't even there until he was roughly pulled into this plane from the absolute peace.

He felt his body for the first time, his chest filling with the thing they call air. The peace faded, he was alive. The next few moments would spark his mind with more information then it ever had, which was none. He was almost disappointed, like waking up from a good dream. He didn't understand, but now he cared that he didn't. Before he didn't care because feelings didn't exist. He was introduced to pain next. Though it wouldn't have been to bad for a person that had been living for more then a minute it was quite shocking to the test tube child. His body had tumbled out of his pod to the ground below, ending up on his back. It didn't injure him in anyway, but it certainly did the job in shocking him into reality.

Oliver's eyes shot open to see a young man all in white looking down at him with pale grey eyes. His first sight ever was that of his older brother observing him. Oliver's face remained expressionless as he took in the concepts of sight, color, and life in general. Finally, he would look down at himself. Wiggling his limbs and rotating his head to gather more information about his surroundings. Eventually he would fumble to his knees, coughing a bit before looking to the others in the room.

He knew instinctively about communication, though how exactly that was done was unclear to him. He would make a few incoherent sounds, trying with all his might to understand but utterly failing. Instead he decided he wanted to touch things, namely the things that looked kinda like him. Scooting forward he would attempt to lay a single hand on his older brothers nose, presumably to see what it felt like.

The force by which both hit the floor was enough to make him worry for a moment,, Aloha frowning slightly as if wondering about their state, but one seemed the recover rather quickly while the other rapidly moved into a sitting position, looking at his hands curiously. No, they both seemed to take account of their limbs as well as their bodies in general, which were still dripping with the unknown fluid that had coated their tubes. They had attempted to speak, making vocalizations that were more noises than anything else in an attempt to speak. ”Are they supposed to be this messy?” Travis would ask, turning to the woman in the white lab coat, who seemed to find the thought amusing. One of them reached out, touching his nose perhaps in an attempt t understand it.

He had done something similar upon his birth, that much Travis could remember. ”What are their names?” He would ask, softly taking the hand grasping at his nose and pulling it from that. Without much warning he reached out and poked the males nose in return.

”They don't have names. Do you think you could give them one?” This seemed to delight  Travis to an extent, a she looked down at them with intense eyes, the other finally turning his attention towards him.

”I'll name you....Oliver and you Christopher.” He said after a minute of thought, pointing a finger to Oliver before directing it to the other, who seemed to consider what was said curiously.

”Christopher?” He said hesitantly, as if the word felt foreign upon his tongue, as if he had to wrestle with it. In a few seconds, he nodded as if it was acceptable or perhaps he didn't have a way to vocalize his like of the name.

”Yeah. They can't talk, can they?” He looked to the woman who shook her head, they were just like him. ”I'll teach them.” He resolved, which seemed to please the researcher as they scribbled off something on a clipboard.

”First they need clothing. We can't have your siblings walking around in the nude, now can we?” She suggested, much to his realization as he pushed himself to his feet. He demonstrated the art of standing up to his sibling before extending a hand for each to help them up, and hopefully so they could do the same. When that was done, someone would enter the room wheeling what looked like a cart in bearing clothes similar to Alpha's in color and design. With boundless energy he would take the clothes, what looked like towels and bring them to his siblings, a sort of skip in his step as he did so.

”Here.” He said, then proceeding to clean them of the weird goop before helping his new sibling get dressed, making sure they knew where to put their arms and so on. After that, he would proceed to attempt to help them stand up, something that he was doing with a relative ease. Hopefully they could learn like he could, because that would have made this so much easier.  ”There, now you're all proper and stuff.” he said with a certainty to it and a nod. The sibling he called Christopher began to examine the clothes he was in, zipping and unzipping the jacket he was placed in, as well as tugging at the sleeves.

The grabbing of his brothers nose was returned, which brought to Oliver's attention the fact that he had one as well. For the next few moments Oliver held his nose confused yet interested as he stared at the conversing beings in front of him. Eventually the subject of what to call them came up which lead to Travis giving the two test tube boys names. As soon as Alpha pointed at him Oliver knew he was being addressed. Though he didn't totally understand speech yet he was smart enough to know that was his name when he was pointed at.

"Ol-oliver...." He said in a raspy pubescent voice, pointing to himself. The recently named Oliver then bowed his head as if in deep thought, and he was. Only the offering of a hand from his older brother snapped him from his thoughts. Another interesting thing happened. Travis had got up very easily from his crouching position and stood. Now it looked as if he wanted Oliver to try. The boy grabbed the offered hand and with all the strength he could muster from his sore muscles pulled himself to his feet. It was odd at first, standing, but in mere moments he grasped the basics of it and got himself into a sturdy stance.

Next the two confused 'teenagers' were cleaned of whatever it was that was in those tubes with towels. The feeling of the towel on Oliver's skin shocked him a bit, but rather then cringe or anything he just stood slightly off balance letting himself be wiped off. Next they were walked through the troublesome task of getting dressed. If it hadn't been for Travis helping them along they would have ended up with shirts for pants. Eventually they were fully dressed in white garments, rather mundane to everyone else but a marvel to them. Oliver tugged and rubbed at the clothes for awhile, very interested in whatever the hell these things were that were just thrown on them.

Everything was new and exciting. Even straight out of the tubes they had a hunger for knowledge. Their super intelligent minds worked none stop gathering as much information as they could. It would serve them well in the next few days, they had much to learn.

They had both understood their names, which brought a great amount of delight to Travis as he clapped his hands together. They were his brothers after all, so he felt a certain amount of responsibility in taking care of them. With their minds, learning would be easy for them and with a super intelligent teacher they would only be able to learn much faster than with the mundane human. Once Chris was done examining his clothing, he looked to Travis as if expecting him to know what to do. He was the elder of them, and so far he knew things they did not, so that was maybe the proper response. ”We don't have any time to waste. We'll have to make sure they learn basic social techniques and quickly, I can trust you with that Travis, yes?” She would ask, the male nodding with a wide optimistic grin,

The opportunity to teach them was something that he really wanted and just the chance to spend time with them. How much like him would they be? Would they be stronger, smarter or even have some cool stuff like the metahumans he had heard about. True enough he was supposed to gain powers, nothing had shown up beyond that mind of his. ”Come with me you two, we have stuff to learn.” He said grabbing both Chris and oliver by the hands before leading them off.

Of course the woman would have to take them into the halls, but from there he knew the way to the nursery room. It had plenty of books to look over, so he could teach them from those and just stuff in general. His pace was quick and soon enough they were there, a stark white room that expanded far with shelves adorning the walls. Almost any educational book he could imagine was on it, anything that he would want to learn and so much more. If he spent a year in here, it was likely that he would have absorbed all of the information within it. However, he was not here to learn but to teach, so that was what he was going to do.

Bringing the two to one of the tables, he would show them the way to sit down, bringing a book from the self and beginning.

3 hours later
–
Some progress had been made as far as learning went, they were both gaining a good grasp of the language and even were capable of conversing with him. True, they were not doing any sort of complex conversations, but the fact they could talk to one another coherently was more than enough to show their mental prowess. Much like Alpha, they could've learned anything quickly, faster than any human could hope to anyway.

Books had begun to pile up on the table, read and processed so that their knowledge could better be understood by his siblings. Not that they would need his help soon enough, reading seemed to be something they were catching onto quickly as well. Chris was muttering what he read on the page to himself, working out each word until he was pleased with himself. ”I..think I understand this now. The reading I mean.” Much like Travis, his voice had a cracking quality to it, much like a person caught in the throes of puberty.

”You're both doing great.” He said, which seemed to garner a positive response from Chris, who took the praise and continued to read.

So Oliver and Christopher would be lead into a sort of library where they would spend the next few hours learning whatever they could. All seemed quite successful, in a short period of time they had learned to talk and to read. Though, of course they weren't talking like someone with a more experienced vocabulary. Oliver hadn't been quite as fast in his learning to read as Chris, yet it was still amazing on a scientific standpoint.

He had everything pretty much down but every now and then he would need to ask Travis what a word meant, which was fine, he was there to teach them after all. Finishing his book on mathematics Oliver tossed it to the side, then almost ravenously looked for something else. Though he seemed pretty focused on what he was doing Oliver's mind had been asking a lot of questions. Who wouldn't after waking up to reality from a test tube then being thrust into whatever it was they were doing now? He didn't really wanna ask the lady, and he didn't know if Travis would be able to answer all of them.

He would pick some random book and sit down to read once again. Every few seconds his eyes would twitch from his reading to Travis, as if he were trying to build up the courage to ask the more uncomfortable questions. Finally he would get fed up with what he was reading and place it on the table, he just wanted to talk now. He knew that this wasn't exactly how everyone else on this planet was made from what he gathered from reading and just pure instinct. Even though he had learned a lot in the last few hours he was still just as confused as when he fell out of his tank.

"Travis.....what are we?" Was all he could muster. He didn't exactly know what to ask, he couldn't really comprehend the questions let alone the answers. Imagine a baby, what questions would they have if they had the mind of an adult? Surly said baby would want to know where it was and what it was. Oliver's mind was asking natural questions, whether they would be answered though was unknown.

Questions, that was the sun of his existence even now. Why had he been born and what exactly as he, the sum of his life too this point, not that he had been alive too long. It was likely his siblings felt this longing too, the desire to know why they were and what they were. It was this desire to know that perhaps that bound them more than anything else, the fact that someone could likely share this feeling that made him want to be the one that took part within their learning. Chris was however engrossed within his reading, so Oliver seemed to be the  first one that actually asked what they were, which he should have been expecting.

Travis paused, scrunching up his eyebrows and looking to the table for a moment as if trying to think of what they were exactly. The problem was that he didn't know what he was. They were made with the same things that made a human as far as he was aware of, yet they were not quite human, which made things even stranger. The people in the coats had never really told them what they were, so that also meant that maybe they didn't even know, which meant they would have to think of something.

What were they, that was the question that had driven him to the pursuit of knowledge, but nothing he read even came close to giving him the answer that he wanted to know. All of this thought took around three seconds of his time, but it felt like much longer than that. Still, he owed his sibling an answer, so he would give the best one he could with the information that he could. ”We're humans, just...not born like normal humans. We were born in those tubes they have, we're smarter, faster, stronger and things like that.” He explained as best as he could.

It was true what he said, considering that as of now he was about as strong, if not stronger than most of adults in the facility. He had even noticed them saying something about his mental capacity, saying that it was amazing. Maybe they were impressed with him or something like that, Travis could not quite tell. Digging through the books, he found something on meta-humans, a more recent book compared to the others. ”They told me I wasn't one of these though, because I don't have the gene.” He then added, digging through the book to show a page on the meta-gene.

There were various images of meta-humans using their powers and such. ”Powers like those though, that would be pretty cool.” He added with an almost stupid grin, not that he was stupid by any means; just naive. Chris didn't really give a vocal response, but he did nod as if agreeing, turning from his book long enough to see what he was talking about.

So, they were normal, but not. Oliver had a feeling Travis' knowledge on the subject was pretty low just as his was. From what he could tell, they were some kind of lab rats. Though he wouldn't express that thought to his brothers, at least until he knew a bit more. The book on meta humans brought Oliver a sort of childish joy, it would be cool indeed.

"Woah........you think we could get stuff like that? The powers i mean." He said with a boyish grin on his face. He liked the idea of it, but Travis did say they weren't that. But, they weren't humans either, so what were they? More importantly, why were they created. Travis and Chris may not have asked themselves these questions as much as Oliver did, but it was in his nature to be suspicious. He was headstrong and rebellious, even at such a young age. He would make sure that he found out exactly what was happening here, but that would have to wait.

"Have you ever seen anybody with that?" He asked back on the subject of meta humans. He truly was interested in them, just as he was interested in pretty much everything right now. He wondered what would happen after they were finished here, what would they do next?

Saying they were lab rats would have not been too far off from what they were, but they were also something more than just that. As to what that was, well Travis had no idea, because that was something that had been kept from him rather well. If he had known, he would have told his siblings, but sadly that was not within his knowledge. ”We might.” Travis said trying not to give him false hope, though he also just did not want to give himself any false hope as well. Anything to impress the people in their white coats, that was what he wanted to do.

Still, the ability to shoot fire or move things with your mind, all things that he would have loved to be able to do. Granted, he was thinking mostly as a child would with the powers in mind, grabbing something out of reach or lightning candles. In a way, it was almost painfully innocent. All he knew was that they were not human, so maybe they could be something else entirely. The subject jumped back to meta-humans, Oliver asking if he had ever seen one with powers. ”I...haven't actually. I've seen some videos on them, but I haven't seen anyone with actual powers.” He paused, looking around before leaning forward, speaking in a hushed voice.

”I heard they were bringing something pretty cool here though. They didn't really say what it was, but it sounded like something cool.” An almost mischievous glint appeared in his eyes as he looked to Chris who seemed to catch some interest within this conversation.

”Something cool?” For a moment he thought he heard a skeptical tone, but then again that might have been his imagination.

”Yeah, they said it was unlike anything on this earth. I was thinking we could sneak into where they're holding it and get a better look.” If he remembered right, it would be in a different section of the facility altogether, which meant he would have to do a little stealth work. ”It's suppose to be here in a couple days, so that's plenty of time to prepare..” this caught Chris' interest, though all he did was let his book clap shut and nod.

”I'm....curious.” he seemed to wrestle with the word before it came out and Travis looked to Oliver for an answer.

The conversation had taken an interesting turn. As the subject of meta human powers faded from Olivers mind Travis had mentioned that the lab coat people were bring something 'cool' to the facility. What exactly that was he didn't explain, or at least the lab coat people didn't.

"Sneak? What....what if we get caught? Is it worth it Travis?" Oliver said sincerely asking his older brother. He didn't know what they would be actually sneaking around for or what the punishments entailed around here, it sounded dangerous to him. Though, because he wanted some answers that he couldn't get from Travis, he was in full agreement.

"....Alright, lets do it.." He said concerned yet curious in response to whatever Travis said about his worries.

Getting caught, now that was something that he had thought over rather thoroughly.  If anything, humans were predictable once he got used to their small quirks and schedules. ”We're not going to get caught.” He said sure of himself, standing up and picking up a large sheet of paper, as well as a pencil from a nearby table, bringing it over and slapping the paper onto the table. Rapidly, he began making lines across the white page, forming something within a matter of minutes that looked much like a map. Making small lines upon the map, he drew lines from one portion to the other.

”I have the whole place figured out, patterns people take and things like that.” He said tracing a fingertip along the the page, pointing out certain things. ”Of course it's worth it, I mean don' you want to know what they're hiding?” He was appealing to a mutual sense of curiosity at this point and hoping it would work to an extent. Chris seemed to be memorizing what he had on the page, memorizing things rather rapidly. Much like Travis had expected, the male agreed.

”I suppose that means we have two days to plan.”

”Yupp.” Travis agreed with a nod, and so they would have that time.

Oliver watched as Travis drew out what seemed to be a perfect map of the entire facility. This definitely reassured Oliver, giving him a bit more confidence about the whole thing. So they would prep and plan whatever it was they were doing for the next few days, Oliver didn't exactly know what that would entail but he was following along.

"So what do we need to do this?" Oliver would ask, now with an excited look on his face. Who didn't know what Travis' plan was, but he was more experienced in this whole living thing, so Oliver trusted him. Thoughts off what exactly they were hiding came to his mind. Besides growing kids in test tubes the trio knew very little about what exactly these lab people were up to. Maybe this endeavor would reveal some secrets. Or, at the very least, give them more of the knowledge they desperately craved.

”What do we need? Now that is the fun part.” So he explained the logistics of the whole plan, a long winded one but he had to make sure it was said in words his younger siblings could understand.

-August 16th  2017

The time had felt like it were passing slowly, but each second meant he had more time to teach his siblings and to refine his plan as things steadily changed, even if the changes were not perceptible to the lesser minded individual. Travis had been biding him time quietly but finally the time had come and the time was night as far as he was aware of. Until they worked out better rooms for his siblings, they shared one with Travis, which he didn't really mind considering the size of it. This was advantageous for him as well, considering that he could continue to plot with them while everyone else slept, the not needing much sleep portion of their physiology had a lot of uses.

”Okay guys, tonight's the night.” He said finally looking to the small clock always ticking away on the wall. Looking from one sibling to another, he let the silence persist for a few moments until he was sure the tension had been properly made. ”I hope both if you are ready because we have a three second window to walk out that door before anyone walks by.” Sure, there was a margin for error but then again he was sure they could make up for what he could not calculate for, Travis hopping off his bed and looking to the two before walking out the door.

The stark white hall was empty for the most part, stretching out in two directions, though he knew where they had to go. With siblings in tow, they were off to the left, making sure to keep an eye out for anyone, but yet there was no one so far.

So they plotted and planned for this oh so exciting thing, learning as they did. Despite seeming concentrated on his teachings Oliver's mind for the last few days had been focused on this little mission of theirs. He had speculated and questioned himself and his siblings about it, but their was only one way to know for sure what was being hidden from them. Maybe they would get some of those answers they coveted so much.

All uneasiness had left Oliver, he was now very confident in Travis' plan and wasn't worried even slightly. By this point his mind had progressed to that of a pretty intelligent adult, a naive adult, but still one none the less. Before Travis had said anything Oliver was reading quietly on his bed which had been brought into the room some time ago. He knew the time was coming and so did the others, yet he waited patently for his older brothers word before getting excited.

"I'm ready." He said casually tossing his reading material onto his pillow. He would then follow with both caution and urgency in his steps, nervous not about getting caught but about what they may find.

So the time was here and Travis was more than ready to find out what was being hidden from them, The daunting white hallways of the underground base seemed to give the illusion of an endless hallway, but once one walked down it they would find out how wrong that was. He looked absolutely sure of himself and he was, Travis rarely doubted himself when it came to a plan well put together. He had already remembered the map he had drawn up, each twist and turn that they would need to take. A lot to do for sure, but then again they were not your average people. Something like this, well it should be simple, even if they didn’t have anything superhuman about them beyond those brains.

Without wasting time, he would lead his brothers out of the door and quickly into one of the many branching hallways before he heard the sound of footsteps. It took a minutes, but they walked by and so the three could continue, though he could see that Chris was somewhat nervous about the whole thing. Not that Travis could blame him, he was far younger than him and rather inexperienced. If anything, if he were the opposite then he would have been worried. This was for the most part a lot of stealth, the three sneaking around and stopping when footsteps could be heard, eventually they found themselves standing before the door he had mapped out, Travis opening it into a room beyond.

It was dark until he flipped a switch, revealing a room with a rather strange looking containment cell, it looked like they used glass but he could see the spark of a field. Something likely to contain whatever it was that was in the cell. Whatever it was, one thing was certain, it was nothing he had ever seen before. "Woah...." He said with a small amount of awe.