PROJECT BABEL

***Somewhere in New York***

The sound of a door beeping open could be heard in the facility as a man wearing a lab coat came out of a room, a face mask on.

He took careful strides down the steel corridor illuminated by bulbs hanging overhead from the ceiling then lifted his card up to the door and has his eyes scanned as the doors opened up for him.

The room was dimly lit and a woman dressed in green overalls was strapped to a chair, tubes going through her arms .

At the other end of the room, a group of scientists were monitoring her vitals and taking notes down.

"Notice anything unusual?" The Doctor asked them. One of the scientists, a black American guy in afro spoke up first.

"Sir, we think her body is rejecting the new drug. If we keep this up, her system might shut down."

"If you were adjusting the dosages properly, I doubt that would happen." He replied harshly, glancing at the pale looking woman whose head was bent.

"She's barely alive, Sir. This here is showing her heart rate and blood pressure.." another scientist added circling some areas on the monitors. There were many red areas and few green areas.

"Do we have another subject? Someone else we can use to try out the drug?" The man asked them.

"No Sir."

"What do you mean no? Have you forgotten what this project is called?" He demanded.

"Excuse me sir but we've lost over a 300 patients in the last 5 years. Maybe it's time we put this drug to rest and focus on-"

"Don't you dare suggest what you think is right to me here! Perhaps, you don't know what is a stake. This drug is going to cause an awakening of the human mind, giving them access to use all parts of their locked up intuition and therefore possess unending power."

The facility door beeped open as a man with gray hair entered in with someone dressed in a black hood. As he came closer, it was evident that he walked with a limp, using a walking stick as well. He had a face mask on too.

"How's the project going?" The man asked.

"I'm afraid it might come to nought, Sir. I don't see any hope here in this for us."

"Hm." The gray headed man replied thoughtfully, his eyes watching the lady seated on the chair. Then he turned to the lady by his side with a smile.

"Alex, this is The NXT."

The man called director turned to the person with a hood over their face, only to meet with glowing emerald green eyes staring back at him. He moved back in shock.

The other man smiled at him.

"She's stronger than her prodigy, Alex. She's been very useful to us."

The NXT stretched out her hand to shake that of Alex, her grasp firm.

"That's er- great. So, why has- why have you come with her Sir?" Alex asked uncomfortably.

"I suppose that these humans are too weak to accept the new drug so, I have brought BABEL 002 for a trail and if it doesn't work, we'll give this up."

Alex's eyes widened in fear. "Are you sure about this , Sir? This could be very dangerous for her."

She chuckled. "I've seen worse and yet, here I am. I've agreed to volunteer myself as a test subject for this new drug afterall, if it does work, it's to our benefit; right?"

She asked, turning to look at Alex.

He glanced at the other man and then at the NXT.

"Mr Marcus, we have a new test subject. Can you please disengage the present subject and make preparation to set up the new one?"

The scientists exchanged glances with each other unsure of what to make of his request.

"But Sir, we can't do that yet. If we disengage this present specimen, she might die."

Alex turned to face them in a fit of rage.

"You already said there was no hope so why are you acting like the subject is going to get any better? I said, disengage and set up a new apparatus for the next test subject."

The scientists quickly rallied themselves and wheeled the woman out while Marcus asked for another apparatus to be brought in.

Another guy called Chan, came to meet her to get her changed into a subject attire as they set up the monitors and the tubes.

She came out dressed in green overalls like the former woman and was led to the chair where she was strapped.

"This is going to hurt. We need you to sign this form first that you agree-" Marcus presented a form to her, she flung it across the floor and it landed in front of Alex's feet.

She turned to Marcus and smiled.

"I didn't come here to talk Teletubby, I came here for business so quit briefing me or you'll end up getting flushed down the toilet with your belt wrapped around your neck."

Her voice was thick and smooth, her face mask still on.

The nurses came and did the normal procedures before passing the tubes through her arms.

"How do you feel?" Marcus asked from the other end of the room as he watched her vitals on the monitors.

"Normal. How come there are no tubes going through my legs yet or is that for when the party gets heated?"

She asked smugly. The scientists exchanged glances with one another as they watched her vitals.

"It's coming, are you ready for it?"

"Lol. I've been ready since I got in here, the question is; is it ready for-"

She froze on the chair as her hands clamped down on the arms of the chair, her eyes widening in shock.

"Marcus, what's going on?" Alex asked, a fearful look on his face. He and the other man went close, trying to get a closer look at her.

Her teeth chattered loudly and then she screamed.