Hello everyone! welcome to my new book! Changed Forever, now, this first chapter is a bit lengthy, but i can't go jumping into the action without talking a bit about the back-story now could I?! Well, I could. But that wouldn't make for a good read, so anyway i hope you enjoy it ;)

Additional: if any of you really struggle to understand some of the complicated parts, PM me and I will try and explain.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters. Other canon characters and stuff are owned by their respective companies.

Exclaimer: You dont have to read it if you dont like it, no ones forcing you... hehehe...

-Chapter One-

-Where it all began-

The summer suns blazing orange peak slowly rose over the horizon, casting gold across the vast stretch of the South Pacific Ocean, emptiness as far as the eye could see. As the rays of light expanded they hit something, a mountainside, protruding from the empty blue like a rocky monolith.

This speck on the sea, this 'island', was the isle of profectus. A small isle covered in dense jungle and smooth, golden sandy beaches, birds took flight from their nests in the side of the mountain and the jungle canopy's to bask in the glory of the sun, warming their feathers as they dived whirled and circled in the light of dawn

Many would say that this small stretch of land was a paradise, a haven. A sunny retreat for the rich, but those people didn't know that this island, for all intents and purposes did not exist in any records, maps or satellite images. This island was not a paradise, in fact its main purpose was to house a facility, a particularly dangerous facility with secrets inside that the world would hopefully never know.

And it is in this facility where the story begins

A high pitch beeping noise awoke Vincent up from a deep dreamy sleep, lights came on above his head as he tossed and turned trying to ignore the bleeps of the alarm clock. He pulled the duvet over his head in an attempt to block it all out; but the alarm was driving him nuts.

Vincent sighed angrily and furiously pushed the blanket off as he sat up, he rubbed his eyes and yawned before reaching over and thumping the snooze button on the alarm clock until it stopped annoying him.

'Stupid, bloody early rises, I hate them!' he whispered groggily to himself as he took his face out of his hands and looked at the 24 hour clock by his bedside which read: 5:30.

He kicked the last bit of duvet off his feet before placing them over the side, all the time wondering why he hadn't gotten used to the early rises, after all, Vincent had slept and woke the same way, in the same room on the same bed for about fourteen years, ever since his father had 'allocated' him a room at the age of one and a bit, with the alarm being introduced at about seven, but maybe he just needed more time to adjust.

He didn't really care though, an early morning was an early morning, Vincent was going to be tired no matter how used to it he became, and besides, he thought, it wasn't as if he was the only one who had to get up early. In fact it was regulation that all the staff in facility 2 got out of their rooms ready for work at about 6:00 in the morning.

Vincent stood up off of the bed and stretched, throwing his arms up in the air and straightening his back letting out a groan of pleasure as his muscles adjusted to the morning. He then took a sweeping look around his bedroom, but it wasn't just a bedroom, since facility 2 was a secret instillation, its entire workforce lived, worked and died in the facility, there was no going back, everyone got their own little home from home. They all looked the same, but the staff could personalize them to match their tastes for example Vincent had his room painted red, most of the facility was underground so everyone had to make do without windows, but for some reason the colour made him concentrate better when he was researching for a project set by his father

Vincent walked into his bathroom suite and went over to the sink. He turned on the hot water tap and splashed his face with warm water before drying up and looking at himself in the mirror.

Vincent Price was a 'tall, handsome, and clever' teenager, or at least he liked to think of himself that way, But he was definitely tall with a head of black curly hair atop a pair of dark grey eyes and nearing his sixteenth birthday, he was also clever in a way that most teenagers weren't, he was in all ways a young genius. He often toyed with the thought that he had been engineered, a prototype 'perfect' human, after all he was raised in a facility that was designed to explore the more exotic fields of science that society would go out of their way to stop, as the ethical and moral issues with the things that went on at facility 2 were off the charts, which is why it was all so secretive, but he just as often dismissed the idea as complete crap.

Vincent walked out of the bathroom and through the wall to wall arch that lead from the bedroom to the living area, as soon as he did this a soothing female voice came from speakers flush with the wall

'Morning Vincent, it is five thirty eight on a Tuesday, the sun is shining bright for now but there will probably be a thunderstorm later on in the evening'

'Morning RAI' Vincent said as he walked to his wardrobe and started to clothe himself 'RAI, why is it that you always mention the weather? You know I rarely go outside, and why would it matter anyway?' he asked, pulling a T-shirt over his head.

'well Vincent I always like to entertain the possibility that you might one day step outside and explore the island you've lived on for fifteen years, rather than only going out to the beach recreation area for a tan and a little bit of fresh air'

Vincent laughed, as he pulled some black jeans up his legs, RAI was facility 2's 'lady of the house' her full name was FERAI which stood for facility 2's environmental regulatory artificial intelligence, but so far as Vincent knew everyone just called her RAI, it made her sound more human, even though she was just a highly advanced computer with a witty sense of humour, he had even made her laugh once or twice, but her main purpose wasn't to give the scientists that worked at facility 2 someone to talk too, RAI kept everything running at an optimum level from air conditioning to core containment throughout all five levels of facility 2.

The facility didn't actually need five nuclear reactors but it made sure that if one of them failed, the failsafe on that floor wouldn't activate, if the main power was cut off to one of facility 2's floors, the back-up power supply would be activated which is essentially an enormous drain of power. When this runs out however, the failsafe becomes active. The facility housed things that simply weren't ready for the world, things that couldn't get out under any circumstance. When the failsafe gets activated, facility 2 would be disintegrated by the several thermo nuclear bombs that lined the walls of the underground complex. Out of the three facilities' currently built, only facility one was compromised to that extent.

The facilities were commissioned, paid for and planned in secret by the CEO of Organon industries, Milton Stadler, a fanatical scientist who wanted unhindered progress and would do anything to get it. He was a very powerful man.

Organon industries were the largest, most successful and most powerful pharmaceutical company on the planet. Vincent liked to think of it like the umbrella corporation from the resident evil series he was so fond of, except cooler, and with security protocols that aren't about as useful as a toaster in a bath, prone to shocking and at least one guaranteed death.

Once Vincent was fully clothed and had something to eat, he walked over to the door and as he did so a ray of light came from the top of the door frame and scanned him, the light flashed green and the door slid open.

Every person in facility 2 was surgically allocated a Genetichip, these were small Nano-computer chips placed in the users body, often in the back of the skull. Their purpose was to essentially tag all the staff in the complex, give them a clearance level and to keep record of their DNA. The chips could upload and receive information wirelessly to and from RAI's mainframe, this would allow for clearance level updates in the event of a promotion and monitoring where people were in the facility, it was essentially a key card and a tracking device that people couldn't steal for access to the base

'Goodbye RAI' Vincent said, walking out of the door

'Vincent I'm everywhere in this facility at once, saying goodbye to me is pointless seeing as you won't ever leave'

'Well you know me RAI, I'm a gentleman, I've a lady in my room, and I can't just leave without saying goodbye' Vincent replied sarcastically as he started to walk down the sterile white corridors of facility 2's living area, making gestures to fellow older scientists who, like him, were adjusting to the early morning RAI laughed slightly but didn't reply.

Vincent needed to go see his father, Edward Price; he had a project assigned to him that he needed to hand in today. As there were barely any people his age here, having a school in facility 2 seemed rather pointless, instead Vincent was brought up being tutored by a variety of willing scientists who were eager to get on his father's good side, and as such he was extremely knowledgeable about pretty much anything science related, he was a genius after all, and although he was not technically qualified to work at facility 2, it's not like he could leave, and even if he could his father wouldn't allow it.

Vincent was approaching the centre of facility 2's first level; the tram room. This is where all the workers of facility 2 went after they woke up to go to their designated working zone.

Floor one was the living area, where the workers came for some R&R after their lab work if it wasn't an overnight job, which often it was. Floor 2 was the white-zone labs and it was designed to support psychological experiments and engineering developments, it required the lowest level of clearance. Floor 3 was the blue-zone and its purpose was to develop new computing technologies, mainly artificial intelligence, it was also the area that housed RAI's motherboard. After that floor was the green-zone, which was designed to house biological experiments, genetics, stem cell research and neurobiology. Floor 5 was the red-zone labs. That was where all the really dangerous things went down, and it required the highest level of clearance, which Vincent did not have, his father had only provided him with a level four on his key-card.

Vincent entered the tram room, the total population of facility 2 was about 340 people, but there was only about 90 people in the very large open space of the tram room, the room itself was shaped like a very large semicircle, at the peak of the semicircle was the entrance to facility 2, outside there was a very large concrete platform where various air hangers and landing pads allowed for imports of food and lab equipment, and sometimes very important people from Organon industries who came to observe projects and decide if they were ready for the real world, among other things.

The walls that lead from the tip to the base of the semi-circle were dotted with various opened and closed doors that lead to the various living areas built to support facility 2's population.

The wall at the base of the semi-circle had 5 large rectangular openings that were flush with the wall, these holes were to let trams through to pick up workers and supplies and take them down to the lower levels of the complex.

There were grooves cut into the floor that came out of the openings to house the whole underside of the tram as well as its apparatus required for moving. This was to make the trams compartment level with the floor, purely for convenience.

There were 3 Trams currently 'docked' at their stations, the others were most likely heading down or up through the 5 levels of facility 2.

Vincent's father Edward price had been doing some overnight work down in the red zone, so Vincent couldn't go hand his dossier directly to him, he was not permitted into that part of facility 2, if he was seen he would be in significant trouble with Edward, and that's something Vincent didn't want to be, ever.

He walked to the nearest tram and joined the small cue that was formed at one of the 3 entrances to the trams compartment, well technically there were 4 entrances, but Vincent really didn't fancy vaulting the railing onto the trams electrified tracks just to get in quickly.

He stepped into the air conditioned space and felt a firm hand patting his shoulder, he turned his head and standing in the entrance behind him was a tall, very well built frighteningly pale man with a head of slivery grey, curly hair and a pair of deep indigo eyes.

'Guten Morgen Vincent' the man greeted in a deep German accent

'Oh hey Kelmore, I almost didn't recognise you' Vincent replied sarcastically

Kelmore laughed heartily as he and Vincent found a seat, Kelmore Kessler was one of Vincent's teachers and his best and only friend, he was also reasonably young and at times a bit of a sociopath, around 23, the closest to Vincent's age group than any other person in the facility, even though he didn't look like it at all. He could also be considered non-human, he wasn't an alien but he was changed enough to be considered as something else. This was because Kelmore was a survivor of the Omvenefix project.

Originally launched in facility 1, the projects goal was to create 'super soldiers' by inducing them with a drug called Omvenefix, which was produced by placing an extremely rare volatile liquid compound inside of an unwilling host, once inside them the compound would mix with adrenalin and other hormones, it would then evaporate a gaseous drug called Omvenefix through the hosts skin pores. Live, human hosts made better producers, as they provided a steady stream of the necessary hormones; unwilling hosts did even better, as they produced far more adrenalin.

The drug could then be injected into a subject's muscles and/or brain, greatly enhancing cognitive function, strength and agility. At first the project seemed to be a resounding success, but things quickly turned sour. An increase in demand resulted in the hosts that produced the Omvenefix receiving far more compound when producing batches of the drug, the hosts produced more but their bodies 'burnt out' more quickly, the compound fused with the hormones to0 quickly and so started to fuse with the host. This resulted in a shocking series of mutations turning them into mindless horribly deformed abominations, but the Omvenefix produced by the hosts with more of the compound in them was different, this was named Omvenetin and was put to testing immediately, this drug gave the host extreme regenerative properties on top of the effects of the old drug. Or at least that's the only thing they thought it did, but by the time Omvenetin was put to mass production it was too late.

The old Omvenefix super-soldiers were one by one being induced with the new Omvenetin, this was why there were a small amount of survivors and Kelmore being one of them because the new drug had terrible side effects. Vincent couldn't remember the laundry list of neurological disorders and awful symptoms it caused, but Kelmore had told him the results were similar to the rage virus from the film 28 days later, just without any means of spreading, but with a 100 strong army of genetically enhanced regenerating super soldiers facility 1 was lucky to have survived that disaster without a facility wide decontamination. Kelmore had told Vincent that they simply just had to quarantine the area of the facility with the 'infected' in and wait till they starved. They then disposed of all their Omvenetin reserves and sent the remaining Omvenefix soldiers to help staff the newly constructed facility 2; they numbered about 7, including Kelmore, all near the top of their respective fields.

The doors of the tram slid closed, making a light beeping noise as they did so and the tram smoothly and slowly followed its track forwards and downwards into the white-zone labs

Vincent sat in one of the comfortable chairs that lined the sides of the tram next to Kelmore, he then turned to him and asked quizzically 'Kelmore I was actually on my way to see you down in the green zone, I thought you were doing some overnight work on cross species genetics?'

'Well your father wanted me to escort you to him before you did anything else today; he said it was important; you wanted to see me, why?'

Vincent paused, looked at Kelmore for a second before saying 'uh… well I just wanted to ask you to give my project to my father'

'Well I suppose you can give it to him when you see him' Kelmore responded as if everything were ordinary

'… But my father's down in level 5'

'I know, you've been given temporary clearance, I'm just here to make sure you don't get lost'

'Oh' Vincent mumbled slightly puzzled, breaking his gaze and straightening his back against the chair

'What does he want to see me about?' Vincent asked not looking at Kelmore, still wondering what it could be

'He didn't say, but don't worry it's probably terrible' Kelmore joked, he laughed and slammed Vincent on the back with his hand, Vincent too laughed, but the laugh was empty, he was worried, he had never been in the red-zone before and he wondered if he was in trouble, he didn't know why or if he was just paranoid, but his father was known to be slightly ruthless and Vincent didn't want to face his wrath.

Kelmore looked around and saw Vincent's look of concern, he placed a hand on his shoulder and said firmly but comfortingly 'don't worry, the red-zone has some awful things in it, but it is safe, and your father is a good man, I doubt this is about a punishment'

'Cheers' Vincent thanked Kelmore half heartedly

Kelmore paused then smiled, looked at Vincent and said half serious 'don't get too happy, I'm coming round yours later'

'Why?'

'Your initiation exams for a level five clearance start today'

Vincent just sighed and remained silent

'I'll be at yours at 8 tonight' Kelmore finished.

Vincent thought to himself that it was just going to be one of those days

A few minutes went by as the tram descended into the facility, stopping temporarily at its designated stations in each of the levels of facility 2 to pick up and drop off new people. By the time the tram arrived at the entrance tunnel to facility 5 Vincent got a couple of strange looks as the tram docked at its station to pick up and drop off people, they probably didn't get the memo that Vincent was allowed down in level five, but when they saw Kelmore they averted their gaze and sat down.

The tram slowed to a halt as it arrived at its station, there was a surround sound chiming noise and the three doors of the tram slid open. Passengers all around Vincent arose; he himself was one of the last to exit the bus-like transport. Kelmore was waiting by a large metal container mounted on an unmanned forklift. He gestured for Vincent to follow, and that is what he did. Vincent looked back as the tram ascended with its new load of people and equipment, he longed to be on it, he felt very out of place here, he'd lived in facility two all his life and he'd only really heard stories about this place. Even if he wanted to he couldn't sneak down here without clearance, there were scanners at the entrances and exits to the tram tunnels that went from one level to another, similar to the ones mounted on the doors of his living quarters, and everyone else's; the tram just wouldn't go if there was someone with insufficient clearance on board.

They passed multiple lab workers heading in different directions to and from the many side entrances that lead to different parts of the red-zone labs, the room itself was almost an exact duplicate of the first floor a semi-circle, but just rotated 180 degrees, with side entrances and one large main door that lead away from the tram room deeper into the complex.

Vincent and Kelmore reached this door, Kelmore nodded towards an intimidating security guard standing by the controls that operated the large titanium blast doors, which, sealed automatically in the event of a 'minor' emergency. They passed through the threshold into a large air-conditioned T-junction-corridor, Vincent didn't know what was down the corridor to his left but they kept straight, moving down a ramp. Kelmore kept quiet as did Vincent. The corridor opened into a lobby room with a desk, placed in front of a large cylindrical fish tank with corridors leading off behind the tank and to its left and right

There was a stick thin lady sat behind the desk tapping away on a keyboard, she stopped and looked up at Kelmore, a warm smile spread across her pale face as she greeted him with a light Russian accent 'hey there Kelmore, it's good to see you'

'You too Natalka, I'm here to see Edward if I could just go on through'

Natalka, like Kelmore Was a survivor of the Omvenefix project, she had long silvery hair made into a pony tail that reached just down to the back of her shoulders, and a gaunt face with a pair of indigo eyes, she was into her thirties and way out of his league, but Vincent still found her attractive.

'Sure, Edwards back there, turn left, third door on the right, MTM lab 1, can't miss it' Natalka replied, gesturing with her thumb where they should walk

Vincent was busy admiring the array of tropical fish that were swimming around in the tank, but he noticed Kelmore keeping eye contact with Natalka for longer than necessary, smiling all the while, which, Vincent thought suggested that there was more going on between the two than just friendly greetings.

Walking round the gargantuan fish tank and heading down the corridor, Vincent and Kelmore passed many large thickly glassed windows placed next to doors that viewed the interior of the large separated labs. Some were busy and some had nothing happening in them, the couple passed a particularly nasty lab where several men in hazmat suits were making futile attempts to clean the blood that was spattered across every part of the room, Vincent couldn't see clearly through the gore and cartilage that decorated the window but he thought he saw the remains of an unfortunate test subject. Vincent didn't want to ask Kelmore but felt he had to

'What happened to that poor sod? He asked

'You really want to know?' Kelmore replied

Vincent said nothing and pushed the thought to the back of his mind, Kelmore wasn't even fazed by the horrible scene and Vincent realized that he had probably seen a lot of things like that. They continued on down to the end of the corridor where they approached another T-junction, they turned left and eventually reached the lab Natalka mentioned on the right side of the hallway, on the door were the words Matter transmission mechanism lab one.

They approached the door and a white grid of light passed over them, the light flashed green and the door opened.

Once inside Vincent looked around, the room itself wasn't huge, maybe just a little bigger than his living quarters and more open, immediately to his left was a three-manned computer console with a reinforced glass screen that went up about 2 metres then met a large metal frame that came out of the ceiling; Vincent guessed it was a blast shield. The lab itself was split into two pieces, the piece he was in now was walled off from the main testing area, and Vincent was standing in front of a large steel door which said: WARNING TEST AREA. HAZARDOUS MATERIAL SUITS MUST BE WORN AT ALL TIMES. The door lead into a small decontamination airlock with hazmat suits on hung on the walls, presumably it was to remove any hazardous substance before they came back into the console room to begin testing.

The pair walked towards the console where two people sat, and one stood back against the thick glass that viewed back into the corridor, this man was Edward price, he stood tall, a somewhat proud man just into his fifties, with a head of short, greasy, curly, greying hair with bags under his small brown eyes and grey stubble ruling his aging slender face; suggesting a series of late and stressful nights hence the coffee held in his hand. Edward took a sip as he turned to look at Vincent, he gave a tender smile as he pulled his son into a short hug, being careful not to spill hot coffee over himself or Vincent, and he then pulled away.

'Thank you professor Kessler,' he said addressing Kelmore with slow and sincere look, Kelmore just nodded. 'Now, Vincent, I wanted to talk to you' seeing his sons uneasy look he added 'oh don't worry, it's not a punishment but…' he paused for a second 'the news couldn't really be called good either' Vincent's stomach sank 'it's about your mother…'

Vincent became instantly confused, and totally forgot the project dossier in his hands. For as long as he could remember his father had told him that his mother had died in child birth, and he had left it at that, Vincent had just assumed that the topic made Edward uncomfortable

'It's just that, you're coming to a milestone in your life and I wanted you to know the truth, I've, I've, lied to you for so long, and I, I feel like I should tell you the truth' Edward added

Vincent had never seen his father like this before, it might have been the several late nights and coffee affecting him, but it didn't change his curiosity, Vincent had become intrigued…

'What do you mean? You've lied to me? What's the truth!?' Vincent blurted

His father was sat down now; he took a long swig of his coffee before turning the enamel mug upside down letting a few drops of coffee hit the floor, he raised his hand up to his eyes rubbing them shamefully, he sighed and was about to say something when the door to the decontamination airlock whirred open, a man stepped through the heavy steel doorway, faced Edward and said 'were good to go professor' before hurrying to his seat as Edward stood up and guiltily told Vincent to wait a little bit.

Vincent walked behind the console, standing next to his father and peered into the test chamber. This second part of the room was well lit and about one metre lower than the console room; it sloped down from the console room and there was a ramp in the back right corner of the room that lead down from the decontamination chamber, the floor of the room had two large mechanisms protruding from circular pads on the floor spaced about five metres apart with part of the machine going into the ceiling, there were two large titanium posts on each pad that were fixed to the floor that were shaped like blocky pincers; coming out of the pad at an angle, straightening up to become perpendicular at a 90 degree angle to the floor then angling inward to essentially form an incomplete and strange looking metal archway. Around it was essentially a thinner, inverted duplicate of the unfinished arch, except this version was mounted to what Vincent assumed to be a very powerful motor on the ceiling, this part of the mechanism looked like a claw that was trying to pick up the arch beneath it, the gap between the two metal structures was small but Vincent could tell that the outside arch was lined with a brilliant white metal, that glowed radiantly. The outside arch was able to swivel around the fixed arch without being interrupted, presumably to create some sort of field. The other circular pad looked exactly the same as the first one but the main difference was that there wasn't something in the centre of the second pad. Vincent focused his gaze and there, placed dead centre in the middle of the first pad was a cage with a medium sized rat squeaking happily, unaware of its impending doom.

The fluorescent metal caught Vincent's eye again and he turned to Kelmore as his father was busy directing the scientists sat at the console and telling them what to do. Kelmore met Vincent's gaze as he asked quietly

'What is that glowing white metal?'

'That, Vincent, is uneupentium, it is extremely rare and implications for the laundry list of bizarre effects it can have are still being tested, one of them is apparently matter transmission'

Vincent was about to ask some more questions when his father inadvertently cut him off; he had taken a small old fashioned voice recorder out of his lab-coat and had his finger on the recording button whilst speaking into the tiny microphone.

'professor Edward price MTM test log entry fifty seven…' he said the number so bitterly that Vincent actually recoiled a little; his father had probably spent a good part of the last couple of days at this and it obviously hadn't gone well… 'Initiating test number fifty seven, using viable mechanism calibration E-7, subject is within testing area, engage the mechanism.'

Edward leaned forward and gave a nod to one of the console operators, Vincent watched as all three of them started tapping away at keyboards and furiously making tiny adjustments on the rest of the console. Vincent directed his gaze through to the testing area and saw the mechanisms begin to move. The outer claw on each pad started to turn, faster and faster, Vincent stared; entranced by the machine, as it started to glow, with an ominous white light.

He was unfortunately drawn away from the amazing spectacle before him, as once more, his father was addressing him in a slightly guilty tone.

'Vincent I… I have told you the truth, I can't say I told you all of it though, you're mother, she died bringing you into this world, just… just not the way you would think…'

His father however was cut off, as something was happening in the testing area, and Vincent could tell that from his father's expression that it wasn't anything good. A stream of curses came from Edwards's mouth as he saw what was happening; he shoved the man at the middle of the console out of the way and was now furiously fiddling around with the console. Vincent decided to peer through the glass to see what was happening himself, as did Kelmore. he saw that the mechanisms outer claw had either broken or misaligned itself, the motor frame and the outer claw were shaking violently, when all of a sudden a brilliant burst of white energy radiated from the sender node, it seemed to just ignore the reinforced glass and wall passing straight through them, and everyone in the room either swore, gasped or both, but then his father took charge of the situation.

His father half turned to Vincent whilst screaming at the three console attendees to shut it down. He then directly addressed Vincent and Kelmore

'Vincent I'm sorry, we'll talk about this later, I have to address this first, I'll come meet you in your living quarters when I'm done down here, Kelmore, take Vincent back up to his room and tell him to wait there…'

Kelmore agreed without question and he and Vincent made their way out, Vincent still clutching his project folder in his hands, feeling extremely confused about what his father had told him.

~=~ Later ~=~

Vincent was in his living room area, enjoying the wonderful combination of pizza and Hellboy. It was 10 past eight at night and either Kelmore or his father had to turn up soon, perhaps even both of them would turn up at the same time.

No matter how hard he tried Vincent couldn't shake what his father had told him, it was constantly there nagging at the back of his head: 'what was the whole truth?' 'What wasn't his father telling him?' And 'Had his father lied about anything else?' these and other such questions had been bothering him for a good part of the day and hadn't allowed him to concentrate much, or enjoy the film he was watching.

Vincent finished eating then switched off the monitor. He turned to look at a wall clock in frustration, he knew his father could be late sometimes but also knew that Kelmore just wasn't the late type. Like, he wasn't late, ever. Vincent remembered hating him at times for turning up for particularly dismal revision sessions, on time, sometimes even turning up a little early. But when he wasn't being a serious professor, Kelmore could be a great laugh.

Vincent waited a couple of more minutes before deciding enough was enough. It was now half-eight and still no sign of someone trying to come in

Vincent spoke aloud to apparently nobody. 'RAI, You there?'

'I'm always here Vincent' a soothing female voice said calmly

'Yeah well, it makes me more comfortable.'

'If you insist'

'Anyway, can you tell me where my father and Kelmore are?'

'Your father and Kelmore are down in the red-zone labs, your father is in MTM lab 1 and Kelmore is moving to meet him'

'Right, ok' Vincent paused to think for a moment before continuing 'when does my level 5 temporary clearance expire?'

'Clearance expires T-minus three hours and thirty minutes'

And without another word Vincent was out of his door and on his way to his father

The second trip to the red-zone was far more daunting for Vincent than the first, as there was no Kelmore with him, but the worst he got were a few strange looks and a fright when the trams scanner passed over him at level 4's station.

Vincent passed through the massive doors and the security guard only stared at him curiously before returning to doing nothing. Vincent passed the corridor to his left, down the ramp, and through the office with the comically large fish tank into the corridor behind it. He stopped however at the left corner of the corridor as he heard several voices and what sounded like a struggle. He poked his head round the corner and saw Kelmore. Being restrained by two heavily decked out security personal.

The unfortunate Kelmore had his vision obscured by a makeshift blindfold, he was also gagged hence the furious mumbling. Kelmore's enhanced muscle and agility counted for nothing against the personal in MK 3 exo-power armour, who, if they wanted to could tear Kelmore open easier than a packet of dry roasted peanuts.

Kelmore and his captors disappeared into his father's lab. Vincent needed to get closer, but had a feeling that things would get ugly fast if he showed up unexpectedly, and there wasn't any out of sight places he could go to listen in that immediately came to mind. He looked past the lab door and the glass screen and saw the entrance to a ventilation duct.

Bingo.

He had a hard time removing the grate but Vincent finally managed to get in. he dropped to his hands and knees and crawled into the tiny cramped space. The grate was close to the floor to allow maintenance units easy access for repairing fans and other things in the system. From where Vincent was, the shaft directed up. Vincent managed to stand and pull his upper torso to the tunnel above. From here he hauled the rest of his body up and through the small tunnel.

He could hear voices now, muffled by the several obstructions but none the less he was close. Vincent felt awfully claustrophobic in the cramped space, there wasn't enough room to turn around and if someone replaced the grate he would be screwed. So he had to be quick. He shuffled through the vents a bit more until he saw another grate, this time leading to his father's lab, he could hear the voices more clearly now as he quietly got closer to the opening.

The opening itself was placed in the upper left corner of the wall furthest away from the door, from his position Vincent could see part of the decontamination unit, all of the console room and the sender node of the MTM testing area.

Vincent suppressed a gasp, he saw, clear as day, Kelmore, cuffed to the titanium posts on the sender node. He was utterly confused, what was Kelmore doing there and what was his father doing?! He thought. His father's nervous actions were jittery and disjointed, Vincent suspected a sleep deprivation coffee overdose combo.

One of the personal in the clunky power armour sidled through the heavy steel door and nodded at Edward. Vincent's father stumbled to the console and placed his finger on a small green button, Edwards's voice sounded in the testing area and the console room. The button was obviously for intercom.

'I wouldn't struggle Kelmore you'll damage the mechanism even more, who knows what could happen then?' his father paused to grab a cup of coffee of the console and glug the tepid drink straight down. 'don't worry, I think I'll calibrate it so your death will be relatively painless… at least you'll die in the name of science…' Edward threw the coffee mug with hatred and it shattered on the floor just beneath the grate. Vincent stared, shocked as his father feverishly tapped and hammered the console. The mechanisms started to turn just as they had before. They started to glow just as they had done before. But they also did something new, and from his father's confused expression, Vincent could tell that this definitely hadn't happened before. The glow became far more intense, and small amounts of white electricity arced from the sender mechanism.

Vincent could see his father slowly back away from the console and look hastily around for help, like a lost child trying to look for something. The arcs of electricity grew larger and eventually the combination cracked the glass screen.

Vincent's father directed his attention to the security personal, who were also freaking out 'G-get everyone out of here!' Edward moved hastily to the door out of the lab as he almost shouted 'E-evacuate the red-zone!'

Vincent couldn't even see Kelmore anymore, and as the glass screen shattered Vincent started to freak out, his claustrophobia got the better of him and he spent unnecessary time shuffling about in the tiny cramped space.

Eventually he got out of the vents and looked around. Alarms were sounding now and the air was a strange white haze. There weren't any people around, they had all probably evacuated already. Vincent progressed towards the tram room but as time increased he found it hard to breathe and, as the white haze became more obscuring, Vincent's skin also began to tingle. As he passed the fish tank things began to get difficult, there was a distinct crackling of electricity all around him and Vincent was now in a lot of pain, he made the gruelling journey up the ramp and could see the tram room. The huge blast doors were still open and he could see his father directing workers and scientists to the trams, vincent opened his mouth to scream at Edward out of anger and desperation, but either nothing came out or the shout was just inaudible.

Vincent screamed again, a little louder now and his father turned to the source of the noise. Vincent was now by a large heavy duty crate with hazard symbols on it and couldn't move anymore, the awful burning shocking pain was too much; Vincent was close to passing out. He saw his father say nothing, just run towards his in danger son, Vincent's vision was blurred but he could still see the titanium doors slide shut, he could see his father scream at the doors operator, but the last thing he saw was his father's grief-stricken, shocked face as the doors slammed close.

Vincent closed his eyes, he felt and heard the crate rupture as hazardous materials were sent everywhere, all over the floor, and all over him. He felt the sting of the electricity more than ever as it embraced him, arcing all around, crackling and consuming.

Vincent was finally offered an escape from the pain as he lost consciousness.

Well, what do you guys and gals think? pretty intense huh? I am sorry if you found this a little long but dont worry its gonna get better ;)

leave a review if you like, and please, i dont mind constructive criticism, but if you came to flame, go away. Go be irrationally hateful on somebody else. nuff' said...

I dont know when the next chapter will arrive but fingers crossed it will be soon because my exams are almost finished :D