The lift gave a jolt, sending the occupants deeper into the facility, levels unknown to many of the current test subjects. But Werner was all too familiar with the subterranean labyrinth of cells and corridors beneath his feet. Though the room was warm, he felt a shiver ran down his spine, and his right hand began to shake; he quickly jammed it into his pants pocket. Every moment spent in this facility was torture for Werner, even at the top levels, but as he reached the bottom, the past horrors felt even closer. Sevier was not a weak man, neither in mind or body, but what he had experienced here a few years ago had nearly broken him. He felt a noose around his neck, tightening ever so slowly until he could hardly breathe. His stomach jumped up to his chest as the elevator finally reached the bottom floor, the doors sliding open. Werner sucked in a deep breath from the diaphragm before stepping off into the dimly lit hallway, flanked by two armed Maximation guards.
The bottom floor of the Project HYBRID facility hadn’t seen any use in years. Not since Dr. Staffel was the chief of staff. The floors were covered in a thin layer of dust, and many of the fluorescent lights had gone out, leaving many sections of the floor almost completely dark. Wonder if they even bothered to clean up the blood from the cell walls. It was here that Werner, and the other subjects of Project HYBRID’s first generation, lived for six long months. His generation was identical in many ways to the current one, as far as the results, but the means to achieve them were drastically different. Day and night, they experimented upon, beaten, and starved to activate the underlying genetic mutations implanted in them. Dr. Staffel was a genius, but his methods were barbaric, treating his test subjects like cattle. Only fitting that the second generation, too, would be contained in the depths of the facility, living what might be the last of their days in the cold concrete walls. It took all the mental fortitude within him to put one foot in front of the other as he passed Cell 11. His own personal room.
Cell 15 was his first stop. Three more armed guards stood outside, shifting their weight from foot to foot, eyes scanning back and forth down the hall. Next to them, a table on which the belongings of the cell’s occupant sat. One item caught his eye though, a small cell phone. Werner removed the holster from his waist and placed it on the table, but also handed the cell phone to one of the guards accompanying him. “Run this up to Agent Rourke.” Frankly, he was astonished that the security teams allowed them to have access to the outside world, let alone personal belongings. Werner took a few more deep breaths and clenched his fist to stop it from shaking as he stared at the number 15 carved in the concrete above the steel door to the cell. He would need to collect his wits before dealing with this subject. Once he calmed down as much as possible, Werner nodded to the guards, and he stepped into the room.
There was no pass-code on his phone, since when Todd first spotted Troy cuffed and captured, he originally planned on giving Troy his phone in order that he could find her. Thus, without the pass-code, his phone, his source of communication with Naeemah, was free to be accessed by anyone. His phone could, and most likely would, be the one thing that leads Maximation right to her, and in such a crowded place, his room. Although, Todd could not be completely worried about his lover, no, she was no frail, fragile girl. Todd would even bet that among all of the Hybrids, Naeemah would be considered one of the dangerous ones. Those venomous fangs were a force to be reckoned with. Todd just recently got up close and personal with them when uniformed as one the facility's soldiers. Even for him, someone who is constantly trained in the arts of stealth, it has proven quite difficult to catch her off guard due to her thermal vision. Though, then again, Naeemah was not alone, she had Poppy with her after all. And with the current close-spaced environment, Poppy was put at a disadvantage, considering that she was aerial and seemed built for open-spaces. Though Todd believed that Naeemah would not abandon Poppy to save her own snake skin, no, she has been sticking with the girl for this long. Naeemah may be biologically cold-blooded because of the genetic mutations, though not emotionally.
The cell was bright and clean, with scientific literature lining the bookshelves on the walls and a small desk tucked into the corner, with a cot in the other. Surprisingly, the cell also had another door within its confines, which lead to a private bathroom. The cell almost mimicked a small studio apartment, though it was extremely lacking in space. These rooms were the only semi-pleasant memories Werner could associate with Project HYBRID; the initial rooms in which they were kept, before the experiments began. He wasn’t concerned with the contents of the room at the moment however, only the red-headed man who occupied it with him. “Ah, Mr. Buchanan, I’m so pleased to make your acquaintance!” he said with an excited smile. “You’ll have to excuse me for being so star-struck, but I followed you and your family’s career in the ring very closely. Why, I’d imagine we both probably watched your father when we were boys, though you must have had better seats,” Werner nervously prattled, rubbing his hands together awkwardly. Of course, he had never actually watched any of the Buchanans in the ring live, but as of late, he’d seen every one of Todd’s matches at least three times. ”Oh, I-I’m sorry, I haven’t even introduced myself, I feel like an idiot acting like this in such a serious time. I’m Dr. Sevier from the CDC, I’m here to help you,” he finished, extending his right hand, which was short almost two fingers.
Dr. Sevier, Todd repeated the name of this mysterious man. Right from the very moment Todd made eye contact with this doctor, he has been trying to read him. This is where Todd's skill of physiological intuition would come into play. Convinced inevitability is considered one of Todd's powers, although it was never injected into him. His sly charisma has been transformed, altered, and adapted through the instruction of physiologists and a detained con-artist. Though Todd has not detected any lying thus far, this man was either a trained liar just like Todd, or he was telling the truth. He has been treated civilized thus far, except for one thing, why confiscate his phone? "Well, it's pleasure to meet a fan, it's been a while since I said that," Todd began speaking, with his charming smirk. Sevier was here to help him, or so he claimed, but was Sevier just willing to help Todd, just Todd, not Naeemah. And what about Troy, they were caught together, but now they have been separated. "Doc, may I ask where is that fine Brazilian swimsuit model?" Todd chuckled softly. "Ha, you know Troy-- it's funny that I ask about him, though when I tried saving him, he turns around and gets himself caught anyways. Well, I guess I shouldn't be bitter that he didn't just save his own neck, since either way, I'll still be trapped here staring at you, while Agent whatever is probably tracking down my girlfriend as we speak."
“Ah, your friend Troy, he’s quite the wild one isn’t he?” Werner replied with a chuckle. “No need to worry about him, he’s just down the hall in another cell. In fact, I’ll be paying him a visit soon, though I don’t think he’ll be as cordial as you!” In Werner’s experience, it was best to tell the truth whenever possible when questioning; telling the truth generally came much more naturally, and maintaining an elaborate web of lies was difficult for even the most savvy interrogator. “I hope you don’t see yourself as being caught, Mr. Buchanan – in fact, I would consider you fortunate that you’re here now. Captain Cane, the head of security, promised me that he wouldn’t use violent means to calm things down, but… Frankly, between Cane's armed goons, Foster, and this damn Ectosavior running around, you're in the safest place this whole facility has to offer.” Werner perked up noticeably at the mention of Todd’s girlfriend, and his face’s previously jovial demeanor turned somber, a sort of reality check washing over him and reminding him of the events beyond the cell doors. Additionally, a hint of shame tinged his face as he averted his eyes from meeting Todd’s, as if embarrassed by his previous statement. “I’m sorry, Mr. Buchanan, I… I didn’t know you had a loved one here. What’s her name? I’ll try my best to get her here safely, but I might need your help. Surely she’ll want to see a friendly face after so much trauma.” Werner had found Todd's pressure point, though he'd known it even coming into the questioning, but now he felt comfortable to begin applying a little urgency.
Soon, an uneasy sense of silence overcame the atmosphere of the room. It all seemed too good to be true, and for that, Todd was skeptical. His left arm was now propped against the desk, he leaned in, "How do I know to trust you?" He pushed away from the desk, now reclining back into his seat with elbow against the arm rest and hand stroking his red beard. "How do I know that you aren't going to use me to track her down? A snake is far more dangerous than a fox. And part of me can see why violent measures would be used against us, we're mutants after all. Any sane human could see us as dangerous especially after what Dante did. So why would a you want to help me? Why would a non-mutant you want to take the risk in helping a Hybrid?"
Werner let out a heavy sigh, removing his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose, looking hurt at Todd's lack of trust. "Mr. Buchanan, I don't want to see any more harm come to you and anyone else in this facility. Its my job to make sure everyone makes it out of here alive, but even more than that, I believe in Project HYBRID just like you did when you volunteered. Even with Dr. Eisley's mistakes, I know that you and the others in here are destined for great things." Werner paused to take a breath. Of course, he didn't mean a word coming out of his mouth, a running motif throughout his life. Even in his own time during Project HYBRID, he felt the project was destined to fail. Creating what Eisley wanted, some kind of superhero, was nothing more than a fantasy, and a PR stunt by the government in the case of Project Ectomorph. But he kept these thoughts to himself. "Every moment we spend in here arguing is another moment one of your friends could get hurt. Trust me or not, please help me. And help your friends."
"Fine," Todd finally agreed, though mainly because what other choice did he have? Where would refusing Dr. Sevier's offer get him? Not any closer to his girlfriend and Poppy, the two people who he felt like was his responsible to protect. "But we get to Naeemah, Poppy should be with her. Once they're safe, we'll talk more."
Werner smiled. Unfortunately, Todd didn't seem too trusting of him, which was understandable. He was right not to. "Excellent Mr. Buchanan. Once we get everything in this facility calmed down, we can start working towards curing you and your friends. Hopefully, Mr. Stone will even lead the research team," Sevier commented optimistically. "Anyways, I'm sure you're ready to get out of this room. I never had much love for them either," He added before knocking on the door, which was opened by an armed guard. "Now, all you need to do is tell the others that everything is clear, and that they should report to the security headquarters as soon as possible. I already made an announcement, but they'll surely trust a friendly face much more than me," he said with a grin, gesturing for Todd to exit the room. "Oh, but if you come across Mr. Foster, you should steer clear... Though I'm sure that won't be a problem for a man with your talents."
Werner arrived at his second destination, Cell 45. This far into the facility, no happy memories lingered. Only pain and anguish were brought to mind. Wordlessly, he examined the prisoner’s belongings, which as he ordered included his clothes. Werner took off his black jacket and handed his sidearm to a nearby guard, rolling up his sleeves before entering the room. The cell room could barely be called such. The walls and floors were all rough concrete, and there was no furniture, no books, nothing. The door which had slammed shut behind him was solid steel, with a small vision port at eye level which could be closed from the outside. The only points of interest in the entire room was a small open drain in the center of the room, about five inches in diameter, and a spigot in the side of the wall with a black hose tied up next to it. A single, low light hung overhead, leaving the corners dark, but illuminating the sole, naked figure in the room. His wrists and feet were bound by silver shackles, arms held behind his back and chained to the wall, forced into a squatting position with a bloody burlap bag covering his head. Troy Stone, the Wolf. Werner decided to take a more… Direct approach of questioning with Troy, given his penchant for resistance; that, and the man didn’t have the pressure point of loved ones like Todd. No, isolation and strong-handing would be the best way to get what he needed. Werner grabbed a metal bucket from the corner of the room and filled it with water, dropping it before his prisoner with a clatter...
Vashonn