THE EMPATH

ACCESS

"Hello, it is me, Lily. This is my fifth call and I know I should probably stop calling, but I am soo drunk and I can't help it. I just...I met this great guy a week ago and we hit it off soo well. I liked him, and he liked me and we were doing great until he kissed me yesterday and slapped him in the face because it felt like I was cheating on you. I know we are not in a relationship or anything since you haven't told me that we are, but I would appreciate knowing where you are at when it comes to us. Anyway, I have to wake up early and start parking so I will head to bed...I promise I won't call you again...Wait, I don't promise...but I will try not to call you...goodnight Vicky. I will hopefully see you in three days," That message was the one single thing that I had understood all night long. It meant a lot to know that Lily liked me to a point that she couldn't get herself to kiss someone else. I had wanted to tell her that I liked her ever since I first met her, but as usual, I was afraid that she wasn't at the same level, and telling her would screw the friendship we had. I had not made any other friends so far and losing her would be like losing my social life. "Hello Lily, you are probably still asleep but I wanted you to know that I received your message. Honestly, you can't even imagine how happy I am to know that I am not the only one who is at that level. Now, I have to rush somewhere, but I promise we will talk about it when you get here. Also, when you wake up, look at the back of your diary, I wrote a hungover cure recipe for you," I couldn't help myself either.

After the one-sided conversation, I hopped into the shower and freshened up. It was already six in the morning and I wanted to be at the gates of the HWDC company by eight. I had done my research and I knew that they only had twelve open slots left and I had to be one of the twelve next victims to be registered. I was still not sure that jumping into the furnace was the right way to go, but my guardian and Anne had made me feel like I had no other choice. By six forty, I was already done with breakfast and was on my way to the cab waiting downstairs. As I gave the driver the directions, he stared at me as if he had just heard the most insane thing ever. "You want to register for the experiments?" He couldn't help but ask and I could tell he was not happy about it either. "Yes, you see, I am in college, first-year actually. My parents however don't have the money to see me through and I just feel like I need to pitch in or something. I hear that these guys are paying really well and I don't even have to do much. So what if they have to stick needles in me, that has to be less painful than dropping out of school, right?" I said as I was not sure whether he was just testing me to see what I had to say. "Son, when the deal is too good, you ought to think twice. That company is a labyrinth, I have seen many go in, but most never walk out. If I didn't know better, I would say that that place is the gateway to hell and ask you to please turn around. There are so many things you could do son. You are still young and healthy. Why would you want to trade that for a stupid cheque anyway?" He said and that time around, I found myself listening in on his thoughts. He seemed to have suffered a serious loss courtesy of the d**g company and the pain in his heart was still fresh.

"You seem to really hate that place. Did they do something to you?" My question felt stupid as I already knew the answer to that question. However, I would have loved to know more and I hoped that my question would lead to that."Yes, they took my wife and daughter. They paid me an unreasonably huge amount of money and I let them kill my wife," He said and made another turn. I could feel the painful lump forming at the back of his throat and for a moment I regretted asking the damn question. "I thought I had nothing to lose since the two were dying of Leukemia anyway. I comforted myself by hoping that their deaths would not be for nothing, but I was wrong. The worst part, however, was when I had to bury empty caskets as they would not even let me have their bodies. Now all I do is take people to places and pretend to be okay when deep down, all I was is to know what actually happened to my family, and whether their sacrifice was worth anything," he wiped the tears that were then rolling down his face like two uncontrollable streams. I felt like letting him in on my secret but my guardian was totally against it. I just felt like the poor guy deserved to know that someone was planning on doing something about the situation and that that person was seated right next to him at that very moment.

"Okay son, this is it. I still think you are making a big mistake but I can't force you to stop so good luck," I paid him and walked to the gate without looking back. I could not stand the fact that I wanted so badly to heed his advice. I was scared to go un there and him confirming that I was making a mistake, was not at all helping. I only turned back briefly when I got to the gate and I could tell that he had already turned his car around. I read the plate numbers and my photographic memory stored it just in case. "Hello, we are not open yet but how can I help you?" the female polite soldier asked. I wondered if people were never curious as to why a d**g company was manned by actual military personnel instead of the normal security guys. "I am here for the d**g trial recruitment," I was nervous and I wished she could tell me that the entries were closed. Instead, she showed me in and I was surprised to find ten others like me inside already. "We only let two more in," I heard the soldier say to his friend as I walked towards the others who were waiting in line. "I still can't believe that I will be making ten thousand a week and I don't even have to wake up early or dress up fancy," one of the overly excited recruits was telling the others. They all seemed to be well acquainted and two of them even looked like they were related. I had the urge to tell them to go home and explain the dangers ahead but again, my cover depended on my silence. All I could do was make sure I found what I was looking for as soon as possible and protect the boys in the process. "This sure is a lot of work," I thought out loud and they all looked at me as if there was something terribly wrong with me. Some of them even went ahead to laugh at me.

An hour later, two girls, seemingly in their twenties joined us and we were finally allowed into the huge building. Inside there, we went through what seemed like thousands of identical corridors with only tiny numbers to distinguish them. The place was a maze and there was no way someone would find there way outside without the help of those who worked there. Lucky for me, I was not just anyone. As we made our way through, I mapped the place with the help of echo, the tiny numbers on every door, and my photographic memory. I had a feeling that I would be needing an emergency exit sooner or later and the map would come in handy then. All the others just seemed excited to be walking the hallways and I was sure that none of them even bothered to take a keen look around them. I felt like a sacrificial lamb being led to the alter. My instincts were all over the place reminding me that it was not too late to turn around but I did myself to lock the reasoning out. I crossed my fingers and followed the others as we were shown into a huge hall where the briefing would happen. Soon, the talking part was over and we were given some forms to fill. The form consented that we had lost any and all rights to our bodies and they were officially the property of the company. It also said that our money would be paid to the shortlisted next of kin if anything happened to us and that was the only assuring thing in the whole form. Everything else was just scary and I would only guess that that was one of the reasons why the form was written in a super tiny and confusing font.

The one thing I knew for sure, was that all the things I needed for the next part of the mission were somewhere within those walls. All I needed to do was gain access and start looking. As for the answers to the questions like, who owned the company, what it actually did, and how many people were involved in the business, I had to be observant and sneaky. As for the dark book of fate which was somewhere inside those walls, I needed a well-made map of the place and a full proof plan. However, all that would only be possible if they didn't kill me first which seemed much easier than it sounded. I returned my file with fake details but with valid bank accounts. I needed the money to fund my project and the little amount from Robert's account was not even close to enough. Raff had told me a bit about the place but he could not come with me as the place was both ghosts and spirits proofed. He was neither of those but apparently, they also had a way to make sure that protector spirits couldn't float the halls and that was another trick I so looked forward to learning. Inside those walls, only my guardian could survive inside there and all he ever did was bark orders at me and cause me headaches, in short, I was all alone. Completely aware of that and the company worker still reminding us that that was the last chance to turn around, I handed my form over and waited briefly for verification. I had to play my illusion card there and it all worked well for me. The next step, was where they handed us the hospital-like gowns and showed us to our tiny rooms. My heart was on the verge of blowing up when the guy who had shown me in locked the door with me inside. "This is it," I thought to myself as I explored the camera-filled room.

"Hello there Edwin," the calm doctor's voice hit my ears. "I am doctor Shawn..." he added and kept on going without knowing that he had lost me at his name. The tool kit he had on his table was all I could think about and I was getting ready to get the huge scissors into his guts if he tried anything that remotely felt like it could kill me. "So, what tests will you be conducting on me?" I finally asked after reading his mind and discovering that he was actually a genuine doctor with genuine intentions. However, I could also tell that he was not sure about he was doing since what he signed up for and what he was actually doing were two different things. "Well, I am not supposed to be telling you this, but you are a part of a two groups experiment. One group will be given a new d**g that is obviously in test stages, while the other will be given a completely harmless substance..." the rest was of course bla bla bla that I was not at all interested to know. All that mattered was me knowing whether I was a part of the experiment group or the control group, and thanks to my mind-reading abilities, I already knew. "Okay then, let's get started," he said and picked up a syringe filled with what I could only guess was water. The sight of needles especially when they were pointed at me made my stomach coil in fear and disgust as they reminded me of my unpleasant childhood. They also made me hate my father a little as he was always the one holding the needle back then.

"Don't worry, I promise it will be quick and painless," As he was saying that, he already had the damn thing in my arm and all I felt was a pinch. "Mmmmh, that's all for today Edwin, I will see you again tomorrow. You can come in anytime you like by the way, provided it will be within the working hours," he said and left the room where I was seated for a few more minutes before another worker came to show me the way out. He had no idea that I could already walk the halls like I had lived there for a whole year and that made me feel kind of special. As I made my way through the gate, I looked back at the place one more time and smiled. I would be coming back alright, but I was sure as hell gonna be coming back after the working hours. I signed out at the gate with my new access card which was only level one cleared and that meant I could only access just about 0.5% of the building. That was next to nothing but I had a hot plan in mind. All I needed was for the soldiers at the gate to sign my card into the registration and I would do the rest at home before midnight. As of the moment, I needed a huge meal, a cold shower, and a five hours nap after which I would be back fully charged and ready to cause some trouble. I made sure to call a different cab to drive me back home as I could not bear listening to the guy from earlier that day talk about my bad decisions. Once again, I had an even more difficult task to handle and I had no idea what would become of me. All in all, I had found access and that was the first, most vital step.