*Four Days Later*
"How do you plan to get her to cooperate so easily?" The man asked, seated across from Doctor Mundy. The older man, read steadily from Summer's test results, sipping casually from his coffee mug.
"Nurse Koda, have you ever heard of the *Retracting Experience Theory?" Koda frowned, searching through his head.
"I've heard of it, yes. The details have escaped me."
"Many studies have been conducted in regards to its validity. With the results as positive as they are," He stated, taking another sip of his drink, "it would be rational to believe that it is, indeed, correct."
"What are the implications of the theory?" Kodak asked, admiring his superior's ability to think as rationally as possible. The man was never fazed by anything, it seemed.
"An old colleague of mine, a Doctor Matsumura, presented the theory that if a patient were to be placed into a situation identical to one they had experienced for long periods of time at a previous time, they would be influenced to feel as they did when they first experienced the event."
"So…the brain is tricked into the same mindset as the first time it had experienced an event? The brain will retract itself into old experiences and feelings."
"Precisely." Throughout their entire conversation, he hadn't looked at Koda once.
"That is your strategy with the subject?" Doctor Mundy nodded his head.
"If Subject 711-A549 feels as she did over a decade ago, her brain will slowly return to the malleable state it had been when she was first subjected to her treatment. We only have to condition her towards such an outcome first."
"What would you like us to do next then?"
The old memories slowly started to resurface, rearing their ugly heads at every hour of the day. Dreams, daydreams, frightening flashbacks, snippets of conversation at random points of the day, the ever-present dullness of experienced pain…
Her porcelain-white room, more like a prison cell than anything homely, was as cold as a freezer. Her teeth chattered lightly, the only noise besides her body shifting under the thin blankets, looking in vain for a warm place in the bed.
Summer squeezed her eyes tight, gripping her arms with her hands and holding on tightly, as if they would fly away at the slightest provocation. She flinched at the tiny, familiar sound of the intercom being activated.
"Subject 711-A549, stand up and proceed towards the door." A minute whimper escaped her lips, but it was inaudible to the microphones she knew were secretly placed in the walls.
Doing as she was told, she stood, the blankets falling back onto the bed and away from her skin. Instantly, the full chill of the room sent goosebumps up and down her extremities, and she wrapped her arms around herself once more. When she breathed, clouds of white puffed out in front of her.
Her feet padded gently towards the metal door, her side lacking a handle to open it. She waited there, wondering what the awful medical staff had in store for her. It took several seconds for the male nurse- Chinen was his name- to open it and walk inside. In his hands, a pair of regular metal handcuffs gleamed menacingly.
Summer sighed, holding out her hands in front of her. With an appreciative nod, Chinen locked the restraints around her wrists. He pushed her gently out the door, leading into the hallway outside.
The empty stretch seemed longer than it actually was, the time marked only by Summer's and Chinen's footsteps. Once, a female doctor rushed past them in the other direction, too much in a hurry to even offer the nurse a greeting. Intrigued, Summer lowered her head, hiding her eyes so she could observe him without notice.
Chinen was not one of the staff that Summer recognized, she realized. Most she could remember from her experiences long ago, especially those that administered the tests, but he seemed new. He seemed awkward, his eyes shifting back and forth down the hall, as if he was seeing it for the first time.
Usually, the medical staff walked with determined purpose, heading only in the direction that they needed to go. Chinen seemed unsure of his surroundings. Hesitant would be the best word to describe it, Summer thought. He was just as nervous as she had once been in these hallways.
"Here." He said, almost trying to convince himself that they were in the right place. Summer recognized where they were immediately. The delicately carved, double wooden doors were unmistakable, and remarkably out of place in the cold, metal facility. Seeing the piano room again after so many years tore several different emotions from her.
'I can play again…It's been so long.' She thought in relief.
'What kind of game are they trying to pull?' Internally, she grew suspicious.
'I just want to go home…Take me away from here.' She closed her eyes, wishing she was back on the yellow submarine.
Fumbling with a ring of keys he produced from his scrub pocket, he unlocked the door and opened one of the doors. Summer followed obediently, glancing around the room with a nostalgic feeling.
Just as it had been a decade ago, the piano was set on the right. A layer of dust covered the instrument, with track marks where the tuning strings were. So, no one had touched it in years, but they had tuned it just recently. She bitterly noticed the camera set up facing the piano, sighing aloud. Her gazed wandered to the left side of the room, where the shelves of sheet music and composition guides were. She imagined herself, seated at one of the shelves, combing through the pages upon pages of songs, looking for one that a player of her adequacy could successfully play.
The sound of the door closing and locking behind them made her swing her gaze towards the male nurse. He walked over, and she instinctively took on an aggressive stance at his advance. Pausing he held his hands up, one still holding the ring of keys.
"I'm just going to take those cuffs off." Neither moved, judging what the other would do next. Summer kept her eyes narrowed, watching the man's own to gauge if he was lying or not. Even with restrained wrists, she felt like if he tried anything, she'd be able to defeat him. However, there was no malice in his face, so she loosened her body and held out her hands.
Hesitantly, as if expecting her to attack him, he removed the handcuffs and placed them in his pocket. Summer rubbed her hands, watching as the nurse took a seat by the door.
"What are you going to do to me?" She asked accusingly. He raised his eyebrows, once again holding his hands up.
"Nothing. This isn't a test." He responded, and Summer shook her head.
"I don't believe you." She pointed at the camera. "If this isn't a test, why is that here?"
With a sigh he stood, wandered over to the equipment, ignoring how Summer moved strategically out of his path, keeping him at a safe distance at all times. He picked up the camera and moved it to the other side of the room, turning the recorder to face the wall.
Returning to his seat, he crossed his arms. "Happy now?"
She didn't bother to answer.
Deciding that perhaps this wasn't a test, but continuing to keep her guard up just in case, she walked over to the piano. Tracing the top with her fingers, she brushed the dust onto the floor, wiping her hands onto her white clothes.
Taking a seat, she opened the cover to the keys. They were still pristine, protected by the wood covering them. Laying her fingers on the white keys, she closed her eyes, a small smile spreading onto her face.
'It's been so long. Why haven't I done it since my escape?'
Opening her eyes, she tested out a few notes, slowly remembering the placement and sounds of each key. After a few seconds of seemingly random notes, her muscle memory took over.
The sweet melody of Edelweiss echoed across the room, with its haunting undertone and cheerful, sweeping notes. She forgot about Chinen sitting by the door and allowed herself to forget for a little while.
Law had noticed almost immediately that the morale of his crew had greatly decreased, falling lower each day there was no sign or lead of Summer's whereabouts. The changes weren't immediate. He'd been able to keep up their spirits thus far, but his attempts were becoming less and less effective.
The crew's meals became more and more bland as Casper's hopes dropped. Basic soups and sandwiches were all that seemed to come from the stern cook's arsenal of recipes.
Shachi and Penguin's pranks were fewer and farther between. Even when they acted up, their antics were tamer and more conforming than the last. Law had seen them toilet paper a crew member's room, duct tape someone to the wall of their room when they'd been passed out from drinking, switched all the laundry detergent with itching powder, (almost) raided Summer's panty drawer. Now, with just one of them gone, they'd done little to earn them more than a stern scolding from Law.
Liam seemed to be the most affected. The man had become a social butterfly since Summer's acceptance into the crew. Nowadays, he was almost impossible to find outside of his room. He kept the door firmly locked, usually only opening it if Law himself demanded entrance. He'd become a hermit.
Most dispiriting of all was the fact that Reid still hadn't woken up from his coma. Law checked on him daily, securing fluid levels and nutrients slowly fed through the IV in his arm. As a medical expert, he knew that Reid's chances of awakening grew slimmer everyday. It had been several months since he'd been conscious, and Law was losing hope. As a captain, and friend, he wanted nothing more than to hold out as long as possible.
Even so, with the odds against him, Law continued to check and talk to him in his comatose state. Research showed that interacting with an unconscious person had some affect in their recovery.
"Reid-ya, I need you to wake up now." He said gently, sitting beside his injured friend. He might have felt ridiculous for talking to someone who wouldn't respond, but he really didn't care in the long run.
"All of us are waiting for you to wake up." He continued. Not once had he mentioned Summer's disappearance, mostly because it hurt too much for him to speak aloud. Part of him irrationally thought that if he said it aloud it would set in stone and remain true.
"If you can hear me, move your hand." He tried, staring down at his subordinate's hand in exhaustion. He'd been sitting there a few hours.
Sighing, he moved to get up to leave, but he stopped. Eyes widening slightly at a tiny twitch of Reid's finger.
Part of him didn't believe what he saw, it must have een an illusion, he partly convinced himself. There was no way he-
Reid's finger twitched again, moving just a little more than the time before.
Instantly switching into medic mode, he checked all the fluids again, going over the heart rate monitor and all sorts of sensors to make sure it was normal. The real deciding factor, ensuring that Reid had indeed awakened, was the brainwave receptor. Reid's brainwave activity over the course of the past few months had been little more than basic breathing signals. Now, the screen which showed a scan of his brain, lit up in normal cranial function.
Taking the den den sushi from his pocket, Law dialed Liam's personal number, knowing that the news of his friend's awakening would bring the man into better spirits. And, his presence at his friend's side would do nothing but aid in Reid's recovery.
"Liam." He answered in a monotone.
"Reid-ya is awake. Get to the infirmary."
Not a moment later, the line hung up and he knew for certain that the blonde medic was rushing through the halls to be beside his best friend. He smirked slightly, glad that something good was happening for once.
Who knew how long Summer sat at that piano bench, playing song after song and browsing through the various sheet of music lining the shelves. Each one sounded better than the last. Her fingers flew across the keys with the more upbeat, fast-paced songs. With the slower, more melodic tunes, she caressed the keys, pulling the best and most resonant sound out of the instrument with each stroke.
Finishing up a piece, she placed it on the growing pile of completed sheets and got up to get a new one. Grabbing the first one she saw, one that was sticking out quite far, she read the title.
Immediately, she stopped. The words 'Hoist The Colors' stared her in the face. A voice behind her made her jump.
"Is something wrong?" Summer had completely forgotten Chenin had been there the whole time, and obviously he'd noticed her change in behavior. She sighed, shaking her head.
"It's nothing." She said quietly, placing the music back on the shelf. She heard him stand up from his seat.
"What song is that?" Despite her irritation, which he didn't seem to notice, he approached and picked up the song. "'Hoist The Colors,' huh? It's a good song, I'll admit." His eyes scanned the notes, and her curiosity got the better of her.
"You know it?" He grinned.
"Oh yeah, it's pretty famous, ya know." He placed it back on the shelf. "Not just between pirates."
"I guess so." She muttered, staring at the page once more. Chenin shifted awkwardly on his feet, before glancing at his wristwatch. "It's pretty late. Time to bring you back."
Summer was still deep in thought as she was restrained and led out into the hallway.
Chenin sighed, locking the Subject's door once she was inside. Placing the keys back into his pocket, he jumped when the intercom in the hallway came to life.
"Nurse Chenin, please report to Doctor Mundy's office immediately." It went silent and he headed off towards his destination, fear rising up from somewhere in him.
'There's no reason to be afraid.' He tried convincing himself.
The door to Doctor Mundy's office could only be described as imposing. Besides the door to the piano room, it was the only other wooden one in the facility. The carved panels rose up all the way to the ceiling, and he knocked hesitantly.
"Enter." Came the Doctor's voice. With a gulp, Chenin proceeded inside.
He'd never actually been inside his boss's office before. His rank as a junior nurse giving him no reason to be there. It was very cold inside, colder than most places in the lab. He compared it to the average temperatures outside the facility. Noticing the man had nothing more than his normal lab coat, dress shirt, and slacks underneath, he wondered how he withstood the almost frozen temperatures inside.
"Sit." He commanded, and Chenin obeyed, lowering himself into a chair across from him.
"Tell me the results of the test."
"The Subject quickly fell into the same routine that she had experienced before. The comforting memory of the piano made her relaxed and content. However, she didn't play the piece we had set out for her."
"And why is that?" He asked, his tone giving away nothing of his mood.
"Something stopped her internally. Perhaps the piece brings back negative experiences and thus it interrupted the positive environment we wished to create."
The Doctor tapped away at his laptop keys, eventually turning the screen towards the nurse. His heart sunk a little when a video feed of the piano room began to play.
"Is something wrong?" His own voice came through the recorder. Obviously the Doctor had placed a secret camera in the wall above the piano. The angle was different from the one that had been set up obviously.
"It's nothing." Summer responded, and Doctor Mundy paused the video.
"You interfered in the experiment." He stated bluntly.
"I attempted to push her in the direction we had hoped she would react. I didn't-"
Doctor Mundy pressed play on the video once more, and Chenin watched as he casually took the music sheet off the shelf.
"Hoist The Colors, huh? It's a good song, I'll admit." The video was paused again.
"Socialization with subjects, especially Subject 711-A549, is contamination to the entire experimental process. Any information up to and following this point could be compromised because of your actions."
"But-" Chenin wasn't allowed to finish speaking.
"The results are inconclusive because of external interference." He concluded, taking a file for the individual experiment and wrote 'Inconclusive' under the results box. Pushing it back to Chenin, he flipped the laptop back towards himself.
"You may go. Continue your research into biological influence involving plasma-based organic materials. Report to me by the end of the week." He quickly dismissed the nurse with a curt order. Standing, Chenin took the file.
"Yes sir."
As he left the Doctor's office, based on his mistake in his first big experiment with the most prized Subject the facility had ever received, he couldn't help but feel that his time there was limited.
* The Retracting Experience Theory is something I made up that sounded scientific and kinda possible. :)
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