The Hunt of Pandora

─── “WE HAVE PROUDLY WORKED SIX DAYS WITHOUT INJURIES IN THE WORKPLACE.” Irene Alton frowned as she watched the number return back to zero upon her arrival. Fumbling with her bag while trying to balance her cup of coffee in the other hand, she fretted the idea of reading the incident report that was probably awaiting her once she entered the lab. What would it be this time? A broken rib? Perhaps another broken wrist? How many of the men had been injured during the venture inside the cell? With a heavy sigh, Irene wasn’t certain if she actually wanted to read the incident report this time around.

Collecting her employee badge from inside her work bag, she approached the scanner under the check-in post, while stifling a long yawn. The coffee wasn’t doing much for her anymore, growing tolerance to caffeine had proven to be the worst thing to happen to her in recent years, and that was including her divorce. Once the barcode on the bottom of her badge was scanned, her employee profile appeared on the screen before her.

It was the haunting image of a fresh-faced woman, free of bags until her eyes, free of sprouting grey hairs, and free of stress in general. It openly mocked the state that Irene found herself in now where even multiple cups of coffee in the morning did absolutely nothing for her permanent groggy state.

Standing patiently, she waited as the scan began to make sure she didn’t have anything inappropriate or prohibited on her before entering the lab area. And lastly, the iris recognition, paired with the fingerprint of her right thumb, finally allowed her access. It seemed to be a bit much to go through with every single morning, but after a while, it all became second nature. All of it was required in order to work with Pandora; no exceptions.

While the Incident Report poster seemed to be a joke, it was also a glaring warning that it was dangerous to work with the one they had named Pandora. Irene could remember each incident that caused the number to drop down to zero since the time she had started working there. Some of the memories far more brutal than others, but each of them usually resulted in someone quitting their job. Which made Irene wonder that morning as she entered the lab, who had decided to quit this time?

Since she had started working at the military park nearly six years ago, Irene had seen countless faces come and go, never to hear from them again. They were all sworn to secrecy when it came to the project they were onboard to but Irene always wondered what happened to those if they decided to slip a word about Pandora. To the world, Pandora’s arrival graced the news and media as nothing more than a powerful meteor that struck the earth, but she was so much more.

A meteor was a poor and insulting description for what she truly was and in reality, to that day, Irene still had no idea what exactly Pandora was. It was the whole reason Irene had been brought to the facility in the first place, to learn what Pandora was, as she had been deemed a young girl with genetic mutations. Irene had been prepared for what she had been told in basic terms, genetics were her speciality. She had worked over fifteen years in the field, researching plenty of genetic disorders, diseases, and mutations that presented themselves within humans.

And that was exactly why she wasn’t prepared for Pandora because the girl was not human.

Though she resembled one from her outer appearance, the stereotypical features, such as two arms, two legs, ten fingers and ten toes, a normal head and torso. It’s what took place within Pandora that made her something otherworldly, god-like, or as others had put in the past, what made her completely terrifying.

Yet, when Irene had first taken the position as a researcher and was introduced Pandora for the first time, she didn’t see the horror, the fury, or the monster that had been described to her during orientation. Instead, she saw a girl, shaking in the corner of a reinforced glass cell. Her hands and arms draped over her head and face as she attempted to protect herself. She couldn’t have been older than sixteen, more than likely younger at the time. Where was the anger they spoke of? Where was the fury behind her lashing out at them?

All Irene had seen at the time was the unethical treatment of a child who appeared terrified out of their wits.

But she had to see it for herself, they told her, Irene had to witness what Pandora was capable of before passing judgement. Which only led to them provoking Pandora in the cell and finally, they were able to get a reaction out of her that differed from the scene of the girl cowering in the corner. There wasn’t a genetic disorder, mutation, or disease that Irene was aware of that allowed someone to wield fire. To witness such power emit from someone who had been shivering just seconds prior was unsettling, but that was only scratching the surface of what Pandora was capable of.

Against her moral judgement, Irene would have liked to say that she didn’t take the job, that she found it to be far too cruel. No matter what Pandora was, she only appeared as a frightened child, younger than the daughter Irene had back home. But the government knew exactly how to manipulate the situation, they knew exactly what to dangle over Irene’s head as bait to lure her in. In the midst of a nasty divorce where she seemed to be losing everything, the government promised Irene financial stability beyond anything Irene could ever hope for within her profession.

They would provide housing for her and her daughter, Emily, they were paying quite the salary, nearly double of what Irene had earned at her peak in the field. It would have been foolish to pass up such an offer, especially during the time where the economy was less in favour of people.

Pledging her loyalty to Porton Down, Irene swore silence of ever discussing anything that happened at the Defence Science and Technology military park outside of the assigned laboratory.

For that, she was sure she was going straight to hell when her time on Earth was over and it was possible that it would be Pandora that would be the one to drag her there.

Entering the lab with the door sealing off behind her, Irene moved to the nearest table to set her things down. Once she had situated herself, she walked over to the small observation deck to peer into the cell where Pandora was contained. She was visible that morning, unlike others, sitting in the middle of the cell, however, her back was turned to Irene. Reaching forward, Irene pressed her finger on the button that would allow her access to the speaker that directly poured into Pandora’s environment.

“Good morning, Pandora,” she called out, not too cheery, but trying to keep some enthusiasm lingering in her voice. “How are you this morning?”

It was a foolish question to ask because, since the time of her capture, Pandora did not speak. She hadn’t spoken a word since her time in the cell, making everyone’s job much more difficult as she refused to make so much as any bit of noise. No one ever knew what she was thinking or to the paranoid minds, what she was planning.

Pandora didn’t even flinch at Irene’s morning greeting as it echoed in the cell, nor did she move from her seated position. In fact, she didn’t acknowledge Irene’s existence at all and once again, Irene couldn’t help the wave of disappointment that washed over her. One would think over the course of six years that she would learn her lesson, but Irene considered herself to be stubborn or better yet, maybe the better word to use was naive. One day, she hoped and prayed that Pandora would hear the morning greeting and say something to her in return. Even if it was just a squeak or something along those lines in acknowledgement, Irene would be more than satisfied.

And maybe Pandora knew that.

Maybe she knew that everyone anticipated her to speak and that’s why she took on her own vow of silence. Or maybe it was the fact of how she had been treated over the course of six years that made her fear saying anything. Her speech seemed to be the only thing they couldn’t get out of her, even when she was provoked. Irene had been a witness to it many times, each time left her feeling worse than before.

Upon the first working day with Pandora, Irene had walked into a chaotic scene of the containment cell being set ablaze. In the centre of the cell, Pandora stood, the fire emitting from her entire body to keep the guards at bay that were trying to get to her. However, out of the guards that weren’t burned initially, the others seemed quite prepared with what to do as they were able to put the flames out with fire retardant that weighed Pandora down instantly. Her second means of defence kicked in almost immediately, and Irene watched as a curtain of black smoke billowed out of nowhere encasing the cell in darkness.

Yet, it seemed the cell had been redesigned more than once to accommodate her actions as the ventilation system kicked in almost immediately to clear the thick smoke. Pandora was left there, shaking as the guards continued to come closer and she must have been backed into the corner of using her last means of defence. A liquid excreted from her pores in seconds and acted as a coat of invisibility, hiding her away, but not for long.

What Irene saw next was cruelty as the cell was doused in heavy white foam in reveal her location, it caused her to fall and as soon as she was down, the guards came in heavy.

All of the chaos for a blood sample.

It was never a wonder as to why Pandora never smiled, although Irene imagined it would only add to the young woman’s beauty if she chose to. There was nothing to smile about as she was nothing more than a prisoner used for experiments, poked, prodded, and observed under the so-called claims of “research.” Although Irene couldn’t argue that the permanent frown on Pandora’s face was highly unsettling paired with nothing more than an angry glare and silence.

Irene did try in many ways to at least get Pandora to smile when it was just the two of them. She always made sure to wave at Pandora every morning when she came in and then wish her a good night before leaving. None of that ever seemed to work, it was practically the same old thing every day. Either Pandora was asleep in her bed or she was sitting up with her legs tucked beneath her and her hands folded in her lap like an obedient child. They would make eye contact as Pandora would watch her through the glass, but Irene’s gaze always faltered first as she was the first to look away every time.

Parts of the containment cell allowed Pandora to look out, while one side was attached to the observation unit with mirrored glass. There was no sense of privacy in the containment cell as Pandora was monitored around the clock, seven days a week. If the scientists weren’t observing her, the cameras were always recording. They watched her sleep, eat, and use the toilet or the shower. However, Pandora used her invisibility to her advantage quite a bit to offer herself some sort of privacy. There were times where someone could see a floating sandwich or the water beading on the form of her body.

Irene was polite in the sense of not watching her in those moments but it was also crucial to know her body functions and habits as well. Such as Pandora never experiencing a menstrual cycle during her time in the cell for the six years. Being surrounded by mostly men, no one seemed to make note of it until Irene pointed it out.

Pandora seemingly didn’t have to eat either, there were times where she went weeks without eating any food or in taking any liquids. It didn’t seem to affect her in the slightest either, no weight loss or any signs of malnutrition.

Though the others didn’t really seem concerned with such bits of information, they wanted to know other elements to her in regards to her abilities. It seemed everything was centred around Pandora’s abilities but Irene wanted to learn more about her on a personal level. In order to do that though, Irene had to gain Pandora’s trust but she couldn’t do that as she was one of the few that performed the tests on her.

But it was nothing like how the others in the facility treated her, it was inhumane and their argument was they highly doubted she was human.

Irene never claimed to work among the brightest.

Pandora had acted hostile in the beginning when provoked but eventually, she stopped using her fire when she saw that it was hurting people. Instead, she turned to just hiding behind her invisibility but that didn’t work very long for her either. They couldn’t detect her through infrared cameras and other equipment. When they needed to collect blood samples from her, she would refuse and attempt to hide but they wouldn’t take no for an answer. She would try to fight back in the means of defending herself from their grip, but it never worked for long. They had a routine to capture her each time, no matter what her moves were.

They would spray a foamy substance similar to that of a fire extinguisher all around the containment cell, it wouldn’t take long to find her. In a matter of seconds, she would be pinned down to the ground like an animal, if she tried anything with the smoke it was fanned away and any attempts with fire were quickly diminished.

Irene hated to witness it but eventually, it appeared as though Pandora simply gave up in defeat. Like a broken animal, she became submissive to any test that they wanted to run on her. The woman tried to tell herself not to pity Pandora as she wasn’t sure what the girl was capable of in the beginning. As days went on, she failed to do so as she felt incredibly sorry for Pandora, wanting to take her away from it all.

Many believed that Pandora was stupid as they rudely called her, all because she didn’t speak or respond to them with any of form of communication. Irene didn’t believe Pandora was anywhere near stupid, tough, believing that Pandora was smart enough to know that once she started talking that the government would never leave her be until they had all the information they wanted out of her.

Although Irene did seem to make another discovery, it had nothing to do with genetics but she did learn that Pandora took an interest in books. To encourage Pandora’s “hobby” Irene went to all sorts of book sales to collect as many books for Pandora to read. The other scientists believed that Pandora only looked at the pictures, Irene liked to believe she was reading over each book retaining all knowledge. Maybe one day she would prove to the others that she was, in fact, an intelligent being and not some dense monster with uncontrollable abilities.

As Irene was able to look at the nightly report, she soon discovered what had caused the incident report to start over again. It seemed they had lost another night guard, another reported broken ankle from the scrimmage between them and Pandora during the night when they entered their cell. However, Irene didn’t feel the least bit sorry, simply because from what she read from the report, they had tried to go after Pandora while she was sleeping to get the sample, which was an overall foolish move on their behalf.

Why they believed she had been asleep in the first place had baffled Irene as well, considering the past couple of weeks, Pandora hadn’t been sleeping at all. She would lay in her cot of a bed, but her eyes remained open as she stared blankly at the wall and she would remain so for hours. Although in the recent nights, she had been pacing back and forth, seemingly appearing so restless and Irene didn’t have the slightest clue as to what was going on with her.

In the past, they had tried sleep aids, multiple drugs, and even strong sedatives, but they didn’t have any effect on Pandora. Irene wondered if they were on the verge of a mental breakdown as a result of having extreme cabin fever.

Stupidly, Irene recommended Pandora having a psychiatrist come in and talk to her, but it had done absolutely nothing. The doctor came out several times for several sessions, but Pandora completely ignored him. She wouldn’t even make eye contact with the man no matter what he said. It was viewed as a waste of time and it ended abruptly, once again, leaving the research team without much to go on.

“Why aren’t you sleeping, Pandora? What’s going on with you? Just tell me what’s wrong and I’ll do my best to help you, I promise,” Irene muttered under her breath before looking up. “Pan-”

The woman let out a screech and fell out of her chair and onto the floor. Her hand was clapped to her chest as she looked at the observation window to see Pandora looking directly at her.

It wouldn’t have been nearly as creepy, it if weren’t for the window being made of two-way glass. But there was no mistake as she saw the narrowed eyes glaring down at her.

A haunting image of Pandora was burned into her mind as the fiery gaze had been latched onto Irene’s face, a golden glare that seemed to see into the darkest parts of Irene’s mind and soul. Pandora looked visibly disgusted with her, lips curled in a sneering motion and a stare that held disbelief at Irene’s previous posed promise towards her.

But just in a matter of seconds, Pandora vanished before Irene’s eyes, still leaving her on the floor, trying to regulate her rapid heart rate. Her coffee had spilt onto the floor burning part of her other hand but she could hardly feel the pain at that moment. Her heart was pounding so fast that she was having a hard time hearing.

Shakily, Irene pushed herself up, keeping her gaze focused on the window in case Pandora decided to make another appearance. Once she was fully up on her feet, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself down. When she opened her eyes and looked out the window again, she saw Pandora sitting on her bed with a book propped up in her lap. She appeared to be casually reading as if she had done nothing, leaving Irene to question why Pandora had looked at her with such anger.

“P-P-Pandora?” Irene’s voice stammered as she pressed her finger down on the speaker button. She saw Pandora paused in turning the page of the book but she did not glance over at the woman. “Do you want to tell me something? Is there something you want to say or do?”

Moments later, Pandora went back to turning the page and ignoring Irene’s voice, leaving Irene completely puzzled by her actions.

“You know, I’m here if you want to tell me anything, even if it’s just something you want to get off your chest. I don’t care if it’s an insult or along those lines. You can say whatever you want, Pandora. It’ll just be between the two of us, alright?”

She waited for a response only to watch as Pandora dropped the book to the ground and then moved to get comfortable on her small bed. She adjusted her pillows and blanket before turning her back to Irene and by the looks of it, going to sleep. With a heavy sigh, Irene knew better than to keep talking, it was just a waste of time because it was clear that Pandora made up her mind that she didn’t want to interact with her in the slightest.

“Well, at least you’re going to get some sleep,” Irene said trying to focus on the positives, ” It’s probably for the best, it’s going to be another long day.”

Turning to clean up the coffee that she nearly slipped in, Irene felt a chill race through her body even with her back turned to Pandora so that she couldn’t see her. The way Pandora looked at her if the woman truly turned out to be a goddess, Irene had a feeling that was Pandora’s way of marking Irene’s place where she would burn in hell.

Or if she was following the mythology behind Pandora’s given name, she was going to end up in the Fields of Punishment for the rest of eternity.

Pandora would make sure of it.