I
CHAPTER ONE
. . .
Atticus, a willing participant for an odd job a ‘scientist’ had presented him. He still had yet to learn what exactly he had gotten himself into, but considering the woman had given him firm proof to prove who she was - he stupidly trusted whatever job she’d given him.
“Peterson?“ Atticus sat straight in his chair, bringing his gaze to meet an unfamiliar male form at his room’s door. “Yes?“ The tall, slim man waltzed into the room with a clipboard. “Are you ready to proceed with our test?“ He gave a curt nod, although his palms sweat at the mention of some sort of test. “May I ask - What’s this test for exactly?“ He just gave Atticus a questionable look, “ That Mr Peterson, is something you will find out in a moment. “
The man walked out but soon came back with a bulky and more intimidating man who seemed to be a security guard based on his uniform, and gun that was holstered into a holder. “ Let’s go. “ Atticus could only comply, even though there was a guard - he was tempted to just run from the odd place. “ Right… Erm - where are we going? “ He attempted to speak to the scientific-looking man that was trailing behind them. Atticus was given a silent look in return, he had no more questions to ask.
Atticus felt his nerves begin to heighten as his fear rose. Leading him to wonder why he accepted the offer in the first place. ‘ Why did I agree to this again? ’ he found himself asking the same questions over and over. And as they seemed to grow near two doors, his anxiety rose through the roof. Atticus tapped his fingers together, rubbed his neck, did anything that would distract him from his emotions - he didn’t want to screw anything up. A large pay was on the line, and he would do anything to get it.
But his instincts told him otherwise, telling him to turn on his heels and run for the hills, away from whatever crazy test awaited him.
His head turned towards the sounds of a growing female voice, down another hall he spotted a familiar figure screaming her head off at someone who also looked like a guard. His brows knitted together in confusion as the figures grew closer and closer. “ Wait - Janell?! “ He stopped, his eyes widened when he realized it was his sister that was practically being dragged towards them. “ What the fuck are they doing? “ Atticus turned to the man behind him, confusion mixed with anger visible in his expression. “ She is one of our other test subjects. Though she tried leaving not too long ago - which we couldn’t allow for unauthorised reasons you cannot know. “ That only set Atticus’ anxiety and nerves off. “ And why the HELL do they have to Man-Handle my Sister?! She’s not a damn doll you carry around- “
He was cut off by a hand pulling him back, the hand gripped his shoulder firmly. He was not surprised when he was met with the guard that was leading him before. “ I would recommend you keep walking unless you want to be forced like your sister over there. “ The guard nodded his head towards the man carrying his sister, they passed them and Atticus fought the need to try and push past the man in front of him, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to take him on. And it would cause both himself and his sister more problems. “ Fine. Let’s go. “ he spat, rolling his jaw to keep his composure.
And they began to walk once more.
He was led into a room full of people with white coats on, and a bunch of computers with an odd-looking door that led to nowhere in the middle of the room. It was covered in a glass bubble - seemingly to protect everyone in the room from whatever the door was or was supposed to do.
“ Jesus. “ Someone snickered, “ I wouldn’t call for him. He’s just something people made up in order to keep the peace, and to keep people in line. “ Atticus was not a religious person, but he did send a glare towards the person that spoke. “ What is this all anyways? What am I here for? “ He was sat down with a group of people that looked like normal people, unlike the others in the room. “ You are all here to proceed with a Project. We are going to send you through that door there, when it turns on - and will both watch your health to see what happens. We are picking a random location in the galaxy so you may be transferred to a planet that has no oxygen- “ “ WHAT? “ Atticus looked towards Janell as she continued, once again, to scream her head off. Though it was for a good reason, she was going to dig herself a deeper hole.
“ So we are literally just test dummies? Why didn’t you use animals like you scientists usually do? “ The man gave them a chuckle and shook his head. “ We needed to know how the human body responds to different environments. Animal responses have shown to be futile in past projects. So we needed live human test subjects, a.k.a you all. “ Another man who was sitting in a chair scoffed and crossed his arms. “ So basically, we’re the little mice in your labs that you use? For what? To see if we’ll die or not? “ The scientist nodded. “ Yes, that’s it exactly, Now. We’ll send the Petersons through first and see what happens to them in, what we call, Planet TRP B78120-21. “ He passed his clipboard over to another scientist after writing a few things on it.
“ Now, let’s get this project started. Petersons, please step into the glass room and stand in front of the door until we give you the ok to walk through. “ The man gave them a smile, stood to the side and outstretched his arm toward the door, waiting for them to walk through.
“ Like hell, I’m basically walking into my own grave! Go to hell! “ This brought a frown upon the man’s expression, his arm dropped back down to his side as he cleared his throat. “ I think you have mistaken what I said, Miss Peterson, “ He walked towards Janell slowly, a cold grin on his face to replace the frown. “ You don’t get a choice. Sam. “ The man nodded his head towards Janell, and she was suddenly hoisted onto someone’s shoulder, being forced into the glass room. “ Don’t treat my sister like some savage - let her go! “ Atticus trailed behind them quickly, he was about to throw a punch when the man shoved him to the ground with his sister. “ If you both just complied you wouldn’t have been forced to do it. “
With a scoff, the bulky and quite rude man walked out, closing the door behind him. Atticus knew it was locked when he heard two locks when he closed the door, and a second one right after. “ Shit. What do we do now Atti? “ Atticus had his head in his hands, they moved from his face to his hair and gripped at his roots. “ I don’t know, J. Honestly - I just hope we get out of this alive. “
“ I didn’t even get to say goodbye to Seria… “ His sister’s eyes saddened, clouded by the fear of never seeing her daughter again. “ Hey, we’ll come back. I know we will. It might just- take some time. Seria is in good hands with Ophelia, you know she is. “ Janell nodded, but she was still saddened, and he could feel it. “ Don’t worry, I’ll keep you as safe as I can. We’re twins after all. “
The two turned their heads towards the odd-looking door when a warping sound began to pick up. Electric volts tried connecting together from different angles of the door - scaring both of them. “ Promise me whatever happens, we’ll find each other? “ Atticus looked at his sister and gave her a smile. “ Always. “
“ You two can walk through now. “ Someone spoke through an intercom.
“ I’ll go through first, I’ll throw my glasses back to let you know it’s safe, okay? “ His sister nodded, gulping to swallow her anxiety. “ Right. Please be safe. “ Atticus grinned, “ You know I will be. “
Atticus turned back to the door. Slowly, he made his way over with an outstretched hand. He had a terrible gut feeling as his hand came into contact with some gooey, yet electric force.
Sucking in a deep breath, he counted to three. Then walked through the portal.
