rainbow-jar-prompts

[rainbow-jar-prompts]

Day 1 - never fall in love with your experiments

Janie stared through the glass into the chamber. There he was. Living. Breathing. He was...perfect. They had spent years trying to perfect the formula. Trying to make the perfect clone. And there he was. Just...sitting there, staring at a blank wall. It was like he wasn’t even alive.

She took a few steps towards the door, taking a deep breath before walking through it. “Hello there my dear, how’re you feeling? Is everything normal?”

The young man on the table peered up at her, eyes slowly blinking. “I… I believe so, ma’am.”

“No need to be so formal, hon.” Janie tucked a strand of black and silver hair behind her ear and grinned. “Call me Janie.”

“Janie…” he tested the name out, rolling it on his tongue like honey. “Is that your… what’s the word… name?”

She smiled, jotting a few things down on her clipboard before turning back to face him. “It is. Well done.”

He nodded slowly, fingers still gripping the edge of the table on which he was perched. “Do… do I have a name?”

Janie felt the floor tilt out from under her. She hadn’t expected him to gain awareness quite so soon. None of them had. “I…”

Blushing, the experiment glanced back down at his feet, closing himself off. “It’s alright. I understand.”

“We can find you a name, sweetheart. It just might take some time. Make sure you get one you’ll like.” She adjusted her glasses, poking them up a bit on her nose. “Can you tell me everything that’s happened so far? Everything you remember, at least?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Janie ground her teeth together, fighting to maintain a smile. He wasn’t being as cooperative as he had been programmed to be. “Try, love. Think back.”

“I don’t-”

“I don’t know is not an answer, damn it!”

Both individuals in the room flinched as the door swung open, revealing a large man with a rather purple face.

Stepping toward the man, Janie raised the hand that was not occupied by the clipboard. “Look, Hank, I think you need to let me handle-”

“No. I’ve poured too much money on this project to have my little science experiment over here play coy.” Hank whipped around to face the young man, eyes burning with intesity. “She asked you a fucking question, boy. I suggest you answer it. You don’t want to get on my bad side.”

“I…”

“Think long and hard about what your next step is, or it may be your last.” Brushing aside Janie, the larger man stepped even closer, gripping the collar of the boy’s sweatshirt. “Now. Answer. The. Fucking. Question.”

The young man took a shaking breath and chewed on his bottom lip, trying everything in his power to regain the memories he knew he must have. “I… I’m sorry, sir, I don’t know-” he was cut off by a hard fist to the back of his head, sending stars shooting into his vision.

“I don’t know isn’t good enough, damn it.” Hank raised his fist again, ready to strike if he didn’t receive the answer he was looking for. “Now. What do you remember?”

Janie stepped forward, placing a timid hand over Hank’s huge fist. “It’s possible that he may not remember anything. The process of getting him prepared was gradual, he may not have come to consciousness until he later in the process, perhaps not even until he was in this very room. This could very well be all he knows.”

The leer on Hank’s face as he turned sent shivers down Janie’s spine, but she stood her ground. “Fix him. Or I’ll kill this one and we can try again.” With that, Hank reached over and swatted at the boy one more time before stomping out of the room, windows shaking with the force of the slam.

Janie couldn’t help but notice how the young man on the table flinched as she stepped towards him. “Oh, hon… I’m so sorry. Hank… well, he means well. He just doesn’t have the best way of showing it.”

Brushing away tears, the boy cleared his throat and turned back to face the wall, refusing to make eye contact.

“Now, is it true that you don’t remember anything?”

He nodded slowly, seeming to choke up.

“Can you tell me what you do remember?”

“I…”

“It’s okay. Take your time.”

The boy thought for a moment or two, worrying the bottom of his sweater sleeve before turning his head slightly to look at Janie. “I… I know it was dark. And kinda…”

“Slimy?”

“Yeah…”

“Good,” Janie mused, scribbling notes. “That’s good. That was your incubation tank. What else?”

“I know there were a lot of bright lights...and it was loud…”

“Perfect, you’re doing so well, hon. Anything else you can tell me?”

He took a deep breath, glancing around the room. “I… I don’t know… I don’t remember anything else until they brought me here…”

Janie nodded, reaching a hand out to pat the boy on the shoulder. As soon as she contacted his sleeve he flinched away, eyes wide with panic. “Hey, honey, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. I promise, love. You’re safe with me. Okay?”

“I…”

“I get it. You don’t need to explain.” She began to write one last note on her file before turning to leave the room. “Are you going to be alright in here? Would you like me to bring you in some books?”

“Books?”

“They’re full of stories from around the world. You’d love them.”

A timid smile, the first positive emotion she had ever seen from him, lit up his face. “That would be nice, Ms Janie, thank you…”

“You’re very welcome, sweet one. I’ll be back in a little bit with some I have in my office. Promise. Sit tight until I’m back, alright?”

He nodded, and she scurried to the door, swiping her id card to get out.

As soon as the door swung shut behind her, she whirled to face Hank. “What the hell was that? You scared him!”

“I wanted to fucking scare him. He needs to learn.”

“Learn what?” Janie slapped her clipboard down on the table, crossing her arms sharply. “That he’s going to live in fear?”

“That he exists for science. We need to know everything if we ever want this tech to work. I poured too much time and money into this project for that little punk to become a brat.” Glancing through the two way mirror, Hank smiled. “And it got him to open up to you, so I mean, that’s something.”

With a huff, Janie stomped over to her laptop and began typing furiously. “This is ridiculous. I have to go grab some books for him.”

“Books?”

“We can’t just leave him in there alone, with nothing to do. He’ll go crazy!”

As she moved to leave for her office, Hank’s chubby fingers wrapped around her bicep, tugging her close. He bent down and jammed his face in hers. “You listen to me, Pretts. I made you. I gave you funding when no one else would. In exchange, I asked for one little favor. I could be in on whatever shit you were making. This is history. This could change the world.”

“You think I don’t know that? I-”

“Rule number one.”

“Excuse me?” Janie yanked her arm out of his grasp, straightening her lab coat.

“Never fall in love with your experiments. Rule number one.” The leer on Hank’s face was despicable, one that would haunt Janie’s nightmares for years to come. “Break a rule, I’ll break him. Got it?”

She gulped, nodding slowly. A glance into the room saw the young man cross legged on the table, fidgeting with a piece of paper that had been left in his lab. “I… got it. Rule number one.”

“Good. Now go get him your precious books.”

Janie flew out of the room, locking herself in her office and breaking down in tears.

This was going to be harder than she had thought.