The Man with the Violet Eyes (Part II)

Why show me his memories of all a sudden and who was that man? I couldn't gauge what angle he was coming from. That memory...

"Are we supposed to believe this?" Mira pried, "That could've been fake. Why do all of this?"

When I blinked, we were back in the cityscape of Nolan-70. I had to catch my balance as I caught myself falling over the edge of the orange platform. I didn't doubt the image. It felt real. Dr Vex and Franz also told me they remembered waking up in a white room.

The man with the violet eyes continued to keep his back towards us.

"Yeah," Daiya added, "You were with them. Is this for sympathy? I can't forgive you-"

"Please don't interrupt. I said that I would allow for discussion when it permitted. I trust I don't need to subdue you anymore," Mira and Daiya both winced as he glared at us with his cold stare. 

But for some reason, I felt something different. I noticed a small glimmer in his violet eyes. Maybe it was because I knew what that was. All those feelings of anguish and pain rushed to my head, and my balance destabilized. 

I hate to admit that I understood him more than I wanted to. 

"Reality, you said Nolan is not reality," he faced her, "What do you know?"

"I...I-I had memories...there were, I don't know, these things!" Mira shook, "They were, things."

Things?

"Describe them," he stepped toward them and locked eyes with Mira, "What was their essence, their skin, their being, who were they?"

"I...I don't know. I only had memories of them, it made my skin crawl. I don't want to go near them-"

"But they'll come after you, all of you. Once they find out," he turned his back again, "700 years ago, I realized that the only thing, the only side was the truth, it began with that project...Experience." he clasped his hands once again.

We transported back to the white room. The man shepherded the 4 children out of the door, closed it behind and ascended up the metal stairs. When they reached the top, a dark corridor with small holes of light shone above it. As they walked through the hallway, I could feel a tensity in the air. I felt like I was there. The man guided the children past the other scientists who murmured in hushed tones.

"They're back," one of the scientists whispered,

"What's going on outside?"

The man glanced side to side, carrying the notebook in his hand while wading through the narrow hallway of people. Once they reached the end, a group of people wearing black masks stopped and blocked their path. Their eyes, they were yellow. But even stranger, behind them a flashing array of colors raced in the sky. 

"Director," one of them said, "Have you begun Project Experience? We've given you 300 years,"

"Actually, I came to inform you that today would be the day to begin." the man spoke.

"We didn't make you Director of Science and Department for games. Results matter. How many this time?" they asked.

The man flipped through his notebook. "9 responsive, 7 dead, 4 with intelligent thought," he patted the head of the little girl. "These four, these four are going to work with me."

"Very well, but you need to start. Immediately. Only 5% of intelligent beings' post-op is far too high! 20 humans at a time is too slow-" the masked mad was interrupted.

"I am the Director. My method has decreased it to 5%. It was 15% and I had to deal with the mess."

The masked man stepped toward the Director and glared at him with his yellow eyes but the Director stood his ground. “Results matter. Remember that! And because it concerns you, Nolan has completed. It should continue to build itself at this point. Good work.” 

The group of masked individuals turned away but the Director stopped them. “8. Why is it when every child reaches 8 that we start neuron removal?”

“You’re not privy to that. Keep your nose where it belongs,” the individuals turned away into the dancing lights and disappeared. 

The Director turned to the kids and looked at them intently. “Hmmm. This won’t do. I wouldn’t bother, but since you’ll be working with me, I need to differentiate you.”

He pointed at the girl, “Your name is Aylis,” then he pointed at one boy, “You’re Amosly Vex,” he pointed at the next boy, “You're Franz, and you,” he pointed at the young boy who had violet eyes, “…are Regal!” 

The image projection cut and we returned back to Nolan-70. 

From there, he played us a reel of all his memories. They swirled around us in a circle simultaneously. Images of him training his light powers, experimenting on people with syringes and loud noises, pulling brain matter from corpses and planting them in other humans, his interactions with Aylis, Vex, and Franz as they got older. It was nice seeing Dr. Vex again, even if through a memory. 

But it was truly horrible. The screams, the needles, the torture. Dr. Vex was a part of it too. I didn’t want to see him in this light, not after what he’s done for me. I didn’t want to believe it. 

He asked me who I was all that time ago, but who is he? Ironically, the closer I got to finding out who I was, the more I gained in the understanding of others. 

The man with the violet eyes slowed the circular reel around us until we were immersed in another memory. 

It was years later. The Director sat at a desk writing in his notebook. It was a small room made of wood, and he kept tapping his fingers along the edges of the table. He looked stressed, even. 

The man with the violet eyes was sitting quietly in the corner when Dr. Vex, Aylis, and Franz walked in.

“Director,” Dr. Vex spoke, “We’re getting nowhere with this project!”

The Director put his writing instrument down and turned around. “What have I always said?”

“Come with solutions, not problems! Right, right right! Gotcha! But I have a solution,”

The Director perked his head, “Go on,”

“So, we’ve been testing, using brain matter, dead albeit, ha, psychological, physical, measurements and it’s not getting us any further. But I had an idea,” Dr. Vex smiled, 

“What if we left the neuron in? Each subject, in the millions now, has had it removed. We know it rids long term memory and intelligent thought in majority of cases, but it would make a perfect control group. For fun, at least!”

The Director sat there quiet for some time, but turned around back to his desk, “No.”

“Why?! We have nothing to lose!”

“It’s forbidden. We only have two rules for the Science Department: Follow neuron procedure and make sure you begin at 8 years of age. It’s the basis of our research-“

“Their research! You’re the Director! You don’t think the age and neuron surgery have nothing to do with each other-“

“The answer is no.”

"Then at the very least," Dr. Vex paused, "...tell me what the experiments are for?"

The Director said nothing as Dr. Vex exited the room. The other 3 of them stayed behind, but the Director forced them out as well. Dr Vex. was waiting behind the door. 

“We’re doing that experiment. He’s hiding something,” Dr. Vex said to the three of them in the hallway.

“Count me out,” Aylis said, “He’s scary, and who cares- “

“We could discover what we really are! Why we’re here! What does this have to do with memory? Don’t you want to know why they’re obsessed with the neuron- “

“Vex,” Franz whispered, “It’s too dangerous. He already said no. We’ll keep at it the way we’ve been doing it- “

“The lack of knowledge is the basis of ignorance,” Dr. Vex said and all three of them turned their heads. “That’s what he always told us. We lack information, so as scientists, it’s our job to find it.”

The three of them stayed quiet until the man with the violet eyes spoke, “It doesn’t matter, but I won’t mention anything to him if you decide to do it.”

“Will you help me?” Dr.Vex asked. The door opened and they all jumped. 

It was the Director. His white suit and black tie stood out against the steel frames of the building.

“This is only between the 5 of us. Understood?” he sighed, then turned to Vex, “How many subjects will we need?”

Dr. Vex smiled, “I’m glad you asked, ha! I'm thinking…mm,” he held up both his hands,

“Seven!”

***