all my life, they let me know
how far i would not go
--

"Thank you, everyone, for coming here tonight."
Noah Crawford stood, hands crossed lightly in front of him as he looked to each of the seven Life Foundation scientists that stood before him, one of them being Stephanie. "All of our names will be spoken about even long after we've turned to dust. History starts now."
While the sentences left his mouth, two more scientists arrived, gently guiding a male into the room. He looked to be about in his mid-thirties, his dark blonde, shoulder-length hair appearing somewhat greasy from lack of a shower. His eyes were downcast to the floor, as if he was afraid to look up and meet anyone's gaze.
"This is only day one," Noah continued, "But it is also first contact. So, let's get to work."
The sliding glass door opened automatically for the nervous man, who stepped in almost on instinct, but visibly flinched when the doors shut behind him and he noticed that the two others had not followed him inside.
Only then did he turn back around to notice the glass canister sitting in the room with him- one that housed the navy blue creature, who seemed to be swimming on the bottom of the cylinder, faint sounds of liquid gurgling similar to the yellow one from earlier coming from inside.
"Establishing subject baseline," the robotic voice hummed through the speakers of the room. "All vital signs are normal."
Noah slowly walked from his previous position to get closer to the glass, arms now crossed over his chest. He saw the male press a hand to the glass near him, as if trying to see what was outside looking in. "Put me through," he whispered to the scientist sitting at the computer to his left.
A short little 'click' sounded through the speakers, and Noah began to speak, now knowing that he could be heard. "There's no need to be frightened, Issac- don't worry," he stated calmly, attempting to quell the male's nerves. "Issac... did you know that's a name from the Bible?"
"Y-Y...Yes, sir," the male known as Issac replied, his tenor voice hiding a lilt as he stammered and nodded.

Noah returned the gesture of a light head bob of affirmation. "God had said to Abraham, 'give me your son; show me that you are willing to sacrifice what is most important to you', and Abraham was willing to do that..." he paused, then turned back to the glass. "You know what's fascinating about that? It isn't Abraham's sacrifice, but Issac's, that is the most heroic thing in the end."
The dark-haired CEO was now close enough to the glass where Issac could see him without obstruction from the light from the room. "Now, I'll be honest... I don't know what kind of God would actually ask someone to do that sort of thing, but it doesn't change the fact that Issac is still the hero of that story."
Issac blinked a few times, invested completely in what was being said to him.
"Look around you, look at the world," Noah whispered to him. "What do you see? War, poverty, destruction... a planet on the brink of collapse. I would argue that God has abandoned us. He didn't keep his end of the bargain that he claimed to promise, so now it's up to the two of us- you and me, Issac- to put this right. And this time, we can."
Placing his hand on his side of the glass, Noah looked Issac in the eyes, and almost immediately, though with some hesitation, Issac placed his hand against his side, mimicking the look of touching palms if there wasn't a wall between them. "This time," the CEO proclaimed softly, only to him, "I will not abandon us."
Issac's only response was a shaky nod, holding back tears.
The room was silent, until Noah finally spoke. "...Open it."
A few mechanical hisses came from the container, and the blue organism slithered out and onto the floor, moving towards its companion like a sentient ball of slime.
As was expected by most everyone else in the room, Issac's eyes widened in shock and terror. "Wh-what the hell is that thing?" he mustered, voice rising in fear as he quickly resorted to banging his fists against the glass. "Get me out of here, please! Don't let that thing touch me!"
The sensation he felt crawling up his leg was that of a thick smoothness, and he glanced down to eye up the creature ascending up to his chest, its blue sheen reflecting off the lights. "Oh god, why, please don't...!" the words were whimpered in a falsetto tone, eyes shutting tight.
Noah watched as the entity slowly reached a tendril out to just barely graze the surface of one of Issac's front teeth, then began to slowly recede into his body, disappearing painlessly into his skin with a soft gurgle.
Immediately, the CEO looked to his left to eye the computer. "His vitals are holding steady," the scientist in front of the screen affirmed him, accompanied by the image of Issac's skeleton and the blue outline of the creature inside it.
"Where the hell did it go...?" was the question that came from Issac's mouth, the male looking around in frantic bewilderment. "Where is it...?"
When he looked back at Noah, he was met with an accomplished smile, almost as if he was saying, 'you did it, I'm proud of you',  and he started to relax slightly.

Until he heard the gurgling again.
The next thing he knew, his arm was moving on its own accord, waving around in front of him and bending in ways it normally should't have been able to. The cracking of bones was audible, but not as loud as Issac's screams of pain and agony, now his entire body moving around in slow waves, more than likely due to the creature's distaste and mismatch of body.
A few more violent pulses later, and Issac fell to the floor with a rather nasty 'thud', the organism emerging from his mouth like a snake. The male didn't move an inch, and the long, high-pitched beep from his vital signs indicated the unfortunate truth that he was no longer alive.
Seconds after, the blue entity nearly slammed itself against the glass wall, writhing angrily in a mass of tendrils and slime-like ooze.
Noah remained unamused, and most of all, unaffected by the sight.
"Bring in the next volunteer," he stated simply.
All Stephanie could do was take a sharp, shaky breath and swallow the lump in her throat.
What the hell was going on...?

--

The walk back to Mrs. Chang's store every day was pretty much the same- run into Mandy, grab the newspaper and coupons from her, buy whatever food you needed to get by for lunch or supper, and head home.
Today, however, something seemed off to you. Of course living in a big city meant that the roads were constantly busy and there would be an abundance of people on the streets, even in the dead hours, but... there was something that seemed to put you on edge. But what it was, you weren't certain.

You reached the newspaper boxes, opening your usual one and pulling out the day's coupons and walking through the doors, but did a silent, quick double take at what you noticed before rushing back inside.

Mandy's blankets and food boxes were still at their usual spot, but Mandy herself was gone.

"I used to be a reporter," you murmured quietly to yourself more than anything, browsing the granola bar isle for a snack. "I was- I was pretty successful, too. My job required me to... follow people around- people that didn't want to be followed, mainly."
You gave a quick glance over your shoulder when you heard a rustle of fabric and footsteps on tile, hoping the guy who passed you two isles over didn't hear you rambling.
A sigh left your lips. "And you had to learn how to disappear. That I was really good at, but you..." you stopped midway, poking your head around the end of the isle to catch sight of a woman around your age, give or take a few years, brown hair up in a messy bun. "...whoever you are, you suck."
She stared at you for a moment, then let out a long breath and approached you. "Okay, okay, um..." she struggled to find her voice, instead handing you a small card from her pocket. "My name is Stephanie Buss," she introduced to you, her voice quiet. "I'm a scientist, I need your help."
You nodded slowly, trying to take in what was happening so suddenly. "Okay," you urged her to continue.

Stephanie bit her lip. "I work at the Life Foundation," she revealed, almost reluctantly.
You instantly raised your eyebrows and looked at her with mock surprise. "You do?" you replied, to which she nodded back. "Good for you," you added, patting her on the shoulder before gesturing to the door. "We're done."
You tossed Mrs. Chang a ten dollar bill for your granola bars and chicken flavored cup-o-soup, waltzing out the doors without hesitation. However, you heard frantic footsteps behind you.

"Miss [last name], please- please, just listen to me," she called after you. "Everything you accused him of, you were right. It's all true."
You shrugged. "I don't care about that anymore," you retorted back.
"Really?" Stephanie snapped back lightly with her own comeback. "Because he has a lab filled with poor people, and they're all signing waivers they don't understand. He's using all of them like guinea pigs, and they're dying."
That finally made you stop in your stride, but just to add the level of severity, she said one more time, "They. Are all. Dying."

You turned to look at her face, frightened brown eyes and shaking lips, then gently grabbed her by the elbow and led her back to the wall by where Mandy's blanket's sat, alone. "Why should I believe you?" you deadpanned, straight to the point.

Stephanie let out a shaky breath. "Because it's all true," she mused, her voice traced in sorrow. "I believed in Noah, everything he did. I told myself that it was worth it, that nothing crazy was going to happen. We were just curing cancer back then, but now... now it's different. This is something else entirely."

You slightly scrunched up your lips in mild annoyance. "Call the cops," you stated, matter-of-factly.
"I can't," she immediately shot back. "I'm afraid of what will happen to my family if I do. He's dangerous- really dangerous."
With an exaggerated grin and an expression that seemed to scream 'you don't say?!' to her, you mimed putting a finger in your ear and twisting it around. "Oh, oh believe me, I know how dangerous he is," you told her in a sing-song voice. "The first and only time I interview the son of a bitch, I lose my job- I lost my career, you understand me? I lost my house, I lost my fucking best friend! I lost everything I ever cared about!" You almost didn't realize your voice was increasing in volume until you stopped for a brief second. "And why is that? Because of Noah fucking Crawford. He ruined me. He destroyed my life."
You then leaned back on the balls of your feet and crossed your arms. "Now, if you are who you say you are," you continued, your voice now back to a quiet level. "And you have genuine proof, then you should be extremely fucking afraid."
Stephanie couldn't answer you for a few moments, but then found her voice again- though it was shaky. "...I am," she finally whispered.
With that, you sighed heavily, running a hand through your hair. "...You need to find someone better to handle this, Dr. Buss," you told her, now much more calm and monotone. "'Cause I'm not the proper person to handle this... this shit."
"What shit...?" she asked you.
You gestured with your hands to your surroundings. "This," you answered. "This whole, 'saving your fellow human' shit." You stuffed your hands back into your sweater pockets. "I'm not the [first name] [last name] I used to be, Dr. Buss. And I'm not the one to fix this. I'm sorry. Good night."

You found yourself walking aimlessly, instead of back to your apartment, you ended up strolling up the block where you used to live with Devon. The condo was still there, same color, same door frames... nothing had changed. At least from what you saw.
From the upstairs window, you caught a glimpse of an object decorated in three colors of fur- brown, tan and white, with a long nose and perky ears, sitting on the windowsill and staring down at you.
You waved silently. "Hey Maggie," you whispered, to which the dog lightly began to wag her tail. A sad smile crossed your face, disappearing at the voice coming from behind you.
"...[name]?"

Turning around, your eyes met with Devon, stepping out of a dark red sedan in a button-up shirt and black pants. He hadn't changed at all, either.

"Devon, hey," you greeted, albeit hesitantly- the look on his face was not of pleasant surprise, but more of distasteful surprise. "Sorry if this looks weird, I-I was just passing by and I saw Maggie upstairs, and I figured I'd maybe... y'know, check up on her? Or..."
Your former best friend rolled his eyes and groaned. "[name]," he drawled in slight irritance. However, before he could add anything to his sentence, the other side of the car opened up to reveal a woman- a smaller woman, with light brown hair tied in a casual, but nice ponytail and wearing a knee-length blue dress. Your eyes widened just slightly enough that he didn't notice.

Whatever was going to come out of his mouth, he bit his lip and stopped it. "...This is Andrea," he gestured to the woman as she approached the two of you. "Andrea, this is [name]."
Thankfully, you were pleased to see that she did not share Devon's animosity; she eagerly held her hand out for you to shake, smile genuine and eyes twinkling. "Hi, good to meet you!" she greeted, her grip gentle but firm. "Dev's told me a lot about you."
"Oh, he has?" you tested, not wanting to get on her bad side.
She nodded, ponytail bouncing. "Yeah, I'm actually a big fan of your work," she explained, the smile never leaving her face.

You were happily shocked. "Oh... th-thank you," was your genuine reply, trying to hide the blush on your cheeks.
Devon, on the other hand, turned to face her with a mild grimace. "...Really?" he deadpanned.
Andrea shrugged. "It's pretty cool," she reiterated. "I enjoyed watching her interviews. All the things she stopped, all the people she took down..."
The male turned back to you, a look of nonchalance on his face. "Yeah, I was one of them."

Ouch. That stung.
The other woman broke the silence before it could get too awkward. "But hey, I'll let you guys catch up for a few, I'll meet you inside, okay?"
Devon nodded, brushing his fingers against her cheek before planting a soft kiss on her lips.
'Well, he sure missed me,' You thought, inner voice dripping with sarcasm.
Andrea tossed you one last quick, "Good to meet you, [name]," with a light brush of your shoulder before walking over to the door, turning the key in the lock, and heading inside.

Your head turned back to face Devon, who was staring at you with a hint of malice. "...She has a key," you meant to ask as a question, but it came out as a sentence.

He glanced at you as if it was obvious. "Yeah, how else would she get in?" he answered you, an eyebrow raised.
This wasn't going to be easy.

"So, what have you been up to lately, anyway?" you tested the waters with a simple question.

Devon's chuckle was more of a scoff. "You do realize that's light-years away from even being any of your business, right?"
You raised your hands up in defense. "Just asking, sheesh," you muttered. "So, what's Andrea do? She a lawyer?"
"No, she's a doctor," he answered you, surprisingly sounding civil. "Surgeon, actually. Pretty good at it, to no one's surprise."
A nod was your response. "How's Maggie, too? She doing okay?"
Now Devon didn't even try to hide the laugh that came from his mouth as he replied. "I'd say that she misses you, but that'd be bullshit, since-"
"She's a dog, and she's old?" you stated a possible end to his sentence.
"No, because she never liked you," he shot back, turning away to head for the door.
You groaned. "I get that I screwed up royally, but that was six months ago, and you don't have to act this fucking salty over something like small talk," you retorted. "I wandered up here to say hi and you treat me like shit. I said nothing to you today to deserve that."
Devon stopped, turning to glare at you for a minute, before his expression softened- though only slightly. "...Why are you here, [name]?"
You pursed your lips together. "Because I miss you," you answered honestly. "A lot."
The male let his guard down just a little more, his once angry face now looking a little more disappointed, and even... almost sad.
"We were best friends, Dev," you nearly whispered. "We've known each other since we were kids. We did everything together- we bought that damn house together. It wasn't even that long ago, and now..." you paused, swallowing. "I can still hardly believe we're... gone."
He sighed and looked at the floor.
"Could... could we ever have that again?" you asked hesitantly, your eyes close to watering. "Is there ever a chance we'd be able to go back?"
Devon blinked, then slowly shook his head. "No, [name]," he spoke softly. "We can't."
You sighed. You should have expected this.

"You did this to yourself," he finalized, his voice still low- no longer laced with anger, but with pity. "Not Noah Crawford, not the network... you. I'm sorry."
With one final, grief-filled look as a farewell, Devon turned back around, opened the door to the house and went inside, locking it behind him and heading up the stairs.

The Golden Gate Bridge was the closest you could be to get a glance at the Life Foundation without swimming in the bay or trying to climb the rocks on the other side. Leaning against the railing on the side closest to the cursed building, you stared down at the object dangling between your fingers- Devon's half of the friendship necklace.
You should have figured that encounter wasn't going to end well. Though you were surprised he even spoke to you to begin with. Still, it hurt, and it was going to hurt for a long time.
You tucked the necklace away in the back pocket of your jeans.
What caught your eye from the left corner was the blinding lights of a helicopter, flying steadily towards the Life Foundation, the logo of the company painted stark across the side like a proud emblem.
You followed it with your gaze, staring it down. Then, you remembered something.
Reaching into the left pocket of your hoodie, you pulled out the card that woman had given you earlier. Stephanie, her name was. To your relief, it was, in fact, her business card, her name and number printed on the bottom right.
Pulling out your cell phone, you dialed the number and pressed it to your ear, the familiar ringing tone softly humming through the speakers.

Seconds later, you heard a voice.
"H-Hello, this is Dr. Buss?"
A faint smile came across your lips.

"Hey, it's [first name] [last name]... tell me everything. I'm listening."