Warning ⚠️: This book contains graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.

August 24th 2014.

"Great job today,  Days. Thank you for covering for Kali. I don't know how I would've handled this by myself!" A blonde haired male exclaimed as he smacked on his gum rather obnoxiously. 

"I had fun, Trevor. This internship means so much to me so I enjoy coming in." Connor grinned at the male as he began to put on his coat, watching as Trevor shut off all but one of the computers.

"Well we're glad to have you! Not a lot of new blood that actually do their jobs come to intern here. Usually they're beyond incompetent." Trevor gave a dramatic sigh as he shooed Connor from him.

"Get out of here before they decide to keep you any longer like they do with me!" Trevor teased as Connor quickly grabbed his car keys,  waving goodbye to the older male as he retreated from the building.

"Drive safe, kiddo!" A familiar British accent called, turning Connor's attention to where David stood leaned against the large stone pillar at the entrance of The Monarch.

"Thank you... I will!" Connor blushed as he quickly looked away, David taking a long pull from his cigarette as he watched Connor climb into his red Chevrolet Malibu.

Connor turned up his radio, humming along to the song that played as he pulled from the parking lot, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as he pulled to a stoplight.

The music changed much to his disappointment, but a more upbeat  song caused a smile to spread over his face as he released a happy sigh.

"Today is a good day." He murmured to himself as the light turned green, allowing him to pull forward.

A loud screech of tires made his head whip to the side as a large truck barreled into his side door, sending his car flipping as it smashed into a pole.

Pain erupted through his back as the car folded around him, the pole falling onto his car and causing the roof to cave in even more.

The driver of the truck climbed from his large semi, eyes wide in shock as he watched the car he had hit ignite.

"Somebody call the police!" The man yelled as he stumbled from his truck, grabbing a crowbar as he rushed towards the driver side door.

A few onlookers rushed to help, helping the driver pry open Connor's door before one of the male's began to cut away Connor's seat belt.

"We can't move him! His spine isn't in his body anymore!" One of the men yelled as they tore the seat belt away from him, the fire from the front of the car causing the male to wipe sweat from his forehead.

"I'd rather he not die than worry about that." The truck driver snapped as they pulled Connor from the car, the male not making a sound as the four men quickly carried Connor away from the burning vehicle.

"Stay with me, kiddo. You'll be okay." The truck driver murmured as the sirens wailed behind them.

                                _-*-_

"Vitals are normal. He's responding rather well." Doctor Banner said as he turned to The Boss who nodded seriously.

"What happened?" Connor's voice startled Doctor Banner as he stared at Connor with a shocked expression.

"Responding rather well indeed. Mister Days, my name is Eve Magdeline and this is my associate, Doctor Banner." Connor's eyes went wide as the beautiful older woman spoke, stumbling to find the proper thing to say as he cleared his throat. 

"The Eve Magdeline? As in the owner of the place that I work at?!" Connor flinched at how high his voice had gotten in his excitement and cleared his throat.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." He continued in a much deeper, formal tone as he looked up at the older woman who held no emotion on her face.

"Do you know where you are, Mister Days?" Magdeline questioned as she walked closer to the younger male, deep green eyes studying him with a keen interest as she spoke.

"No..." Connor turned his attention to the large, bright room he lay in. The walls were entirely made of metal, as was the floor beneath him and it seemed as though the only furniture in the room was a bed and a large TV.

The large mirror that made up the entirety of the wall to the right of his bed, brought his attention to how he looked perfectly fine, so there should've been no reason for him to be in this hospital... Right?

"Why am I in the hospital?" Connor arched his eyebrows as he turned his dark brown gaze back to The Boss.

"You were in a horrible car crash, Mister Days." Magdeline explained as she snapped at Doctor Banner who quickly turned on the TV in front of Connor, revealing a news broadcast about Connor's crash.

Connor's eyes widened as he saw his body being loaded into an ambulance, revealing only his face as the rest of him was covered by a large blanket. His nose was bleeding and his face was swollen and purple, burns littering his forehead while most of his hair had been singed from his scalp.

"How long have I been here? What year is this?" Connor's eyes filled with tears as he turned his attention back to the mirror, noticing all of his hair was black once again as tears began to fill his eyes.

"A week. Make no mistake, Mister Days... We have spent countless hours making sure that you lived-" Magdeline began which caused Connor to turn and quickly look at her with wide eyes.

"You saved me? Thank you so much, Miss Magdeline..." Connor interrupted her which caused her eyes to flash with annoyance,  causing the boy to quickly trail off as he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Do not mistake this for mere kindness, Mister Days. This will not come without a price to you. You will work for us until you pay off the billions we've spent to help you." As The Boss spoke, Connor's face began to grow increasingly paler as he gulped.

"Billions..." He murmured before Magdeline continued, snapping her fingers once again as Doctor Banner fumbled with the remote.

"This may come as quite a shock to you but you are no longer human, Mister Days." Magdeline explained as Doctor Banner switched the TV to a large X-ray of what Connor assumed was a... Science project.

"This is your spine. When we found you, it had been completely shattered... The intact pieces tearing through your skin from them removing you from the car." Doctor Banner used a stick with a plastic hand on the end, the extended pointer finger pointing to a long metal thing in the center of the X-ray.

"We had to remove the vertebrae, replacing it with a special blend of metals that make it incredibly light rather than heavy and cumbersome. The same applies for both of your legs... Which... Sadly we had to amputate your left leg from the knee down, the other we managed to save but we had to amputate the foot on the right side as it was badly burned and developed a very bad infection from them laying you in the dirt." Doctor Banner moved the slide to show how the metal and had been melded perfectly to the bone in Connor's leg.

"As for your arms... We did have to remove both as your arms were both subjected to fifth degree burns, leaving us without much to work with." Connor looked down at his hands, flexing them and looking them over with wide eyes as Doctor Banner spoke.

"Your human nerves that were damaged by the crash, we replaced with entirely synthetic ones. Your artificial muscles are made up of a synthetic blend of flesh and machine parts. We had to replace your lungs with ones we made in the lab, they are not human ones but more machine than anything else. But you damaged them substantially with how much smoke you inhaled and it would seem dumb to risk damaging the rest of the progress over something as miniscule as lungs." Doctor Banner gave a hearty laugh before he switched the slide to show the synthetic tissue which seemed more blue than it was supposed to. Gear symbols stretched across the blue flesh, Connor's eyes widening as he realized his face and neck were made up of the synthetic muscle as well.

"As you can see... We had to fix the damaged tissue in your face and neck from the crash. Your skin throughout your whole body except for around the top of your chest and... Your lower torso as well as everything below that point but above your knees are your flesh but as you age we may have to replace everything. Your synthetic skin is very complex and I do not have the time to explain to you what all it is made of but it is very expensive material that is much better than normal human skin. It will grow with you as though you were a normal teenager... But after a certain point you will stop aging." Doctor Banner paused to let the information sink in as he instead approached Connor.

"This is an X-ray of what we were supposed to do. But as you are to work for us... We made a few minor adjustments." Doctor Banner touched Connor's arm with a metal pen, causing the skin on his arm to slide back and reveal a control panel which made Connor gasp loudly.

"We will train you to use this on a later date. Oh, as for your hair. It is synthetic as well which means you may change its color at will to blend in better on your missions." Doctor Banner tapped Connor's arm with the pen once again which caused the skin to slide back over the control pannel.

"So I'm a superhero, now?" Connor grinned as he looked into Doctor Banner's brown eyes, but the smile immediately faded from the older male's face as he stepped away from the boy.

"You are a very powerful, high tech experiment. But this gift may not last, Mister Days. I risked quite a lot of money to bring you from the brink of death so you do owe me. Refusal to do so will have you made human once again." Magdeline said in an emotionless voice,  causing panic to rise in Connor's chest as he turned his gaze back to The Boss who met his terrified eyes with an icy glare.

"Which would mean... You would take back all of the high tech stuff." Connor gulped as Magdeline gave a gentle nod, face void of emotion as Connor began to nervously crack his fingers but no sounds escaped them much to his disappointment.

"I wouldn't have arms... I wouldn't have... My lungs... You said leaving them would damage your progress... How long would I have to live after that?" Connor whispered in a hoarse voice, tears filling his eyes once again as he spoke.

"A year possibly. Maybe more... More than likely less." Doctor Banner replied, voice quiet as he avoided the Connor's eye's, not being able to bare seeing someone so terrified for their life.

"And if I agree to work... What will I do? Continue being a receptionist?" Connor's question sounded stupid to even himself, but he needed to know that he was correct that the work he was going to do wasn't exactly legal.

"You're smarter than that, Mister Days." Magdeline's words caused icy dread to fill Connor's stomach as he gave a slight nod to show she was right.

"Sign this and we will explain further. You have until I decide you are no longer worth my time and leave this room." She continued which caused Connor's eyes to shoot up to hers where he realized she wasn't kidding, the papers in her hands seeming to taunt him as she threw it onto his lap in front of him, the clipboard they were attached to making a loud clack as it landed.

Connor's hands shook as he picked up the clipboard, eyes darting over the words as he inhaled shakily.

"This is signing you off as my legal guardians until you deem necessary for you to no longer watch over me... You'd have complete control over everything I do no matter what?" Connor whispered as he looked up at The Boss before quickly looking away as her icy gaze bore into him like a knife.

"You're wasting my precious time, Mister Days." Magdeline sighed as she reached for the clipboard but Connor held it out of her reach as he grabbed the pen attached to the paper.

"I'm yours to control..." Connor murmured as he signed his name on the line at the bottom of the page, tears leaking from his eyes as The Boss snatched it from his grip after he replaced the pen.

"You've made the correct decision, Mister Days. Rest now. Someone will come to fetch you shortly." Magdeline didn't wait for a reply as she stalked from the room, posture reminding Connor of a snake... Beautiful but poised and ready for the kill.

He guessed that if she was the snake... That would make him the rat.

"Did I?" Connor turned his attention to Doctor Banner who looked startled by the question as he looked up from where he had previously been taking notes in a black notebook.

"I cannot answer that, Mister Days. Not really. That is for you to decide." Doctor Banner's reply caused a small sigh to escape Connor as he looked down with a contemplative expression.

"What did I just do?" Connor murmured as he looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers as he examined them closely.

"You sold your soul, Mister Days... As we all have." Doctor Banner's eyes held an emotion that Connor couldn't place as the older male walked from the room, leaving Connor alone with his thoughts.

                             _-*-_

Present.

"The rain stopped. We need to go." Joelee's voice startled everyone as they all began to stir from their cuddle pile.

Nathan peeked out of the blanket, wincing as direct sunlight beat down on all of them.

"How did you take everything down without waking us up?" Nathan groaned as Joelee snatched the blanket from them, tucking it into the bag as she gave a light shrug.

"As soon as the sunlight starting popping up I started taking it down. I'm assuming you guys were just too exhausted to really bother waking up." Joelee replied after a moment, handing half of a granola bar to each person before she zipped up the bag.

"Eat and let's go. I found out that there's a town about a mile from where we are now." Joelee's eyes scouted the horizon as she spoke, seeming eager to leave the area as she shuffled from foot to foot.

"How do you know that?" Esther asked as she ate her granola bar in two bites, eyes lidded at the delicious taste of the chocolate chips within the bar.

"She went for a hike around three in the morning when the rain lightened. To scout the area." Connor murmured after Joelee didn't reply, causing their eyes to shoot to him now as she began to pace instead.

"What's your problem? You're like a toddler in a grocery store." Esther commented as everyone began to climb to their feet, Alyssa giving a large stretch to try and sooth her aching muscles a bit.

"They have tracking dogs. I smell them. The police." Joelee replied after a moment, causing the others to exchange glances as Joelee motioned for them to follow, her pace rushed as she began to hurry in the opposite direction.

"How much sleep did you even get last night?" Nathan asked as he finally caught up to Joelee who gave him a sheepish smile.

"I refuse to answer that without my lawyer present." Joelee winked as she picked up her pace, making sure they could keep up enough to see her but not be able to talk to her without running to catch up.

"Joe, you need rest too!" Nathan yelled after her but she shook her head in reply as she turned to look at him for a moment.

"Bad things happen when I allow myself to sleep. So I don't anymore." Was all she said as she she turned away from them again, messing with the scars on her arms as she walked.

"What does that mean?" Nathan asked but she gave no reply, hair billowing in the wind as she walked with a distant look in her eyes.

The group walked in silence the rest of the way, not bothering to try to fill the awkward silence with conversation as they walked.

Connor lingered near the back of the group, watching the tears run down Joelee's cheeks as she walked. He knew exactly what she was thinking about but he didn't dare approach her.

The fact she even talked to him last night shocked him but he knew that it was starting to bubble up inside so she had no real choice.

"Connor?! I know they're lying! You'd never do this, right?!" Joelee screamed as the guards dragged her down the hallway, her blue eyes begging him to try and help her.

"I have no idea who you are but if you think I did something, I probably did." Connor gave Joelee a wink, feeling a pain in his chest at the heartbroken look in her eyes as the guards dragged her from sight.

Connor shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the memory as he inhaled deeply, the pain in chest at his own betrayal making the guilt rise into his throat.

"So you remember? Bout time, I'd say." Kai said to Connor who put a hand on the dark haired male's shoulder, eyes begging him to listen as he motioned for Kai to lower his voice.

" We need to get them out of here. Including Sam. Doyle is close to completing the serum... And when he does, they'll be sent to their deaths. We don't have much time." Connor whispered urgently as Kai's face immediately hardened and he gave a gentle nod.

"I'm listening. What's the plan?" Kai murmured as a sigh of relief escaped Connor's mouth before he straightened his stance.

"We're going to need some help first." Connor warned to which Kai gave a small grin in reply as he glanced over Connor's shoulder.

"That won't be a problem. Meet me in the boiler room." Was all Kai said before he walked away, leaving Connor to stand alone in the hallway.

Kai looked over his shoulder at Connor, seemingly knowing what he was thinking about as he slowed to walk next to the older male.

"They won't find out who helped us. Don't feel guilty about that. They never suspected me so they definitely won't suspect anyone else." Kai murmured after a moment, causing Connor to frown as he turned his attention to Kai now.

"You can't know that." Connor murmured as Joelee hesitated at the side of a large stretch of blacktop, eyes wide as she stared at the road ahead of her.

"I forgot how much these stink." Joelee grinned before she stuck out her thumb, an approaching van slowing as it pulled to the side of the road.

"Y'alls a little far from home, aren't you?" The woman in the passenger's seat commented in a thick southern accent as she grinned at the kids.

"Our car broke down quite a ways back. Can you give us a ride to the nearest city?" Joelee gave the woman a polite smile as the woman turned to glance at the male next to her.

"Y'all aren't in a cult, are ya? Seen too many documentaries about that to just let y'all in." The male called which caused Joelee to laugh as she quickly shook her head. 

"No, sir. Just trying to get home to my family for my birthday. It's been a real long time." Joelee's eyes watered slightly but she fought through it as she continued her polite tone.

"You'll have to ride in the back. Don't worry, Anna doesn't bite." The van door slid open, revealing a girl no older than Joelee looking incredibly annoyed in the back of the van.

Joelee nodded to the girl who rolled her eyes as the teens began to squish into the surprisingly spacious van.

"Where y'all from?" The male asked as he glanced at the kids in the rear view mirror, his daughter sliding closed the van door after everyone finally clambered in.

"All different places. We were enjoying one last vacation before college when our car broke down." Joelee's lie was smooth, seeming too easy to the others as she looked at the window.

"That's fun! Our Anna is on her way to college too! That's where we're headed right now. A very nice art school! Our Anna is an amazing artist." The woman exclaimed as Joelee nodded politely,  turning her gaze to Anna who seemed annoyed to even be in the car.

"You don't have to tell them everything about my life." Anna snapped which caused her parents to exchange glances.

"Sorry, sweetie. We're just very proud of you." Her father said as he returned his gaze to the road, eyes a lot less cheerful as he gripped his wife's hand.

Joelee's eyes narrowed at Anna who finally turned to sneer at Joelee, seeming to challenge her silently to say something.

"It's something to be proud of, I got accepted into a school and I'm beginning an internship for Nial Knight as a graphic designer for his business." Anna gave a large smirk at Joelee who simply arched her eyebrows in confusion.

"I'd be impressed if I knew who that was." Joelee said which caused Anna to gasp loudly as though Joelee had just shot her.

"He's the second richest man in New York City! His foundation has helped so many struggling countries and he's helped cure so many sick people.... Surely you've heard of his son Dean Knight?!" Anna exclaimed but Joelee shook her head in response, seemingly growing more annoyed by the second at how high pitched Anna's voice was getting.

"He's the RICHEST man in New York City! He bypassed his father in success by creating a medical facility called G.E.N.E! He's helped his father build orphanages, homeless shelters, soup kitchens,  relief centers, hospitals... And he owns them all!" Anna exclaimed while Joelee released a quiet sigh, digging her nails into her palms to try to calm herself.

"Sounds like a real hero." Joelee mumbled as she turned her gaze out the window once again, eyes going wide as she finally saw the signs saying where they were.

"You said New York?" Joelee asked as she turned to look at her friends who slowly seemed to be catching on to what she was saying.

"Yes. We're about four hours away from New York City now." Anna's parents said, causing Alyssa's eyes to widen as she finally caught on to what they were saying.

"Oh, yeah. We're a very long way from home." Joelee murmured under her breath, bile rising in the back of her throat as she realized just how far they were from home.

                               _-*-_

June 26th 2016.

"He's good to go. Wake him up." Doyle said as he closed Connor's faceplate, eyes holding the intense look of fascination that his assistant had grown so accustomed to despite how unnerving it was.

"Yes, sir." The young, ginger woman whispered as she flipped a few switches next to them before she leaned close to insert a chip into Connor's neck.

Connor's eyes shot open, glowing a bright blue before they darkened to brown as he released a loud gasp.

"Status of previous mission?" Connor's voice held no emotion as he focused his cold gaze on Doyle, the male giving the cyborg a grin as he shrugged lightly.

"Very big success. The Boss is happy with how you handled your mission. Your task is security detail around the compound. Take a load off." Doyle said as Connor gave a slight nod, allowing Doyle's ginger assistant to release him from his restraints as he straightened his stance.

Connor ignored the screams that echoed through the vents, Doyle studying his face for any sign of emotion but he found none to his satisfaction.

Connor gave the young scientist a nod as he turned to make his way from the room, stepping back as the guard dragged a blonde woman down the hallway.

"Let me go! Connor! They told me you did this!" Connor eyed the blonde curiously as she stared at him with eyes that seemed oddly familiar to him but he brushed it off as another guard ran over to help detain her.

"Connor?! I know they're lying! You'd never do this, right?!" Joelee screamed as the guards dragged her down the hallway, her blue eyes begging him to try and help her.

"I have no idea who you are but if you think I did something, I probably did." Connor gave Joelee a wink, feeling a pain in his chest at the heartbroken look in her eyes as the guards dragged her from sight.

"She was cute." Doyle's voice shocked Connor as he turned his deep brown gaze to Doyle instead who was watching them drag Joelee away with an odd look on his face.

Doyle's assistant looked disgusted by Doyle's words, glaring at the older male who turned his brown gaze to her instead.

"What?" Doyle snapped as he glared down at the young ginger who pushed up her glasses nervously, unnerved by the much taller male who grew seemingly more annoyed with her every second that she didn't answer.

"Joelee Lowell is only thirteen years old, sir. It was in the new arrival debriefing..." The young woman replied, brown eyes full of fear as Doyle stepped towards her.

"And?" Connor eyed Doyle cautiously as Doyle got into the woman's face, noticing the look of fear in her beautiful, almost black, eyes as Doyle spoke in an increasingly venomous tone.

"You're twenty five, sir..." Was all the woman whispered out which caused a bark of laughter to escape Doyle as he sneered at her.

"You don't need to look so scared, Anne. Calm down." Doyle put a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the way she shook under his grip as she swallowed nervously.

"Yes, sir." Anne whimpered but Connor didn't stay to listen to the rest of their conversation, an odd feeling causing his stomach to churn at watching the exchange.

"Must've been something I ate." Connor murmured to himself as he retreated into the guard rest area, Kai giving him a smile as he entered but he didn't return it.

"Welcome back... Mister Aluminum." Kai taunted as Connor took a seat next to the raven haired male, Connor smirked at him, giving only a wink in reply as he settled into the chair to enjoy a break before his guard duty.

_-*-_

Present.

"Thank you so much for all that you've done for us. We can't thank you enough." Joelee smiled at the kind couple who gave the kids a pleasant smile in return.

"You make very good conversationalists. Don't worry about it at all, dear. Just be safe and call us when you make it home safely so we won't have a guilty conscience about leaving y'all here." The portly blonde woman began to write down a number on a piece of paper, handing it to Joelee who looked as if she were on the verge of tears over this woman's kindness.

"We will, ma'am. Thank you so much, again." Joelee waved as they drove off, turning her watery gaze back to her friends who all had large smiles on their faces.

"I want that woman to be my mother, now. She's so nice." Nathan whispered as Joelee walked closer to them, looking down momentarily as Nathan spoke.

They were so close. She'd finally get to see her parents after two years of not remembering what they looked like. The electroshock therapy paired with the lack of pictures making it so hard for her to remember anything from her past but she would occasionally get flashes of things that had happened in the past... And the more time she spent with her friends, the more she remembered.

"And you're sure your source will meet us here? They're trustworthy?" Joelee finally spoke up as she turned her gaze to Connor, looking genuinely worried about whether or not his friend would show up.

"Yes. I've known them for a very long time... They're the only person I've remembered since day one because The Monarch never saw me with him. He'll help us." Connor assured her as he sat on the street corner, eyes flashing white for a moment before they returned to normal.

"He's almost here. He left early to try and beat us here but obviously we made it here in record time with the way Gary was driving." Connor joked but Joelee simply stared at him for a moment, eyeing him in silence as he began to grow increasingly awkward under her gaze.

"How do you know that?" Joelee asked finally, causing Connor to exhale in relief at the fact she had finally broke the awkward silence.

"I just texted him..." Connor said which caused Joelee's eye to twitch as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You have a built in phone?" Joelee snapped after a moment, eyes flickering to gold for a moment but they quickly returned to blue as she clenched her fists.

"Yes, but I can't risk calling or messaging anyone besides him. They have my phone tapped... It's like a built in smart watch, really. It's linked to my actual phone number and if I were to contact anyone besides him it would ping them our location. He fixed my phone where it wouldn't send them a notification when I messaged him... He's super smart." Connor's voice went soft as he rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks tinting red the more he spoke.

"So he's a tech genius but you didn't have him search you for any remote controllable brain parts?" Joelee's question caused a sigh to escape Connor as he immediately shook his head, putting a hand on his hip as he met the sassy girl's eyes.

"No, I couldn't have. I was kind of under constant supervision aside from the occasional time where I could sneak off to talk to my sources within The Monarch. I'd have to be on a mission to see him. He's how I remember important things. He's why I remembered that I needed to rescue all of you." Connor paused as a large hippie van pulled up beside them, a rather handsome man sliding open the door as he flashed Connor a smile.

"Get in, losers." The male said in a thick British accent, green eyes glittering in the sunlight as he winked at Joelee who stared at him slack jawed.

"Woah." She whispered as everyone began to climb into the van, Connor immediately sliding the door closed before he hugged the darker skinned male.

"Been too long, my friend." The male grinned as he pulled away from Connor, climbing into the passengers seat instead as he sat on the side of it so that he could look at everyone.

The male had a rather handsome yet rugged appearance to him, his beard shaved down along his neck, showing off his rather sharp jawline. He had bright green eyes that were lidded with thick fake eyelashes that brushed against his cheeks as he blinked.

His hair was a deep purple, dreads pulled back into a ponytail to keep them out of his face and more likely to accentuate his amazing makeup.

His lips were a deep purple, lined in a blended black with thick black eyeliner and purple glitter along the top of the eyeliner.

"May have been too long but it was well worth it. These are my friends." Connor motioned to the others behind him, the males beautiful eyes flicking to each person.

"Name's, Oscar. Pleasure to meet you, lovelies." The male gave them a wink before turning to the male in his drivers seat.

"And I'm sure you're all already acquainted with Derek, here." Oscar motioned to the male in the drivers seat, causing everyone to gasp excitedly.

"Derek!?" Joelee peeked into the front, eyes widening as the raven haired male grinned at her and gave the group a cheeky wink.

"Lovely day to escape from a psychopathic Wendy wannabe, ain't it?" Derek teased as everyone stared at him with shocked expressions.