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|• girl of the stars •|

She stormed through the corridor, her footsteps echoing menacingly, she felt raw adrenaline course through her veins as she paced forward. Her heart was beating wildly, her mind had gone haywire, she knew she was playing with fire and she was ready to burn. She had been burned before and now she wasn't afraid, nor was she alone.

She had followers, believers, people who understood what she meant without uttering a single word. She was Candace — the woman of the stars, she was ready for glory, all her heart ever wanted was to be seen as a star. Not a twinkling little star but a gloriously bright ball of fire, like the sun. She had waited patiently for long enough, she was tired of patience. She was determined to show the world what they had rejected.

She came to the junction of the corridor and turned left, jabbing in a key that held some sort of liquid which only opened this door. She whispered, "Patient one."

The door slid open to reveal a man standing there with his back towards another glass door.

"Patient one, Ms. Specimen."

"Age?"

"Ten."

"Sex?"

"Male."

"When was the last time he was injected?"

"Seven hours and fifty eight minutes ago."

Impressed, she asked her last question. "Parents?"

"Disposed."

She gave him an approving nod, a very rare achievement. She began to proceed inside when he said, "And ma'am, his name is Adam."

"Yes, thank you." In her excitement she had forgotten to ask for his name, it would have made it harder for her to sooth him without his name, harder to finish the greatness that the world had yet to see.

She pushed through the glass door and fixed a smile on her face. The boy, Adam, had his back towards the door, which gave Candace one last chance to pull herself together. She needed to make him happy so he wouldn't reject the work done on his mind.

"Hey there." She spoke with the softest voice she could muster. She was proud of it, it sounded like silk sliding down your arms. If her voice was tangible, she'd hold it all to herself. Adam didn't respond. He still had his back towards her. "Sweetie, is something wrong?" Still no response. She advanced forward and placed her hand delicately on his shoulder. She felt him tense up under her touch. "I know it's hard—"

"Why am I here?" He asked sternly but didn't turn around.

At least he acknowledged my presence, Candace thought.

"Well, your parents—"

"You killed them, didn't you?"

Candace blinked a few times while her mouth hung open. "Why would you say something so absurd?" She let her wrath bubble in between them.

"Then why am I here?" Adam gritted his teeth whilst he spoke.

Candace moved around the bed and sat down on a stool in front of him so their eyes would meet. "Your parents used to work for me, I respect my employees with all my heart so when I heard what had happened; I had to save you."

"Why?" He asked. "They worked for you ten years ago. And most importantly, how did you know about the attack? Were they your men?" As Adam asked his questions, he realised that the men couldn't have been Cortex workers, cortex had black and green uniforms, the attackers wore red and blue—they must have been Tyme. Tyme was another multimillion business. They were competitors to Cortex.

"Your parents knew something about Tyme, when you were attacked, your mum had managed to call me before they got the chance to kill you. My men had found you unconscious." What she said was logical, Adam wanted to believe it but something told him he shouldn't.

"But why am I still here? I have extended family, I could go to them." He reasoned.

Candace sighed. "I wanted to propose a deal to you."

"What kind of deal?"

"I'm getting there." Children were very impatient, Candace hated it when they nagged for answers. "You have nothing to lose." She paused and let the fact sink. "What if I told you that you could stop the people who broke your family apart; those who disposed of your parents."

"Disposed?" He laughed bitterly. Candace cursed herself in her mind.

"They were my friends, talking about their death makes the fact harder for me, son." She repaired her mistake.

Adam clenched his jaw. "Don't call me son. I'm not going into any of these schemes with you."

"But it would save families, save loved ones. You would be a hero." She stood up. "Sorry, Adam, I won't be calling you son again." She walked to the other side of the bed and began to walk towards the exit.

"Wait. I really don't have anything to lose." He stated.

She smiled to herself with her back to him. Children really need to learn to spot reverse psychology.

Candace walked to his bed, "Does that mean yes?" Adam nodded in response. She sat down again and began explaining.

She talked about modifying synapses, how that would save the world, how they would make humans better and stronger. His little gullible mind listened whilst his eyes widened to the extent that it seemed like they would pop out.

She took out a glass cube that had been lying beneath his bed. "Do you know what this is?" He shook his head, no.

"It's the new modified synapse I've created, only, this is a magnified model." She could see sheer excitement tint his face. "I'm going to swap your old ones for a new one."

"Will it hurt?" Adam croaked.

"Yes." She knew it would be deceptive of her to lie now. "But I'll be with you through it."

"I don't want to hear anymore." Adam said. "I want you to get it started." Candace felt like her face would break due to the stretch of her smile.

"Great! I'll begin."

—

"I'm only going to test by inserting one, so if your body rejects it, you won't die." She didn't know the certainty of her own words but she went with. "Open your mouth." She stuffed in a section of what looked like a leather belt, Adam looked at her with curiosity. "It's to stop you from swallowing your tongue when you scream." His eyes widened but he didn't say a word. "I won't give you anesthetics because if I numb the pain, you might lose the ability to send impulses to that area forever."

Candace pushed in the endoscope and looked for the desired area. "Now Adam, just remember that fear is something we make up, you won't feel pain if you forget what pain is. When we remove it, your impulses will reach there, so it shouldn't hurt, but what will hurt is the feeling in your heart that we call fear." She smiled at him.

"Three, two, one—"

Adam's blood curdling screams made Candace lose her balance, but she held herself tightly. She felt her heart literally shaking as his cries never stopped.

She felt a lonely tear roll down her cheek, a tear she thought she'd never shed.

—

She sat down, exhaustion taking hold of her thoughts. Now, all she had to do was wait, to see if her life's work held the future. Exuberance filled her system, yet she heard his screams echoing in the dark depths of her mind.

—

That, was an intense chapter. Initially, it was longer but I cut out some of the information dump. I actually found myself feeling what Candace felt, what about you?