• The black void of her mind suddenly begins to cloud and an image is formed. A scene from her life, a simple memory, only she is forced to watch, no longer in control of her own mind. She is standing in a metal room, an old laboratory, the lights flicker, the wiring must be acting up again, and she gets ready for to begin her next operation. As she moves closer to the operation table, she freezes. The cold, emotionless woman that has tortured thousands of other specimens vanished with the sight of the next one. She stood over, staring into the eyes of her own sister. The man next to her encourages her to proceed, but she can’t, and wide smile appears on his face because this his chance, his moment to shine. Then the door to the room slides open and another man walks in, he is different than the two already in the room, his presence seems to demand respect, demand authority.

    “What seems to be the problem Mary?” the new man asks politely.
    “I…I can’t…” is all Mary can utter.
    “I will gladly proceed with the experiment Dr. Monroe.” the eager man proclaims.
    “No. Mary will perform this operation.”
    “But…s-sir…she is my sister…”
    “I know. You, boy, leave us at once.”
    “Yes, Dr. Monroe.”
    “Now, Mary, proceed with the operation.”
    “Doctor, how can ask this of me?”
    “Do you want something like the Dark One loose again?”
    “No, of course not, but…my sister?”
    “Proceed.”

    “No…no more, please…I won’t say anything.”
    “Very good. Now do you understand? This is my domain.”
    “What do you want?”
    “You will increase the testing on ESP-1. Focusing on body manipulation.”
    “What! Why?”
    “You will soon understand.”
    “Why are you doing this? Why are you helping me?”
    “Helping you…” the twisted voice begins to laugh. “I am helping myself, you are simply the easiest way for my goals to be accomplished.”
    “But, why?”
    “Survival.”

    “Your name is Mary.”

    With those words Mary is brought back to reality, her mind is unclouded and she is no longer a prisoner to that voice. She is forced to think about their conversation, the voice said to increase testing. Should she make herself a subordinate, his subordinate? If she disobeyed, he would surely find out when she reviewed ESP-1, what would he do then? It couldn’t hurt to start new testing, but back then she couldn’t disobey, that’s why he showed her that memory, so he could make her listen. She wanted to resist now, just like back then, to resist that unknown voice, she wouldn’t repeat her past, but…

    “Get ESP-1 prepped and escort him to test room three.” Mary barked to the soldiers.
    “R-room three…?” ESP-1 asked as horror filled his eyes.
    “Yes, room three. I believe you posses a new power.”
    “No, I…I would have t-told you…”
    “Silence. In here, you’re the prisoner.”

    The two soldiers re-shackle ESP-1 as he tries to resist their efforts. They begin to escort him to room three, the little resistance that he can muster is easily beaten by the strength of the soldiers. As the door slides open the differences are instantly noticeable, the rusted grey metal of the building is transformed into a brilliant white; the straight edges of the world are curved here. Bright lights along the ceiling illuminate the room, making it a blinding terror as the soldiers begin to undo ESP-1’s shackles. This is the worst room of the three, Mary performs her gruesome test to induce new powers, nothing has come of his previous visits, and he is punished for failing her.

    However there is already a man in the room, he is the closest thing ESP-1 has to friend in this prison. Dr. Marlow reigns supreme in this room, answering only to Mary, but he is just as much a prisoner as ESP-1. Ever since before ESP-1 was confined here Dr. Marlow has been in this room taking orders from her, and if he fails to produce her desired results, he is punished. He and ESP-1 are opposite sides of the same coin.

    “I was unaware of any testing today.” Dr. Marlow explains, slightly confused.
    “Spur of the moment Doctor.” Mary replies.
    “Well Ma’m, my lab isn‘t prepared for any special tests.”
    “Prepare your new electro-shock device and gather any drugs that can induce fear. You have ten minutes.”
    “I will need more than ten minutes, especially for the drugs.”
    “Nine minutes, fifty seconds.”

    Dr. Marlow scrambled to find all of the equipment Mary required, while ESP-1 stared intently at the ground. His eyes were glazed over in fear; this never happened before, Mary never made spur of the moment decisions, everything was so carefully planned out. As Mary’s countdown wound down, ESP-1 opened his mind, sought out her voice, but there was nothing…She was empty, there were no thoughts, then he was launched out of her head as the soldiers strapped him to the table.

    Mary looked down upon him as if her were an insect, he saw her eyes. Evil such the likes that he had never seen before met his gaze, he had never seen this side of her before, she was ready to kill. That was when he saw it, for a moment there was a glimpse of sadness in her eyes as if she felt sorry for him. It vanished just as quick and she was the cold, emotionless woman that took him away so very long ago.

    “Doctor, start treatment, I want his nightmares to come to life.”
    “But, why, Ma’m?” Dr. Marlow asked.
    “You don’t get paid to ask questions Doctor.”
    “But this will kill him.”
    “You are replaceable, he is not.” she says, every word like venom.
    “Right…” Dr. Marlow responds, understanding her point.
    “Why…w-what did…I ever do to…you…?” ESP-1 was able to force out.
    “It’s simple really, you exist.” Mary replies.