Welcome to fabulous Minnesota! The snow is cold and the summers are warm!
I wasn't in Cleveland anymore. I was somehow in the state of Minnesota. The sign was completely wrong. There was no snow anywhere anymore thanks to the war. I looked closely at the sign. The art was old. I tried to find out when it was made. I realized that this was made in 3030. My eyes darted around me. Before I hadn't noticed, but there were burnt buildings, homes and stores.
I walked towards the wreckage. Burnt skeletons laid everywhere. It seemed like whatever happened here, was terrible, and it happened a long time ago. The building structures were wood. During and after the war, they were all a new type of material that could withstand any type of natural disaster. I walked through what seemed to be a town. The buildings were wrecked. I closed my eyes and squatted next to a dead body. It seemed old, decayed, and the skeleton was breaking apart.
"What happened to you guys?" I asked.
I stood up and kept walking. The area was a barren wasteland form what it seemed. I walked through a mass of burnt homes and other things. I looked behind me. Lights were blazing from a distance. Markus knew that I was gone, he saw Sparks and knew that I did it. Now he was probably sending a search party. I wouldn't allow him to take me back and experiment on me any longer. I kept running through the burnt city. I now saw what happened. Tanks, planes, and other military vehicles were destroyed, strewn all over the place, and burnt.
The body of someone was hanging out of the top of a burnt tank. I felt like throwing up. These people's lives were destroyed by a terrible war, and these soldiers were sent to their doom. It didn't look like it was the tanks that destroyed the place, it looked more like a giant bomb was dropped on the place. That was probably what happened. I stepped on something. I lifted my foot, there was a human skull laying there. I screamed, a bit too loud for my ears. I started running, tripping, falling, and bumping into large items strewn everywhere. I saw fragments of bullets, human bones, things like that.
Death was everywhere, and I realized that wonderful society I lived in was just a cover for all the destruction that happened over a thousand years ago. How did all of this survive after a thousand years? Better question is, why is it still here?
I found myself running into a tree. On impact I fell backwards. My head hit square in the middle of a thick, bushy tree. I raised my hand to my head. When I removed it, the machine fingers were covered in a bright red liquid. I grabbed a leaf nearby and wiped the area. Too much blood. I'd have to wait it out until it became only a mere scab. No medicine, no band aids. I felt like I was living in Hell.
My biggest problem was facing the fact that every bad thing that happened to me was apparently "a living hell". In reality, my problems were really small compared to a lot of people out there in the world.
I read about people who were starving everyday of their life. People who were 'less fortunate' than us. School taught us that the United States was the only perfect nation, but I knew that every nation had a problem. I closed my eyes, reopened them, and looked around. I was all alone. No animals, no chirping birds, not even a bug. I looked back at the tree that I smashed into. It was a dark oak hybrid. Trees were now hybrids with other trees to create one perfect tree species. They never shed, and stayed the same all the time.
I had little time to react to the bullet that was fired. It smashed into the tree, indenting it. I crawled back, then stood up. I stumbled and bumped into the tree next to me. Someone found me, and now they were trying to kill me. Another bullet fired. I hadn't seen guns in forever, but it looks like they were back in style. The second bullet nearly skimmed my leg, it missed by three inches. I looked frantically around. I felt like screaming, but my vocal cords weren't responding to my brain. It seemed like my body was going into panic mode. My legs shook with pain, and my heart wanted to explode out of my chest. How could I beat someone I couldn't see. I wasn't as afraid when I was attacking Ron and Sparks. It seemed like this person trying to kill me was significantly more experienced than me. I felt a sharp bolt of pain shoot up my upper leg.
I fell to the ground, now blood was falling from my legs. I heard another shot fired, this one hit my upper arms. The guy was aiming for my flesh, not my machine parts. I struggled to get up, and limp through the forest. The shots were being fired from what seemed like everywhere. My head felt like it was spinning around in circles. The world around me seemed to be warping, twisting and turning. I felt faint headed. I stopped to lean against a nearby tree, but instead of meeting the bark, I fell face first on the ground. Sharp thorns met my face, and I whimpered in pain.
I felt so strong earlier, and now I feel like I'm nothing. Tears rolled down my cheek. I shakily stood up. The pain I felt from the bullet was now more of a burning sensation. I silently screamed, my voice wouldn't work right. I lifted my sleeve and saw the place where the bullet hit. It was a neat circle of bright red. My blood was strange, I know that blood was usually a darker red than anything else really.
That really didn't matter to me right now, all I cared about was surviving. I knew it was hopeless though. My head was now violently pounding. Before it was just a small pulse, but now it was worse. I felt afraid, alone, terrible, fatigued, dizzy, sweaty, I literally felt like my soul was slipping from my body. Not sure how I came up with that one.
I shakily sank to the ground. I leaned against the tree, breathing heavily. I felt my eyes closing. I forced them to open, just in time to see a pair of black boots standing in front of me.
"Next time you want to escape, you should remember that I exist," the voice said.
My vision was blurry, but I could feel the person's arm grab my own arm roughly. He made me stand up, and cuffed my hands. I felt my eyes close, and after that I couldn't remember anything.
When I woke up, I was strapped to a bed in what looked like a hospital room. Machines, tubes, and wires were hooked up to me.
"You're awake, good," Markus' cold voice said.
"I found him trying to escape sir," the man who tried to kill me from earlier said.
"Who are you?" I asked weakly.
"Shut up,"
"Now, now, Gizmo, you can't be this harsh on him," Markus laughed.
"I'll be whatever the hell I want," Gizmo said.
"Go back to work," Markus hissed.
I could tell that Markus was now annoyed. I turned my head to the side and saw a glass bowl. In it were two large bullets. They were covered in blood. I knew that that was my blood.
"How did I survive?" I asked, nervous to hear the answer.
"You're a fighter, that seems to be something. I don't think you would've died if Gizmo found you even three hours after he shot you. I have a theory that you are too strong to be killed by simple man made machines Joel. No, you'd need the power of a thousand soldiers to get you to the ground, and even then you'd still live. You are a remarkable human being," Markus explained.
"Did you order Gizmo to kill me?" I asked.
"That means nothing," Markus brushed it off.
"No, I said: Did you order Gizmo to kill me?" I asked firmly, and this time I wanted an answer.
Markus turned around, and stared at me for a long time.
"No," he finally said.
"I have a hard time believing you anymore," I spat.
"I said no! You stubborn little nuisance! You kill two of my best workers, run away, and after all I've done for you Joel! You're ungrateful-"
"Ungrateful!" I felt like killing him now, "I am UNGRATEFUL?! I was forced to be tested on! I was attacked by your goons! You ordered Mikey to be killed! You've been running a corrupt experiment right under the government's noses! And you call me ungrateful!"
Markus pounded his fist against the medical table, then he huffed and slammed the door as he stormed out the room. I loosened out of the straps, and began destroying everything. I smashed the tools, broke the glass, I let all my rage out on the room. I grabbed the glass bowl with the bullets, flung the metal shards at the door, and then threw the glass bowl on the floor. I stepped on it, screaming with every step.
I had officially lost it. I was sick of Markus and his silly mind games, I was sick of everything. I longed to be home with my mom, I wanted my father back. I wanted to see my annoying little sister, I missed my creepy sun, my robot assistant, Mikey, my school, that robot principal, everything. Strangely enough, I missed the old man at the motel, Silent Night, and even Ron and Sparks, whom I killed myself. I wanted to be my old self again. My scraped metal fingers represented who I was now, and I could never go back to the way I was once. I would never be able to go back in time, and fix everything I did the day I met Ron and Sparks.
I wished I could go back and not stop at all those stores, go straight home, avoid creepy men, tell the authorities. I wished I called the police instead of stand there forever staring at my fallen friend. I regretted everything in such a short span of time. I sat down on the bed and tore at the pillow, tears streaming down my face and pooling on the ground. The glass that I smashed was strewn everywhere, the beautiful crystals that made up such a large ugly bowl, destroyed by me. I was a destroyer, I let so many things happen, and I couldn't even escape. If only I hadn't stopped at that destroyed town, I would've escaped. I suddenly realized what I was forgetting. My hands searched my pockets, and sure enough there were the weapons I took. None of them searched me. I felt a sliver of hope. I still could escape this prison. I heard the door open, and I looked away, ashamed at the damage I caused.
"What happened here?" A voice called out.
"Go the hell away," I barked.
"Markus is gonna be pissed!"
"Good! Let the dog feel my wrath. Oh and tell him his precious antique chair will be history if I don't get out of here," I shouted.
I looked at the figure standing at the door. The hair and eyes were all so familiar.
"Mikey?" I asked.
The person gasped, and started out the room, running.
"Wait!" I shouted chasing after him.
Sharp bolts of pain shot through my leg and arm, but I was too excited to notice them. Eventually I caught up to him.
"What do you want?" He asked.
"Mikey! It's me Joel! Don't you recognize me?" I asked, excited and nervous.
"Joel? You don't look like Joel to me..." Mikey said.
"No Mikey it's me! I've missed you so much! I thought you were dead!" I laughed, the tears now of happiness.
My heart filled with hope and joy, surprise, sorrow, it all came at once.
"How are you still alive? You were dead! Mikey, I thought you were gone!" I laughed.
"Surprise!" Mikey waved his hands around.
"How did you survive?" I asked.
"I don't know," Mikey said.
"I don't care, I just want to know how you're feeling!" I grinned.
"What the hell happened to you?" He asked.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, a little afraid at that point.
"You might wanna look in the mirror some time man, because you look freaking hideous!" Mikey said, a hint of nervousness in his voice.
Now I was afraid.
"Come with me," Mikey said.
We entered the bathroom. I felt my heart beat rapidly.
"What is-" I said staring at the mirror.
I felt my hand shoot up to half of my face. The skin and flesh now was replaced with metal. I screamed at the sight, but my scream was more mortified than anything else. Half of my face was metal. My eye was red, there was an absence of an eyebrow and eyelashes. My mouth on the metal side was a straight, skinny rectangular line.
"What did they do to me?" I asked, not even recognizing my own voice.
I heard the artificial voice interfere with my real voice. I tried crying, but tears only fell on one side of my face.
"Joel, what did Markus do?" Mikey asked, touching my elbow.
I felt rage replace my fear. Markus would have to pay for what he did to me.
"Come. With. Me," I said firmly to Mikey.
He didn't question me, which I was glad of.
"We have a lot of catching up to do," Mikey halfheartedly grinned.
"I don't have time for catching up Mikey. I have to get out of here," I said.
"Didn't you try already? You'll just get killed by Gizmo this time," Mikey said horrified.
"Mikey, if I had a plan last time I would've made it, but now I have a plan. This time nothing, not even this Gizmo guy, will stand in my way," I hissed.
"You've changed, other than your face," Mikey said.
"I know, I think I like the change," I stated.
"Joel, didn't you kill those two guys?" Mikey asked.
"Why do you care?" I looked at him.
"Because, I mean, I'm just concerned that you've become a crazy psychopath," Mikey said.
"Well I'm not," I replied.
Mikey said nothing after that. Honestly, I know I changed, for the better maybe.
"We're here," I announced.
I knocked on the door.
"Markus open the door or I'm gonna destroy it!" I warned.
The door swung open, revealing Markus. His human face looked like it wanted to kill me. His robot one, that one had no emotions anyways.
"What do you want Joel?" Markus asked, a hint of anger in his voice.
"What did you do to me?!" I pointed at my face.
"That is just a part of the Phase," Markus said.
"I agreed to just a little bit of me being a robot. I didn't agree to my face becoming one! I will kill every single one of your workers here, unless you can turn me back!" I shouted.
"Joel I don't believe you have it in you," Markus said.
"I do, believe me hell yes I do," I stomped my foot.
Markus, for the first time I think, felt fear. For the first time since he met me, he was truly afraid of what I could do. He knew that once I killed Ron and Sparks. He confirmed it when I survived two sniper shots, and still ran for a while. He never knew what I could do, and now he was going to pay.
"Let me see what I may do," he managed to say.
"Oh no Markus, you're going to do exactly what I want," I spat.
I was tougher than when I first arrived. I was a scared little brat who was concerned about being a lab rat. Now I was a lion who wouldn't stop at nothing to get out. I wasn't afraid of Markus anymore. He was weak. He liked to intimidate, and that wasn't working on me anymore. I knew I was stronger than him and all his workers. Like he said, it'd take an army to bring me down.
"But you don't understand Joel, I need you-"
"No, I don't think you heard me then. I want you to give me my face back. I'm not going to be a freak like you, no not in a million years," I said.
Markus went over to his desk, he opened a drawer and pulled out a small tube. It looked like tiny pills.
"Since you volunteered to test out my newest creation, here," he handed me one.
"Seriously?" I asked.
"Joel, this is my newest experiment. Reversing the effects of cyborg transformers," Markus said.
I was skeptical, but I actually liked my arms and legs.
"I just want to change my face," I stated.
"All right all right! Just take the freaking pills already!" Markus hissed.
I swiped the pill from his hand and downed one. Instantly I felt a shocking, yet calming sensation overcome my body. It was like the opposite of becoming a cyborg.
"Why would you make a reverse pill Markus?" Mikey asked.
"Simple, I'm not satisfied with what it does," Markus said.
After the episode passed, I reached up to my face. I felt my flesh and skin again. The robot face was gone. Now I was better.
"Joel, your face is back!" Mikey laughed.
I nodded, then gave Markus one disgusted glare, and walked off. I had to get out. I know I've said it before, but now I was serious. Markus made one grave mistake. That city was just a cover up, because nothing from thousands of years back could've survived this long, especially in Minnesota, one of the most growing states ever. And his second grave mistake was allowing Gizmo to shoot me, because now I knew where he shot from, and now I knew all his weapons.
Gizmo used an antique gun, probably from the 30's. Now by that, I mean 3030's. It had a large shotgun like bullet, and the bullet was cheap. It wouldn't be able to kill me, just spook me. He fired at a northwest tree, northwest to the tree I was at. He was a bad shot, and couldn't aim right. I figured he was blind in one eye, and most likely on the verge of being deaf. He wore very bright clothes for camo, and his boots were antique as well, easy to spot their prints anywhere. In order for him to find his way places, he had to know where he was.
This was done by him marking the trees. Something I hadn't really paid any attention to was the scraped trees. They were done by an ax or hatchet. Easy to recognize. He liked to hunt, and he lived in the fake town back there. Gizmo was smart, but not enough to outsmart me. I would be able to recognize him. He was probably in his fifties, an old soul for sure. His voice gave it away. He wasn't a cyborg, his voice was normal. I would be able to detect the artificial tone in his voice from a mile away if it existed.
Markus either wanted me to know all this, or he just underestimated me. I knew he wasn't convinced I was smart, but when the time was right I would get out of here, and he wouldn't know what hit him.
I walked towards the wreckage. Burnt skeletons laid everywhere. It seemed like whatever happened here, was terrible, and it happened a long time ago. The building structures were wood. During and after the war, they were all a new type of material that could withstand any type of natural disaster. I walked through what seemed to be a town. The buildings were wrecked. I closed my eyes and squatted next to a dead body. It seemed old, decayed, and the skeleton was breaking apart.
"What happened to you guys?" I asked.
I stood up and kept walking. The area was a barren wasteland form what it seemed. I walked through a mass of burnt homes and other things. I looked behind me. Lights were blazing from a distance. Markus knew that I was gone, he saw Sparks and knew that I did it. Now he was probably sending a search party. I wouldn't allow him to take me back and experiment on me any longer. I kept running through the burnt city. I now saw what happened. Tanks, planes, and other military vehicles were destroyed, strewn all over the place, and burnt.
The body of someone was hanging out of the top of a burnt tank. I felt like throwing up. These people's lives were destroyed by a terrible war, and these soldiers were sent to their doom. It didn't look like it was the tanks that destroyed the place, it looked more like a giant bomb was dropped on the place. That was probably what happened. I stepped on something. I lifted my foot, there was a human skull laying there. I screamed, a bit too loud for my ears. I started running, tripping, falling, and bumping into large items strewn everywhere. I saw fragments of bullets, human bones, things like that.
Death was everywhere, and I realized that wonderful society I lived in was just a cover for all the destruction that happened over a thousand years ago. How did all of this survive after a thousand years? Better question is, why is it still here?
I found myself running into a tree. On impact I fell backwards. My head hit square in the middle of a thick, bushy tree. I raised my hand to my head. When I removed it, the machine fingers were covered in a bright red liquid. I grabbed a leaf nearby and wiped the area. Too much blood. I'd have to wait it out until it became only a mere scab. No medicine, no band aids. I felt like I was living in Hell.
My biggest problem was facing the fact that every bad thing that happened to me was apparently "a living hell". In reality, my problems were really small compared to a lot of people out there in the world.
I read about people who were starving everyday of their life. People who were 'less fortunate' than us. School taught us that the United States was the only perfect nation, but I knew that every nation had a problem. I closed my eyes, reopened them, and looked around. I was all alone. No animals, no chirping birds, not even a bug. I looked back at the tree that I smashed into. It was a dark oak hybrid. Trees were now hybrids with other trees to create one perfect tree species. They never shed, and stayed the same all the time.
I had little time to react to the bullet that was fired. It smashed into the tree, indenting it. I crawled back, then stood up. I stumbled and bumped into the tree next to me. Someone found me, and now they were trying to kill me. Another bullet fired. I hadn't seen guns in forever, but it looks like they were back in style. The second bullet nearly skimmed my leg, it missed by three inches. I looked frantically around. I felt like screaming, but my vocal cords weren't responding to my brain. It seemed like my body was going into panic mode. My legs shook with pain, and my heart wanted to explode out of my chest. How could I beat someone I couldn't see. I wasn't as afraid when I was attacking Ron and Sparks. It seemed like this person trying to kill me was significantly more experienced than me. I felt a sharp bolt of pain shoot up my upper leg.
I fell to the ground, now blood was falling from my legs. I heard another shot fired, this one hit my upper arms. The guy was aiming for my flesh, not my machine parts. I struggled to get up, and limp through the forest. The shots were being fired from what seemed like everywhere. My head felt like it was spinning around in circles. The world around me seemed to be warping, twisting and turning. I felt faint headed. I stopped to lean against a nearby tree, but instead of meeting the bark, I fell face first on the ground. Sharp thorns met my face, and I whimpered in pain.
I felt so strong earlier, and now I feel like I'm nothing. Tears rolled down my cheek. I shakily stood up. The pain I felt from the bullet was now more of a burning sensation. I silently screamed, my voice wouldn't work right. I lifted my sleeve and saw the place where the bullet hit. It was a neat circle of bright red. My blood was strange, I know that blood was usually a darker red than anything else really.
That really didn't matter to me right now, all I cared about was surviving. I knew it was hopeless though. My head was now violently pounding. Before it was just a small pulse, but now it was worse. I felt afraid, alone, terrible, fatigued, dizzy, sweaty, I literally felt like my soul was slipping from my body. Not sure how I came up with that one.
I shakily sank to the ground. I leaned against the tree, breathing heavily. I felt my eyes closing. I forced them to open, just in time to see a pair of black boots standing in front of me.
"Next time you want to escape, you should remember that I exist," the voice said.
My vision was blurry, but I could feel the person's arm grab my own arm roughly. He made me stand up, and cuffed my hands. I felt my eyes close, and after that I couldn't remember anything.
When I woke up, I was strapped to a bed in what looked like a hospital room. Machines, tubes, and wires were hooked up to me.
"You're awake, good," Markus' cold voice said.
"I found him trying to escape sir," the man who tried to kill me from earlier said.
"Who are you?" I asked weakly.
"Shut up,"
"Now, now, Gizmo, you can't be this harsh on him," Markus laughed.
"I'll be whatever the hell I want," Gizmo said.
"Go back to work," Markus hissed.
I could tell that Markus was now annoyed. I turned my head to the side and saw a glass bowl. In it were two large bullets. They were covered in blood. I knew that that was my blood.
"How did I survive?" I asked, nervous to hear the answer.
"You're a fighter, that seems to be something. I don't think you would've died if Gizmo found you even three hours after he shot you. I have a theory that you are too strong to be killed by simple man made machines Joel. No, you'd need the power of a thousand soldiers to get you to the ground, and even then you'd still live. You are a remarkable human being," Markus explained.
"Did you order Gizmo to kill me?" I asked.
"That means nothing," Markus brushed it off.
"No, I said: Did you order Gizmo to kill me?" I asked firmly, and this time I wanted an answer.
Markus turned around, and stared at me for a long time.
"No," he finally said.
"I have a hard time believing you anymore," I spat.
"I said no! You stubborn little nuisance! You kill two of my best workers, run away, and after all I've done for you Joel! You're ungrateful-"
"Ungrateful!" I felt like killing him now, "I am UNGRATEFUL?! I was forced to be tested on! I was attacked by your goons! You ordered Mikey to be killed! You've been running a corrupt experiment right under the government's noses! And you call me ungrateful!"
Markus pounded his fist against the medical table, then he huffed and slammed the door as he stormed out the room. I loosened out of the straps, and began destroying everything. I smashed the tools, broke the glass, I let all my rage out on the room. I grabbed the glass bowl with the bullets, flung the metal shards at the door, and then threw the glass bowl on the floor. I stepped on it, screaming with every step.
I had officially lost it. I was sick of Markus and his silly mind games, I was sick of everything. I longed to be home with my mom, I wanted my father back. I wanted to see my annoying little sister, I missed my creepy sun, my robot assistant, Mikey, my school, that robot principal, everything. Strangely enough, I missed the old man at the motel, Silent Night, and even Ron and Sparks, whom I killed myself. I wanted to be my old self again. My scraped metal fingers represented who I was now, and I could never go back to the way I was once. I would never be able to go back in time, and fix everything I did the day I met Ron and Sparks.
I wished I could go back and not stop at all those stores, go straight home, avoid creepy men, tell the authorities. I wished I called the police instead of stand there forever staring at my fallen friend. I regretted everything in such a short span of time. I sat down on the bed and tore at the pillow, tears streaming down my face and pooling on the ground. The glass that I smashed was strewn everywhere, the beautiful crystals that made up such a large ugly bowl, destroyed by me. I was a destroyer, I let so many things happen, and I couldn't even escape. If only I hadn't stopped at that destroyed town, I would've escaped. I suddenly realized what I was forgetting. My hands searched my pockets, and sure enough there were the weapons I took. None of them searched me. I felt a sliver of hope. I still could escape this prison. I heard the door open, and I looked away, ashamed at the damage I caused.
"What happened here?" A voice called out.
"Go the hell away," I barked.
"Markus is gonna be pissed!"
"Good! Let the dog feel my wrath. Oh and tell him his precious antique chair will be history if I don't get out of here," I shouted.
I looked at the figure standing at the door. The hair and eyes were all so familiar.
"Mikey?" I asked.
The person gasped, and started out the room, running.
"Wait!" I shouted chasing after him.
Sharp bolts of pain shot through my leg and arm, but I was too excited to notice them. Eventually I caught up to him.
"What do you want?" He asked.
"Mikey! It's me Joel! Don't you recognize me?" I asked, excited and nervous.
"Joel? You don't look like Joel to me..." Mikey said.
"No Mikey it's me! I've missed you so much! I thought you were dead!" I laughed, the tears now of happiness.
My heart filled with hope and joy, surprise, sorrow, it all came at once.
"How are you still alive? You were dead! Mikey, I thought you were gone!" I laughed.
"Surprise!" Mikey waved his hands around.
"How did you survive?" I asked.
"I don't know," Mikey said.
"I don't care, I just want to know how you're feeling!" I grinned.
"What the hell happened to you?" He asked.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, a little afraid at that point.
"You might wanna look in the mirror some time man, because you look freaking hideous!" Mikey said, a hint of nervousness in his voice.
Now I was afraid.
"Come with me," Mikey said.
We entered the bathroom. I felt my heart beat rapidly.
"What is-" I said staring at the mirror.
I felt my hand shoot up to half of my face. The skin and flesh now was replaced with metal. I screamed at the sight, but my scream was more mortified than anything else. Half of my face was metal. My eye was red, there was an absence of an eyebrow and eyelashes. My mouth on the metal side was a straight, skinny rectangular line.
"What did they do to me?" I asked, not even recognizing my own voice.
I heard the artificial voice interfere with my real voice. I tried crying, but tears only fell on one side of my face.
"Joel, what did Markus do?" Mikey asked, touching my elbow.
I felt rage replace my fear. Markus would have to pay for what he did to me.
"Come. With. Me," I said firmly to Mikey.
He didn't question me, which I was glad of.
"We have a lot of catching up to do," Mikey halfheartedly grinned.
"I don't have time for catching up Mikey. I have to get out of here," I said.
"Didn't you try already? You'll just get killed by Gizmo this time," Mikey said horrified.
"Mikey, if I had a plan last time I would've made it, but now I have a plan. This time nothing, not even this Gizmo guy, will stand in my way," I hissed.
"You've changed, other than your face," Mikey said.
"I know, I think I like the change," I stated.
"Joel, didn't you kill those two guys?" Mikey asked.
"Why do you care?" I looked at him.
"Because, I mean, I'm just concerned that you've become a crazy psychopath," Mikey said.
"Well I'm not," I replied.
Mikey said nothing after that. Honestly, I know I changed, for the better maybe.
"We're here," I announced.
I knocked on the door.
"Markus open the door or I'm gonna destroy it!" I warned.
The door swung open, revealing Markus. His human face looked like it wanted to kill me. His robot one, that one had no emotions anyways.
"What do you want Joel?" Markus asked, a hint of anger in his voice.
"What did you do to me?!" I pointed at my face.
"That is just a part of the Phase," Markus said.
"I agreed to just a little bit of me being a robot. I didn't agree to my face becoming one! I will kill every single one of your workers here, unless you can turn me back!" I shouted.
"Joel I don't believe you have it in you," Markus said.
"I do, believe me hell yes I do," I stomped my foot.
Markus, for the first time I think, felt fear. For the first time since he met me, he was truly afraid of what I could do. He knew that once I killed Ron and Sparks. He confirmed it when I survived two sniper shots, and still ran for a while. He never knew what I could do, and now he was going to pay.
"Let me see what I may do," he managed to say.
"Oh no Markus, you're going to do exactly what I want," I spat.
I was tougher than when I first arrived. I was a scared little brat who was concerned about being a lab rat. Now I was a lion who wouldn't stop at nothing to get out. I wasn't afraid of Markus anymore. He was weak. He liked to intimidate, and that wasn't working on me anymore. I knew I was stronger than him and all his workers. Like he said, it'd take an army to bring me down.
"But you don't understand Joel, I need you-"
"No, I don't think you heard me then. I want you to give me my face back. I'm not going to be a freak like you, no not in a million years," I said.
Markus went over to his desk, he opened a drawer and pulled out a small tube. It looked like tiny pills.
"Since you volunteered to test out my newest creation, here," he handed me one.
"Seriously?" I asked.
"Joel, this is my newest experiment. Reversing the effects of cyborg transformers," Markus said.
I was skeptical, but I actually liked my arms and legs.
"I just want to change my face," I stated.
"All right all right! Just take the freaking pills already!" Markus hissed.
I swiped the pill from his hand and downed one. Instantly I felt a shocking, yet calming sensation overcome my body. It was like the opposite of becoming a cyborg.
"Why would you make a reverse pill Markus?" Mikey asked.
"Simple, I'm not satisfied with what it does," Markus said.
After the episode passed, I reached up to my face. I felt my flesh and skin again. The robot face was gone. Now I was better.
"Joel, your face is back!" Mikey laughed.
I nodded, then gave Markus one disgusted glare, and walked off. I had to get out. I know I've said it before, but now I was serious. Markus made one grave mistake. That city was just a cover up, because nothing from thousands of years back could've survived this long, especially in Minnesota, one of the most growing states ever. And his second grave mistake was allowing Gizmo to shoot me, because now I knew where he shot from, and now I knew all his weapons.
Gizmo used an antique gun, probably from the 30's. Now by that, I mean 3030's. It had a large shotgun like bullet, and the bullet was cheap. It wouldn't be able to kill me, just spook me. He fired at a northwest tree, northwest to the tree I was at. He was a bad shot, and couldn't aim right. I figured he was blind in one eye, and most likely on the verge of being deaf. He wore very bright clothes for camo, and his boots were antique as well, easy to spot their prints anywhere. In order for him to find his way places, he had to know where he was.
This was done by him marking the trees. Something I hadn't really paid any attention to was the scraped trees. They were done by an ax or hatchet. Easy to recognize. He liked to hunt, and he lived in the fake town back there. Gizmo was smart, but not enough to outsmart me. I would be able to recognize him. He was probably in his fifties, an old soul for sure. His voice gave it away. He wasn't a cyborg, his voice was normal. I would be able to detect the artificial tone in his voice from a mile away if it existed.
Markus either wanted me to know all this, or he just underestimated me. I knew he wasn't convinced I was smart, but when the time was right I would get out of here, and he wouldn't know what hit him.
