Chapter 78: Dead Wrong
For several months, Orcille had been held in an isolated testing facility in the north-west of Sapey. He was kept in a small, dark cell, usually used for test subjects. The staff were not permitted to open the cell he was kept in. Orcille was fed twice a day through a hatch in the large metal door. His medicine was also administered through the same hatch.
Orcille rarely spoke to the staff. He only spoke to one member of staff quite regularly. That was Alan. Alan had grown to like Orcille. He was curious why Orcille had been placed in this facility. Orcille refused to explain and always quickly moved onto a more frivolous topic. Eventually, Alan volunteered to bring Orcille all his meals and medication.
One day, Orcille did not eat any of his meals put through the hatch and did not present his arm to be injected. Several days passed. Orcille had not eaten anything, taken any medication, or uttered a word. Alan was very concerned. He thought Orcille must have become very ill or had even died.
Alan asked for permission to check in on Orcille, but this permission was denied. He was told to wait a few more days. A few more days passed. There was no response from Orcille. Security decided it was time to check in on him. Five security guards gathered outside the cell with Alan. Alan opened the cell. One of the guards shone a light inside. He shone the light in every corner of the cell, but there was no sign of Orcille. Orcille had become invisible. He was able to sneak past the guards, who were still at the door.
In response to Orcille’s disappearance, the guards immediately activated the alarm. Alan was confused. The only way out of the cell was through the large metal door. There were no windows or even vents. The walls were solid concrete. Alan could not stay in the cell for long, as the stench was overwhelming.
The facility was placed on lockdown. Guards and staff conducted the physical search. Senior members of staff checked the cameras. After several hours of flicking through footage from various cameras, they found nothing. They had focused on the cameras in front of the cell door, the corridor where the cell was off, and the cameras around the train station. Orcille had vanished.
The head of the facility gathered all the staff. ‘It appears somehow that Orcille has managed to escape,’ he said. ‘Without water, food, or even his medication, Orcille will not survive long. Hundreds of kilometres of wastelands surround us. Escape from this area is impossible.’
The lockdown ended. The head of the facility sent a message to Pardi informing him of Orcille’s death. He told him that his body was diseased and he had to be incinerated immediately.
Two days later, the train arrived. The current staff’s six-month rotation had ended. New staff were arriving. It was time for Alan to head home. He picked up his two suitcases and headed up to the station. He scanned his work pass and boarded the train.
A few minutes later, the train departed the station. Alan saw Oscar walking down the aisle of the train. Oscar winked at him. He thought it was strange. He did not like Oscar, as he treated the test subjects very cruelly. Oscar was a scientist. His primary role was to study dead test subjects to determine their cause of death. He felt Oscar was better off with the dead than the living. However, this was not Oscar.
The night before, Oscar had taken some dead test subjects down to be incinerated. He had an unfortunate encounter with Orcille. Orcille grabbed him from behind and broke his neck. He took Oscar’s clothes and shoved Oscar in the incinerator with the dead test subjects he had brought down with him.
Orcille sat at the back of the carriage. He was beginning to feel better. He had eaten Oscar’s dinner and breakfast, and he was able to access the medication he needed. He also took some medication with him, but it would not last him long. Orcille intended to return to the Capital Region. He needed to stop Pardi and his plan to replace Sapiens with Linap. He also wanted to rescue his sisters. He knew they were going to suffer at some point.
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