Chapter Five
"Where No Man Has Gone"

Alexis - Unknown Location

"What do you want from me?" Alexis asked the man, who was now staring at her, his arms folded in front of him.

"I hear you've manifested." he stated, with apparent interest. "Care to demonstrate?" As he said this, the two armed guards made an obvious movement as they aimed squarely into Alexis' face.

"I don't know what you mean..." she said evasively, looking at her feet.

"No? Then let me jog your memory" he pulled a mobile phone from the inside of his lab coat and held it up, to show a recording of her impaling one of the men sent to recapture her. Alexis looked up to see him pointing a dart gun at her neck. "I'd like to see how that works...". Everything faded into nothingness once more...

Opening her eyes, this time Alexis found herself in a larger room. The walls and floors where made from some kind of white tiled material and there seemed to be no windows or doors. No way out.

"Hello?" she called.

"Hello, Alexis" came the electronic, disembodied vocie again. "You're to demonstrate your ability, please begin."

"But I don't know how!" she called in response, truthfully. No response came.

Annoyed, Alexis stared at her fingernails, willing them to change and sprout the green growth things again. "Come on..." she mouthed to herself, focusing intensely. Nothing happened. She suddenly flicked her arm as hard as she could in front of her. Nothing happened. "It's not working!" she shouted.

Meanwhile...

"Where am I? And where is my friend?" Mohinder asked, as a tall man in a white lab coat entered his cell, escorted by two armed guards.

"This is a uh... private organisation. We specialise in scientific research." he told Mohinder, vaguely.

"I see. And I take it this 'research' isn't exactly a weekend hobby, is it?" Mohinder challenged him

"Ah... no" the man admitted, with yet another of his self-satisfied smiles. "You and your friend are going to be included in a little project we're currently undergoing."

"Project?" Mohinder questioned, anxiety building.

"Don't worry." he assured Mohinder "If successful, you should both benefit greatly."

"Are you talking about... abilities?"

"Oh, I see you know more than would be expected." the man said, partly impressed, but also with an air of sudden suspicion and slight fear. "Do you have an ability?"

"See for yourself!" Mohinder yelled, launching himself at the man, and holding him in front of himself, as a human shield against the guards. He launched the man at them, knocking them out of the room at to the floor.

As he ran forwards, the door began to snap shut, though Mohinder managed, just in time, to thrust a hand out and stop it. It took a lot of force, but he managed to open it just enough to squeeze through, before it snapped shut again. As he passed, he took the two guns from the guards.

He shot at the nearest glass wall, but nothing seemed to happen. It seems they were extremely reinforced and therefore practically impossible to break. As he jogged down the corridor, unfamiliar faces flashed by. People in cells. Many were asleep, but some had pressed themselves against the walls to see what was happening. "I'm sorry" Mohinder mouthed at a young asian girl, possibly about 10 years old as she looked at him pleadingly. He had no way of helping them.

After a long run he reached a large, metal door. Similar to the ones used in aircraft hangars. (The facility must be underground, Mohinder thought to himself, as it was far too large to be kept off the radar, as he assumed it must be). It was too large to force open, even for him. To the side was another metal door. He peered through a small square window to the side.

Looking through, he saw what looked like an operating theater. A stretcher with restraints held an unfamiliar young man in place, despite him being unconcious as various 'surgeons' operated. As one moved aside, Mohinder saw they were operating on his exposed brain, the top of his head removed.

"This is the start of something... incredible" came the man in the lab coat's voice, as Mohinder whipped around to find a gun pointed at his face. "And like it or not... you're going to be a part of it."

To Be Continued...