//------------------------------// // 12) Fear Shock // Story: The Experiments // by SapphireRose87 //------------------------------// {Agent Rarity}  I've had just about enough of the tracker cats. Even though all three of them were hand-picked by Cora and had picked up on Experiment Henry’s scent, their behavior was disgusting. They would sniff around during the day and poop wherever they wanted. Then they would sit down and lick their butts right where they had pooped. I definitely wasn’t happy when Ezra, the leader of the Tracker Cats communicated with Cora.  I could care less if they found Experiment Henry! I actually hoped they didn't find him. Before I could even think of how to get away from the tracker cats I felt a buzz from my earpiece. That meant that Cora wanted to speak to me personally. I went around the corner of a brick building, well away from the tracker cats, and pressed the button in my ear. Out of my earpiece came a holographic screen with Cora’s face on it. “Yes, Head Cora?” Cora answered with the same flat look she always gives me when giving me instructions. “I’m sending Group F of the experiments with you.” I already felt frustrated with those stupid tracker cats and now this? “May I ask why madam?” I hoped that my voice didn't sound frustrated. “Yes,” Cora replied professionally, “I’m sending them to help track down Experiment Henry. They have better senses than the tracker cats and can track Experiment Henry better than they could. Even though the tracker cats say that they have Experiment Henry’s scent I don’t trust them at all. Be on the lookout for the experiments that I am sending. The first one is Experiment Rose and she has all-white eyes.” “All white eyes madam?” I asked puzzled. “Yes,” said Cora, “there are no irises in her eyes whatsoever. And the next one would be Experiment Sebastian. He has red hair and green eyes. They will look completely different from the experiments in Group F. That’s all I have to tell you right now. I’m sending Agent Liza to help track down the experiments.” When I heard Agent Liza’s name my eyes went wide in horror. “Agent Liza!” I gasped. “But that’s-“ “That’s right,” said Cora, “Experiment Derek’s mom. I’ve received word from Agent Liza herself that the Experiments from Group A have left the Inn about a week ago. Find Experiment Derek and Experiment Henry will be with him.” “Why are you calling Agents Liza’s son an Experiment?” I questioned. “He was never taken!” “Actually he was,” said Cora, “but it was for a short time until his mom Agent Liza stepped in and made a deal with us to keep him away from Lab 14. Anyway, that’s all I have to say, signing off. Good luck!” I nodded and pressed the button on my earpiece and sighed.    I thought not only do I have to deal with those rude tracker cats, but now I have to deal with a group of brats! This just keeps getting better and better! I’d rather be back in Equestria overseeing my fashion empire! But I’ll have to stay here a little bit longer! I have to remember it’s for the children! That’s the only reason why I’m doing this! As soon I get the children back, I’m stabbing that witch Cora in the back literally! * * * {Henry} The next time we stopped I took a blanket and laid outside the tent. Looking at the morning sky, I really didn’t want to fall asleep because if I did it’s possible that I would have another painful memory of Lab 14. I was hoping that if I didn’t fall asleep I would have a peaceful memory of my family again. I laid there thinking about it when Sarah came and sat down beside me. “Have you had any more memories again?” I shook my head and I didn’t know what to think about that yet. “I keep having these memories but I can’t put any faces to the voices I hear,” Sarah said. I gave her a confused look. “I’ve had a memory of someone calling herself a Wonderbolt,” said Sarah, “have you had that type of memory yet?” I raised an eyebrow and nodded. Sarah looked at me and sighed, “I have a feeling you and me are related! The one that calls herself a Wonderbolt whatever that is is the one who gave us the music box with a weird tune that plays in it. And the one that gave us that hat is also one of our parents! I don’t know if we’re related by blood or not but we’re definitely related! That’s all I have to say about that but I have noticed that you haven’t slept for three days straight! I know the memories that come from Lab 14  are painful but how can you run from Lab 14 if you’re not sleeping! Maybe I should tell Derek about that, he might be able to knock some sense into you and help you sleep.” Sarah left and I could hear her talking to Derek and he came and sat down beside me. He motioned for me to lay down so I did. I still didn’t want to go to sleep at all. “You really need to sleep,” said Derek, “I hate to say this, but Sarah’s right. You can’t run from Lab 14 if you’re half-awake. We do have a job that needs to be done, you know that right?” I nodded. No matter how important sleep was, I didn't want to sleep because I thought I might have another bad memory of Lab 14. * * * For the next couple of weeks while we were traveling, every time we stopped Derek made sure I fell asleep. If someone wanted to call a place hell, Lab 14 was it. One bad memory after another of Lab 14 played in my head. I woke up quickly knowing that everyone was worried about me because they knew that I wasn’t sleeping much. “Henry doesn’t look so good at all!” Snails said. “Well Agent Derek,” said Snips, “should we rest a bit longer the next time we stop? Maybe we should find a cave somewhere?” “I’m not sure about that!” Snails said. “Remember the last time we stopped in a cave? We woke up and Ursa Minor!” “Oh that was a long time ago!” Snips said. “Besides, Princess Twilight already forgave us for that!” Without warning the world around me started to spin and I shook my head to make it stop, but it didn’t work. The next thing I knew I fell over and the world went dark. * * * {Derek} I caught Henry before he hit the ground. “I knew it!” Snails said. “What’s wrong with him?” I panicked. “I think he just needs to rest that’s all,” Snips said. “Let me see…” Snips lit up his horn and examined Henry’s brain. Snips looked horrified. I felt a pit in my stomach. "What is it?" “I think you might want to sit down for this one!” Snips said. “Henry’s under something that’s called Fear Shock! I have a suspicion that it’s because of too many bad dreams!” “I’m not surprised although it wouldn't be bad dreams it would be because of bad memories,” said Sarah. “There’s a place where all of us... ugh... ‘experiments’ grew up and it’s called Lab 14. If you want to call such a place hell, that place would be it! When I woke up I couldn't remember anything! Not even who I was until that witch Cora told me! For some reason Lab 14 does that and why? I don't know. From what I’ve been told, Henry's a famous experiment because Henry was the first one Lab 14 ever created!” “From what I’ve researched,” said Jane, “there have been five experiments and Lab 14 released a handful of children in them. According to the information Henry was released into every single one of them!” “What?” Everyone said. “That’s right,” said Jane, “the fact that Lab 14 kept releasing him and reprogramming him every single time that tells me that Henry’s the most valuable kid they have!” “But,” said Sarah, “when I got to Jade Summer’s hideout he said Henry was up for elimination because he didn’t get the updated tracking device in him!” “Oh I doubt Lab 14 would’ve killed him!” Jane said. “They probably would’ve just held him hostage and tortured him until they waited for a chance to shut down the experiment and do the whole thing all over again!” “That’s horrible!” Snips said. Jane shrugged, “That’s the way Lab 14 is. Until it gets destroyed, Lab 14 will continue to do this every single time! And more children will have to endure the pain that Henry and the rest of us have to! Although since Henry the most valuable one, he’s had it worse! His body probably gave out because of the stress from it!” After hearing this Milton balled his hands into fists and grit his teeth. He took a couple of deep breaths and tried to calm himself down but it didn’t work. “Lab 14 and that witch Cora that runs it!” Milton growled. “So what do we do now?” I said. Snips and Snails both put their hoofs under their chins and looked like they were thinking. “I’ve only seen this happen to a handful of ponies and people,” Snips said, “this could go one of two ways, he could wind up in a coma for at least a month or he could wake up in the next two days. But, the emotional pain would be so great that he wouldn’t be able to move. Me personally, I’d rather have him in a coma because when he wakes up he’ll be completely healed. But…” It was as if on cue that Snips and Snails looked like they had a light bulb go off in their heads.  “What?” I said. My heart was breaking for Henry at the moment. “I’ll do anything to help Henry and you know it!” “Calm down Agent Derek!” Snails said. “We know you love Henry! We figured that out when we saw how you act around each other!” “And don’t forget how you two get lost into each other’s eyes so cute!” Snips said. “The way you're holding him says it all! That’s why we’re going to give you this one option to avoid all of the trauma!” “What exactly are you talking about Snips?” Sarah said. Snips and Snails both nodded in agreement and Snails smiled at me. “The gift that you can give Henry,” Snips said, “to help him avoid stress and trauma and his Fear Shock will possibly not come back. It's the kiss of true love!” I nodded, I didn't have to think twice about it, I kissed Henry hoping this would wake him up. * * * {Henry} The next time I opened my eyes I was in Derek’s arms and it was daylight. I heard everyone let out a sigh of relief now that I was awake. “Can he talk again?” Sarah said with her voice full of hope. Derek shook his head, “I’m not sure.” Milton came up and tilted my head to show the stitches on my neck. Sarah kicked the ground with disappointment when she saw the stitches and I looked at her with confusion. “Damn you Lab 14!” Sarah said. Even though I could see that Sarah, Milton, Martin, Jane, and Aria were angry I wasn’t sure if I could say or do anything to help. So for the moment I just let them stay angry. Derek looked at me curiously. I gave him a look as if to say the word ‘what.’ I wondered what he was going to say next. Derek brushed some of my hair off on the right side of my forehead. After he saw what he was curious about he looked horrified. Sarah and the others looked clearly confused. “What is it?” Aria said. “There’s an outline of a small rectangle going to the right side of Henry’s forehead!” Derek said.  “What is with Lab 14 and our right side!” Milton growled.  Sarah looked like she had a light bulb go off in her head.  “I think I know why, it’s because Jane, Henry, and me figured out how to do magic on our left side. I bet you guys can do it too! The fact is that we can do magic on our left side. Our magic would damage their devices! And if that happens their ‘experiment’ would be in ruins! That’s also probably because they wouldn’t get any good results for the data gathering and they don’t make that easy either!” “So you’re having bad memories of Lab 14 too?” Milton said.  “It’s kind of hazy, but it’s not as bad as Henry. Each time I remember the data gathering being done I remember being cut in different places. I also remember that psycho Cora laughing like she was having the best of times! That woman is the definition of the word witch!” Sarah confirmed.  “Do you guys remember being reprogrammed at all?” Derek asked. Everyone except me shook their heads when everyone saw that I didn’t have the same reaction that they did.  Sarah gasped. “You don’t mean to tell me that you were awake for that?”  I bit my bottom lip and nodded. Derek had a look on his face that showed nothing but anger and I don’t blame him. “I suspect,” said Derek, “that the rectangle is your reprogramming device!” Derek pressed my forehead gently and I didn’t realize that the touch would send an electric shock that went through the right side of my body. There was no way I could’ve hidden that sort of pain. Sarah and the others saw my pain and winced. Derek held me in his arms as if he were trying to protect me from the pain. “Sorry Henry!” Derek panicked. “I didn’t know that was going to happen!” Snips did a facehoof and shook his head. “Would you calm down Agent Derek! He’s not a baby!” “Oh come on Snips,” said Snails, rolling his eyes, “Derek is Henry's lover, leave him alone!” “I know that Snails!” Snips said. At this point, he seemed to be annoyed with Snails. Sarah smiled, “I don’t blame him for being so overprotective of Henry! I’d probably do the same thing if Aria was in trouble!” “That’s nice Sarah,” smiled Aria, “but I think I can fend for myself!” Moria couldn’t help but laugh at what she was seeing. Sarah raised an eyebrow, “What’s so funny?”  “I’m not laughing because it’s funny!” Moria answered. “I’m laughing because it’s adorable!” “Ha, ha,” said Sarah, “very funny!” Milton cleared his throat, “Come on guys we should probably give them some space! We should probably get some sleep too!”