Invincible

OK. I don't typically use Sci-Fi in my stories. I try to make them at least a bit believable. OK, sure, there are a few out there, but those are more in the spirit of humor. For you Conspiracy Theory nuts out there, if I suddenly disappear, this story is probably why. You know, bringing light to secret government programs that do unauthorized medical testing on military personnel.

For those of you idiots that love to comment about how unrealistic some of my stories are. Please take the time to look up one word. 'Fiction'! This will help in saving yourself the humiliation of having the rest of the world laughing at you for posting a stupid comment about how this story is 'not real'. OF COURSE, IT ISN'T REAL! IT'S FICTION!

Now, for the other group of idiots. Of course, I have read every single one of the MILLIONS of pieces of literature that have been created. FYI, you might want to look up the word 'Sarcasm' here. Of course, I know all about that obscure story that some unknown author wrote and forwarded you a copy that was never published that just happens to have some vague similarity to my story. Never mind that I never heard of that story, much less read it, go ahead and comment on how I obviously plagiarized it.

For those of you still reading, or most likely ignoring this long intro, here are the key points:

Lesbian (Duh, that's the category I am submitting it to), Sci-fi. Plot: Female military member is installed in secret government medical program. She is abused as part of the testing. Escapes, falls in love, rescues her lover. Seriously bad-ass bitch ahead.

Invincible:

"We can use her for the trial." A man's voice spoke.

"No." This was the voice of an authoritative woman. "That could kill her, and you know it."

"She's already dead. With her injuries, there is no way that she'll last a day or two at the most. There's nothing anyone can do to save her. She just has too much damage. Besides, this is her only chance to live."

"What you are planning, I wouldn't exactly call living." The woman said with anger. "If the experiment works, you will keep her locked up in a lab and continue running experiments on her until you actually do kill her."

I had been drifting in and out of consciousness for the last two days. I kind of came to as these two people were beside my bed talking. I had bandages over my eyes, so I couldn't see who they were. I vaguely remembered that I was in some type of medical center. There had been an accident, but I couldn't remember exactly what happened.

"I'm not going to deny that but look at the benefits that would come from that. Think of the millions of lives that could eventually be saved. Without this treatment, she will die anyway. If we put her in the program, she lives longer. Sure, there will be testing on her to determine the results, but she will be well taken care of between tests. We've got a very nice secure studio for her to live in, a comfortable bed, and the best food available. We'll even give her a plasma TV with gaming consoles and access to whatever TV shows and movies she wants to see. Hell, we can even get the new openings streamed to her. You know our budget." The male voice reasoned.

"What about her family? How are you going to just make her disappear?" The woman began to sound accepting now.

"Already taken care of." The man replied. "A homeless woman was found dead the other night. We got the body, put it in an old car, and torched it. When the body was removed, it was burned beyond recognition. We have everything ready to give the body to her family for burial. All lose ends are tied up."

"This is so wrong on so many levels. You're a doctor, what about having ethics and morals?"

"I'm a scientist. I look at it as the needs of millions outweigh the sacrifice of the few. As I said, she's going to die anyway. If we don't do this, her death will be just a tragic accident. Putting her in the program will at least give her death some meaning by helping cure millions of others."

I heard the woman sigh. "Fine. Go ahead, and may God have mercy on my soul for this." I felt a light touch on my arm. "Sorry, Honey. I hope that you can somehow forgive me for this."

"Excellent." The man exclaimed. "The animal trials showed that the initial stage incurred quite a bit of pain, so we need to increase her pain meds when she gets the injection. After a day or so, the nanites will adjust and block her pain on their own."

A minute later, I could feel the increase in the medication beginning to course through my body. Just before I slipped back into unconsciousness, I felt the jab of a large needle in my arm.

I shot bolt upright in panic. I was bathed in sweat. It was still dark in the room, but I could still see clearly. Looking around, I realized that I was in a well-furnished bedroom. The open window showed streetlights and the buildings of the city outside. Traffic noises could be heard. My panic ebbed as I realized that I was not THERE anymore.

"Another nightmare, Babe?" Softly came from the bed beside me.

I turned my head to see Julia looking at me with concern. She was still the stunning beauty I remembered from when I first met her two years ago, even with her hair tousled and eyes still sleepy.

I sighed. "Yeah. It wasn't one of the really bad ones, though."

I began to get out of bed. "I'm gonna change and get some water. This shirt is soaked with sweat now. Be back in a few."

"OK. Babe." She yawned.

I striped off my soaked sleep shirt. The adrenaline was still flowing through me. I was working on controlling my breathing as I walked naked through the apartment to the kitchen. The nanites sensed my adrenaline and were preparing for danger. I needed to calm down and get them into passive mode. Eventually, after walking around and getting my breathing back to normal, I was able to relax and get back to bed.

5-years earlier:

My eyes snapped open, all senses on alert. The sudden brightness initially hurt my eyes, but they immediately adjusted. Odd, I thought. Usually, when my eyes opened to sudden brightness, it took a minute or two for my eyes to adjust. This time, it happened almost instantaneously. I took my time to take in my surroundings. I was in a rather comfortable bed in a nice bedroom. There were three doors that were closed. It looked to be an upscale bedroom.

I cautiously slipped out of the bed and stood up. I was wearing a thin tank top and a loose pair of sleep shorts. All my senses were on high alert. It was weird, because my senses seemed to be more acute and tuned than I remembered them being. The first door I opened turned out to be a walk-in closet. There were several outfits in there, but none of them were mine. They mainly consisted of leggings, yoga pants, stretchy shorts, tee-shirts, and workout gear. There were several pairs of shoes also. Nothing really fancy. I went to the second door and found that it was a full bathroom with both a shower and a large whirlpool tub. I noted the security camera in the corner of the ceiling. I had noted a similar one in the bedroom. Obviously, I am being watched.

OK. Bedroom, bathroom, and closet. One door left. If there were to be anyone else here, they would be on the other side of the last door. I decided that I probably didn't want to get into it with anyone while wearing the miniscule clothing that I currently had on. I went over to the dresser to see what was there. Bras (actually in my size), panties (nothing really sexy), socks, sleepwear, and a few sets of lounge wear. I pulled out a random pair of panties and a sports bra. I figured if I needed to defend myself, I wanted the 'girls' well contained. I also pulled out a heavy pair of socks. Looking directly at the camera, I flipped it off, went to the closet, turned on the light and closed the door. I'll be damned if I'm giving them a free show.

After removing the tank-top and shorts, I put on the panties, bra, and socks. My ears were attuned to any noise from the other side of the door. I selected a pair of thick leggings and a long-sleeved tee-shirt. I figured that the cross-trainers would be the best bet for any unknown situation. Pausing to listen for any sound from the bedroom, I opened the door. No one was there. I walked over to the last door. I put my ear to the door to listen for a moment. Not hearing anything, I turned the knob. Actually, I was expecting it to be locked. It opened easily. There was a nicely appointed living room with a kitchen area to the side. Opposite from the bedroom was another door. I assumed that it was the door to the outside. Glancing around, I saw two more security cameras on the ceiling. What was lacking in all the rooms were windows. Not a single window in the entire place.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Crossing the room, I tried the door. Locked. Testing it, I discovered that it was actually a steel door decorated to look like wood. They did a good job of making it match the interior decorations. OK, so I'm in some sort of high-end prison. It was pretty obvious that there was no way of breaking out of here. I decided to investigate the kitchen. I found the refrigerator and pantry areas well stocked. I put on a pot of coffee, then made an omelet. Exciting, I know. I still had no idea what the fuck was going on. I wasn't really worried about there being any drugs in anything. There really wasn't much I could do about it. I had to eat and drink after all. Besides, if they wanted to drug me, they could have very easily done that while I was still sleeping.

As I ate, I began thinking about my situation. I remembered being injured really bad. I also recalled snippets of conversation before everything went black. It seemed like I was going to die. Then there was something about some program. I had checked myself and found no evidence of any injuries, much less critical injuries. Fuck, I didn't even have the scar on my arm from the time I fell out of a tree when I was 10-years old. That didn't make any sense. There wasn't even the faintest trace of it anymore.

After I finished eating and cleaning up, I was bored. I had no idea how long I had been out, so I decided to do a bit of a workout to get the kinks out of my body. That turned into another surprise. 200 pushups, 500 crunches, 300 lunges, and running in place for half an hour. Before today, the best I ever managed was 30 pushups, 20 crunches, 20 lunges, and 10-minutes of running. I had been completely wiped out after that. Now, I was barely even breathing hard. That was odd.

Suddenly, I was facing the locked door crouched in a fighter's stance ready to attack. I had heard a faint 'click' from the door. Sure enough, the knob turned, and the door slowly opened. There was an older man that I didn't recognize. Behind him stood 2 goons holding tasers. This should be an interesting conversation.

"Ms. Atkins, may I come in? We have a few things to discuss."

That is me. Melissa Atkins. 22-years old, 5'6" tall, flaming red hair, green eyes, lean with slim hips and a nice set of 36C breasts. I'm not rail thin, and my hips swell out enough that it is obvious that I am a woman. I also have a nice tight ass.

"What's with the muscle holding their weapons on me?"

"Well, quite frankly, we were not exactly sure what our reception would be. Security insisted on it for my protection. Once assured of my safety, they will put their weapons away."

"So, are you going to tell me where the fuck I am and what the fuck is going on?"

"Of course. That is why I am here."

"Fine. Come in and have a seat. Sorry, but I really don't have much to offer you except water."

"Thank you. I am fine, so no need for refreshments."

We sat down across from each other.

"OK. So, who are you and what's going on?" I asked.

"I am Dr. Phillips. I am a medical doctor and I have been doing research on ways to fix catastrophic injuries. You are the first person in the human trial. All the testing on animals has already been performed, so we are now moving forward with human testing. As I said, you are the first test subject."

"OK. So, where the hell am I? Admittedly, this is a fairly nice apartment, but the door is locked. It kind of seems like I am being held prisoner here."

"Oh. No, no, no. Don't think of it as being held prisoner. It is simply a security measure. Quite frankly, tens of millions of dollars of research and medical manufacturing has gone into this project. We are simply keeping you secure from any outside forces that might want to try and steal our technology or to skew our results. It isn't that we are keeping you as a prisoner so much as it is to protect both you and our investment."

For some reason, I wasn't fully buying into his explanation. Another thing that I noticed was that my mind was processing data a lot faster than previously. I've never been known for being stupid. I graduated in the top 10 percent of my class. No, it wasn't one of those failing high schools where just not sleeping through class got you in the top 10. No, I was in a pretty damned good high school. I had a couple scholarship offers, but not enough for a free ride. I fell into that group where my parents made too much money for me to get any real financial aid, but not enough money to make up the difference. Thus, my enlistment in the military. I was only planning on one enlistment, then using the GI Bill to get my degree. I was already fairly intelligent, but this was taking my thinking to another level.

"Fair enough." I replied. Somehow, I didn't think it prudent to call Bullshit at that moment. "Just for clarification, I don't recall giving consent to being a part of any medical study."

"That's true." He acknowledged. "You were not in any condition to consent. Keep in mind, however, had we not brought you into the program, you would be dead right now. Being in this program quite literally saved your life."

"Fine. I guess that works for me. Has anyone contacted my family? When can I see them?" I asked.

I caught the flicker across his face. I knew he was lying.

"Yes. Your family has been notified of your survival. Unfortunately, because of the nature of this program and the need for secrecy, you will not be able to see or hear from your family until all the testing has been completed.

"What you are planning, I wouldn't exactly call living." The woman said with anger. "If the experiment works, you will keep her locked up in a lab and continue running experiments on her until you actually do kill her."

"Already taken care of." The man replied. "A homeless woman was found dead the other night. We got the body, put it in an old car, and torched it. When the body was removed, it was burned beyond recognition. We have everything ready to give the body to her family for burial. All lose ends are tied up."

Those memories suddenly flew into my mind. My family had been notified, but they had been notified of my death. He had saved my life, but it was only to experiment on me until I actually did die. I decided that I had to get out of here somehow. The two goons were still here, and I really didn't know if the door was locked again. Not good odds. I would need to play along until I got an opportunity. I still didn't know what exactly they did to me.

Present time:

"What's wrong Babe?" I asked Julia.

I had just got home from my job. It was nothing glamorous. I am a bicycle messenger in a large city. It was the best I could do, given the circumstances. I had no college education. Even if I had a college degree, there was no way I could use it without THEM finding me instantly. As it was, I had to use a fake name and forged documents. Note to those of you contemplating running and hiding; unless you take low paying jobs that don't require extensive background checks and paid in cash, you won't make it. Even with that, I was constantly looking around to see if anyone was looking at me with more than a passing interest. So far, I have moved three times. On the upside, riding a bicycle all over the city kept me in pretty good shape and kept my reflexes agile.

I had noticed that Julia had been more stressed than normal lately. This was actually her condo. I had moved in with her a few months ago. Yeah, stupid for someone like me, but she just pulled me in from the instant that our eyes met. She was the single missing piece of my soul that I never knew was missing. I was at a bar after a long day's work. She was there with some friends. It wasn't a lesbian bar. I avoided them because THEY knew that I am a lesbian. I couldn't take the chance that THEY might send an operative to one looking for me. I asked her to dance. She accepted. I left her condo the next morning. Since that night, we have been exclusive. Yeah, I know. A woman on the run from a corrupt government agency has no business falling in love with someone and bringing them into your own personal hell. Tell that to fucking Cupid as he's lining up his fucking arrow.

I told you what I do for a living. Julia was so far out of my league that I couldn't even see her league. She is a criminal defense lawyer. If you compare our pay, mine isn't even a significant digit to hers. She didn't seem to care. It was two months after we met when I had moved all my belongings into her condo. She had insisted on it. The crappy apartment I was renting was in a really bad area. She was afraid that I would get hurt in a break-in or something. If only she knew how ludicrous her fear of that was.

It came down to a crossroads between us. I had secrets. She knew it. I had no choice. I either had to trust her and expose her to the danger, or I would lose her. Besides, by that point, she was in danger regardless. She was in a relationship with me. Even if she didn't know anything, they would destroy her in order to get to me. I had no choice. I told her everything. Obviously, she didn't believe most of it initially. It took showing her the proof. She was horrified when I drove the steak knife into my bare thigh. Fuck that hurt. Yes, the wound closed up and healed within a few moments, but the initial injury still hurts like hell. Thankfully, the nanites blocked the pain within seconds, but those seconds were agony. Once she finally understood, I made sure to emphasize how dangerous it would be for her to tell anyone. Of course, she went into lawyer mode and tried to talk to me about the legal issues and how she could use the courts to free me. I had to explain to her about the fact that THEY were outside the legal realm. THEY didn't care about a piece of paper stating that THEY weren't allowed to come within 1,000 feet of me. I, along with anyone that might possibly raise a fuss, would simply disappear in the middle of the night. She finally relented.

So, back to that night. "What's wrong, Babe?"

"Oh, nothing really. I've got these two morons that I'm defending this week. I mean, FUCK! How stupid do they need to be. Everything is caught on security cameras, there are a dozen witnesses, and they even bragged about it to the cops. There is no possible way that they don't end up in prison. The problem is that they are the nephews of the leader of one of the biggest criminal families in the state. He is insisting that I ensure that the charges are dropped and that they go free. He just doesn't understand that there is nothing I can do about it. I can plea them down a bit, but the DA knows who they are. He is using them as leverage."

"Can't you just drop them as clients?"

"No, I can't. My firm represents him, and I was assigned the case. This guy is just being an asshole. He thinks that since he has money that he can just buy his way out of anything."

"Are you in any danger? Is he likely to do anything to you if he doesn't get what he wants?" I asked.