Lead scientist Rossi sat at his desk, glasses pulled up peering into a microscope. Footsteps approached, but he paid them no mind.
"Sir, we just got the last batch of Eros back from the manufacturing department."
The head bowed over a microscope looked up, placing his glasses back over his eyes. "Excellent. What test subjects are available?" The younger man checked his tablet.
"Looks like subjects 16 and 21, Sir." Rossi paused thinking for a moment.
"Please have subject 16 placed in testing room 2."
"Right away Dr. Rossi."
Somewhere deeper in the facility Subject 16 sat in their room, on their bed watching a screen embedded in their wall. The screen went blank before the automated voice filled the room.
"Subject 16 you have been selected for testing, please proceed to testing room 2." 16 sighed softly and stood up. The door to their room slid open silently revealing the brightly lit hallway beyond. The hallways were bare except for staggered doors at precise intervals. 16 knew that other test subjects were behind them, each one had a number painted on the wall beside the door, just like she did. The hallways were empty, she had been here long enough that she no longer had to be escorted between her room and the testing rooms. The door to testing room 2 was open and waiting for her, the lights bright.
A medical table stood in the center of the room with examination lights above. The lights above the table were currently dim, but she knew they would turn on the second she sat on the table, triggered by her weight. There was a row of monitors that would eventually display her vital signs and other statistics once she was hooked up. One of the junior scientists was in the room fussing at something on a tray she didn't bother to look at. He was young, maybe in his twenties with dark curly hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a smattering of freckles over the bridge of his nose. He reminded her of someone from a time long ago, but the memories were fuzzy and she didn't bother digging deeper. Digging into the past only brought on migraines that lasted for days. He looked up at her and smiled as she automatically started disrobing her basic gray sweatpants and white t-shirt. Her standard clothes when she wasn't required to wear something else for the scientists. Most of the time they required her naked for the tests they ran. She folded them neatly and placed them on the little shelf they had set aside specifically for her things.
"Good Morning Subject 16, I'm going to start off with our baseline tests now, okay?"
"Of course Dr. Green, whatever you need." She sat in the middle of the cold table with her legs hanging off the side, she kept her hands folded in her lap. While Dr. Green wheeled his cart full of various monitors and wires up next to her. He uncoiled a metal band and she offered her left bicep without question, without him having to utter a word. He wrapped the thin pliable metal band around the middle of her bicep. He pressed a button and headed to the monitors, fiddling with a few things and making notes on his tablet.
"How do you feel this morning? Anything of note we should be aware of?" He asked before looking up at her with a smile. She liked him, he always made it a point to smile at her. A full smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes.
"No Dr. Green," she said simply.
He tapped a few more times on his tablet before he grabbed a pen light out of his pocket and came over to her. He tilted her head back with his hand and shined the bright light in her eyes watching her pupils contract. His hand was warm and soft, and he was gentle. He pressed around her neck, before listening to her lungs. When he was satisfied, he nodded before heading to a stand of capped vials. He plucked one up with his deft fingers, heading over to her and uncapping it. The liquid inside was clear with a slight red hue to it. It seemed more viscous than water, clinging to the sides as he moved the vial.
"If you could please drink the contents of this please." He offered her the small vial, and she took it delicately from his hands, the glass cold in her hand. She upended the contents of the vial into her mouth without a second thought. The liquid tasted vaguely of strawberries, and clung to her tongue like an oil. She swallowed it, the liquid heating the entire way down her throat and down into her stomach, ending in a puddle of warmth in her stomach. She handed the vial back and Dr. Green took it, making a note on his tablet after checking his watch.
"How did it taste?"
"Like strawberries." Dr. Green raised his eyebrow at her before jotting it down on his tablet.
"How does it feel?"
"Warm, I feel it warm in my stomach." She placed her hands over her stomach as she said this. He made another note on his tablet.
"Please lay back on the table, Dr. Rossi will be in shortly."
She caught his glance at the mirrored wall on the side of the lab opposite the door she entered. She knew that Dr. Rossi must have been in there while Dr. Green did his preliminaries. She laid back without further prompting. She placed her wrists and ankles on the leather straps she knew would be locked around them. Dr. Green started with her left wrist, locking it down tight in the leather cuff, placing a finger between her skin and the leather to make sure he wasn't damaging her. He did the same procedure to her ankles and right wrist making his way around the table. He also pulled a waist strap through the base of the table, as well as thigh straps to each individual thigh. She normally wasn't restrained to this degree and she felt her heart rate pick up slightly before she calmed her breathing. She wanted to be a good subject and not skew the results with her nervousness.
"Any pinching anywhere?" He asked when the final strap was secured.