The laboratory hums with its usual sterile brightness, and a red-haired kid sits on the countertop while his legs swing idly. He glances around with a smile before focusing on the man peering through the microscope.

“How are you feeling, VH?” The man continues to work on the blood sample under the microscope.

VH continues to look at the man as he observes some blood samples and stretches his arms. “I’m feeling alright,” he says.

The man looks at VH, slightly annoyed that he is sitting on the counter. “Please don’t sit on the top of the counter…” He sighs.

VH scratches his head and smiles, then jumps off the countertop. He walks to the nearest chair and slumps down. The man finishes his work and grabs the small medical box. Then, he approaches the kid and pats him on the shoulder with a worried expression.

“I apologize if we have to do it every two weeks, and soon everything will be okay.” The kid looks up at him and smiles. “It’s okay, Dad, I trust you.”

His father gives him a firm smile as he prepares the medical kit and takes the needle from it. Then, while holding him firmly, he asks him if he is ready.

“Yes, I’m ready.” As he relaxes his arms, his father holds the needle gently.

He injects a needle into his veins and extracts the blood. After taking his blood, he immediately deposited it into a container. He cleans VH’s wrist and puts a band-aid on top of it. He stands up and pats his head. He walks to a cabinet right after and stores it.

“So what now?” While VH tilts his head and smiles.

Should I tell him now? His real identity? His parents? He's smart enough to understand what I'll say after all. Plus, the government has been monitoring my movements for the past few weeks. I think it’s time to tell him. The man ponders.

“Alright, Kiddo. Everything is done for the day, and you can go home now. I just need to stay here for a few more hours.” The man's expression is intense. His eyes are stormy gray and cloudy with fear.

“You know where to go, and I will meet you there later, okay?” The man gives VH a firm smile and pats his head.

VH nods as he gets up from the chair, and they start packing things up. The man remembers something important and looks around the room.

“Hey VH, I forgot to give you something, but promise me that you will keep it okay?”

He kneels and looks directly into his eyes while holding his arms. VH looks back at him and is determined not to disappoint his father. He smiles and nods his head. “I promise!"

“I’m serious about this…” The man stands up, walks briskly towards a particular shelf, and opens it. He grabs a long metallic container from the shelf and walks towards him.

“Here you go, kid... This is my little surprise for you.” The man smiles while he hands the long, metallic container.

“What a weird gift, Dad, but what is this?” He examines the weird metallic container and shakes his head. He enthusiastically opens the container as the cap is about to take off. A purple light slowly shines on his face, revealing a small purple shard. He is mesmerized by the light and smiles. While VH is looking at the purple shard, a voice starts to whisper, and it seems to be in a different language.

“It looks awesome, can I keep it?” His eyes were sparkling with joy, and he ignored the voice.

“VH, that’s my gift for you, and any gift that you receive from anyone that you know is yours to–”

BOOM!

The door explodes inwards, and the door falls off the ground. A thick smoke scatters through the laboratory.

“Oh no...” The man shoves VH behind him while he stares at the smoke.

“Well, well, well... Who do we have here?” Says the man with a soldier uniform while he has a devilish smile on his face.

“What the hell are you doing here, General Alcaeus?” VH is terrified of the soldiers, and he hides behind his father.

“Dad, what is going on?” General Alcaeus orders the soldiers to grab the kid, and without any hesitation, the soldiers follow the orders and attempt to grab the kid.

“Hey, Stop! What are you doing?! Don't you dare touch my son!” The man blocks the soldiers and spreads his arms, preventing the soldiers from coming towards him.

“Please move aside, sir. We have no intention of harming you or your son.” One of the soldiers says firmly.

“No! Are you crazy? Why would I do that? He is my son! You have no right to take him away from me!” General Alcaeus smirks. "Dr. Ryuse, are you sure he's your son?"

With a wave of the General's hand, another soldier approaches and circulates Dr. Ryuse and VH.

"Dad? What is he talking about?" VH looks in disbelief.

General Alcaeus orders the soldiers to grab the kid, and Dr. Ryuse and VH are now separated from each other. The soldier pins down VH and uses a tranquilizer. He squirms around, and he is trying to keep himself awake. Dr. Ryuse continues to squirm around the soldiers, and General Alcaeus changes his mind. He orders one of the soldiers to kill the doctor, and without any hesitation, one of the soldiers shoots Dr. Ryuse in the back.

BANG!

“NO!!!” VH breaks free from the soldiers, and he rushes to his fallen father. Dr. Ryuse looks towards VH and tries to mumble something. 

“VH… remember... be a good person… and don't let the darkness consume you.”

There is one thing He remembers before blacking out. There is blood, and more blood everywhere. There is blood on his face, and blood on the floor. Everything slows down for him. The color drains from Dr. Ryuse's face as he turns around, and gives VH one last smile before collapsing onto the ground. VH claws at his father’s lab coat and shakes him. “Dad… Dad! Get up!”.

“This isn’t happening!! This isn’t real!!” VH screams and yells at them, and one of the soldiers pries the shard from his blood-slicked fingers. 

“Hold him down.” General Alcaeus says firmly.

VH squirms around, trying to escape the soldiers. He looks at General Alcaeus and gives him the most murderous, most disgusted face he can muster. The General approaches him with another tranquilizer in hand. He kneels and injects the drug into his system. He eventually loses consciousness and passes out. 

6 HOURS LATER

VH wakes up from deep slumber, and His skull pulsates with the aftershock of the tranquilizer, his vision swimming as he squints against the glare of white walls. His clothes are now pure white, and there is a large double-glass mirror in front of him.

God, my head hurts… Anyways, where am I?

He looks around and analyzes his location. He deduces that he is confined in a facility. He knows no one will come to save him, so he has to stay calm and control his emotions. He wonders why they have captured him, and he continues to walk in circles.

“Is anyone here?” He continues to walk around the white cell.

He looks at the window and taps the glass, and it feels dense based on the sound it emits. He looks for hidden cameras, and he can’t find one. He continues to analyze the room, and there will be only one conclusion.

The glass window… VH looks closer at the window and examines it.

Someone from the outside taps on the window, and the mirage fades away. A person pops out behind the window. VH jerks backward and catches his breath as the figure materializes, but he quickly regains his composure. Then, he looks at the person on the other side of the window and quickly analyzes them.

“So what do you need from me?” VH glares at the soldier, and he looks at the soldier dead in the eye. The soldier taps on a glass, and a voice starts to come out.

“Not even a 'Hello?' Where are your manners?” While the soldier looks at VH.

VH carefully considers what he is about to say, and in his current position, information is crucial. He approaches the window and punches it. The soldier backs off a little, and then VH asks where he is and what happened to his father.

“That person isn’t your father, but a scientist who found you on–”

Before the male soldier finishes his sentence, the door opens behind him, and a female soldier enters the room and approaches the male soldier.

“General Alcaeus wants to speak with you.” The male soldier nods, and he leaves the room. “I will look after this kid.” 

VH hears the conversation between the two soldiers and ponders to himself. While keeping eye contact with the two soldiers.

Is that him? The general who killed my father, and my father found me on what? What does he mean by that? VH looks at the female soldier who is approaching from the other side of the glass.

The female soldier taps the window to say hi to him, and VH ignores her. She smiles through the mask by squinting her eyes, and she politely asks if he needs something.

VH thinks about what he needs at this moment, and food is the only thing he can think of. Since he is their captive, asking something irrelevant won’t be any help.

“I’m waiting for an answer…” The female soldier asks cheerfully.

“I’m hungry, can I have some food, please?” VH looks at the female soldier, and he backs off, then he sits on the white bed.

“Sure, give me a couple of minutes, alright?” The female soldier smiles again, and they both look at each other one last time and nod. The female soldier leaves the room, and now VH is gathering his thoughts. VH ponders why they are too friendly to him and how he can extract information from these people.

***

6 HOURS AGO

The general ordered some soldiers to spread out through the building and told everyone to leave no traces behind.

“Dispose of the body first, and then burn the whole place down. So it looks like an accident.”

The five soldiers nodded and ran toward the rooms. Three of the soldiers ran to the kitchen, turning on all of the gas. The two soldiers put Dr. Ryuse's body into a black bag. Then they ran away from the building using the window that they had used to go in. One of the soldiers fired a flare gun towards the building. The fire quickly spread, burning everything, and explosions everywhere. The fire was spreading from room to room. The scientists were evacuating. The soldiers made it out of the building without being seen.

"What should we do with the kid, sir?" One of the soldiers asked as he held onto VH's unconscious, limp body.

“Bring him to the  Island Vráchos, Underground level 40th... No... Bring him to the Underground 50th floor.”The general handed a few of them a key card, and the soldiers who received the card nodded.

“Thank you, Sir!” The soldier saluted.

“No problem, just give back the card once you are done.” They continued what they were doing, and they called out their choppers to pick them up.

Back to the present time…

VH sits on the floor, and the door opens up. The woman is back with food; she leans down toward the huge glass window and pushes the food through a small hole.

“I’m quite shocked that you didn't panic when you were in the room.” VH looks at the female soldier with a fiery gaze and grabs the food.

“My dad was expecting this to happen, but we didn’t expect it to happen this soon. Besides, I don’t expect anyone to help me here.” As he looks into her eyes.

“Hmm… alright then.” The female soldier is astounded at the kid's statements.

Then he proceeds to check the meal that she gave him. He looks at the tray, and he sees: A water bottle, a plate, a bread inside a small plastic bag. He notices the small piece of paper that doesn’t belong in a meal. He is confused for a moment as to why the utensils are missing, and why there is a paper there.

He opens the paper cautiously while he remains calm and focused. He reads the paper, and it says:
“We will help you escape here, but it will be risky. We’re sorry for your father.” 

Vh looks at the female soldier and thanks her for the food.

So she's a spy, and worked up to be here? I'm impressed.  Although I can't trust her yet, I might try. He opens the bread, and then he stands up. He walks toward the glass and asks an obvious question. He taps on the window, and the female soldier looks at him.

“Where are we?” He asks the question nonchalantly.

What is this kid thinking? Why would he ask that? The female soldier is confused by the question.

“Sorry, I can't tell you that, and why would I tell you our location? Are you stupid?” The female soldier scoffs at the question and sighs.

He sits down at the edge of the bed, and he sees her fingers move. At that moment, he feels like time slows down as VH looks at her fingers. The soldier crosses her arms, then she taps her fingers five times, five long taps, one long tap, and four fast taps.

“No, I'm not, I'm just curious. Anyways, where is the knife to cut my bread?” VH continues to fumble on the food tray.

Morse code? I’m glad my dad taught me what that thing is… Interesting… and she didn’t repeat it because she expects me to understand it fast. So five taps that's five, and another five long taps.. that's zero. Then… “T”, and “H”.... Wait, I'm on the 50th floor?!

“You already tore the bread apart… isn’t it too late to ask for that? She squints at him.

“Well, I was just asking…” and he gave her a big smile.

“Fine fine… It’s underneath the tray anyway… How come you didn’t see that earlier?”

She said the word underneath in a different tone. What was that all about? Are you saying that ... I'm underground? Also, who in their right mind would put a utensil under a tray?!

He stops communicating with the female soldier, and he proceeds to eat the bread. VH proceeds to plan on what he can do with this information.

Great… Now what is this great plan of theirs for us to escape? VH ponders the situation he is in.