Dark History - Tzeitel - Thirteen Years Ago - Sold

One of the men handed Tzeitel’s parents several wads of money. Their eyes lit up and they started counting it as the uniformed men walked Tzeitel out of her home. Tzeitel was put in the back of a car with the man holding the fob sitting next to her. She was terrified. She felt like she was being kidnapped- but could a kid be kidnapped when the parents were in on it? (Yes, of course)

They took her to what she would later learn was MegaCorp Facility #03. She was photographed. Doctors poked and prodded her and treated her multiple injuries, taking notes all the while. She was put in a big claustrophobic machine that took images. Doctors poked and prodded her some more, they were strangely interested in her arms for some reason.

She was put in a cell and given a tray of food. Tzeitel was starving and ate every last crumb. After eating she curled in a ball on the cot. She could hear a girl nearby, possibly in the cell next to her. She was pleading with a man, followed by screaming, then later sobbing. Tzeitel was too young to understand, but she knew something terrible was happening. It was a long time before she got to sleep.

The next morning she was let out of her cell and was brought to a cafeteria to eat breakfast. They were kids like her there, kids with powers, they called themselves metas. Tzeitel was afraid of them. She kept to herself, quietly eating in a corner of the cafeteria before going back to her cell. She was not left alone for long. She kept being brought out for scientists to study and a handler pressed a button on a fob allowing her access to her powers. Tzeitel felt more whole but was afraid to use them, even after being told to use her powers. It was not until they used the collar to shock her that Tzeitel finally used her powers to make them stop punishing her. They called what she did ‘pheromone manipulation’, and it turned out she had different kinds besides just calming pheromones and found ways of making her use different pheromones on command. It was exhausting.

At midday she was brought back to the cafeteria, though she would have rather gone back to her cell and to bed. She discovered the girl in the cell next to hers, recognizing her voice. She was a pretty girl, probably only a few years older than Tzeitel, with long blond hair. One of the guards walked right up to the girl as she sat at her table and began stroking her hair. The blond girl stiffened and hunched her shoulders, her cheeks reddening with shame. The guard whispered something to her and her head sunk deeper. The guard grinned and pulled her from the table. The girl tried to resist but he only laughed and dragged her out of the cafeteria.

After lunch Tzeitel went back to her cell. She could hear the girl in the next cell crying.

The next few weeks were full of various tests. It was exhausting but no one was beating her, and she was being fed three meals a day plus occasional snacks. Tzeitel wanted to keep her new guardians happy so they would not punish her, or send her back to her parents. So she tried to do what they wanted her to. Originally the scientists would be in the room with her when she used her powers until she tried some strange ant pheromone. It made the scientists think she was dead, it really freaked them out. They shrieked at her to stop it while shocking her collar.

After the dead ant pheromones the scientists would be in a booth with special filters while Tzeitel was made to experiment with her power on other metas, often other kids like herself. Of course being manipulated by her pheromones did not make Tzeitel popular with the other kids and she was just as lonely as she was at school. Tzeitel did not blame them for hating her, she did some really terrible things to them. And made them do terrible things, sometimes to each other. Tzeitel would press her forehead to the wall with tears streaming down her face and her hands pressed to her ears.

It did not take her long to work out why the girl in the cell next to her cried, and this girl wasn't the only one. It seemed like all the girls got used once they were 'old enough'. It made Tzeitel sick and scared to think about it.