A/N Thanks go to Carol and dawnofme for their beta work.

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Chapter Two

Discovery

Three weeks later…

Maggie Walsh marched through the Initiative to the operating rooms.

“I understand we have a development in Number Seventeen?” she barked as soon as she saw her assistant, a fat balding middle-aged man.

“Yes, professor. I think we have finally broken it,” he replied. “Come see for yourself.”

They walked round to the cell containing Seventeen. He was huddled in a corner staring straight ahead but his eyes were unfocussed.

“It stopped responding to anything at 03.47 precisely. Since then it’s just sitting there like that.”

“What was the last task it completed?” asked Maggie, wondering what had finally pushed it over the edge after resisting for so long.

“It had been very slow to react to the last three tasks. It had taken two hours to kill the Noawla demon we dropped in with it. Last month, in permanent vampire mode, it dispatched the creature in less than fifteen minutes. This time it wasn’t until the creature had taken several severe chunks out of it that it reacted at all, then the anger sensor kicked in and the pain made it back off again until it the next time it was bitten.”

“So without anger as its basis for its fight it couldn’t fight back?”

“No, the pain in its head made it not do anything until it was bitten again and had to react,” said the assistant. “It hasn’t gotten any more adept at opening the bags of blood without its fangs so it has been getting very little nourishment, with most spilling and being washed away. We then opened the hatch and offered a bowl of blood. It reached for it after a few moments hesitation, but when it was hit with the electric shock, that was it. It didn’t try again, just sat down. As you can see, it’s also ignored the last bag of blood too. It’s still on the floor.”

“We’ll get it on the table and give it back its ability to show its vampiric features and use its enhanced strength and see if that changes anything,” said Maggie.

A button was pressed and the sedative gas whirled its way into the cell. Seventeen fell onto his side, twitched a couple of times, and lay limp.

Once on the operating table Maggie waited until the vampire was conscious before inserting the probe. The pain of insertion only made a couple of fingers twitch, the vampire not reacting to the pain. Once she’d removed the chip’s message that suppressed the vampiric features and strength she took a scalpel blade and walked round to face Seventeen. She slapped his face to make him focus on her. Then she slowly and deliberately ran the scalpel over the skin of his chest, cutting to a depth of about a quarter of an inch. Although he tensed slightly at the touch of the blade, the features didn’t change. He was totally submissive, accepting what was happening without question.

It had taken a long time to get Seventeen to this stage but finally they had. She reinserted the probe, tapped on the computer keyboard then removed the probe.

“Michael, make sure you have the crossbow at the ready. Lets see if this works better than it has in the past,” said Maggie.

Once Michael was in place, she unfastened the restraints and took a step back. “Ready?”

“Ready,” replied Michael.

“Number Seventeen,” she said.

The vampire looked at her.

“Sit up.”

Without hesitation he pushed himself up until he was sitting, facing her with legs dangling down, and feet not quite reaching the floor.

“Get off the table and stand up,” she ordered.

He did.

Maggie and Michael exchanged excited looks - so far so good.

“Walk to your holding cell.”

He’d never been along these corridors conscious but had the route programmed into the chip. Without hesitation Seventeen walked out of the room and steadily along to his cell. He stood and waited for further instructions.

“Hold this.” Maggie handed the vampire a wooden cross.

He took it in his left hand and held it despite his skin immediately starting to smoke, then burn, then char.

“Let go of it,” she ordered.

He opened his hand and the cross dropped to the floor taking a few pieces of his burnt flesh with it. At no point had he vamped out, a normal reaction to pain.

“Okay, in you go,” said Maggie and she opened the door. He calmly walked in and turned to face them through the glass.

“Right. Michael, get some blood in there and I want to see if it gets its vampiric features out to open the bag.”

The hatch in the ceiling opened in response to Michael pushing a button and a bag of blood fell in.

“Eat it and you will eat any other bags you are offered in this cell,” ordered Maggie.

Seventeen picked up the bag in his undamaged right hand and brought it to his lips. His features changed and he neatly pierced a hole and drank the blood without spilling a drop. As soon as he finished his features turned human again.

“Excellent - only using the vampiric features to feed. We’ll try him in combat soon but in the meantime let’s feed him up a bit. The next time that he’s fed order him to turn his head away from any humans present. Let’s get him to hide those demonic features when they’re on show,” said Maggie.

He was the first subject to survive the training, the others had either died during the trials leading up to it or had gone berserk and had to be staked afterwards. She’d always had high hopes for Seventeen and had been delighted when they’d recaptured him a year ago.

Oooooooo

Over the next three days, Seventeen was pitted against a variety of creatures and had defeated them all without once showing its demonic features. The chip hadn’t fired so the vampire had been working coldly and methodically, not fuelled with rage. Exactly what the government wanted - an efficient, obedient killing machine that could blend in with humans at all times. Apart from when he fed, Seventeen’s features remained human.

The only thing that bothered Maggie about Seventeen was that he was left handed and preferred to hit with that hand. Even when carrying an injury like the burn from the cross he still used it the most. She worried this could lead to problems in combat so she needed him to be ambidextrous. It was an easy fix. A little reprogramming via the probe and the chip interrupted the signals to the nerves of his left arm and it became useless to him, paralysed, until she removed the block. A month or so like that and he’d learn to use his right hand more effectively. She was delighted at how the technology allowed her to do such things.

There had been a slight moment of worry when Seventeen had come around after the procedure and had tried to use his left hand to push himself up. When it hadn’t responded he’d panicked for a time, pushing himself backwards with his legs until his back was against the wall, looking around the cell frantically. When he realised he was alone he calmed down, stood up using his right hand and just ignored his left arm’s lack of use.

“It probably thought that it’s been injured in a fight,” said Michael, “since it’s fought so many in the past few days.”

“Yes. I think you’re right,” agreed Maggie, “We’ll leave it for the rest of the day then see how it gets on fighting one-handed tomorrow.”

As they walked away from the cell, Seventeen sat down in a corner at the back of the cell. He lifted his left hand up with his right and placed it on his lap, turning it over and looking at it in puzzlement.

Oooooooo

“Buffy, are you ready? It’s time to go!” Giles shouted up the stairs of the house on Revello Drive.

“Yeah, I’m coming. Don’t sweat it,” called Buffy, running down to meet him. “We’ve got plenty of time.”

“That might be the case but you know how Maggie Walsh is if she gets held up, and this time she’s going to let us see more of the work they’re doing than ever before,” said Giles.

“I know. About time too after all the help we’ve given her and all the testing she’s done with me,” said Buffy, recalling the scenarios she’d worked through with Riley and his squad when she first revealed she was the Slayer.

“Yes, it will be interesting to find out what they’re doing now. Spike’s pain chip was put in a quite few years ago,” said Giles.

“Mm,” said Buffy, a stab of pain running through her when Giles spoke Spike’s name. She’d treated him so badly, refusing to tell of their relationship and finally ending it. He’d left that night, leaving no word behind of where he’d gone, his crypt abandoned. She couldn’t believe he’d been gone over a year. She hadn’t realised how much she’d really loved him until it was too late. She tried to find him the next day to tell him she loved him and wanted to be with him but he’d already gone.

“Buffy,” said Giles, breaking her reverie.

“Huh?”

“Shall we go then?”

“Oh, okay. Yes, I’m ready,” said Buffy, pushing thoughts of Spike from her mind.

They got into Giles little red sports car and went to the Initiative.

Ooooooooo

“Number Seventeen.”

The vampire stood up when he heard the voice as his conditioning dictated.

“Go to testing room two,” ordered Michael.

Seventeen walked quietly into the room where to date he’d fought and killed eight different species of demon, his left arm hanging limp at his side. Once inside a door on the opposite side opened and a demon came in. It wasn’t particularly large or tough and Seventeen had easily dispatched one before but admittedly both arms were functional then.

Maggie Walsh was watching closely, wanting to see how the vampire coped with its handicap. It could mirror an injury it may sustain in the field and so this was a valid test in her eyes.

Number Seventeen didn’t hesitate to engage the demon in the fight, and apart from once looking at his left arm in frustration when he’d got the demon pined down but couldn’t break its neck without two hands, the vampire quickly adapted, putting his legs around the demon’s neck, twisting his hips and killing it. Once finished he stood up and waited to be let out of the room. He was panting hard and had taken more punishment than before, his body covered in cuts and bruises.

Maggie gave the order for him to be taken back to his cell and fed. It always amused her to see vampires when they panted as the breaths they took were totally unnecessary to them, it was just the body’s reaction to exertion.

“The visitors have arrived.” A soldier popped up at Maggie’s side to tell her.

She glanced at her watch. “Good, they’re on time.” And she walked away to greet them.

Before Seventeen was put back in his cell his wounds were cleaned and sterilised. Although his vampiric enhanced healing would mean they would heal quickly, he was considered an important commodity to the Initiative so no risks were taken.

He sat down with his back to the wall, knees drawn up to his chin, his body aching from the fight.

Oooooooo

Ah, Mr. Giles, Buffy, welcome back to the Initiative,” said Maggie Walsh, extending her hand.

“Right then, we’ll get started on the tour.” And without further ado, she led them away to show them around.

Seventeen opened his eyes as he heard the two bags of blood hit the floor in the centre of the cell. He knew he had no reason to fear any tricks with his food after a fight so he crawled over to get them. Even if he had suspected it was tainted he would have had to drink it as he’d been ordered to eat whatever was offered. He sat with his back to the glass wall at the front of the cell, conditioned to hide his vampiric face from view. He heard people approaching but was intent on having his meal and didn’t look around.

“Um……er…..why are the vampires naked?” asked Buffy, trying to avert her eyes from several sights she’d rather not have seen.

“We do it so that they are on the same level as the less humanoid demons. To wear clothes is to elevate them to our level,” said Maggie.

“But surely a pair of underpants wouldn’t hurt?” said Giles.

“Oh, you’d be surprised how quickly they adapt to it. It proves they are beneath us, merely animals in a human body,” said Maggie.

“Um, ok,” said Buffy. “But vampires are as intelligent as the person they were before they were sired.”

“I disagree with that completely. They’re demons; they are not on our plane.”

Giles and Buffy raised their eyebrows at her adamant words.

“It’s awfully quiet in here,” said Giles. “Is every cell soundproofed?”

“Oh, no,” said Maggie. “We couldn’t waste such a large amount of the budget on that. It’s much more cost effective to render them mute.”

“Good Lord,” exclaimed Giles. “That strikes me as rather barbaric.”

“Not at all,” replied Maggie. “It’s not like they need their voices in here, do they? It’s a much better environment for my colleagues without the cacophony of demons growls.”

Again, Giles and Buffy exchanged looks, not approving of her clinical approach. They’d seen several species of demon in the cells that pose no threat to humans at all, so what were they doing there?

“Right, now I’m very excited to be able to show you our best result at the Initiative so far. It’s a vampire that, between using methods of conditioned reflexes and the technology of the microchip we have implanted, we can control to the extent that we dictate when it can change its features. We can tell it to fight and where to go, whether to feed or not and so on. By controlling its change into its demonic face, it means it is a fighter we can use to infiltrate any public place without its appearance giving it away.”

“So that’s what the Initiative is about?” said Giles. “Harnessing a vampire’s power for military use?”

“Not the only thing, no, but an important part of what we aim to do.”

Buffy’s attention had started to wander. She was not really listening to the others’ words, just wandering along in front of them. Her eye was drawn to a vampire sitting with his back to the front of the cell. He was extremely thin and had several recent angry looking bruises. His body was covered in scars, some almost faded away completely, others livid red against the pallor of his skin. As she watched, he shifted to reach a bag of blood that was on the floor in front of him. As he moved, she noticed his left arm just hung limp at his side. He brought the bag of blood to his lips and started to feed, head carefully held so that his face couldn’t be seen by Buffy.

Maggie and Giles caught up with her.

“I see you’re looking at our most important achievement,” said Maggie.

Buffy noticed the vampire’s thin back stiffened slightly as he heard the professor’s voice. He immediately put down the half empty bag of blood, and she could see him gently shake his features back into human form.

“His arm is hurt,” said Buffy.

“What? It’s left arm? No, it isn’t,” said Maggie. “It wasn’t using both hands equally in combat so we’ve paralysed it to make it use its right hand. Hopefully when we reactivate the arm we will have fixed the problem and the vampire will be a much more efficient fighter, able to use weapons in either hand just as well.”

“How is that possible?” said Giles, horrified at her calm account of physically maiming the vampire whether temporary or not. It’s one thing to fight these beasts and kill them to protect innocents but to use them like… this?

Maggie started another lecture telling Giles of how the chip can tap into the nerves controlling the limbs. Buffy again zoned out, watching the vampire carefully. He hadn’t reached to finish the blood but hadn’t turned to face them either which she found curious. All the others had turned as they walked past. She looked at him more closely. Like all the others his hair was shorn close to his head; his was sandy brown in colour. He tilted his head to the side for a moment listening to Maggie’s voice. Buffy’s heart missed a beat, that head tilt reminded her so strongly of Spike.

“Don’t be stupid, Buffy,” she told herself.

Maggie’s lecture had drawn to a close.

“So here it is,” she said proudly. “Number Seventeen.”

“Number Seventeen?” said Giles, “But that’s…”

“Spike,” said Buffy in a strangled voice as the vampire in the cell got to his feet and turned around to face them.

To be continued……..