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After having caught up with Dr. Franklin and Icon, Mr. White led the pair to another elevator. Mr. White pressed the button for the appropriate level and turned to Icon.

“This, I think is something that you need to see.” Mr. White said as the elevator took the trio to the facility’s sub levels.

Once he stepped out of the elevator, the sights that greeted Icon and the others looked as if they belonged in a horror film as opposed to a scientific laboratory. Icon saw various creatures, each grotesque in its own way, in glass cases scattered throughout the large dimly lighted room in which they stood. The oddities appeared to be in a various states of health, some appeared quite healthy, while others were very clearly dead or dying. Of the creatures that were living, some appeared docile while others pounded against their encasements, trying feverishly to escape their confines. Icon looked at the creatures and a wave of anger washed over him, an emotion that he struggled to contain.

“What are these Mr. White? More experiments?” Icon asked sternly.

“Unfortunately, yes. You see, after we ‘lost’ you, we did continue with our research. Unfortunately, we despite our best efforts we were not nearly as successful as we were with you. Though they weren’t what we had hoped for, we are responsible for them. These days we focus our efforts on keeping them comfortable, and giving them the best quality of life as we possibly can.” Mr. White said.

Mr. White motions for Icon to continue the tour. They make their way toward yet another door at the back of the laboratory. He opens the door and holds it open for Icon.

“After you.” He said as Icon stepped past him.

As Icon stepped through the door he immediately realized that something wasn’t right. There was no other door, and the room was empty aside from a small cot. Icon turned around just as the door slammed shut. Suddenly, the room was filled with a strange red light, and as Icon made his way toward the door, he found each step more difficult than the previous. When Icon did reach the door, he began pounding on it, only to find that it did no good. 

“Don’t bother to fight, it will do you no good.” Mr. White’s voice resonated through the Spartan cell through an intercom system. “Do you feel that? What you are feeling is everything that makes you special being sapped away. We’ve developed a set of neural disruptors which will prevent you from accessing your special abilities. Welcome home Icon.” Mr. White said just as the red lights began to fade and were replaced by a nothingness. There was no sound, no light penetrated the darkness. For the first time in a long time, Icon felt truly alone.

Outside of the cell which held Icon, Dr. Franklin looked at Mr. White with pure disdain. The doctor had been under the impression that they owed it to Icon to show him where he had truly come from, and to give him the option of maintaining a relationship with them. He kicked himself for allowing himself to be fooled by Mr. White, especially when he had questioned the administrator’s ethics for as long as he had worked for him.

“You can’t be serious Ben!” Dr. Franklin barked at his supervisor.

“Deadly serious, I’m afraid.” Mr. White coolly responded. 

“Ben, you can’t just-“ Franklin started to say before being cut off.

“I assure you, I can. He is nothing more than stolen property of the Valor Institute, and I have simply done what I needed to do to recover that property.” White explained.

“He’s not your property, he’s a person. He’s a hero.”

“Was.” White said coldly. “He is an asset of the Valor Institute, and he will remain here for the rest of his life. In other words Doctor, he is mine to do with what I want. If I decide that I want to cut him open to see how he ticks, you can bet your ass that I will. If you have a problem with that, you are free to leave. Just remember what happened to the last scientist who let her emotions cloud her better judgment.”

Dr. Franklin took the threat at face value. He remembered when Dr. Hill had discovered that the baby that would grow into the hero known as Icon was to be terminated. She had gone to great lengths to get the child out of the institute, and she had paid for that with her life.

“Mr. White, what will we do if he gets free?” Dr. Franklin asked, forcibly changing his tone.

“That won’t be an issue, between the neural disruptors and the sensory deprivation, he won’t be in any condition to put up much of a fight.”