Finality | The Maze Runner / Newt ³ ✓

{2.1}

Disclaimer:

Thomas: *Being attacked & tackled by Ben*

*Record scratch* *Freeze frame*

Thomas: Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering how I wound up in this situation.

-✼-

For a moment, it was silent as the words sunk in. And then I began to laugh. It was like Thomas had only an hour prior— softly at first, and then increasing in volume until everyone was staring at me in confusion.

Dr. Christensen began to speak over my laughter. "The Final Candidate holds the missing piece to complete the data for the blueprint. But we had no way to tell until we monitored the patterns against the Variables. Vivisection will give us our final data, your systems functioning properly while we do it. Not that you'll feel any pain— we'll heavily sedate you..."

He trailed off, mouth puckering into a frown of displeasure when I didn't stop chuckling. He clearly liked when people listened to him speak, and since I was ignoring him, he wasn't happy.

"Dylan," Janson said, "what's so funny?"

"Of course," I managed to say once I'd sobered up enough to speak. Of course you need our brains. Because that's what we always were to you, right? Nothing more than Subjects, objects to be tested and prodded and poked until you found your precious cure. We won't live to see a world free of the Flare, but you will, all happy and without the regret that you'd terminated two teenagers to get you there."

Janson's mouth was pulled into a frown identical to Christensen's. Dr. Wright merely stared ahead.

"I know that this is quite a shock to you," Janson spoke up. "I need you two to understand that this is not a test. This is not a Variable and I'm not lying to you. We think we can complete the blueprint for the cure by analyzing your brain tissues and how, combined with the patterns we collected, its physical make up allows it to resist the Flare virus' power. The Trials were all created so we wouldn't have to just cut everyone open. Our whole aim was to save lives, not waste them."

"We've been collecting and analyzing the patterns for years, and you two have been the strongest by far in your reactions to the Variables," Dr. Wright explained. "And Dylan, like what Janson said earlier, your brain's ability to make itself Immune is essential to curing other people. "We've known for a long time — and it was the highest priority to keep this from the subjects — that in the end we'd have to choose the best candidate for the procedure. Or, as it comes down to it, the best candidates."

Dr. Christensen spoke next. "You have to be alive but not awake. We'll sedate you and numb the area of the incision, but there aren't any nerves in the brain so it's a relatively painless process. Unfortunately, you won't recover from our neural explorations— the procedure is fatal. But the results will be invaluable."

"And if it doesn't work?" Thomas asked, his voice sounding strangely disconnected from his body.

The man's eyes flickered with discomfort. "Then we'll keep... working at it. But we have every confidence—"

"But you don't, do you?" Thomas demanded. "You've been paying people to steal more immune... subjects so you can start all over again."