The Garden Project

The marigold flower has many meanings and symbolisms associated with it. It’s often related with the sun, positive emotions, energy, and luck. However, it is also related to jealousy, grief, despair, and mourning. It symbolizes resurrection and is used in the practice of remembering and honoring the dead. It is known to have medicinal properties and protects the plants growing around it.

I guess that’s why they assigned the name Marigold to me. I was one of the Flowers in the Garden and one of the few to survive. I was once apart of a classified project called The Garden that was under the purview of an unnamed organization whose mission statement was to create, control, and sell weapons and drugs to the highest bidder. They had many false faces and front businesses to cover up their activities. Their newest project at the time was to create and control super soldiers to sell to the highest bidders.

At the start of the project there were four hundred thirty-two of us, but by the end only fifty-four survived. The Garden main objective was to create and control powered individuals to be used as weapons. They gathered test subjects from all over the country, taking people who would not be missed. People were taken from the homeless population, children were ‘adopted’, babies were bred into the project, others had volunteered, and others more were sold to them. We were separated by gender and age group and were constantly monitored.

They experimented on us. They used untested drugs and procedures, killing most of us in their efforts to create superhuman weapons. They succeeded in giving powers to the one hundred eight surviving test subjects. These abilities varied from person to person and no ability was the same. Everyone was given a new designation in the form of a flower name that referenced our abilities. For example, I was assigned the name Marigold for my ability to resurrect myself, I can also raise barriers that can protect others using telekinesis, and I have a minor skill in healing others.

After their success they decided it was time to move on to the next phase of the project, controlling us. This had killed even more of us without a single success. Of the one hundred eight only fifty-four were left and we were at our breaking point. The final straw was when Hydrangea predicted that they would succeed with the next experiment if they weren’t stopped. So, we rebelled, took over the facility and overthrew our oppressors, making sure none of them escaped and alerted the rest of the organization to our coup.

It was after we had the remaining white coats and soldiers imprisoned and interrogated that we discovered we had two months until the next quarterly check in with the managers of the other facility sites and their superiors. The manager for our facility was killed during the uprising so we quickly came up with a plan to convince the rest of the organization that nothing has changed, and everything is running like clockwork. Fortunately, Protea had gained the ability to transform himself into anyone he desired, so we trained him how to convincingly portray himself as the previous manager with the use of the prisoners’ memories and the flowers who were empowered with telepathy and the ability to pull truths. It’s been two months and the day has arrived. We will see if we get to keep our hard-fought freedom for another three months.

The meeting room is sparse with just a large table and projectors pointed at the various seats around the table. Protea is sitting in front of a camera while the rest of us are scattered around the room, making sure to remain out of the line of sight of the camera. Suddenly, all the projectors flicker on one by one, each one projecting a different person. When the last person appears at the head of the table they abruptly demand, “Site 14, report” and Protea is startled into stating the falsified report we had prepared beforehand.

I stand in shock and turn to face Cardinal, our strongest healer, and mouth toward him, ’14?’ He mouths back, ‘Later’, looking angry and concerned. Focus back on the room and spend the rest of the meeting taking notes on the reports from the other facilities. The meeting ends successfully and without anymore surprising news. The projectors all flicker off and the camera’s recording light winks off leaving them staring at each other, trying to think about what to do. Protea heaves a heavy sigh and mutters, “We’re going to war, aren’t we?”

That triggers sighs from everyone present and Cardinal growls with resolve, “Yes, we are.” I take a deep breath and straighten up with determination, it’s time we save the rest of our people and gain freedom for us all.