by Luca Braña
He felt the focus on him shift away, likely concentrating on someone else to answer them. “That’s a nice question, but unfortunately, I can’t map this building using my telepath—I can tell how far you are in relation to me, but I can’t tell the way it took to get there, sorry,” she said, giving out an apologetic-like feeling at the end. So, she couldn’t make a map of the place with her abilities, huh? Then it would be a good idea to seek Geon’s powers for this purpose.
“Everyone, as you may have already guessed, we will need our powers in order to escape. Everybody here is likely to get powers eventually, we need to make as big an army as we can… That means, we will need to keep enduring the experiments for a while,” she said with a resigned voice, and the boy could swear he could feel her sadness and fear at the prospect. The buzzing increased in volume.
“It’s terrible, I know, but… Currently, it’s our only chance of escaping this prison. It will take time for us to come up with a feasible plan, but… We need to endure, we need to act like grown-ups and be strong! I-I hate the things they do to me, too, but for the sake of you all, for the sake of our freedom, we need to keep resisting!” she exclaimed with both fear and determination, and Cyko noticed he could feel her emotions, which in turn made himself resolved to survive this ordeal. She was a strong ally, he knew, and he felt like he could trust her in this.
“Everyone, we don’t have much we can do individually, but… until the next day they allow for another socialization time, be it tomorrow or in a month from now, I would like those of you that have powers to think of ways you can help. If you can map this facility, if you can pass through walls, if you can teleport, anything! Even if your powers are only useful for taking out guards—that is still valuable too. We need all the power we can get. This is war, a war for our freedom.” Tela declared through their minds, more assurance being felt by him, and likely by everyone who heard her speak—or think.
He suddenly thought about his twelve brothers and sisters that disappeared, and he clenched his fists. Yes, this was war. And once he had his powers, and they had an escape plan, he would make sure to hurt as many of those torturous scientists as he could! A small grin formed on his face, as if he was excited for the prospect of the bloodshed, but he didn’t notice it, focused as he was on Tela’s transmission.
“This will be all for today. I just really wanted to let everyone know that we can talk and discuss our plans this way. If you want to talk to me, just think about me really hard and I should feel your intention, hopefully, otherwise, I’ll try to send messages every day. Please, stay in touch if you can, we all need each other in this moment.” And with that, Cyko felt like a television shut down in his mind, making him blink. It was a weird experience, having someone talk to him directly through his mind, but it wasn’t an unpleasant one, as hearing Tela’s plans and motivational talk did work for making him, and likely everyone else, more prepared for their future escape.
The blue-haired boy became lost in thought as he looked at the sleeping cat in the bed next to his.
“A rest would be nice, hopefully I can sleep through their banging tonight,” he mumbled to himself before laying down, still wrapped in his towel. The bed wasn’t the most comfortable thing ever, nor was the pillow or the blanket, but at least he could sleep on them without problems.
He turned to take a glance at the sleeping Snow, the little kitty was now sleeping belly up with her paws in the air. He chuckled softly at the cat’s silliness. Having her there with him is definitely going to have a positive impact, he just knew it. But for now, he also needed to sleep and recover from everything that had happened.
Today had been a long day, and tomorrow would be yet another one in this prison where he would wait for his turn to be experimented on. He had hope, however, that he could still get out of this place. But for that, he needed to be as rested as he could.
5
Two scientists sat in the control room of the gravity test area, observing as a particular test subject struggled to move against the increased gravity and pressure of the enclosure. The boy was crying and gasping painfully as he crawled across the ground, trying to move towards the goal where it was agreed that they would stop the experiments for today if he made it in the designated time.
“What do you think?” one of the scientists, a brown-haired man with glasses asked his partner, who was rubbing his beard as he watched the experiment. The older scientist had a frown on his face as he looked at the boy inside the gravity room.
“The subject is using his newly awakened powers to make holes in the ground in order to get a better grip, but… What is the current setting at, again?” the bearded scientist asked his colleague, who looked down towards the digital console he was working on.
“… Only 2.5x the planet’s gravity,” the younger scientist replied as he pushed up his glasses, also scowling. The bearded one shook his head in disappointment, taking a tablet out from under his coat.
“This particular test subject was always described as being unfathomably weak, even against the non-awakened ones. Even the youngest of the subjects would only struggle this badly when the gravity was set to four, and that is the non-awakened ones. He is already awakened, yet, he can barely even move,” the bearded scientist said, his brow furrowed.
“Indeed, the subject also demonstrated incredibly low pain and stress tolerance. Most of the other experiments caused him to faint in just a few minutes, something expected only of newly brought in subjects. Sure, the awakening of his powers resulted in rapid equipment deterioration, but other than that, he wasn’t shown to have many useful traits,” the bespectacled scientist said as he continued to analyze the data coming from the terminal.
“Not a very good result, I agree. We did have a few useless subjects in the past, but for now, we should continue to observe for a longer moment. The next phase is near. That will decide whether this subject is worthy of anything,” the bearded scientist said as he watched the boy faint and stop moving. He had been so close to the designated time, but alas, had failed.
“For now, we shall continue the experiments when this one wakes up, he did fail to arrive at the target after all,” he said as he went back to look towards the data on his tablet, which contained the detailed information on the subject they were currently experimenting on.
Subject Number: 443
Name: Myo
Age: 7
Sex: Male
Category: Elemental (Earth)
Time in facility: 5 months
Phase of treatment: Experimentation, already awakened.
Description of powers: Earth Elemental who can weaken structures, such as walls or machinery. However, ironically suffers from myopathy, which worsens whenever the subject makes use of his powers, medical treatment would be costly and unlikely to provide any benefits beyond the health of the subject.
Psychological profile: Meek, shy, and depressed, completely lacks a backbone, shows many signs of trauma from the experiments.
Value: Very low, subject is unlikely to be useful in future phases.
Not good results at all.
6
Cyko gasped as he sat down in his bed, the door closing harshly behind him. Snow made her way towards him and started to rub against his leg, she was trying to comfort him, he mused. He was drenched.
Today’s experiment had been gravity. Essentially, they made everything much heavier and told him to try to move towards a goal, and if he failed, he would have to suffer through more experiments until he succeeded. They told him that they had increased gravity to eight times that of the planets, and after that, told him to get to the goal in thirty minutes at most. It was terrible, but at least they didn’t shock him this time.
Somehow, the scientists seemed to be in a positive mood as he reached the goal without much trouble, although he still sweat and struggled immensely. They expressed that “it is pretty much confirmed that you will awaken soon, be happy.”
Happy? He wanted to smash
the smug scientist’s face in, but he was too tired to even attempt anything.
“Ahhh, ahhh… Hello there, Snow, how was your cat-nap?” he asked the small creature who continued to rub his legs while purring, earning a chuckle from him. Even if the experiment itself was stressful, just the company of his little pet cat already lifted his spirits back up—he made the right decision in bringing her back here.
“Well, I guess I’ll go take a bath, wait here for me, okay? And please don’t eat all the food if they slide some in before I get out,” he said as he made his way to freshen up. At last there would be no more experiments for the rest of the day, hopefully.
It had probably been a few days since he met Snow, but so far nothing too different from the usual routine had been happening—the only difference was that now he had a little companion with him. The telepathic girl would send messages to everyone daily, most of the time it was encouraging speeches, although she also reminded them to try to come up with a plan for their next meeting.
Still, it had been nice, he felt like it was easier to partake in the experiments now. He couldn’t wait until his powers were unlocked and he could be useful in aiding their escape. But for now, all he could do was wait and hope that they would be revealed soon.
“Ahhh.” He sighed as he stepped out from the shower, a towel wrapped around him. Since he did sweat quite a bit, he had to wash his clothes again, but hopefully they would dry up fast. He looked towards the bed where Snow lay and smiled, the cat was taking her own cat-bath, licking her paws and limbs.
“You like staying clean too, don’t you, Snow?” he asked as he made his way towards the white feline who meowed at him and continued cleaning herself. He chuckled and decided to just watch her, smiling as she finished up and rubbed herself against his arm.
“Hah, who is the cute little kitty?” he cooed as he petted her head, beaming at the purring feline. She really knew how to cheer him up after a hard day and he liked her for that. He should bring her with him when they escaped this place.
A sudden bang on his door snapped him out of his trance and the startled cat dove for the floor and hid herself under the bed. Sighing, he wondered what it was this time. Were they bringing in food, or were they just here to harass him some more?
The door suddenly opened, revealing the same large guard who was looking straight at him. “Listen up, rat, your days as a loner are over. From now on, you’ll have another rat to keep you company. Go inside, trash, now!” The guard shoved another person inside the room, a scrawny looking boy, who seemed terrified of the big guard.
The boy looked at him with wide eyes and nearly jumped out of his skin when the door slammed shut behind him. He stood there for a while, looking at the ground and trembling, unable to meet Cyko’s eyes.
As for the blue-haired boy himself, he was shocked. He had a roommate now? Why so suddenly? No, that doesn’t matter now. The poor boy looked petrified, and he was much smaller than him, so he was probably just a young kid who really shouldn’t be here.
The new boy had brown colored hair with equally brunette eyes and goodness did he look terrible. His rags were drenched in sweat and draped over his frail shoulders. The boy was shaking and his eyes were filled with tears, his mouth pursed as to hold in a sob. Cyko decided he would help him—no one deserved to be treated like that.
“Hello there,” he said, noticing that he flinched at Cyko’s slow approach, but didn’t move away. Putting his hands on the smaller boy’s shoulders, he noticed that he was nearly all bone with barely any muscle to him. Cyko almost frowned, but for the little boy’s sake, he forced himself to grin.
“My name is Cyko. I can’t really say anything about the terrible things they’ve done to you, to all of us, but… I’ll try to make it as comfortable as possible for you,” he said to him gently, squeezing his shoulders to offer comfort. The smaller boy, still vibrating, looked up to him.
“M-my name is Myo… U-uhh… P-pleased to m-meet you…” the boy choked out, still unable to look his new roommate in the eyes. The taller boy smiled at him, before beckoning him to sit down in one of the beds, which Myo did, his limbs folding easily as he managed to look even tinier.
“There, that will be your bed, make yourself at home… Well, as much as ‘home’ as this place can be, anyway,” he said as he gingerly moved the child towards his new bed. A roommate, he now had a roommate! He couldn’t believe it. First, he got to see his family again, then he got Snow, and then Myo appeared! Still, he couldn’t help but have his suspicions for the reasons of him being there. He obviously wasn’t a new kid.
“Ahh, uhh… Thank you…” he said, his shoulders hunched. Cyko looked at the little boy and sighed. The poor thing was feeble and meek, the type of person that would attract bullies in a normal life, and he could only guess how much the experiments affected him. He looked terrified even being in the presence of that guard.
Wait, of course! Snow! He knew animals could help a lot in relieving stress, and Snow was precious, and has helped him a lot these past few days, just by being there to rub herself on him and allowing him to pet her until he felt better.
Crouching down on the ground to retrieve Snow from her hiding spot, he took the little feline in his arms and gave her a few scratches on the head while holding her close to calm her down. It earned him a small lick on the nose which made him chuckle; the white kitty would cheer Myo up.
Myo was still looking down, seemingly too nervous to do anything but stare at his hands, which were on his lap. He hadn’t said anything and was just trying not to be a bother to his new roommate. He didn’t want to cause trouble on his first day here, or ever. His previous roommates already complained enough about his crying, and he didn’t want his new one to do the same—
“Hey, Myo, I would like you to meet someone!” Cyko said, startling the brunette and causing him to turn towards the older boy… who was holding… a cat?
“U-uh?” was Myo’s intelligent reply, earning a chuckle from Cyko.
“This furry little girl here is Snow, she snuck her way into this prison, and now lives here with me, with us! C’mon, Snow, say hi!” The feline meowed in response, looking at the new boy who was transfixed by her.
“Would you like to hold her? Don’t worry, she is harmless, and surprisingly clean for something down here!” He held the white cat towards the boy who was astounded at Cyko’s friendliness.
“C-Can I? Is it all right?” the boy exclaimed, earning another nod from the taller boy.
“Of course, go ahead!” he said as he handed over the kitten. Myo took her in his trembling, thin arms. Snow meowed as he put her in his lap and rubbed herself on his stomach, making purring noises. The boy’s tense shoulders relaxed and his eyes filled with wonder and amazement as he fell in love with the feline, and Cyko knew it.
“I’ll tell you right now that she is spoiled and loves when you pet her. Expect her to bug you whenever you are here,” the blue-haired boy commented, making Myo look up at him and then back at the purring feline. The boy reached a hand towards her and pet her, much to the white cat’s joy, as she nuzzled against his hands playfully.
Soon enough, the boy was smiling from ear to ear and he started to pet and play with her with more gusto, occasionally letting out quiet giggles. The scene made Cyko smile; it seems his plan worked, the kid definitely needed to have some way to have fun and release all of that bad energy he was getting, and Snow was the perfect candidate to help him.
Myo reminded him of little Starry, with how shy and sad she used to be at the orphanage. With help from everyone, she opened up to the others and even tried to help around the house despite her young age and small size. Just like Starry, Myo also needed help, so he decided that he should introduce the small boy to his family next time they meet.
As he watched his new roommate play around with Snow, he noticed more things about him. He really was paper thin, but the question was, why? He should be receiving at least as much food as Cyko was, and as disg
usting as the meal could be, it still was plentiful enough to leave him with a full belly after he forced it down, even when he shared it with Snow. And, he received the paste three times a day. Maybe they were starving him on purpose? Cyko had to suffer through a week of starvation once, but he never lost enough weight to become that thin though. Maybe they were keeping him without food for longer? He didn’t know, but he was certain that it was despicable to do that to a person.
“U-Uhh…” the boy started, looking up hesitantly at Cyko. “Th-thanks for letting me play with her, I-I really needed it,” he said with a smile, his hands still occupied with petting the little Snow who was now snoring peacefully in his lap.
Cyko shook his head, his eyes glistening at Myo. “Don’t worry about it! She loves you already, and now that you are living here with me, you can play with her whenever you want!” His smile widened as he saw the boy’s face lighten up. Really, he looked much better smiling than trembling in fear.
“Th-thanks!” he exclaimed, looking down towards the snoring kitty and going back to petting her.
Cyko needed to ask the question, even if it made him feel bad.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Myo, do you know why they sent you here? I mean, you don’t look like you are new to this place.” He watched as the younger boy’s face changed, but he didn’t stop petting Snow.
“I… I guess it’s because of my… results in the experiments. I’m not really the strongest person or most useful person, you see,” he said, making a frown appear on Cyko’s face.
“Of course not, you are what? Five? Six? We are kids, we can’t be expected to be this powerful, especially if we haven’t awakened our powers yet,” Cyko said, which made the younger boy’s eyes fill with tears.
Myo sighed before explaining, “I’m seven, a-and the thing is… I do have powers already, they were awakened on the very first… experiment… they did on me, but… They proved to be completely useless, and dangerous.” His voice was laced with regret and sadness. Cyko’s shoulders fell, and he pursed his lips.