[Tuesday 11:45 PM – Hidden Military Base, Australia]

Camielle lay on her cot in the nighttime darkness of research cell F-033, as she had for all her twenty years of living. She wore a simple short white cotton sleeping gown that was standard issue at the facility. Other than visits to an examination laboratory, the communal shower facility, or the base gym, she had spent all her time in this room. Her outings were limited to one-hour periods, except for the trips to the examination laboratories, which varied on the experiment, test, or examination being carried out. There were times when she had been strapped to the examination table in one of those rooms for days.

Her cell was a simple 100 square foot room with white metal walls. A cot and a small desk sharing a single metal frame were welded to the right walls. A small stainless steel toilet and sink were situated in the back corner opposite her cot. An unpainted section of the wall above the sink had been polished to act as a mirror. The door to the cell was thick metal with a slot and shelf in the center for trays of food to be passed through, and a barred opening that the guards could look through to monitor the occupant.

The only light in the room came from the small barred opening in the door. The cell had a single source of light embedded into the metal ceiling, which was currently off. Her education had been minimal, providing her with just enough language skills to read questionnaires and write sentences to answer questions.

She had also been taught the basics of hygiene and enough biology to understand her bodily functions. This had been necessary because the facility had needed her to understand how to care for herself during her two pregnancies.

Her firstborn child was the result of an experiment to determine if she was biologically compatible with one of the experimental male subjects from elsewhere in the facility. The child had been born with severe defects and had not survived the first day.

The second was the result of one of the researchers trying to determine whether she was physically capable of reproducing at all since none of the subsequent pairings with male subjects had produced pregnancies. She harbored her doubts about that though, as the procedures used to impregnate her had been far different from those before. In the first case, many scientists had monitored the impregnation procedures, and one female scientist had been forced to show the two subjects what to do and guide them through the procedure step-by-step. It had been painful. The subsequent cases had also been closely monitored and noted. For the second impregnation, she had been alone in the examination room, strapped to an examination table as normal, but no other scientists had been present taking notes. While that pairing had been far more pleasant than the others, the furtive actions of the scientist afterward led her to believe that he had somehow violated policies. The offspring from that test had been taken at birth two months ago and she was unaware of its current status. Based on the fact that she had been given two of the injections that prepared her body, she expected she would be scheduled for more pairing sessions soon.

Camielle used her fingers to comb the tangles from her hair. Tonight had been shower night, and she and the others like her had become overly rowdy in their horseplay. As a result, they had not been given the normal time to towel off and comb their hair. When Camielle thought of the others as ‘like her’ she was not being symbolic, but literal. She was one of many cloned females housed at the facility.

Over the years, Cami, that’s what the other girls called her, had learned many things by listening to the scientists discuss their studies, especially while she was lying bored on the examination tables. They were in different rooms than her but were unaware that her hearing was acute enough to hear their discussions in the nearby rooms. She had always been careful to not expose most of her abilities to the scientists. That act of defiance had been one of the few forms of entertainment for her. Their frustration at her apparent lack of ‘actionable’ abilities provided her a great deal of satisfaction. It also caused her a great deal of pain as they poked and prodded her for the reasons why.

One of the more interesting things she had learned at an early age while eavesdropping was that she was one of a great many copies created at the facility. At the moment, there were fifty copies like her, ranging in age from twenty-two down to two. Each girl had been spliced with foreign genes into her DNA as an egg, or via genetically engineered sperm, and had been cultivated to observe the resulting traits. She was the thirty-third test subject born by sequence number, but only the third oldest in the facility. All but two girls before her had been eliminated.

The second most interesting thing she discovered was that her particular experiment involved the splicing of chameleon DNA into hers, hence her name: Camielle, a play on the word chameleon. This resulted in many abilities being transferred to her. She smiled in the dark at the fact that she had only allowed the scientists to find out about the overtly physical traits. Her most obvious physical trait was her tail. She had been born with the fully formed prehensile tail of the chameleon.

She raised her tail between her legs to look at it. She was very proud of her sleek reptilian tail. It emerged from the lower part of her spine, measuring three inches in diameter at the base and tapered down to a smooth nub of only one and a half inches at its twenty-two-inch length. Not only did she find it pretty, it had also been essential for her survival up to this point.

The scientists in the facility believed that the creature only possessed her tail, the useless ability to make her eyes point different directions independently, and the ability to make her tongue extend slightly (to which many of the male scientists imputed quite profane uses). She had regaled them with her tail’s ability to grasp items, wrap around various structural elements, and to lift and suspend not only her own weight, but the weight of another fully grown man. They were so focused on weaponizing her tail that they overlooked her development of more subtle but useful abilities, such as the ability to see in both the infrared and ultraviolet spectra, the ability to flatten and stretch some parts of her body, and the ability to completely camouflage herself.

She nearly burst out laughing at that moment. The reason they had introduced those genes into her in the first place was to enable her to camouflage. It struck her as incredibly ironic that most of her non-physical traits, including this one, only manifested themselves when she was old enough to understand their potential uses and had made the decision to keep them hidden.

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Cami rolled over and grabbed a book from under her thin cot’s mattress. She sometimes used the showering and grooming periods to slip away and explore. It worked well since all of the girls were brought to the showers together, there were too many to watch them all. Since she was already naked to bathe, it was much easier to change her coloration and slip away without leaving behind evidence in the form of clothing. During one of her trips, she stumbled upon the small library at the base. It was convenient that the library was located next to the administrative offices, and the area was deserted after working hours. Shower time always took place in the evening before lights out.

After that she occasionally grabbed books and hid them so that she could learn new things. A few times she ventured into the offices adjacent to the library, but all she could find there were file cabinets, office supplies, and computers. The computers were of no use to her, as she didn't know how to operate them and didn't have a login account. However, she did discover the file cabinet drawer where they stored the files on the clones. She peeked inside but only found labeled folders holding DVD disks, a few papers, a photo, and a single key card taped to the inside of each folder.

Cami opened the book, "Computers for Idiots" and resumed reading where she had left off. Even in the dark, the pages were easily readable.

However, she hadn’t made much progress when she was suddenly distracted by a strange buzzing sensation in her mind. It became so disruptive that she couldn't concentrate any longer. She set the book down and lay still, trying to understand the tingling feeling in her head.

Suddenly, a sharp surge of pain and a cry for 'Mama' pierced through her brain, causing her vision to momentarily fade. This was followed by a faint soothing voice whispering “there, there” in a comforting way before everything disappeared. Cami suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to be with the people who owned the voices. She decided that now was as good of a time as any to attempt an escape.

She heard the guard’s footsteps enter the hallway at the far end and quickly hid the book back under the mattress. If someone discovered the book, there would be trouble. She had just resumed her sleeping position when she heard the guard's breathing as he looked briefly into her room and continued on his way.

Cami waited until the footsteps disappeared from the hallway, then grabbed the key card that she had taken from her folder in the file cabinet. Using the large piece of tape that was still stuck to the card, she attached it to the end of her tail and went to the door. She grabbed the bars and pulled herself up until her tail could slip through the food slot. Then she carefully tried to insert the card into the electronic lock. For once, she thought, her ability to look in independent directions came into use.

After several attempts, she successfully inserted the card into the slot and heard an electronic beep as the door smoothly clicked open. Camielle quickly retracted her tail, accidentially scraping it on a rough metal edge in her haste, and removed her gown. Using her pillow and the gown, she created a silhouette of a sleeping body in the bed. She then slowly opened the door, adjusted her coloration, and made her way toward the administrative offices.

About halfway to her destination, she was stopped abruptly by a quiet but urgent voice calling out to her.

“Lass,” it said. “Oy lassie, look dis way.”

Camielle slowly looked toward where she thought the voice was coming from. She saw a man sitting back from the bars of his cell.

“Yea, it’s me,” he said in a harsh whisper.

She started to move toward him to more easily hear.

“No! Don’t move. Da cameras start in dis here hallway.”

“You can see me?” she asked, whispering back.

“Of course I can, lass. Da hair on yer head an body are as clear as day, an visible as all hell. Ya go down tha hall like ya hav-a-ben, the bastards tha runna place will spot ya in a moment flat.”

She heard a light tapping and scraping sound while he was talking.

“I seen ya comin tru here a few times afore, but ne’er hidin like now. Lookin’ ta escape, are ya?”

“The thought has crossed my mind,” she said carefully.

She heard a tearing sound and a small wad of paper bounced off the wall beside her. It was about the size of a grape.

“Ya know how ta use a phone?” he asked.

“I’ve seen the researchers use them,” she answered.

“Good. Wen ya get ta da phone, pick er up an dial ta numbers on tha paper. If ya tink yas gonna get caught or yas dacide ta quit, eat it. Dem numbers on tha paper can save us all. Wen yer dunwiddit, eat it.”

“I’ll try,” she said.

“Thas all any of us can do, lass. One las ting afore ya go, keep yer foreside again da wall. It will hide sum-a-ya at least. Now go, lass!”

Camielle nodded and slinked around the corner, keeping her stomach against the wall as she moved.

Hugging the wall had slowed her progress much more than she had anticipated, but she breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t been caught on her way to the offices. The halls had been empty, and all the guards she had seen were hanging out near the vending machines, making quite a ruckus over bawdy jokes. Moving as carefully as she could, she opened the door to the offices and entered.

She quickly went to the desk and unwadded the paper, which had become damp from her sweating palms. It instructed her to dial a series of numbers, then wait for a tone and dial another series of numbers. She slowly picked up the handset and put it to her ear, imitating what she had seen the staff do. The dial tone was much louder than she had expected. She quickly dialed the first series and heard the ringing sound, followed by a click and a high screeching tone. Carefully, she dialed the second series of numbers and heard a double beep followed by silence. She put the handset back, wadded up the paper as small as she could, and popped it in her mouth. It took a few moments before the paper was wet enough for her to swallow, but she eventually managed it.

After finishing the man's request, she went to the drawer with her file and opened it. Instead of taking only her folder, she decided to take all the files as a parting gift. Not finding anything suitable to carry the files, she started opening the drawers of the large desk. In the lower right-hand drawer, she found a black athletic bag containing a swimsuit, a small towel, and undergarments.

Taking the bag she stuffed all of the folders into it. She had thought so many folders would have weighed more than they did, but since most only contained a single disc and access card, their actual weight was slight. She then put the garments on top of the folders. As she was zipping the bag shut, a beam of moonlight entered the large window and shined on the desk’s top. Camielle stood frozen. On the desk she saw a photograph of a woman who looked exactly like her. Next to the woman was a boy wearing a gymnast’s leotard. He was smiling broadly, holding a first place trophy out to the camera. The name “Luca Stonesmith” was clearly visible on the front of the trophy.

Camielle snatched the photo and stuffed it into the bag. Then she grabbed the newly dry-cleaned uniform, still in its plastic sheath, that was hanging on the coat rack by the door. Rolling it up, she stuffed it into the bag, though its extra girth made zipping the bag closed difficult.

She quietly opened the office’s window and looked out. The office was on the second floor of the building, which she found curious because she was sure that she had heard talk from the staff that the cells were all underground. She surveyed the immediate area around the window and saw a drain pipe about a meter to her left. Using her unique abilities, she climbed onto the window frame and stretched her tail until she was able to get a firm grasp on the heavy masonry piping. She pulled the window closed as best she could from the outside, then let go, allowing her tail to support her weight.

She hung by her tail for a few moments, trying to decide her best option. When she left her cell, she hadn't planned on getting this far, so she had no clear idea of what to do next. Other than looking through the windows on her previous escapades, she had never seen the outdoors. The incredibly large vista before her was intimidating. To her, the world had walls and ceilings, and this was something else entirely. It was exhilarating but something totally beyond her capabilities to describe. The sound of two guards walking patrol below her made her decision about the direction of her travel. She would go up.

The building was much taller than she had expected, with ten more floors above her when she reached the roof. It was then she understood how she had started underground in her cell, yet end up on the second floor without using any stairs or elevators: The building was recessed into the side of a large hill. Beyond the visible ten or so feet of concrete and compressors, the hill rose steeply and was covered by a dense forest of young trees. At the edges of the trees, there were tangles of woody bushes and brambles.

Camielle readjusted the items she carried and slipped out into the night.