“Hohoho~ Well I guess like all good stories I’ll start at the end.”
“The end? That isn’t where you’re supposed to start.”
“This is the way it’s supposed to be! The rest is boring, trust me.”
****
“I’m sorry.” The girl paused as she gazed at the man in front of her, her creator, “Actually, I’m not. But that’s what people are meant to say at this sort of time, right?”
She had only ever known this man as ‘The Director’, but even so she had very fond memories of a childhood growing up with him. He had always been nice to her, and had never hesitated to play games with her, or read her bedtime stories. In fact, he had pointedly made it a habit to read to her and stated that if she was put into her cell without being read a different book every night then he was a failure as a parent. Of course, she knew she wasn’t his real child, or anyone else's child.
She wasn’t even human.
The people that had created her told her on a regular basis that she wasn’t a human. They didn’t have any particular malice towards her, they simply didn’t feel the need to hold back on emotional punches when they were talking to a machine they themselves had programmed and brought into the world. The Director had never been like them, he had spoiled her with feasts of foods she could choose from every day and when she complained he would always make the others stop their activities and be more lenient with her. He treated her like he would his own daughter, with the same care that someone would use around an emotional young girl. But what she really enjoyed was the stories he told her.
She had never been outside the complex, no matter how much she asked, and she had always wondered what it was like in the world outside. The Director would tell her amazing tales of people known as heroes. He said their lives were lived fighting monsters, saving people and basking in adoration. If they wanted to fight alone then they did, but because of the good work they do they always had friends to call on in times of need. The were free to do what they wanted and how they wanted to do it. It was the opposite of her.
It was everything she wanted, “I’ve always wanted to journey outside, you know that. I can’t stay with the organization, I don’t want to be locked in a cell for the rest of my life. This is how you raised me.”
“I-” The Director ran his hands through his hair and his voice wavered, his expression suggested that he was considering her words seriously.
She sighed internally at the gesture. The Director would always play with his hair when he was troubled, but he had grown so adept at hiding his emotions that she had only seen it happen a few times in her life. She also knew that he would never be able to let her leave just like that. The decision wasn’t even in his hands. She represented years of research that the organization had conducted, and even though she didn’t know the exact amount she had cost them over the years she knew that it was probably several times what he could ever hope to cover in losses if she escaped.
“I know there are others.” She interjected, “I’m not much more than a piece of outdated technology by this point. How many years has it been? Surely I can’t be of much more use to you.”
She didn’t believe a word of what she was saying. She was aware of other creations, other experiments. But to her this was simply the ‘human’ response, the response which would appeal to reason and emotion. She was running the possible scenarios through her head, hoping that reminding him of all the years together would trigger some sort of reaction in him. Mentioning how she was worthless was sure to stir feelings of protection in him. Inside she didn’t know what she felt, the overseers of her project had never felt the need to explore her emotions or teach her how to explore them. She only needed to know how to manipulate them in case she was ever caught by outsiders.
Did this manipulation make her a monster?
Or did it make her more human?
“You’re you.” The Director said simply, “Nothing can take that away from you. You don’t have to do this, you are the most perfect being our organization has ever made, they recognize that. I know that if you go back now they’ll forgot about this. It might take a while. It may even take a few years. But with my protection they won’t even consider harming you.”
“Oh please,” She rolled her eyes, “I don’t even have a name, do I? I’m listed as an experiment number, and there’s not a single person in the committee that has taken a second glance at me and thought about giving me a name. You could create something like me at any time, and just as easily get rid of me.”
She had never known the director to show signs of emotion, it wasn’t his style. So when he shuffled forward with a face lit up with anger she stepped back hastily at the unexpected display.
“Think of everything we’ve done. How can you abandon me like this.”
He limped as he walked towards her. His leg had been irreparably broken a long time ago by one of the many enemies he had made after creating the organization. With their resources she was sure he could fix it in an instant but he had never done so. When she asked him why he replied that it was a reminder, and she had called him stupid for it. It wasn’t a logical response to keep his injury. Just like it wasn’t a logical response to appeal to her memories.
It was emotional, treating her just like she was a real person.
“You’re no number. I’ve always thought of you like a daughter, and I’d always hoped you felt the same way.” He reached his hand out to her shoulder and she jumped back and out of his reach.
“I’m not human enough for that.” She replied coldly, “Don’t even think to pretend otherwise. You’re just deluding yourself.”
Humanity.
It was something she knew she would never have. The Director had given her blonde hair and blue eyes, and skin that could be mistaken for the real thing. Perhaps it was the real thing. She had found out later that none of the other experiments had clothes, The Director had insisted on it for her. But that didn’t dispel the fact that she wasn’t human. She wasn’t even a truly living being if the organization committee member’s words were to be believed. She was simply an experiment, and in the hours when The Director wasn’t around they all called her by a different name.
Monster.
“You told me yourself that things are always changing. The organization has grown powerful enough that you don’t even need me. I’ve seen the other experiments, I know that they go outside, disappear. Do they die? Is that what lies at the end for me, once you’ve finally found a way to use me to help you reach your final goal? You created an intelligent being and you knew I would be able to learn and make choices, you told me that yourself. Well I’ve grown up now and I know that if I don’t leave now then I won’t be able to leave ever.”
“Re-think this.” The Director pleaded, “You have nowhere to go. No knowledge of what its really like our there. They won’t see you the way I do, you live a life of luxury.”
She tilted her held lightly, “You mean I live in a gilded cage.”
The Director was grasping at straws. It stood in stark contrast to her because she knew the usual Director as man that could move hearts with his articulate speeches. It was how the organization had stayed active all these years despite its inhumane experiments.
“I’ll let you do anything you want to do. You’ll be able to go anywhere you want to go. You just have to stay here.” The Directed continued to plead and she snorted at his suggestion.
He would never let go once she was back in his grasp.
“I just want freedom. Is that so much to ask for?”
His face fell and he scanned his surroundings, “You have no idea what the price of freedom is. Hounded for the rest of your life, living in a world that won’t accept you. You are so much safer here, so much more loved. You can never know what you’ll find out there, but in here you have certainty. You have me.”
His eyes glimmered as he spoke but he ran his hand across the metallic wall, one of the several that surrounded them on all sides. It was as though he was seeing the laboratory for the first time. The sterile metal walls and floor becoming a cold and heartless prison that he had only ever seen from the outside.
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This same laboratory had been permanently imprinted in her mind. She had been here since she was born, the machines used to create her were still in use and in her eyesight. Every day she would be taken out of her cell and brought here for experiments. One day they would shove as much knowledge as they could into her head to see if she had limits, the next they would stab at her skin to see if there were any changes in her makeup that they hadn’t foreseen. Drowned, heated, pleasantly cooled and then frozen. She had led a never ending life of torture and pain so that others could see the limits of what they had created. But she had never been electrocuted.
They knew that wouldn’t affect her.
This was never the place that she lived in. It was never a place she could call home. It was a prison and she needed to escape. The Director pressed his hand on a nearby equipment table to hold himself up and his eyes were filled with distress. His free hand was plastered to his hair and she gave him a look of pity. She didn’t actually feel pity though. Every move was calculated to manipulate him.
The was how he as a dad had raised her after all.
The faintest whisper fled into her ears, “Go.”
She scutinized him with confusion. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard.
“GO!”
She flinched as he shouted and ran out of the door. She needed to get away before he changed his mind. Behind her she could hear a sound she didn’t recognize, a sort of quiet sobbing. Had that been a tear running down The Directors face before she’d left? Maybe she should go and check. She shook her head to get rid of the notion.
Why did she suddenly want to turn around and hold the man in her arms?
What was this sensation that she had never felt before.
She chose to ignore it as she ran. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t help her escape. An alarm blared out the moment she left the room and she knew that it would be ringing across the entire complex. This wasn’t the first time an experiment had tried to escape. None of them made it very far. The organizations first priority wasn’t recovery.
I was destruction.
****
“Nothing much happened after that. I ran around, beat up a couple of guys and then reached the exit.”
“Can you just skip bits like that?”
“Sure I can. The anticipation is what makes it fun!”
****
The blood dripping off of her hands stained the metal floor as she stood facing the exit. She had run into some of the other members of the organization along the way. It wasn’t an accident, she had long ago memorized their faces and where they were stationed. She could feel something inside her telling her to kill them, something she had never felt before. She realized she had wanted it for a long time, an unconsciously had even planned out how to do it. Now that she had the chance she took it and it had led to her delaying her escape time.
Now a creature was blocking the exit.
She had stopped running the moment she saw it and she took a closer look at her opponent. It looked humanoid, similar in shape and structure to a human but with metallic gray skin.
It also had a zipper running across its face.
She knew she couldn’t underestimate it. The organization tried to de-humanize the experiments as often as they could, she had long ago worked out that this was to spare their emotions rather than functionality. They didn’t want their members getting attached to them. The humanoid models were therefore reserved only for the strongest experiments. They could never actually compare to real humans with this shape, not those truly monstrous beings called heroes that The director had told her about.
But to make up for that lack of strength the organization modified the experiments as they saw fit. This creature had bulky legs, far too big to be simple aesthetics. She could only guess at the modifications it had gone through to give it the power to contend with her. Perhaps it had always been kept on standby for this very scenario. The materials it was made of would mean that even if the upper half of the creature was thin it’s blows would be no less powerful than her own. Surprisingly it had small bumps and a distinctly female waistline.
It looked like she would if she was stripped of her human features.
The moment she came into its view it began to swagger towards her. It was as though the thing was thinking about every step it took so that it wouldn’t trip. Hopefully that meant that the modifications to its legs were new, untested. Even though it lacked eyes she knew that it could see her through other means. She didn’t truly need her eyes either, the people that had watched over her had reminded her of that numerous times when they had tortured her. She hardened her stance as the thing got nearer to her and her hands began to glow blue.
She was never intended to be a simple pet that stayed inside all day, every experiment created by the organization was designed to kill. Inside of her body lay a means to produce and control electricity with perfect precision. To the outsider it looked as though arcs of lightning were traveling across her fingers and palm in a constant pattern. The entire room grew brighter as she began to prepare to fight.
A sound screamed across the room towards her, originating from the creature, from its legs. The bulky appendages separated into pieces and revealed a glowing mechanical pole underneath. The pieces began to swirl around it and it emitted a light blue glow similar to the one on her hand.
Then the creature disappeared.
She scanned the room for it and frowned as her eyes lit up with caution. The sound shrieked at her from all sides which meant that the creature was still in the room with her. It was likely that it had been equipped with some sort of super fast speed and was inside the room somewhere.
The moment she thought that the shrieking stopped and the creature reappeared at her side swinging its leg at in an overhead arc.
*Crack*
She heard a resounding break as she raised her hands to block the creature.
She jumped back and gazed at her side. She couldn’t feel the pain the broken arm would have caused a human, she was simply confused because the arm itself didn’t seem to be broken. She looked up and saw that the roof had broken from the air pressure generated by the creatures attack.
Shards of metal rained down and bounced off of her skin. Sharp pieces that would have pierced human skin slid off of her like water and she barely felt a tickle. That wasn’t to say she took no damage. The single exchange caused her body to ache but there was no significant external damage. The floor behind the creature had torn open because it couldn’t handle the speed and strength of its body.
Her skin was itching. She poked at it curiously and turned her palm towards herself. The skin had split open where the kick had landed. The surface of her palm immediately began to shed the broken skin and grown a new layer. It wasn’t an uncommon sight to her, in fact, it was something she experienced almost every day.
The creature cried out at the side and she turned her head to look at it. It had broken its leg and foot from the impact. Clearly its body hadn’t been built to withstand the power it had been given to take her down. She had rarely gotten hurt and the fact that the creature could damage her at all meant that it was extremely powerful.
In seconds her arm and hand had completely healed while the creature in front of her continued to cry out in pain. It had no self-repairing capacity, yet it stood up to attack her again on its remaining foot.
She looked at it in pity, not even sure if she was faking the emotion or if she was truly feeling it.
It couldn’t do anything except attack her, it knew nothing else than to attack her, and to keep getting back up again and again until it broke completely. This was the life experiments created by the organization led. Following orders to the death because they weren’t created living. But she was different, The Director had seen to that. He had taught her about choices, raised her to think and given her the information and skills to do so.
And she wanted to escape.
“Am I really only going to free myself.” She mused to herself out loud.
There was no particular reason why she should think this. But looking at the creature she felt a strange connection to it. She thought about whether it was the female form, or maybe something else.
She just couldn’t put it into words.
“Freedom.” She punched at the creature and lightning crackled in her hands, “I guess I’ll just have to say goodbye to you.”
It raised its hands to block her punch but the moment they touched each other sparks of electricity flowed from her palms into its body. The shock to its system was clear as it fell onto the ground writhing. She had pushed her power to a lethal level as a mercy. It hadn’t chosen to live the way it did, but she liked to think that a world without choices wasn’t a world it would want to live in.
Was this part of being human?
The creature reached out a hand towards her but it fell as its broken leg crumpled under its own weight. She saw its featureless face crumple in sorrow.
The zipper around its mouth opened and it whispered out a single word, “Why.”
It was her turn to be shocked as she looked at the creature in front of her. She had never seen another talking experiment in the organization. It raised something in her, the same type of thing that had pestering at her since she had started this escape.
“Are these… feelings?”
They didn’t feel good.
Maybe they were something this creature would never experience, not because it was inferior to her, but because she had made the decision to take its life away from it. She didn’t know how she felt about that, she only knew that it bothered her more than she had ever felt something bother her before.
The exit was right in front of her. The entire complex was underground, she knew that. But she didn’t know what lay above on the surface. Maybe it was more experiments she had to fight, perhaps it was a desert in the middle of nowhere. She walked towards the exit as these new emotions swirled inside of her. It was interesting, it was something she had never experienced before.
But she would get out before exploring this new feeling.
There was a single ladder she had to climb and at the top there were boards covering the exit. She tapped at them and heard a hollow sound, and she punched through the wood. The boards flew into the air as she used more strength than necessary and she lifted herself over the exit, her mouth moving without her prompting into a grin.
“Who the hell are you?!” A pair of eyes appeared in front of her and she jumped back, startled.
A young man was squatting on the floor in front of her peering at the damage to the floor. As though a light bulb had gone off something clicked inside her.
“A name… I don’t have a name do I?”
Her hands cackled with blue lightning and she stood up to face the newcomer. He looked like an ordinary man by all accounts of the word. But he was still a risk.
So she punched him with her full power.
****
“And that’s the story of why I appeared in your house.”
“Right… The food’s ready now.”
“Yay! Now you have to tell me a story too!”