Dr. Rosenthal got the process started, then ran toward the column nearest his workstation. Kris watched as the column opened. The figure inside slumped to the ground as the fluid drained away, and her cheeks heated as she realized that it was a male. Staring around, Kris saw that a cabinet nearby stood open, and a corner of white cloth poked out.

Jogging over, she pulled open the door, distantly amazed to find that it was made entirely of something that looked like aluminum, and was probably worth more than her mother’s house. Dismissing the thought as currently unimportant, she reached in, flipping through long white coats that only differed by size. Finding one that looked like it might fit the collapsed teenage boy in the pillar, she turned around, only to find herself face to chest with that very teenage boy.

“Who are you?” he growled roughly, grasping her tightly by the arms.

Instinctively, she pulled away from him, mentally shouting, ::GET AWAY!::

He flinched, staggering back as he clutched at his head. “What… did you do?” he muttered, and Kris stepped forward, hand extended to help. He swatted at her hand, but missed, stumbling and sitting down awkwardly.

Blushing, Kris tossed the coat over his lower half. The boy didn’t notice, but continued to tug at his dark gray hair and moan. After a little while, Kris stepped forward, cautiously crouching just out of his reach, and asked, “Do you know where you are?”

Dr. Rosenthal had flooded Kris with information, most of which had been gibberish to her. The parts she had understood, however, made it sound like the ‘experiments’ would wake already knowing how to speak, who they were, and much of the general information that people acquired as they grew. What clothes were, for example.

Sure enough, as the boy - and surely he had another name besides MWE7? - recovered, he stood and pulled on the coat, though his eyes were locked on her. Gratefully, she saw that the expression in his black eyes was more fascinated and assessing than angry.

“I’m MWE7,” he growled in his throaty voice, which just seemed to be his natural way of speaking. “You’re not Dr. Rosh-,” he stopped, visibly frustrated as he tried to make his mouth form the word, “Ros-en-thal. You’re not anyone from my dreams. What are you doing here?”

She shook her head, having no idea where to start. “I’m Kris,” she finally offered.

“Kris,” he repeated, thoughtfully. Nodding, he asked again, “What are you doing here, Kris? This is a resh- res-trict-ed facility.”

Her face flushed, and she looked toward where Pin should be, just a few rows of columns away. “I’m, um, KR15? I guess? I was… decanted?” She shook her head, meeting his gaze as she used the word she was more comfortable with. “I was born accidentally. I grew up-” She broke off as images of her mother, father, and her village flashed through her mind. She had a sense of someone other looking at them, flipping through them like pages of a book.

She tore her eyes from his, and this time she was the one who stumbled, and would have fallen if he hadn’t caught her elbow. “I’m sorry,” he snarled, his voice making his sound threatening in spite of the words. “I didn’t know that would happen.”

She looked up again, and saw an image of Thal and Rooney, staring down at her as she dropped through a hole in the floor, just before the hole snapped shut, neatly severing both the rope linking her to Thal, and the hand Rooney had stretched toward her, which tumbled down beside her into the pool far below. Involuntarily, she screamed in horror, eyes turning toward the enormous pool in the center of the room. Was Rooney’s hand in there? Had it been in there when she returned to consciousness? Was his blood all over her, however diluted by water?

MWE7 shook her, and a voice, far less rough than his audible one, sounded in her mind. ::Kris! You’re fine. It’s over. But if there are Fanatics coming, we need to hurry.:: Without a moment’s hesitation, he scooped her into his arms, effortlessly carrying her as he ran back toward the others.

They found Pin first, holding the hand of a still-naked Chordy, who was sitting on the floor of her empty tank. The two of them had been holding an animated conversation, and looked startled when Kris and MWE7 appeared. Chordy blinked her eyes, which were the same bottomless black as all the experiments so far, and registered the white coats everyone was wearing. Instantly, her brown skin deepened to mahogany, and she smacked Pin lightly on the arm, curling up to cover herself as best she could.

“Clothes! Why didn’t you bring me clothes, you idiot?”

Pin flushed, and, shooting all three of them apologetic glances as he ran off, bare feet slapping softly on the smooth floor. MWE7 started to take off his own coat, and Chordy held up a hand. “Uh uh, no thank you, big guy. I don’t need to see you naked, either, and that wouldn’t fit me, anyway. Just turn away, would you?”

MWE7 obediently looked away, though his eyes continued to sweep the rest of the lab cautiously. Chordy looked up at Kris and extended a hand, webbed fingers spread as she waved. “Hey, so, you must be the sister. Kris, right? Pin told me about you when you arrived.”

Kris blinked. “I thought you were unconscious?”

Chordy shrugged, pushing her damp, thick brown curls back over her shoulder. “Pin dialed back my sedative a while back. He was lonely. I still got the dream-download, but we could talk, a little. It’s nice to be out of there, though,” she grimaced, “I wish Doc Rosenthal had decided to do it when we weren’t all about to die.”

The sound of feet on floor heralded Pin’s return, and he draped yet another white coat over Chordy’s shoulders. She shrugged into it, standing several inches taller than Pin, though still shorter than MWE7. She looked around. “This it?”

Kris and Pin shook their heads. Kris spoke, since she was slightly better at it, in spite of her sore throat. “Dr. Rosenthal is waking one more.”

::IR632,:: Pin put in, startling Kris. Glancing around, she saw that the other two were nodding and realized that Pin had managed to ‘speak’ to all of them at once. She hadn’t known that was possible, but it meant less work for her tortured vocal cords.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Chordy tried to whistle, failed, and looked frustrated. “An IR? My data feed said they gave up on those as a dead line.”

Pin nodded. ::She’s 632. Dr. Rosenthal,:: he hesitated, ::he said if he could get the IR line to work, he’d prove he wasn’t such a failure after all. It’s all he’s been doing for years. This is the last one he had genetic material for. Her readings are bizarre, but he insists she’ll survive decanting.:: He glanced toward Dr. Rosenthal’s station and the IR632 column. ::But she’s too young. Only six. She’s only been receiving data for four years.::

Chordy frowned, though MWE7 barely spared them a glance. His attention seemed to be focused on a tall rectangle carved into the wall not far away.

“Is she even viable? I mean,” Chordy shot Pin an apologetic glance, “I know you were decanted as a baby,” she wrinkled her nose distastefully, “but no one else who’s been let out so early has survived. At least, not for long.”

MWE7’s rough voice broke in. “Let’s go find out. I can hear them coming.”

Chordy and Pin both turned to stare at the rectangle, which Kris suddenly realized was exactly the right shape to be a door. A perfectly flat, metal door, with no knob or handle. Chordy hissed a curse word, and Kris blinked, shocked out of the frozen terror that had been threatening her at the understanding that MWE7 meant that the Fanatics had nearly broken through. Why would such words be included in this ‘data feed’ that taught all the experiments? What was the value of teaching them such things?

The four teens turned as one and headed for Dr. Rosenthal’s desk, with MWE7 bringing up the rear, never taking his eyes from the door. Chordy hesitated, and touched Pin’s arm. “Pin, get another lab coat. A little one. Dr. Rosenthal won’t think of it, and if IR632 makes it, she’ll need something to wear.” Pin nodded and dashed off again.

That left Chordy, Kris, and the wary, silent MWE7. Chordy glanced at Kris, eyes curious. “This must be strange to someone from outside. The stream showed us how bad it is out there.” She shuddered. “No running water, no electricity, barely any education. Even medicine is little more than ground up herbs and wishful thinking.”

Kris opened her mouth to defend her village, then stopped and bit her lip. Chordy was right, and Kris didn’t even know what ‘running water’ would entail, much less what the strange word, ‘electricity’, meant.

They came in sight of Dr. Rosenthal, who was leaning over a still, glistening body stretched out on a metal table. He wore a look of desperate disappointment, though when he heard them and looked up, some of the pain faded to be replaced by relief.

Chordy stepped forward, her confidence dimming to something like shyness as she came face to face with the scientist who had helped create her. “Hi, Dr. Rosenthal. It’s, um, nice to meet you?” She held out a hand tentatively, and the old man shook it, tears glimmering behind the glass circles over his eyes.

“Chordy,” he said, sounding sad and tired. He bowed his head. “I’m sorry I didn’t decant you when I should have. I was just so worried. With everyone else gone…” He trailed off, shoulders slumped, looking ashamed.

The girl stepped forward, almost looking like she would hug the man, who Kris was surprised to realize was barely taller than Chordy, and still quite a bit shorter than MWE7. At the last second, Chordy turned the gesture into an awkward shoulder pat, and when Pin came racing around the corner, the girl looked like she’d been granted a reprieve from execution.

Pin held up a coat, the same size as the one Kris was wearing. ::This was the smallest I could… Oh.:: He stopped, face scrunching in sorrow as he saw the still form on the table. He turned to Dr. Rosenthal. “Is.. she?”

Dr. Rosenthal shook his head, sighing deeply. “She’s like the others in the IR series. Good vitals, brain activity, but completely unresponsive to stimuli.”

Chordy and Pin crowded around the doctor, patting the man comfortingly, but MWE7 grunted, interrupting them. “We need to go. Now.”

A loud bang came from the now-distant door, quickly followed by several more. The scientist went pale, but his mouth firmed into a thin, resolute line. “You four need to go. They don’t know about you. They’ll expect to find some scientists, but there’s no way for them to know if any of the… if any of you survived.” He looked around, wild-eyed. “I’ll start decanting the others. The failures. It’s not like I’ll get to study them any more, anyway,” he said, bitterly. “Your tanks will just be a few more empty ones.”

MWE7 frowned. “But, Doctor-”

The old man shook his head dismissively, turning to Pin. “You need to lead them, boy. You know the way. Go to the ocean. It’s what you were all made for.” A tear trickled down his seamed cheek, and the glass contraption balanced on his nose fogged, concealing his eyes. “Head into the uncharted waters. If any of the other labs have succeeded, that’s where you’ll find others of your kind. I hope,” his voice broke, “I pray, to any God who hasn’t abandoned us, that you’re not alone, and you can save this poor, broken planet.”

Tears were pouring down Pin’s cheeks, darkening the thick, soft fur on his face, but he nodded. Turning to the others he said, “Tank. Go!” He pointed to the huge tank, and Dr. Rosenthal turned back to his glowing rectangle, ignoring the body of the little girl that lay beside him, chest fluttering as she took slow, shallow breaths.

Kris turned as she felt something shift. The voice of the water grew a little louder in that part of her where she kept it tucked away. Water sloshed over the edge of the tank as something happened inside, where they couldn’t see it.

“I opened the gate,” the old man said. “I’ll close it once you’re through. They’ll never know anyone could escape that way.”

Pin nodded again, and looked at the other three. ::It leads to an underground aquifer. We can follow it all the way to the ocean.::

MWE7 and Chordy nodded, and Kris thought the girl would take off without them, but she hesitated, though her feet rose and fell in place as if she was already running. Kris didn’t know what the scientist planned to do, but staying was his choice, and she would respect it, and take the chance he gave them for life. The little girl on the table, though…

What would have happened if Lara hadn’t taken Kris, a helpless, injured infant, with her when she fled this place? Would the scientists have recovered both her and Pin, raising them here, together, or would Kris have died there on the floor, forgotten and alone?

She snatched the coat from Pin’s limp grasp and threw it over the little body. She, herself, was small at barely four and a half feet tall, but she rolled the limp body into her arms, grunting with the effort. Muscles that were strong from doing chores strained, but held the little girl.

She glared around her. “I’m taking her,” she insisted, daring any of the others to protest.

Chordy said, “It’s pointless. She can’t hold her breath. She’ll drown any-” but MWE7 just held out his arms.

“I’ll take her,” he growled, and relief flooded Kris. She transferred the girl’s dead weight to the tall boy, and the four, now five, ‘experiments’ turned toward the pool. The water swirled, calling Kris.

Pin hesitated, then hugged the old man who was the only family he knew. Expression resolute, he turned away. They ran, and behind them came the scientist’s voice as he began unsealing columns.

“Decant. Authorization Rosenthal BA27...”

They ran up the stairs, their bare feet slipping on the slick material, but no one fell. Pin dove in, and the others were right behind them. Kris reached out to the water, forming a bubble around IR632’s head as she went under. Seeing it, MWE7 turned surprised black eyes toward Kris. She smiled as she sank beneath the surface.

Water tugged at her playfully, and she asked it to hurry them along. Currents formed around their bodies, pulling them faster than they could swim, even with their webbed fingers and toes. They were sucked down into a black hole at the bottom of the pool, the water carrying them away.