Today it rains and shows no sign of stopping. I can't see the rain. I can never see it, but I always hear it. The rain intrigues me to say the least. What a gift it would be to see it again, but those who have stolen my life from me robbed me of that freedom. However, I am not sad. I see no point in being sad under the circumstances, it would achieve nothing, but more questions, and more examinations. They will review this later today and a man will come in, white coat and all, take a seat, and the routine will begin once more. I would say I hate this, but life before this was nothing special. So, what is there to hate? It's all I've had in a long time.
- Bozidar's Journal
December 25, 3045.
The Facility.
Subject: Bozidar AKA "Hero".
The white walls that surrounded the boy were his home, before these it was the metal ones, before that there were no walls. Bozidar thought he was a stray that would not be missed and wasn't. Since the age of fifteen he has been in this place and before that is a blur to the boy. His mind couldn't take the stress of dealing with the past and the real physical pain being inflicted on him in the present. Even still his mind is stuck in "before".
Before the white walls, everyday, men in white coats come and inject him with sedatives, depressants, antagonists, and whatever else they have stored in a cabinet. They are simulating combat without true experience. Bozidar knew enough to be a lab rat. He could eat, speak well, and follow instruction. Being a lab rat was easy for the boy before the white walls, but now he can't stand it. Physical training, Shots, and questioning. Two more things the teen had to worry about.
In the beginning every little sound being registered and a constantly expanding muscle mass made being a lab rat hell on his body. It took a while for his body to become accustomed to their new parts, but it was no picnic getting there. Pain. Every moment with these people can be described with that one word. However, they all seemed desperate he could hear it.
Today, Bozidar was given clothes other than his normal patient garb. Merry Christmas they said. He wondered what that meant. He knew it was a holiday, but he never experienced one he could remember. Sometimes when he dreams about special days like this he can see a glimpse of his memories. If only he could remember having them wiped. Bozidar pulled the clothing on and moved around. They had the courtesy to cut a hole for his tail. He wagged it around and then looked to the white walls. Their version of Christmas sucked it was just an even harder physical training exercise.
"Merry Christmas. "
Then the power went out as the building began to shake. Bozidar's ears perked up and listened to the sounds of motors and metal parts. The building shook again and this time it moved up. Someone had forced it to come out of its burrow underground. While this occurred Bozidar's white wall swung open. The door out had been revealed. He gripped to the walls, but soon took his chances and shot out of it. He was quickly swarmed by men in white, but in reaction swatted them all away with his tail.
He stared with awe for a moment before running without a clue of where he was going. The sounds of the facility doors being forced open echoed throughout the building and silence was shortly cut off by the sounds of fighting.
"I really don't like Christmas." Bozidar said as he shot up a flight of stairs.
There were three levels to this grandiose bunker and Bozidar was at the lowest and had never left that room in all that time. However, the minute he stepped out of it the whole building's layout was clear to him. Sounds, smells, and vibrations created a mental map that he subconsciously followed to nowhere.
I hear an awful lot of scary noises outside the room, a lot of people screaming and the doors look like they're collapsing, I think today is Christmas Eve or maybe Christmas itself? Maybe now I can finally get out! They remembered to feed me today, and it was good food, so there is definitely an occasion happening right now. A party maybe?
Project 84 ended her mental diary entry as yelling could be heard beyond the walls of her room. She disgusted this room; it was a prison. She remained huddled in a corner that was near the door that leads to the outside, replaying old memories over in her head, it was all that she was left with after all. At fourteen she was kidnapped because she was labeled 'positive' for the experimentations, but failed the first trial, but they kept their hopes up until the age of fifteen, a new subject introduced to the facility, and what scares knowledge she could grasp, he was a success, and she was deemed a failure and relocated immediately.
The experiments didn't leave her looking the same as she used to be, but the mutations were nothing but physical alterations and a few developed disorders, nothing that would deem her a success but did supply them with the false hope she would eventually become a success until her replacement arrived.
Project 84 remained Project 84, unable to remember her original name, and couldn't find it in her to rename herself. She sighed lightly, standing up on her feet but nearly fell back down as the building shook, a small gasp escaping her lips as her mind began working at possibilities of what that was. An excited squeak escaped her lips as she jumped alone in her cell block clapping as the building seemed to be pushed upward. With the power out, her doors were unlocked, and to her luck being a failure she was located deep within the labs where most people don't venture into, but because of that reason she was often forgotten and just barely kept alive by that scientist who remembered "Oops! We still have to feed 84!" but that didn't matter now, now she was out and about, frantically remembering all the knowledge that was spoken around her.
Only the area near the lab is radioactive free, everything around it is deadman's land. Everything seemed to be falling apart and Project 84 was desperate to find the flight of stairs that lead to the second level, a small scream of frustration escaping her lips as she ran around chaotic building like a confused chicken before eventually finding the stairs, and even after reaching the floor she didn't stop running going in circles trying to figure out the twists and turns of the building, pausing for just a moment to examine the calendar that caught her eye.
December 25, 3045
It was Christmas after all. She couldn't help but feel a bit deflated after finding this out although she couldn't figure out why, she continued, her actions less erratic than before and to her luck stumbling upon a supply room that was near empty. Tentatively she entered, ready to run out if things took a turn for the worst. Instead, she got lucky, Lady Luck's Christmas present to her was a gas mask.
As Bozidar was navigating his way through the building the looters were pushing in and the facility security was falling back. This let the lunatics roam even more as they plundered possible power sources and equipment, but they were still hungry and delved deeper into the facility. Security maintained a defensive retreat to protect what was left of the facility hiding in the camera room. They allowed these clueless men to travel down into their deepest secrets to see what would happen when they were discovered.
It was in these men's nature. They loved to toy with their subjects and see what really made them tick. It was nothing new to Bozidar or 84, but how much of that treatment were these men familiar with? Children's minds stuck in adult bodies. They couldn't possibly fathom what goes through an empty head. They would do what they came here for without forethought and do whatever it took to accomplish their wants.
As chaos unfolded and Bozidar payed attention to avoiding the sounds he heard he eventually ran into a group of looters just looking around and thus was not aware they were what he was running from. Bozidar stopped and stared at them and they did the same. Their clothes were different than what he had seen. They didn't react to him being outside, but they all stared at his tail and ears. This made Bozidar extremely uncomfortable and he ran away. As he ran he came across a woman with snow white hair and red eyes, the sight spooked Bozidar and he jumped over the railing as he passed her ending back up on the first floor.
"Scary. It's very scary, but what do I do? I don't want this... this Christmas is a very bad idea."
It was then that the facility speakers came to life. Garnering the attention of everyone in the building. Bozidar jumped back and looked around for a person.
"The person to catch the cat boy will be rewarded handsomely. Catch him alive please. That is all."
The intercom buzzed before silencing and Bozidar moved toward the stairs again, but then heard the talk of the group above. They scared him more than the girl now. They were saying awful things and he cowered beneath the steps to ensure none of those things happened to him.
Just as Project 84 secured the gas mask on her face, Bozidar made his appearance but quickly disappeared over the railings. Her crimson colored eyes widened in shock at the intercom's announcement, confirming she wasn't hallucinating the fact he, in fact, did have a tail and a set of peculiar ears. Although the fact the intercom announced a bounty on his head did mean he was technically on her side, and that fact gave her a sense of relief. Taking another mask and armed with a fire extinguisher she went back to the stairs looking for the feline looking experiment.
That is definitely my replacement. Project 84 thought a small spark of determination in her eyes I mean why else would the lab people want him alive? People no longer paid any attention to her, she was no officially a nobody in the situation and that suited her just fine. Trying to capture a cat in a crowd was like trying to hold Jello with chopsticks. Project 84 snuck through the crowd, pushing past the people who hurried down the stairs with the intentions of finding him, she couldn't help but visibly show her displeasure to their conversations, what they planned to do. I remember Christmas use to be a fun holiday, and now it's just a pile of crap. These people made it into a bunch of crap.
The people scattered, scanning the area in a manner that almost seemed frantic, and Project 84 remained silent, she didn't join their manhunt and lingered near the stairs, she remembered before she was kidnapped that the cats would always hide in small spaces, not wandering far from where they ran. "Heeeere kitty, kitty," she spoke in a harsh whisper, removing the pin on the extinguisher and holding the nozzle like it would be useful as a weapon.
It was then that the girl's whisper would be picked up by a straggler. He hung back behind the group of thugs as he was the greastest coward of them all. Naturally, when he turned around to see a girl close to his own age a smile formed across his face, but he just saw her snow white hair. He looked her over and assumed it was dye. In a swift maneuver he grabbed the girl's arm and brought her close. Bozidar was watching from underneath the stairs. A simple trick that seemed to be working so far.
As the scene with the girl started to progress, Bozidar attempted to sneak away while they were all pre-occupied, but was seen by the man talking to the girl. Their eyes connected and the man quickly donned a devious smile. Bozidar's face grew with fear, but he didn't let it consume him. He forced his legs to stop shaking and willed his tail to extend and grab the man by his throat. As his group left him to search Bozidar's "home" he would suffocate and die. When his body no longer moved Bozidar dropped him and looked to the girl.
"Friend or foe?" He asked standing up and hovering his tail over her head. "Please be a friend. I rather you didn't suffer his fate. Even if your eyes do scare me."
Bozidar was obviously just scared and even more so now that he had killed. Still if it was required to escape and discover the world he would do so, but unlike the girl before him Bozidar knew nothing of the dangers the world held.
