Echoes of Freedom [1X1 With Aurora]

[Shalashaska]

"Oh, now isn't this some hot gossip?" A voice that sounded like nails being dragged across a blackboard called out. Halting in their tracks, Queen and Sice turned to Nine. He was, to put it simply, a wreck. It was how he had been designed, after all. While Sice was modeled after your typical 'punk' kid, Nine looked like your stereotypical 'failure'. With unruly hair that was cut uneven, a shirt that was a size too small and pants too big, if you saw him on the street you'd avoid him. But, it was also more than that; with unnaturally pale skin and a single yellow eye, having been 'born' with only one due to a defect, he was somewhat of an outcast even among Group Heart.

Though, it wasn't because any of them necessarily went out of their way to spurn him, but rather because his personality was so warped, his psyche having been abused to the point he preferred his position at the 'bottom of the ladder'.

"Queen and Sice...! Ho-oh boy, I'm sure Ace would love to hear about this." He giggled, his tongue sliding across his lower lip as his gaze shifted between the two. With a slight hunch, he slowly approached them and the duo instinctively took a step back.

"What do you want, Nine?" Queen inquired, eyes narrowed as she took a step-forward, feeling a strange satisfaction when her action caused him to step back. "I know you like being a disgusting little creep, but when was the last time you bathed? Perhaps I should go see the Overseer with an actual complaint, because I've read in books that even pigs are taken out of their troughs to be hosed down." She spoke, ever so aggressive. While Queen was dressed up like the 'popular' type, her personality was more along the lines of a 'mean' girl than anything else. As such, she was one of the few who went out of her way to be unfriendly towards Nine.

Sice, though? Oh. Sice definitely didn't like him, but that was because someone like Nine only made his anxiety worse. Nine was unpredictable and he had a way of popping up out of nowhere. It was creepy and uncomfortable.

"Ooh, someone's feeling quite bitchy." Nine spat, literally, and Queen stepped back to avoid it. Looking down at the floor, she watched as the spit began to sizzle and melt a small part of the floor, the extremely acidic nature of the fluid doing as it was intended. "I'm just a little curious as to what you two, of all people, are doing together is all." He admitted with a broken smile, the sight of his green and chipped teeth making Queen want to vomit.

"Curiosity killed the cat, Nine. Besides, I doubt any of the researchers would be upset if I had a little accident with my powers and you got roasted." She warned and Nine broke out into a fit of laughter.

"Oh, you crack me up... Y'know, Sice, you're being awfully quiet... Wait, why am I surprised that Queen is the one wearing the pants between the two of you..." Nine snickered and Sice blinked dumbly as he looked down. Queen was wearing a t-shirt, short skirt with bike shorts underneath and sneakers.

"I don't get it... She's not wearing pants..." Sice mumbled under his breath and Queen was barely able to resist the urge to smile at Sice's stupidity.

"Don't worry about it. Nine is just being a freak as usual. Anyway, no point in us wasting more time with this loser." Queen finally stated as she turned on her heel and began to walk off, Sice sparing Nine a parting glance before he made to follow after Queen.

"Oh, it's alright, I'll smell you guys later!" Nine called out with a wave before breaking out into another fit of giggles.

"I hate him." Queen huffed out as Sice followed her quietly, his mind running at a hundred miles per second. Was that a warning, of some sort? Would Nine go to the Overseer? Had he overheard them? If he knew, was he hoping they'd extend him an offer to join their escape? If he did know, and they didn't offer, would he rat them out? Was this it? Were they going to be caught? No. No way; there was no way Nine would have known. He would have blurted it out the instant the word 'escape' had even been uttered.

No, he was probably just being his usual creepy self.

He had to be.

This was going to work out. It had to.

Not even realizing they had made it to the garden, Sice was surprised to see Bree, Jack and Clyve were already there. Just how long had Nine held them up?

"Ran into the resident freak." Queen explained, folding her arms as she sat down on one of the 'patio' chairs, as the researchers called them, which was something Sice found odd considering there was no patio. Shifting on his feet awkwardly, Sice shared a mutual glare with Jack before looking away, settling on just sitting on the ground.

"So, Clyve, we're here. Start talking, nerd." Queen ordered, her gaze falling on Clyve as she didn't feel like wasting anymore time. Better they get this done with as quickly as possible before something went wrong.

 

[Aurora]

"Well, where are they?" The usually stone-like Jack was growing impatient, his fingers tapping in a rhythm against the row of small, concrete blocks he was sitting on. They created a circle around what was considered to be their 'garden'. It was nothing more than a pile of dirt at this point, with a few weeping plants and previous plants' carcasses laying inside. The one light that hung down low just above the garden was supposed to provide, what was described to Bree, as a substitute for sunlight. It didn't seem to do it's job very well, though none of the group went into this useless room as it was.

Clyve had joined the waiting group as well, and had seemed pleased that Jack was there. He didn't say anything on the matter though, and seemed to be waiting, with arms crossed, for Queen and Sice to show up.

"They shouldn't be.... too long," Bree replied, fiddling with the bottom of her shirt to try and distract herself. It wasn't working. Oh goodness. What if she told on them? What if they marched in here and dragged them all away? It was what happened to everyone who misbehaved.

"You okay?" Jack's voice tore her from her thoughts and she looked up to see him giving her a curious look. "Have you been hanging out with Sice too much?"

She had never been one for hiding her expressions. Bree gave him a reassuring smile. "No I haven't. I'm quite alright."

The thought of death because of something that they themselves had conjured up was something that would possibly make anyone anxious. Perhaps she could accept her own fate if that were to be the case, but dragging them down with her? Jack, Clyve, Sice?

Again, she was jarred from her thoughts but this time by Queen. It was possibly the first time in her life that she was truly happy to see the other girl, eyes following her as she sat down in the empty chair across from her. She gave both her and Sice a warm smile as Clyve stood. He pushed his thick-framed glasses up on his nose and cleared his throat.

"So good to see you, Queen," he spoke with sarcasm nearly dripping from his voice.

"Just get on with it, Five, we all know why we're here," Jack replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

Clyve scoffed. "Why am I suddenly the ring leader? I'm not the one who came up with the plan in the first place," he spoke, his eyes darting back and forth from Sice to Bree.

She visibly stiffened as his eyes landed on her and spoke up, leaning forward slightly in her seat as she gazed at him. "Y-you're the only one smart enough to come up with how we execute it."

He couldn't seem to argue with that, and perhaps took that with a bit of pride as he chuckled. "Well, Three, I suppose my question to you should be when?"

"When?" It was a question more so to herself than him, or anyone else in the group. She bit at her bottom lip gently. When were they going to do this? When were they going to escape? Either way, the answer would all be the same. "Tomorrow...."

"That's fucking crazy," Jack grumbled.

"Well, think about it. The longer we wait, more people may find out. Isn't it better to do it sooner than later?" Bree questioned, leaning back in her seat again, her voice lowering a bit because she hadn't been expecting Jack's negative response.