The Last of the Test Subjects

[Hydronine]

There had always been secrets in the Washington Hospital Center, one of the top-rated hospitals in Washington, D.C.

The truth was, it was a little known center for undercover testing- on humans and animals alike, for medical and military purposes. It was known by people high up in the chain of command- and it was allowed, for the better of the U.S. of A. It was allowed, but watched carefully and given strict ruling- but plenty of funding as well as genetic and living samples.

They had started out small, merely trying to understand the brain of any animal, trying to unlock the parts that weren't used as much- wondering what could happen if every faculty of the brain and mind was utilized automatically from birth. In a moment, a flash- everything fell into place....

Hidden from view in the regular, upper part of the hospital, there's a hidden elevator that will take you down to labs that you would never expect to see. There are gurneys with dried blood over them, with well-used restraint straps. There are trays with scalpels and other medical tools. Every room is more horrific than the last- some eerily empty, others filled with animal test subjects- all that are quite horridly disfigured in some way or another. Some rooms are filled with corpses of dead animals, laid out on steel tables, their bodies medically torn to shreds, as if searching for something.

Finally at the end of the hallway of horrors, there is a door that requires a retinal scan and a fingerprint scan to open- but what lies beyond that door is the true reason of this lab. Human test subjects, all kept in separate enclosures- walled in by layers of cement, lead, and copper, and another layer of cement to finish it off. The rooms are furnished sparsely, with only the barest of necessities- a bed, a hole in the floor in the corner where you open a sliding metal door which was to be the toilet, some books here and there, maybe even some toys. The test subjects ranged in ages from four to thirty-nine. There used to be forty of them- but the scientists and doctors that worked in those labs had decided that some were rather imperfect for the goals they were trying to achieve.

So one by one, the test subjects were killed and then dissected, to figure out what had gone wrong with each of them- why hadn't they achieved their goals with them...

Two were left.

It was already known that the next lot of subjects were in production already, and soon they wouldn't be needed either.

The USA had been falling behind other countries in human testing- for the goal of making better soldiers. So, in little known areas, testing was done, and when it was viewed as perfect for that time, they would ship those beings to labs outside of the US, to study them and to possibly improve on them. Most cases, it ended in dissection of the test subjects.

This particular lab was hoping to unlock what other countries already had. In the many tests that they had done, it wasn't even certain if they could even consider them human anymore. Horns of any shape and size and number would grow from their heads, as well as a small crystal forming between their eyes- magnetite crystals- which everyone has in their brains, usually a dark black, and shiny- though sometimes there would be some differences. These beings were analyzed constantly- their IQs to their physical strength and endurance. They were tested for anything abnormal about themselves besides their odd appearances.

Either way, these beings were slated to be dissected.

****************


Test Subject # 27 "Nikki"
Female
5'6
125 lbs
Whitish-blue oval-shaped magnetite crystal between her eyes and bone-white twisted horns (3 inches) slightly curved, three inches above her ears, curved forward, looking similar to a ram's horns.
Warning: DO NOT ENTER ROOM WITHOUT WEARING PROPER GEAR- #27 has increased empathy and can make changes to her surrounding temperature. This room is kept cold, keep warm.
Current mentions: #27 is extremely agitated this week- all attempts to calm her down naturally have not worked- her hormone levels are fine, it may be useful to sedate her.

Nikki curled up in the corner of the room- a room that was three degrees below zero, at all hours, so she'd exhaust her abilities of changing temperature, just by trying to keep herself warm.

A shiver went across her skin as she paused her powers for a moment- running low on her abilities, which only angered her- food wasn't coming yet. She didn't understand the concept of hours or minutes, but she knew that it would be a while longer til food was placed in front of her. If she stopped now, she'd freeze- if she continued, she'd exhaust herself to fainting. Clutched in her cold fingers, she held a piece of the horn on the right side of her head- just the tip of it. It had come off during lunch, when she had tried to attack the scientist trying to ask her questions- they never noticed it came off when she had hit the concrete floor, and she was waiting for dinner... waiting for an opportunity to get out of here.

She was scared, cold and angry- caused by a mistake with one of the staff today- one of the scientists had forgotten protocol and hadn't worn the proper headgear to keep her from weaseling her way into his thoughts- finding out that they were planning to kill her...

She hadn't gotten much else- besides the mental picture of someone else- someone like her in the lab.... that was all before he realized his mistake and locked her in while he donned the headgear. She had tried to run, tried to fight her way out of the room, but she wasn't strong enough- she managed to burn a few and frostbite a few others- and that was when they gave the orders to make her room sub-zero. Meals were usually finger foods, or a type of gruel that shouldn't have been able to be so... solid- no utensils since another test subject managed to injure one of the scientists with a spoon- that was a year before she was born, though, so she didn't know that personally- it came to her as an image when she was younger, when they were first discovering her powers. Since then, they had figured out her strengths and weaknesses.

That was when the lights in the room went out- every thing went off. A blackout, possibly from the unusual storms that had been occurring this week- two seconds later, the lights were back on.

Her shivering was full-blown now, and as they opened the door to give her food, she bolted- trying to get close enough to the doorway, to the people, to escape or at least get away from the cold vents in the room.

Two moments later, she was on her stomach, restrained in a straight suit as she tried to eat her dinner without making a mess- beyond furious. As she ate, she tried to think of that other person like her- what were they like? Were they here? In a room like hers? Did they know what she knew? What were they like? She sighed, nudging the bowl away and rolling to her side as she tried to clear her head. What good would it do to think about someone else? Even if there was someone else, they'd be destroyed... What was the use of thinking on it?

 

[Kitti]

Test Subject #14 "Idris"
Gender: Male
Height: 180cm
Weight: 77kg
Eyes: Green
Hair: Brown
Amber magnetite jewel between his eyes, in a diamond shape. Small black horns with a circular ridge pattern circling around it, jutting high enough to just barely be seen over his hair.

Current mentions: Subject has been withdrawn and unresponsive. Recent attempts to interact with this subject have failed, a drastic change in usual behavior for Subject #14. Hormone levels normal.

The room was devoid of any mechanism that Idris could attempt to break or otherwise manipulate. The door was unable to be opened from the inside, no handle whatsoever. The mistake had been made before, when Idris was young, and had not been repeated since. He had nearly escaped that time, after all. After overpowering one of the scientists, he'd taken something from the man, small and metal, and picked the lock. He'd used his abilities to greatly improve his chances and the door had swung open.

The room was eerily quiet now, with the scientists leaving him in complete isolation. There were shackles chaining Idris to the ground, the best punishment that they could come up with was smooth, bare floors and chains on his arms and legs. The day that their discretion had faltered, he had learned of their plans for him and for some unidentified other. They were through, the pair of them, he and the one he had not met. They were disposable, that was the message. In fury, he had broken the scientist against the floor and now he was suffering the consequences. No one was willing to even bring food to Idris, now, and his stomach churned uncomfortably.

At long last, there was food slid from the door, landing not far from his face. It was something drab, a lump. Perhaps a ball of sticky granola, that was common. Twitching, he tried to grasp for it but found it just out of his reach. His eyes narrowed dangerously and he wiggled a little against the shackles. They were a lightweight material, difficult to change the gravity of to make heavier and making them any lighter would be of little use with them bolted into the floor. They would have to move him eventually... wouldn't they? Just to kill him though. He laid back, looking defeated, and his eyes fixed sightlessly on the ceiling.

 

[Hydronine]

Test Subject # 27 "Nikki"

Nikki, after finally eating enough of the food, nudged it away with her nose and struggled against the straight jacket- her legs were entirely bare, and except for some white panties- the lower half of her was naked.

She felt humiliated and defeated, and as they came to take her food away, she whimpered and whined, unable to figure out a solution to her problem. If they... if she couldn't escape in time, she'd be killed... they'd be killed. One of the scientists came up to her and jabbed a syringe into her upper thigh- just barely missing her snarl of teeth- then, slowly, her body slowly started to shut down until she felt nearly paralyzed, but her mind was fine. From there, the scientist took the straight jacket away and drew some blood. It took him a few times to find her veins, and she could already tell that she'd be bruised up for a while... but what did it matter? She'd be dead soon.

The scientist finished quickly, putting her back into the straight jacket- she still couldn't fight back, her body was numb- but as the door was opened, instead of trying to attack with her mind, or heat- she lowered the temperature around her and tried to force it towards the scientists- anything to fight back. All it caused was for the door to be closed sooner.

But she didn't stop- she kept trying to cool down her room further- until, finally, she made it so cold around herself that the jacket was slightly brittle- just enough to push against it and get some slack. She struggled and thrashed- finally loosening one arm. She did what she could, but all she could get was that one arm at the moment- and it was enough. Death was quickly approaching, and she was only trying to prepare.

She rearranged herself so the loose sleeve was less noticeable. In a few hours, they came back, carrying a large bag as they entered. They emptied the contents onto the floor unceremoniously as they approached her. Chains and shackles as well as poles- what in the world were they trying to do?

It wasn't long before they shucked the jacket off of her once more, and fitted her wrists and ankles with heavy shackles as well as a thick metal collar that had the two poles connected to it- now she understood, it was for them to be able to keep a grip on her while being a foot apart from her. Wonderful, her private space would be respected in her last moments, she thought sarcastically as they left the room, her bare feet slapped against the concrete floor. Somehow, she hoped that if she couldn't escape, that it would be nice to at least meet the only other person of her kind in this lab. It was a pathetic wish, but it was a hope.

Soon they were in a lab-like setting and she was forced onto a cold metal gurney.

Waiting for the doctor with the needle to end it all, or were they waiting for someone else?

 

[Kitti]

The wait seemed to drag on as Idris stared blankly at the ceiling. He had few thoughts of his own, since he'd never known any life except this one, and as such he had few things to think on to distract his mind. All that there was was the horrible numbness and the dull ache in the back of his mind as he stared, blankly, at the ceiling. He couldn't eat and his mental deadness was punctuated only every so often by the grumbling of his stomach.

He did not know how much time had passed while he was laying on his back, staring up. He thought that the room seemed to grow colder for no apparent reason, which was inconvenient. With his room kept at a fairly warm temperature the rest of the time, Idris was wearing only a pair of tight black cotton shorts and a simple white tee shirt. At one point in his life, he had tried to use these things as weapons and they had been taken from him. The scientists, on the other hand, were always clothed. Being nude had felt shameful, even though he didn't really know why. From that time on, he hadn't attempted to use his clothing as weaponry.

There was a clanging, a racket being made. Idris knew without looking that the scientists were opening the door that led to his room, he didn't even turn his head to look at them. He still kept staring upward without seeing anything, which seemed to make the scientists more annoyed than anything else, or perhaps they were just nervous? Idris couldn't tell how they really felt, but he hardly cared. They had to lift him, which was surprisingly hard to do for a man of his size. Idris made no move to help them and now he knew that they were deeply irritated.

Before he knew it, there was cold metal across his legs and the soft sound of breathing next to him. Involuntarily, he shivered, goosebumps prickling on his legs, but was it the possibility of another person like him or the cold metal causing it? He was afraid to turn his head to look. What would he be like? Would he be stronger than Idris, a superior specimen perhaps?

 

[Hydronine]

Test Subject # 27 "Nikki"

Nikki watched as another was brought in, craning her neck to see- trying to maintain sight of the person at all times- chained, like she was...

He must have been the other one- had to be. She strained against her bonds, then turned her head to look at him. He wasn't wearing clothing that would block her out- unless, perhaps he could shield himself- and she had started to try to pry into his mind- but didn't get far when another scientist came in- two syringes fully loaded- the liquid inside was carelessly drawn, bubbles swirled around. But, seeing as it was full of a liquid that would kill them anyways, she couldn't really care. An embolism verses a poison... what mattered was that they were trying to kill them.

She could no longer change the temperature- for fear that she might hurt the one that was on the table with her- she didn't know how to control it well enough to make it go around him. There was no reason to wear any protective gear anymore- what could she do? She already knew the worst of it, they had nothing left to hide. Or so they thought.

As the scientist drew near, Nikki was picking her brain for information- anything. She saw flashes of the building, how to get around... how many test subjects had been killed- the plans for new ones. She prepped Nikki's arm, like it mattered- swabbing her arm with rubbing alcohol, roughly. She needed more information! Images and voices swirled painfully through her head as she searched, faster, faster. The woman finally tapped out the bubbles, like it mattered- and as she drew close, Nikki took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to turn up the heat of just her breath- make it hot... scalding.

A scream was the response, and Nikki struggled and spat as the scientist dropped to the floor, covering her face with her hands- but it was already too late- Nikki knew that she had done a good amount of damage- but it didn't help them, just delay the inevitable. Another scientist, frustrated, snatched up the needle, meaning to jab it into the nearest extremity, but before he could, Nikki, panting already, flash froze the leg he was aiming for- the needle blunted and broke on contact, brittle from the cold. She was exhausted already.

'Help me....your name is Idris, correct? Help me out here... I don't have much strength left- help me help us out of here.' She tried to communicate. It wasn't ready mental telepathy as it was a slew of feelings sent his way- as well as mouthing the words.

One needle left- but it didn't matter if they couldn't get free.

 

[Kitti]

The scream failed to elicit any emotion from Idris, he did not even bother to turn his head. The mad shuffling, the clanking, all of the sounds... they did not cause him even a flutter. Mentally, he was shutting down, freezing his mind. What more did he have to live for, anyway? He had never experienced anything special and he did not even have any hopes or dreams - all he knew was his smoothly impersonal cell and the tests that were sometimes run on him. He didn't even know any of the scientists, he was a blank slate.

Instead of feeling sad that he was about to die, Idris could hardly muster more than resignation. He was like a bud that had never become a flower, never beautiful and never revealing any true potential. Would it truly be so sad if he were to die now? It was either this or to live the same hollow existence forever. Did there exist a third option?

Really, Idris hadn't even been planning on moving at all, not making any attempt to escape until her thoughts pierced his mind. 'Help me....your name is Idris, correct? Help me out here... I don't have much strength left- help me help us out of here.'. It felt as though a spark had been lit inside his stomach, a flame burst to life without his permission in his chest, without warning. He felt her panic, he felt her fear, he felt her need. She was calling out to him and he realized suddenly that someone else could benefit from his being alive. Idris surged forward without another moment of hesitation. He had been only loosely tied to the gurney and now he exerted strength that they hadn't even expected from him and easily snapped the thin straps holding him down.

"Get away" he barked to the nearest scientist, one who was trying to jab a needle into the girl. Stretching his hand out, his expression was at once furious. He moved between the scientist and Nikki, warning them away with a furious stare and that outstretched hand. The sudden change in behavior startled the scientists and, gingerly, the scientist moved forward with a needle in hand. Idris's nostrils flared and his mouth thinned into a line. "I SAID. STAY. AWAY."

The scientist's knees buckled, gravity pulling him down to the ground like a lead weight. A sickening crunch, followed by a scream, indicated the breaking of bone from the weight of the rest of his body, most likely the knees. The energy that had taken made Idris's head swim and he inhaled sharply, feeling suddenly drained. Hastily, Idris turned to free Nikki from the gurney as well.

"Can you walk?"

 

[Hydronine]

Test Subject # 27 "Nikki"

Nikki sighed in relief as Idris immediately jumped into action, responded quickly to her call for help.

She watched as he broke free of his bonds, watched as he shouted out to the scientists, then as his threat was called, he responded without hesitation- something she found admirable. Within moments, she was free- but her leg was still stiff from cold, and she was trying to slowly warm it back up. "I'll be fine." She spoke, but stayed, just for a moment to rub at her cold flesh- ushering warmth into it as much as she could, before jumping down and grabbing Idris's hand, gripping it tightly as she practically dragged him down the halls after her.

She could see the layout of the building from that scientist's head, and was heading towards the nearest exit out of this building... but even then, they'd have to go through the actual hospital portion... and they needed some way to blend in- horns and gems didn't exactly seem to be a human thing. They'd worry about that once they got to that part, though. All they needed was to get some distance for right now, so they could slow down a bit. She was already tired- today had been long and hard on her body and mind.

Still gripping his hand tightly in her own, Nikki lead Idris to what appeared to be a locker room- wonderful.

"I really hope this works out- maybe if we're lucky, someone has a couple hats in their plain-clothes." She spoke out loud with a grim smirk as she flash froze the locks on the lockers- her strength sapped from her quickly, but she pressed on, walking past each locker, heating each of the locks back up, quickly- some of the metal cracked- some didn't. She elbowed the cracked locks, and through blood and sweat, managed to get three or four open- three lockers of men's clothes and one woman's. She struggled to pull clothes out of the lockers- pushing the clothes that might fit Idris into his chest.

Without hesitation, she pulled off what little the lab provided for her to wear, and pulled on the sweater (Not bothering with a bra, since she had never worn one before), then pulled on the tight pair of jeans as well as the small kitten heels- which barely fit her. She dug through the rest of the clothing and found a small hat- it wouldn't cover her horns much, so she mussed up her hair a bit to try and cover them.

"Hurry, we got to go... There's a thing called an elevator at the end of this hallway- it'll take us up, away from the lab- and we have to go out through the hospital... and possibly security... and then we're probably home-free.... We just need be quick..." She whispered hurriedly as she smoothed out her clothes.

"Then... then we'll be free.... hopefully..." She spoke, with the smallest scrap of hope.

 

[Kitti]

The intensity and the rage that had filled Idris only moments before seemed to be fading as they banged through the lockers in search of clothes. It would be troublesome to be identified in some way by the shirt that he wore and one could never be too careful, so he wasted no time in stripping the nondescript article of clothing from his body and tossing it into a locker.

One of the lockers had a pair of jeans that Idris managed to pull on, though they were a big baggy for him, and he also procured a shirt very much like the one that Nikki was wearing, heavy material with long sleeves. For his part, Idris had never seen such a garment before but he tugged it on over his head and slipped his arms into the sleeves. All that was left were the feet, which was remedied quickly when he found a pair of sneakers in one of the lockers, and a hat for his horns. Scientists, he reflected as he tossed aside excess articles of clothing, did not seem fond of hats. It took him longer than he liked to finally come up with a zipper front shirt connected to a hat - it would have to do. He thought the shirt strange and did not fancy the thought of his chest being open because that wasn't how the scientists looked at all, so he put the zipper front shirt on over the other one and pulled the hat over his hair.

"It won't be too hard" Idris told Nikki, exuding utter confidence. He had to think confident thoughts, else they might end up wallowing in despair. He might not fully believe his own words, but he hope to lead by example, taking charge for the main hospital in his new and vaguely strange feeling clothes. These scientists must have very thin skin, he decided to himself. He was positively burning up in all of these heavy clothes. Pushing open the door that led away from where they'd been hidden their whole lives, however, a new world opened up to Idris and it was all at once very chilly.

"Come on, we just want to find the nearest door out of here" Idris told her, grabbing her hand in his own and leading her down the hallway. Soon, they would have to make choices, since the hallway hit a dead end and split to the left and right not far ahead. Their escape was so close, but that didn't mean that they could get cocky now.

 

[Hydronine]

Test Subject # 27 "Nikki"

Nikki nodded at Idris's words, and as he spoke, she caught the heat that was radiating from him- the clothes were too warm. She would have to agree, but perhaps there was a reason for it. Maybe there had been colder parts in the building that they had come from? Either way, she altered a bit of the air surrounding them, trying to cool it down, so that both of them would be more comfortable, though as soon as he had opened the door- there had been no reason to cool the air- it was already cold.

As he grabbed her hand and led her, she glowed with a sense of victory- they were escaping!

And then they came to the end of the hall- where there were two directions to go. Where were they again? She paused for a moment, trying to get the glimpses of how to get out of the building- which way had that scientist gone?...

Which way should they go?

Nikki bit her lip, then led Idris to the right hallway- running now as suddenly they came upon the weirdest set of double doors, that must have been opened by one of two buttons that were beside it. This was the elevator, it had to be. She pressed the button with the triangle who's point faced upwards. It lit up and there were sounds that were coming from behind the wall. It seemed like it was taking a while.

That was when Nikki heard the echo of voices coming from behind them.

"Someone's coming!" She hissed, and at that moment, the metal doors pulled apart to reveal a small room. She dragged Idris in behind her, and stared at the pannel of buttons on the inside. Oh god, what now... what button did that scientist press? What... 1 had a star next to it, and on instinct, Nikki pressed at it. For two seconds, nothing happened, and suddenly a scientist was within view at the end of the hallway. Their eyes met and he started running- Nikki furiously jabbed at the button more, until the doors started to close. A hand managed to shoot inside before the doors closed on the wrist- Nikki screeched and kicked at it.

"LEAVE US ALONE!" She screamed out, and in a moment a scorching heat issued towards the hand, melting and bubbling the skin until it charred and blacked. The scientist tried to pull away, and in the process, lost a couple huge chunks of charred skin and muscle as he pulled away. The elevator continued to move, while Nikki stared at the clumps of foul-smelling skin, her eyes wide. A few moments later, the elevator opened again, and they seemed to be in an empty hallway of a hospital wing.

Now which way did they go?

 

[Kitti]

Successfully, the pair made their flight down the hallway to reach the elevator and, through some feat that Idris had yet to ascertain, she seemed to know what to do. He followed her obediently but as they entered the sliding metal doors, they both saw a scientist make a dash for them. The man managed to get to them while Nikki was jamming a button furiously and without hesitation, she cooked the skin on his hand. Idris's eyebrows rose to his hairline, but he did not comment. After all, she'd let pass without much question the man whose bones Idris broke earlier. Best afford her the same courtesy.

The metal box took Idris and Nikki to a wing that way empty and eerily silent. Idris was certain that in the echoing emptiness, one could hear the uncomfortable beating of his heart. Putting that unsettling thought aside, Idris glanced around the wing. He supposed that they ought to follow it, move as quickly as possible now. He closed his eyes, licked his lips, and focused every effort he could muster on this chance. They needed to find the correct way out, they could not search desperately in the dark for too long. A trickle of blood ran down the corner of his nose and he wiped it away.

The prickling sense of guidance, of something nagging at the back of Idris's mind, told him to grab Nikki's hand in his own and guide her to a hallway branching left from the main one. They didn't have much time to wait, more scientists would be chasing after them at any moment now and he could only hope that this was correct. He had very few opportunities to test this ability of his and he wasn't sure what being right felt like.

"This way" he told her, keeping his voice hushed. They would quickly be out of sight from the elevator this way and it would be much easier for them the longer it took for the scientists to discover where they were.

 

[Hydronine]

Test Subject # 27 "Nikki"

Nikki noted the small bit of blood that ran down from Idris's nose. Soon after, he had her hand in his own, and lead her her down one of the hallways.

Silence was eerie... especially here. A part of her wished to retreat, go back... for if they truly escaped... what would happen if they were ever found again? Surely not a painless death.

As they walked, she looked him over- admiring his features. He seemed calm and soft-spoken in one moment, and in another, he lead the attack. Perhaps they could really escape from here without any more issues... they just had to be careful...

She looked around, hearing nothing still. "I think we're safe for a moment... give... give me a second... my leg's still thawing a bit..." She finally admitted. Her flesh was still cool to the touch on her thigh- the flesh was stiff as well. It hurt a bit... but it was better than being dead. Without waiting for an answer, she stumbled off to the side, leaning against a wall, her hands to her thigh, trying to warm it. "Damn this thick muscle... it's being stubborn..." She tsked and looked up to Idris' finally remembering what he had done in the lab.

"So... you have powers too?" She asked finally as she moved to get up.

 

[Kitti]

Trying to be gentle, Idris placed his hands on Nikki's thigh, trying to help her warm up the skin but for reasons that he couldn't place, it didn't seem quite right for his hands to be where they were, even if he couldn't explain why. He lifted his hands again, trying not to make a sheepish expression as he did so and turned away from her instead.

"There are things that I can do that I think most cannot. Judging by your tone, I've exhibited these things for you and based on what they've forced me to do repeatedly, I'm going to guess that you mean what I did to that scientist... yes. I'm not proud of that but nor am I sorry. He had it coming. He's probably still alive, though." He tried not to think about the pain that the man must have felt, the crushing of bone and the pressure on the organs as the certainty that both kneecaps were broken at the least. His stomach twinged a little at the thought but he maintained his composure and aristocratic posture.

"Are you nearly ready? If they catch up to us again, you should keep moving and let me deal with them. You're small and weaker and injured already. I'd like for that to not happen, however, so the best case scenario is that we get out before they figure out where we're gone to and find someone brave enough to take us on after all that."

 

[Hydronine]

Nikki flinched slightly at the unexpected touch- though the feel of his hands on her were fine, it was the fact that no one had ever touched her like that. No one was gentle with her like that... It was soothing to feel that... the touch of someone else. She nodded at his words slightly, and as she rose to her feet again, testing her leg, she knew they could go again. Her leg was fine for the most part.

"I'm fine- I'm warmed up enough now." She murmured quietly, then walked forwards, then realized that she no longer knew which way to go.

She walked back slowly, peaking around a corner, back at the elevator they had come from- only to fine a smooth, unmarked wall. Hidden elevator?.... What else was there in this crazy place? "Got any idea on which way to go?" She asked before spotting an "EXIT" sign a little ways down the hall

"This way, this way!" She shouted and ran towards the way that the sign was pointing, only to find that it lead to a dead end as well. Something was definitely wrong with this. That was when she noticed a robotic thing with a glass eye moving around... as if looking... "Idris! Can you take out these things? I think there's something about them... I don't think we should let them see us..." She explained looking around the other hallways to try and spot more... she counted six so far. All were moving around... and she heard something down from the way they had come.

"I'm sure that we need to get rid of that camera, and I'm sure that there's an exit on the other side of that wall! We need to get through it!" She whispered, panicked.

 

[Kitti]

Glancing up at the camera, Idris made a face and contemplated the materials that he had on hand. Judging by what he had seen the girl could control temperatures and that was about all he knew of for now about her, though he hoped that she had another power as well. Then again, he didn't know how useful his chance manipulation was going to be anyway, so he couldn't hold much against her. Frowning, he considered the little cameras.

"Any way you could scorch a couple of those cameras for us?" he asked her offhandedly cracking his knuckles in front of his body. He was steeling himself for more of his more obviously useful talent, which took a good measure of energy from him. Fortunately, he didn't have to press on a human body, which was a relief since it was harder and took more exertion to crush bone and affect their whole gravity. Human bodies, he'd found, were surprisingly resilient.

"I'll work on crushing the others, and don't worry if you haven't got the energy to help out. It would just make it a little easier on me if you did." Narrowing his eyes at the first, he raised his hand to help him focus and pointed his fingers at it. Every pound of gravity he placed on the camera felt like another ounce of pressure on his chest. Thirty pounds in, his chest was beginning to feel tight. Thirty five and the camera cracked. Forty pounds and the camera shattered. He turned his face to the second and repeated the process and then stopped to inhale sharply.

"And this will help us escape, you think?"

 

[Hydronine]

Nikki nodded, doing what she could to destroy what she could see, all that had been left after Idris's attack was one that was somewhat down the hall... After that, she turned her attention on that one wall that she presumed was fake, and scorched away the paint and plaster- a thick metal door was behind it.

But it had no doorknob....

She tried to push at it, but it wouldn't budge- and there was no button for it to open, like that odd moving room. She could hear movement coming closer- and panic caused the air around her to fizzle with heat. "Do that thing! Move the door!" She goaded, pushing the other test subject towards the door, that very well could lead to one step closer to their freedom. "There's no other way out- we either go this way, or back down the elevator! This has to be the way out! Push it! Please!" She shouted- within moments, they were discovered.

Two scientists, escorting larger men, wearing dark uniforms that looked thick... they were carrying things in their arms- weird things. They were dark, and made of metal, oddly-shaped.

"Don't move any further or we'll have to splatter both of your pretty little brains on the walls." One of the scientists bellowed- one of those dark-clothed men were moving into some kind of position holding that odd thing up to his shoulder... pointing it at them... Nikki was spooked. "I... I... IDRIS! PUSH THAT DOOR!" She shrieked, and at that moment, the air got noticeably cooler and it was a little darker- she had manged to make an icy wall, thick and completely blocking them from the scientists...

And then she shrieked again, stunned and in pain- an odd projectile had manged to break off a piece of her other horn- struck near to the base, it fell to the ground, almost completely intact- the reverberation of the hit startled her, the icy wall was already breaking- and more projectiles were going through it, bouncing around- Nikki kept trying to thicken the wall, but it wasn't doing much to help- and was draining her of more energy than she was realizing. She clutched at her horn, shaking and scared while she kept trying to strengthen the wall- but it was only making the air around them colder- by this point, they were the warmest things in their area, by at least fifty degrees.

"Please move the wall! Move it! Move it! We're gonna die if we can't get out of here!" She yelled out.

 

[Kitti]

Flicking his eyes around wildly, Idris fought his urge to cover the girl, Nikki, from the ammunition and instead moved toward the wall. The thick ice wall should have been doing more to stop the bullets than it was doing, yet it did not seem to be much of a barrier at all. He frowned and glanced back before shoving with a massive burst of strength against the wall. He clenched his jaw, a bead of sweat trickling down his temple. As he did so, he exhaled sharply, the air whooshing from his pursed lips.

The wall budged stiffly, slowly, but it did in fact move. He was distressed, his stomach a little bit ill from the thought that Nikki might be injured, but all he could do was push harder against the wall. His biceps were now beading with sweat as well and his legs were pressing against the cloth of the pants. He was putting every ounce of worry, combined with his muscle strength, into moving the wall. It was paying off, though slower than he would like.

Finally, the door gave way and Idris felt as though he would collapse from the exertion. He ushered Nikki through the door before him, noticing with some fear that he could see blood trickling down her arm. The whole process could not have taken longer than a minute, perhaps a minute and a half, but he felt as though it had taken many times longer than that. The girl had tried to defend herself, he could tell, but he felt oddly as though she needed him to protect her. Far from being annoyed, he found that he rather liked the idea.

Before the men could break the ice, Idris hurried in after Nikki and slammed the door closed once more. He wanted to tend to her wound, but first they needed to be safe.

"What now?"

 

[Hydronine]

Nikki was panting and scared as Idris lead her through the opening, keeping close to him, rather than running further ahead. He shut the door, and then asked her the question.

This was becoming tedious and tiring- both of them seemed at the end of their ropes as far as power went. They couldn't keep doing this... they needed to get to the hospital, the actual working part of it- they needed to be around innocent people, so they couldn't be attacked obviously.

"Give me a moment, I'm thinking...." She murmured, biting her lip and her eyes darting around as she searched through her thoughts, though she almost expired on the spot when a whirring noise started up, and the door that they had spent so much time and strength on opening and getting through, opened now, easily for them. Another of those electric doors... How'd they get it open so quickly!? They were loading something... not bullets, but something else... it looked pointy on the end... she watched, confused, at first, and then grabbed Idris's hand and started to run faster. She did not want to find out what they were using now.

"Ummmm... Uhhh, Down this hallway!" She shouted, taking a sharp turn, running faster as her grip on Idris's hand tightened- she ran faster and faster, and then promptly ran face-first into a wall.

She winced at the pain and was a bit dizzy... another thick wall, possibly a door, but why would they use another like that? That was about the moment that she noticed noises, close by... calm and even-toned talking- perhaps regular people were near by! She was off, running again, towards those sounds, only to find a guard room, watching some weird box with lights and movement in it. A man was asleep, nearly drooling in the chair. The noises had been coming from that box.

She felt defeated. She was so tired... Her body ached and her head hurt... she was starving. She wanted to give up- but that would mean dying...

Noises again, fast-paced walking and arguing. "They went that way." She heard- the voices were close. She bit her lip, still trying to think of something, when the guard woke and opened his eyes. "Oh... Are you two kids lost?" He asked, looking around and rubbing at his face. "Uh... yes! We need to leave the hospital, but we got lost... could you escort us out, please?" she asked quickly, tearing up- not for added dramatic effect, but out of exhaustion.

"Yeah... sure." The guard gave both of them a look before starting out the door- right as the scientists came up. "Mr.... Lock, we heard voices, is someone around here?" one asked, and it was obvious that they had to look at the guard's name-tag to know his name. "Yeah, two kids, they're lost- I'm just going to take a second to escort them out." He explained, completely unknowing of what was going to happen, though Nikki was already shaking, knowing what was going to happen- their emotions were more than enough for clues.

The shot rang out, and the guard fell back, blood going everywhere.

That was about the time that Nikki, unable to take it anymore, shrieked. High-pitched and sorrowful, out of fear and desperation. The scientists came in, slowly, as if they were wild animals.

"Numbers 14 and 27, there's no need to fear... we've been told that we don't have to kill you anymore... we need you to come back with us... no more pain... we won't try anything else- but we can't have you two running around anymore..." The voice was monotone and uncaring. She didn't trust it and kept crying, screaming and shrieking. "27, you can stop that, it's ok, we're all friends here." He explained, though Nikki refused to quit.

"You killed him! He obviously didn't know about us! He was innocent! You're monsters!" She shrieked, earning herself a pistol-whip, she collided into the wall next to her, shaking and holding her face, where a bruise was forming next to her eye.

"We're the monsters? You're the ones who are mutated abominations! If you come back right now, without any more problems, we'll take you back with no issues, no more pain or violence, you won't be under threat of euthanasia, perhaps you'll be used in more projects, but nothing invasive- our bosses are very interested in the two of you." the man explained, taking care to remove a cloth from his lab coat and wipe off his gun, as it trying to remove a stain that had been put there by Nikki when he had hit her.

"Come on, Nikki, it'll be like old times, no more restraints, you won't have to stay in your rooms, you'll have free run of the whole lab." He appealed to the battered girl, she responded with a glare.

"We'd still be prisoners." She spat, and the man went to kick her, only to stop when she cowered. "Why stop? You already hurt me once!" She screamed, the man moved his leg forward again, only for her to leap forward and clutch onto his leg and pull him down to the ground, pinning him down. "CALL THEM OFF! NO MORE WEAPONS!" She shrieked, and the man nodded to his men- all the weapons were dropped and clattered to the ground.

"Now... Say you're sorry." She growled, pushing his head in the direction of the guard. "Apologize for killing him... he probably had a family, a life outside of here..." She added, though the man remained silent. "APOLOGIZE." She shrieked again, and suddenly he was writhing under her, making sounds of pain. "Hands and fingers are so sensitive, if you don't do as I ask, you'll loose them to the frostbite." She warned.

"I'm sorry." He spat, and Nikki got up, pulling him up with her. She looked to Idris, unsure of what to do next, though her face ached, and she wanted desperately to stop and ease her pains.