Young Writers Society

Hugo Chant, Dog Form, His cell (near/next to testing area and Null's cell.)
I wake with a start, the nightmare echoing in the back of my head. That "child's" singing had haunted me all night, leaving me in a half wakeful state for the entire time. (However long that was-the inside cells having a horrible 24 hour dim sheet lighting.) I shake my head, trying to clear that song from my mind. Then I realized It is changed, and it is coming from that "child's" cell.

"If you die before you wake,
Do not cry and do not ache.
Nothing's ever yours to keep.
So close your eyes and go to sleep..."

I cover my ears with my paws and go to sleep.


3/4 of an hour later....
I awake again to the sound of bawling coming from the test room. That kid.
I growl a low growl. The crying abruptly stops, and I press me ear to the wall. Ready for anything.

Experiment 115 - Project Null vs 115, a clash of experiments!

Creepy was the one word to describe Project Null, the innocent child-like manner was only a ruse. Behind it was a being just as mean as I was. But I didn't care, I was on cloud 9 after my kiss with Professor Tabbitha. I didn't give the Project no room, I moved fast and hard, claws bared and ready to kill. Null raises his hands and catches and stops me cold in my tracks, Null began spinning, faster and faster and then releases me sending back the way I came and I crash against the door I was usered from.

I groan my pain, this was sever but not lethal and it was the last kind of pain. Meaning I had hurt my wing and my back, it wouldn't take long to heal but until then I would feel lasting pain. I get back to my feet quickly and see Null's throw had caused a dent in the door, I spin pretending have given the door no mind and charge after Null I bared my claws again but this time avoided Null, flying straight over him grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and throwing him against the back wall. He hits the wall and lands and I could hear his groans of pain.

I begin moving into a slow predatory walk, watching, waiting, calculating my chances of winning here and now. Just as I'm on top of him his eyes open with hot white rage as his body becomes black and disappears, then the angered voice was in my head.

"You hurt me! I kill you!"

Then I feel pain explode from my back, it was the kind you got when you used a sword to cut someone down. I knew the wound was already healing quickly, internal wounds always lasted longer than external wounds.

"Where are you!?" I roar angered by the sneak attack.

Then the voice again, "I'm everywhere, yet no where, I'll make this room your grave."

"By being a coward?!" I yell at the project. "You'll find you won't kill me,"

"Everything is killable, 115, even you are."

I spun around looking until I caught the outline of a child on the wall, I stared keeping my combat stance.

"Can you hear my thoughts Null?" "I thought.

"Of course, what do you care?" he said.

"Keep the fight going, next time I charge at you, I want you to use all your might to use me to break down the door, you are to escape from there."

No reply, I charge the wall and claw it. leaving three large marks on the wall, I turn again and see the child this time in the flesh, like I told him I charged, he grabbed, speeding up faster and faster and throwing me to the door. Then it broke, I land hard against it going straight though it, for a disorientating moment I thought it didn't work. But I look and see the broken door, Null on the other side and to my right, Professor One though Ten. I see Three, Null is gone.

I move quickly my hand going for Three's neck, my free arm cracking bones and ready to kill her only to have soft hands grba my arm. I look and see Professor Two, stopping me, I look back to Three her calm demeanor unbroken. She wasn't even scared, I look back to Tabbitha her look telling me no. But Three makes my choice and hits me with a bag of her sleeping powder.

I don't even feel myself hit the ground.

I was expecting the noises of a battle scene. What I wasn't expecting was a few loud bangs, and then ssilence. I mean, somebody shouted something at some point, but...
BANG!
What I thought had been the end of the fight was obviously just a minor relapse. Something big was happening, and I wanted to be ready for it. Silently I changed myself that none of my carers would recognize me as. Something I had never changed into, despite my long time here.
I changed into a cat.

Emerald Pails Resistance Fighter

We didn't have to wait long for more of the Resistance to come in. The table quickly filled up and then finally, Arden walked in.

"Alright, we finally got the blueprints of the compound." She produced a map. "Here are where the labs are. Clearly we stay away from there if we are to get the prisoners. I fear that it may be too late for some. The cells are over here. If we take this path, we will be able to get the prisoners without problem."

I lifted my hand and asked, "Who will be going on this mission?"

"I will of course. You come with me. Hayden, you too. We will need you as well. Everyone else, wait here and protect the hideout. They are still looking for us. Let's go!"

Hayden, Arden, and I walked out the room, silent. We each grabbed the weapon of our choice. I couldn't see what Arden and Hayden got. All I know is that I grabbed knife. I tucked in into my side and followed them out to the compound.

*******
Arden motioned to us to stop. A professor walked by. He didn't see us. We slipped past to the cells. In the labs, prisoners were screaming in pain. Nearby, there was an explosion. Hayden must've froze the time because one second he was in front of us and the next he was behind us. He pointed toward where the cells were and we continued on.

Nathair had quit the observation room the second 115 had come crashing in. He didn't stop to look where Null went or what 115 did, he just ran. It was a minute or so of sprinting until he got to his office, where he locked the door behind him. He realized this was probably a useless gesture unless he closed the blast doors; every Professor had one in their office. His finger hovered over the button as he considered it. He could lock himself away in the safety of his office and wait until Null was taken care of, but if Null was captured and the Compound survived, then Nathair would be labeled a coward. He would have to start at the bottom and work his way up all over again. Or he could go suit up, go out there, and put on a show of bravado. Even if he did nothing, his being there would disguise how spineless he really was. He would at the very least be able to keep his job, and he might even be promoted. Promoted... Nathair turned away from the door and went into the back of his closet.

There, hanging in an alcove in the back, was a full-body hazmat suit with lightweight armor inside. It was expensive, technologically advanced stuff. The suits had been designed by a Professor some years back, and each Professor had one now for just such an occasion. Nathair struggled into it, then grabbed another thing from the back of the alcove. It looked like a long, heavy cow prod, but it was not nearly so crude. In truth it was a device that had massive electrical charges in it, when switched on. It had a stun and a kill setting, as well as settings for size, since several of the experiments were bigger or smaller than the average human. Nathair powered it on, then strode from his office.

It occurred to him as he stepped out into the hall that he ought to make a plan. His quick mind made several up, turned each one over, then rejected many of them. In thirty seconds he had decided on a course of action. There was an alarm in the lab wing where the subjects were experimented on. It was specific for the event of an escape. Nathair broke into a fast trot towards that wing, with the intention of pulling the alarm, then finding a troop of guards. Safety in numbers.

Professor Two

Three's arm is broken. Using her uninjured hand she wipes at her shoulders as 115 slumps to the floor. I bend down beside him, a hand on his head. He's sleeping soundly, and I can't help the sigh of relief that escapes my lips.
"That was very dangerous," someone growls.
I ignore him, dimy aware that Nathair had just run from the room. "Someone help me get 115 back to his roo -"
"Two, go with Three to the infirmary," One commands. "I'll have someone take 115 back to his cell."
Three shoots me a look and I swallow a sharp retort. I glance at 115 quickly before jumping up and walking with the woman to the infirmary. On the way, I try to stay silent, but Three wants to talk.
"He's your experiment, Two. How did he get through the door?" She asks, as if I'd tried to defend 115.
"I don't know, Null? That experiment did have something to do with it," I retort.
Three snorts derisively. "That's cute. Two, 115 is your experiment, so I can understand that you'll defend him, but you can't put all the blame on Null," she quips.
I round on her. "Look, I haven't done anything wrong, ok? I'm sorry I made 115 intelligent!"
And with that, I storm away, the heals on my boots clicking annoying on the floor as I half jog down the corridor. I head for my office and bump into Alphonse. He smiles at me, the taser in his hands, but one look at my face wipes the smile from his.
"What's the matter?" Alphonse asks softly.
I shake my head. "Nothing. What do you want?" I'll admit I'm still smarting from the taser incident.
Alphonse smiles evilly. "Do I have to have a reason to see my amazing creator?" He asks slyly.
My eyes narrow at him. "What. Do. You. Want?" I ask savagely.
"Subject 62 requests a meeting with you," he says, shrugging. "What about, I'm unsure."
I sigh and spin around. "Alright, I'll go see him," I begin walking toward the experiments cells, hoping to the gods I don't encounter anyone.

Emerald Pails Resistance Fighter

Finally, we reach the cells. Some are empty, others are full. I see a little girl in one and point to her. Arden nods to me and I start to get her out. Arden breaks some other prisoners out while Hayden took guard. We were able to get 10 people out before Hayden gestured for us to be silent. The next second, he was standing by Arden, telling her something.

Arden then says, "Alright, we are breaking you out. There are guards coming this way so you better go quickly. Emerald, make sure nobody stops us." I nod. "Ok, everyone, let's move!"

I go toward the back, silently hoping that we don't get caught. Just as I was wishing this, a guard sees us. He then yells for others. What do we do next? We run.

The escapees ran as fast as they could. Well, almost all of the escapees. One, the little girl I saw first, stood there, unable to move. The guard lifted his gun and pointed it at her, unsure what to do. Then he shot his gun.

I ran in front of the girl, blocking her body with mine. I pick her up and carry her to Hayden. Then all starts to go back as I think, "That wasn't bullet, now was it?"

The last thing I see is that the little girl has escaped. I smile before I pass out.

Hugo Chant, cat form
I was out! Apparently one of these resistance (as I have heard them referred to) fighters had a soft spot for cats, and as soon as I could I had slipped out, tthrough the compound, and escaped through a hole in the chain link fence, probably where the resistance had broken in. I saw a few other subjects I recognised; A small girl who had been in child shape for years now was one.
Then it occurred to me that I should help, what with me being a shape shifter. I decide I will, but first I shall rest and make the hole in the fence bigger. No, wait, I'll do that after, cats aren't that good at chainlink fences.
It must have been strange to see a rhino charging through the holding pens. Quite a laugh. Certainly the rhino saw the funny side in smashing what used to hold him. He spotted a resistance fighter, the one who had let him out, and knelt down on his front knee, so that he could be mounted. Have you ever seen a rhino charging you at full speed? No? That's because the ones who have are all dead. It looks comical from above, but it is a totally different perspective below.

Professor Three

She stared after Two in wordless hatred, she would kill 115 just to see the look on her face when he dies but of course, she can't do that especially with the compound in such a mess and about ten experiments running loose. All their effors could go down the drain if the outside world found out what was happening. Annoyed and confused, she made her own way to the infirmary. The building seemed much more empty than usual, smelling of smoke, sweat and chaos. The infirmary wasn't much better off, she splintered her arm and wondered what on earth is going to happen next. She would find One to address the issue of this security breach but first, she needed to talk to Two about 115.

Sighing, she made her way down the hallway. Catching one of the experiments that was wondering around with a lost look and told him to bring in the resistance girl in and chain her in the basement for further examination.

Null

To think of shadows is a serious thing. ~Victor Hugo

Free at last. Null could just feel the warmth of freedom on his skin already. Rushing down the corridors as a shadow, he felt the urge to release a childish giggle at how easy escape was going to be from here on out. He turned a corner, his photographic memory relaying the map of the facility clear in his mind's eye.
A foolish guard stood by the exit doorway, machine gun at the ready. Null grinned at the opportunity. Sticking his shadow-arm through the man's stomach, he willed himself to become tangible again.
There was a sickening squish, and the poor fellow slumped to the ground. Null wrinkled his nose in delight at the black puddle spreading along the linoleum tiles.
"Life black as night,
Run like a river out tonight.
Rob this human of his life
For it brings little children much delight." Null sang quietly as his pried open the door.
Then the dead man's walkie-talkie squawked to life.
"2201, do you copy? 115 is ready for tracking, I repeat, 115 is ready for release to track Null. Do not let anyone but him out the doors. I repeat, do not let anyone..."
Null was being hunted? That was new. No one tracked Null; he was the predator. Never the weak prey.
This could be a fun game of tag. There would be no definite rules for who was "it", however...

Nathair Iyengar

So the Null had escaped.

There were ten subjects running loose, including the Null. But on the bright side, they'd captured a resistance fighter. Nathair was hoping to be part of the interrogation, after Three was done all of the standard tests. If anybody would be able to get the information out of her, it was Professor Four.

Apparently he was the only one who had had the forethought to put on the suit and grab the stunner. As he walked the halls back to his office he saw a lot of Professors with broken limbs, bleeding wounds, and other signs of a struggle. They were all headed to the infirmary. Nathair was heading the opposite way, and he looked rather smug as he watched the others limp along. He was glad he'd managed to pull the alarm without running into any fighting. Though he hadn't even used his stunner once, he was sure that if he hadn't pulled the alarm, their losses would have been much greater. One would appreciate that, he was sure.

Back in his office, he shed the suit and stunner, placing them in their original hiding places with care. His desk computer was beeping with a reminder, and he plonked down on his chair to look. It was reminding him that he's supposed to do a test on 720 tomorrow; he remembered setting that reminder, now. But he knew that what with mopping up the Compound and finding the Null, he'd have his hands full. They'd surely need his help, and 720 wasn't going to go mad in a day.

Nathair decided that since the rest of the Professors were trying to clean up and he wasn't doing anything else, he might as well start looking for the Null. That was priority one, since the Null could destroy the entire place at will. Nathair especially was worried about the Null running loose, more worried even than One. Nathair had tried so, so very hard to understand the Null, to know its motives, to know its alliances, to get into its head as he was able to get into others'. But the fact that Nathair (of all people) still didn't know anything was cause for concern. Nathair was partial to many, many secrets, some even that One didn't know, and it was frustrating that he could not unlock the secret of Null's mind.

But more than this, what scared him most about Null was their ignorance. They had no way of knowing what he would do now, or where he was. He was completely unpredictable, which was where his danger lay. But wait- that statement wasn't entirely true. They did have a way to find out where he was. Nathair had a tiny hope in his breast (where his heart used to be) that maybe the Null, in the excitement of the escape, had forgotten to take the tracker bracelet off his ankle. The bracelets had sort of become redundant, since everybody knew that Null could hack it and take it off at any time he chose. The only reason Null had left it on was because he'd been in his cell, and it wasn't worth the effort to take it off anyway. But when Nathair opened the program and searched the Null's tag, he saw that it was just a few hundred feet from the compound's outer fence, and that it was stationary. The Null hadn't forgotten.

Nathair searched the tags of the other experiments, but saw that their bracelets were completely destroyed. The compound had known for some time that the Resistance some sort of tool to remove the anklets, so that was useless. Nathair's hope had already been tiny, and he wasn't surprised when it was snuffed out. Of course it wasn't going to be that easy; it never was, was it? None of this was. Now they had to rely on 115, and Nathair wasn't comfortable with that, either. He'd seen it with his own eyes- 115 had somehow facilitated Null's escape. Now they did have Two in custody, and hopefully that would be enough motivation. Hopefully.

Emerald Pails, Resistance Fighter

A strange woman enters. I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about her. It feels as though I know her, which should be impossible. She lays a cold hand on my arm, and reluctantly I look into her eyes.

Looking into her eyes make me feel like I was an experiment again. The coldness brings chills to my heart and a lingering pain causes goosebumps on my body. Finally, recognize her as she recognizes me. I was one of her experiments before I escaped.

"Hey, so, what's up? Haven't seen you in a while. How's the family? I ask, trying to bide my time.

She hisses, "Hello experiment 18. I seen you have been a troublemaker. Breaking into the compound and helping some prisoners escape, well, that hurts me. Almost as much as when you left."

I say, " Yeah right. You must have been glad to see me leave. What do you want with me? I promise you, I will escape again. And this time, you won't catch me. Now let me go and I don't have to-"

"QUIET," she cuts me off. " I'm sure you remember our time together. Oh, the fun we had. Let's get you willing to talk when we interrogate you."

"I'll never talk. I'm stronger now, and I will kill you this time, you monster!" I proclaim.

She slaps me in the face. She smiles as she says, "Let's see about that."

115 - His Room - My Name is Lucifer

I awoke and found myself on the ground breathing deeply I push myself off the ground and back onto my feet. Shaking off the after effects of Three's sleep powder, the anger began to flare I had failed to kill Three. I paced my room and every now and again punching the wall lashing out however I can just to get my anger out. I was now wishing Professor Tabbitha will hand me a match for me to take my anger out on. Pacing my room, it wasn't until an unwanted voice come though the window.

"115,"

I look to see my least favorite professor, Professor Three in the window. "My name is Lucifer." I said.

"It doesn't matter what your name is, for all I care it's 115." she said Lucifer dectected a hint of anger in her voice or maybe it was rage? he couldn't be sure.

Lucifer smiled at the tone knowing he at least made it clear that she was not safe from him, anywhere in this compound. "Good to see you've come to your senses and see that you are not invincible in this compound," I said.

"You are being recruited to hunt down ten experiments that have escaped from the compound in the last hour," she said. She then snapped her fingers and two guards brought in Tabbitha. "Refusal is not optional, if you refuse, fail to bring back the experiments, or attack anyone in this compound, I will kill her with this," she said as was given syringe filled with a clear liquid. "This syringe contains a heavy dose of morphine which will kill her within seconds after being administered," she continued.

"You rotten bitch," I said in a harsh whisper.

"You will cooperate or she will die 115," she said.

"Fine," I said reluctantly looking at the only woman I've ever had true emotions for.

Three snapped her fingers and one of the guards who I saw now was holding a white box in his hands. He goes to my door and it opens, he walks in and I could see he's nervous but seemed to persist regardless of it. He opens it and I see he has a metal arm band in it.

"Arm please," he said.

I raise my arm and he takes it out of the box and places it around my arm, metal clamps on the locks keeping it on my arm. "This is the latest Tracker Band, it will provide you on all the information on all experiments that have gotten loose from the compound. It will also track your position, and we will be notified if has been removed. It is water and fire proof, are there any questions?" she said giving a smile.

I shook my head, and knew what I had to do to stop them.

Three

I stare at 115 with tears in my eyes as he is given the Tracker Band. My hand still hurts where I'd punched one of the guards in the face. My eyes dart to him now, the blood smeared on his face. Three is smiling smugly at 115, who is now calling himself Lucifer.
I need to get to him. I need to get 115 out. It doesn't matter if I die, he can avenge me. It'll be ok.
Something in my head clicks.
Great.
I've lost it.
"Your mission begins now," Three says.
115 blinks at her. She snaps her fingers again and I'm dragged from the room. My mind has been made up. I officially hate Professor Three now. And I'll do what ever it takes to kill her. No matter what.
"Soon, you stupid bitch," I mutter as I'm dragged to the experiment compounds. "Soon I'll have your neck broken by my hands."
Yeah ... I've lost it.