DCW IRL Round 8: The Habitat

[Kaitou Kid Legendary Thief 197]

Vivi climbed up the jeep as she heard some arguments behind. The wolf again. She sighed as she ignored what they were arguing about. Any argument was useless. The experiments should know this by now. She sat down softly beside the scientists where they motioned to sit and the jeep drove off. Without much effort, it arrived at the location of the experiment. The scientist motioned for her to get off and she did. A few scientists were already waiting for her there.

Grace Webb. Hunt. And two more. Newbies.

The lady scientist immediately came over and pulled Vivi over.

"99! What happened to the dress I made you the other day!? Ugh don't tell me it was destroyed in the experiments again!?" She turned and glared back at Hunt, who shrugged and looked away. "No problem. Luckily I have a few spare ones your size. Put them on before we start."

The lady pulled ou her bag and grabbed a small piece of clothing and went back to Vivi, stuffing it to her.

"Come." She pulled vivi over to the side with a screen where the other scientists won't see.

There the lady scientist pulled off her cloak and inspected her body before anything else.

Once the cloak was off, vivi's wings expanded in size. The wounds have more or less healed and her healing was amazing. It left pretty much no scars, even the most severe cuts healed perfectly. A few recent wounds still remain though, but it will heal in a day or two.

"Looks like most of your wounds are healed... Put this on." She took the black dress and untied the neck string. It was a halterneck. Due to the wings on her back, a normal dress will not fit. It cannot be seen, but she has a tiny tail as well so she cannot wear anything tight fitting. The lady tied the short dress onto her and inspected a while before nodding. "Good. Lets go."

She led Vivi back to where the rest of the scientists were and Hunt smirked. "So? No problems right?"

She frowned at the comment but had nothing to say.

"Then it's good. Lets begin." Hunt smiled as he put a special cuff on Vivi's neck, then proceeded to remove the chains on her ankles.

"Come." Hunt pushed Vivi from behind towards the entrance of the simulator environment where the experiment would be held.

And as soon as she was in, Hunt shut the door and locked it. Vivi turned back in surprise. Usually the scientists followed the experiment closely. Hunt motioned for her to keep moving forward through the glass window and Vivi did as she was told. As she moved, she saw something. A cage? As she got closer, she realized what that was. It was... Another experiment.

It was masked and sat very still inside the cage.

"This is December." A voice was broadcasted through the speaker systems in the environment. "She's one of the very special ones which we have created which we call 'The Months'. They were the very first experiments which we created before we created you 'Numbers' and they are failures. You will see why later." Suddenly the cage was lifted and a long mechanical hand injected something into December. It then removed the mask, revealing a girl with whiskers.

"This girl here is a cat. A very normal one indeed."

It's ears started to prop and it started to stir.

"... But you'll have to becareful. Because 'The Months' are-"

Before Hunt could finish his sentence, December's head flipped up and with immediate effect, it pranced swiftly on Vivi taking a strong bite onto her left arm. Vivi was utterly shocked and couldn't react. The mechanical hand injected something into the cat and its bite loosened and fell back into sleep.

Blood was now dripping down Vivi's left arm. She grabbed it with her right to stop it from bleeding.

"Now I don't really have to tell you how dangerous this animal is do I?"

The mechanical hand pulled the cat back to the same place. "The Months are the perfect killing machine that we created. But it's only problem is, we cannot control them. Which is why they are failures. Now. What I want you to do, is to fight it. Kill it. Prove that Numbers are much more superior than the previous generation."

Vivi's brow furrowed. A fight now?

"Ah. One more thing." Hunt continued. " I will not stop the fight until one of you are dead so make sure you kill the other one. Don't make light of December. Even though she's the tamest amongst the "Months" her bite and speed packs a punch."

Vivi sighed. Maybe she should let it crush her now so everything will end.

"Oh. And the director expects you to win, 99. If you don't maybe 100 will..." Hunt let his voice trail off.

Vivi gritted her teeth and glared at the speaker.

The mechanical hand proceeded to inject something to the cat and it stirred again.

Vivi stared at it.

She will win.

[A L 217]

(excuse me if I make any troubling mistake. I'm an amateur :V)

 

Lionel tried to take in why Vivi was so easily obeying the scientists. Ever since his mutation he had impossible to catch, other than the rare chance 'Frankenstein' (Jae) came after him before he took flight. He called him Frankenstein because of his somewhat robotic functions, as if he was forcing every process of his body.

"You...misunderstand...your position. You...are just an experiment...an abomination of nature...a side-effect of our quest." then what was he?

He flinched as Frankenstein dealt with 93. Staying still as he could, careful not to show any movement, he spread his wings dashed to Jae's front, kicking with his left which he knew was going to be blocked while trying to sneak in right kick. Lionel didn't know much combat, but took advantage of his flying speed and wings to glide at a very fast rate.

Jae's reaction was equal to punching bag. As if nothing hurt. Swiftly jumping up, he took a blow to his shin, the place where his neck was moments before. Pissed at his previous speech, he feigned some movements to divide the scientists' attention before socking his eye hard. The lack of visibility would be troubling. Jae in turn dealt a blow to his side, and Lionel could hear a cracking noise.

On the ground, he watched the scientist stand for a bit, before walking away. The whole commotion had caused Xero to come outside. Seeing the retreating scientist and the two experiments on the ground, he sighed.

"Happy now?" he addressed the conscious Lionel. "Yeah yeah." He took Xeros' hand and got up with some difficulty.

"Any idea what they're gonna do with 99?"

"How many times have I told you to use names Lio?" Sighing, he told Xero how he/she reacted to the name Vivi as they walked back into his den.

"Oh, you just have to be persistent. She wont mind soon."

"So they're a she?"

"According to my observations, yes."

"So what do you think will happen to her?"

"They're probably not going to test anything on her, but something with her." Xero spoke. "Before I came to the Habitat, the experiments were still going on. Us Numbers are experiments which have the human level of intelligence. But before that," He paused.

"Before us, humans were turned into beasts that lived to kill only. Not intentionally though, but I doubt the scientists would have let them gone to waste."

"So they're trying to find out which is the better one?"

"Probably. I think they'll start py pitting Vivi against the weakest of them. Vivi's mutation hasn't completed yet, but I think she'll be a force to reckon when it does."

"So," Lionel asked. "What do we do now, exactly? stop it, save her or let it happen?"

[Rukia Kurosaki 357]

Hex rubbed her neck in annoyance as the labcoats drove off with Vivi. She didn't retaliate when she'd been struck, and it had taken all of her willpower not to. There were too many there to deal with without endangering Vivi... and she wasn't about to let the girl be hurt further. Cracking her back and glancing at the swift who had retaliated at Jae, one of the labcoats she despised, she listened to  the experiment's conversation. "Hey, Vi's strong. If I know her, she'll win... but the other one. Can we let him or her be killed? If we allow them to pit Vivi against their failures, they'll just keep using her..." Her ears flattened against her head and she clenched her fists by her sides. "How dare those bastards call US inhuman. The only monsters I've seen are the ones doing all this to children!" She growled under her breath and glared at the ground. "Someone's got to stop this before it gets even worse..." She looked up at Lionel. "What's your name?"

[Kaitou Kid Legendary Thief 197]

(This will be looooooong fight between Vivi and errm... the cat. Read if you want to. Warning: Might be boring :V)

 

Vivi jumped backwards when the cat leapt towards her with its sharp claws. Vivi started to run. She then realized how fast she could run without the heavy chains on her feet. She didn't know whether it was a good thing or bad, but the shackles seemed to have trained her up. The cat threw in another claw which Vivi dodged pretty easily. She has been through experiments where she had to dodge bullets, so in reflex, her body will move to avoid any fast and predictable, incoming motion. Vivi kept dodging the cat's attempt to injure her, though some attacks got through and left some deep wounds. However, this was nothing compared to the rest of the experiments. This cat is definitely weak. It is just violent, and not smart. It's attack patterns are so obvious, but its bites, scratches and speed is amazing. If it is very intelligent, this cat would be deadly.

 

However, Vivi's still in a pinch. The cat still has the upper hand as it has everything it needs to kill her, but Vivi... how is she going to kill the cat?

Vivi tried to recall what she has done in the experiments. She has made to take in much medicine, injected with loads of drugs, tested her speed with tennis balls and bullets, then her tolerance levels to electric shocks, her lung capacity when they tried to drown her, her healing abilities by punching lots of holes in her... But none of them are useful for the fight. The rest of the experiments were just useless, like measuring her height and growth and eyesight, and perhaps plucking out some of the feathers from her wings to test for the-wait...

 

Vivi remembered something really obvious. She has something every bird has. She has wings!

Even though she has wings huge enough to cover her entire body, she has never, not even once, taken flight before. When she had her tiny wings, she could jump further than usual, but after that, she has been fitted with the chains which prevented her from trying to fly. She thought that if she could fly, she might be able to get to the top of the trees in the vicinity and perhaps find something to attack the cat with. Thinking so, she jumped a few steps back and started to run while facing away from the cat. When she got to quite enough speed, she spread her wings to catch the flow of wind and once she did, the air lifted her all the way up. Vivi nearly choked from the shock of having herself being lifted up into the air.

 

Not before long however, she felt the air getting thinner below her wings and she started to drop. Immediately, she tried to push herself back up by 'grabbing' more air from above, which she did. She then realized how much air her wings can actually 'grab'. With one push, Vivi pushed herself even higher and when she looked down, she has to be about 4 meters off the ground. She tried again and this time, consciously using all her strength and pushed the air down hard. With that one push, she zoomed up to the height of about 8 to 10 meters off the ground.

 

'So this is flying!?'  Vivi thought in amazement. She has never thought her wings were very strong. Even though it was pretty difficult and tiring to keep herself afloat, she is, in fact, flapping her wings and flying. 

 

She struggled to keep herself in balance while scanning the surrounding and finding a tree tall enough to avoid the cat. However, the tallest trees were around 5-8 meters. She found the nearest one and tried to land. Some branches scratched her while landing and her wings were caught on the branches, causing her to be unstable. She quickly grabbed onto the trunk of the tree as she tried to keep her balance on the branch. The cat was scratching on the tree below Vivi, trying to climb up. 

 

Vivi took a deep breath to calm down from the fresh experience, but was immediately alarmed because the cat knocked onto the tree causing her to lose balance again, nearly falling down. The cat, in attempt to climb the tree knocked into the tree again and Vivi clung tightly on the trunk with her hands. What should she do? She thought. How do birds solve the situation?

 

'...Talons! Owls have talons.' But Vivi looked down and realized she hasn't grown any. It was pretty weird why Vivi hasn't grown her talons yet because it had already been a few years and talons are one of the assets of a bird of prey. She had only grown her wings, and her sense of hearing and night sight improved dramatically, and then, through the years, only her wings grew larger. This was not normal with reference to all other experiments. But for this situation, she needed it. She looked down at her feet and concentrated hard. She pushed down on it hard and forced it to bend. It hurt alot, but to her surprise, her bones actually shifted.

 

Bearing the pain, she pushed down even harder and two of her toe bones shifted back and pierced out from the back of her feet. Her heel split to accommodate the other two bones and one of her front toes shifted back and up to stabilize her new feet, locking her new feet in place. The front toe bones also pierced out of her toes to reveal sharp claws. Some of the skin tightened to hold the foot and her feet looked like a four fingered hand with sharp claws. Her entire foot had turned into an owl's talons. Seeing that, she tried the same thing on the other foot. It turned into an owl's talon's as well. She could not believe how amazing the transformation was. It seemed as though her muscles and skin had also shifted and wrapped around her new feet perfectly, making her feel stronger than usual.

 

She grabbed the branches tightly with her new found feet, and was amazed not only by how easily she was able to balance on the branches, but also being able to pierce through the branches as well. No matter how much the cat below crashed the tree, Vivi could still keep her balance. 'Her talons are strong.' she realized.

 

She then looked back at the cat. 'She can do this. Owls ARE birds of prey as well.' she thought.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then marked the cat's position and.. jumped off the tree flapping her wings and pushing herself higher.

The cat turned and followed her.

Vivi flew straight towards the light on the ceiling as the cat followed, with its eyes turning to a slit to accommodate the light. She flew higher... and higher... and to everyone's surprise, she crashed and broke the light. The environment suddenly turned pitch black. The cat's eyes tried to adjust to the sudden darkness of the environment by enlarging its pupils.

But Vivi, with her superior hearing has already located the cat's position through the rustling sound of grass. She swooped down silently, and before she reached the cat, she stretched out her talons and grabbed it by its rib cage.

 

The cat let out a huge growl of pain as Vivi's talons stabbed into its body, crushing it's ribcage. It struggled for a while before it finally stopped moving. Making sure that the cat really stopped moving, Vivi let go of the cat, letting it fall to the ground with a loud thud.

 

"Is this enough?" Vivi said as she landed back on the ground. The emergency lights turned on.

[A L 217]

"What's your name?" 93 asked.

 

"Thirteen." Lionel replied and got smacked by Xero upside the head. A look of disbelief crossed Hex's face. He sighed.

 

"Before you start a very passionate speech, I'd like to say I'm with you. What's the plan?" Lionel said. "I've wanting to see the real Sun lately." He smirked.

 

"Your name!" Hex spoke sternly. He was planning to change the subject before Xero elbowed his ribs.

 

"It's Lionel." He choked. He and Xero have been close, though he had been admitted a little later than him, at the time he entered they were of the same age and formed a friendship.

 

"So Hex, do you have a plan?" Lionel asked, careful not to speak 93. "I can be of use, if you need speed. Not to brag but-"

 

"We both know you can't reach as much as the original Spine Tailed Swift." Xero butted in. Hex looked on as Lionel stared irratatably at Xero.

 

It was true. While the real Swift could go as fast as 170 kilometer per hour, Lionel could only keep going at 72 kmh^-1 maximum because other than the wings he was more or less human, and had the heart rate of a human.

 

(Well, I want to keep it somewhat logical, since my character isn't that big of mutant. 72 kmh^-1/ 10 ms^-1 is humanly possible to run i.e Usain Bolt)

 

"Well, I say we should kick things up a notch. Scientists have a big plan going on, and so should we. What do you say, Hex?" Xero said.

[Misaki-chan 164]

The Director watched the fight with small smile on his face. As the emergency lights flooded the arena, they said, "This is good. Very good. We're off to a good start."

Hunt smiled as he replied, "I agree Director. I think that, using the serum given to 99, we can make other experiments like her."

"Do you have more?"

Webb answered, "We are working on making more. What we gave 99 was just a prototype, so..."

 

"That is now your priority. You two and whoever you need to make it with you will be dismissed from rounds until you make more. Once you do, report to me."

In unison, they said, "Yes sir."

 

With quick nods, the scientists left, leaving only the Director. 

 

"Very good indeed...."

 

~~~~~~~~

 

Xero, along with others, rushed up to Vivi as she made her way back from wherever they had taken her. 

"Are you ok?!"

 

"You aren't hurt, are you?"

 

"Come on, let's take care of your wounds."

 

Chatter flew around as people surrounded the small child(?). Meanwhile, the fennec didn't join the group and instead headed towards the dark skinned girl standing behind a tree. "You don't do a very good job hiding Ziva."

The barbary lion slinked out, saying, "Never said I was hiding."

 

He glanced over to the group before replying, "You know Hunt is probably behind this, right?"

 

She growled softly at the mention of the name. Xero continued, "Of course you do."

"So what do you want?" she asked, golden eyes staring into dark brown. "After all, you've learned by now that talking to me without reason isn't something I like."

 

"Merely wanted to know if you wanted to be of help to us."

"Are you still wanting to escape?"

 

"Of course! Don't you?"

"Those who have tried before us have failed miserably and even if we do get out, we have nowhere to go. So why try?"

 

"Because trying is better than excepting a fate we never chose and being used."

 

As Ziva leaned against the tree she was standing by, she said, "Is that all? Because I'd like to eat now."

 

"No, that is not all."

"Then get to the point."

"Look, I think we can initiate Operation Jailbreak."

"And what does this have to do with me?"

"I want your help."

 

"And why should I?"

"Because it would help your thirst for revenge against Hunt."

"... I'll think about it."

 

And with that, Ziva slinked back into the forest, leaving Xero alone.

[Kaitou Kid Legendary Thief 197]

Vivi staggered out of the environment. Only then did she realize she has lost a lot of blood from the bites and scratches given to her by the cat. She couldn't balance herself on the ground with her talons, so she took a deep breath and pushed her talons inwards with the help of the wall. Reverse mechanics seem to work somehow and her feet turned back into human feet, though it was in very bad shape. It would heal eventually though.

The girl then staggered and stumbled towards the scientists who were waiting for her outside.

"Great job 99." Hunt smirked. "We didn't expect you to finish off the cat so quickly. How did you figure out you could rearrange the bones in your feet? Was it instinct? Or just desperation?"

Hunt bent down and inspected her feet. Then suddenly, he reached out his arm and grabbed her ankle really tightly. Vivi flinched in pain, but continued to stay still at the same spot. After a while he slowly loosened his grip and smiled sinisterly. "I'll need to take a closer look at this more closely the next time..."

He then fastened the chains back onto vivi and took off the special collar on vivi.

Grace sighed as she motioned Vivi away towards the jeep. She threw Vivi's cloak back onto Vivi before shoving Vivi up the jeep. "Now go back."

Not before long, she returned to the habitat. All bloody again, and exhausted. She dragged her feet back in and ignored every single comment and even those who tried to heal her. Slowly, she approached the tree, leaned on it and slumped down onto the ground, falling asleep.

[Rukia Kurosaki 357]

"What's your name?" 93 asked.

 

"Thirteen." Lionel replied and got smacked by Xero upside the head. A look of disbelief crossed Hex's face. He sighed.

 

"Before you start a very passionate speech, I'd like to say I'm with you. What's the plan?" Lionel said. "I've wanting to see the real Sun lately." He smirked.

 

"Your name!" Hex spoke sternly. He was planning to change the subject before Xero elbowed his ribs.

 

"It's Lionel." He choked. He and Xero have been close, though he had been admitted a little later than him, at the time he entered they were of the same age and formed a friendship.

 

"So Hex, do you have a plan?" Lionel asked, careful not to speak 93. "I can be of use, if you need speed. Not to brag but-"

 

"We both know you can't reach as much as the original Spine Tailed Swift." Xero butted in. Hex looked on as Lionel stared irratatably at Xero.

 

It was true. While the real Swift could go as fast as 170 kilometer per hour, Lionel could only keep going at 72 kmh^-1 maximum because other than the wings he was more or less human, and had the heart rate of a human.

 

(Well, I want to keep it somewhat logical, since my character isn't that big of mutant. 72 kmh^-1/ 10 ms^-1 is humanly possible to run i.e Usain Bolt)

 

"Well, I say we should kick things up a notch. Scientists have a big plan going on, and so should we. What do you say, Hex?" Xero said.

 

  "I say we take care of it, Xero, Lionel" Hex smiled, showing her fangs. "Funny name for a bird~" She looked up at the false sun. "I'm also anxious to see the true world. This environment is fake. Even the sun is cold..." She thought to herself for a minute, scratching the scars under the sides of her short hair. "I guess you can know my name too. It's Hex... Well, not really. Another experiment gave me that nickname so I could be a hex to the labcoats... One I intend to avenge." She blinked, scratching her ear.  "Sorry, tangent... It's uh... Hildegarde, actually." She glanced at the form coming closer, but didn't join the crowd that milled around Vivi. She killed the other experiment, she realized. Hex stayed back as the girl ignored the others and fell asleep. What happens if she becomes a pawn to the labcoats...?

[A L 217]

(EDIT: I didn't see the above post. Hang on while I alter this a bit.)

 

"Funny name for a bird." He informed her that it was his real name. As to his last name, he didn't know.

"Ah, you noticed. They just give us light and heat the surroundings from the ground." She spoke something about revenge. He made a note to call her Hildergarde from now onw.

 

Xero was talking to Hex when all of a sudden the scientists appeared near the entrance of the habitat and dropped off Vivi, who like before, ignored everyone's concern and slumped in front of her 'slumping tree'. Boring. Noticing Xero slipping away as Hex and the others went after Vivi, Lionel quietly followed him.

 

"You don't do a very good job hiding Ziva." That's 18!

 

He listened to the conversation between Xero and Ziva, the barberry lion mutant. Ziva had arrived a bit late after Lionel, they knew about each other but didn't talk much. As he eavesdropped further, he smiled. Operation Jailbreak. He remembered arguing over the uncool name. So the time was near but for now, he jumped into flight again, and headed towards Vivi, which everyone had left alone by now.

 

"Oi, where did you go?" he asked, lightly kicking her again. No response. She dozed off. This was getting to be troublesome. Hm, she seemed light enough. Placing one hand beneath her head his forearm under her knees, he took a deep breath.

 

This is crazy, why am I doing this?

 

And soon they were in the air. He watched as Vivi's eyes fluttered, not yet open, and burst into speed. Vivi, perhaps instinctively kicked him in the abdomen. Gasping, he descended quickly and put her down in a little bit of open field between some trees. There seemed to be no one around. Letting her go, he saw that one of her feet had claws emerging from the front which she pushed back in by pressing them against the ground. Was that...blood on her toes? didn't they clean her? Lionel looked at himself.

 

'Shit! my shirt!' he was indeed mortified as red spread through the pure white. "Sorry." Vivi spoke in monotone. Lionel sighed, his fault anyways. The wound wasn't deep, he felt it. But it ruined his goddamned shirt.

 

"Where did you today?"

 

"Why ask? I'm going."

 

"Wait! have I seen you somewhere before?" he asked. She seemed to stop and think.
 

"No..." she said.

 

"Hm. Funny thing, I cant imagine you being upbeat and cheery anyway. It seems to defy your nature." What happened next shocked him.

 

"....Where...did you see me before?"

 

"Huh? it wasn't a daydream?" He remembered a rare day where he was brought to be experimented, rather samples taken from to be experimented. As he had been leaving the laboratory, his eyes met those of girls', that resembled Vivi. She smiled mischievously  and winked at him. There was a man who accompanied her, and quickly let her away as the scientist that had been securing Lionel roughly pushed him forward. Let's see, the area was around the infirmary, where humans who had been experimented on were kept before being sent to the habitat. He told this to Vivi.

[Sakila 88]

Xero walked into the den to find Sakila sitting crisscross-applesauce style on his "bed".

"That's a nice face," he remarked, noticing her glare.

"You. Did. Nothing."

"Hm?"

"You did absolutely nothing while she was being taken away!"

"Neither did you."

No. She hadn't. She hadn't done anything either. But Xero usually always protested or said something. It was unlike him to just become a spectator and let the other experiments fight them.

"Oh, right, I forgot. That mutant was there and scared you stiff."

Sakila's eyes widened before she turned away, her glare returning.

The mutant scientist. To her, he was even worse than them. At least they had been mixed with another living being. He'd been mixed with metal parts—according to what she'd learned. Was that their eventual fate? To become as inhumane as him? It scared her.

Oh, and not to mention she had a pretty nasty encounter with him back in the day.

"There was nothing I could do by interfering then. And I won't be able to do anything in the future. With this new information... I've decided to launch Operation Jailbreak.

"YOU'RE WHAT?!"

She jumped up, shocked.

"Calm down, Sa—"

"What in the world are you talking about?! Only a few experiments have learned the procedure and have the potential to complete it. You're not honestly thinking of going through with it, right? Only 19 of us know how to—"

"20."

"What?"

"20 of us know."

"You don't mean..."

"Oh, yeah. Vivi knows how to do it now."

"That still only makes 20 people. That's not enough."

"I'll be the judge of that."

"Xero, this is too fast! I don't think we can—"

"7! There's a reason you carry that number! There's a reason you don't make the decisions around here. I'm doing this for the good of the community. I think I've been around long enough to know what to do and when to do it. Now why don't you be of some use and go tell the others who are capable of completing the procedure to meet here tomorrow. Operation Jailbreak is ready to go."

"Tch." Sakila stalked past him and leaped into one of the nearest trees. She'd been in the warm region long enough. As soon as she told the others, she was off for a nap.

The first one was easy to spot.

"Hey! Message from Xero. To all the people who can complete their mutation and become fully animal, we're meeting tomorrow outside Xero's den. Apparently, we're going to launch Operation Jailbreak."

(The "nasty encounter" is from two lifetimes ago aka IRL 5 xD)

[Kaitou Kid Legendary Thief 197]

Wait... Cheery ... Me? Vivi paused. Could it be...?

"... Where did you see me?" She asked.

The swift then proceeded to tell her about the encounter at the infirmary. It was the 'first' time she had met 100 on that day as well.

"Hey 99! You're here!" The cheery girl called out to her as she was brought into the hut by a man. They were the only ones there.

"Come 'ere!" The other girl dragged her over to view some of the flowers she planted beside the hut.

"Aren't they pretty?" She smiled as she spoke. "99, we will be staying here together! Dad said we will be staying here together for a while~"

'Dad?' Vivi thought.

"Right? Dad?" She smiled as she turned around and ran to the man who brought her in.

"Yes. You two will be staying here for a while." The man replied.

'That person is... Dad?' Vivi thought.

"99! Lets go into the hut. I have lots of things I wanna tell you!" The other girl said while dragging vivi into the hut.

Vivi had no idea what just happened, but this girl made her feel safe. She decided to follow her.

[another scene]

"Hey 99! Lets make a code!"

"Huh code?"

"Yea! A code is something only we can understand! Isn't it cool?"

"... Why do we need that?"

"Don't you feel like our bond will be stronger with it? So when we wanna keep something secret we can speak in code!"

"Okay... How do we create it?"

"Let's do it a little by little.... I know! Lets start with numbers! Right." The other girl took out a piece of paper. "One. Hmmm. How about 'FER'? Okay FER it shall be!"

"..." Vivi wondered if her twin would let her decide as well.

"... Then how about bee for seven!?" She continued scribbling on the piece of paper as Vivi leaned over to see. "... Then 8 shall be tee! ... And... 9... 9 will be Vee!" She continued scribbling.

Vivi sighed. She really did make it up all by herself.

The girl turned her head up and looked at Vivi. "Hey 99..."

"Hmm?" Vivi replied.

"What should zero be?" She asked.

"Eh?!" Vivi was a little surprised. "Erm... How about ... 'Lee'?"

"Hmm..." The other girl thought for a while. "Lee sounds nice. Ferlily."

"Eh?"

"That's my name from now on." The girl smiled. "And you shall be Vivi. Alright?"

Vivi raised an eyebrow.

Thinking for a while, she decided she shouldn't let him know about 100 yet.

But before she could reply, another one came over. The leopard.

"Hey! Message from Xero. To all the people who can complete their mutation and become fully animal, we're meeting tomorrow outside Xero's den. Apparently, we're going to launch Operation Jailbreak."

"Thought you promised not to bother me with your meetings any more? 7."

[Sakila 88]

"Sakila. Not 7."

 

"Same difference."

 

"No, not same difference. Unlike some people, I actually remember my real name and preferred to be called that. I'm not sure who gave you the name Vivi, but you should cherish it."

 

"We had a deal. No more meetings."

 

"That's before we found out that you could complete your mutation. Now, you can help us on the front lines. We can get out of here. Don't you want that? Don't you want to experience the real world? Don't you want to live freely, in a place where you don't have to be pricked, prodded, beaten, bruised, and have to face pain daily? That kind of world exists, you know. A place where we can all be human."

 

The owl stared at her for a while.

 

"Will you help us? Vivi?"

[Kaitou Kid Legendary Thief 197]

"Human... Huh..." Vivi managed a laugh coldly. "How are we... Human?"

She continued to speak. "I've experienced human. Ive experienced beast. But what is more hurtful isn't the pain of being prodded, being experimented or being killed. The outside world or here... It's the same. There's no point for us to go outside. Wherever we are, we will feel the same pain, the same treatment, the same feelings."

[Rukia Kurosaki 357]

  ((Hm, not much action, so I'll put in backstory about Hex in the Habitat))

 

Hex sat alone, staring at the ground and thinking.She hated the labcoats. She hated what they were doing, hated their lack of compassion for any of  the people they'd toyed with and hurt for their ambitions, hated what they'd put Vi through and hated that no one outside was doing anything to find out where all the missing had gone, to research and find out what the company was doing.

 

  She also hated herself for lying to Lionel and Xero about her name. She could never tell them that it was a labcoat who had given her that name, who was kind to her in the four years between her arrival as Hildegarde and that labcoat's death... 

 She hated the labcoats for what they'd done when Hex's mutation didn't take.No matter what medicines could do to reverse her genetic changes, what they'd done could never be fixed...

 

  She sat there in silence, remembering the years of isolation in the labs as she'd been tested. 'Bite down on this so we can gauge your jaw strength,' a woman said politely, a sensor in one hand and a taser gun in the other. Her labcoat was there, adding in a whisper, 'If you do better than last time I'll sneak you a treat later.'

 

 'Here ninety-three, catch these rodents for us while we time you,' a man suggested jovially, buckling a shock collar around her neck. Again that labcoat was present, saying nothing but winking and deactivating the highest setting of the collar.

 

 Always they acted like you were a patient at a doctor's office, just taking a few tests to see what was wrong with you, while they were truly despising what they'd created as below them. And then the day came when Hex went in for another endurance test, and there was no kindness. No hope of a word not spoken in venomous tones or a pat on the head as she beat her last numbers and was allowed to leave. According to the man who put her in a miniature environment for a game of cat and mouse, her labcoat had been 'removed' from the company for fraternizing with the experiments. Tears of hate and loss had streaked her bloodied face as she ran through the mini habitat, pursued by three labcoats and their weapons. 

 

 In the two years since that day she had almost never spoken, especially not to the labcoats, who she rebelled against at every chance, and she had not once cried. But now, remembering losing her only friend, and herself, for nothing more than the petty satisfaction of the so-called scientists who'd created a hundred 'successful' mutated experiments, she found herself brushing tear from her eyes with the back of her hand.

 

She'd heard about the jailbreak, and she wanted to help, but she feared she was truly defective as an experiment. As her tail had  grown out the labcoats had marveled at the bone structure as she lay twisted in pain in a cage. When her hair had turned silver and her new ears had been added through many grafts and forced continued mutation, they had applauded their success. They were fascinated by her long canines, her muscle mass, the morphing of the color in her irises, the flexibility of her spine and tail...

 

But her mutation would go no further despite the attempts at egging on her cells. It turns out that her labcoat had been slipping her supplements of the very drugs they'd been trying to mutate her cells with. She'd had four years as they were busy testing and prodding to build up an immunity to their toxins. Hex also had become immune to poisons, as they'd tested with snake, spider, and jellyfish venoms, rat poisons, and injections of household chemicals. When she figured out what had happened, she thought they'd kill her, but they just sighed and shook their heads. They'd tried again, with x-rays detailing her almost totally human bone structure and chemical tests. 

 

Out of habit she touched the scars on the sides of her head, trying to remember her human ears. The mutation wasn't taking care of them, and despite grafts, her new ones were coming along too slowly for the labcoats liking. So they'd cut them off with a scalpel, taking the flesh for DNA analysis and leaving her deaf and bleeding in her miniature habitat hell. It had taken a month of fearful silence, painful healing, and steady mutation before she heard another word, the first ringing in her new ears... 'Ninety-three.'

 

Because that had worked so well, the coats wondered if it would do for another body part. So a month later they'd next removed two toes from her right foot. But there was nothing but pain and hatred in her any longer. There were no sedatives, no drugs to mask the pain, no help to stop the bleeding or aid her in moving about. Even with the higher doses of mutagens, no wolf attributes emerged. After the wounds had healed, she'd had intense pain for a week... and her toes had grown back. Some combination of the drugs, mutagens, poisons, animal genetics, and pain had borne fruit. But why? Wouldn't a lizard mutation have a higher chance of something like that? She almost wished they'd done that sooner, so that her human ears could have grown back.

 

The labcoats patted themselves on the back and harvested DNA to test the regeneration on something else, but her genetic code was destructive, and killed anything it was introduced to... Hex feared that the labcoats had used it on her friend. After another attempt at mutating a new experiment with her blood went awry and ended in the deaths of the experiment and a labcoat, her DNA was taken for study in the lab. They'd drawn blood more times in the past two years than they had in the previous four while she was in her various stages of animal mutation. But now she wasn't human,  or wolf. She was afraid of herself. Of what would be done with her now.

 

Hex pulled away from her memories, putting her head on her knees and wishing she was more useful to the other experiments. But she had nothing but brute strength, pain and hatred on her side. She sighed and stared at the ground again, almost wishing also that she had someone to talk to.

[tengaku squared 291]

"I understand...I must thank you...for bringing this to my attention. You...will be rewarded." With that, Jae hung up his cell phone. Operation Jailbreak? Freedom? Such folly. Perhaps their animal sides are corroding their reason after all, inhuman beasts. But what does that make me? Merged with a machine...a cyborg? What separates me from them?

 

...Absolute power, and conviction. This is no time for philosophical debates. I must counter this Operation Jailbreak these mutants have conceived.

 

Jae motioned to a guard to come to him. He whispered in his ear, and the guard recoiled in shock. "Are you sure, sir? That seems drastic!" Jae raised an eyebrow, then repeated himself. "Slaughter them all. Leave nothing alive." The guard nodded, and hurried to the others to inform them of the order. 

 

A few days ago, I wouldn't be able to order a mass execution. What a coincidence...and good luck that Director deemed the animal experiments unnecessary. We've been pursuing the wrong path the whole time, he said. Mixing our genes with animals only lowers us, not raises us, he said.

 

 

I agree. Why turn ourselves into lower beings when we could merge with higher beings, more perfect, intelligent beings? Jae rubbed his neck, out of habit.

 

Freedom. They'll get their freedom...rotting in hell. That is generous enough. End their suffering on our land.

 

But...he wanted that experiment alive. That one. Why is the Director so obsessed with 1? Xero?

 

==================================================

 

... :V

[Kaitou Kid Legendary Thief 197]

(5 minutes of my time to type this)

Vivi saw the expression on the leopard's face. Sakila. The leopard told her. She had the 'what do I do with you' kind of look.

Vivi didn't care whether she could leave the place or not. Truthfully, she had never wanted to leave the facility at all. Her heart is not with her any more. If anything, she's prepared to die in this facility.

'Lily...' She thought. She will probably never see the other girl again due to the pact she had with the director. But it was for the best. She will keep her promise, and the director had better keep his. Vivi knew the director isn't really their real 'dad'. But Lily...

Vivi sighed as she walked away from Sakila.

[Sakila 88]

"VIVI!" She called behind her, her hands clenched into fists, her claws digging into her palms.

 

"The real world... it's not like that! Not too many people in this environment remember it! But the real world... it's beautiful!"

 

Sakila took a deep breath and sat down in the shade of a tree. Noticing that the owl wasn't gone yet, she closed her eyes before saying, "You probably don't wanna hear all this but you know why I want to escape?" 

 

"Sakila! Look, it's a rainbow!"

 

"Wow! Mom, can we come back here next year?"

 

"Sure, why not?"

 

"My mother was in a car accident when I being brought here. I remember her voice. I remember her smell. I remember the color of her hair, the color of her eyes, the complexion of her skin, but for the life of me, I can't remember her face. I don't know what she looks like. Even though she's the only family I know of.

 

"My older brother, sister, and father were murdered in a robbery gone wrong before I was born. Due to the fact that my father had a bunch of unpaid debts, we were evicted from our home. Mom had to get two full-time jobs and part-time job so we could live in a one-room apartment in one of the most broken-down, dangerous areas in town. I remember she got fired once when she had to stay home and nurse me because of a 104° fever. Most of the time, I was left with my neighbor who honestly forgot to feed me sometimes. On more than one occasion, she left me behind in a store or office.

 

"After a while of living here, the harsher experiments stop. Three square meals a day. A place to sleep. Medication to prevent you from getting sick. Honestly, they do whatever they need to keep you alive. So why? Why do these people want to get out so desperately if the real world really is as bad as in here?

 

"Because they all have someone they need to see, someone they need to find."

 

"Mom, I feel really tired..."

 

"I understand, honey. It's just a little while until we get home. Once we're there, I'll make you whatever you want, okay?"

 

"...Okay."

 

The rain was pounding on the windshield. The humming of the car had been lulling her to sleep when suddenly, it sputtered and died out.

 

"Mom?"

 

"Tch. Did this really have to happen now?! What am I going to do now?"

 

She pulled out the umbrella with the small hole in it and stepped out of the gradually-cooling car. The rest of the night was blurry.

 

There were bright lights outside and sudden screeching sounds. And then everything went dark.

 

...

 

"What do we do with her? We can't find anyone willing to take her."

 

"I'm sure he'd want her. He's been looking for kids like these."

 

"Guess so. There's not too chance much of her mother waking up anyway. Bet she croaks within the day."

 

"Haha, my bet's on the hour."

 

She couldn't see who they were. But she was sure that her mother was still alive.

 

"When I woke up, I was here. The first few years were tough. But they've loosened up a lot. But if there's even the slightest chance that my mother is alive, I want to be with her. I'd rather die outside freezing to death than die in here from old age. Every single person in here has someone they're looking forward to seeing in the outside world. Or they're waiting to meet new people in the outside world. Don't you have someone like that, Vivi? Don't you have someone you want to see?...Someone like 100?"

 

Sakila gauged the owl's reaction before jumping up. "Think about it, will you?"

[Kaitou Kid Legendary Thief 197]

Vivi was shocked. How did the girl named Sakila know anything related to 100?

Her existence should not have been reported to the experiments, and she has never been sent to the habitat. Her 'entire life' has been spent living in the hut surrounded by the gigantic garden. The weirdest part is, how did the girl know that Vivi knew about 100, and about having a close relationship with 100?

 

(If you are confused. 100 is Lily.)

 

"Think about it, will you?"

 

Sakila turned to leave.

 

"Wait." Vivi stopped the girl. Lionel lifted and eyebrow. Sakila had a tiny smile.

"Tell me... what do you know about... 100? How do you know anything about 100?"

 

Sakila shrugged. "Xero will tell you more about it if you like."

 

"What else does that fox know?"

 

"It's Xero."

 

"Same difference."

 

Sakila sighed. "I'm sure he knows a lot about 100. If I'm not mistaken, one part of the plan also involves 100... Ops... I'm not supposed to say that much... excuse me."

 

'What!?' Vivi's face showed no expression. But she was certainly interested. What else. What else does the fox know? Vivi wondered.

 

"Sakila."

 

"Oh. You finally called me by my name." Sakila smiled.

 

"Yes. I'll have to talk to Xero."

 

"Right~ I'll bring all of you guys to Xero after I announc-"

 

"Now."

 

Sakila forced a smile before sighing. "Alright... since you agreed to come. This way."

 

"Thanks."

[Rukia Kurosaki 357]

(Mkay, so creeperstein's ordered his goons after the experiments. I guess if they're mobile, it's time to rally the troops. When you guys are done talking with Xero about Lily, I'll pop in to tell you they're coming. Since Hex has the best hearing, she'll sense it from when the jeeps start. ))

[Sakila 88]

(Hmm....can I write a follow up post to KKLT? I'll be able to do that in an hour or two and then I'd say go ahead~

 

EDIT: Alright, so after this, guess we're good?)

 

Sakila was ready to go when she heard the girl say, "Wait."

 

So I did get through to her? Whew.... For a second there, I thought I was losing my touch.

 

The bird next to her lifted an eyebrow in surprise. Sakila simply smiled.

 

"Tell me," she continued. "What do you know about 100? How do you know anything about 100?"

 

That's what set her off? After I gave that entire long speech/narrative about my family?

 

Which was, in fact, all a complete lie.

 

Her entire family was completely alive and intact the last time she'd seen them, before she'd gotten lost at the airport and brought to the Habitat. She had been the eldest, not the youngest. And her family had been upper middle-class. In fact, her life had been so normal up until her abduction that she was surprised she'd been captured.

 

Can't believe she didn't even flinch after my perfectly horrid fake life story Xero and I came up with to rally the troops but reacted to the number 100. Should've just done that from the beginning.

 

Shrugging her shoulders, she simply responded, "Xero will tell you more about it, if you like."

 

"What else does the fox know?"

 

Okay, that's worse than calling him a number.

 

"It's Xero," she corrected. Come to think of it, what kind of name was 'Xero' anyway? Was he one of the many experiments who'd forgotten their names and made one up? It was hard to think of Xero as 'one of the many' anything; he was just so different, so unique, so above all of them.

 

"Same difference," came the reply.

 

Yeah. Okay.

 

Sighing, she continued, "I'm sure he knows a lot about 100. If I'm not mistaken, one part of the plan also involves 100... Oops. I'm not supposed to say that much. Excuse me."

 

There goes the bait....

 

She paused for a while. "Sakila."

 

It's circling around it....

 

"Oh. You finally called me by my name."

 

"Yes."

 

Circling....

 

"I'll have to talk to Xero," she finished.

 

Snap! Caught it!

 

"Right. I'll bring all of you guys to Xero after I announce--"

 

"Now."

 

Fiesty, eh?

 

Forcing a smile, she said, "Alright... since you agreed to come. This way."

 

"Thanks."

 

Well, that was a first.

 

They made their way over to his den once again. Sakila noticed someone standing out immediately. "Hex? Something up?"

[Rukia Kurosaki 357]

Hex's ears were standing up straight, and she had gone from staring at the ground lost in her depressing memories to scanning the horizon like a sentry.

  "This isn't good..." She glanced at Sakila, adding, "That labcoat from earlier... he took Vivi and did his experiment. Now that it's succeeded... It makes no sense."

"What does?" Sakila asked. Hex's cryptic partial sentences weren't very clear.

 Hex looked at the girl, worry in her normally blank grey eyes. "Why is he sending the jeeps here?"

[Sakila 88]

Xero came out of his den, smiling. "Ah, Vivi, you're he--what's wrong?"

 

"Hex says they're sending jeeps."

 

"What? Now? Why now? Their large-scale experiments are over for the day."

 

"This doesn't make sense. Why now?"

 

"Didn't they already test 99?"

 

"This isn't good." Xero looked at the ground, thinking as the murmurs around him increased. Suddenly, his head snapped out. "Everyone! Gather around! I need every single person here, from 2 to 99! Immediately!"

 

The experiments began moving right away and Sakila was amazed at his authority.

 

"What's going on here, Xero?"

 

"We're launching Operation Jailbreak. Now."

 

"Wh-what...?"

 

"Now! On the front lines! Get ready!"

 

"Got it." With that Sakila leapt forward toward the main entrance of the Habitat. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She landed on all fours as her bones began to shift. Her shoulder blades push back and her body became more streamlined. A thick tail erupted and fur sprouted everywhere. Her face reconstructed itself into one of a feline's. She shook her entire body to get used to the effect.

 

Morphing into a full snow leopard always made her slightly dizzy for the first few seconds. After finally getting her bearings, she leapt into view of the entrance. She heard the rumbling long before the door opened.

 

"Alright! First line of defense! Steady..."

 

Sakila heard all sorts of scuffles around her, all sorts of calls and roars and shouts. Her peripheral vision revealed a great Barbary lion and fierce eagle.

 

He'd been planning it for more than a decade. They'd all been planning it: their ultimate plan. It was now or never.

 

The door opened.

 

"...Attack!"

[A L 217]

Everything was happening fast. It hadn't been 10 minutes since they got Vivi to Xero that the jeeps were sent in. He hadn't even been able to laugh enjoyably at Sakila's story. Noticing the mayhem as the oldest experiments instructed the others into formation. Spreading his wings, he sighed.

"Here goes nothing."

 

Not. Spreading his wings he flew up, joining the other flying experiments as the doors of the Habitat opened.

 

"...Attack!"

 

(yeah, Sakila could you can use Lionel while I do my homework now. =_=)

[Kaitou Kid Legendary Thief 197]

Vivi had absolutely no idea on what was happening. Truthfully, she had no interest in it. She came for only one reason. To find out about what Xero knew. But once she came, something else happened. Vivi watched as the experiments beside took turns to change their form, just like what Vivi did during the test battle. Xero was managing the strategies and was about to leave to help out when Vivi stopped him.

"Yes Vivi, I see you agreed to-"
"Don't be mistaken. I'm not here to help you with the operation."
The fox showed a surprised expression for a bit, then realizing this is Vivi they are dealing with.
"So what are you here for?" He asked.
"Tell me frankly. How much do you know about 100?"
The fox was a little stunned, but cracked a laugh. "Heh. So Sakila got you here using this way. Smart girl..." The fox murmured to himself before continuing. "I know a lot. Probably more than you do."

"You're lying."
"If you do not believe that I have or know something which you don't know, you wouldn't come to me in the first place."
Vivi rolled her eyes.
The fox smirked. But vivi didn't catch it.
"I even know about your relationship with 100." Xero continued. "But of course you already know about that..."
Vivi waited.
"Do you want to know the purpose of the director raising both of you? ... and personally as well?"
Vivi frowned. One of the answers she was looking for.
"If you want to know, stand on our side."
Vivi paused, trying to decide.

 

Vivi could make guesses to why the director raised them. Perhaps it was because they were special. How are they special? Perhaps they are the only twins in the facility. But why are they special when they are twins? Perhaps the director raised them because they are the last two experiments? But if they created any more, then they wouldn't be the last two... Why?

 

Vivi wanted to know. But if she helped them, she would break the pact with the director.

What should she do?

 

------------

(continued with a little more) :V

[Sakila 88]

Operation Jailbreak. The largest, most intricate, most dangerous plan created by the experiments living in the Habitat. The council in charge of it consisted if the Top Ten—the first ten people placed in the environment. There were nine left. 8 had died two year ago during an experiment gone wrong. Everyone had been debriefed on Jailbreak, but only Xero, the older members, and the first line of attack knew of the exact details.

The first line of attack consisted of the special 19 who had learned to willingly complete their mutation. Sakila had been one of them. A few years back, Dr. Webb had a group of outhouses built near the far edge of the Habitat, secluded from the prying eyes of the cameras, saying something about how some things shouldn't be monitored. That area had turned into their training ground. Day after day, the experiments practiced shifting their bones and growing new body parts. Their hearing and eyesight increased. Their bodies sprouted fur or feathers or scales. This would be their ticket to freedom.

Operation Jailbreak was their do-or-die option. No turning back, no backing out. Sakila understood that. She had been afraid, though. What would happen when the time to initiate the plan came about?

Letting out a low rumble, she leapt forward, realizing that the only feeling she had was one of thrill. If she ever needed to give an example of feeling alive, she would've used this example. The first Jeep came to a stop right near her. The men were shocked but immediately readied their guns. But the power that came with being full animal was too overwhelming. Jumping on the driver, Sakila grabbed the gun with her mouth and knocked it out of the way before scratching his face with her claws. Batting him away, she went on to the next man—a scientist and knocked him unconscious.

The plan was to take them down, not out. It would take less time and time was, of course, of the essence. All around her, there were wild and beastly noises and screams of pain. Some of the birds had really strong talons. And most of them had killer teeth.

Soon after she found herself at the entrance. She took a breath and jumped outside, feeling the smooth floors beneath her paws instead of the sand near Xero's den.

She had to keep going. She couldn't stop now. She was supposed to clear the way for the others. Xero had already dispatched the second line of defense.

Everything around her was a blur. There was Ziva... And Alana... And Scar... And Crest... And... And? And who was that?

There was no way, right? That wasn't who she thought it was, was it?